Kaiser did not have many choices, and yet he was still hesitant to make a decision.
'This would be so much easier if I were an awakened.'
Not for the first time, Kaiser wished he could be more like his brother in that way. Which was unsurprising, after all, everyone wanted to be a Hunter. It was often cited that "Hunter" was the most popular dream job among students. And it was easy to see why.
After the Cataclysm nearly four years ago, the world had changed in many ways, but the two most important new aspects of life were the continued appearance and threat of Gates, and the newfound lack of both space and resources. Thankfully, those concerns had the same answer: Hunters, there wasn't as much area for livestock or solar farms, but that could be fixed by Gates. The monsters inside the Gates quickly became humanity's main food source, and after it was discovered that talented Hunters could create devices that converted mana into energy, the resources inside the Gates could be used to power cities much more efficiently than any other power source.
As Hunters became a profession, people began to idolize them; instead of movie stars, musicians, and athletes, the most beloved and well-paid people were now Hunters. But those reasons weren't why Kaiser wanted to be a Hunter; for him, it was about the feeling he'd first felt while watching the fall of the eastern settlement. The feeling that welled up inside and made him feel so hopeful at the sight of the hero who'd appeared there, he wanted to be like that person.
But it wasn't meant to be. Despite having mana, Kaiser hadn't awakened in the years since the Cataclysm, and it began to feel like he never would. He still had until he turned seventeen before he would even be able to start acting as a Hunter, but that didn't make him feel much better. It was common for awakened to begin training as soon as they awakened, and Hunter academies took students as young as twelve, so the sooner someone awakened, the more training they could receive and the faster they could reach their potential. If he could awaken and he was strong enough for a Hunter academy to want him, his future would be made. He could enroll and then, in two years, apply to become a member of a guild, and if he joined a good guild, that would set him and his brother up for life. Signing with a guild would also let him start hunting at sixteen, while unsigned Hunters needed to wait until they were seventeen to get a license. But he hadn't awakened, and so his choices were limited.
That's why he was turning to the Hounds; Roy's people were members of a criminal organization, but as his uncle's place of work illustrated, not everything under their control was illegal. Although the idea that those businesses didn't help launder money for the Hounds was laughable. Still, they were the organization that had the most reach and power in the outskirts. The government, for its part, whether because it simply didn't care or because it knew better, did not mess with the Hounds.
The government's lack of involvement wasn't from discretion on the part of Roy's people. How could it be when even movies and novels both openly mention them by name? People disagreed on why that was, but the most popular sentiment, the one that the media presented, was that the Hounds kept crime clean, and thus, law enforcement let them be. And there was reason to believe this theory, after they pushed out every other gang in the outskirts, the more dangerous illegal substances disappeared. Those that remained were regulated by the Hounds from production to distribution, making them much safer. While they were taking power, violence sometimes spilled onto the streets, affecting everyday people, but once they took power, that was no longer the case. When smaller gangs appeared, the moment they touched a business protected or owned by the Hounds, they disappeared.
They weren't just an organization in the community; they'd become the community. You either joined them, worked with them, or left the outskirts entirely.
Since Rin was here, that last one wasn't an option until either his brother was old enough to enroll in a Hunter academy or got signed with a guild. Even if Kaiser needed to find somewhere else to live, he wasn't going to leave his brother behind; he didn't trust his uncle nearly enough for that.
He could join the Hounds and try to get something more secure than just doing odd jobs for them, but…
'Will I be able to become the kind of Hunter I want to be if I join the Hounds?'
That was a serious question for Kaiser, even if it might seem silly to other people. A place to stay, awakening, a reliable income, none of that mattered if he couldn't be who he wanted to be. The problem was, Kaiser didn't know what path to take. That's why he was currently walking to his destination, in the hopes that he'd decide before he reached his destination.
"Warning! Elevated magic levels have been detected in this area; it is advised that any non-awakened individuals evacuate immediately. Warning–"
'What? A Gate was about to break? There was meant to be signposting if there was a Gate in the area, especially one that was close to breaking.'
