All it takes is a moment for a life to change. If you're lucky, it's for the better. But most peoples’ luck weren't that good. Mine wasn’t, that's for sure.

A moment was all it took to usher in humanity's ending fifty-five years ago. Huge Gates to another dimension opened up and released monsters all over Earth. If Hunters didn't evolve, there wouldn't be any humans alive today. Twenty years later, another shocking moment happened. Earthquakes reshaped the world, hordes of monsters flooded the world, and then, suddenly, all the Gates disappeared. And with it, the collapse of society. Again. It took humanity another ten years to get back on their feet. Thirty years later, we're still trying to figure out how to survive in a monster ridden world.

A week is all it took for my life to go to Hell. For the second time.

A week ago, my family moved to Mist Haven. A week ago, I broke my father's heart by becoming a Hunter. And a week ago, I gained a System that enabled me to level up every time I killed a monster, just like a video game.

All it took was seven days to go from being safely guarded behind the city walls, to stranded in the middle of the wilds, over a hundred miles from civilization. I had no means of transportation, not a lot of food, and no way to contact my Uncle to let him know that I was, in fact, still alive. A mountain separated me from Boulder, a mountain full of monsters. All I had were my E ranked weapons, the battered brown leather armor on my body, and Levi, the grumpy little blue snake draped across my shoulders. A very promising start.

I, however, was frozen, caught at a crossroad with ‘that moment’ looming over my head like a sharp blade. My feet throbbed from continually walking ten miles over uneven ground with the late afternoon summer sun pounded down on my head, but I couldn't bring myself to take another step.

Behind me a golden tall grass field spread out until it reached the ruins of an abandoned city. Ahead, was the beginning of a forest that stretched for miles and miles, over mountains that pierced the sky and fissures that broke the earth, the blue-green pines mixing with the brightly colored aspen trees among the slabs of reddish stone. The majesty of the forest was breathtaking to look at. Which meant that it was deadly to go in.

Tens of thousands of monsters hid under that pretty green blanket. Some monsters, usually the herbivores, were fine as long as they were left alone. If I gave them a wide berth, they'd respond in kind. But others simply ate whatever was easier to catch. Most of my experience involved the second variety. Yay, me.

Traveling in the grasslands was too dangerous — there was nowhere to hide out in the open. I'd already dealt with a couple bird monsters on the way for that very reason. But the forest housed most of the monsters. So hiking along the rim of the forest was the best compromise. I was close enough to dodge into the trees to hide from overhead threats, without trespassing on the strong forest monsters' territories. At least, that's what I told myself.

Now that I was a D ranked Hunter, I wasn't completely powerless. When I got the System, I was a level one puke. Powerless, and barely stronger than a human. Oh, and dying in a mud golem's pit. A lot has happened since then, but I certainly wasn't a top gun either. Roughly speaking, it meant I could handle about twenty percent of the monsters in the world. The odds were not in my favor.

Apparently, the System overestimated my abilities, as clearly stated on the teal transparent System window popped up in front of my chest. [Daily Task: Collect a Pint of Spring Water.] Beside the task instructions, another screen displayed a map with a blue dotted line that directed west, to a pond in the forest.

I choked, staring at the message. For reals? The System was connected to my mind, didn't it know that I was in a bad shape as is?

There were only four hours until the sun went down. Each human settlement was equipped with shields that covered the whole city every night. It was a big deal, because once the shields activated at sun down, nothing entered or exited the city until 7 a.m. the next morning when the shields went down. The reason was simple: the strongest monsters hunted in the dark. Very few Hunters could survive in the wilds overnight.

I was not one of them. If it wasn't for Levi's hide-a-way home in the river I used for the last couple nights, I doubt I'd be breathing now. Only now I was facing the same problem as last night. I needed to find a place to hide before the stronger monsters came out.

And if I didn't look for a hiding place, I should sprint another ten miles before sunset.

Yet the System gave me a mission? The hell?

I took a deep breath and pressed a hand to my forehead. Levi shifted on my shoulder and leaned forward until his nose passed through the teal screen. He jerked back and scrunched his nose.

"I told you, you can't touch it," I muttered, absentmindedly. The only person who could touch and interact with my System Guide was me, a fact that Levi refused to accept.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then again, he didn't exactly accept all of me yet, either. We were very new at this familiar bond thing — forty-eight hours new — and still getting used to each other. Oh, and Levi was still getting used to being small too. A couple days ago, he was a humongous leviathan. But our bond forced him down to my pathetic level. And it, well, turned him into a little blue snake. He resented that fact, too.

Levi turned his chin up in annoyance and settled on my shoulder to pout.

