THE PALE MOON LOOMED over the cityscape. Its soft light cast a gentle shade of blue over the buildings beneath it, the tops of the skyscrapers reached high into the sky as if trying to respond to the incandescent emotion felt from above.

I sat atop one of these glistening towers, taking in a moment of tranquility. I wanted to relish the moment because I knew it wasn’t going to last for much longer. The city seemed to stretch on forever in every direction. The cold night blanketed the sounds of the city beneath me. Crying, laughter, and ramblings of the people who have lost themselves to the bliss of some narcotic.

Below, a group of rough-looking men entered the abandoned building I was standing on.

“Looks like that’s the end of my peaceful night.”

I left the beautiful scene behind me as I headed down to meet my next target.

Life in the city wasn’t particularly easy for most. Many turn to crime just to keep up their sad excuse of a meaningful life. I shouldn’t really complain though, it was because of people like them that I was able to make ends meet.

I spent my nights working as a bounty hunter, hunting people exactly like the ones I was complaining about.

I ran down the flights of stairs, landing as softly as I could to avoid being heard. The criminals I was hunting tonight were a group of low-lives going by the name Blood Ghouls. They had started to gain a reputation not too long ago because of a new pastime they enjoyed. They would roam the streets and find an unsuspecting bystander, sometimes it was a drunkard, others a skimpily dressed prostitute. They would take their victim somewhere to torture them. Their torture was brutal, leaving the victim abandoned to die of blood loss, hence the name of their group.

I reached the room they had intended to use before they did. I hid in the room’s darkest corner, waiting for the ideal time to strike.

I could hear them laughing as they entered the room. There were five of them, the biggest holding a man, who was far too drunk to understand the gravity of his situation, over his shoulder.

“Throw him down over there!” One of the men shouted.

He must’ve been the ringleader. I could tell by how ugly he was.

He wore a deep red leather jacket that was tattered all over, with hair to match. He wasn’t the most muscular of the group, but he wasn’t small by any means. Either arm had curse words painted across them. He had a series of lines tattooed across his right forearm. This must have been his kill counter. There had to have been at least thirty lines.

They threw the drunkard on the floor as he let out a yelp.

“This is how it’s gonna’ go, old man. You’re gonna’ cough up all the credits you got, and maybe we’ll let you go.”

Although the ringleader said that I knew it wasn’t true.

“P-p-please!” The drunkard stammered, “t-t-take it all!”

The drunkard threw out his credits on the floor in front of him. It had to have been only three credits. One of the men leaned forward as if to get the credits but used his knee to slam the man’s jaw knocking him over. The gang laughed hysterically at the man as he soiled himself from fear.

“That all you got!?” The ringleader shouted as he shoved his foot into the drunkard’s stomach.

The man held his stomach as he curled over in pain.

That must have been pretty hard if he felt it while being that drunk.

The criminals continued their hysterical laughs as they each took turns beating the man. I couldn’t bear to keep watching.

I slowly pulled out one of my ether blades and held it at my side. The blade itself was only a little longer than my forearm, but they suited me well. I stood up and slowly walked out of the darkness where they could see me.

“What do you want, you piece of trash!?” the ringleader snarled at me.

Criminals like this didn’t deserve a response, so I ignored him as I slowly moved in closer. I could see one of the men start to tremble.

“B-boss,” he shuddered, “ain’t he that rumor that’s been goin’ round? The one about the masked hunter?”

“Rumor or not he’s ruinin’ my fun” the ringleader snarled while pulling out a small dagger.

I slowly continued toward them as I ignored their idle chatter.

The man fell back as I inched closer, fear gripping him with every step.

“He’s the Faux! I heard about that mask and those markings, the ruthless hunter that’s been goin’ round killing criminals! He even got to Tord’s gang!” He shouted as the fear made his teeth rattle.

The ringleader growled while pointing his blade toward me.

Looks like I had made a name for myself, although the rumor had gotten skewed. I didn’t just kill any criminal, I still had some morals. Either way, it wasn’t about to change what was going to happen.

I swiftly dashed towards the ringleader, holding my blade tightly in my hand. I decided to take him out first in hopes that his goons would fall more easily into submission. The ringleader swung his dagger in a wide uncoordinated attack for my shoulder. I shifted my body and dodged while bringing my blade up to his wrist.

