The work uses machine translation tools, so forgive me if there are any translation mistakes — from your dear Rednek.
The artificial breeze blew softly across the hunting field. In Apex, everything was monitored. The wild and open dungeons of unexplored worlds didn't exist here — everything was controlled, tamed. The hunting fields functioned as training zones, supervised by the Hunters' Guild to prevent massacres, crimes, and power abuse.
Melina stopped in front of the selection panel, a hologram glowing before her:
Difficulty Panel:
Uncommon
Inferior
Superior
Elite
She raised an eyebrow.
— The common class doesn't even appear... "Uncommon" must be the base level. The "Elites" probably require authorization. — She tapped "Uncommon". — Let's test this.
A door opened with a metallic sound, revealing a simulated environment — a dense forest with tall vegetation and rough trails. The sound of insects and small artificial animals filled the space, bringing the scene to life.
Melina entered calmly, her senses alert. A few minutes passed before the first monster appeared:
A Three-Eyed Spiked Boar, nearly two meters long, covered in bony plates and back spines.
— Too big for an "Uncommon", but fine... — she said, pulling a dagger from her waist.
The boar charged. Melina spun lightly, stepped on a fallen tree trunk, and launched herself over the beast. The blade flashed in a swift slash to the neck. The boar collapsed in seconds.
System: +15 combat points acquired.
Wasting no time, Melina crouched and began devouring parts of the monster. Her eyes briefly glowed, and a notification appeared:
System: Skill acquired – "Firm Push".
Description: a two-armed shove capable of unbalancing enemies twice your size.
She frowned.
— Useful... if I were a nightclub bouncer.
The second monster came quickly — a Broken-Tusk Blue Wolf. Melina didn't even draw her dagger. She ran straight at it, dodged a bite, and broke its neck with a sharp spinning kick.
System: +10 combat points acquired.
She devoured part of the still-warm creature.
System: Skill acquired – "Vibratile Vision".
Description: allows detection of movement in open fields based on air variations.
— Now that's interesting... but still too basic.
Time passed. She faced:
A Six-Fingered Toxic Monkey (dropped with a punch to the stomach, finished with an uppercut);
A Green Bear with Lively Eyes (taken down with a sweep and killed with a blow to the neck);
A Dry-Scaled Serpent (crushed underfoot and split in two with her knee).
Each victory granted points. Each meal, a new skill.
System: Skill acquired – "Reflexive Flexion".
Description: increases dodge ability when tilting the body.
System: Skill acquired – "Grip Pressure".
Description: enhances finger grip strength.
System: Skill acquired – "Organic Resistance I".
Description: reduces side effects of basic toxins.
But despite her growing skill set and flawless performance, Melina frowned after every easy win.
She sat beside a fake tree and wiped the blood from her mouth.
— Either these monsters are too weak... or I'm stronger than I thought.
At the top of a monitoring tower, two guild members watched the scene.
— She's... eating the monsters? — said the younger one, disgusted. — That's grotesque. Who does that? She rips chunks off and devours them like it's normal!
— Might be cultural — the older one replied, arms crossed. — We get hunters from all over the worlds. Some have... peculiar traditions.
— That's not tradition. That's insanity! She looks like a wild animal. And look at the level she chose... "Uncommon". That's for rookies, for amateurs. If she's mid-tier, she should be at least in "Inferiors".
The older man stared at the screen, watching Melina walk bloodied among the dead monsters.
— Don't underestimate her. She's killing enemies like they're nothing — no aura, no enchanted weapon, no team. All alone. You know what that reminds me of?
— What?
— I only know one Evaluator who could do that. Kill monsters like they're bugs...
— Who?
— The President himself.
Silence filled the room. Both kept watching, speechless, as Melina disappeared into the foliage of the hunting field — a predator without a cage.