The small stable behind Uncle Maveric’s shop smelled like hay and animals, of the feather and fur variety. Light streamed through the sunroof, lighting up the particles floating in the air. It had three stalls inside, one of which was occupied by an Onyxx Goat mount. The five foot tall monster’s body was stout and covered in short metallic black hair. Steel curved horns crowned its head. It looked at me with bland yellow eyes and went back to munching on the scrap metal in its feed bucket. I left it alone, since it belonged to one of Uncle’s employees.

I put Shiva in her stall at the end of the row and took off her gear then wiped her down. She grunted and lipped my tawny hair. Thankfully raindeers weren’t drooly creatures.

“Okay, Shiva, let’s see what’s going on,” I muttered and patted her neck.

Now that I was alone, I finally felt comfortable enough to look through the ‘System’ that was attached to my Guide.

As if it knew what I was thinking, a teal screen popped up in front of me.

Ding! [Daily Task: Kill Two Monsters.]

I blinked in surprise. “What was a Daily Task?”

The words had barely exited my mouth when another screen appeared. Ding! [Daily Tasks are chores given to the Host to accomplish. Rewards and EXP will be given accordingly upon the completion of the task…]

I paused reading as a thought stuck me. “Is this System … sentient?” It totally just responded to my question, as if it knew I asked it. Not gonna lie, it was kinda freaky. What was the System? When I didn’t get another response, I continued to read what was left on the screen.

[... Failure to complete five Daily Tasks will be considered a breach of contract. The System will separate from the Host's Guide, and further interaction will cease. The Host will keep all accumulated levels and abilities gained from the System, but the Host's full potential will never be realized…]

“That doesn’t actually sound like such a bad deal,” I muttered. “Anything stronger than now is better, even if I stop at, like, level ten.” Seriously, was there a draw back? Unconcerned, I read the last line on the teal panel.

[... Nor will you receive the Reward: The Answer to What Happened that Night.]

All the air evaporated from my lungs. My lips parted as I stared at the last seven words. That voice yesterday asked me if I wanted to know something. And the thing I needed to know most in my life is, what happened the night my mother died. I needed to know if I really killed her or not. If I deserved the love my family gave me.

The System screen changed. Ding! [Task: Get to Level 50. Reward: The Answer to What Happened that Night.]

The System chat box disappeared, leaving the main menu screen.

My hand shook as I lifted it and pressed on the Tasks button. I completely ignored the daily task and focused on the other, searing it into my brain. ‘Get to Level 50.’ This reward, more than getting stronger, more than the excitement of learning skills and abilities, was the ultimate motivation. There were forty-nine levels between me and this reward. It didn’t matter if I had to sludge through a bloody hell, I would get to level fifty. I wish I knew how much EXP it took to gain a level. Even I wasn’t ignorant enough to believe that killing fifty monsters would get me to level fifty. No, it was going to take work.

But if I failed to complete five daily tasks, it didn’t matter how much effort I put in. It would never be enough, if I didn’t make it to level fifty, first. Did the System go higher than fifty? Or was that the ultimate high?

It seemed generous to give me five strikes, but considering that I was working at my uncle’s shop and had other family things going on, there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room. At least I wasn’t prone to getting sick – an awesome Hunter trait. They were naturally resilient, so things like colds and flu didn’t affect them. If a Hunter got sick, it meant they were sick enough to be hospitalized and it was a big deal.

Either way, I refused to get a strike the first day. I hummed under my breath and pinched my thumb with my other hand. There were two problems with the first daily task. The first being: I needed weapons to kill monsters, and armor to protect myself with. Everything Uncle generously gave me yesterday was ruined and it felt wrong to go bum more gear off him. The only solution was to go dig my own weapons out of the moving van. I knew where I put them originally, but I also knew that Micah had rearranged things when he was trying to fit his stuff in last minute before we left Eden.

The second problem was: Where did E ranked monsters live in these mountains? That could be tricky. It was almost noon. Did I have enough time to get my gear and go kill two monsters before the gates closed?

I glanced at the daily task in thought, but my gaze settled on the task: Get to Level 50. It didn’t matter if I had time or not, I’d make the time.

*****

Shiva was still rearing to run when we stopped at the lot behind my house. It was fenced in, just like Dad said. Not that I was worried about Shiva running away, but I still put her in the pasture then hiked through the thin tree line to my open backyard. I didn’t know if the back deck door was open or not, so I went around to the front.

The moving truck was backed into the driveway with the roll-up door open. Several men wearing red shirts with a moving crew logo unloaded boxes and furniture out the back and carried them inside my house.

I paused and pinched my thumb hard. The odds of me finding my gear easily just dropped. Considerably. Crud.