He screamed in agony as I sent his right hand flying into the air. He dropped to his knees, blood pouring out of his severed wrist. I could see the panic spread across the faces of the rest of the gang. Most were frozen in silence, but the largest of the bunch decided he would take me out. I kicked off one of the other men to aim my momentum toward the giant gorilla. He stepped into a wide stance and placed both of his arms in front of his face. But that wasn’t where I was aiming.

With one fluid motion, I dashed between his legs slicing off one of them just below the knee. I leaped back onto my feet as he tumbled onto the floor. He fainted almost immediately. I don’t think he’d ever suffered any real injuries before this, so this was quite a shock to him. As I stood up, I plunged my blade straight into his heart. That takes care of one of them. I looked at the last three remaining murderers.

Breaking free of the fear that had them frozen in place they all surrounded me. But this was actually more beneficial for me, I could get them all in one clean strike. They all nodded in unison and lunged forward at me with small pocket knives. Their movements were incredibly slow and lacked any kind of skill. Chances were they had never been in any real fights but had only ever picked on people weaker than them. I thrust my blade into the throat of the one straight in front of me. I spun around and used him to knock one of the other two down. With the blunt end of my blade, I knocked the last one unconscious. He wasn’t a part of the original bounty, tonight must have been his initiation into the gang. I didn’t want to shed the blood of someone who hadn’t been a part of their brutal killings. Plus, I wouldn’t get paid for it.

I turned to the one I had knocked over as he was scrambling to get back to his feet. I sunk my blade deep into his back. I didn’t enjoy killing, but if I let any of the others off, they’d go right back to killing innocent people. If the bounty had said I could bring them alive, then I would’ve tried to. But I didn’t get to decide that.

“S-stop right there!” The ringleader screamed at me.

He had managed to get a hold of the drunkard and now was using him as a hostage. His face contorted with rage. With his left hand, he was holding his knife against the drunkard’s throat. The drunkard sobbed uncontrollably.

“If you don’t wanna’ see him die, set down your knife and walk on out of here.”

He’s got tenacity, I’ll give him that.

I was too far away to make it to him before he could slice the man’s neck wide open. I dropped my blade and let it hit the ground. The sound of the ether blade hitting the hard concrete made an unusual squeal.

“And the other one! I ain’t stupid.”

Well, I had hoped he didn’t see the other one, but I didn’t want him to kill the drunkard, I wouldn’t get a reward for it. I pulled it out and dropped it onto the floor next to the other one.

“Good boy. Now kick ‘em over here.” He grinned with yellow teeth stained from all the drugs he’d been using.

I kicked my blades over to him. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would keep his word.

But I was wrong.

As soon as the last blade slid to a stop in front of him, he made one clean slice right through the drunkard’s artery. His blood started pouring onto the concrete as the ringleader pushed him over.

The ringleader began laughing hysterically, dropping the drunkard as he bent double.

In his moment of ecstasy, I lunged forward with all my might. I hurled towards him before he had even realized I moved. My right fist slammed into the left side of his jawbone. I could have sworn I heard a large crack with the impact. He flew down onto the concrete with a loud thud.

I picked up my blades and slowly walked over to where he lay. He struggled to turn and face me but instead was met with my blade. I had plunged my knife all the way through his neck, from one side to the other.

I stared down at his lifeless body, his face no longer contorted from rage. He was still just as ugly.

Now that the job was completed, I needed to take back proof of the work. I went to each body and removed their cores from the tops of their spines.

Every person born in this city has a core implanted in them. This was a regulation passed by the rulers of this city. These cores have numerous purposes that the city abuses. It is also used for identification. While these cores can be modified, when they are first implanted, they release nano-machines into your body. This makes it very difficult to disrupt the identification process of the core. Basically, you can’t hide your identity from your core.

Once I had collected all the cores, I needed to redeem my reward. So, I headed to the district guild to collect it.

/ / / /

In these parts of the city, there was hardly any kind of law enforcement. Most Guardians spent their time focused on the inner districts. The inner districts were where the rich aristocrats lived, thus they got paid better for ensuring the inner districts were safe. Because of this, the city instituted security guilds. These guilds were responsible for putting out bounties and requests for vigilantes to complete. It was a makeshift form of security for the crime-ridden outer districts.

