UH CH 1: (Patreon)

There are no coincidences in this world. Everything is Fate.

Words of the Seer

______

In a field, a green goblin shrieked as it went down, its skin burned down by a small ice arrow. The one who dealt the finishing blow was a young woman in her teens. She looked as if she had just come out of high school. The others around her were not much older-looking. 

“Nice work, everyone.” A man in his forties, wearing heavy armor and bearing a large shield and a hammer, another spoke to all the trainees. 

Well…All the trainees but me. It was easy to see that he spoke with the others and ignored me. But I was used to that behavior. It has been years since we had a proper talk that didn’t involve insult and disdain. 

“Thank you for your work, teacher.”

“Good job!”

“Killing goblins is pretty easy now!”

The trainees chatted as they put away their weapons. The man they had addressed as ‘Teacher’ looked at the young men and women in the clearing with pride as he asked,

“Did everyone's stats increase?” 

“Yes,” answered a trainee.

“We didn’t even kill that many, but we’ve already leveled our stats,” added another from the group. 

“Don’t let it go to your head. The start is always easy.” The teacher gave them a stern warning but there was clear pride in his eyes as he looked at them. 

That glimmer of pride swiftly vanished when his eyes landed on me.

I could feel his judgmental gaze on me, but I ignored him, focusing on the prey I had to hunt today. It was a short goblin wearing only a loincloth and clutching a dagger. 

“Krrrk? Krrrk?”

I unsheathed the sword at my waist and trod quietly toward it. Every step was cautious. 

[Silent Steps –

Rank: Common

Proficiency: Adept

Description: "The unseen hunter is the most dangerous."

Allows the user to mask their presence, reducing sound, mana signatures, and movement detection.

Current Effect: Lower the sound of your step.]

A well-placed strike to the goblin’s vulnerable spot, when it’s unaware, should be enough to kill it. This should be an easy hunt.

However, the goblin spotted me and screeched warning the others. 

I clicked my tongue. Today’s hunt had turned out to be problematic. My surprise attack succeeded, but only sporadically and at odd times. 

Consequently, most of my hunts turned out to be problematic. 

Dodging the incoming short spear, I jumped toward the goblin and immediately stabbed it in its stomach. It wouldn’t directly kill it, but it would take it down long enough for me to take care of the others. 

With one down, I immediately sheathed my sword and took out my bow. The arrows, which I projected a few hours ago, were ready for use. 

[Focus] and [Hawk’s Eyes] activated immediately. They were very low in mana consumption, as long as I activated them only for one second. But one second was all I needed. 

Adjusting my stance, I immediately pulled the bowstring and released two arrows, one after another. I couldn’t imbue them with mana, but goblins were low-class monsters that even ordinary weapons could harm. Ideally, I would have simply used a sniper rifle, but that would defeat the purpose of training. 

The first arrow was blocked, but the second one pierced the goblin’s eye, resulting in screams of pain

[The Silent Watcher is amused by your struggles.]

I sighed. This was going to be a pain. 

***

After an hour-long hunt, I was drained. I had been hunting goblins in the same place for five years now, so I should’ve been getting faster. But even now, it still took me over an hour to kill a few low-level monsters.

The way the teacher looked at me stung a little, but there was nothing I could do. 

“I guess I’ll go work out a little,” I mumbled to myself, after washing away the blood and grime, preparing myself for my usual routine.

It should have been a morning like all the others before it. Go to the center of the Guild, train mindlessly for a few hours out of sheer stubbornness, helplessly fail, and then leave with no results and a growing sense of unease. 

Today, though, as the Manager called me into her office, I knew it would be a different day. 

[The Silent Watcher observes your growing despair.]

I ignored the message that had been a daily occurrence for years now and focused on the manager.  

“Let me get straight to the point. You don’t have to come to the training center starting tomorrow.” The manager's voice was cool, but I could see the helplessness in her eyes. 

I stared at her vacantly before I could regain my composure. I was not that surprised; I knew that this would happen, eventually. Yet, I couldn’t help but grasp at straws. 

“…Why am I being kicked out?” I asked. 

“Cain, I think you know exactly why we’re kicking you out.” The Manager adjusted her glasses as she answered me. She wore her dark hair in a tight bun and wore a black suit with a pencil skirt. All of this gave her a very strict appearance. “Keeping you here is becoming too much of a burden for our training center.”

“I’ve never missed a single payment, and I’m fulfilling all the prerequisites.”

“Well, of course, because you’re preparing for the hunter exam. The problem is that it’s been eight years since you’ve started preparing.” She sounded exasperated even as she said this. 

Her eyes narrowed, and she assessed my body. It was a well-trained body, but that was all. Nothing special. 

“You were chosen as a promising prospect when you were only thirteen. Since then, you have been training non-stop for years.  Even after years of physical training, you haven’t been able to unlock your secret innate ability. You can’t even raise a single stat point.” She massaged her brows. 

“If this was all, we could still have done something. F-rank hunters are still useful after all, and you have gained superb skills with your sub-class. But you…” She sighed.

Her harsh response hurt. But more than anything, it was the helplessness she showed that felt like a dagger in my heart. Like she said, I had achieved nothing in the last eight years of training. 

Everyone who Awakens must train in one of these centers for a couple of months before they can debut as a hunter. This minimized casualties for overeager young awakened, who could end up dying in many stupid ways if left untrained. 

