Chapter 57: Hunter and Hunted

Tess stood in the line nervously, trying to ignore the barely concealed stares from those around her. It was graduation day, and it was finally time for the thing to actually start. It had been a long morning, the school had made them do a rehearsal for graduation, and, much like in school itself, no one was quite sure how to act around her. It was a lot like how she imagined people would treat a potentially live explosive; lots of staring and maintaining distance, very little actual contact.

She had grown used to it in these past two weeks, but it still hurt. She had grown up with most of these people, known them for over half of her life, and here they were treating her like she would snap at any moment.

But she couldn’t blame them for that. They didn’t know the whole picture, and she probably would have reacted the same way if she was in their shoes. Still, it had made for quite the awkward morning, and she was glad that it was finally reaching its end.

The principal began to read off the names of the students, and the line began its agonizing march towards the podium. And…nothing happened. She got through the line, there was a slightly strained handshake with the principal, and then she was given her diploma and was directed to sit down while the ceremony concluded.

Unfortunately, that conclusion took another half hour, and only then it was time for people to go meet with their families and mingle with their peers.

Not that Tess expected to hang around very long. Gramps was her only family here, and she doubted anyone would be looking to stay and chat with her.

And then she found herself caught in a friendly headlock, a familiar voice sounding from behind her. “Surprise!”

“Alice?” Tess asked, blinking. “What are you doing here?”

Alice let go of her headlock, and Tess turned to face her. She looked…different. Her skin was still that same dark brown, but it had lost its wooden texture, and her hair had gone from a leafy green to a subdued black.

Alice grinned, holding up her hand so Tess could see a ring on one of her fingers. “I got special permission from the Guildmaster to be here for you. Figured it was a big enough day for the two of you that I should come.”

Tess smiled and gave the older girl a hug. “Well, I’m glad you did. It was getting a little…lonely, I’m not going to lie.”

“I thought it might.” Alice replied. “Let’s go say hi to everyone else, shall we?”

“Everyone else?”

“Ker and Jin are here, and so is the rest of the Guildmaster’s party.” Alice informed.

“Oh, um…yeah, let’s go say hi!” Tess said. She hadn’t been expecting such a…large group to turn up, but she was happy they had. It made this whole thing seem just that much more tolerable.

It appeared that Ellie was already talking with Jin and Ker, who were…much shorter and much taller, respectively, though their appearances were otherwise the same. Standing next to them were Gramps, Ava, Atum, and Eyfura.

It was odd, seeing Eyfura and Atum looking like humans when she was so used to them being…well, not human. “Hey, everyone.” She said. “Um…thanks for coming, you really didn’t have to.”

“Nonsense!” Ava replied, waving a hand. “We couldn’t just let you two have just Evan for company today, you deserve more than that.”

Eyfura clapped her on the back. “Congratulations.” She said, smiling widely. “You’re all done with your education, how does it feel?”

“Weird.” Tess replied. “I was always assuming I was going to go to college after this, learn how to be an accountant, but…well, I’m kind of glad I’m not going to. It just seems like it’d be…boring.”

Eyfura snorted. “You’re telling me. I couldn’t imagine sitting at a desk all day doing math. I would probably die of boredom after a week. Why would you want to go into something like that, anyway?”

Tess shrugged. “Seemed like good money, and I don’t mind math, so…I thought it would be kind of cool.”

“Well, if it’s money you’re after, you’d be insane to do anything other than what you’re doing now.” Alice said wryly. “Might not transfer to here the best, but I’m sure you’ve already noticed how unusually high your income is.”

Tess scratched the back of her neck embarrassedly. “Yeah, I was kind of made aware of that when I got those cores the other week. Feels almost unfair, to tell you the truth.”

Fortune: It is, that’s kind of the point

Death: Speaking of unfair drops, could I borrow Tess for a bit?

Life: What could you possibly want that she could get for you?

Death: I’ve been grinding for a drop in one of the MMOs I play and I’ve gone like…four times the drop rate without getting one and I’m getting sick of it

Life: You cannot be seriously suggesting using a Blessing to cheat at a video game.

Death: It’s not my fault they don’t have a way of accounting for Luck, so it’s not cheating, it’s just…abusing a loophole

Ellie: This game is from Mael, isn’t it

Death: …Maybe. What’s your point?

Ellie: Then, technically, it is your fault that they don’t know about stats and stuff

Death: Nonono you can’t pin that on me that decision goes all the way up to Amy, and we’re in the process of fixing that right now

Fortune: Is account sharing even allowed according to the game’s rules?