I made my way through the dark streets of district seven. The city was laid out into nine districts. District One was at the center of the city. This is where the city council resides and rules over the city. Each following district forms a ring around the previous. The second, third, and fourth districts were where the aristocrats lived. They were extremely wealthy. District Four was a business district specifically for the wealthy. If you did not live in one of the first four districts, chances were they wouldn’t even let you in their stores. District Six was where the Guardians resided. Each district after that consisted of poorer and poorer people.

District Seven was the largest district out of the nine, and it was good for hunting bounties because the people had just enough money to spend on things they shouldn’t.

The city reeked of garbage and ethanol. While there weren’t many vehicles around the draft wafted in from district eight which was the main supplier of the city’s fuel. There were homeless people sprawled out on each side of the street. Most of whom had lost their senses to their addictions.

After a while, I could see the guild building come into view. It stood out because it was managed by the council, and therefore could be maintained better than the other buildings.

The walls were made of some metal alloy, dark in color. It had accents of red lights running up either side. Outside holographic ads swirled in the air surrounding the guild. This was possible due to the core installed on everyone’s neck. While people here were poor, they still loved to spend the little money they had.

I ignored the ads and walked up the staircase into the building. The inside was similar in style to the outside. Unwelcoming and unfriendly. The girl at the counter was new. They went through a new receptionist almost every week.

“Hello sir, how may I help you today?” she asked with a polite smile.

I dropped the cores I had collected on the counter.

“I’m here to collect a bounty.”

I could tell she was taken aback by the sight of the cores. She held back her discomfort as she placed all the cores onto a tray. She took the tray to a room in the back. The desk was covered in an ether barrier all the way around it. This prevented people from trying to rob the place. Ether was the most durable material in existence, even ether weapons couldn’t break it.

I waited for her to return with my reward as I glanced around the guild. This place was a hub for other hunters. They served sub-par alcohol and food, but if you were a registered hunter they gave you a discount. I glanced over at the request hologram. I noticed a few bounties of interest, but one hunting contract really caught my eye. See bounties weren’t the only contracts available. Occasionally, a stray beast would wander into the city. Most of the time these beasts were extremely hostile in a thirst for blood. These requests were easy and paid well. I made sure to save the contract in my core.

The girl came out and stood across from me on the other side of the metal counter.

“Here is your reward, sir” she said, handing me a stack of credits.

I took them and started counting them in front of her. This was standard practice. In the past, there have been numerous receptionists who tried to skim off my rewards.

After ensuring she had given me the six-hundred and fifty credits for the bounty I nodded and went to take my leave. This would cover rent for the month while leaving me a little extra. But I was frugal with my finances, so I could make it last.

“Thank you for your hard work! Oh, and my name is Vira, by the way!” The girl called out as I was leaving.

I wondered how long that positive attitude will last down here in district seven.

I left the guild and headed for the slums. There was a building there that had cheap rent, and nobody asked any questions. It was the perfect place for me.

As I walked the night only grew colder. Even though it was the middle of summer the tall buildings prevented a lot of sunlight from entering the city during the day, as well as stopping the winds from blowing away the city stench. Homeless people and garbage littered the sidewalks. I would occasionally get a glance from one of them, but most of the time they had already been too intoxicated with whatever drug was running rampant in these parts to even notice me.

I got back to the pigsty I called home. I lived on the seventh floor. This was intentional for security reasons. There were no floors higher than that, and it was safe from thieves because of the height.

I entered the codes for the four locks on the door and entered the dark room. The lights flickered as a hum emitted from the dimly lit bulb. The room was plain, stained from some previous tenants. I opened the small refrigerator and pulled out a nutrient-dense soup and heated it on the inductive stove.

While it was not good in any sense when it came to flavor, it did have all the nutrients you needed to survive. And it was cheap.

I took off my mask and placed it on the counter while I ate the soup. It was extremely bland, but I couldn’t care less. Once I finished, I walked over and laid on the old torn-up mattress that came with the place. While it was not very comfortable, there was a sort of comfort I found in it.

Just as I was drifting off to a place far away from this wretched reality, I heard a scream come from outside my window.

It doesn’t concern you, get some sleep while you can. I told myself as I attempted to drown out the scream.

“Th-th-there’s a monster! Somebody, anybody, please!” I heard a man scream.

I got up and walked over to the window to see what was going on. Just as I peered out, I knew I was not going to get any sleep tonight.

