As I lay on my back on the cold dungeon floor with warm lifeblood draining from me faster than I could heal, I knew this fate was the reason that my mother forbade me to follow my father’s footsteps to become a Hunter.

  I also knew that nothing could have prevented this course of events once my mother died. Leaving my sister and me to weather the foster system, or to fend for ourselves. We’d taken the second option.

  I coughed, and blood splattered back on my face. These bastards weren’t even going to give me a clean death.

  The only way a high-school student was going to earn that kind of money was through The Veil. Even the weakest Hunter could earn a decent living from the minor mana crystals they earned in the lowest Ranked dungeons.

  I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. I wasn’t sure if that was because I’d lost so much blood, or if the wound in my back had severed something important.

  Even the weakest Hunter…that was me. The weakest on The Associations rolls. I was an E-Rank, but some Hunters joked that The Association had to create a new “F” rank just for me. The standard accelerated healing that couldn’t keep up with combat but got me back in action in days instead of weeks. As strong as a normal bodybuilder without hitting the gym. Nothing more than that. A peak human playing in a world of superhumans.

  My vision filled, blurred, and narrowed. My final moments.

  A dark shape loomed over me, its raised sword an indistinct blur. Maybe they were going to give me a proper ending after all.

  The blade descended towards my chest.

  Actually… you know what?

  Fuck that.

  They came to my world. They took my father. They gave me nothing. And now they expect me to just lie there and die?

  Fuck. That. Shit.

  I barely managed to raise the arm that was still attached and weakly batted the descending blade aside. It punctured my shoulder and pinned it to the floor instead of ramming through my heart. A minor improvement, I figured.

  I rolled myself into the blade, agonizing pain shooting through me. But the momentum freed me from it. Unfortunately, my legs only flopped with the turn. Yep, spinal cord cut somewhere. Never mind.

  I wrapped my good arm around the legs of the thing that was currently trying to kill me. Put my screaming shoulder into it and heaved. Nothing budged.

  None of this was fair. I hadn’t asked for or signed up for any of this bullshit. My father abandoned us and was lost to the Veil. My mother died from cancer and neither the Corps nor the Guilds would lift a finger to help. My fellow Hunters ridiculed me. My teammates left me to die. I had about a minute left before I bled out. The only two lights in my life were my sister, and Juna. The one Hunter who was friendly to me. The one I stayed behind to save.

  And I was damned if I was going to let them down by going down quietly. To go down without a fight. My grip tightened as much as I could, and my throat let out a hoarse shout as I tried my best to pull them down to where I could deal some proper damage.

  “FUCK YOU!”

  Only silence followed, as a hand gripped my hair tightly to pull my head back. A wet coldness swept across my throat, and everything started fading quickly. Just before the final black, I heard a guttural, slightly garbled voice:

  “Core initializing…Analysis Systems Online…”

  * * *

  [Core initializing…Analysis Systems Online…]

  [Awakened detected…]

  [Evaluating Compatibility…Subject compatibility 99%]

  [Candidate selected…Beginning Synchronization…]

  [Error Found - Subject Deceased…]

  [Beginning regeneration…]

  [Regeneration complete…Beginning Synchronisation…]

  [Accessing Subject’s memories…]

  * * *

  I gritted my teeth as the deep cut in my thigh slowly closed. It was a paradox that healing a wound hurt so much more than when it was made, but it was also a fact of life for a Hunter as weak as I was. Juna, the B-Rank healer with our raid party, glared at me.

  “Sean, why do you keep coming into dungeons? Why keep working as a Hunter if you just keep getting hurt?”

  “I’m sorry…” Juna was always so kind. Even though she was a B-Rank, she only participated in low rank raids for some reason. So we bumped into each other a lot. She was always on my case about getting hurt.

  “I don’t want an apology. I want an explanation! Or at least for you to stop getting hurt.”

  I just nodded. I wasn’t going to admit to her that I was a high-school dropout, which left dungeon runs as my only real option for earning enough to support my sister.

  The tiny mana crystal from my single kill was worth a couple of thousand dollars. With only a few dungeon raids each month low enough in Rank for The Association to let me inside, I had to make the most of it.

