The Manaverse

Hunter's Rally

Granite City

Jut thought the world had gone silent when he had seen the blonde man. That was nothing compared to the absolute grip of terror and shock that froze everything for Jut when Brick said his name.

Then the sound did disappear when a light turned on, shining right on Jut. Even during Brick's monologue, the crowd was cheering. As one, everyone in the room turned to look at him.

Jut's fight of flight instinct kicked in so hard, every muscle in his body locked in place. He forgot to breathe. Long moments passed that had to be an instant where he was drowning in their gazes.

Just as Jut was leveling out and he was going to sprint to the door and flee, the sound erupted in his ears. The crowd began to cheer louder than ever before. This broke Jut's concentration long enough for Kit to hug him.

The warmth of her body and the lack of anxiety her touch had with him made Jut breathe again.

The light turned off and Brick spoke again. "I had to make sure the truth was known."

Then Brick handed the mic to Nora and hugged her. He walked away, gesturing success to the crowd who's cheers slowly began to taper off.

Kirk was clapping just before he took the mic back from Nora. His words made the crowd settle down.

"The last week has been the hardest time in humanity's history. More people have died than in every war over the last thousand years combined."

His words sent a shiver through the crowd. Any small noises people made breathing and existing also faded.

"Yet, in this room are the representatives of the people who have kept us all alive this far. Without you, we all would have been eaten by day four. Without you, the supplies scattered throughout this city would have been squandered, lost forever. While we are packed in here, like sardines, waiting for whatever the Hell is next, you all risk yourselves for our sake. You do so willingly and without reprieve. And, even though your groups suffer losses, those who perish protecting us gave themselves to protect millions of Granite City civilians."

Kirk had every hunter who had lost a teammate to Monster attacks and every person who had lost a loved one struck silent with grief. His voice became hopeful and carried his respect for the hunters before him.

"You are our warriors, our protectors, and our providers. None of this could have happened without any of you. Please know that Granite City sees you and appreciates everything your parties do for us."

Both Kirk and Nora bowed to the group. When the final round of intense cheering died down after long minutes, Kirk spoke again.

"Please, let us protect the City until the lock down. You deserve to rest, eat, drink, and get lucky like that Zoak guy. You may all access the ballrooms at your leisure."

The crowd laughed and began to slowly move around, a line forming at the exits. Jut felt hot embarrassment flash through him as Kit turned away from him, blushing deeply. The atmosphere was tense between them for a long moment. That pressure ebbed when Jut was slapped on the back cheerfully by a stranger.

As Jut filtered out of the hall, Kit close on his heels, many hunters congratulated him with words, hand shakes, or shoulder punches. It wasn't until Jut made it out and down the hall a good distance, did the crowd thin enough for him to breathe again.

Kit stopped Jut with a tug on his wrist. He had led her quite the distance at a near full march and she was wearing heels.

"Are you sure you're, okay?"

The look Kit was giving Jut, a touch concerned and a little confused, made him feel majorly embarrassed. He had to look away to gather his thoughts, his mind and heart still racing from the overwhelming amount of attention he had just received.

A gentle pressure on his shoulder made him look back at her.

Kit was smiling softly with a knowing look. "A little too much?"

Jut nodded stiffly. "Just a little."

"It's over now." Kit said. She patted him reassuringly on his shoulder again. Then a look of excitement crossed her face. She began walking forward, making sure she had a grip on his wrist. She passed Jut and pulled him behind her.

When Kit looked back at him, still smiling. It made Jut feel lighter. "I want to dance and drink. Come on, let's go," she said. Then she giggled and sped up her pace, pulling him to go faster.

Before he realized it, Jut was nearly running again. Only, he wasn't panicked this time. Instead, he was actually looking forward to see what was next. The thought of some music and booze helped drown out the rest.

Slatewell Casino Ballrooms

Granite City

The Ballrooms were large open spaces with full wall windows that led onto balconies. Each one was decorated as finely as the rest of the Slatewell Casino with marble flooring, plush carpets, and tables around the edges stuffed with food and drinks.