Death: Well, yes, but actually no. Years ago, when the game started, it was, but nowadays everyone does it and no one bats an eye. The devs know and everything, they just haven’t gotten around to messing with the rules…I think. I haven’t checked for a few years

Tess: How would you even account for high Luck, anyway? Shouldn’t it theoretically go through whatever measures they put in place?

Fortune: We’ve introduced a sort of formula that can be used to calculate someone’s Luck, all they have to do is consent to the formula being used and it just spits out their Luck. TBH, the formula doesn’t actually work, it’s more a…shortcut that just tells the system to spit out that person’s Luck, but since it relies on random number generation no one can actually do the math to verify it by hand.

Death: Anyway, they just use the Luck they “calculate” to adjust the drop rates so everyone has a relatively equal chance to get things…not that it would affect you. Anyway, you in or not?

Life: I do not believe this is a productive use of her time. She and Ellie still need to be preparing for their debut as Appointed.

Death: …Fine.

Tess: Tell you what, you keep grinding and if you still haven’t got it by the time we’ve debuted, then I’ll help you get it

Death: Score!

Tess: Keep track of those numbers, though. Have Life take a look at them, and I’ll compare what he has now to what you have then, just to make sure you’ve been doing it

Death: Yeah, I can work with that.

Tess drew her attention away from the window and to the rest of the group, who were looking at her with an amused expression. “Uh…sorry.” She said, blushing. “Fortune kind of stole my attention away for a bit and then Death started talking and…”

“I’m sure she was.” A voice drawled. “Do you have any last words?”

“What?” Tess replied, flabbergasted. She turned to find a girl approaching her. She was…vaguely familiar, and it took Tess a moment to realize that it was that same girl who had confronted her and Ellie about their relationship when Tess had returned to school.

“I’m afraid I…don’t understand.” Tess said. “Last words before I never see you again? Uh…leave me alone?”

The girl smiled a mirthless smile. “No, last words before I set the Hunter on you. We’re going to give you one chance to leave and never return, so make your choice.”

Tess blinked. “A Hunter? The church hasn’t used Hunters in hundreds of years. What are you on about?”

Death: Nah they’re still around. You see, weak monsters do actually pop up from time to time. People have this innate potential for magic, and when that’s blocked like it is here…well, let’s just say it’s handy to have some people who know how to deal with them discretely. Don’t worry too much, you’re like…way stronger than any Hunter has ever been, they’re like…novice freelancers in terms of stats and have no actual Skills. Now that this idiot has warned you one’s coming, you’re in basically no danger. Shouldn’t even need Worship to deal with her

The girl grinned. “As you well know, monsters are quite real, and so the Hunters remained. You can still find them, if you know where to look for them, and a few people in the community know where to look. Choose. Now”

There was a barely concealed snicker from Eyfura, causing the girl to look over at the others for the first time. “I don’t know who you people are, but I would suggest clearing out. I’m guessing things are about to get ugly, and I would rather no more innocents get hurt because of this…thing.”

“I’m good.” Eyfura said lazily, still smiling slightly. Ava and Atum were much the same way, and Gramps was scanning the surrounding area carefully, muttering what Tess could only assume to be a spell.

Alice, on the other hand, was fuming. She looked like she was about to storm over and deck the girl there and then, but Jin laid a hand on her shoulder. “Ellie says she’ll be fine.” He said quietly, giving Alice a meaningful look. “Best not stir up any more trouble.”

Alice harumphed. “Fine. I’m gonna keep watch, though, just in case.”

Tess just shook her head. “I’m not going to leave. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

The girl gave a shrug. “Very well. Farewell, monster, you should have left when you had the chance.” She whirled around and stormed off, leaving the group alone.

Tess didn’t waste any time, activating Tremorsense (Perfect) and Enhanced Hearing (Perfect). She had been training with Tremorsense over the past few weeks, and she had more or less become able to use it without getting too distracted by all the new information. It wasn’t at the level where she was totally comfortable keeping it on in a combat scenario, but this was, apparently, not going to be much of a threat.

And, there she was. About a hundred feet away, mixed in with the crowd, there was a short woman who had a lot of concealed weaponry beneath her clothes, and she was making her way towards Tess. Tess waited, and, once the Hunter was within thirty or so feet, Tess turned and stared directly at her.

The Hunter froze, locking eyes with Tess. There was a tense moment as the two stared, and then the Hunter began to carefully approach the group. When she was about ten feet away, she stopped.

“My apologies.” She said. “I am afraid this is my duty as a Hunter. I hold no personal grudge, but order must be maintained.” She reached into a pocket, and Tess could feel her taking out some sort of…gun loaded with a dart.

“Enough.” Tess turned to see Pastor Faust striding towards the Hunter. “The girl has done nothing that warrants this treatment.” She said. “And she’s a devout follower of Life and Death. I’ve known her since she was a child, surely you can leave her be?”