Kaiser looked around hurriedly, trying to pull himself out of his thoughts and get his bearings. For a moment, he assumed he'd been so lost in thought that he simply missed the usual red tape and signs, but no, the street was empty of any of that. There were even some people milling about, all of whom were now similarly panicked as Kaiser.
"Hunters and Awakened, you are now licensed to use your powers at your discretion. Any aid you provided will be rewarded by the Bureau of Hunter Affairs."
Even on the outskirts, this level of neglect by the government was surprising, especially from the BHA.
"This way! Everyone, the nearest shelter is this way! If you can't fight, evacuate. Quickly, the Gate's already open." Kaiser heard a man shout from somewhere in the direction people were heading. From the fact that he had information about the situation, it was likely that he was a Hunter.
The situation was much worse than Kaiser had thought; the Bureau hadn't just messed up, they'd completely missed a gate until it had already opened. As people realized the situation, the relatively orderly movements of the people around Kaiser broke down. People screamed, and many had broken into a run, including Kaiser.
His breaths grew shallow, and his vision narrowed.
'I need to get out of here, I need to get to the bunker, or I'm going to die, we're all going to die.'
Kaiser was now cutting through the small crowd that'd formed, weaving between people trying to move as fast as he could. People jostled and shoved each other, but Kaiser didn't care; instead, he used his small size to slide past the people ahead of him. This sight, the scared people, the crowd pushing those ahead of them forward, it reminded him of… of the day his mother died.
Kaiser finally broke free of the crowd; he'd somehow managed to make his way through the mass of people. With no one in front of him, he was able to begin sprinting. He was going to make it to the bunker; he was going to make it, and everything would be fine, but before he could, Kaiser fell.
Kaiser barely caught himself as he fell over whatever had tripped him up; thankfully, he wasn't in danger of being trampled, but that was only if he got up now. He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the sting of putting weight on his now pavement-shredded hands. In that moment, he shot a quick look behind him, trying to figure out what he'd tripped on.
It was at that moment that he realized it wasn't a thing he'd tripped on, but a person. The man looked old and likely had fallen while trying to evacuate. But that wasn't Kaiser's problem; even if the man had injured himself, someone else would help him. Kaiser, on the other hand, needed to escape.
As Kaiser scrambled forward, he tried to push the image of the old man out of his mind. But he couldn't.
'If I leave this man here, can I still become like him?'
The answer was obvious but painful. It went against every instinct Kaiser had, every bit of his mind that screamed for him to run away, to escape the impending doom that would find him if he didn't make it to the bunker in time. With a jolt, Kaiser realized something: he was scared, it was so obvious, but the fear he felt had narrowed his thoughts and strangled his reason. Kaiser had long since stopped seeing himself as a kid, and so he didn't really think of himself as someone who could be scared, and yet he was terrified. That was what was stopping him from making the obvious choice and helping this person in need. But that realization helped him; he was still scared, but he could do something about it now.
Kaiser turned around and made his way back to the old man.
Kaiser draped the man's arm over his back and lifted him to his feet.
"Thank you," the man said.
Kaiser didn't answer or apologize or comfort the man; he couldn't, he couldn't even look him in the eyes. How could he when he had been about to leave him to die? Instead, he moved forward, much slower now that he was supporting someone else's weight. Kaiser still didn't make eye contact, but he looked the man over. From how the man was walking, it seemed like his left ankle was injured.
'Damn it'
People pushed past them as the two made their way towards the bunker, but somehow Kaiser kept the two upright. Even so, they were not moving quickly enough; if anything was coming after them, it'd catch up to them, and if that happened… no, it wasn't worth thinking about.
"Hey! Someone, please help this man can't walk." Kaiser tried to shout above the clamor of people, but either no one noticed, or they didn't care.
Before Kaiser could shout again, a scream from behind them made him stop. Unlike the shouts and yells he'd heard from the crowd before that moment, this one was different. It was guttural and pained; it was the scream of someone who thought they were about to die.
