Grhhhhhhh!
One of the beasts roared.
Emerging from the dust cloud.
It was a black, furry beast, moving on both its knuckles and its two legs. A giant beast about two and a half meters tall. Thick, furry, powerful legs, massive arms. Its feet are like hands. Well, literally, they are hands.
The most terrifying yet incredible thing is that those arms are weapons. Literally from its forearms protrude green blades. But they can also retract them. They are incredible beasts. Just imagine it retracting its blades to crush you with its hands. Or extending them to split you in two.
The first roar echoed in the air, making it vibrate.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands of roars answering the first, creating a symphony of hunger and fury that would freeze anyone's blood.
But not theirs.
—Sir — Omega's voice sounded in Dorian's mind, always analytical, always present —. Your heart rate has increased by forty-five percent.
Dorian didn't respond. His green eyes were fixed on the chaos unfolding below.
—If you're already this excited — Omega continued, and there was something in its tone that could have been sarcasm —, why don't you join the battle?
Dorian smiled. A small, private smile.
—Even though I really want to go down — he replied mentally —. I'm processing something right now.
—Understood, sir.
---
Below, the first beast charged.
It was the one that had roared first, the fastest, the hungriest. Its yellow eyes were fixed on Kael, the closest, the one who seemed smaller, easier.
It was wrong.
The beast lunged with its blade extended, a gleaming green weapon that would cut Kael in two if it connected.
Kael didn't move until the last instant.
When the blade was centimeters from his neck, his body turned. It was a minimal movement, barely a shift, but enough. The blade grazed past his skin without touching it.
And then Kael counterattacked.
His lance moved in a perfect arc, cutting through the beast's extended arm like butter. The green blade fell to the ground along with the limb, and before the creature could even roar in pain, the lance was already back.
This time, aiming for the neck.
The beast's head flew through the air, its body falling to the ground with a dull thud.
It didn't last ten seconds against Kael.
Another beast saw an opportunity. While Kael was recovering his stance, a second creature charged from his left, larger than the first, its blades already extended.
It didn't make it.
A fist wrapped in red light struck its torso with the force of a meteor.
The upper part of the beast simply... disappeared. It evaporated. Turned into particles of flesh and bone by the impact. The rest of the body fell to the ground, its legs still twitching, not understanding that it was already dead.
Hugo withdrew his fist, the red light diminishing slightly.
—That one was mine — Kael complained without looking at him.
—Too slow — Hugo replied.
And the battle truly began.
---
The field filled.
Dozens of beasts emerged from the dust cloud every second. They ran, leaped, roared. Their green blades flashed under Veridia's alien light. Their yellow eyes gleamed with ancient hunger.
Kael moved like a storm.
His lance danced in the air, tracing impossible arcs. Each movement felled a beast. A blow here, a thrust there, a spin that decapitated two at once. The creatures' black blood splattered his face, but he only smiled wider.
Hugo was a wall.
Where Kael was fluid, Hugo was solid. His fists struck the beasts like divine hammers. Each blow didn't kill one, but several. The red Helion in his gloves amplified his strength to brutal levels. Beasts that survived his direct hits died from the shockwave.
And Nayu...
And why hasn't this guy come down yet? — Nayu thought, as her staff spun in a perfect arc.
Beasts fell around her like flies. Her staff was an extension of her body, a lethal weapon that cut, crushed, and shattered with every movement.
Could it be that he's scared?
She thrust, the staff piercing through a beast's chest from side to side. Without looking back, she withdrew her arm. The simple pressure of the movement made two more beasts fall, their skulls shattered by the impact of the staff as it exited.
No — she thought —. Impossible.
She began spinning the staff above her head, creating a shield of spinning metal that the beasts couldn't penetrate.
Well — she admitted —, you never know what that guy is thinking.
She ran.
She leaped.
—Haaaaaa!
She descended like a meteor, her staff pointing at the ground. The impact shattered the terrain, creating a crater that killed dozens of beasts within the explosion's radius.
She stepped back slightly, catching her breath.
A current of air passed beside her, so violent it moved her hair.
It was the friction from Kael's strike. His lance had traced a line in the terrain, a perfect crack extending for dozens of meters, splitting beasts in half along its path.
—Booooom!
