“The reason you two promised to be Hunters, do you still remember?”

  When Merilyn asked that, Johan couldn’t help but gulp.

  “It’s scary how much you know.” Cold sweat covered his back, but she only shook her head.

  “It is because you trusted me enough to show your true feelings,” she said.

  Yes, he trusted her for some reason. He could feel it too, the similarities between them, even before she opened up.

  Even now, he couldn’t hide from her that he had tried to deflect the question again.

  But what could he do? This had become second nature to him.

  Why did Yuna and I promise to be Hunters, huh? Now that all the fog had cleared up, he could recall it.

  At first, it was about being cool; he wanted the flashy powers he had seen on TV. To be idolized like he idolized the Hunters. Yuna had little to no interest in it at the time.

  However, on the day that their town collapsed and he saw Yuna cry, something shifted in him. Even more so when Yuna said she wanted to be a Hunter first. She also stopped crying after that day.

  Their reason was as childish as they were at the time. Two eight-year-old kids that somehow survived an SSS-rank rift break, caked in dust of their home and blood of their families.

  “We didn’t want others to lose their homes as we did.” He muttered the answer that had twisted over the years; no, he had twisted it himself. “We didn’t want to lose anything else to the magik beasts.”

  Even after getting his class, nothing about him had changed. At the end, Yuna came to him herself, and he still tried to run away. It took Merilyn, someone who could peek into his mind, to push him to the answer, and he was glad she did that for him.

  A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

  “That was very pathetic of me, wasn’t it?”

  The moment he uttered those words. His vision started to sway. The corner of his vision turned dull as the colours deepened. It felt dizzying. The world around him dimmed, and he couldn’t control his body. His head landed on something soft. Something wrapped in silk.

  And as he looked up with his blurred eyes, the last thing he saw was Merilyn’s smile, his head on her lap.

  “There is no need to feel that way. Regretting the past and fretting the future, there is no one alive or dead who hasn’t done that.” Her fingers caressed his face as the words echoed in his ears, the sharp eyes softening a little. “I am sure she’ll understand if you make an effort instead of standing still.”

  Make an effort… Johan didn’t know where to start.

  Should he apologize for not communicating? Should he accept his own limitations? Should he think of what he could do to make up for the time he lost?

  Dozens of thoughts swirled in his head, but he had an inkling of what he must do to take the first step.

  When I wake up, I’ll call Yuna first.

  Maybe that’d lead him to a future he doesn’t regret.

  ***

  Sitting in the conference room of an airship bound for the Black Tower, Yuna leaned back in the red chair as a transparent screen before her showed a portrait of an old man with a monocle over his blue-green eyes.

  He looked rather sleep-deprived with messy black sideburns that had started to grey and a bald crown. Well, he was the reason she had to enter the Black Tower alongside the three S-Hunters.

  “Dr. Shultz entered the Tower ten days ago without receiving permission from the International Hunter Association.” Ares, the one leading the team, twisted his lips into a sneer. “Although chances are that he had already become a snack for the beasts, we have to do our job.”

  The two hunters, aside from her, weren’t too happy to help either; she could see their lax body language and unwillingness to even bother with the meeting. The meeting itself was held in name only. As a pastime, if she had to guess.

  They had a simple job: rescue Dr. Shultz from the 48th floor of the Tower if he was alive. If not, they were to retreat immediately.

  Most of the meeting was an endless chatter about this or that; the hunters present didn’t think the rescue target still lived. Yuna herself had doubts. The Tower wasn’t a forgiving place.

  “These Paper Hunters are so annoying.” Jonathan, the S-Ranker from USAN, shook his head.

  “Truly, they don’t know their limits.” Brie, his partner, didn’t hide her twisted expression.

  Paper Hunters was a derogatory term for Hunters from the Academic circle, Hunters who lacked combat ability. And an academic hunter sat beside her, nose buried in her iPad.

  “Don’t mind them, Sasha.” She tried her best to sound caring, but her voice was flat as ever.