Awakened received lessons in everything from theory to biology and even received practical experience on the field, with experienced hunters serving as bodyguards. One could say that the training centers really gave their all. After all, one of the biggest guilds in America supported them.

But…

‘I couldn’t get anything done in the years that I’ve been training here.’

Realistically, it was no exaggeration to say that I could never become an official hunter. I didn’t have a hint of the fundamental qualifications that even the most basic hunters have.

Sure, I could somehow kill monsters with a few skills. But hunting three or four goblins every day was a waste of time.

I stayed calm and asked in a deadpan voice—“…Is that the reason I’m being kicked out?”

“To be a little more specific, you’re giving us a bad name. A pretty infamous one at that. You understand, right? Not only did you not grow, your stats kept decreasing.”

I could only give a bitter smile. I could not argue with that. After all, this was the ‘greatest’ accomplishment in my life. 

Earth’s Hunter system was pretty simple, as Hunters were ranked from F- at the lowest, to SSS and even National. 

What about me? I had broken the system’s rules, a feat never done by anyone before me.

Status. I muttered inwardly, and a blue screen flickered in front of me. 

[Name: Cain Bishop

Affiliation: Training Center

Title: Failed Genius, Lowest Ranked Hunter, Training Madman

Race: Human

Rank: I

Age: 21

Negative Status: Corrupted Magic Circuit, Gaze of the Abyss 

Main class: [Maker]; [????]

Sub Class: Ranger

??? Skill: [????]

Maker Skills: [Projection], [Analysis], [Reinforcement]

Ranger Skills: [Archery]; [Hawk Eyes]; [Focus]; [Tracking]; [Silent Steps]

   Strength: I-5

    Speed: I-5

    Dexterity: I-5

    Endurance: I-5

    Mana:  I-5

    Resistance:  SSS-159

    Combat Capacity:  F-]

I didn’t bother focusing on the second part. The upper part alone was enough to remind me of my reality. 

Rank I.

The Hunter system had appeared on Earth 57 years ago now, and for five decades, the lowest ranking had been F. Until I appeared, and my stats dropped to Rank I, making me the only I-rank Hunter in all existence. 

I was Awakened in name only. My stats were barely equal to those of a trained human adult. If not for my classes and skills, it would be impossible to distinguish me from a civilian. 

All this time, the Manager stayed silent, giving me time to come to grips with the sad reality. 

“Let me be honest. Some of the Guild’s upper members are clamoring for you to give back all the growth potions that were invested in you when you first joined.”

“Back when I was a genius.”

She did not deny it. 

“If not for what happened eight years ago, things might have been very different. Sadly, we do not live in a world of ‘if.’ The Guildmaster is currently on an expedition on the upper floor of the Tower, and there is no one here to protect you. If you leave now, at least you will be able to keep some dignity.”

Her words, filled with pity, pierced my soul. But I couldn’t dispute her points or even throw a punch. As she said, it wasn’t an exaggeration to call me completely talentless. 

I didn’t want to repress these feelings, but I had to.

Why? 

‘Because I’m weak, and I have nothing.’

I’d been enduring this for so long, but it appeared there was no need for that anymore. 

It was time to end it. I was exhausted.

“Of course, we’re not just going to banish you without compensation. We’ll refund you 50% of the fees that you’ve paid. This is something the Guildmaster prepared for you, in case you decide to leave.”

In this unfriendly world, those words warmed my heart. The person who had saved my life all those years ago, and who had given me a chance even after my body became corrupted. She was my hero in more ways than one. 

“I understand.” I stood up. Speaking more was pointless—my situation was hopeless. It was better to leave somewhat on my own terms, rather than wait for those who had a bone to pick with me to act against me.

“Thank you for everything until now.” I gave a light bow to the woman who had been taking care of me and training me, even when all the other trainers had already given up on me.

She wanted to say something else, but she did not stop me. I smiled at her and left. I did not know what my face looked like, but from her expression, it didn’t look good. 

***

Coming out of her office, I could see a few trainees loitering and clearly eavesdropping. The room had good soundproofing, but not enough to block an Awakened’s hearing. 

“Woah, he’s been here since way before I was, but now he’s getting kicked out like that. Some genius he is.”

Starting with that comment, I was soon bombarded with whispered words and stares from all over the room.

“But he came in every morning to train non-stop… It’s too bad, huh?” 

“Fuck feeling bad. He’s an idiot for not knowing his place and stopping sooner.”

“You think so? I guess he is pretty stupid for not giving up. I don’t know how he couldn’t increase a single stat point after training for eight years. Didn’t he start alongside Jason and Helen? They’re both already official Hunters.”

“Yeah. They’re clearing a D-rank gate currently. The higher-ups say the two might get chosen by a constellation and enter the Tower soon.”

Sympathy, scorn, and even ridicule… 

I didn’t know what I did so wrong to have them look down on me for all those years of training.

Whether or not I heard them, they always jeered at the fact that I was essentially powerless as an Awakened.  

And just like that, my eight years of training became proof of my foolishness. 

Though the names they uttered made me pause for a moment, I did not give them the satisfaction of seeing my sadness. I simply walked away, leaving the center behind me. 

Perhaps it was time for me to think about the future. 

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