The hours slipped by, marked only by the relentless rise and fall of the sun. Evahrew himself into the hunt, acquainting himself with the y of the nd and the beasts that roamed the wilderness. The rhythmic swish of the long grass against his boots, the call of unseeures, and the earthy st of the forest bio create a symphony of the wild. The repeated sensation of tension and release as he took down each monster filled his day with purpose. Yet, a question him. Why are there so many monsters so close to the city? He mused over this enigma, but no clear answer preseself.
As twilight began to paint the sky with hues of purple and e, Evaook iory of his haul. His pack was den with cores, gleaming with tent energy, and ks of moems that he hoped would fetch a good price at the marketpce.
With the setting sun as his backdrop, he made his way towards the city gate. Stealth was his ally, his hood a shield for his identity, as he moved with the quiet grace of a shadow. He found himself amidst a stream of hunters, each returning home after a long day. Some trudged along on foot, their tired faces illuminated by the st rays of the sun. Others pulled rge carts, burdened with the grotesque forms of sis. He watched as they made their way to the city, and noted with a touch of surprise how nothing of the monsters seemed to go to waste. Every inch, from hide to horn, was being hauled back for a purpose unknown to him.
His heart pounded a wild rhythm in his chest as the enormous city gate loomed closer with every step. It was a moal monolith, a testament to human resilience against the monstrous hordes. Cloaked in the waning light, he inched closer to it. The hum of versation, the occasional ughter and the king sound of onry filled the air. He kept his eyes trained on the ground, letting the hood of his cloak shield his face fr eyes. The thrum of activity, the presence of so many people made him feel exposed a, paradoxically, he was just another faceless hunter in the crowd.
Evander's heart thudded in his chest as he crossed the threshold of the city gate. Every muscle was tensed, ready for the arms to bre, for the guards to swoop in. His every nerve seemed attuo the fai shift in the enviro. But no signal fred, no voice shouted out in arm. He slipped through the imposing city gate unchallenged, a sigh of relief esg him.
The city sprawled out before him, an array of buildings t into the sky. He found himself stepping onto the wide expanse of a grand pza, the cobblestones underfoot gleaming uhe pale light of nterns. Around him, massive structures stretched skywards, their facades hinting at a warehouse district. The air buzzed with the cacophony of activity, the lingering st of the wilderness was repced with the sharp tang of metal and the warm aroma of baking bread wafting from a nearby bakery.
He turned his attention to the stream of hunters, their paths leading towards a massive building oskirts of the pza. A hulking struct that seemed to pulsate with the energy of a beehive. He followed in their wake, his eyes drawn to the spectacle ahead.
peared to be an abattoir of sorts was, iy, a high-tech produ facility, starkly trastive against the backdrop of the city. Sleek veyors looped around the vast expanse of the floor, snaking their way through a maze of maery. Workers in protective gear darted in and out, skillfully maneuvering around the plex arra. The grim business of processing the hunted beasts was carried out with the precision of a well-oiled mae, the gore kept at a minimal by teology that was light years ahead.
Hunters were feeding their gruesome haul inte funnel-like opening that led to the veyor system. Each beast was whisked away, to be disassembled into valuable pos. Fer kills, there were vehicle bays on one side where heavy-duty trucks rumbled in, their cargo beds den with creatures of unimaginable size and ferocity.
From where he stood, Evander could see the systematic procedure unfold. The effit stripping of hide, the extra of valuable cores, the colle of every tooth and cw. The beast’s remains were whisked away to be further processed in another part of the facility, presumably to be used in a myriad of ways, from onry to everyday items.
Evander found himself standing at the back of a pact queue, his eyes trained on a burly woman a few spots ahead. With biceps that could rival tree trunks and a no-nonsense demeanor, she was singlehandedly managing the ining goods with the precision of a seasoned professional. Her husky voice echoed through the bustling room, threading its way through the cmor like a ship sailing against the tide. As Evander moved forward, inch by inch, the sounds of the city outside the facility were gradually repced by the rhythmic hum of the maes and the chatter of people engaged in trade.
Finally, the time came for him to step up. As he did, the burly woman took a curs him a out a bellow, "Damn! Another one of those survivalist nutjobs!" The procmation hung in the air, punctuating the bustling room with a wave of muted ughter. His cheeks flushed, a heat creeping up his neck, but he remained silent.
As the ughter subsided, he began to unload his small backpack. He revealed the cores and other miseous parts from the beasts he had killed. The woman's initial disdain seemed to give way to a grudging admiration as she surveyed the items oable.
"Been weeks or months colleg all of these cores, haven't you?" she asked, her voice brimming with unspoken respect. A er of her mouth lifted in a half-smile as she looked at him, almost seeing him for the first time. The question hung in the air between them, but Evander kept silent, allowing her assumptions to fill the gaps in versation.
She weighed and ied each item with a skilled eye before passing him a small, intricately carved token. Magic pulsated within it, the tiny object humming with the equivalent of his earnings. Her rge hand ed around his smaller one, pressing the token into his palm, a silent firmation of their transa.
With a wave of her hand, she directed him towards an office tucked away in one er of the room, where another queue was beginning to form. "!" she barked, already turnitention to the er.
So far, so good, Evander mused as he weaved his way through the maze of tables, the weight of the token heavy in his pocket. He blended into the moving tide of people.
At the end of the queue, Evaood out like a shadow amongst a riot of color, his hood drawn up and cealing his face. His thoughts were inward, silently rehearsing the possible responses if his secret was discovered. Yet, even as his ay warred with the need for anonymity, the world around him did not cease. He became an uional eavesdropper to the lively versations around him.
A group of women, their voices as boisterous as their spirits, filled the queue with an animated discussion about their pns for the night. Laughter punctuated their talks as they id bare the hopes for the evening's eai. One woman, in particur, a bright grin ad her face, boasted about her pns to visit a special bar, one known for its one male dahe ent elicited roars of ughter and envious shouts from the group, the echo of their cheerfulness stretg to the far ers of the room. Yet, all Evander could do was listen, his role limited to being a silent observer.
By the time he stepped into the shabby office, the din of the versation had faded into a distant hum. The clerk, a woman of nondescript age, looked as though she would rather be anywhere else. She barely g him as she motioned for him to pce his token on a crystal embedded in the desk.
A holographic dispy sprang to life above the crystal, scrolling through a list of his items and their corresponding market prices. He squi the lumi figures, his heart skipping a beat as he realized the worth of some of the body parts he had brought back. The numbers danced in front of his eyes, a tantalizing promise of wealth he hadn't expected.
I o figure out how to transport more of these, Evahought, already pnning his hunt. But for now, he was tent to pocket the small fortune he had made. He pced his payment stone on the crystal, and with a slight humming, the amount was transferred. The transa plete, he found himself grinnih his hood.
Quickly, he turned and stepped bato the bustle of the city, the disied clerk already summoning the person in lihe hood tio shadow his features, a necessary safeguard in the sea of unknown faces. But beh it, a smile pyed on his lips – the thrill of success, the promise of more to e.
