My blood ran cold. I stared intently at the shadow, hoping that my guide would identify it. But I was either too far away, or it was just too obscure. The guide never reacted. Frantically, I started mentally listing all the monsters that moved like a serpent and fit that size. The list was tiny – and very alarming.

“Hey, Star?" I glanced at her, not caring that I was disturbing her discussion with Pepper. "Are there dragons around here?”

It would suck if that's what was below us. Big time. Dragons were unbelievably dangerous and territorial. All of them were A ranked, no matter if they were land, sea or fire dragons. Definitely not something the four of us could take on alone.

Star paused in the middle of her sentence and looked at me. For a second, her lips pressed thin in a tight line, then she relaxed and shook her head. “No. Those are up north, around Canada.”

“Then what’s that?” I pointed down to the shadow in the river. My eyes widened when I noticed that it wasn't nearly as dark as it was a second ago, and the shape was less defined.

Star and Pepper leaned over the rim of the saddle to see. Even Scott looked over, a look of slight alarm on their faces. Unfortunately, by the time they did, the dark shadow in the water had disappeared. Did the monster go deeper? Was the river even deep enough to let it go deeper? Or did it have Stealth? The last question caused my stomach to flip in fear.

“What are you talking about?“ Pepper asked, “There's nothing there.“

I mentally groaned. Seriously, I did not want to be taken as a joke, not right now. Especially if there was something there – like a dragon. “There really was something there, I promise.” At least, I didn't think it was just a sand bar. I definitely saw it move and it wasn't just rocking from the roc's flying ... right?

Scott scoffed. Whether he was annoyed that I tricked him, or plain annoyed that he was talking to me at all, that was debatable. “If there was a monster – not every large monster is a dragon. But there's not. All the large monsters have already been cleared out this area, or smaller groups wouldn't be allowed to enter it," he lectured like I flunked out of Hunter prep. "If – and that's a big if, because there's not – there was a dragon around here, everyone would know about it. The last time there was a dragon within two hundred miles of Boulder was 10 years ago. And there was a massive manhunt to get it. It was bagged within a week.”

That didn’t actually surprise me, Hunter dragon byproducts were very expensive and useful. There weren’t a lot of known dragons in the wilds, and finding a young dragon was nearly impossible. Nobody knew where they nested. All people knew was that dragons were scarce, and they were a pain in the ass to kill. Never mind their terrifying attacks, they all could fly – even the water dragons. However, any item made with a dragon byproduct was guaranteed to be amazing. Hunters would literally kill for a dragon weapon, and it's happened many times.

“Yeah,“ I said slowly, staring down at the empty river. I must’ve been seeing things.

The roc suddenly angled down, aiming towards the center of the city ruins.

*****

There wasn't a lot to see in Laramie. The buildings were in ruins and overgrown with plants. Abandoned rusty cars littered the cracked streets, some with open doors and broken windows. Some with skeletons still lying inside. I'd never seen a dead person like this. It was more than a little nerve-wracking, seeing the discolored bones and tattered clothes. Time couldn't hide the fact that most of them had horrible deaths, eaten by the monsters that spilled out of the Gates decades ago. The same monsters that nearly drove humanity to extinction.

The others didn't have the same problem with the corpses. They didn't even glance at them, as the bones were nothing but insignificant background props.

The university was even less exciting. Scott led us to a tall tan building and stopped outside. He opened his Guide, glancing between the blue screen and the building. "This is it," he said and closed his Guide. "The Science Initiative Building. Okay, our job is to collect intact computers, specifically the ones on the roof connected to the greenhouse." He pointed up to a bunch of metal poles barely visible way above our heads. The greenhouse might have looked impressive when it was new, but right now it was just a mess. There probably wasn't any intact glass left either. "Any equipment we collect is a bonus and worth the effort." He shot me a glance. "Since you have an industrial Items Bag, you're in charge of finding the equipment."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I paused. "I thought we were going to stay together." Who knew what was in the building? It was huge, and any number of monsters could hide inside. I definitely wasn't high enough level to wander around by myself.

Star jumped to explain. "Oh, we are. We're going to stay on the same floor the whole time. I promise, I'll stay by your side the whole time." She tilted her head and pursed her lips at Scott, expressing her annoyance.

