That same evening, I left the hospital building.
On my back, I carried a large backpack – containing the bronze spear and a couple of other things.
Unfortunately, the mana-crystal I found in the Mano-Forest a month ago was no longer inside. Tobi must have taken it out before he escaped. It was bitter, but it wasn't mine to begin with, so I couldn't complain.
The sun was already beginning to disappear behind the horizon and cold evening air filled my lungs.
Hunterblood, Potsdam's largest hospital for hunters and other monster-related injuries, was located relatively centrally within the city – just outside the innermost ring, where the great hunter's houses resided – for the purpose of easy access from all city gates.
Having been here a few times before, I knew exactly how to get home.
A bus would take me back to the outskirts of the city. From there, I could then walk to the apartment building Mia and I lived in.
However, today I didn't go directly to the bus stop but instead made a small detour.
Already after a few minutes of walking, the scenery around me began to change.
The simple single-family houses, the shopping stores, and pedestrian miles of the city center disappeared, replaced by wide streets with huge buildings on the left and right.
It was the residential area of hunters.
Glamorous mansions, decorated with marble, gold, or other elements of antiquity, symbolized the wealth of those who had everything.
Often, large engravings such as House Baal or House Frey could be seen on the exterior facades – one larger and more ornate than the other, as if they were trying to overshadow each other. Proudly, the great hunter houses presented their names and their possessions.
The lawns were green, the streets level and clean. The contrast with the outer layers of the city could not be starker.
Looking around here, it was hard to believe that we were at war. And maybe, the people who lived here had already forgotten this fact.
In this place, it was always difficult for me to keep my emotions under control.
Whenever I came here and looked at the luxury in which the great hunter houses bathed, I could not suppress my boiling anger.
I would always wonder how this could be?
In a world of magic, mythical creatures, and monsters, you couldn't help but believe a little bit in God. After all, this power given to the hunters had to come from somewhere.
But then again, why did God bestow even greater power upon the descendants of the ancient hunters?
Why did those who already had everything from birth receive even more while there were those who had nothing at all?
Was it really just because their ancestors were Awakened – because they were the chosen ones? Does this fact alone justify the injustices that weak people had to endure because of them?
Such were my thoughts so far, while I stomped on the ground like a little kid in anger.
So I always avoided coming here because it reminded me of things I didn’t want to remember.
But that time was over.
I raised my head and looked over the roofs of the luxurious houses in the distance. There, in the very center of the entire city, the largest building of them all towered into the air.
Even more luxurious, even more glamorous. Potsdam's only hunter's academy – the Rothschild-Academy – presented itself magnificently in the light of the rich and wealthy.
I averted my gaze from the pompous construction and went back on my way. Some people were already starting to give me derogatory looks. They didn't seem to like my dirty clothes.
I left the innermost ring of the city and walked towards the nearest bus stop.
It was good that I came here today. It solidified my resolve.
♦
After I got off the bus, the sun had already set completely and only an orangish glow was visible on the horizon.
Streetlights shone yellow light on the cracked walls of the old, run-down building in front of me.
On a large sign above an old wooden door was written in white paint and squiggly letters: Fuck It!
Right. I didn't go straight home. Before that, I had to sort something out.
Without hesitation, I yanked open the door and descended the steps in the dark hallway.
Another door later and I was standing in the small bar.
Glaring light beamed down from the ceiling and a dank basement scent combined with the pungent aroma of alcohol rose to my nose.
»Hektor!«
»Hekki? Long time no see!«
In contrast to the last visit, the tables were now filled with jugs of beer and the chairs with people. Most of them turned in my direction and greeted me with smiling faces. I saw that the usual regulars were gathered again.
One of them called out to me at that moment.
»I heard you got it pretty bad this time. Seems like you're doing well again. Hahahaha. By the way, where have you been the last month?«
The man had a dark skin tone, indicating his African heritage, and like the other men in this bar, possessed a massive build. He was in his late 50s and didn't have a single strand of hair on his head, so his forehead wonderfully reflected the luminous light from the ceiling.
»Hi Lando. Is Oren around?«
»He's in the back, getting supplies. But for now, sit here and have a beer!«
»I’m afraid I'm short on time, maybe some other time Lando.«
»Ahh, nonsense! What could be more important than having a beer with your buddies in the evening?«
»He's right, Hekki! You don't show up at all anymore,« said a woman with a beer jug in her hand.
Her name was Irene. She was one of the few women you could find at the Fuck It!. She was only in her early 30s, making her also one of the youngest people in the bar.
She had a lean physique, yet strong upper arms. She always had her long, blonde hair tied tightly behind a bandana. She also wore black cargo pants that were a few sizes too big for her and a tight, sleeveless shirt, revealing her athletic figure – and the scars that stretched across her arms.
Her outward appearance could be summed up in one word: Wild.
I didn't know much about her connection with Oren or the bar, but I was told she's known Oren longer than most here.
»Hi, Irene. Are you okay?«
»Oh, cut it out. I told you to call me big sis. Come and drink with me, these wimps here can't keep up. I know you can handle a lot, Hekki. What do you say, the round's on me.«
She put one leg up on a chair, held out a mug of beer in my direction, and grinned from ear to ear.
»What? First round's on you? Since when do you pay for your beer?«
»Shut it, Hengis! As if you would pay for your drinks.«
»Well, nobody does. Hahaha!«
»Hahaha!«
The whole bar erupted in laughter and everyone was shouting something to one another.
»And why are you grinning like that?«
At that moment, a deep voice resounded from next to me, causing me to turn my head.
Oren came walking out of the pantry with a big keg of – I suppose – beer on his shoulders and looked at me grimly.