A cloud of smoke rose to her right. Hugo had destroyed another section of the field, his fist buried in the ground, the carcasses of dozens of beasts flying through the air.
Three warriors.
Hundreds of beasts dead.
And still, they kept coming.
---
On Top of the Rock
Dorian watched.
From above, from his privileged position, he saw everything. Kael's dance, Hugo's brutality, Nayu's precision. He saw the beasts fall and keep coming. He saw the black blood stain the yellow ground.
—Hey, Omega — he suddenly said —. You know what a video game is, right?
There was a pause. Omega processing the question, evaluating its relevance.
—Yes, sir — it finally replied. It didn't say "why do you ask?" or "what's this about?" It just answered. Omega knew Dorian. It knew that when he asked questions like that, there was a reason.
—Then you know how game systems work, right? — Dorian continued.
—They are based on levels. On leveling up — Omega replied —. You complete objectives, defeat enemies, accumulate experience. Upon reaching a certain amount, you level up and your statistics improve.
Dorian nodded, even though Omega couldn't see it.
—You know there are a lot of monsters on this planet, right?
—I've counted approximately three thousand four hundred biological signatures within a five-hundred-meter radius — Omega replied —. And more keep coming.
—Then — Dorian smiled —. How about we make it more fun?
Another pause. Longer this time.
—More fun? — Omega asked, and if an AI could sound confused, this was the moment —. How?
—Video game style — Dorian explained, his green eyes gleaming with a new light —. You're in my mind, you show me real-time images, right?
—Correct. I can overlay visual information directly onto your visual cortex without interfering with your natural perception of the environment.
—Perfect. So, to make the hunt more entertaining: you say "do you want to log in?", I say "yes", you say "choose a name or nickname", I choose one, and you say "welcome [name] to Hunter Helion". Then you display level, EXP, strength, agility, endurance, intelligence, speed... and every time I kill a monster, you give me experience according to your standards.
Dorian paused.
—Got it?
Silence stretched on.
Omega processed. Calculated. Evaluated feasibility, utility, possible consequences.
—Understood and one hundred percent copied — it finally replied —. Initializing gamification protocol. Do you wish to activate Hunter Helion mode?
Dorian smiled.
It wasn't a small smile. It wasn't a private smile.
It was a wide smile. The smile of a child who has just received the toy they always wanted.
—Yes — he said —. Activate it.
<< INITIATING HUNTER HELION SYSTEM >>
The words appeared overlaid on his vision, blue and bright, as if floating in the air before him.
<< WELCOME, HUNTER. ENTER NICKNAME >>
—Hmm... — Dorian thought for a moment. He could use something cool. Something epic. Something that sounded like a legend.
—I know — he finally said —. I'll use my name.
<< NICKNAME CONFIRMED: "DORIAN ASTRA" >>
<< WELCOME TO HUNTER HELION, DORIAN ASTRA >>
<< ANALYZING CURRENT STATUS... >>
LEVEL: 1
EXP: 0/100
STRENGTH: 15 (Base physical capacity: 10 | Suit bonus: +5)
AGILITY: 18
ENDURANCE: 20 (Helion physiology: 15 | Equipment bonus: +5)
INTELLIGENCE: 22 (Native cognitive processing)
SPEED: 16 (Reaction speed)
<< SYSTEM ACTIVATED. LET THE HUNT BEGIN >>
Dorian felt that the world looked different.
Not because it had actually changed. The sky was still the same strange Veridian sky. The wind still blew with the same force. The beasts were still dying below with the same violence.
But now he had objectives. Numbers. Progress.
Every beast that died below wasn't just a dead beast. It was experience that could have been his. Points he wasn't gaining.
—Do you want me to tell you how many enemies there are? — Omega asked.
—No — Dorian replied, and his smile widened —. I'd rather discover it myself.
Dorian moved.
He didn't jump. He didn't descend like the others. He simply... let himself fall.
His body plummeted, his duster coat spreading behind him like black wings. The wind roared in his ears, but he didn't hear it. His green eyes were fixed below, on the exact point where the first wave of creatures would emerge from the dust cloud.
His hands found the hilts of his short swords.
He drew them from his hips in the same motion. He touched the ground, and disappeared.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: [ You have killed a blade gorilla x15 ]
[ You have leveled up ]