Gatekeepers (Dungeons on Earth story) ch. 1&2 (Patreon)

Chapter 1:

As always, the streets of Tokyo were busy. Crowds of people used to the traffic walking without bumping into anyone, cars honking in impatience while the metro was full to bursting underground.

businessmen power-walked, suitcases in hand. A bunch of schoolgirls giggled and gossiped about celebrities. A man in samurai armor patrolled alongside cops.

The usual hubbub of the city was interrupted as a glimmer of light appeared in the middle of the street. Cars quickly swerved aside as the light took a sickly green glow and started expanding until it formed a ten-meter tall, ten wide flat plane.

For a moment, there was silence as the square-shaped portal finished taking shape.

Then, the businessmen continued walking on their way to work and the schoolgirls started taking pictures. The cars just drove around the portal.

The portal bulged outward, a shape exiting the space-time anomaly. A giant lizard came roaring out, shaped like a monitor lizard but the size of a tiger.

The samurai was already there, his katana drawn, his eyes glowing with power. The lizard’s shrill roar was cut short as its head went flying.

The cops were swiftly cordoning the area around the portal, making sure no curious civilians came too close. They also quickly gave their coordinates by radio. By this point, this was routine.

The portals opened, and Gatekeepers came in to handle the monsters emerging from the otherworldly doors that had started appearing a decade ago.

Around the street, more Gatekeepers were arriving, having been informed of the Gate’s sudden appearance, people in armor and carrying enchanted weapons, each one of them with supernatural capabilities.

They dived in the portal, the Gate turning into a light shade of blue as it locked itself. No monster would be able to come out until either the Gatekeepers were dead or they got rid of the Gate’s core.

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Minato Kamikiri ran through a rocky tunnel, monsters snapping at his heels and his red hair whipping back behind him. His green eyes were narrowed with focus as he circulated his Mana in rhythm with his steps. The magical energy propelled him further than his muscles would have done alone.

The eighteen year old reached an intersection and took a diving slide.

A hammerhead swung around the corner and smashed into the maw of one of the giant wolves that were pursuing Minato.

The other Gatekeepers hidden for the ambush swiftly fell on the surprised monsters. Arrows pinned the canine monsters down, a sword cut flesh apart and a spear poked them full of holes.

Minato got back on his feet and joined the melee. He didn’t have a weapon, but he didn’t need one. His hands glowed for a moment before they took a grey tinge.

A rock-like fist slammed into a wolf’s jaw. Teeth and blood splattered on the floor.

With the ambush being successful, it didn’t take long for the Gatekeepers to finish the wolf pack.

“Those were the last ones?” The older man with a hammer asked.

“Yeah, the core should be easy to access now.” Minato replied while swiping some sweat off his forehead.

He didn’t know the other Gatekeepers. They had entered together because they were the first to arrive when the Gate opened.

Most of them weren’t anything special, but Minato’s eyes went to the man in samurai armor. He had killed more monsters than anyone else with his katana, and he had seen him with the police.

If he patrolled with the cops, that meant he was working with the government, which made him at least B-rank, as they didn’t employ anyone below that threshold. Even without that, Minato could feel the man’s Mana. It was flowing strongly.

Though, Minato thought they could have handled that dungeon without him. This Gate only had oversized animals, no real supernatural threats. A D-rank Gate.

He kept his thoughts to himself as the improvised party moved in further into the dungeon-like space.

Ten years ago, the world changed. The Gates opened, letting loose waves of monsters that overwhelmed most countries’s armies. From weak ones like the overgrown wolves to giant dragons which devastated towns, and many more types of creatures that humans didn’t have a name for beforehand.

Most thought all hope was lost. The nuclear option wasn’t even on the table as the Gates were spread all over the world.

Then, the supernatural communities of Earth revealed their existence.

Witches and wizards flung fire back at the monsters. Shamans cursed the mighty monsters into feebleness. Paladins, cultivators and warriors of all ilk came swinging their weapons and severing the unnaturally tough hides of the monsters like cutting so much grass.

Even the monsters of myth joined in. Werewolves joined the melee. Yokais, fairies and yaoghuais showed their magic. Dragons native to Earth protected their territories from the invading dragons of the Gates.

The different supernatural communities were a minority, so they had no choice but to spread their teachings. Nowadays, magic was available to anyone who had the talent and the will to learn.

With the Gate phenomenon creating a new type of threat, and the reveal of magic creating a solution, a new job came to be: the Gatekeepers.

With the Gates appearing spontaneously, having Gatekeepers available among the populace was the optimal option.

Gatekeepers were becoming more and more popular, being both protectors and celebrities. Even students were allowed to take the exam to earn a licence.

All of that to say that a Gatekeeper’s job was to brave the waves of monsters coming from a Gate, and destroy the portal itself.

Minato focused back when they neared the core. He had played bait to thin out the monsters protecting  it, but it didn’t mean the Gate’s heart was defenseless.

A crocodile the size of an elephant was resting in the middle of a large room.

This was the core, a monster stronger than anything else in the Gate.