  “I don’t take words of sweaty metal swingers seriously, so it's fine.” Sasha was extra loud, making sure her words carried out of the meeting room. She cared not for the peeking S-Ranks and only straightened the collar of the white shirt under the black vest made from an A-Rank beast’s muscles.

  “Now now, Sasha, don’t forget our guild leader is also an active Hunter.” Renolds stretched like a cat that had woken up from a nap, adjusting his flowery pink robes and necklaces. With his long auburn locks and soft eyes, he seemed more like a romantic poet than a Mage.

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  “Senior is different; she is elegant and dignified. Far different from crooks who can only use brute force.” Sasha raised her nose high.

  Well, Yuna didn’t know what delusions this kid had about her. After all, her nickname made her seem like the epitome of a brute.

  As the airship landed on Hell Island, the island that showed up with the Tower. She alighted from the hunk of metal and set foot on the cracked plain. The grey soil and deep crevices were far removed from the bluish-purple forest a kilometre away.

  Still, her eyes focused on the black spire that rose on this vibrant horizon. Ever so twisted, ever so mangled. The magik wave blasting from its form messed with her senses as a faint ticking of a clock reached her ears.

  She had only entered the Tower once. It was during the raid of 46th floor, the Clash of Armies. That’s where she got her nickname.

  “Hey, Terminator, got a minute?” Ares had stepped down the metal ramp, his golden armour more blinding than the airship’s thrusters.

  “I enjoy flashiness, but even I never go that far.” Renolds hushed under his breath, shielding Sasha from the glow. Well, it’s not it caused any harm, not any she was aware of.

  “What is it?” Yuna asked as Ares arrived before her. He was much taller than her, imposing, too.

  “Just wanted to have a little chat as we go.” He smiled.

  Well, whatever it was, Yuna had little interest in it. Still, it could be important, so she decided to listen as they entered the colourful forest. It was like someone on psychedelics had painted it.

  There was a faint hum of insects, and occasional calls from the birds she spotted in the cloudless sky. Aside from that, the clock ticking grew louder with each step towards the Tower.

  As for Ares’s chatter, it wasn’t important at all.

  Hearing Ares talk, the walk through the forest seemed to pass by slower than she remembered. She had stopped listening to him about halfway through. Something about the next raid team for the Tower or whatnot.

  Only when the Tower appeared, piercing through the sky itself, did her mind clear for a moment. Her eyes ran up the chain of hallowed compartments spiralling up the dark tower. Statues of beasts, from horned rabbits to eight-headed dragons, were carved into the black stone. They looked so lifelike and detailed that she thought someone had petrified the real things and placed them there.

  “The scout party reported that the Boss of the 48th floor is the Golden Dragon, the Mage Tower called it Alecles, Treasure Hoarder in their language.” Ares’s words echoed in her ears. She turned to him as he continued with his high and mighty tone. “Dr. Shultz was probably after something in that thing’s treasure horde. He even approached Seraphina, asking her to guard him, but she turned him down, so he hired a mercenary group and entered illegally. Fascinating, don’t you think?”

  “A little.” What could make one of the most respected Academic Hunters enter the Tower like this? Still, that didn’t change much for her. She turned to Ares. “We have to save him, no?”

  “…Yes. If he is still alive, we have to. But we must not aggro the dragon.” He turned serious, starting for the obsidian doors at the base.

  The humongous doors towered over 10 floors, with a giant clock above. The clock only had one hand and 10 numerals instead of the standard 12, which made it look crooked and odd. The hand had reached the 8th hour; they had two more hours, or two more years to clear the 50th floor.

  In the silence around the Tower, Yuna stared at the red system window before her eyes as she came within 20 steps of the Tower.

  [Yuna Lee, which floor would you like to enter with your party?]

  She looked at Renolds and Sasha, and both nodded. Ares went ahead of her.

  “48th floor.”