The crowd surged once again, and this time Kaiser was only just able to stay standing, having to completely ignore moving forward if he wanted to stay upright. Instead, he managed to get them to the side of the alley and into the shelter of a doorway. All the while, the screams were getting closer.
Kaiser's thoughts raced as he tried to spot a way back into the crowd, but it was no use; the mass of people surged, allowing no entry for the two. There was no way he could rejoin the crowd while supporting the old man.
'Maybe the doorway?'
Kaiser slammed his body against it, but without more room to build up more force, it didn't give. He was about to try again when the old man tried the doorknob…
'I'm an idiot.'
It hadn't been locked. Kaiser slipped inside and pulled the old man along with him.
'If there's another exit, maybe we can find a different way to the bunker? But if monsters were that close behind them, there was no telling if it'd be the same on the next street. It might just be safer to hide here. '
"Thank you, what's your name, kid?"
Kaiser was already up and checking for another exit as the man spoke, but even so, he felt compelled to respond this time.
"Kaiser, and there's no need to thank me."
The building they entered seemed to be an apartment building, which should mean there'd be a back exit or something, but if there was, Kaiser couldn't find it.
"Of course there is, you saved me."
Kaiser didn't respond to that; the statement felt like a knife to his gut more than gratitude. He'd been very close to abandoning the man, and yet he was being thanked anyway; it felt wrong.
"I don't think there's another exit, but there might be somewhere upstairs we can hide out in. That's probably our best bet."
'As long as the gate had released something weak, that was. Otherwise, we're already dead.' But Kaiser kept those thoughts to himself as he returned to the old man's side.
"How's your ankle?"
"It's bleeding a little, but it'll be fine. I think I can make it upstairs."
Kaiser froze, his eyes wide with shock and realization. He'd just thought the man had a sprain or had twisted his ankle, not that it was–
Bang
Something was throwing itself against the door that the old man was leaning against. Like animals, many monsters had great senses of smell, and one of the most enticing smells for them was the smell of human blood. It'd been a long shot that the monsters wouldn't be able to sense them hiding in the building, but there'd been a chance. But this? This was as if Kaiser had just trapped himself in a building with monster bait, no, that was exactly what he'd done.
Kaiser had a decision to make then, the same decision he'd just had moments prior, but this time he made a different choice.
"Wait, Kaiser, where are you going?"
"Kaiser!?"
"Come back!"
But Kaiser was already running up the stairs, leaving the old man behind.
Chapter 4 - Regret
Kaiser flew up the stairway, climbing the floors until he reached the door to the roof of the building. Unsurprisingly, that was locked. Kaiser threw himself against the door with all the force his small body could muster. As he did, he heard a sound that made him freeze up. From somewhere far below him, a scream echoed.
'I didn't have a choice, I was as good as dead if I stayed with him. I-'
But Kaiser's excuses felt hollow as he repeated them back to himself, as if he were trying to convince himself that his choice had been the logical and correct one.
"Damn it!" The boy slammed his fist into the unmoving door, this time in anger more than in an attempt to break it open.
'It's no use anyway.'
Sliding to the floor, Kaiser held his face in his hands. There was a good chance that whatever monster had gotten the old man would find him too, and in that case, what did it matter if one of them went slightly before the other?
Time seemed to stand still atop the grimy apartment staircase until Kaiser heard it. Something was climbing the stairs towards him. But it wasn't the sound of footsteps that'd announced the monster's presence; those were so soft he could only barely notice them even if he strained. The sound he'd heard was that of chewing.
'This is it, I'm going to die without ever getting the chance to do anything with my life. Well, it wasn't so bad a life, was it?'
Kaiser tried to resign himself, tried to believe his thoughts, but as the sounds got closer, that resolve shook. It sounded like the monster was right below him at this point. Now that it was this close, he could hear its footfalls; they were soft, nearly human, but any hope that might've brought him was quickly washed away by the thing crunching down on whatever it was eating.
Then it came into view; the monster was humanoid, walking on two legs, and was only a little smaller than Kaiser himself. If not for its greenish skin, Kai might've thought it was a very vile child. Well, if not for its skin and pointed teeth, teeth that were currently gnawing at what looked like… like a human leg.
