The Witch

by V. A. Lewis

  I was just getting back to my feet when the Chimera reached me. It came at me like a wild dog, clawing, biting—

  And I stabbed at its eye. The Chimera just barely jerked out of the way. The dagger struck it across the face regardless, and Monster reeled. It spun around, whipping its tail at me. But I simply ducked under it as it overextended. And with a simple swing of the blade, I felt my dagger cut through the leathery skin of a snake.

  Except, it was not a snake. It was a snake-like tail. The one that was part of the Chimera… well, used to be a part of the Chimera.

  I severed the Chimera’s tail in that single swing, causing it to stagger. But I did not let up. I ran forwards at the Monster, dodging it as it swung a claw at me in a panicked state. I leaned out of the way, slashing at its limb as it narrowly missed me.

  I managed to get another strike into the Chimera before it leapt back, away from me by a good 20 feet. It once again opened its mouth, readying a fireball to blast me with. But I had seen that trick before. In fact, I already knew how to counter it.

  I simply held up the gun on my other hand and fired it. The bullet struck the fireball while it was still within the Monster’s jaw, causing it to blast out at its own face. The Chimera flinched. Damaged by its own attack, and its vision blocked by the smoke covering its face.

  It could not see. So it was not prepared for me when I swung at it again. My dagger plunged it deeper than before, getting a proper hit in on the Chimera for once. It tried to strike back at me, but I easily countered it once again.

  The Monster helplessly tried to fight back, but it was no use. Whenever it swung at me, I countered it. Whenever it tried to send a fireball at me, I blew it up in its mouth. And if I did not— could not— dodge an attack, the one time I parried, my dagger actually cut into the Chimera’s claws instead.

  I had known that Chimera’s had a keen intelligence to them when I first met one. One that gave it the ability to cruelly taunt its opponents, and one that would surely tell it when to flee. And right now, it was seriously considering the latter.

  The Chimera swiped one paw at me, but I easily ducked under it. It was slower now. More tired. I brought my dagger up at its neck, cutting open a light wound at a vital spot of the Monster. I was about to follow up with a second swing to make an ‘X’ shape, but the Chimera bounded away once again.

  I had whittled it down, slowly. Over time, its movement became more sluggish, and its attacks became weaker. Its jump only covered half of the distance it did when I first saw it, despite putting all its efforts to get away from me. The Chimera had lost its tail, and was now bleeding from multiple cuts on its legs and sides. With that final strike to the neck, it must have decided it had enough.

  The Monster spun around, the remaining half of its tail between its hind legs, and... it ran.

  "Oh no you don’t—"

  I raised a hand, and the spell I held at my fingertips the entire time manifested. The very same spell Victor used so often, one of the many I had learned during the months I was traveling alone in the Free Lands.

  A blade of wind shot out, moving faster than the injured creature. It struck the Monster from behind, going through a quarter of the way before stopping. It did not slice it completely in half like I thought it would, but it was enough to instantly kill the Chimera.

  It dropped dead where it stood, and I walked up to its corpse. I could have used magic the entire time— and I was prepared to use magic just in case— but I had fought a Chimera before; I had killed one before, even without magic. This was just a test to see whether I could do it again.

  And, as I pulled my hood down to wipe some sweat off the side of my head, I was pretty sure I passed the test. Considering that I did so without getting grievously wounded, and with only a few scratches across my body, I was pretty sure I did so with flying colors.

  I glanced down at the dead Chimera. At the Monster that was almost ten foot in length, probably weighing a thousand pounds. Then I realized the folly of my ways.

  ...how am I supposed to bring you back?

  It was morning. Or rather, dawn. This was an important time of the day for most people. It was when farmers got up to plough their fields, when gatherers went out to collect their herbs, and when hunters went out to catch their prey.

  But truth be told, that mattered more so in the village than in the city. Cityfolk did begin their day early, but not to follow nature’s schedule as they went about their day. Instead, they created an artificial schedule to follow, one where a regular person would miss all the hustle and bustle which would inevitably lead to the loss of opportunities.

  Such a thing— a construct of peoples’ affairs— was what the Hunters of the city had to follow. They did not just hunt animals for their pelts or meat to sell or eat. These Hunters were part of the Hunters Guild, and were tasked with Monster extermination, bodyguarding rich nobles from Monsters, or selling off prized Monster parts to the guild or in an auction.

  As was quite obviously spelled out, Hunters mostly dealt with Monsters. Not all the time, of course. But generally speaking, if a Hunter was involved, surely Monsters had to be involved as well. And with being in such danger all the time, it was no wonder so many Hunters would want to take the easier, safer jobs.

  Because of that, the Hunters Guild was almost always most packed in the morning. Hunters came in searching for a job that was posted overnight, that they hoped was good and safe. If there were none— which generally was the case, since such jobs did not just appear into existence every single night— they would wait until someone came in with a job they found appealing. And like a pack of wolves— which was ironic, considering the metaphor and their jobs— the Hunters would pounce on the job, trying to be the first one to get it.