A live band was playing modern rock cover music on acoustic instruments. The dance floor was full with couples, groups, and individuals all letting loose for the first time in a week. Others were congregating by the food and drink.

Jut and Brick were in the latter group. They were standing off to one side, drinks in hand. Brick also held a small plate stacked with finger foods from a table nearby.

Brick playfully smacked Jut on the shoulder again after he sat his half demolished plate aside. "Oh, come on, buddy. You don't need to be that worked up." He said to a fuming Jut.

Jut sighed and scowled. "If you say so. I just don't get why you did that to begin with."

"That's simple. I knew you wouldn't want me too but it needed to be told. A lot of people owe you their lives." Brick said happily as he had his cup refilled by the Safe Zone staff member watching over the nearby table. "You've saved more lives than most people."

Jut cocked his eyebrow and shook his head. "I don't know. It wasn't that great and I am sure many other hunters here have done similar things, if not more heroic things. Besides, I don't care about anybody knowing. It needed to be done."

Brick elbowed Jut in the ribs softly. It caused Jut to look back at him. "You're being too modest, bro."

"He's right, you know." A familiar voice cut in loudly to be heard over the music. "You should just accept the atta boy and move on."

Diggy stepped through the crowd. The shorter, huskier man had a petite, blonde woman on his arm. He pulled out of her grasp gently and reached his hand out to Jut.

"Yo, Diggs. You made it." Jut exclaimed and dived into their geeky handshake. Any embarrassment left in Jut vanished more and more with each slap, fist bump, and finger wiggle.

When they finished, Jut turned and gestured to Brick.

"This is Brick, my party leader and former US soldier." Jut gestured back at Diggy. "Brick, this is Diggy. My best friend and former co-worker."

Brick smiled widely and offer a hand to Diggy. "I've heard about you."

"Only exaggerated and awesome things, I hope." Diggy said, doing a sliding fist bump with Brick.

"It's Jut, man. You think he knows how to exaggerate? And who is this lovely one behind you?" Brick asked.

Diggy stepped back and gestured to the woman. She stepped forward and smiled brightly. "This is Joy, my guys. She's a kick ass battle babe."

To Diggy and Brick's surprise, Joy and Jut gave each other a half hug.

"We've met. Good to see you again, Joy. Are the rest of the girls here too?" Jut said, stepping back.

"I'm glad you took Kit out. She worked so hard to get ready. And, yes they are. See." She gestured to a group of nine or ten women all dancing together. Then Joy turned to Brick. "I loved your speech, Brick, was it?"

Brick grabbed her offered hand and kissed her knuckles softly in an exaggerated bow. "Brick Almight, my lady. I was just having a little fun at my friend's expense." He then stepped back.

"Well, I thought it was a lot of fun. Definitely made that show worth going to at all." Joy looked around at the group.

"I'm kind of surprised. Our little group represents all three first place winners." She pointed them out in order.

"Wait. You're in the Iron Fists?" Brick asked, turning to Diggy. "I didn't see you at their table."

"Well, I sat with Joy. Yeah, they're just a few guys I met on my way here. Good dudes. We should do a group hunt with everyone after the lock down." Diggy said.

"I like the sound of that." Brick nodded.

The music died for a moment before a slower song started. Joy turned to Diggy with a hopeful expression. Diggy noticed and turned to her with his own exaggerated bow.

"Care to dance, madam?" Diggy said smoothly, offering his arm to Joy.

Joy took his arm with a smile. "I would, sir." She curtsied then followed Diggy onto the dance floor.

"Ah. That makes sense." Brick said with a chuckle.

"What does?" Jut asked his amused party member.

"He has to be the charismatic one if you're the shy one. No wonder he pulled a hottie like that." Brick said with a teasing tone, nudging Jut again. "Oh look, I think it's your turn."

Kit emerged from the group of women and stood before Jut with a hopeful look. "Would you like to dance? With me?" She offered her hand to Jut, looking sheepish.

