Taya and Lucy were huffing and panting from exhaustion.
"What the hell did I get myself into…" Lucy mumbled under her breath.
Just One hour earlier...
When Taya said they were going on a hunt, Lucy knew it would be rough and tough. It was there first hunt afterall, and they were going to do this without any proper training of sorts, which in a way itself was a stupid and an idiotic decision to be honest. But what else is greater than live scenarios right....? nothing could have prepared her for just how brutal it really was going to be.
As newcomers, Taya and Lucy were only allowed to take F-rank quests. After asking around, they finally found a team willing to bring them along. Their leader was a middle-aged man, a D-rank hunter. He was the only one above F or E rank in the group, yet every other member was armed with proper gear—blades, axes, armor. Compared to them, Taya and Lucy's steel daggers looked pitiful.
*****
Leaving the distracting thoughts away both of them focussed.
Ahead of them stood a beast—black as obsidian, its shape that of a wolf. It was already wounded, bleeding thick, dark blood—not from their attacks, but from the frontline defenders who had injured it before it slipped through. A normal hunter with the right weapon could've finished it off. But Taya and Lucy weren't even rookies, and their daggers were little more than kitchen knives against something like this.
The wolf's mouth dripped with saliva, its breathing ragged, yet its eyes were feral. Even half-dead, it was still deadly.
"Aren't you awakened? Just use your power! Turn the damn wolf to stone!" Lucy shouted in desperation.
"It doesn't work like that!" Taya yelled back.
Her head was throbbing with unbearable pain. Beneath the scarf tightly bound around her head, the snakes in her hair writhed violently, trying to break free. But she couldn't let them. If she did, she didn't know which would be more dangerous—the wolf or herself. She feared her own power as much as the beast, because if she unleashed it here, she could turn allies into lifeless statues. So she fought with only the dagger clutched in her shaking hand.
The wolf lunged.
Its weight and force slammed into Taya, hurling her several meters across the ground. She hit the dirt hard, gasping for breath as the monster charged at her again, faster, hungrier.
Lucy screamed, panic overtaking her. She ran forward despite the pain from her own injuries, but she was too slow. She couldn't bear to watch her new friend get ripped apart, so she shut her eyes, bracing for the sound of tearing flesh.
Taya, dazed from the impact, saw the wolf bearing down on her. The snakes hissed in her ears, straining harder against the bindings. Her hand went instinctively to the scarf—if she was going to die, maybe she'd rather take the beast with her.
But before she could pull it off—
A flash of steel cut through the air.
A figure appeared between her and the wolf. With one clean strike, the newcomer's sword severed the wolf's head. It toppled to the ground, rolling lifelessly as its body collapsed with a heavy thud, and then suddenly all its body dissapeared into formless dark smoke and then it materialized into a stark black crystal with shade of white shimmering on it .
Taya blinked, stunned.
The man stood tall, his blade dripping black blood. He extended a hand toward her. She hesitated, then grasped it, letting him pull her to her feet.
As she steadied herself, her eyes fell on the badge at his chest—etched clearly with a D-rank insignia. The team's leader. Her savior.
When Lucy finally opened her eyes, she saw her friend still alive—and realized they had barely survived by a thread.
Once the area was cleared, the team got to work harvesting the Aggress crystals. Laughter and chatter filled the air as they went about their task, but not all of it was friendly.
Taya and Lucy sat off to the side, both injured, bruised, and bleeding. Their daggers lay useless beside them, and their bodies ached too much to move.
They didn't need to strain their ears to know what was being said. The whispers weren't subtle—comments about how useless the two newcomers were, how they were nothing but dead weight, a burden to drag around.
Every word stung, sharp as any blade. But neither Taya nor Lucy spoke back. They just sat in silence, shoulder to shoulder, happy just to be alive, while the rest of the team collected the spoils of a victory they had earned.
Taya sat in silence, her thoughts heavy. She replayed every moment of the fight—every mistake, every hesitation. What could she have done differently? How could she have survived if she'd let her serpents loose, could she turn them into stones? The questions gnawed at her, but before she could get lost in them, the man who had saved her life approached.
His name was Dojun.
"Hey, ladies," he said casually, a small grin tugging at his lips. "Don't worry about what just happened. You did well enough, considering you were swinging around those kitchen knives." He chuckled.
Taya flushed, unsure if it was from shame or gratitude.
"I get it," Dojun went on. "You don't have much experience hunting. Honestly, little girls like you shouldn't even be out here… but I know times are rough." His tone wasn't cruel, just matter-of-fact.
He crouched down so they could see the seriousness in his eyes. "If you want to grow stronger, you need training. Reflexes, weapon handling—real combat skills. The best place to start is the military. They need people, and they'll train you. They'll give you armor, proper weapons, everything you're missing. In return, you'll have to serve when they call you—five years, at least. An obligation, yes. But after that, you'll be free to decide your own path."
Dojun then stood up, reached into his pouch, and handed them two small jade black crystals—spoils from the fallen monsters.
"Your share," he said simply. "For helping out with the quest."