The Denni plains were the first trial that anyone leaving Geriat had to face. A wide expanse of high green grass and a few scattered rock formations that could be hiding anything. The plain spread far into the distance, a glimmering emerald forest to the west where the highest trees disappeared into the clouds. To the east, the land became rocky and elevated, quickly growing into the menacing Numo Mountain

  Geriat was a city set in the middle of the Denni. Having grown from scared travellers becoming settlers and warriors, the advent of Core techniques becoming widely used throughout the land allowed it to become the great, sprawling city it was today. As the last of his class exited the town, Wylin looked up at the slowly closing massive stone doors of the gate where gleaming silver cores were set into both doors.

  Only one gate was open at all times and that was the south gate. It was the road that had the shortest route to the next city and had somewhat busy traffic.

  The city looked like a beacon for all that could see it. Safety, protection, human triumph.

  Not that Geriat was perfect, Wylin admitted to himself, a touch of bitterness rising for a moment. Inside the safe barriers, there were a lot of issues that popped up when too many people gathered in one place. Resentment, grudges, inequality, the rich lording over the poor; those with money could and those with power would.

  Wylin guessed that was just how people were, but out here? On the plains?

  It was refreshingly open to all. Not that Wylin would recommend rushing out with no preparation or training. There was freedom and then there was suicide.

  “Right, listen up,” the woman called, her braided hair running down her fur-lined jacket, the symbol of the Hunter’s Hall stamped on one breast pocket. Wylin straightened up, feeling respect for the instructor appear as if summoned by her voice.

  Instructor Tori was a woman who took “combat practice” to a level that Wylin often felt both dread and excitement towards when he walked onto the training field with her.

  “From here, we split you all into groups of ten. Mortz, Farem and I will take a group each to a location and give you the practical side of your final test. Hunting,” she spoke casually, almost daring people to speak over her. The two men on either side of her smiled slightly at her words.

  With a grin, Wylin remembered when one cocky boy had once interrupted her. He wasn’t in the final 30 and most likely wouldn’t look at a broom the same way ever again. Not that Tori chased him out, the young man just didn’t have the dedication at the end of the day.

  “Mortz will take you to the forest, Farem is going to the mountains and I will take you deeper into the plains. Any questions so far?” she looked around and a girl raised her hand. Tori nodded and the girl looked a little bit nervous.

  Red hair, freckles kissed by the long sunny days and a slightly large nose. Wylin knew Conie was one of the more reserved top 30 but she had an unending curiosity about everything.

  “Why not hunt together? It would be safer...” Conie trailed off making Tori grin slightly. Tori wasn’t young but she retained an air of energy about her that most women seemed to slowly lose over the years.

  “Exactly. Hunters don’t have the luxury of ‘safety in numbers.’ The public Hunter’s Hall is already spread thin and being honest? You’ll only have your wits and your weapon to keep you from joining the rest on the Memorial Wall,” Tori said, looking at the reaction.

  Wylin adjusted the long staff on his back with a nervous movement.

  He didn’t want to think about the number of people who died in their first year of leaving the Hunter’s Hall...

  “Partnerships are good where you can make them, but it’s my experience that you do a lot of your jobs alone unless you get lucky and really click with someone who’s assigned to the same spot as you. So, since I don’t have any more spare instructors on hand, groups of 3 is the best way I can split you all down. I still expect some bad habits to show up, but keeping you all alive is my job,” Tori spoke loudly and turned to look down the plains.

  “Anyone who needs to be rescued by me or the other instructors will fail and have to take the test again. Harming another Hunter is instant failure and arrest-worthy. Causing a disturbance to cause a flood of monsters with no prepared method to stop them will also be a fail and retest. Those who do not kill at least 1 monster before sundown will fail and retest as well,” Tori crossed her arms.

  Wylin swallowed hard, but, instead of fear, he felt excitement bubbling up.

  The staff on his back felt warm inside its cloth wrappings where he kept it covered until he was ready to use it. It wasn’t by choice; they had all been told and shown how to sheath, fold, cap, wrap and hide their weapons.