  The world paused the moment she uttered the words; the swaying trees, the dry wind, it all stood still as colour drained from reality. Soon, the world stretched at the seams as the ground beneath her feet vanished. Black and white lines filled her vision, rushing past her before splashes of colours came in and the lines smoothened out.

  She felt the crumbly earth beneath her feet again, and a barren landscape with sparse grey peaks stretched out before her. Numerous craters and claw marks dug deep into the earth; the area looked messy, like someone had recently flipped it upside down.

  “Ugh.” She held up the swaying Sasha, shielding her from the harsh sunlight.

  The first-time vertigo was always terrible. It took a dozen experiences to get used to it. And if that wasn’t enough, the difference in magik density also took its toll.

  The fact that Sasha hadn’t vomited already put her above 90% of the active Hunters. Still, it seemed as if the two S-Rankers had something to say. When Yuna looked over, they decided to keep it between themselves.

  “Sorry for the trouble.” Sasha found her footing soon, her teary eyes back on the iPad, several white drones left the bag on her hip, they soon took on the color of the grey earth and shot out like missiles in all cardinal directions.

  “The Magik readings are optimal, the air is a little dry, but there aren’t any signs of beasts or people within 100 km.”

  “Impressive.” The one who clapped first was Ares.

  “It’s nothing.” Sasha wasn’t even operating at full capacity. Half her gear couldn’t handle the Tower’s magik interference.

  She’s gonna demand an increase in funding when we go back. Yuna could already see it in her shining eyes. But that wasn’t an issue; this was the reason she brought her along.

  “So, which way should we go?” Ares looked at Yuna after surveying the area for a bit.

  Yuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had been waiting for this moment, the moment she was inside the Tower.

  Because this was the only place she could let herself go.

  [Class Exclusive Skill, Suppressed Emotions Lv.9, Deactivated.]

  When she opened her eyes, the world became a lot more colourful. She could see the aura emanating from the people around her; she could taste it on the tip of her tongue. The reds and greens seemed normal; however, she was in search of another. The black air, the air of dread.

  Yuna felt a prick on her neck and turned back. She pointed to the south, eyes filled with the rising black smoke that spiralled to the grey, cloudless sky.

  “Renold, carry Sasha.” She said, shooting forward like an arrow.

  Ares kept up with her; the other two S-Ranks lagged behind. Renold stood on a flying carpet, floating behind them with Sasha seated by him, eyes on the tablet.

  “Four Grey Wolves at 3 o’clock, five at 7 o’clock, all A Ranks,” Sasha shouted.

  Yuna didn’t need her warning; she could see the grey wolves hiding near the dip from their aura. Her sword slashes had already cut through them, kicking up dust clouds, before they even thought of jumping out.

  She sliced through the cloud, darting forward.

  Ares called out. Did he? She wasn’t sure.

  Yuna never deactivated Emotional Suppression during the raids she did with her guild. She could make clear-headed decisions and pay proper attention with this skill, a useful trait for a leader.

  However, she wasn’t the leader today. Even if she was, she doubted she could hold back this time.

  [Class Exclusive skill Rage Counter Lv.6 has reached 50%.]

  For the first time in a long while, Yuna couldn’t contain her anger.

  She always felt angry when she faced Magik beasts. The sight of her and Johan’s crumbling home came to her mind every time she saw them.

  But for the first time, she wasn’t angry at the magik beasts.

  “Yuna, that’s the floor boss!” Ares’s shout reached her. It was like the buzzing of a fly.

  Her eyes locked with the dragon that hovered before her; the blazing wind from his flapping wings wanted to send her flying, but it felt like a light breeze.

  [Alecles, The Dragon of Gold]

  She saw the red window above his head. His name was displayed in black. However, Yuna only felt anger boiling in her veins.

  [Class Exclusive skill Rage Counter Lv.6 has reached 65%.]

  For the first time, Yuna’s anger wasn’t directed at the Magik beasts, but only at herself.

  “Don’t die too quick, alright?” she said to the dragon, unsheathing her sword.

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