"The System wants us to collect some spring water," I explained. A pint. The System seriously wants to screw up my survival plans for a pint of water. Not even magic water. Nope, just plain old spring water.

Levi was the most intelligent monster I'd ever met and he was my familiar. It only felt right to include him in my thoughts. Besides, he was the wilds expert. I was the newbie fumbling around in the — soon-to-be — dark. Ugh.

Levi looked up at me with wide golden eyes, looking just as conflicted. Since we were bonded, he could feel my own contrasting emotions.

"We can actually just ignore it," I explained. "If we don't do the task by midnight, it's considered a failure. But if we fail two more tasks, the System will go away." I paused.

I actually started with three chances, but used one by accident yesterday. The System usually only gives me one daily task, which is to kill two monsters. Since I already did that today — two bird-like monsters that ambushed me while crossing the grass plane — I thought I was in the clear. I didn't think it would give me another task, especially so late in the day.

Ignoring the task would make things a lot easier. But then I'd only have one more fail left. "If the System goes away, we won't level up anymore. You will never become a dragon again and I..." I swallowed hard.

I'd never find out how my mother died. I'd never find out if it was actually my fault or not.

Levi jolted, his eyes wide. He didn't think in words, but I could understand his intentions. The thought of being a tiny snake forever totally freaked him out. He hissed, urging me to complete the task.

I swallowed hard. I understand where he was coming from. I didn't want to fail the task, but if I died because I couldn't find a place to hide for night, it wouldn't matter if I failed the task or not.

I took a deep breath, staring at the forest and the shadows the afternoon sun cast inside. Those shadows were only going to get darker, until the whole world turned black. The last time I was in a forest at night, my mom died right next to me. I couldn't remember what happened, but I spent years sleeping with two nightlights on, just trying to deal with the trauma.

I didn't want to be in the forest at night. I really, really didn't want to. Just the thought made my hands tremble and I felt sick to my stomach. A week ago I couldn't even enter the forest at all without freaking out. But I chose to anyway, and with my mount Shiva's gentle presence, got used to it. Now, I was being forced into one. Only this time, I didn't have Shiva to lean on.

Still, I didn't want to fail the task. I needed to know why my mother died.

I shifted my foot, then put it back in place. "In ten miles, I should be close enough to contact Uncle Maveric," I muttered, needing to hear my thoughts out-loud so I'd stop going in circles.

Unlike cell phones or the internet, Guides can contact each other without satellite help. The only requirements were that both Guides needed to be friended with each other, and within a hundred miles. Considering that cellphone towers only worked around cities — it was too hard to maintain a cell tower with all the monsters around in the wilds — Guides were the only communication option for Hunters.

"I can let him know we're alive and he can send someone to come get us." Ten miles was a long way, could I even make it before nightfall? At this rate, although I wasn't slow, I wouldn't. "If I don't, it wouldn't matter if I message him or not, no one could come until morning, anyway. Or he might do the stupid thing and send a search party out during the night, and risk other people's lives. Maybe even his own. I'd hate to have an innocent person die because of me." Again. "If I contacted Uncle, then we died overnight, he'd blame himself forever for not getting to me fast enough. It would be better if he didn't know at all then."

In that case, it didn't matter if I got close enough to message Uncle or not.

Slowly, I reached out and pressed the end marker on the floating map.

The two teal screens disappeared, replaced with another System message. Ding! [A Stop was added to your GPS tracker.]

In the corner of my vision, right below the two bars the System used to represent my HP and MP, was a GPS arrow. It used to be pointing south, towards Boulder. Now it swiveled around until it pointed west.

I couldn't resist looking south once more.

It was always like this. Always looking towards my family from a distance, wanting to join them but knowing I couldn't. No matter what I did, I was always drawn away from them. At first, it was my guilt over my mother. Now, everything about the Systems walled them off. I couldn't talk to them — or anyone — about it. I left them high and dry managing the family armory shop without me, while I ran into the wilds to complete the System's tasks. Blatantly disregarded the careful plan Dad made for my safely sheltered life, all so I could go level up with the System’s help.

And it was all my fault. It was my choice every time. The guilt was like a steel clamp on my heart. How much longer could this go on before they lost all hope in me?

No, I couldn't think like that right now. Positive thoughts. I had to keep positive thoughts going. A distracted Hunter was a dead Hunter — a fact that I'd learned all too well in the last week. Frankly, it was a miracle I was still alive right now.

But I was going to stay alive. Until I can prove to myself that I'm worth the pain and effort my family went through for me.

Resolved, I turned and marched west. "Let's go, Levi."

*****