At first, the testing stone didn’t react. It was just plain, solid milky white. Then a slight ripple of magic spread out from the depths of the stone, like a drop of water on a still pool. The ripple spread, agitating the solid color inside and causing it to spin. Slowly, the stone started to shimmer with light.
I watched with rapid attention. The stronger the color and the brighter the stone glowed, the stronger the Hunter was. When an A ranked Hunter touched the testing stone, it lit up like a flood light, as if letting the whole world know how strong the new Hunter was. When I last tested, the testing stone turned a bland robin egg blue color. There was barely even any color at all. But that’s what an E ranked Hunter’s life was like – overshadowed by the brighter colors of the Hunters around them.
The milky color gradually transformed to blue.
My breath caught in my throat and my gaze was glued to the stone under my hand. It was melee blue, just like last time. How intense was it going to get now?
The color … didn’t change. It stayed a pale robin egg blue. Exactly like last time.
My lungs burned from needing air. Finally, I let out the breath I was holding as a deep sense of disappointment filled me.
It was the same. Why? Didn’t that voice say that it would help me be stronger? But that weird screen I saw last night said I would get stronger. Why was I the same weakling now? Was it all just an illusion? Something my mind concocted as I was slowly dying? Then how did I survive the mud golem yesterday? If that ‘System’ didn’t save me yesterday, who did?
“Melee Hunter,” the woman said, waking me up from my thoughts. She started inputting information into the computer. “E ranked.”
The man beside me tsked, as if regretful. “Tough luck,” he muttered and shook his head. All the previous interest that he had in me vanished just like that. He plastered on a business smile and pointed to the door in the back of the room. “Exit this way to finish the Hunter Association registration and get a Guide, if you’d like. If not, go back the way you came. Have a good day.”
My lips twisted at his two-faced actions, but I didn’t let it get to me. As soon as I was ranked an E, I knew the attitude other Hunters would have towards me. If I wanted to get rid of that, I could just leak out whose grandniece I was. But then I’d have leeches stuck to me all the time, trying to shmooze my uncle through me. And that was something I couldn’t live with.
I bobbed my head at the man and replied with my own business smile. “Thank you.” I turned and walked out the back door.
On the other side was a hall with two doors on each side. Expensive artwork of mountains and monsters in all their magical glory hung on the off-white walls. The doors on the right were closed, but the left doors were open with two women leaning on the frames and talking with each other. They both wore casual mage robes over the red Association polo shirts. Instead of battle-ready robes, the robes they wore were simply to enhance magic and comfort.
The first mage, a lively looking woman with a long brown ponytail, smiled at me and waved. “Good morning! Come on over.” She motioned into her room. “I’m Healer Hudgens. Why don’t you take a seat?”
I went into her room. There was an examination table against the far wall, several chairs, a standing cabinet and a desk with a laptop. Just like the rest of the building, everything was high end quality. I picked one of the chairs and sat down.
Healer Hudgens waved goodbye to her co-worker, came inside and closed the door. “Well, let me start by saying welcome to the Hunter’s Association.” She sat by the desk and tapped on the laptop. “And now that you’re part of the Association, let’s get you a Guide. You are Ria Moore, correct?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Good, good. I hate it when they give me the wrong information.” She took a second to read the information. “E ranked melee, huh? You’re in for a rough ride,” she muttered under her breath. I couldn’t tell if she actually meant for me to hear her, or if she always talked to herself. Healer Hudgens stood up and walked to the standing cabinet. “Well, Miss Moore, if you want to join a Guild, I would suggest the Red Bloom Guild or StarBurst Guild. They’re both E ranked guilds, so definitely not high on the charts. But I know the leaders are good people, and since the other members are also E’s, there’s less bullying between members.”
The healer opened the cabinet and kept chatting happily. “If you want a stronger mid-ranked guild, you might want to approach the Ultraviolet Guild. They value hard workers and the leader is a stand up guy.” She took out a flat wooden box and walked over to me. “But I would strongly recommend steering clear of the Peony Tiger Guild.” She gave me a stern look. “They are thrilled to take in E’s, and the leader is very charismatic, but they have an unusually high death rate for their lower ranked members.”
I nodded slowly, digesting her words. “Thank you for telling me.”
I actually didn’t plan on joining any guilds. With my background, it could come across as Uncle Maveric was building an alliance with that guild and I didn’t want to force his hand. There were armorers that catered towards certain guilds and individuals, but Uncle had always stayed neutral.
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Guild turf wars were an unspoken truth. Guilds would battle over resources, recruits, and occasionally land. Most of the time the Association and police turned a blind eye, as long as the fighting stayed in the wild. The ugly battles dragged in investors and armorers, and if they chose the wrong side, people lost their livelihoods – or worse, their lives.
I wanted to build a reputation for myself, and then merge it together with Uncle’s when I was strong enough. Maybe even create my own Moore Guild someday. But that was a long way off. In the meantime, it would be best to avoid unnecessary baggage.
