Hothstead was a massive city built into the mountainside. While it looked huge on the outside, tunnel systems had been dug all through the mountain.

  "Wow. It's bigger on the inside." Marrick thought to himself as they passed a large stone archway, about forty feet tall made of precision cut stone that were several feet square on thier own.

  The smoothed tunnel sides were lined with statues, lit from the bottom by mini spot lights. Plaques sat in the front with thier names and deeds.

  "Welcome to the Hall of Heroes. With any luck, one day you will be immortalised in stone here as well. Of course, you have to accomplish something and then die first." Then the Instructor added, "Not you lot, you can go."

  He waved off the C and B ranks, who were collected and lead away by another man in uniform, who immediately began yelling and barking orders.

  "And as for you," he said, his smile returning, addressing the D ranks." Another Uniformed Officer approached, this time a woman. She didn't say anything, she just stared at them for a moment, turned and walked away.

  They weren't really sure what was happening, but they assumed they were to follow.

  "Don't you worry about them. We just like to scare them before they're relegated to more...mundane tasks about Hothstead."

  Something changed about the Instructor. Almost immediately after the lower ranks had left, he dropped his hard ass attitude and began to talk to them almost like people.

  "This is where things get serious for you all. If you thought the past few months were tough, Hunter Selection is nothing short of Hell on Tanatha." He turned and motioned for them to follow.

  "The rigid command is for the rank and file, us Hunters have more leniency in that regard, however, do not think disrespect will go unpunished. You still have superiors and you still report to someone."

  They passed statue after statue of great Hunters, each more imposing than the last. Each tunnel split into more tunnels, also filled with statues.

  "Tonight you feast," the Instructor pushed open two large, grand wooden doors to a well lit dining hall. It was loud with Hunters deep in conversation, discussing battle tactics, swapping war stories.

  The food looked down right amazing, better than anything Marrick had ever eaten. "Enjoy it. It's the best meal you've had I months and it will be the last for a while. Tomorrow, you hunt!"

  We what? We hunt? What were they going to Hunt, they didn't have the training or experience for any real monsters yet.

  "Oh, Uh, you can go ahead and drop your packs here outside the dining hall, someone will collect them shortly. Feel free to take a souvenir." The Instructor laughed and walked into the dining hall towards a group of Hunters. They seemed very glad to see him.

  Marrick dropped his pack. He barely felt it after having it on it back for 3 months through every kind of terrain possible. Opening it, he grabbed a fist sized rock, and put it in one of his vest pouches. No one else grabbed a rock.

  ———

  Marrick lay in in the most comfortable bed he'd ever laid in. The luxury of such a thing was usually reserved for Kings and Queens, people far above the station of a lowly farm boy.

  He stirred in his standard issue metal frame and cloth cot, lined up with the rest of the men and women who made it to Hunter Selection. Someone came in yelling for wake up call. They had 5 minutes to get out of bed and gear up.

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  Marrick rolled onto his feet and scrambled to throw on his clothes and boots. He had 4 gold stars pinned to his vest still, marking him as almost an S rank. The stars were used to further separate the A and S ranks into smaller classes.

  The recruits stood, toe to a line that was painted across the front of thier sleeping cots. New packs had been laid out for them

  "Welcome the Hunter Selection." A new Instructor walked the line as he spoke. "It will be the absolute worst thing you've ever been through, and it will not even be close. There are two Gauntlets every Hunter must pass to become registered. If you're one of the lucky ones, you will wash out of the program, butalive. Those who perish or make it all the way. Well. My condolences. Get your packs'."

  Marrick bent for his pack, hoisting it over his head and onto his back. It was just as heavy as his rock pack, but this one was soft. Clearly it didn't contain rocks, but real supplies.

  "Today you will take transport to your mission area via the Runner Rail Network. Once you arrive you will march to the forward operating Base to recieve further instruction. Today, you gave the Left Gauntlet."

  Marrick smirked internally. "Kind of literal isn't it?" They began to move out in single file behind the Instructor, through the vast network of tunnels to a monorail, where a string of carts perched atop it.

  They were separated into groups of 10, thier S and A ranks left behind, now using the zero to five star system. They got two of each per group, a few promotions and demotions given to even out the numbers, based on previously gathered information.