  It was a skill Wylin had needed to learn if he was to travel to anywhere. Monsters would just try to kill him, but people could pretend to be his friend at first before stealing his weapon. It was a story people heard all the time.

  Even good friends turned on each other at the appearance of a Core.

  As Tori began to assign people to an instructor, Silune wandered over when the ranks broke at the movement of the Hunters-to-be milling about. She had short black hair and a calm expression that made her hard to read on even the best of days.

  “I want to go to the mountain... If I get a Core, there are some monsters there that would work well with my weapon,” she commented without greeting. Wylin looked to her back where a giant axe was casually being held in place with a loose strap.

  For her ‘coverings’, she had only a scarf around the single bladed head. If he squinted, it looked like she was about to go walking across the world with her possession in a burlap sack, but only if he ignored the metal bits sticking out.

  “You’re fooling no one with that,” Wylin said dryly and Silune shrugged one shoulder.

  “I aim to kill, not fool. You look like you’re about to go fishing,” she let a small smile appear. Silune found the oddest things funny. Wylin had just learned to accept it.

  Best jokes in the world from yours truly? Nothing.

  An oddly shaped cloud in the sky? Full blown laughter...

  “Cores won’t just rain from the sky. Plus, you won’t be able to use it. You pull your current core out before it’s out of juice and it’ll shatter,” he reminded. Silune raised one eyebrow.

  “What if I just get another axe?” she teased, already knowing the answer.

  “Good luck carrying that much weight and charging into battle,” Wylin said with mock sadness before he turned serious.

  “Get a knife or a throwing axe. Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to Cores,” he winked and she eyed his staff which easily forced students to stand away from him when he turned.

  “Right...” she smiled again.

  “Silune Craft, Forest group,” Tori’s voice called and Silune sighed.

  “Damn,” she muttered and wandered off to join Mortz’s growing group. Wylin took a few seconds to stretch his limbs out as more names were called. He imagined what he would do if a Core dropped for him.

  What weapon would sync well with his staff? What back up item should he have...

  Before long, it was his turn.

  “Wylin Weirmoor, Plains,” Tori eyed him and nodded before she moved on.

  Wylin was hoping for the forest or the mountains... they just seemed more exciting. Still, this was his chance to test out his staff, that more than made up for anything else.

  He moved into the group standing before Tori and did some more stretching.

  “Eager?” Wylin paused at the voice. He turned to see a taller guy and paused.

  While there were no official rankings at the Hall, everyone knew after 3 years who was the best Hunter and who was not.

  The other teen before him was considered the ‘best’.

  Niko Erhart was someone that Wylin had never actually sat down and talked with. For one, the guy had a problem with listening and not speaking. Secondly, everything he asked or requested felt like a test.

  “Yup. Standing around is making me tense,” Wylin finally answered and Niko tilted his head, blond hair falling back to reveal a pierced ear. A round metal piece that showed 3 circles within each other.

  “But wasting energy is just as bad, no?” he said and Wylin paused then stopped stretching.

  “Good point,” he laughed nervously and sat down, pulling a book from his pocket. Niko remained standing and it was only then that Wylin noticed something strange.

  “Where’s your weapon?” he asked with a startled gaze. Niko looked down at his brown hunter’s uniform.

  “Here and there,” he said with a thin smile. He crouched down and eyed Wylin’s notebook.

  “What’s that?” he changed the subject and Wylin turned the book to show a rough sketch of a Thorned Frog and some notes scribbled on the next page.

  “Ah, a bestiary? Valuable... if it’s correct,” he said nonchalantly, to which Wylin gave him a hard look.

  “It is. I only have a few entries; I bought this yesterday to celebrate my final day in the Hall,” he explained the majority of the empty pages.

  “I hope to read the complete edition one day,” Niko stood and looked over the plains.

  “Good information is a treasure. Good luck on your test, may we work together in the future,” he nodded and walked off to stand by himself.