/ / / /

The scene below was not pretty. Half of a homeless man’s body lay strewn out across several yards on the street while the other half is held firmly in the mouth of a large creature. The monster is staring at another man who had been struck in place by fear just a few feet away. The creature itself was similar in structure to a dog but was much larger. It had three arms on each side of its body and grotesque spines coming out of its back. Its eyes were as black as the night sky with blood dripping from them. This was the beast from the contract I had seen earlier.

Great, it’s possessed, I thought to myself.

Most of the monsters that wandered into the city were under the influence of a disease called Dae’s Disease which causes them to become extremely hostile and bloodthirsty. This heightened their senses and natural abilities which made them more of a threat. But when they went too long and had tasted enough blood, they experienced an even worse stage of the disease. This was known as becoming possessed. Their bodies would mutate drastically, they would become even more crazed than before. In this case, the creature had gained two more arms and seemed to have increased its size even more.

I jumped up and threw on my mask and dashed down into the street. With each passing flight of stairs, I could hear the screams getting further away. The dimly lit streets were painted with the blood of the homeless. I followed the blood trail until I found the monster.

The beast chomped down on his feast totally unbothered by my presence.

“At least act a little annoyed that I’m here,” I said with a tad bit of disappointment.

The monster stopped and turned its head toward me. Its eyes were so black I felt as though I was looking into the abyss. The monster started slowly towards me, making a low growl. The creature had to have been three times my size. As it turned, I could see its body mutating even more, growing larger.

I pulled out my ether blades and positioned myself. I knew that the beast would have the upper hand in strength and speed, so if wanted to claim its bounty I was going to need to outsmart it.

I watched it waiting for the slightest sign that the beast would lunge at me. It stopped and it lowered itself every so slightly. In a moment the beats came barreling toward me, much faster than I had anticipated. I threw my blades up as fast as I could just to block its initial attack.

The beast hit me with all their weight. I went flying backward but was able to catch myself. I immediately when back into a defensive position in preparation for its next attack. The monster began circling around me.

I knew that I was not going to last long against this beast without a good plan, and a lot of luck. Normally any monster that had reached the possessed stage would have been dealt with by a Guardian. Because I am facing off with it, I can only assume they are unaware that it has reached that stage.

I’ll need a distraction if I want to kill this thing.

Not a moment later, as if I was blessed by God himself, I heard a man fumbling down the alley behind me. The monster continued to circle me, just when it began to get closer to the alley it noticed the man and took one large stride toward him. This was my chance.

I dashed straight for the creature. My plan was to slice its legs from the side while it was focused on the alley. But to my surprise, it had already anticipated this.

As it landed just in front of the alley it shifted all its momentum and hurled itself toward me.

This is not going to end well, I thought to myself as I struggled to lift my blades up to block its attack.

The beast landed on me, I managed to put one of my blades up to block his jaw from clamping down on me, but one of its claws pinned down my left arm. I sat there and struggled to get my arm free, but the monster’s strength greatly overpowered mine.

Just as my right arm was giving out, I heard a loud shot in the distance. Almost at the same moment the monster shrieked and fell off me onto the street. I watched as it turned into ash. This was a side effect of the disease when they died. I got to my feet and looked to see what had happened.

In the distance I noticed a figure running toward me. Their outfit consisted of cream-colored armor plates with dark gray accents. I knew exactly who they were, a Guardian.

“Are you alright?” I heard a feminine voice call from the guardian.

I ignored it and immediately turned to leave. I knew that no good would come from interacting with them. I had heard numerous stories about how corrupt and abusive most of the Guardians were. If I had to face one, their equipment was far better than mine and I would pay dearly for disobeying anything they ordered me to do.

Just as I was about to lean into a sprint a hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Sir, are you injured?” I heard the girl ask.

Guess I can’t escape now, I thought to myself.

I put my ether blades away and slowly turned around to face the Guardian. To my surprise, they were not what I expected.

The girl had long platinum hair that faded into a light pink at the ends. Her deep blue eyes contrasted with her fair skin. She was shorter than I was and carried a long guardian railblade. This weapon was common among the Guardians, it was both a long and close-range weapon.

“I’m fine, and thanks for the help,” I said coldly.