“Geez, Ria!” Micah whined as soon as he stepped out of the house. He wore ball shorts and a gray shirt with a dragon logo on it. Did the kid even get dressed this morning? “Where did you go? I’ve been unloading boxes for ages! Why aren’t you helping?” He walked over to me with a huff. “It’s not fair–” he paused mid sentence and leaned close to my face like I was a bug on display. “Hey, you have a Guide! Cool!” He reached out and tapped on it. “Neat color. What are the other options?”

I grimaced and flicked his hand away. “Get off. I’m busy.” I walked over to the moving van and hopped into the back.

The moving van was more than seventy percent empty. I couldn’t see my weapons case or my armor box right away. Were they behind the bigger boxes? I leaned over and shifted boxes around, trying to find the familiar wooden cases. It was moments like this that Items Bags were so awesome. All I had to do was think of what I wanted and it would appear in my hand. No shuffling and digging required.

“Better be busy helping,” Micah grumped and followed me. “Hey, don’t just move things around. You should just carry it inside.” He folded his arms and stepped to the side so a moving worker could get back in the truck. Micah, the turd, didn’t attempt to grab a box either.

I backed up so the moving man could pick up a large box labeled ‘Kitchen.’ My gear boxes weren’t hiding behind it either. “I know. I know. But there’s something I have to do first.”

“What? We’re literally moving into our house. What else do you need to do?” Micah demanded.

“I need to go–” My voice cut off before I could say ‘kill two monsters.’

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Ding! [The host is prohibited from talking about the System to outsiders.]

Seriously? It was going to get this nitpicky? “Go out,” I finished with a sigh. “I need to go out for a bit. It’s important. Where’s my bow?”

“Na-uh! Dad won’t let me get out of unloading. You have to do it too!” Micah half-yelled instead of answering me.

I rolled my eyes. He was right. No matter how impatient I was, I needed to help my family. Even if it was just ten minutes. I could always make up for it later if I hunted fast enough. With an annoyed sigh I touched a couple boxes and transferred them to my Items Bag. I didn’t want to take too many – I didn’t want to take away the movers’ job, who wasn’t allowed to use Items Bags. Then I ran inside and unloaded the boxes next to the mountain growing in the front room.

“There, I helped,” I yelled out of the door to Micah. I didn’t stop with that. I ran back to the truck and carried three more boxes inside before Micah even carried one. After that, I started to leaf around the boxes in the front room.

Dad appeared at the top of the stairs. “What’s all the racket about?” His face was flushed with effort and a thin ring of sweat looped his collar of his blue shirt.

“Ria’s ditching us!” Micah complained loudly. Then he squawked and jumped to the side so he didn’t get flattened by a man carrying a large box.

I pushed a front room box back into place and straightened up. Finally, a voice of reason, I thought and hurried up the stairs. “Dad, do you know where my bow and armor are?”

He paused, surprised. “Ah, I put them in your room.” He sounded confused then his gaze landed on the Guide pearl. His lips pressed together.

I froze on the last step and looked up at him. Looked at the man who was my hero. I knew what he was thinking. Knew how much he hated that I joined the Hunter’s Association. Knew that I was going to let him down by not helping unload the truck. It might just be a simple thing – I mean, the moving people seemed to be doing all the heavy lifting. But it still meant that I was abandoning the family to go run around the wilds with a bow.

It was selfish of me. Only I had to go.

I forced a smile, trying to make it as natural as possible. “Thanks for finding them for me.” I hugged him around the waist and hurried down the hall to my bedroom. The room was full of boxes and randomly placed furniture. It was so full, the blow-up mattress had been tossed haphazardly on the empty bed frame to make space for everything. Who knows where my actual mattress was.

Then I spotted several wooden boxes – two long rectangular boxes stacked on a fat square box – in the corner of the room. They weren’t made with any old wood. Every fiber was soaked in the magic to keep the gear inside in top condition. They glittered like magical treasure boxes in my vision, begging to be opened.

I picked the top fat rectangular box up and put in the blowup mattress. The mattress had lost air throughout the day so it sagged under the weight of the box, but it didn’t wobble. I pressed my thumb to the DNA lock. A second later, the lid popped open.

My compound bow rested inside, the bright brass and cool bronze colored pattern welded steel so pretty against the blue velvet. It looked like metallic polished wood from afar. Veins of dark green magic stones were meticulously etched in the metal in a whimsical swirling pattern, giving it an almost elvish air. Most of my friends got cars or mounts for their sixteenth birthday. I got a bow. And it’s been my treasured baby ever since. It wasn’t top quality, since it was just intended as a practice weapon while I was honing my skills with the instructors, but it should be enough to deal with E ranked monsters.

At least that’s what I learned yesterday against the Fire Martins. Having the cream of the crop weapons was great … unless it was so strong that it destroyed the mark I was trying to get.

A wave of depression washed over me. I wanted to be a mark Hunter. The idea of just randomly killing monsters just to fill numbers seemed so degrading. And that’s exactly what I was planning on doing now. Right now I need to kill two monsters. Any two monsters. There wasn’t time to be picky about what they were. Tomorrow, I could try for a mark task, but for now I just need to finish my Daily Task.

