Heat under Ike’s rear woke him. He startled, patting around at the ground around him, only to singe his hands as well. Ike jumped to his feet, only for his feet to slip in the loose sand. He fell back against the cliff wall, his ribs jostling in his chest.

Ike blinked, clearing his eyes. He stood in the sand pit from earlier. Little pools of water bubbled up here and there on step-like layers of sand-covered rock, a large pool boiling in the center of the pit. A woman in armor and a man wearing leather gauntlets laid on the floor of the pit, dead. All around them, dead salamanders laid, piled up, and at the pit’s center, the enormous Salamander sprawled near the pool, utterly still.

Right. I… Ike took a deep breath. He paused, then walked over to the bodies. In a few seconds, he stripped them of their coins, but left everything else. Grabbing Sandra by her ankles, he dragged her into the central pool and pushed her into the depths, then did the same with Joseph. There, he dusted off his hands. Now they looked as though they’d been drowned by the Salamander. With any luck, some little salamanders would nibble on them and turn them into skeletons before anyone found them, leaving no proof of his actions.

He turned back to the Salamander. Returning to the imprint of Sandra’s body, he grabbed her axe. Hefting it, he chopped at the creature’s thick neck. One strike. Two. The Salamander’s head fell free, oozing orange blood. He unwound his sack and sliced it up, retying it into a long strap, then tied the head to his back. It would be worth more if he brought the entire body home, but he couldn’t lift a monster that large on his own. The head would have to do.

With the monster and the bodies taken care of, Ike lifted his head, gazing up at the forest overhead. Tana and Ket…

The magic circle around Tana’s neck. Their matching black eyes. Ket’s decision not to fight him when Sandra and Joseph had him pinned against the wall, and the way he’d scooped Tana up when the spell broke with Joseph’s death.

Ike shook his head. He didn’t fully understand what had happened between them and Joseph, but clearly Tana had been under some kind of compulsive curse. That alone didn’t absolve them of their guilt, but…Ike shook his head again. I just don’t know enough about this world. The world of hunters.

The world outside the wall.

Standing there, holding the Salamander’s head, it occurred to Ike that he could simply leave. He climbed up the cliff, then stood there, gazing off into the distant forest. He was outside the wall. He could walk away and never come back, and no one could stop him. His debt, everything, would become just another bad memory. He could become a hunter, an adventurer, and—

Ike snorted at himself. And probably die horribly to the next monster I meet. He’d barely killed the Salamander at great risk to his own life, and that was after a party of four Rank 1s weakened it significantly.  He didn’t know enough. Didn’t know enough about the world, about the monsters around him, about the other cities and the vast wilderness between them.

He turned away. Pay off my debt, then gather resources. Knowledge. Make a plan, and act on it. Running blindly into the wilds is not my path to the top. 

After all, I can pay off my debt, now. I can kill monsters. I’m a Rank 1.

I’m not that powerless kid anymore.

Leaving the Salamander’s body in its pit, he walked off with the head.

It took him most of the day to find his way back, after he got lost once winding through the woods, and again when he went the wrong way around a knoll and found himself picking his way across a rock-strewn hillside.

When the wall appeared at last, Ike sighed in relief before he realized what he was doing. For the first time, that pale granite barrier exuded warmth and comfort, the relief of a finished job. He mingled with the other hunters and walked in, though a few tossed surprised gazes at the head on his back. Ike glanced around. Was it that surprising that he had the Salamander’s head? Everyone expected the party to win.

A moment later, he chuckled to himself. He wasn’t the party. He was just one man, one unknown boy with nothing to his name. And here he was, returning alone with the monster’s head.

He made a beeline for the monster buyer shop. Lea leaned her head on her hand in her bubble of warmth, only to startle upright at the sight of him. “What? You’re alive?”

Ike gave her a look. Pretending he hadn’t heard, he untied the strap and slung the Salamander’s head onto the counter. It thumped, its silly face staring down Lea. She startled, backing away.

“It’s dead. Pay up,” Ike demanded.

Lea took a few quick breaths, struggling to process what laid before her.  She waved at it, on the verge of hysteria. “This…you did this?”

“I did.”

“Where’s Joseph and the others?”

“Dead. It killed them.”

Lea hissed a short breath. She shook her head, then closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was all business. “Head’s worth ten gold, plus the ten gold bounty. If you can return its body, every fifty pounds of its flesh is worth another two gold.”

Ike startled. “Fifty pounds—” How big is that thing? It’s almost enough to pay off my debt in one go!

“The hide is another two gold per unmarked meter, and the claws are three gold each. The organs—” Lea rattled off prices for every piece of its body.

By the time she finished, Ike was panting. If he recovered the whole thing, not only would he repay his debt, but he’d also have a few gold spare. Enough to throw around. To buy the bags and gear he’d need to become a true hunter. To buy books, to learn more about the beasts around him and what they were worth, their weak points and strengths. To buy skill orbs. Bronze- and Silver- ranked orbs capable of holding Rare and higher skills. Kit himself out with a real skill set. 

“I’ll be back,” Ike promised. He collected his coins and headed to the door.

“Wait!” Lea called.

Ike looked back.

“They’re—they’re really dead?” Lea asked.

He nodded. Ike cast his eyes at the ground, pasting sorrow across his face. “Died right in front of me. I—I couldn’t do anything. I’m lucky the Salamander was already on the brink of death when it dragged them into its pool, or I’d be dead right now, too.”

Lea took a deep breath. From the corner of his eye, Ike watched her closely, searching for any sign of suspicion. After a moment, she nodded. “That’s the life of a hunter, after all. You never know which hunt will be your last.”