The Hunter wavered for a moment, then whipped out the dart gun and shot. Tess threw herself to the side, but the Hunter was fast, and managed to land a shot into Tess’s thigh. Tess braced herself, waiting for whatever poison was coating the dart to take effect…but it never did.

The Hunter sighed to herself, putting the gun away and taking out a small but vicious-looking knife. “She must be a changeling.” The Hunter said, not looking at Pastor Faust. “Normal people don’t sprout claws and tear through metal doors.”

Pastor Faust floundered. “That can’t be, I…as the head of the church in this region, I’ve had her thoroughly inspected. She was deemed to be safe to let stay in society. I don’t know what fringe group told you about her, but they’ve greatly exaggerated things.”

The Hunter looked up at Pastor Faust for the first time. “Pastor, with all due respect, I can’t exactly take the word of a branch this small. You may believe it’s safe, but I’ve met my share of monsters that could fool a pastor. The girl you knew is long dead, this is just something wearing her face.”

“No,” Pastor Faust said firmly, putting herself between the Hunter and Tess, “she’s not. I would stake my life on that. She may be…less than ordinary, but the girl I know is still very much there, and I would go so far as to say that she’s better for our community than whomever alerted you to her.”

The Hunter gave Pastor Faust a pitying look. “I’m afraid it has you under its spell. This may hurt a little, but when you wake up, you’ll be all better.” She stepped forward, pulling a syringe out of her coat, before bringing it down on Pastor Faust.

Or, she would have, had Tess not intercepted the syringe with a claw, neatly slicing it in two. “At the very least,” Tess said, “can we leave the innocents out of this? I would really rather not fight, but if we have to, then you and I should be the only ones involved.”

Death: Wait actually I got this let me try something

There was the sudden sensation of something washing over Tess, and the Hunter…stopped, looking up at Tess with wonder. “I feel…my…goddess?” She whispered. “But…that can’t…you’re a…”

Death: Sick, it worked. Do me a favor and ask her to be at the church at 11 PM sharp. I think I might want to give a little…divine revelation. It would be handy to have a Hunter about, so we don’t get a bunch of them trying to put a stop to things. I’ll feed her something that won’t totally blow our cover

Tess nodded, straightening a little and looking the Hunter dead in the eyes. “Be at the church at eleven PM tonight.” She said. “You might find some answers then.”

With that, she turned around and walked towards her group. “Let’s go.” She said. “I don’t think it would be wise to stay much longer.”

“Evan put up a barrier that prevented people from noticing what was going on here, but I think you’re right.” Ava said. “Alice looks like she’s about to tear someone’s head off.”

Tess looked at Alice, who was silently fuming, then back at Ava. “Yeah. I’d rather not spend any more time here than I need to, anyway.”

Gramps gave them a nod. “Alright, let’s get going, then, before traffic gets too bad.”

And so, they did, packing into a couple of cars and heading back to Tess’s house. When they got back, Tess was surprised to find that streamers had been hung in the kitchen, and there were a few celebratory balloons floating about. Furthermore, there was a cake on the counter, and Gramps seemed to be fetching party favors out of the fridge.

“I thought we’d have a little party to celebrate your graduation.” He said. “Things might not have gone great at the ceremony itself, but I don’t see any reason why we can’t have a little fun of our own. What do you say?”

“I think that sounds…good.” Tess said. “Just so long as I’m not being attacked, it’s fine by me.”

Ellie giggled. “Oh, I might attack you later, but I don’t think that’s what you meant.”

Tess blushed. “N-not in front of everyone!” She said. “That’s embarrassing.”

Ellie laughed, grabbing Tess’s hand and giving it a little squeeze. “Couldn’t resist, sorry.”

Gramps gave them a smile. “Let’s kick this thing into gear, then!”

Fighterman481

Mostly with Pastor Faust, getting to show her a bit more. And, if you're wondering why she'd throw down her life to protect Tess, aside from being a good person who basically raised Tess for a month or two, she also knows that Tess is like...important to Life and Death and wouldn't want to risk something happening.

Would Life and Death probably save her? Yes, but, as far as Pastor Faust is concerned, that saving might come in the form of Pastor Faust, so that's no excuse not to try her best. Plus, Hunters aren't known for wanton slaughter to get at a target, that kinda defeats the point.

…Not that people IRL bothered with that, but maybe sometimes things are nicer in fiction.

Anyway, next time...well, I'm debating between two options and we'll see which one wins out. So it's a surprise, look forward to it, I guess?

And, as always, thanks for reading!

Edit: Just realized I totally forgot to mention my side project finally has enough chapters to launch here on SH, and I've been doing so these past few days. Check it out if you want: