I nearly jumped out of my skin with fright. What were they doing here already? I only took a minute or two in the bathroom. I should have had eight more minutes to prepare to defend my future choices. My brain instantly frazzled into a useless lump. “Dad? Uncle Maveric. What are…” My voice died out when they turned and stared at me like Vale wolves. The intensity was enough to send a shiver down my back and I almost stepped back.

Dad walked up to me with large steps and grabbed my shoulders in a tight grip. “Are you okay?” he demanded and looked me over carefully. “Weren’t you limping a second ago? Where are you hurt?” He touched my forehead as if testing my temperature.

Where wasn’t I … Before I could even finish the thought, it died out. Hang on. I hurt everywhere when I went to sleep last night. It was like every inch of my body had been beaten black and blue. My ribs, my legs, my muscles. It all hurt. And I knew I was going to wake up hurting until I got the Hunter’s Association to be healed.

But right now, the only place that hurt was my shin where I smacked into the coffee table this morning. What? That totally didn’t make sense.

“I’m okay,” I said slowly, fully aware that there was an audience right now. “I just bumped my leg earlier. It’s nothing. Seriously.”

“Really?” Dad pressed. “You didn’t get hurt yesterday?” He glanced to the side, taking in the sorry state of my armor. Even I could tell that my words and the physical evidence didn’t add up. Dad looked so worried, so scared. I thought that I had a rough night last night, but Dad obviously didn’t sleep a wink. There were dark bags under his blue eyes and his face was pale under his summer tan.

There was no way that I could tell him what happened yesterday with the mud golem. He might have a heart attack on the spot. “I’m okay. Really, I am.” I hugged him tight, trying to reassure him enough to calm down.

Uncle Maveric showed at Dad’s shoulder and rubbed his hand on my hair. “What happened yesterday?”

I let go of Dad and quickly glossed over the story for the millionth time then pointed to the canister against the wall. “It’s right there. One fire marten’s fire sac, whole and intact, just like you requested.”

“The product needs to be checked first,” Uncle Maveric said slowly, holding back his congratulations. He walked over and picked up the canister. It was heavy as spit to me, but he hefted it with one arm like it was a pillow. Just another testament of the differences between the classes.

Uncle glanced at Hatty and Brody, who were seated at the employee’s table. “I’m sure you all have already met, but I’ll make the introductions again. Ria, this is Hatty and Brody.” He motioned to them. “Hatty and Brody, this is my grandniece Ria and, if you two are still here when I kick the bucket, your future boss. Mind your manners.” His words were mild enough but there was a heavy meaning behind them. No matter what, I had Uncle’s backing.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Brody’s expression tighten then he gave a jerky nod. All the resistance he had towards me was pretty much gone, but I didn’t feel any joy about it.

Brody accepted me because of my uncle, not because of anything that I did. It was a bittersweet feeling. Sweet since I wouldn’t have to worry about him challenging me, but bitter because I never earned that reward. I was just lucky to be born with an awesome uncle.

I’d noticed that Brody never used the same judging expression on my father, but that didn’t surprise me. Hunters didn’t appraise humans the same way. Although we all lived together — unlike in the past when the dimensional Gates were on Earth and the two kinds of people were separated — Hunters and humans followed different social rules and expectations.

Hatty, obviously, already knew what was going on so she didn’t have any resistance to me.

Uncle Maveric nodded his head towards the front room. “Let’s evaluate this, shall we? Hatty and Brody, I’m sure you have work that needs to be done.” He pushed open the swinging door that divided the two rooms and disappeared through the door.

I hurried after him with Dad on my heels.

The large front room had the same design aesthetics as the back. It was a calming sophisticated blend of creams, tans, and sage green with pops of metal and wood to give it a sort of rustic feel. A glass display case divided the room in two sitting over a row of rich wood shelves. A handful of handsome armor suits and mage robes in both genders lined the right side of the room, displaying the best of Uncle’s work. Next to them was a large book on a wooden stand, with a full catalog of the additional armor products. Dozens of weapons were arranged on the left side of the room, with another weapons catalog. Everything was neat and clean.

“This way,” Uncle Maveric right and walked over to the wooden door on the back side of the room, behind the glass counter. “Boulder is just like Eden, where most of the inventory sold to us is already butchered. But, because of the nature of Colorado, there is a larger percentage of monsters that come in without being pieced apart.” He glanced over his shoulder and pushed the door open. “What I mean is, there are more smaller monsters around, since the ratio to Hunters and monsters is unbalanced in the monsters’ favor. So all the smaller monsters aren't exterminated before they can reproduce. For obvious reasons, smaller monsters are harder to dissect, so most Hunters simply bring in the whole carcass. It’s easier to have a dissection room in the store, since the forge is so far away,” he explained. “If a Hunter brings in a whole monster, we keep it here, dissect it to see the quality, then negotiate a price the next day. Just like in Eden, right?” He quirked an encouraging smile at me then disappeared through the door.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I followed him in just as he flicked the light on. An assortment of knives hung on the wall. In the middle of the room was a metal table made out of green and silver pattern weld steel. The table was slightly slanted and ended in a funnel directly over a bucket – to catch the blood. As gross as it sounded, certain monster blood could create weapons and armor, or even antidotes to poisons.

Dad followed in behind and stood with me along the wall.

I glanced at him and couldn’t help but lean my head against his strong shoulder. As much as I wanted to be strong and independent, Dad, Micah and Uncle Maveric were my world. I wanted them to be happy.

Dad wrapped his arm around me and pressed a kiss to my hair like he didn’t care that I was still a mess.

A small smile curled my lips.

“Let’s see what we have here,” Uncle said and put the large metal canister on the dissection table. With quick fingers, he tapped on the canister in a certain pattern. He used his Guide to unlock the canister, but because I didn’t have a Guide, it just looked like he was randomly flicking his fingers in the empty air to me.

The canister popped open and instantly a dead smell filled the room.

Dad reached over and closed the door to keep the stench inside here. For obvious reasons, the smell of dead stuff was a major turn off for buyers.

Uncle Maveric put on a pair of thick gloves he took out of his Items Bag then laid the fire marten’s carcass across the table. “Good shot,” he muttered, fingering the hole at the base of the monster’s skull. “As a mark Hunter, you’ll need to pay attention to how to kill your mark without damaging the requested item. The more efficient you are, the less energy and time you’ll have to spend.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant. Out of five fire martens, four of the fire sacs exploded. If this one had exploded too, I would have needed to find another fire marten richness and I would have failed for sure, without external help. Uncle gave me a hint on how to kill this mark correctly, but other tasks might not, just request a part. I’m going to have to do some research on each mark before I took the task.

With a quick flick of his hand, Uncle cut open the fire marten like the pro he is. I didn’t know enough about the monster to know what he was looking for, a second later he gave a satisfied hum. “And there it is. One fire sac, in perfect condition. Just like you said.” He lifted the skin flap and pointed to a yellow organ, shimmering with faint off-white magic. “You didn’t even damage the magic, good job.”

I blushed, and didn’t admit that the magic thing was a total fluke. Since I didn’t have training yet, I didn’t know how to handle magic. Technically, I shouldn’t even be able to see it since I wasn’t a mage. It was just another thing I was going to have to learn. As a mage himself, I’m sure Uncle Maveric wouldn’t mind teaching me.

Uncle Maveric waved his hand over the fire marten and it disappeared into his Items Bag. “Well, you completed the task I gave you.” He took off his gloves and set them on the table to be cleaned later. “Albeit late, I am satisfied. Now, what side do I choose?” He looked between Dad and me.

Dad’s hand tightened on my shoulder, as if he wanted to stuff me into his chest pocket.

I looked up at him. “Dad, I’m going to be Hunter.”

Dad scowled, his gaze locked on the blood on the table that slowly leaked into the drip bucket, as if he was scared of looking at me. Then he glanced at Uncle Maveric.

Uncle Maveric jerked his chin in a ‘go on then’ mannered.

Dad sighed and let go of my shoulder. “I still disagree with this decision,” he announced to no one in particular and exited the room.

He disagreed, but he didn’t actually say no. Excited bubbles burst in my chest at the same time that my stomach sank to the ground. I won’t disappoint him, I swore. I was going to be a great Hunter. Just watch me.

“Well, now that that’s done, why don’t you go change? You look terrible.” Uncle limped around the table and held out his hand.

Instinctively, I reached out and caught the small duffel bag that appeared in the air.

“Your dad packed a change of clothes and other stuff for you,” he explained as he led me out of the room and into the back.

Dad was talking with Brody and Hatty in the office on the right side of the back room, their voices low as they went over business and Dad familiarized himself with the inventory. Uncle Maveric led me to a door to the right of the office. I thought it was a closet last night – a weird one with a finger reader lock on it. I didn’t expect Uncle to start fidgeting with the finger reader before he had me scan my thumb into it.

The lock clicked open and Uncle pushed the door wide to reveal a set of U-shaped stairs on the other side. “There’s a two bedroom apartment on the top floor,” he explained and motioned for me to go up. “I keep the basics and a set of clothes there for the nights that I end up spending the nights here. I think you should too, for nights like last night, when you can’t get back home in time. You can put as much stuff as you want in the second room’s closet. Why don’t you go get cleaned up, then we’ll take you to the Hunter’s Association.”

I paused on the first step and bit my lips. “I … want to go by myself,” I muttered quietly.

Uncle Maveric was a bit of recluse, but enough people would recognize him there. If I was going to stand on my own two legs, I couldn’t have people associate us together just yet. Or else I’d never know if I was being treated according to my own merit, or my uncle’s prestige.

Uncle paused, then nodded with a slight understanding smile on his face. “Good.”

I gripped my bag and hurried up the stairs. Excited apprehension coursed through me. I couldn’t wait to go to the Hunter’s Association Building. But I had another stop to do first.