The impromptu party readied their weapon, cycled their Mana and got ready for a fight.

Chapter 2:

Minato and the samurai Gatekeeper ran one way, the hammer-wielder and the spear user went the other way, each duo approaching the crocodile from a different direction. Meanwhile the archer started the battle by firing a volley of arrows.

They bounced off the overgrown reptile’s scales, but it succeeded in catching the Core Monster’s attention. It roared, showcasing the rows of teeth characteristic of a crocodile, except that each one was the size of a knife. Its claws dug into the earth and it launched itself at its attacker.

Megafauna born in Gates behaved like more aggressive versions of their Earth counterparts. They were easy to bait and generally went for the one that attacked them. That, and their lack of greater magic besides their larger size, was the reason why Gates containing that kind of monster were only considered D-rank.

The Gatekeepers took advantage of that single-mindedness and surrounded the beast. As the crocodile ran at the archer, The hammer-wielder and the samurai aimed to cripple its legs with a pincer strike. The hammer slammed on the scaly hide with a thunderous crack while the armored Gatekeeper left deep gashes on the other leg.

Struck on both sides, the Core Monster snapped its jaws from one side to the other, only catching air as the Gatekeepers retreated. More arrows fell, some digging between scales while others bounced off like their predecessors.

Now understanding that it was surrounded, the beast spun, lashing out with its tail.

Instead of retreating further or jumping over it, Minato ran forward and slid under the tail.The crocodile finished its spin, leading to a situation where Minato was under its bottom jaw. 

The teen raised his hand mid-slide, Mana gathering and heating up. A trio of fireballs rose up and exploded upon meeting the crocodile’s jaw. This lifted the beast’s head, opening it up for the spear-wielder to run his spear into the softer underside.

The Core Monster screeched and thrashed in pain. The spear-user had to give up his weapon and jump back in order to not be trampled. However, the giant crocodile stomping caused the earth to shake enough to make the retreating man stumble and fall.

He gazed up in horror as the crocodile’s leg rose up and fell again, on course to flatten him.

Minato suddenly was in front of the spear user, hands raised. The moment the giant monster’s limb neared him, he twisted his body, guiding the and redirecting the leg to the side.

Kamikiri Aiki-jutsu: Flowing Current.

His hands shook. Even with redirecting most of the power aside, it still took a toll on his body to move that multi-tons beast. But it was enough to save a life, and gain time.

The samurai Gatekeeper had his blade raised in a high guard, Mana flowing along his blade, and expanding, creating a towering edge of blue light.

Magic Sword Art: Long Sword of Beheading.

The sword fell, the scales of the monster doing nothing to stop the sharpened Mana from separating its head from its body.

The samurai sheathed his sword.

“Good work.” He simply said.

The Gatekeepers watched as the corpse slowly faded. It was kind of a shame. The Gates were saturated with Mana, so people could loot them and make enchanted items out of the raw material found. There were Gates that were kept open on purpose until teams had stripped them of everything of value before getting rid of the Core Monsters to close them.

Unfortunately, this gate had opened in the middle of a busy street, so it had to be closed as soon as possible.

Still, they would be paid for getting rid of a Gate in a timely manner, though they wouldn’t be paid a fortune for a D-rank Gate like this one. They had no choice but to leave now, anyway. With the death of the Core Monster, the Gate would crumble in the hour.

~~~

Minato looked down at his phone, watching the money that was just put on his account. He put his phone away as the elevator opened its door, and he started walking down the hallway it opened to. He opened a door and entered a hospital room.

A heart monitor beeped, showing the occupant was still alive, though not many would think it seeing her. She was a beautiful young girl, that was to be sure, but she looked like a black and white picture, as if all colors had been drained from her. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing barely audible even for a Gatekeeper like Minato.

He approached the bed and took her limp hand in his. Anyone watching the scene could see the uncanny resemblance between the two. 

“Hey, Sis.” Minato greeted his comatose twin sister.

Gate monsters didn’t just kill. Some used twisted magic and curses to cause pain and destruction. When the Gates opened, Minato’s sister and parents were unfortunate enough to be close to one while Minato himself was sick and had stayed home with his aunt.

The monster that came out of this particular Gate was dubbed the Monochrome Stalker. It drained people’s Mana and colors, as if making them hollow husks.

Minato’s parents died, completely leeched off their Mana and lifeforce. His sister on the other hand, had apparently more Mana and was able to survive long enough for a local Yokai to reach the scene and slay the monster.

Still, since then, Yukiko Kamikiri hadn’t opened her eyes. Even magical healers had not been able to help her. Her soul had taken damage, and even dead the Monochrome Stalker’s Mana stained hers. Few were the means to counter such a condition.

The only way was to find more Monochrome Stalkers to study, allowing magicians and exorcists to unravel its spells and find counters to it. Then, once the taint was disposed of, they would need to find a way to heal her soul, which while rare was still more doable.

Minato kept that in mind while he talked to his unconscious sister. He would get stronger, rise the ranks, hunt more monsters and heal his sister.

Anything else was not even in the realm of consideration.