"It's important for everyone to know their limits. Children are not expected to be mature. Adults are not expected to be perfect. And Hunters are not expected to be immortal. We are replaceable, and that's the biggest reason why you should always try to keep yourself alive, got that, rookies?"

- Hunter Aleksandra 'Iomedae' Williams. (2038)

Run.

Run Run Run Run Run Run.

Every fibre of my being was screaming for me to turn around and just run, escape whatever was now in front of me, but my feet remained glued to the ground as I saw the hulking beast lunge at me from the corner of the room. It could barely fit inside the ground level entrance of the apartment complex, so it was not a surprise its reach was pretty much anywhere within the vicinity.

My eyes trailed to my left out of reflex, noticing one of the windows. Before I could get bitten in half, I dove for it at the last moment. (Agility) pretty much saved my life in that singular instant that I managed to evade the rotten maws of the Soldier behind me. Crashing through the window was painful, little shards stuck to my exposed skin and dragged themselves deeper once I reached the ground otuside, while the rest was spilled in all directions.

Scrambling to my feet, I started to run at full speed down the street. Looking behind me for a second, I noticed the Soldier unit following me close behind. It was massive. With bulging muscle covered in thick plates of metal, and the occasional patch of fur that the Scout units definitely did not have at all. From just its looks alone, I could tell I could not fight it head-on, it was suicide.

"Any ideas, Crow?!" I asked frantically as I kept on running, trying to weave my body through the abandoned cars in the street and the rubble that had fallen off from nearby buildings.

'Keep straight for two blocks then take a right. You will see a set of stairs, climb them as fast as you can and you should have entrance into another complex. No info on how many scorn inside, but you can hide in there and try to lose the Soldier unit. We can worry about the rest later.' Crow responded in a serious tone, it was clear this was a threat outside my piss-poor fighting skills.

"Roger!"

I kept running, running and running some more, until I finally reached the alleyway Crow had pointed out. The Soldier had trouble making the sharp turn, but it followed closely behind. With the help of that minimal difference in timing, I was able to outpace it and reach the ladders, climbing until I saw an open window, through which I dove through with no hesitation.

I had around fifteen seconds before the Soldier burst through it, so I reached for the main door and went into the hallway, laying as close to the ground and making good use of (Light-Footed) to sneak my way into one of the other rooms in the same level. Two Scouts awaited me inside, but I easily dealt with them since they were just laying down to rest and digest their meal.

As I did so and managed to sneak into the closet of the room, I could hear the Soldier bursting through the window of the ladder and starting to pace around the hallway. Eventually it seemed to have lost track of me, so I relaxed, and then I heard the door to the apartment I was hiding at open.

I put my hand over my mouth and took a long breath, closing off my mouth and nose to make sure I wouldn't make a single noise. The massive creature paced through the entire apartment before exiting again for good. Allowing myself to breathe again, I noticed the window appearing once more.

[ EXP Gained, new total: 4/20 ]

EXP Gained from dealing with the two scouts I guessed. It reminded me I could actually deal pretty easily with Scouts at my current level, but a singular jump in rank meant instant defeat for me...Or did it?

To start off I was never meant to face the Soldier head-on right? It was far too heavily armoured for some level one Hunter to do anything to that thing, even if they had firearms, so maybe there was a way around it? The armour should have gaps, no matter if the creature inside is capable of inter-dimensional travel or not, rustic pieces of armour like that often had gaps its joints to allow movement.

If I could get a large enough weapon, prepare an ambush and attack from behind, I should be able to penetrate into his skull just like I did with the Scouts before. A single well-placed stab would be all I would need, as long as I take it out completely and for sure, of course. As I regained my breath from the sudden sprinting, and I started to formulate a plan, Crow spoke to me again.

'For someone determined to do the bare minimum, you sure have a knack for coming up with these sorts of plans, don't you? Impressive thinking, but I am afraid you do not have a weapon with the necessary longitude or structural strength for that strategy to work.'

"Shame...Wait, Crow...Is there an ability available that would allow me to make weapons or things like that? Like merging a knife into a large metallic pole to create a long spear or something."

'Well yes, but...Wait, I know what you're thinking. Your cunning impresses me, Raven. I believe you will need to level up again for the real shop to be available to you, but with the scan I made of this building...There are more than enough Scouts to serve as fodder for your EXP bar. Let's keep this up and get you some real good skills, shall we?'

"Of course. Now, same as before. Keep watch on my back and I'll clear the entire building floor by floor. Let's just hope that Soldier already got bored and went down." I said, looking down at the knife in my hand, it already looked a bit chipped. Not a good sign.

'Roger that. Big-Boy's on his way to the exit right now, if your plan works, then you'll be able to really farm a lot of EXP from Soldier units. They tend to wander off on their own once Dungeons are established, so they will prove a tasty dinner indeed.'

"Nice. Now, radio silence." I laid down to the ground again, (Light-Footed) was activated and I started to skulk around looking for easy prey ripe for the taking.

'We're not speaking through radio, that's so archaic...But nonetheless, try not to get overconfident, you almost got killed because you didn't look both ways when entering a room, you know?"

I rolled my eyes. Crow was right though, I relaxed way too easily for someone trapped inside a Dungeon with only one arm and a simple knife. Still, I was a god damn Hunter now, so I felt I should play the part. Maybe the role wasn't really fit for me though...Nothing much I can do on that end really. Living all your life in a dumpster and then having everyone you knew be murdered in front of your eyes as you pass away...It tends to leave you pretty cold on the whole life and death debate really.

Crow sighed, she could read my thoughts, so it was no surprise she found my way of thinking irrational or depressing, but it was the truth.

And nothing was more irrational, chaotic, unfair and depressing than life after all.