The forest outside Vigan City was not a sanctuary; it was a hunting ground. For fifteen days, it was our classroom, our kitchen, and our proving ground. My twin brother, was a willing, if naive, student. He thought I was teaching him how to survive. I was teaching him how to become a tool.
I showed him how to track, how to move silently through the undergrowth, how to read a monster's trail. He was a quick study, his raw instincts sharpened by years of living in the slums. I, on the other hand, had forgotten what it was like to be weak, to feel every cut and every ache. But I remembered the lessons of my past life, and I knew how to use my knowledge to overcome my current weaknesses.
Our first targets were the weakest of the weak: Whisper Wasps and Burrowing Grubs. These were the pests of the monster world, and they were everywhere. They were too small to drop a monster essence, but they were perfect for honing our basic skills. My twin, with a clumsy stone knife, managed to kill his first one, a small, black creature with a faint buzz. He looked at me, a proud smile on his face. I simply nodded, the lack of praise doing more to motivate him than any kind word ever could.
Next, we hunted the Rock Rabbits. These were low-level Common-rank monsters, a cross between a rabbit and a rock. They were slow and had a thick hide, making them difficult to kill without a weapon. They were also the primary source of meat for the common people of Vigan, and their population had been a constant source of frustration for the local hunters.
He was hesitant at first, but hunger was a great motivator. I showed him how to use the environment to his advantage, how to trap a Rock Rabbit in a natural crevice, and how to deliver a killing blow with a single, brutal strike. He was a natural killer, a hidden talent that I would cultivate and use for my own benefit.
With each kill, we collected the Rock Rabbit Cards. These cards were considered worthless by most hunters. Their ability, "Stone Skin," could only create a thin layer of hardened skin on the user's body, and it was too weak to be useful in a real fight. But I knew better. I took the cards and absorbed the essences, leveling up my Rare Gauntlet and preparing for my next move.
He, too, had a gauntlet. It was a common, mass-produced artifact, identical to the one I once had. He was proud of it, treating it like a precious heirloom. He didn't know that it was nothing more than a toy, a symbol of his place in the world. He absorbed the Rock Rabbit Essences into his gauntlet, his face a mixture of pain and satisfaction. He was getting stronger, a pawn in my game, and he didn't even know it.
After fifteen days, the change was noticeable. The area around Vigan City was eerily quiet. The constant buzzing of Whisper Wasps was gone, the tell-tale tracks of Rock Rabbits were no longer visible, and even the Burrowing Grubs had vanished. We had created a vacuum, a small pocket of safety in a dangerous world, and I knew that the hunters of Vigan would notice.
On the morning of the sixteenth day, we walked towards the city gates. The same two guards stood watch, their faces bored and their eyes half-lidded.
"Back again?" one of them grumbled, his voice rough. "I told you, there's nothing for you here."
I stepped forward, my voice calm and steady. "We are not here to beg for entry. We are here to register as hunters."
The guards scoffed. "Hunters? Look at you. You're barely more than children. Get out of here before I get angry."
I simply held out my hand, palm up. "Check your logs. The monster population around your city has been cleared. For the past two weeks, no Rock Rabbits, no Whisper Wasps, no Burrowing Grubs have been seen in the vicinity of the main road. The city's food supply is more secure than it has ever been."
The guards exchanged a look of bewilderment. They knew something was different. Their logs had reported a strange decline in the pest population, but they had attributed it to a disease or a natural phenomenon. They had never considered that it was the work of two children.
"Who are you?" the first guard asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
"We are hunters," I said, a faint, cold smile on my face. "And we are here to register."
The guards looked at each other, their minds working furiously. They knew that if a hunter had cleared the monsters, they would be rewarded with a place in the Hunter's Guild, a high honor. But the idea that two children had done it was absurd.
"We're taking you to the Guild Master," the second guard said, his voice hard. "If you're lying, you will be punished."
"We're not lying," I said, my voice calm. "We're simply stating the truth."
They led us through the city gates, their eyes on us like hawks. The city was a blur of colors and sounds, a stark contrast to the quiet of the wilderness. My twin's eyes were wide with wonder, and he looked at me, a silent thank you in his eyes. I ignored him. I had not done this for him. I had done this for myself.
The Hunter's Guild was a large, imposing stone building at the center of the city. We were led to the Guild Master's office, a large, well-lit room filled with maps, scrolls, and monster remains. The Guild Master was a stern-looking man with a weathered face and a powerful aura. His eyes were like twin blades, sharp and penetrating.
He looked at us, his expression unreadable. "The guards tell me you are hunters. Is this true?"
"It is," I said, my voice calm. "We have cleared the monster population around your city. We have come to register."
The Guild Master looked at us, his eyes fixed on my gauntlet. He had a keen eye. He could see that my Common Gauntlet was no longer common. He could sense the power within it, the dark, obsidian energy that pulsed beneath the surface. He was the first to notice. He was a more experienced hunter, and his eyes were not clouded by ignorance.
"And your names?" he asked, his voice low and cautious.
I looked at my brother, and I knew this was the moment. The moment when our paths would diverge. He was still a boy, a blank slate, and I had already decided his fate.
"I am Dax Jackal," I said, my voice as cold as ice. "And this is my twin brother, Juts Jackal."
The Guild Master's eyes widened.
"Dax Jackal," the Guild Master whispered. "I have heard of you. But."
I simply smiled, a cold, humorless expression.
The Guild Master said nothing, his eyes fixed on my face, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. He knew that I was no ordinary boy. I was a reborn hunter, a monster in human skin, and I was back to play a game he was not prepared for.
The game had just begun.