  "Welcome the the 'S ranks'." The Instructor mused. Marrick knew that not a single person here could take on the most basic of the registered Hunters and it was meant as a jab.

  They pinned a shiny fifth gold star to his chest, slapping it hard. The back of the pins pricked his skin and he could feel small drops of blood trailing down his chest.

  They filed into thier respective Runner Cart and sat down, unloading thier packs by thier feet. Marrick opened his and looked in. It contained basic supplies.

  A hatchet and a bedroll were attached to the outside. The inside had rope, string, fishing hooks, a fire starter kit, a small bucket that contained a plate, a bowl, fork and spoon. It also contained a couple changes of clothing in his size.

  "So what do you think it is?" One of the recruits asked to no one in particular. "I bet it's just more training excersizes and they're just trying to scare us."

  "Well I think they'll put us against a monster, ten to one. See how we work together under pressure. Nothing too crazy. It is day one of Selection."

  ———

  The carnage was real. The territory they were in was absolutely crawling with creatures Marrick had never even heard of before, and thier abilities were absolutely terrifying.

  Six of them lay dead in the mud, some dismembered, some scorched. Some Marrick couldn't even describe.

  He now stood back to back with the remaining three selected, shields raised, swords ready.

  "Frelick. Frelick come home. We miss you."

  A voice from the mist called out.

  "Don't listen to it! It's not real!" Marrick shouted, desperate to keep the rest of his squad alive. He needed them if he was going to survive this.

  The yells of pain and death rang out across the marshland. He knew his team wasn't the only one suffering major casualties.

  A ghostly figure appeared out of the fog, covered in tattered black robes. Marrick could see right through it. It had a mouth like a lamprey, circular and all needle like teeth.

  "Mom?" Frelick advanced a step towards it, lowering his sword a little. "Mom, how are you here? You have to leave!" Whatever Frelick was experiencing was clearly some delusion of this creature

  "Frelick, no!" Marrick yelled, but it was too late. Frelick had dropped his shield and sword and ran toward the ghastly visage. As he embraced it, they disappeared into a vortex of mist.

  They were down to three. "We have to get the hell out of here!" He slashed down on a creature rushing him from the fog. It was a giant toad like creature with long flippers for feet that allowed it to move through the mud quickly. "Move! That way!"

  Marrick pointed them toward the direction the forward operating base was supposed to be. He wasn't sure if there was one or if this "test" was just meant to kill them all.

  They jogged through the mist, the water knee deep in some places, waste high grasses further obscuring thier vision. Screams to his left, an explosion to his right. A terrible screech of something dieing.

  As Marrick ran, the shadow of something else appeared along side him, running at his pace. The large head of a bird, or skull rather, jutted out through the fog, snapping it's long sharp beak at his face.

  Marrick ducked the blow, slashing up and through the birds neck, it's head falling into the mire and it's body collapsing with it.

  Ahead he could see bright rotating lights spinning, marking the walls of the forward operating Base. They fell upon the gate, beating and banging, but it did not open.

  They turned thier backs against the wall, shields raised, preparing for whatever might appear. They all fell backwards as the gate opened.

  They were dragged in by thier packs before the gate was slammed shut. Marrick jumped to his feet. "What the fuck was that?! What is this, are you trying to kill us all?!" He was screaming in the Instuctors face.

  He grabbed Marrick by the collar and forced him against the wall. "You forget yourself recruit! People die Hunting! It's brutal, it's fast and worst of all it's completely unfair. You're alive because you got lucky! That's the harsh reality of Hunting! You come back alive, you come back because of luck! No amount of training can prepare you for that reality, every hunter meets that fate, one way or another."

  Marrick pushed the Instructor out of his face. "That's brayshit! You didn't even tell us what was out there!"

  "That's the damn point! Sometimes you go in blind! Sometimes you go in without support, sometimes you're in over your head and you have to think on the fly. We don't need just strong Hunters, we need fast! Smart! People can think while his brothers and sisters are slaughtered mercilessly around them! If you can't handle it, you know where the gate is, you can catch the next Runner back!"

  Marrick angrily threw his pack to the ground and stormed off. The Instructor let him go without another word.

  By the next morning the fog had lifted and there were no creatures in sight. Only the mangled and maimed corpses of the other Selected. Of the hundred and thirty total selected, seventeen survived the night.