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  Wylin felt like something significant had just happened and he didn’t quite know what.

  A few of the other students followed Niko’s walk and Wylin stood, closing his notebook as Tori finished assigning the groups.

  “Hunters. Whether you fight for glory, hunt in aid of the people you care about or wish to take the world of Feaith as your own treasure, your journey of learning in our halls ends today for some of you. But your education will never end. Every day as a Hunter, you will learn more about yourself and the dangers we face. May your Cores last and your blades cut deep,” she put an arm across her chest.

  Everyone, the nervous Wylin, the calm Silune, the distant Niko, the other instructors, everyone mirrored her pose.They said nothing in return.

  “Right. Let’s get the hunt started,” she grinned and walked out onto the green grass and dirt.

  Wylin was following her before anyone else. His heart beat like a bird singing for the day to come.

  _____________________

  “You know your goal; you know your job. One monster; one kill. You can slay more if you feel like it, far be it for me to cut your fun short. Anyone in trouble, scream. Don’t wander too far and I might... may be able to save you,” Tori sat on a large rock and pulled a small book out of her side pocket, flipping it to a dog-eared page.

  “Aren’t you going... to... come with us?” someone asked and Tori shook her head.

  “Nope,” she said and eyed the group as someone else asked something.

  “Why didn’t you bring a weapon? How can you save us without any weapons?” the girl said a little distressed and Wylin was sure he could guess even if it had never really been brought up.

  “My weapon has a Grade-5 core. Any Grade-1’s are gonna sense that and go running for their sweet little lives. I could bring a crappy weapon but that's not the point of the test. Besides, I have a knife in my pocket,” Tori explained and flipped a page.

  “Six hours until sundown. Boy, you kids are really being clever with your time,” she said airily. Niko walked off at this, vanishing around a large rock formation. Several others struck out on their own while tiny groups formed from the remainder of the students.

  Wylin reached back and unwrapped his weapon.

  The once simple wooden staff with its metal bands had turned dark brown, the colour of overturned dirt. The two metal ends had been transformed into two rock-like clubs. A tiny spike on either end of the staff gave it a nasty surprise. The wood now had ring-like grooves along the weapon, mirroring the Bore Worm’s skin.

  Wylin gave it a twirl and, while he found it heavier than his normal practice staff, it was decently balanced.

  The Wormwood Staff. Wylin grinned and headed off in a direction no one else had gone. He felt hyper-aware of every rock, the breeze through the grass, and how loud his own steps felt.

  Grade-1 Monsters mostly dominated the Denni Plains; they were a common danger that plagued the world. At least they were in the parts Wylin knew.

  Grade-1 monsters all shared the same basic characteristics: they looked close enough to animals, insects or plants but were much deadlier; most, if not all, worked in groups or lived in the same nest; and lastly their population grew explosively.

  The Denni had been purged and cleared so many times that it became just another task, not a dangerous mission, for Geriat’s workers to gather resources or check for trouble. Grade-1 Monsters has to be culled regularly since they could birth more of themselves within a week than people could normally handle.

  It seemed roughly equal to what food the monsters had access to, never expanding too much, lest they turn on each other. Monster researchers pointed to Cores being a potential cause of this ‘awareness’ of their population level. Wylin only knew that the Denni Plains had been cleared recently and there shouldn’t be too much danger, but he didn’t take that as a sign to relax.

  He walked for a few minutes before he heard the snuffling of another living creature. Wylin held the staff ready, not sure if he had been spotted or not. From between two rocks and some grass, a creature hopped forward. Its two large ears twitched and, with its fluffy tail, made it seem almost comically cute until it turned its three eyes on Wylin and its mouth opened to display two long fangs and a forked tongue.

  “A Fanged Hare? Yeah, I’ve got this,” he reassured himself and moved carefully, not rushing. While studying the monster in class was one thing, facing it alive and by himself was another entirely.