Terror took hold of Kaiser then, and with it all pretense of being resigned to his fate disappeared.
"No, no, no"
Kaiser tried to scramble back away from the thing slowly approaching him, but it was useless; there was nowhere to go.
"Fuck, this I'm not fine with this, my life wasn't so bad? That's bullshit! I-I don't want to die. I never got to be anything."
The monster before him growled in response, tossing away its meal, much more interested in the prey before it. Kaiser slowly got to his feet, hoping against hope his movement wouldn't cause a response from the beast. There was only a single flight of stairs between the two now, but considering how fast monsters could be, there was no assurance that it'd take any time at all for the creature to cover that distance.
'There's only one way I'm getting out of here alive, and that's if I kill this thing.'
That was easier said than done, though, without being awakened, Kaiser didn't even have the passive boost to his strength that all awakened had, and besides that, he had no weapon to fight with. The monster, on the other hand, had both claws and teeth that looked like they could tear the flesh from his bones. Still, Kaiser raised his hands, replicating one of the stances he saw weaponless Hunters use.
The creature moved then, and it was quick, in a second it'd leaped up the stairs, using its hands to propel itself up the stairs, closing the distance to him. Before Kaiser could respond, it was already trying to scratch at him.
'It's so fast, I can't dodge that.'
Instead, he raised a hand to knock away the attack, but all that accomplished was letting the monster rip into his arm. Kaiser screamed, but he had no time to let the pain overtake him, since the creature had lunged again, intent on sinking its teeth into his flesh.
Kaiser's body moved before he could think about how to respond, using his uninjured arm to shove the monster off course, causing it to crash into the wall he'd just been standing against.
'Maybe I can run now? No. That's not even an option.'
Kaiser grabbed the back of the creature's head and slammed its face into the metal of the door. Despite the momentary hesitation, the creature hadn't fully recovered from the force of its attack. There was no running away; he was sure of that now. He simply could not outrun this thing, even if he tried; this was the only option.
Grabbing the creature by its hair, Kaiser put his entire weight on it, now pinning it to the ground and once again slamming its head into the door; the impact came with a sickening crunch. Before Kaiser could do it again, though, the creature managed to free one of its arms and was now swinging wildly at Kaiser, scratching him.
Kaiser did his best to ignore the attacks, but when the creature tried to go for his eyes, his grip slipped, and the monster was able to push him off it. Standing face to mangled face again, the creature hissed at him, swatting at him with its deadly claws in an attempt to keep him away.
'Damn it.'
It'd taken a lot out of him to try to keep the creature pinned for even that short amount of time, and it'd all only amounted to no more than a broken nose. Not just that, now it seemed pissed off, its next attacks came wildly, causing Kaiser to barely be able to block them. At this point, he'd resigned himself to sacrificing his left arm to block the creature's attacks.
Blood began to spill from his arm in a steady stream, its flesh now gouged in multiple places by the creature's sharp claws. Still, the monster kept on attacking, leaving no opening for Kaiser to exploit. Then it came, its attack was a right hook intent on tearing open his stomach. While Kaiser couldn't dodge with his back to the stairs now, if he blocked it, he'd have an opening to counter.
'This is my chance.'
Kaiser made to raise his left arm again, but something was wrong; either from the damage or blood loss, his left arm had been slow to move. Instead of fully blocking the attack, his attempt only managed to turn an attack that would have spilled his guts into one that gouged gashes into his arm and stomach.
Blood immediately began welling up from the injury. Even if the attack wasn't as bad as it could have been, it'd still hit something important. And now that thing was making him bleed profusely. Kaiser tried to put pressure on the injury, but his shredded arm lacked the strength to do so, and on top of that, the monster was about to attack again.
Seemingly sensing the gravity of Kaiser's injury, the creature in front of him was grinning, its sharp teeth still glistening with blood. Then it lunged. The next moments felt like they took forever.