  I couldn’t afford not to go on every raid I could. Before my father died in a dungeon, his career as a Hunter had afforded my family a decent life, and good schools. Now that it was just me and Lucy, it was all I could do to keep a roof over our heads and her in the right school.

  Juna glanced over to where the rest of the raid was finishing up with the other monsters. None of them needed healing. They all had some kind of magical ability or defensive equipment. Or both.

  Me? A plain sword and a leather jacket.

  The basic Hunter “Package” was the ability to tap into mana, increased strength and agility, and an increased healing rate. On top of that came various abilities with themes of things like “mage”, “warrior”, or “archer”. The more abilities, or the more powerful they were, is what determined your Rank. I was the only Hunter on The Association’s rolls with no abilities at all.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Ha, too easy!” shouted one of the other Hunters as he finished off the last monster. He glanced over me and grinned. “We always know it’s going to be a smooth run if The Association lets you in, Sean. It’s like you’re a good luck charm.”

  His words stung, but he wasn’t wrong, and there was no malice in his tone. I knew I had a reputation with the local Hunters, but I couldn’t afford to care.

  Juna finished healing me, the signature green glow fading from her hands. The ache faded from my thigh, and she patted me on the other leg.

  “Come on Sean, let’s see if you can stay out of trouble for the rest of this raid.”

  I stood up and recovered my sword. An unadorned straight hilt held a solid blade, now scuffed and nicked from use. Nothing a good sharpen wouldn’t fix, though. Standing there as I sheathed it, I looked down at myself. I wasn’t the only one in everyday clothes, but most of the rest of the raid had some kind of magically enhanced equipment. The casters were more obviously in robes.

  Parker, the leader of this raid, beckoned us onwards with a sharp command. The stone-brick walls of the dungeon gave way to roughly hewn raw stone, and the air cooled and smelled damper. The torches on the walls spaced further and further apart until one of the mages lit a magical fire in his hand and held it aloft. As he did so, it revealed something we might have missed in the darkness between the torches. A large opening in the wall, with a dark passage looming behind it.

  “Hold up.” Parker raised his hand and the whole group stopped. “This should be the last passage before the boss,” he mused.

  He gestured at the mage holding the ball of fire, who stepped closer, tilted his arm back, and flung it down the passageway. It rolled more than flew, lighting rough brown cave walls as it vanished into the darkness. Nothing more than a long stretch of rock showed, and nothing stopped the ball of fire until it winked out in the distance.

  “Straight on, no side passages, that’s how a boss room works.” Parker paused for thought. “No, this is something else”.

  A man with a bow strapped to his back spoke up. “I’ve heard about this, but thought it was just talk. They call it a double dungeon. Extra boss, but the dungeon closes with the main boss as usual. Double the rewards.”

  Parker turned pensive. He turned back to the group. “All right folks, looks like we have a choice here.” He pointed a knife-hand down the main passageway. “Clear the boss like usual, go home.”

  He turned and pointed in the same manner down the new passageway. “Find out what’s down there. Maybe fight two bosses today. Double the reward, double the risk. Or maybe nothing but an extra walk.”

  Parker faced the group again. “I can’t ask you all to go along because I say so. So let’s put it to a vote. The group decision is final—no complaints if it doesn’t go the way you voted. Everyone on board?”

  I looked around at the other Hunters. They were all nodding in agreement, but some looked confident, some looked uncertain, and some nervous.

  Something about this felt wrong. The hollow darkness seemed like it wanted to swallow me whole. This was a wildcard—and if I didn’t walk out of here today, then my sister would be left truly alone.

  I was definitely in the nervous category, but I already knew which way I wanted to vote. My sister was in her last year, which meant college next year. I couldn’t afford to pass up an opportunity like this, no matter the risk. But I was still reluctant to make that choice. Normally a dungeon was a calculated risk. Even as weak as I was, so long as the party had a healer I could always walk out alive.

