Chapter Four: First-Time Hunter

Slowly and lightly, Samuel opened his eyes and found himself in a small vacant hut while sleeping in a comfy bed. Unwillingly, he sat up but head began to throb with striking pain. He scanned the entire room he was in. Every item that was in his room was right here in this hut. Then, he remembered how everything was already devoured by something of flames.

"What's going on?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, he remembered the ceremony where he had became an official Monster Hunter. Also, he remembered his friend telling him something that he couldn't believe in his life. It was something about the Great Four Hunters of Dawn. He shook his head as if he dreamed the entire day. The only weird thing to him is that he was in a hut instead of the Home. He felt his head and felt bandages wrapped around it. Whatever he fell on, it was hard hit in the back of his head.

Ambi walked in slowly while the boy was stuck in his amazement. He broke the silence by saying, "I see that you're okay, Hunter Calden. That's good to see."

Samuel became disappointed that everything that has happened wasn't a dream.

"What happened? Why does my head hurt so much? Where's Jake? How long have I've been in here?"

Ambi ignored Samuel's questions and said, "You're here because I received grave of the Home being consumed by flames. We gave every two orphan a hut to stay in. I reckoned that you wanted Hunter Ryder to be in here with you; however, he ran away from the village before seeing you like this."

Samuel ignored the pain in the back of his head and remembered his only friend tried to attack him in the alleyway at one moment. He wanted to say something. He wanted to go after Jake, but his body remained where it was. Tears flowed out of his eyes. He was confused and lost.

"I know this is a lot to take in, Hunter Calden. Believe me; this will be over before you know it. All we have to do now is to wait for you to recovery and then you can start on your very first quest. I have it posted in the guild just for you."

"What do you mean start my very first quest?" Samuel looked at the village chief bewildered, "I thought that was tomorrow."

"That's right. Today is what I assigned you to do this quest. You've been asleep for a day so far."

Samuel tried to get out of his bed, but his body refused to move. He looked at Ambi with a puzzled look. So many things happen yesterday and he's trying to take everything in today. He rubbed his head and finally got out of his bed.

"I'm ready to do the quest now. I don't need to recover that much."

"Samuel, don't try to stress everything on your shoulders," Ambi drastically announced.

"No, I have to do this. You said you wanted this done today, so I'm going to complete it today. Just let me pack and get equipped, please."

Ambi sighed and left the hut without turning around or saying something last. Samuel freed his head from the tight grip of the bandages. He tossed them aside and went to the large crate that was next to his bed. It was filled with his equipment and other things. Potions, herbs and whetstones were the basic needs for a beginning hunter. Also, there was a little amount of money in this large container. He equipped his wooden armor, placed the sword and shield behind his back, and placed the other things in his pouch.

He checked to see if he had everything with him. He looked down and saw that there's a card on the floor. This card is probably for the guild to notify him as a qualify hunter. He then went outside to find everything was okay except for the charred orphanage. From here, the guild was to his far left. He slowly walked there, afraid that everyone would notice him after the incident that happened yesterday. He still wondered what Jake tried to say to him that day. It was something about him and the Great Four. Whatever it was, he had forgotten it.

He walked pass the only blacksmith there was in town and took notice that Macy wasn't looking at him. Her beauty was the only the appreciation that he could take so far. Many of the villagers pointed and stared at the boy when he entered the guild.

"Isn't that the boy who had an ancestor of the Great Four?" one boy asked his mother.

"He should be very experienced to have someone like a Great Four to be in his bloodline." another voice went.

Samuel became very irritated by the fact that everyone remembered about the situation with him and Jake. Enraged, he stomped into the guild hall to find himself in front of a fellow hunter.

"You should stop acting like a big shot since you noticed that you have family member of one of the Great Four," the rough-looking male hunter spat.

"I wasn't trying to, sir," Samuel quietly said.

The man walked pass by him without saying anything else. The villagers of this place never took notice of him before and now they're all over him as if he's a celebrity.

"You shouldn't mess with Rogue whenever he's like that," one of the guild mistresses told him, "I really admire that you're a descendant of one of the Great Four!"

"Amy, you shouldn't treat young men as if they're children. Remember that you're only here because mother couldn't find a job for you," another guild mistress informed her little sister.

"I know, but there are interesting people in Crona. Although, they're not that interesting as the people in Loc Lac are."

Her sister sighed, "You aren't here to meet people! You're here to get some money to pay off your debts. Understand?"

"Um…excuse me?" Samuel interrupted the sister's conversation.

"What is it, boy? If you're here to take on a mission, the board's over there. If you're here to listen to our conversation, then grab a seat so you can hear more on how stupid my little sister is when it comes to money."

The guild mistress pointed at the board. It was filled with many gathering, hunting and special quests that were probably posted months ago. He took a look at the board and found the village chief's request. He snatched off the board and read it. He was assigned to find a several mushrooms in the Sunshine Plains. This is the Usolan's territory. This made him quiver in fear that the monster might pop up behind him and kill him on-spot.

"Kid, bring the request over here and I'll sign off on it," the older sister said irritated.

"Lucy, you don't have to be so mean to the poor boy," Amy reacted.

"He's older than you! I wouldn't call him "boy" if I were you!"

"Here's the request, miss," Samuel quickly handed the paper over.

Lucy read the sheet and noticed that the village chief posted this. She grinned at Samuel with curiosity. Amy tried to get a good glimpse of the paper, but her sister planted it on her face rough.

"Amy, stamp this paper with approval of the quest," Lucy said.

"Okay, Lucy!"

"Kid, do you know what the chief got you in?"

"No, ma'am."

"He's trying to get you killed out there. You're going to gather a few Unique Mushrooms and, hopefully, the Usolan won't kill you."

Samuel gulped and told the woman, "I don't think he would want me dead."

"Oh, so you think that you're going to live after this. Monster Hunters are faced with large monsters such as the Usolan constantly. They risk their lives for those who safely wait for their request to be completed. The guild just approves of that and let hunters get themselves killed daily. Do you understand that you're going to find yourself facing a monster sooner or later?"

"Listen, miss! I'm not going to die out there," Samuel's body shook with confidence, "At first, I didn't want to fight monsters, but my friend is hoping that I can become Monster Hunter. I'm going to find myself collecting those mushrooms and getting the heck out of there before any monster comes."

Amy interrupted their dispute, "Here's your request, hunter. All I have to do is see your guild card and record that you went to take on this quest, then, you'll be ready to go."

"Sorry, here you go, Amy."

Lucy sat in her chair behind the counter. Her body showed that she was in her earlier twenties. Her and her sister wore the clothing of most guild hall members. A green and yellow dress was on the older sister while a red and white dress was on the younger one. Lucy's sister was about two years younger than Samuel, but worked in the large guild hall for a year so far. Her youth was the direct opposite of her older sister's youth: delicate skin and body feature. Lucy did have delicate skin, but her body was slightly larger than the thin Amy.

Samuel handed Amy his guild card. She looked at the card and recorded his name down in a large notebook filled with the names of hunters, what date did they took a quest and what quest they took on. She gave him the card back and closed the notebook.

"I hope you'll have fun on your first quest, Samuel!" she brightly said.

"I hope you don't die out there, Samuel," her sister said in the opposite way of her sister's tone.

Samuel placed the card and request sheet in his pouch. Finally, he was ready to begin his very first quest. Just wait for me, Jake, he thought as he exited the guild hall and went to the destination where his quest will finally start.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him, sis."

"Only real Monster Hunters can tolerate the risk of being killed. That kid must show that he's up for it."