Ike looked at his feet, then back at Lea. “It was a good reminder for me.”

“Still going to be a hunter?” Lea asked.

Ike turned. From the door of her hut, they could see the wall, looming over them here more than anywhere else. “I wasn’t born to live in a cage.”

Lea snorted. “But the cage is safe.”

“That’s exactly the trap, isn’t it? Safe.” But his cage wasn’t. Not as long as his uncle lived in it. Hell, not so long as those guards are looking for my skill. The faster he escaped, the better.

Turning away, Ike stepped out into the sun.

The sun was too low in the sky for him to take a second trip that day without risking a night in the wilds. Without the proper gear, he didn’t think he’d make it through the night. Instead, he headed toward the guild.

The outpost’s guild backed to the wall, literally built into it. The old man and old lady from the tavern sat on the front porch, playing a game of checkers. As he approached, the old lady looked up. She grinned, then nudged the old man.

“Huh? What?” The old man turned around, bracing his arm on the back of the chair. His eyes met Ike’s, and he froze.

“Good afternoon,” Ike greeted him.

“You’re alive?” the man asked, taken aback.

“He’s upright, isn’t he?” the woman countered.

“Yeah, but look at him!” the old man argued, gesturing.

Ike looked himself up and down. Blood stained his shirt and pants alike, both his own and the bright orange salamander blood. Although the hot water had dried quickly, his clothes remained wrinkled, clutching to his body in weird places. He touched his hair, but already knew it would be a mess. Embarrassed, he grinned.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Oren. Pay up.” The old lady grabbed his arm and shook him.

“Oh alright, alright. Dammit, Cari. Won’t forget a single silver,” the old man grumbled. He dug in his pocket and handed her a coin.

Cari took the coin, then flicked it to Ike. “There you go. Go ahead and get yourself registered. I won it off your efforts, after all.”

Ike caught it out of the air and tossed her a nod. “Thanks.”

Oren clicked his tongue. “At least buy a round with it, dammit.”

“Life isn’t just about drinking, you old drunkard,” Cari admonished him. The two of them bickered, their voices fading as the doors swung shut.

Ike flipped the coin, idly catching it. Abruptly, he snatched it out of the air and clenched it tight, almost unable to believe how casual he’d been with the coin. And yet, hundreds of times as much value sits in my pouch, right now. He opened his palm, barely able to look at the silver. Am I rich? Is this what rich feels like?

A short line led to a counter not unlike a bank teller’s, with the glass-fronted booths and wooden dividers and all. The guild’s cavernous main hall stretched tall above them. Enormous exposed beams gleamed in the chandelier light. At the back of the hall, a staircase swept up to a second-floor landing, where a few adventurers wandered around, picking their way through doors that led deeper into the hall. A few other guild members hurried around with piles of paper. None of the others in line paid the second-floor wanderers any mind, so after a moment, neither did Ike. Slowly, Ike inched toward the front.

All the legends spoke of guild babes, beauties in short skirts and low-cut tops who flirted relentlessly with every adventurer who came by. Ideal women, with perfectly sculpted bodies and adorable faces, blowing a kiss as they handed out orders and bartered bounties. He’d caught glimpses of art books of the ladies, their centerfolds prized. Ike held his breath, not wanting to expect too much, and yet desperately anticipating it.

“Next.”

Catching his breath, Ike stepped forward.

An overweight, middle-aged woman leaned on her hand, barely giving him a glance. She picked her nails, feet propped on the empty desk beside her. Dressed in a severe uniform that hid any curves she might have had and absolutely no makeup, she cocked a thin brow at him. “What do you want?”

Ike cleared his throat. Dreams shattered, he put the silver down on the countertop. “R-register. To register.”

The woman harrumphed. She pitched forward without taking her feet down and snatched the coin. Fiddling under the counter, she pulled out a small crystal ball and rolled it toward him. “Hand on that.”

Ike eyed it warily. “What does that do?”

“Read your Rank.”

“That’s all?” If it read his skills too, he—

She rolled her eyes. “It fuckin’… sucks your dick. What do you think it’s gonna do, jump you? Hand on the ball, or get outta here and stop wasting my time.”

Ike hesitated one more second, then remembered the silver he’d already paid and lunged for the orb.

Warmth flowed into his palm, then out of it, a small bit of his mana leaving him. Under his hand, the orb flashed, purple lightning shining through it for a moment, then settled into a steady purple glow.

Holding his breath, he glanced at the woman. Did she see that? Is that normal? Please tell me it’s normal.

The woman leaned forward. She squinted, then sat back, rifling through the shelf again. Gesturing for him to roll the ball back to her, she slid a Rank 1 badge to him.

Ike snatched it up, barely remembering to pass the ball back. His hands trembled. Rank 1. At last. After all this time. Finally. His dreams were coming true. Finally, finally, finally—

“You gonna move? I got more assholes to register,” the woman complained, waving Ike out of the way.

“Oh—sorry, I—sorry.” Clumsily stringing the badge on his belt, Ike shuffled out of the way.

Out of the guild hall, Cara and Oren still complained at one another, but there was a friendly beat to it. Cara waved as Ike passed, and Ike waved back. She flipped her hand, gesturing for him to show something. Ike lifted the badge on his belt, letting it glint in the sun. Cara shot him a thumbs-up and a smile before turning back to Oren.

Walking on, Ike took a deep breath. He turned toward the inn for the night, ready to head out and retrieve the rest of the Salamander the next morning.

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