Kaiser felt pain shoot through his body, a pain unlike the kind from his injuries, though it was like a wave of electricity was tearing through his body. It felt like he was dying, but instead of numbing him, it felt as though the pain had reinvigorated him.
'Is this what it feels like to be on the brink of death? Is this what it feels like to be about to die? It- it feels, it feels good, exquisite even.'
It felt as though Kaiser's mind had sharpened, as if the new energy coursing through him had even increased how fast he was thinking. The monster was still leaping towards him, but it felt like it'd been minutes since it'd first started lunging at him. It felt like he had all the time in the world to respond. So when he did, he made sure it was the best course of action.
Kaiser shifted to the side, and as he did, he pushed the creature away from him, letting its momentum carry it forward and down the stairs. As it fell, it tried to grab Kaiser, but only managed to tear at his one good arm before it went tumbling down the stairway. It landed in a heap at the bottom with a cry of pain.
'It's not dead yet.'
Kaiser backed up a little before sprinting towards the stairway, and then he leaped. Kaiser sailed over the stairs towards the landing and the creature that was still lying in a heap there. Although it was slowly stirring, it wouldn't be quick enough to get out of the way.
When Kaiser landed, he landed with a sickening crunch. The monster screamed, and so did he. Although it had taken most of the impact of his landing, Kaiser had still landed with a jarring pain from his injuries. And it still wasn't over, as expected from a monster from a gate, it wouldn't be killed so easily.
What followed was a bloody fight for survival. Even though Kaiser had the upper hand, he was still weaker and less deadly than his opponent. So he became deadlier; it wasn't enough to fight like a person, so Kaiser didn't, he scratched and tore and pulled and gouged, but it wasn't enough. One of its arms was broken from his landing, but it was still fighting back with the other and straining with all its might to get out from under him.
They were at a standstill. Kaiser had its good arm pinned, but he, too, had only one useable arm, and that was currently being used to stop the creature from smashing its head into his own. While having his arm pressed into the thing's face did keep its head down, it also meant it was able to bite him, which it did. Pain shot through Kaiser, making him scream once again. At this point, he didn't even recognize his voice.
What Kaiser did next was probably the correct choice, but one he would not have made in a different situation. He probably would never have even thought of doing it if it hadn't just been done to him. Kaiser bit the creature back.
Sinking his teeth into the creature's throat, Kaiser did his best not to gag at the foul taste of the monster's blood. For a moment, the pain of the creature's bite let up for a moment but in the next, the monster seemed to have redoubled its efforts. It felt like its bite might just break his arm if this continued. So Kaiser bit harder too; if it broke his arm, it'd be able to free itself, and if it did, he knew that would mean his death. He could feel himself losing strength, the surge of energy he'd felt earlier was fading fast, and now it felt like every bit of him was on fire and in pain.
Still, Kaiser bit down, blood pouring into his mouth; it felt as though he could even feel each of the creature's heartbeats. Then it felt as if something was changing; it felt like the creature's bite wasn't as painful anymore.
'Did I lose too much blood? Am I losing feeling?
No, it's getting weaker.'
It wasn't just its bite that was weaker; it'd been doing its best to strain against his weight, but now it felt as though that'd lessened. What Kaiser was feeling wasn't himself losing feeling or strength; it was the creature's strength draining from its body as it died.
Then, it stopped moving. But Kaiser didn't release his bite, even when he couldn't feel the thing's heartbeat; he didn't stop. What finally made him let go was the realization that he couldn't breathe; at some point, the monster had broken his nose, and now he was finding it hard to breathe through it. The problem was that his mouth was similarly full of blood.
'There's so much blood.'
Some of it was the creature's, but most of it was likely his, and at this point, he was lying in a pool of it.
'I'm going to drown in my blood.'
No… He had enough strength to shift slightly, rolling onto his side, so he wouldn't drown in it; instead, he'd die from blood loss. He could feel the warmth leaving his body. As his consciousness began to slip, the last thing he remembered was heavy footfalls coming from somewhere below him and someone picking him up. Then everything went black.