  It pushed off the ground with its large legs and covered a large amount of space very quickly as it aimed for his face. Wylin felt his body fall into years of reactionary training and caught the monster in the stomach with the pointed needle on the end of his staff. It screeched and hung there writhing. It was going to pull itself off again, but Wylin was not going to give it the chance for a counter attack.

  He focused on the staff and tugged at the soul energy as he had been taught. The Wormwood Staff suddenly shot forward by extending the impaled side and carrying the pierced monster across the clearing to smash into a large rock. Wylin went green on seeing the red mess the weapon left as it neatly retracted to its normal size. The corpse of the monster slid down the rock leaving a trail of blood and guts.

  Wylin took a moment to breathe, tasting copper in the air. He wretched a little, but managed to keep himself aware of the area, and guarding against another Fanged Hare taking advantage of his distracted mind.

  He moved closer and his stomach churned at the sight, but he picked up a nearby branch and poked through the mess. He shouldn’t have hoped, but he couldn’t help it.

  After moving the mess about, Wylin stood and sighed. No Core.

  He picked up the Hare’s body and having no knife just wrapped it up in the cloth he had wrapped his staff up in. He didn’t want to look at the body more than needed.

  He retraced his steps and stopped when someone’s voice called over to him form the other side of some bushes.

  He turned to see the girl from before, Conie. Her red hair flashed as she slashed a Fanged Hare while moving away from a second and third. Her twin swords had a core each and Wylin saw she was swinging them with a lack of grace.

  Using two different cores in twin weapons was tricky. Wylin dropped his Hare and ran in with his Staff aimed at the back of one of the unaware monsters.

  Using two cores at once... not impossible, but it took serious training and the ability to sync the different soul waves. It wasn’t like using two cores in a single weapon. A nearly impossible task, wasteful even...

  “Wylin, those two together are wasteful. Why don’t you just give it up? Your father was just idiotic with this idea.”

  He smashed down and the Hare screeched as the heavy rock end crushed its skull. Brain matter exploded out and Wylin valiantly ignored the sweet taste of saliva in his mouth. Conie had frozen at his sudden appearance and suffered a savage bite to her leg for the distraction. Screaming, she stabbed down and the monster was pierced by both weapons.

  Her left sword was a Forest Stinger rapier, her right was scaled, the edge like bone.

  The last Hare flew at Wylin who spun his staff and extended it to knock it back. The needle only grazed it, but the club sent it spinning. It landed with a snarl, spitting at them. Conie moved slowly due to her wound, but the scaled sword flashed as the blade extended out to snag the Hare’s foot and dragged it closer. The Hare tried to chew the sword off its leg, but it was useless. Another vicious stab ended it, and then Conie collapsed into a sitting position.

  “That... that was too much!” she said through gritted teeth.

  Wylin swept the area with his eyes but didn’t see any more danger. He bent down and ripped a bit of his undershirt to wrap it around the wound on Conie’s leg.

  “Thanks, Wylin. You were a real hero back there,” she joked, then winced as he tightened the knot.

  “Three hares at once? Pretty ambitious,” Wylin helped her stand, making sure she could support herself.

  “It was an accident. I thought it was just one... still, we pass! Well, looks like you already passed, but go us!” Conie laughed and Wylin could hear the sound of someone who was not exactly in touch with what she was doing. Her face was covered in flecks of blood from the Hares.

  She picked up one of the Hares and shuddered as it leaked.

  “See you back at the meeting spot. I need... to sit down,” she murmured and walked off. Wylin nodded silently. Conie had talent and skill, so he hoped she was going to be okay. The first hunt really hit you hard. Wylin wondered if he too was like Conie: no awareness of how out of it he was...

  He kicked the Hare he had crushed when he came in and it hit the rock hard.

  Something made a clear ringing sound as the Hare flopped to the ground and from the sea of gore came a glimmering sight.

  Wylin picked up the fresh Core, still covered in blood, and looked at it.

  He wanted to laugh at his luck, but all he could manage was a small noise.

  “Oh.”

  _____________________