Healer Hudgens hummed happily and said. “Now let’s pick out your Guide.” She opened the box.
Inside, nestled in navy blue velvet, were seven different colored pearl-shaped Guides, one for each color of the rainbow plus white. When Guides were first created, they were all white. Eventually, someone wised up and realized that they can make different colors, too. In Eden, there was a rising trend where Hunters would tattoo, or even have gems embedded in their skin, around the Guide to make intricate designs.
I pointed to the pale green one. “This one.”
The healer brightened up. “Perfect! It’ll match your eyes.” She took out the green Guide and put the case on the counter behind her.
That was true, green was my best color. But it was also the color that Uncle’s business used most often. It just kinda worked out for me.
Healer Hudgens had me lay on the examination table with my right side up. “Alright,” she said as she rubbed a damp cotton ball over my right temple. The smell of rubbing alcohol burned my nose. “If you ask anyone else, they’re going to say that you’ll feel a pinch when I put the Guide in. You know, like when you get a shot at the doctor’s office? But I’m not going to lie, it’ll probably hurt like hell. Stronger Hunters have a higher pain threshold, so they barely feel this. But you’re an E…” she let her words die out. She didn’t need to explain any more for me to understand. “Just try to relax, that will help.”
I nodded. “I’ll be okay.” It didn’t matter how much it hurt, I wasn’t going to run away. Not now. Not after how much effort I put in to get here.
“Alright, here I go.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Healer Hudgens’ fingers start to glow bright gold. Her powerful magic washed over me and seeped into the tender skin on my temple. Instantly every Hunter nerve in my body screamed in protest against letting someone put me in such a vulnerable position. It took everything I had to relax and not push her away.
The warm Guide, coated in her magic, touched my skin. Then pressed harder and harder. My skin split open, then the muscle under it, allowing the green pearl to sink into my flesh, down to the bone. It hurt just as bad as she warned. At the same time, her power healed that pain, only to have another zing of agony peak right after. It was a never ending rollercoaster between torture and relief that left me unable to calm down.
My hands fisted so tightly that my short fingernails bit into my palms. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to distract me from the feeling of the Guide being put into place. Breath slowly, I thought to myself. In – one, two, three. Out – one, two, three.
“And … done,” Healer Hudgens said softly, so close that her breath wafted in my ear.
The pain finally stopped, leaving only the soothing healing power.
She backed up and sat on her chair, as if she knew I wasn’t comfortable with her being so close. Then again, most Hunters didn’t allow unknown people in their personal space. “I wish they had colored Guides when I got mine,” she said conversationally and motioned the white Guide on her temple. “I would have gotten the purple one for sure. But once you get a Guide, you can’t change it out. Not only is it integrated into your body and magic flow – that’s how it can generate the stats menu – but it becomes like your fingerprint, all of your information is kept in it. Never let anyone steal it. Most Hunters couldn’t survive the process of the Guide being separated to begin with.” She took a ten inch round mirror out of her Items Bag and held it out to me. “Take a look. I think I got it in a pretty good spot.”
I slowly sat up, still mentally reeling from the ordeal, and gently pressed my finger to the pearl. Only a third of the orb was visible, the rest was tucked into my flesh. Even though it hurt like hell going in, it didn’t hurt all now. If I wasn’t feeling it with my own finger, it would be easy to forget it was there at all. I took the mirror and looked into it. The pearl was aligned with the angle of my eyes, accentuating the slight cat-like tilt, and the pale green color made my own green irises seem more vibrant. It was my face, the same I saw every morning and night, but it seemed different.
Or maybe it was because I felt differently about myself. This pearl Guide was proof that I was a Hunter now. I wasn’t just Ria Moore, Maveric’s grandniece. I was Hunter Ria Moore. I am a Hunter now. Pride and accomplishment burst in my chest, so tight that I could hardly breathe.
“Good?” Healer Hudgens prompted.
I grinned and handed back the mirror. “Good.”
“Alright then.” She put the mirror back into her Items Bag. “Let’s get this Guide turned on.” Her right index finger glowed red with magic. She reached out and touched my Guide.
A blinding blue light flashed in front of my eyes. I jerked back in shock and waited for the light to fade. The light consolidated into transparent blue label bars that flashed over top of everything that I looked at, naming the chairs, tables, cabinets, and even Healer Hudgens. In the top right of the vision, two bars – one green, the other red. I knew what the green was for – my HP – but what was the red one? Did that say MP? I couldn’t tell, because the flashing blue bars were too disorienting.
Just as I was about to get overwhelmed with all the blue bars in my vision, they disappeared, leaving only one large teal colored screen. A notification ding echoed in my mind at the same time.
Ding. [Guide detected. Downloading. Please wait…]
Ding. [20% ... 50% ... 80% ...]
I stared at the screen with wide eyes. The Hunter manuals never mentioned anything about downloading anything. And that teal color … It wasn’t Guide blue. It was just like the screen from last night.
The words on the screen changed again. Ding. [Download complete. The System is now fully integrated with Host’s Guide. Happy cooperations.]