»Grandpa, the boy won't drink with me!« whined Irene.
»Shut up, I'm not your grandpa. And he was just released from the hospital, so don't bother him. Come on Hektor, let's go to the back before those drunkards catch us,« Oren said to me and put the keg on the floor. Then he walked towards the door he had just come out of without waiting for my response.
I looked at him suspiciously, now wondering if he had something to do with the mysterious person who had helped me.
I learned at the hospital that the wall patrol had found me and Ralf unconscious near the north gate. But did I really get there myself? Or was I moved there? After all, there were not many people who knew where I was that day.
»Argh…!«
At that moment, I heard a small yelp in front of me.
Oren was limping around on his artificial right leg while holding the toes of his left leg with his hands and rubbing them wildly.
»Damn it! Who left their axe– LANDO!«
Oren seemed to have run into a massive bronze battleaxe. Since he always wore sandals without socks, this certainly could not have been painless.
»Oh, there was my sweetie. Hahahaha! I was already looking for her. Hey Oren, can you pass me my baby?« said Lando as the whole bar erupted in laughter again.
Tack!
But when the 30-pound weapon flew in a straight line towards Lando, penetrating deep into a wooden beam a few inches from his head, everyone present fell silent.
»Pffff.«
Until someone could no longer hold it in anymore and immediately loud laughter filled the small bar once more.
»Ayyy, grandpa. What's up? In a bad mood today? Be nice to Hekki,« said Irene, who had tears in her eyes from laughing.
»If you destroy a few more beams, the ceiling will fall on our heads. By the way, we're out of beer. Is the keg you brought all there was?« asked Lando, who was in the process of pulling his axe out of the wooden beam.
Oren just sighed, already used to the carefree nature of his friends, and went on his way. I stifled a smile and followed Oren into the pantry.
Once there, the old man sat down on his bed and I sat down cross-legged on the floor opposite him, placing the large backpack next to me.
For a few seconds, he just looked at me with an expression that was hard to interpret. Then he nodded his head slightly towards the backpack.
»What’s this?«
I did not answer his question immediately but instead pulled it in front of me. While opening the clasp, I said…
»It’s one of the items that I picked up during my last mission in the Manto-Forest.«
Then I reached into the backpack.
»This, and…«
I pulled the 2-meter long, bronze spear out and placed it on the ground in front of me.
For an unusually long time, he didn't say anything and just eyed the long, metal spear from top to bottom.
»Have you changed your weapon now? I thought you used a sword before,« he eventually asked half-heartedly.
Oren has never been the sentimental type. From what I heard from the doctors at the hospital, the old man came to visit me frequently during my one-month stay. He must have been very relieved that I was doing well and fully recovered. That the first thing he asked me about was my backpack was only because he was too shy to be honest.
Knowing this, I decided to get straight to the point.
»I need to talk to you,« I said without answering his question.
»About the spear?«
»About that, too.«
»…«
Oren said nothing. He must have seen my unusually serious expression.
»I’ll get right to the point.«
I straightened my back and looked the old man directly in the eye.
»I want to become a hunter. Please help me.«
Oren closed his eyes.
He didn't seem shocked or even surprised. It was as if he had already known that this day would eventually come.
At 20 years old, I was at the right age to go to a hunter's academy. Normally, it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.
»This could be... difficult.«
My eyes widened.
This time, I was shocked.
'It could be... difficult? Not impossible?'
I had expected him to immediately try to talk me out of the idea.
It wasn't the first time I had expressed my desire to become a hunter. But each time he told me to get it out of my head. I didn't have the qualifications a hunter needed. I could never pass the academy – and so on.
It was not because Oren was mean or pessimistic, but simply because of the nature of my awakening. And I accepted this.
But what did the stern old man just say? That it might be hard? It could be difficult for me to become a hunter?
»Who are you?«
I looked at Oren skeptically.
»Impudent brat,« Oren nagged.
»I mean... what happened? Aren't you supposed to tell me that it's impossible for me to become a hunter? What changed?«
»That's what it was. Impossible. You may have awakened, but your body was barely different from a normal human. If you had tried to become a hunter, you never would have made it. Worst case, you would have died.«
»That means... it's different now?« I asked in disbelief.
Of course, I knew something had changed. Not only the strange display I saw in front of my eyes at the hospital after waking up or the voice that only I could hear, but simply the fact that I am still alive were proof that something changed.
Also, there was this spear. Whenever I looked at it, I had the strangely familiar feeling that I could do anything. Of course, I knew my own body better than anyone and thus knew that I hadn't suddenly become stronger, but all these things were indicative of a change. And that was enough – for now.
»I don’t know,« Oren’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
»You don’t know… what?«
»I don’t know if it is different now.«
»Could you explain?«
»Huuu…«
Oren let out a long sigh before he continued.
»While I was in the hospital visiting you, I could feel something – something unordinary.«
»I do not follow.«
»Hunters have an aura of their own. A kind of radiance that surrounds and characterizes them. It not only tells something about their strength and elemental affinities but also gives them a unique identity.«
I nodded my head. That much was basic knowledge.
»This aura doesn't change under normal circumstances. It may grow as the hunter becomes stronger, but the basic form remains the same.«
I nodded again.
»Experienced hunters can recognize this aura and categorize it accordingly. In dangerous situations, this ability can be vital.«
»And when you were in the hospital, you saw that my aura changed?« I guessed.
»Not quite.«
But Oren shook his head.
»You must know that all objects that possess even a fragment of magical energy emit an aura – however small it may be.«
Oren straightened his back and leaned towards me. He looked me straight in the eye as if trying to see something in it.
»But around you, Hektor, I could not see anything.«
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