Jut let Brick fade from his mind and annoyance, smiling back at her. To his own surprise, and everyone else's, he did want to dance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Jut said back, taking her hand and leading her out onto the floor.

Brick smirked. "I think I'll find a partner for this song too." He sat his drink down and moved towards the group of women to see if one of them would be interested in dancing.

Five and a half Blocks North East of the Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

When the Monsters began to group up, the Safe Zone staff had appointed many people each night to patrol the area as closely as they could. Even more personnel were stationed at the Safe Zone's border.

Tonight, Dan was one of those on patrol duty. Ever since Kyle had left the grocery store that first night, Dan had to step up and take charge after Lynda failed to keep them safe. He liked to believe the attack skill he got was because he had succeeded.

Now, his new boss, Mr. Slatewell, had assigned him to a very important job that he was going to fulfill. Dan was proud of how far he had come. It made him feel good to protect the civilians of Granite City.

His unit hadn't seen a single monster cross the threshold of the block all night, but they could see the mass of bodies writhing just beyond the edge of the block ahead of them.

Dan looked over at the man next to him as they watched the mass of monsters. He was middle-aged with light skin and hair. He was overly slender with pointed features.

His partner for the night was a former co-worker of his, Fred. The man had been the worst employee ever. He was transferred to the night crew due to his demeanor and utter lack of people skills. Yet, it seemed he had taken to killing Monsters with relish.

Over the few shifts Dan had served with Fred, he had seen the man be ruthless, violent, and an absolute Monster destroyer. All of this made Fred perfect for the role of Monster Hunter.

Dan was glad he had not been the one to fire Fred. He was also glad Fred was on their side.

Fred gestured to Dan, then leaned in close to to whisper as quietly as possible. They didn't want to be heard and cause an incident. Not with the lock down so near.

"Gonna check a bit closer." Fred hissed.

Dan nodded and Fred walked up the street.

Their orders were to monitor the Monsters closely so they could warn the Safe Zone if anything happened. It made Dan uneasy when Fred got that close, but it had saved their lives the last time so Dan only sighed.

Dan watched Fred's back and pulled up the gun he had been issued, just in case. He aimed the barrel down the street, past Fred, waiting for a body to rush out and attack the man.

Fred stopped and Dan could make out the man's hand go up to his ear. Each two man squad had just received an single ear piece that was tied back to the Safe Zone. It still amazed Dan that one of residents had figured out how to use magical ore to make most of the undamaged electronics work. The hunters must have found enough for people to experiment with. There was no longer any internet traffic, but the old system was still running. Dan had heard that some of the techs had managed to see that at the moment the initial System countdown ended, all social media froze with nothing else following. They decided to keep monitoring the net but focused on repairing the more essential tech, leading to the radios they now carried.

After Fred removed his hand from his ear, he stood up straight and both of his arms fell to his sides. He looked up to the sky and was completely still.

Long moments passed and Dan began to feel uneasy. Then, Fred's shoulders shook. It took Dan a little while to notice because of how small the motions were at first. As soon as Dan could notice, that's when he heard it. The sound pierced Dan's soul with a rush of terror.

Fred was laughing.

The man began laughing so hard and loud, the shapes ahead of them began to ungulate.

Fred turned and moved both of his hands to his right pocket before raising them out to both sides. His fists were balled.

Fred began to speak. His laughter never died. It was carried on his words instead.

"Because you were always respectful to me, Danny boy, I'll give you a head start."

Two clicks sounded before Dan heard two metal items strike the concrete.

"Tell Lynda and Kyle hi for me, because I don't think we will end up in the same place."

Fred laughed loudly again. He turned and threw two objects into the street where the Monsters were. Shortly after the items disappeared, two explosions rocked everything. Many howls followed that rolled across the city, spreading terror as they went.

Dan wasn't caught in the explosions, or the stampede of Monsters that followed, because he had fled the moment Fred began to speak. He was already half a block away before the grenades went off.

Another shadowy figure managed to fade away in time as well, rushing back to the Safe Zone with a German Shepard in tow.