Scott rolled his eyes.

Pepper bumped Star, defending her boyfriend.

I wanted to frown too. She meant well, but I didn't really want her to nanny me the whole time. How was I going to level up and collect drop item orbs with her hanging over my shoulder? Wasn't there a happy medium, where I could do my own thing, without getting in over my head?

"We should get going–" Pepper said.

I lifted a finger, drawing her attention. "Ah, another question." I motioned to the Science Initiative Building. "Is it structurally safe?"

Scott snorted a laugh. "Well, those aren't." He motioned a couple huge mounds of brick, steel, and concrete on the other side of a used-to-be lawn.

The hills of materials obviously used to be buildings, but now they were just rubble. Who knows if it was an earthquake or a monster that did the damage. Or simply time and neglect. The building we were about to enter might be in the same condition.

"Either way, we have a job to do," Pepper stepped forward, taking the lead.

The front doors were ripped off their frames, leaving gaping black holes in their place. Pepper didn't hesitate to walk right through. Acting like I wasn't nervous, I followed after. There wasn't any electricity, so the only light sources were the beams of light streaming down from cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the huge foyer. At one point, it might have been pretty nice, decorated in whites, browns, and concrete – typical farm retro – but now everything was tarnished and distorted. A thick mildew smell smothered the air and made it hard to breathe. Every once in a while, I spotted bones – human bones – half buried in the mess.

The scanty sunlight also illuminated a problem. The large staircase from the ground to the second floor had collapsed a long time ago. Each level wasn't the normal ten feet tall. No, each floor was extra tall. Jumping up – at least for me – wasn't an option.

I hummed under my breath, looking around. I couldn't feel any monsters, and the others were relaxed, so I didn't hesitate to talk. "We could push someone up to the second level. If say, Pepper stood on Scott's shoulders, she could reach. Then she could let a rope down of the rest of us," I suggested.

"That's a good idea," Star said, looking around. "But why don't we take a second to look around and see if there's anything we can salvage down here, first? We might even find a second set of stairs." She grinned at me like I was a star pupil she was educating.

"Oh, right." This was a different type of task than I was used to. All my other tasks were to go in, get what I needed and get out. There wasn't any gray area to get a higher pay, because it wasn't an option. I glanced around, suddenly seeing dollar signs on every intact item in the foyer. So, I guess now the question was, what would actually net income, and what was garbage? This was a data task, so technology was the key. Okay, I can do that.

"You two go that way," Scott pointed to me and Star then motioned to the left. "Keep in touch and watch out for monsters. I can feel them, just can't see them."

I stiffened, my sense of security suddenly made a joke. God, the difference between levels was something else.

"Great!" Star looped an arm around my shoulder, then paused to look me up and down. "Hey, we're the same height. We could even share the same clothes. Fun." She tugged me forward a couple steps then dropped her arm. A long sword appeared in her hand. It was well taken care of, but showed some wear and tear.

Bows weren't great indoors, so I took out my own sword.

Star blinked at it. "Wow, that's really pretty," she admired. "Is that a katana?"

I shook my head. "It's a miao dao. You could say it's the Chinese cousin of the katana. Katana's have a more curved blade," I used my finger to demonstrate the difference between them, "so it's more of a slashing sword. A miao dao works for slashing and stabbing."

She looked from my sword to my armor, obviously noticing the matching designs. "Another gift from your relative, huh?" She smiled and shook her head. "You sure know a lot about weapons."

I shifted, a little uncomfortable under her praise. After all, she wasn't actually praising me, just my gear. "Well, you could say it's a passion of mine," I said evasively.

"And a generous backer," Star said with envy. "What’s his name again?"

Smothering, was more like it. And I loved Dad and Uncle for it. But that was still a secret. After all, I didn't want to be famous just for my stuff. No, I wanted to prove I was worth it with my own power. "Ah, he lives in Eden," I lied, casually shrugging off the question. "I doubt you know him."

Star hummed low. "Okay."

She walked with purpose to the hall on the right side of the foyer, where Scott instructed us to go. The other two had already disappeared through a doorway on the other side.

I kept even with Star, examining ahead. The hall seemed like a huge black hole. My fingers tightened around the miao dao. Who knew what was hiding in the darkness.

*****