Even if she was friendly, I still knew that no good would come from being involved with any Guardian.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” she muttered, as she looked around the carnage laid out across the street in front of us. I could tell that she was new from the tears she was trying to hold back. She turned back and faced me.

“At least I saved someone,” she said with the saddest smile I had ever seen.

Just as she finished speaking another Guardian came walking up.

“Good job, Officer Ashbury,” the man said patting the girl on the back. “Once the clean-up crew gets here, we can head back to district three and get out of these slums.”

Just like her, he was a Guardian too, but his outfit differed slightly. He wore a blue colored shoulder plate. This signified he was of a higher rank than she was. He had the attitude to go right along with it. He had a muscular build, and his hair was a shade of light violet. He had the initials “C. Blackwell” written on the left side of his chest plate next to a family crest.

I thought one was bad enough, but now there was another one. Not only that but he was one of the royal families. I could tell because of the crest next to his name. It was time I left this situation before it got worse.

“Be careful, there is a lot of bad stuff that happens in the outer districts” I said as I turned around and started to walk off.

“But sir—,” the man put his hand up in front of the girl cutting her off.

“It’s best to not get involved with the rats of the outer districts when you are forced to come out here.” He said bluntly. He’s not wrong, I thought to myself as I turned down an alley and left the guardians to become a distant memory. The more distance I could get from them, the better.

/ / / /

I was a little beat up from the fight with that possessed monster, so I figured I’d stop by the doctor’s office. He had a little office set up in the slums to help everyone there. His prices were far underpriced for the services he provided, but I could tell he genuinely wanted to help. He was the only person I went to for my wounds.

I turned down a long alleyway with a set of metal stairs that led up to a dimly lit door on the side of a high-rise building. The door had a digital vacancy side on it that said glowed with the words “vacant” across it.

I opened the door and stepped inside. An older man sat in a beat-up chair in front of a computer. His hair was mostly gray with some touches of white near his temples. He wore thick glasses that made it hard to see his eyes.

“Ah, Mr. F I hope you have been well!” He said in a deep raspy voice.

“I wouldn’t be here if that were the case, Erkko.”

“That’s true,” the old man let out a low chuckle.

I removed my outer garb and sat down at a tiny examination table. I could see my arms were bruised from the battle I had just partaken in. The old man walked over and looked at my arms.

"I see, Kaisa!” He yelled, “Come apply some ether oil to these bruises.”

From an adjacent room, a girl ran in carrying a small tub of blue oil. She was petite and had her red hair tied up. She pulled a small medical device from one of the cabinets and filled it with oil from the tub.

“This shouldn’t hurt too much...” she said quietly.

She was the only granddaughter of Erkko Pesola. Once Erkko had told me that when she was little her parents had fallen into a life of crime and drug use, so he took her in to take care of her. Not too long after he did both of her parents died during a drug deal gone bad. Erkko promised to raise her to become a doctor so she could have a much more stable life.

I flinched from the pain of the oil penetrating my skin.

“I’m sorry…” she said in a soft voice.

“It’s fine,” I grumbled as I bit my lip.

After a few more flinches the treatment was finished. Ether was a miracle worker for the medical field; all my bruises were completely healed.

I put my covering back on and reached into my pockets counting my credits.

“How much?” I asked the old man.

“Hmm, let’s see… Seven credits should do,” he said stroking his white beard.

I shook my head. “That won’t even cover the cost of the oil.”

I pulled out 40 credits and dropped them on his desk.

“You’re always so kind to me, Mr. F,” he said putting his hand on my shoulder.

“If you didn’t undercharge everyone else, I wouldn’t have to be.”

He looked up and smiled at me. I knew that he’d never change his way of doing things, and to be honest I didn’t want him to. He was one of the kindest men I knew.

I made my way back to my sad excuse of a home. I passed through the street where the monster had been to see if the Guardians were still hanging around. Thankfully they had left.

The street had been cleaned up as well. Not a single remnant of the previous fight could be found anywhere, just the overwhelming smell of bleach. But hey, they had at least picked up a lot of the trash that had once called this street home.

I arrived without any more surprises and made my way up the flight of stairs to my apartment. I opened the door to find the damp cool room welcoming my return. I took off my mask and lay down on the worn mattress. As I stared at the ceiling I slowly drifted off, letting the sounds of the city put me to sleep. Looks like I might finally get some sleep.