  I glanced over at Juna. She too looked nervous, but I knew she was going to vote the other way. As a B-Rank Hunter, she should have been in higher level dungeons. High enough that our paths would never cross, let alone frequently enough to become friends. But she had confided in me that she was scared—scared of the danger, the violence, the risk. She had said that she felt a duty to make use of her gifts, especially since they helped others directly, but couldn’t bring herself to enter the challenges she was clearly capable of handling.

  With the party in agreement, Parker took up a position in the mouth of the passageway. “All right, those in favor of exploring the new area, come stand with me. And those that want to go straight to the boss, stand in the main path.”

  Ten Hunters stood in the main passageway, Juna amongst them. Nine others stood with Parker for a total of ten. The last to join him was obviously torn, but eventually shrugged.

  “I’m only here because my wife’s pregnant with our third child. I thought I was out, but costs, ya know.” He explained as he went to stand beside Parker.

  The split was exactly even without me.

  The last Hunter’s explanation was what tipped me over. If he was risking his life for his family, how could I choose otherwise? I glanced apologetically at Juna as I went to make up the deciding vote with Parker’s group. She didn’t appear happy with my decision.

  “All right everyone.” Parker clapped his hands. “Decision made. No backing out now—lets do our best, and get some bonus loot.” He gestured at the mage, who resummoned his ball of fire. A few other casters followed suit, and a medley of colors rippled over the rocky walls.

  Parker led the group as we moved down the passage, his sword drawn but resting on his shoulder. Juna stomped over to my side.

  “Are you crazy? Last I heard you got hurt in an E-Rank dungeon. An E-Rank. And now you’re dragging us all into some unknown double dungeon thing, in a D-Rank.”

  I felt bad, and I’m sure my face showed it as I hung my head. “I’m sorry Juna. I need the money.”

  “I don’t want an apology! I’ve never wanted an apology. I want you to be careful! I want you to stop making me worry every time you go into a dungeon.” Her fists tightened briefly. “And I want an explanation—what do you need the money for so badly you’d risk your life like this?”

  “I have some expensive hobbies. Anime figures.” The joke came easily as I grinned.

  “Ugh, fine. Keep your secrets. But I’m still mad at you.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Juna glared at me. “Are you really sorry?”

  “Of course I am.”

  “Then start being more careful!” She snapped at me. “If that monster had stabbed you any higher you’d have bled out before I could heal you.”

  “Maybe I should just follow you around in the dungeons.” She muttered to herself before turning back to me.

  She was right, of course. The only reason I was okay today was her healing. I could only think of repeating myself.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Juna sighed. “Stop saying that. It doesn’t change anything.”

  She looked up at me from the side. “If you’re really sorry, you can make it up to me when we get out of here.”

  “Really? How?”

  She smiled shyly. “You can take me to dinner.”

  I nearly stumbled. Was she asking me out?

  I glanced at Juna, who was now staring at the ground as we walked. I thought I could detect a faint blush on her cheeks.

  With three Ranks between us I’d never considered her more than an acquaintance. A very distracting acquaintance, for sure, but with the exception of the upper echelons with fewer options, Hunters didn’t date down. They lived in different worlds. Even though Juna kept to the lower rank dungeons, she'd still faced more dangerous monsters than I ever could.

  I racked my brains over all of our interactions for clues that I’d missed. I’d never have considered asking her out, no matter how much I might have wanted to. But now…

  She was definitely cute—hell, more than cute, she was that girl next door that made beautiful look effortless. I’d spent more than one long walk in a dungeon watching the twin swaying of her long red ponytail and her robe covered hips. That hair and green eyes made the scattering of freckles across her cheeks the obvious next thing—and only made her cuter. Long legs swished out from the skirts of her robes, clad in slim cut cream pants. Her robes were well fitted, a two-tone cream and red over her pants and with a matching short cape. I’d never met her outside a raid so I had no idea of her usual dress sense, but she certainly rocked this look.

  It’s not like I hadn’t noticed this all before, but her words drew my attention to them all over again. The faintly detectable look of hope on her face made my chest tighten. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously as I looked at her.

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  Juna smiled up at me, meeting my eyes. “It’s a date then.”

  I kept rubbing my neck sheepishly as I realized that yes, she was asking me out.

  All I had to do was make it through two boss fights.