I ran my finger down the warm metal then stored the bow in my Items Bag.

A teal screen popped up. Ding! [Compound Bow has been equipped to the System. One weapon and one set of armor can be equipped to the System at a time. Although multiple weapons and armors can be stored in the Items Bag, only equipped gear will receive the System’s restoration ability.]

My eyes widened. Restoration ability? Restoring, like, fixing itself? That … was something a weapon could do? It didn’t seem possible. Then again, nothing about the System seemed possible. I mean, what was the full extent of the ‘restoration?’ Did it just fix the bow string, or would it replace the whole bow if it got damaged?

Before I could respond, a soft knock echoed from my doorframe.

I jumped. The teal screen winked out of existence as if it was never there. Snuffing the slight disappointment, I turned to see Dad lean against the frame.

“Ria, what’s going on?” he asked, in a tired, overly polite tone.

I hated that tone – it was often the tone I used with annoying customers. When Dad used it on me, it meant that he didn’t want to fight, but we needed to ‘have a discussion.’ Only, the System wouldn’t let me talk about anything involving it. How was I going to explain to Dad why I was so determined to leave him hanging in the middle of moving into a house?

Frazzled, I got the second wooden box and revealed a Miao Bao sword inside. The pretty sheath was green and decorated in brass designs that matched my compound bow. The sheath gleamed, silently emitting a small bit of magic, as it hid the slightly curved silver and gray pattern weld steel blade inside. The long handle was spiraled in brass and crowned with a simple green and bronze tassel. Miao Dao swords were one of the most versatile sword designs, excelling at slicing and thrusting. The long handle complimented a two handed fighting style, but the blade was balanced enough that it easily suited a one handed style too.

If I have a quiver around my waist, it’s not convenient to wear both. But with the convenience of an Items Bag, I didn’t have to carry them on my person. I could switch from weapon to weapon in a millisecond with just a thought.

“Ria,” Dad pressed.

My brows pulled together and I refused to flinch from his disappointing tone. “I need to go out,” I said slowly.

Dad drew in a quick breath. “I don’t think that’s smart for you right now. You had a bad experience yesterday, give yourself time to rest before you go back out. Besides,” he continued without giving me time to respond, “I need you here to help me with the house.”

I knew he was going to say that, but it didn’t make me feel any better. How much longer was he going to treat me like a little girl that he needed to shelter? “I understand what you’re saying, but I really do need to go.” I looked over my shoulder, forcing a light smile. “It’ll only be a couple hours. When I get back, I’ll work overtime to get everything put together. Promise.”

Micah leaned around Dad. “No way! You can’t just ditch all the work onto us,” he wailed.

My mouth screwed to the side. “I’m not. I’ll only be gone for a while.”

“Says you,” he scowled. “You were only supposed to be ‘gone for a while’ yesterday and you disappeared until just now.” Every word out of his mouth was another sting to my insecure heart. “I thought Dad was going to ha –”

“Micah,” Dad said softly, “why don’t you empty the boxes in your room?” He glanced at my brother, a rare authoritative expression on his face.

Micah tsked and looked away, mouth pinched together. “I just wanted to help,” he muttered.

Dad patted his back. “Go on.”

Micah huffed, walked into his room on the other side of the hall and slammed the door shut.

“But Micah is right,” Dad said evenly as he faced me again. “Yesterday–”

“Things happened yesterday that won’t happen today,” I cut in. I didn’t want to talk about yesterday. Like, really didn’t want to talk about it. I’d rather pretend that scary event didn’t happen for now and deal with it later when the fear wasn’t so fresh. My guilt started to give way to anger. Why were we just talking in circles? I didn’t have time for this. Not if I really wanted to be home before the city gates closed.

He folded his arms across his chest. “How do you know that? How can you promise everything will be okay? Ria, I really don’t want you to be a Hunter.”

Bam! I slammed my hands down flat on the wooden case, shifting the contents around inside. The sound echoed in the room, leaving heavy silence in its wake. I stared down at my shaking hands, breathing hard.

Micah’s door slowly creaked open a pinch on the other side of the hall.

“Ria–” Dad said, angrily.

“I–!” I said loudly, cutting him off. I never talked back to him like this, yet this was my second day in a row. It felt horrible, but I couldn’t figure out another way out. I looked over my shoulder at him, trying to make him feel my determination with my expression. “I have something I have to do. Now.” I finished in a quiet tone. “I need to change. Please leave.”

Dad looked just as taken back as I felt. He pressed his lips together in a tight line as he stared at me. His mouth opened, shut, then opened again. “Be back before the city gates close. Do you understand?” he asked in a tense voice.

“Yes.”

He turned and disappeared down the hall.

*****