  Some Hunters were even willing to accept less pay than others to get the jobs they wanted. This would lead to arguing and bickering, which would end up with a receptionist calling the Guild Master/Mistress down, and sometimes involving the job-posters themselves to make the final decision. Today was no different.

  Two teams of Hunters were huddled around the job board, arguing over who should be the one to take the request to exterminate a group of Horned Rabbits, as other Hunter teams or individual Hunters watched on with mild amusement, and some with boredom, desensitized to such a common scene. The first team believed they had won the task on a first-come-first-serve basis, which was generally how it worked. But the second team had been there all night, and they were unhappy that no one informed them that such a job had even been posted while they were there.

  The Guild Master had just arrived, and was trying to resolve the dispute, although he was failing pretty bad at it. One of the receptionists, a woman called Agnes, had just finished working the night shift, and was definitely not going to butt into this pointless argument, opting to quietly leave instead.

  However, just as that was about to happen, there was a sudden commotion. No— not the one from inside the building. But from outside of the Hunters Guild.

  There were sharp gasps. People— both Hunters and regular cityfolk alike— began to gather in a crowd and whisper to one another. The source of whatever was causing the disturbance slowly made its way closer to the building, before finally, a figure appeared at the doorway.

  It might have been a child. Or it might have just been a really short and thin man. Or an emaciated Half Dwarf. Or even a Goblin, rare as they were in Laxis. But it did not matter.

  Whoever it was had a hood up, and was wearing a mask to cover their face. Furthermore, it seemed as though they had just come from a fight, since their clothes were stained with blood and gore. And while that was not exactly an unusual scene in the Hunters Guild, what the hooded figure brought with them was indeed quite odd.

  It was the head of a Chimera.

  The exact same Monster that had a bounty on it for the last two weeks, yet no one had completed. The child, or Goblin, or whatever they were, dragged the head slowly across the floor of the Hunte
rs Guild, approaching the front desk.

  The severed head, which was still leaking some blood, left quite a mess behind as the hooded figure finally reached the receptionist. Everyone in the guild had already stopped what they were doing, even the two bickering groups and the Guild Master, turning to see this masked person as they hefted the Chimera’s head onto the long table.

  The receptionist just stared down at the head in shock, before being startled by a sudden noise. The masked person jammed a dagger down into the Chimera’s skull, squirting more blood out of its side and onto the wooden desk.

  "Wh— huh? What do you want?"

  "Hi," Melas said loud enough for all to hear. Then with a deep breath, she repeated her opening line from 12 hours ago. "I’d like to register as a Hunter, please."

  She glanced about the expressions plastered on everyone's face across the room, stopping only at Agnes as she gaped back at the little girl. Seeing that, Melas felt her lips curl into a smile beneath her mask.

  She was satisfied. Content. Because she knew now that she had won the rematch.

  Chapter 13: Bestiary

  Even now, it was never as easy as you thought it would be; simply handing over a Chimera’s head was not sufficient enough for one to become a Hunter. Sure, this Monster had been a problem plaguing them for almost a month. But how could they know that I was the one that killed it? They needed proof, and proof was… easy to get.

  There were multiple types of evidence that could be brought into the court of law, and I had three of them available to me right now. The first was real evidence— which was the Chimera’s head itself that I had brought into the Hunters Guild. It was real, and it was right there; there was no arguing against such a thing.

  The second piece of evidence was testimonial evidence: ranging from the villagers who thanked me, to the guards who saw me leave Locke the night before, I had plenty of witnesses to corroborate my story of what happened. Even the bystanders who saw me drag the decapitated bleeding skull of the Chimera served to further my case that I was the one who killed it.

  And finally, the last one, demonstrated evidence, was just a pain in the ass for me. Because I had to convince the Guild Master that I was the one who killed the Chimera; give an explanation as to why I did it without first registering with the Hunters Guild; and tell them why I even wanted to be a Hunter in the first place.

  Of course, this was not the court of law, so none of this really mattered; what mattered was what the judge and the jury thought, and unfortunately, this man sitting skeptically across from me played both roles.

  "And why can’t you just… remove your mask?" the Guild Master of Locke’s Hunters Guild asked.

  "Because of various reasons," I said, opting not to reveal more than that.

  The man pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He was an elderly gentleman. If I had to guess, I would say he was about 60 years old, past the age of retirement. Apparently he had been a Hunter once, but that did not mean he had a brash and arrogant personality as a Guild Master. In fact, he was very polite and kept trying to understand things from my perspective; though he still insisted on verifying my identity.

  "I know that not every"— he looked me once over— "individual has a way to prove they are who they say they are. Photographic identification has only come a few decades ago, and the Hunters Guild itself has only started the transition, rolling out such changes slowly over time. But surely you should at least have some form of identification. I know that… Goblins… from the Sharan Enclave are all issued certificates at birth. Not that I’m assuming that you’re one, of course."

  "Mhm, but not all Goblins are from there, are they?"

  "Of course not. And neither am I assuming that you’re a Goblin. Just…" the Guild Master trailed off. He took a sip from the cup of black liquid.

