A Monster Called Benji

"Die!" A young boy yells as he stabs the last monster by his side. "Finally," he breathed and fell to the ground, not minding the fact that he was being soaked in the pool of black blood.

Surrounding him were small-sized creatures with bizarre shapes and appearances.

"That's a total of ten monsters," a deep voice said to him and when he turned around, he saw a short man standing far away from him.

"Mr. Tom," the boy said as he got up from the floor.

"That's just some thousands," the man said, looking displeased. "It's not much."

"Yeah, I know..." The boy said and sighed. "I can only kill F-rank monsters and they hardly come around here."

"That's none of my business," Mr. Tom said. "You won't be getting any pay."

The boy's shoulders dropped instantly. "You can't do that to me, sir!" He cried. "I still have hospital bills to pay and dinner to prepare. Without this money, nothing can be done."

The man scoffed, not interested in what the boy was saying. "That is none of my business," he spat. "You have heeps of debts to cover and you must pay them off before you die!"

"I understand but..." The boy said and paused as the man turned to leave.

"I don't care about your pathetic stories. My money is more important and if you don't pay them all before the year comes to an end, I'll take that which is precious to you."

As the man left, one of his boys went to the boy's side and packed all the bodies of the creatures he had killed.

"You are good as dead," the young man scoffed and walked away, giggling.

The boy stood at that spot for a while as he thought about his life.

"How do I pay tonight's hospital bills?" He mumbled with a deep frown on his face. "I can't have them bothering Pearl over nothing. She is still too young to be worrying about things like this. This is all my father's fault!"

'We weren't this poor before, my father caused our misfortune. Back then, my father and his wife were doing well managing the family's business of selling motor parts. We were living just fine as we were able to feed thrice a day, wear good clothes and live a well-furnished house... Many people envied my family and as the only child then, I lacked nothing. I had everything I wanted and was well pampered, I knew nothing about suffering, and I was made to believe that it would last forever but unfortunately... Fate had other things in store for me'.

'It all started when my father brought home a man he met on the street, he said the man was new to the town and stranded so he helped him by giving him shelter. But I never liked this man, I always felt that something was off about him, I felt that he was hiding something but whenever I told my parents, they would brush if off saying that I am only a child. Tired of persuading my father to drive the man away from our house, I decided to watch as things unfolded and as expected something nad happened. Without warning,our family business crumbled and before a year came to an end, we began to live a poor life. My mother was pregnant at that time and she could not protect the baby well enough and it led to her having a poor health. From her birth, she was always on medication and any day she seizes to take her drugs, she either looses consciousness or coughs out blood continuously until the drugs are given to her. As if that was not enough, my father began to live a life of gambling. He squandered the remaining money in gambles and even went as far as borrowing from his business associates with the promise to pay back in due time. Mr. Tom is one of them and worst, he owns him the highest debts. Unable to pay his debts, my father committed suicide, leaving his wife and two kids to suffer for his foolishness. One of the men he was owning came and took our mother away from us and I was left to take care of a two years old girl... I was only twelve years old then and I didn't know how to do anything. Many nights I had to sleep on an empty stomach just to make sure that Pearl had something to eat. Many times she fell unconscious, our neighbors were the ones helping us. I could not take it anymore and decided to find something doing but after many attempts, I didn't get anything; because I was too young to be doing a job. At a time, I had to sell one of my kidneys just to pay some debts but still... It was not near enough.

All of a sudden, something happened. A green portal that led to another world suddenly teared open and out of this portal came so many monsters, demons, and devils. These creatures caused havoc everywhere, they killed humans, destroyed a lot of things, and nothing could be down. Guns and other explosives were useless against them but then, hope came.

Some humans miraculously began to awaken within themselves abilities that gave them advantage against the monsters and these humans were called hunters. These hunters were ranked according to their powers; S, A, B, C, D, and E. Unfortunately, I am only an E-rank hunter.

Not long ago, I took on the job of a hunter because it was the only job willing to accept me. I had no ability like the other hunters in my group but they were also willing to let me be with them because I was quite useful for them. Through this job, I began to take care of my sister; I had her taken to the hospital where they would look after her properly because I couldn't do that since I was always away. I was also able to pay some debts though they were still piled up, waiting for me.

This has been my life ever since our father left us'.

"Argh damn it!" He grunted and rubbed his grumbling stomach. "I haven't had any proper meal for some days now."

"Hey, Benji!" A female voice called and when he turned around, he saw a girl with orange hair staring at him.

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" He asked her, not minding how dirty he was looking.

"I figured you'd be here so I came to see you," she replied. She had her hands behind her while giggling and Benji could not help but think that she was being weird.

"What are you hiding behind you?" He asked her.

"Take a guess," she said, giggling the more.

"Hmm," Benji sighed tiredly. "You know that I am not good at it."

"You might as well forget about it," Lucy said and made to turn and walk away but Benji stopped her.

He tried taking a peek behind her but she wouldn't let him. Exhausted, he said. "Fine! Let me guess... Some magic crystals?" He asked her.

"No..." She replied.

"A pouch filled with monsters' eyes?" He asked.

"No..."

"Hmmm.... Some human head—"

"What do you take me for?" Lucy yelled. "A freak or some monster?"

"Sorry but I told you that I am not good at guessing at all," Benji apologized while trying to hide the fact that he wanted to laugh.

He had known Lucy for quite a while, she was the first person that talked to him the day he joined the hunters association, and the first person that wanted to be friends with him. Unlike an unfortunate person like him, she was born into a rich family, she was good in her healing ability, and was among the C-rank hunters. Sometimes, she would bring food home and also pay for his sister's hospital bills.

"Here, take it!" She said and tossed the small bag at him.

Benji quickly caught it and the moment he brought it close to his nose, his eyes widened.

"Roasted chicken!" He gasped and opened it. A full brown chicken came into his view, followed by the sweet aroma. "Thank you so much, Lucy."

"Hmph!" Lucy mumbled. She was still angry with him for failing to guess right.

"Come on, I'm sorry, okay?" Benji apologized but she didn't respond.

***At the same time in a different place***

"Hello, boss. This is Carl speaking," a young with a phone on his ear said.

"How many new capable hunters do you have now?" The man from the other end asked.

"Five; two B-ranks and three C-ranks," the young man, Carl replied.

"It's not enough," the man from the other end said. "We need as much magic crystals we need to make stronger magic weapons. I don't care how you do it, Carl. But I need as many capable hunters as you can get!"

Before the young man could say something, the call ended. Carl sighed and dropped the phone on the table.

"I might as well do this myself."