The Era Of Hunters

"Big bro!" A young girl yelled as she ran and went to hug her brother.

"What are you doing outside?" Benji asked her as he hugged his sister back.

"The nurse said I should take a walk around before having my lunch," the little girl replied.

"Hey, Pearl," Lucy who was behind Benji called the little girl who broke from the hug and rushed over to her side.

"Big sis, you came!" She yelled happily.

"Yeah... I came to see you," Lucy replied and hugged the little girl back.

"Let's go in," Benji said and the trio walked back into the hospital. "I brought something for you," he said and brought out the remaining roasted chicken.

Seeing it, Pearl's eyes lit up and then she collected it from him and began to eat. Benji and Lucy watched as she ate the chicken hungrily and it pained Benji.

Noticing the change in his expression, Lucy also got bothered but they waited until Pearl fell asleep before they could talk about it.

"If you want I can use my ability to heal, it's just that I don't know if it'll work," Lucy said to Benji as they left the room.

"No, don't bother about it," Benji replied. He wasn't the type to bother people about his problems. "Let the doctors handle it while I make money for the expenses."

Lucy frowned a bit but she wasn't offended with him. She knew the kind of person he was and she respected his decisions so well... The reason for her sadness was the fact she couldn't do anything else for him aside sending some money and buying them some food.

While they were still there, Benji's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and placed the phone on his ear.

"Hello."

"Benji, where the hell are you?" A voice yelled through the phone.

Benji breathed as he realized that the caller was none other than his boss. "At the hospital, is there anything I can do for you...?"

"Will you get your ass down here at the base!" The man yelled. "Hurry up!"

"Yes boss!" Benji replied and the call was abruptly cut.

"What's the matter?" Lucy asked, getting worried.

"Duty calls, I guess," Benji replied.

"Let me come with you, I don't want you injuring yourself again," Lucy said but Benji refused.

"I'd rather you stay here with Pearl. She'll get bored if she wakes up and I don't want her looking for me so please stay here."

"But..."

"No buts, Lucy," Benji urged his friend. "Pearl is more important than me."

Seeing that she could not force him, Lucy sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll do it but you owe me a date!"

"A date?" Benji mumbled. That came from nowhere, taking him by surprise. "O-okay if you say so," he said and ran off.

Lucy watched as he disappeared from her sight and then she sighed and walked back into the room.

Benji boarded a bus with the last coin in his bag. It was the cheapest means of transportation in the town so he was able to afford that one. Soon, he arrived at his location, a large round building with intricate carvings of monsters lying under the feet of armored men who hard weapons pointed at them.

As he walked in, he was being greeted by almost everyone in the building because he was famous.

"Ah, here comes our strongest hunter!" A bald-headed man said and went to put his hand around Benji's neck but the latter dodged and moved away from him.

"Good day, Matt," Benji greeted, keeping a safe distance from the man.

"Are you avoiding me?" Matt asked with his brows raised but Benji waved his hands.

"Not at all, Matt," he replied sharply. "I am in a haste to see the boss." With that, Benji ran off towards the boss's office but just as he was about to open the door and go in, the door opened from inside and the boss walked out.

The boss was a tall slender man with average looks. Seeing Benji, the man frowned lightly.

"Regroup with the others, I've got something to inform you all about," he said and Benji nodded and went back to where the others were.

He carefully avoided Matt because the man was full of troubles.

"Listen up, everyone!" The boss said, gaining the attention of the about six hunters gathered together excluding Benji himself. "I got a secret information that a D-rank dungeon appeared just yesterday night so we must get there before the other guilds."

"That sounds like fun," a young man said, sounding excited already.

"James here will be your captain," the boss said and the man called James walked out from the group.

"Yeah, that sounds fine by us," the other members said excluding Matt who seemed to be upset.

"Matt doesn't seem happy about it," Benji whispered as he glanced at Matt from where he was standing.

"He's been the captain for a year now, naturally, he would be upset that someone else is taking over his position," a girl beside him replied.

"That serves him right though," Benji whispered with a mocking expression written on his face. He never liked the man, he was among those making fun of him because he was the only one still in E-rank.

"Don't say that to his hearing or you'll have your head turned to roasted meat," the girl replied, trying to swallow her laugh.

"That will be all, now you all go and be careful out there!" The boss said and everyone set out.

A teleportation device was activated and everyone went in. The teleportation device made traveling between far distances easy for humans. With the device activated, it took the group only a matter seconds before they arrived at their exact location. An open cave.

"Let's go in!" The captain said and as the leader, he took the first step into the cave.

Meanwhile at the same time in a different place, a horrible act was about to take place.

"Let me go! Someone help me!" A young girl cried frantically as she was being dragged to a lonely place by a huge man. People watched but no one dared to make a move... They were afraid to do anything because of the man.

"Help!" The girl yelled but her cries fell on deaf ears. This heinous act was about to take place on a broad daylight but not even a soul would offer to help her.

"Shut up!" The man grunted as he continued dragging the girl forcefully to a deserted building. There, he flung the girl away, causing her to hit her head on the wall.

Blood gushed out but he didn't give a damn about it and began to rip off her clothes. The girl struggled but her efforts were useless as she was already too weak to do anything. Tears streamed down from her eyes and she wished someone would save her.

The man ripped off her clothes and was ready to take off his pants but just then someone appeared behind him and grabbed him by the leg.

Despite his bulky feature, the figure raised him up with ease and slammed him to the wall. Everything happened in a matter of seconds... No one saw it coming.

The weak girl opened her eyes and saw a girl standing there and glaring at the bulky man who tried to get up but failed. The girl turned and saw the girl staring at him and then walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked the girl who shook her head. "It'll be fine, I'll take you out of here."

The weak girl nodded and watched as the other girl went back to where the bulky man was lying. He grabbed the man on his head and slammed it to the ground countless times until it turned to pieces. It was horrible to even look at. Satisfied with the outcome, the girl stood up and went back to where the girl was lying.

"Let's go," the girl said and carried the weak out of the place. As they walked past the crowd, many people who recognized the girl yelled excitedly.

"It's Miss Donna!"

"Yeh!"

"Very well, Miss Donna!"

Donna ignored all the praises and walked past them. Hearing them applaud her irritated her so much that she could throw up if care was not taken.

'Humans are scum!' She cursed inwardly as she made her way to the hospital.

------Inside the dungeon-----

"There are so many D-rank monsters in here but thankfully, we are all able to deal with them," one of the hunters said as he wiped the blood on his face.

"You should speak for yourself though," the girl beside him said and glanced over at Benji who was finding it hard defeating one of the monsters.

"Tsk!" The boy scoffed and the two of them left to join the others.

Meanwhile, Benji was still finding it difficult to kill one monster.

"Damn it!" He grunted as he swung his dagger. It was the only weapon he could afford — A grade 0 weapon.

Weapons were classified by their make and also, by how strong they were. For example, non-magic weapons or items are classified as grade 0 items. Magic items made out of an F, E, and D-rank monster are classified as grade 1 weapons. Magic items made out of C, B, and A-rank monsters are classified as grade 2, 3, and 4 weapons respectively.

Unfortunately, Benji could not afford even a grade 1 weapon because of how rich he was.

"Just die!" He yelled as he tried to stab the monster but it dodged and went behind him, giving him a claw on the back.

"Argh!" He yelled and fell to the ground. The monster walked to him and raised its claws to attack him again. "Am I really going to die?"