  It was coffee. Dark, bitter, coffee. Not to my tastes, so I had a glass of water— although I did not drink from it because of my mask.

  "The Hunters Guild just needs proof that you’re not some sort of criminal, Miss. Like, say, a piece of paper from the temple you were born in?"

  "I was not born in a temple," I said simply.

  "Hm, of course. So are you from a small village then? A farm of some sorts?" he asked, uncertainly scratching his gray beard. "Or— no… but maybe…"

  "What is it?" I titled my head to the side, as the man leaned back, folding his arms.

  "Miss… could you possibly be from the Free Lands? Our country has been accepting some refugees, and it used to be a completely open border until we were overwhelmed, but that would explain your predicament."

  I nodded slowly, not really sure where he was going with this or what he meant. "And so what if I am?"

  "Well, if you’re really a refugee, or even just from the Free Lands, the Hunters Guild has special circumstances regarding it. You see, the Free Cities are considered to be— and I do apologize if you take offense at this— backwards. As you know, they do partake in slavery, and some regions even condoned child intercourse— although the latter does apply to the Puer Kingdom as well— but because of these reasons, and the various conflicts they tend to have with their neighbors, trade with them is… limited."

  "They don’t get much mana tools, right?" I asked to confirm.

  "Indeed. When the Mana Revolution first began, they did get access to such tools and weapons without a problem since they did play their part in sending troops for the Final Holy war. But once it was over, the Holy Xan Empire and other countries halted the exports of all such items to them, for it was believed slavery was a violation of the Holy Law to never inflict great suffering upon others. Their military stayed strong since they were attacked so often, but in regards to the standard of living… well, they are lagging behind rather significantly if I had to say so myself."

  And that meant photo identifications were not a thing, and identity documents themselves were not so pervasive. I was not sure if the Guild Master genuinely believed I was some sort of refugee, or if he was simply throwing me a bone here, but I took my chance.

  "...I did come from the Free Lands. As a refugee, from the eastern border of Laxis," I lied by omission. And thankfully, the Guild Master did not ask me to elaborate.

  "Good, good. So in accordance with our rules regarding refugees… aha, you simply have to provide proof that you are qualified to be a Hunter. Normally, that’s a vague criteria which requires us to simply confirm you are physically capable of taking care of yourself— which can easily be done from knowing your age. And while that’s not possible with you however, that"— the man and I craned our necks to look at the head of the dead Chimera sitting on a table— "does prove you are fit for this job, and we would not just be letting you get yourself killed. So I believe it’s settled then."

  I smiled at that. Only when I realized I was wearing a mask and he could not see me did I quickly give a curt nod. "I do believe it is."

  "It’s not a problem at all, Miss. Now to get you licensed…" the Guild Master trailed off. "Hm, unfortunately we’ll have to draft you one of our old contracts. Unless you suddenly feel like having a picture taken of your face would not be a problem?"

  When I shook my head, he continued.

  "Of course. As one of the bigger branches of the Hunters Guild, all the forms we have currently prepared are for the new ID cards— which require a photograph to be taken of you— and we won’t be able to use those. If you don’t mind returning in an hour or two, we’ll have all the documents prepared for your license to be complete. You’ll just have to pay the registration fee of a single silver, which can be subtracted off your reward from killing the Chimera."

  "And how much is that?" I asked, pleasantly surprised that I was actually getting paid; I was not a registered Hunter when I did that job, so I was fully expecting them to withhold payment due to some sort of minor loophole.

  "We’ll have to check what our last posted offer was, but I believe it was somewhere in the range of 10 gold? Maybe slightl
y less," the Guild Master answered, getting up from his seat and offering out a hand. "I’m glad we could resolve that issue, Miss."

  I gratefully accepted it, bowing my head slightly. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your help." I was unsure at first, but now I knew he was trying to help me the entire time— even if he still had to ensure all the rules were properly followed. Maybe I should stop being so rude. I’ve been a bit of a jerk for the past few days.

  "It’s no problem at all. I’m always happy to accept a new Hunter, especially one who got rid of a problem that has been weighing down on us for weeks."

  With that, I politely exited the Guild Masters office, resolving to be a nicer person; although I could not blame myself for having been a little bit annoyed at consistently getting rejected from becoming a Hunter, I should not have taken it out on people just doing their jobs. Instead, I should have taken it out on Chimeras going around and killing innocent people.

  I hate Chimeras.

  This might come off as surprising, but nearly dying was not a fun experience.

  The lobby of the Hunters Guild was emptier now than it was an hour ago when I first arrived; it was still full of dozens of Hunters looking through the job board, discussing their plans for the day, or just going about their business, but it was noticeably less packed than before.

  When I came out from the hallway at the side, I saw heads turn from what they were doing to glance over at me. Apparently, word must have spread about my little scene earlier in the day, as various groups of people began whispering and pointing at me. I blushed.

  Oh my God, this is so embarrassing. I tried to be as dramatic as possible when I made my entrance to prove the point that I deserved to be a Hunter, yet I never stopped to consider the reaction it would garner after I completed that goal. And it just made me want to crawl into a hole and never come back out ever again.