Spirit Hunting Union

Quinn then filled in his details.

Name, age, date of birth, and rank…

He thought it was going to be more than that..

Anyways, the instructor assigned him a silvery armour. Smooth to touch. Slightly shiny under the twilight sky.

But the gear wasn't whole. It had different arm harnesses to be put together, like the gauntlet. So, a staff - young as morning, innocent like a child - helped fit everything on him.

Quinn might have chuckled without him realising it. Because, this is funny. Why would the Union employ wimps like that? The area of specification doesn't matter so long as they're joining a hunting Union.

What if a set of capable Spirits pop out of nowhere and attack the mountain? Then the wimps become casualties for the strong to protect.

What a pain in the arse.

Afterwards, the instructor offered him either a sniper or a dagger. He can only choose once.

Well, beforehand, Quinn himself wasn't picking something hard to use. And the man also advised he should choose the daggers.

He did.

But what he never knew was that this wasn't any advice. It was a clear marketing scam.

In a nutshell, the gears and dagger weren't free. They were to be purchased with real money. Quinn wanted to back down at this point. But what fun was it leaving when he was already here?

So, he paid. With online transactions.

One thousand five hundred dollars.

But truth be told, these bastards are running a business. Not training.

… One of the instructors, probably the highest ranked official, soon approached an ice slab. A few feet from the ground. When Quinn saw everyone else gathering before him, he did the same.

At that moment, what he realised was that not all of them had the same gear colours. A few had silver just like him. Many more candidates had red. And…

Quinn creased his brows.

'I thought she had gone somewhere before.'

He saw River.

Her own gears were dark green, just like many others.

If it's like this, were they assigned gears based on ranks then? Yes, most probably.

After some seconds, the whole gathering fell dead silent. The instructor stood tall on the slab. Draped in formal suits, lean and well-built as though he never skips the gym a day.

What a worthy person to give such a speech.

"Greetings to you, dear Hunters. I am Garrick Wolfe. Most people call me Mr Wolfe." The man started.

Quinn held a close stare at him, interested. Something about this man stood out so much it was hard to ignore his presence.

'He must be some S-rank brute…'

Mr Wolfe's voice cascaded across the field,

"Without taking much of our time, I'll address the training immediately. We hold this a few times a year. And the chance that some of you here have attended before is very unlikely. You'll be scared to retake it, simply."

A wind of loud quietness spread through the clearing.

If one listens closely, they can hear snow pattering against the surface.

Quinn's heart ached slowly.

'Why is he trying to be intimidating?'

Mr Wolfe adjusted his tie.

"Very unlikely, but not impossible. Some of our elite Hunters like to take challenges. In a minute, all of you will cross into a dimension built within this ice mountain. Created by our respectful board of Dimensionists. But keep in mind that you can't back down once you step in. There won't be any other choice than to face what comes for you. To prevent any consequences."

Guess his assumption was wrong after all, Quinn thought.

This was no normal training. Until now, all that he could smell was a death mission.

"... Right at the gate, you'll be arranged into teams of three each. The task is simple; make it to the exit gate. The marking will be shown on your respective Curses."

Quinn smirked.

'Simple, eh? You make it seem like we're going in there for some damn trek.'

At that moment, Quinn saw one of the silver Hunters raise her hand. The instructor gave her a go-ahead.

She was slim, her voice as tiny as that of a kid.

"Thanks for the briefing, dear sir. But may I ask a question?"

"Go ahead, miss."

… Quinn watched both of them.

The lady then asked,

"What are we coming across inside that dimension?"

The question was simple, yet had so much weight that even Mr Wolfe didn't reply on time.

Quinn could see a slight hesitation in him.

In a moment, the man refocused his stare.

"I was still getting there."

Another male silver Hunter added,

"But we want to know, sir!"

Everything else aside first, did these guys have to disgrace the other silver Hunters with their cowardice? Geez, Quinn regretted standing together with them.

… Mr Wolfe suddenly gave a response,

"What will you meet inside? Mutated spiritual beasts."

The male Hunter gasped aloud.

People immediately stiffened, clenching fists. And murmuring.

But as though pride were an achievement, the dark green team were so calm.

Too experienced to chicken out, eh?

Quinn focused his stare on the man. As if reading his mind, someone said to the instructor,

"Then this isn't training at all. It's a life-or-death mission, isn't it?"

Quinn's expression tightened…

Then came the answer,

"Yes, you're right."

What a straightforward response.

Thanks to that, Quinn realised something.

He gently stared back till his sight landed on Silas. Surprisingly, the man was looking his way too. That even validated his suspicion even more.

A gentle, tight smile spread across Quinn's face. And Silas returned it.

Quinn looked forward.

His fists clenched slightly.

'He's up to something again. I can sense it.'

Mr Wolfe got done with the briefing some minutes later. People could choose whether to participate or not. But something in particular made Quinn discard other options.

His Curse brought a <Mission Take-on> window to his face. Prompting him to accept or decline the mission.

Why didn't Quinn choose any other option?

Because of the reward.

Too good to reject.

In the aftermath, just two Hunters backed down. Quinn didn't expect the others to be so daring all for the reward as well.

Well, the more people, the merrier.

They teamed him up with two cheeky guys. Who seemed to have known each other before. He just had to do his work, not make friends with anyone.

The reward had to be high anyway. Because, from Quinn's point of view…. Same as this was disguised as a training session, the dimension might not have been made by any hunting board. In a nutshell, the Union could be bothered by mutated beasts that thrive there on their own. And need a hand clearing them.

But why would they lie? There were even a bunch of elite Hunters for such a task.

Quinn couldn't wrap his head around that.

… Everyone travelled through the snow for a while. Till they got to the front of a twin black mountain.

There was an alley between them. Free of any grass. Covered in pure white. And on the walls of the mountains were ivy and moss.

Most importantly, the air at the centre of the alley started to shimmer. Sort of like a… broken glass.

Quinn understood immediately. That was the portal into that dimension.

Once they stepped in, there was no going back.

What comes as soon as they do?

No one knows.

Nobody knows if it's straight into the face of death.

They just went on.

Since they already signed up.

No other choice.

Different teams went inside. And vanished just like that.

When Quinn and his teammates neared it, one of them, his hair blonde, said,

"Let's take some rest when we get there. I heard…"

But he paused when Quinn kept glaring at him.

The guy chuckled and asked,

"What's up, man?"

Quinn said back,

"You remind me of someone I hate…"

The guy blinked.

But Quinn said nothing else and vanished into the portal.

While the blonde guy chuckled in disbelief, the second one patted his shoulder. And entered too.

The guy mumbled before going in,

"What an attitude."