Alex spent the rest of history class doing absolutely nothing related to history.
His eyes kept flicking back to the girl two rows over—Amethyst Freeman, if he remembered right. She was a junior like him, in the same bio class last year, known for always raising her hand and once arguing with the teacher about how black holes could technically lead to alien dimensions.
Yeah. That tracked. When the bell rang, she stood fast and made a beeline for him.
"Hey. You," she said, grabbing his arm.
“Uh… hi?” Alex blinked
“You felt it, right?” she asked, lowering her voice but not her excitement. “The ping? The—watch thing?
“Not really the place to talk about—” He looked around, trying to escape.
“Nope. Nope. You’re coming with me,” she cut in, tugging him by the wrist toward the hallway.
Alex stumbled behind her, backpack thumping against his side. “Okay, wow. Sure. This is happening.”
She led him around the corner and stopped at her locker. With one smooth tap on her wrist, a glowing screen popped up from her watch, just like his had the night before. She tilted it toward him proudly.
“Boom. Look.”
Alex leaned in.
[Grade 1 Skill Added: Flame Strings]
Tie opponents in flaming strings that hold them in place and burn their flesh. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. MP cost: 5.
[Grade 1 Skill Added: Phoenix Slash] Infuse turquoise flames into your axe to increase strike power. Duration: 10 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. MP cost: 5.
[Grade 1 Skill Added: Bird Play]
Summon harmless flame birds from your palm for visual display. No duration. No cooldown. MP cost: 1.
[Strength Enhanced by 14.3%]
[Speed Enhanced by 14.3%]
[Endurance Enhanced by 14.3%]
[These skills are only effective in disabling or killing a lower third dweller]
[Tap Here To Go Back To Menu Page]
Amethyst grinned, wide-eyed. “Isn’t that insane?! Like, actually insane?! Look at this stuff. Phoenix Slash? Flame birds?! I’ve been saying aliens were real for years and now boom. Proof.”
Alex stared at the screen, then at her. “You’re… really into this.”
She snorted. “Duh. I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was eight. Finally, something cool happens and I actually get powers. I thought maybe I’d get water or wind or something lame, but no. Fire. That’s basically the best one.”
Alex scratched the back of his neck. “Right. Yeah. Sounds… cool.”
“You don’t sound cool. You sound like someone who just saw a ghost.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“I kind of did, last night,” he muttered. “Tall alien guy. Big teeth. Glowing portal. Gave me this system and told me to find four others.”
Amethyst blinked. “Wait. You were told to find the others?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. That was my first quest.”
“Huh. That wasn’t in mine.” Her smile faltered, just slightly.
“You didn’t get the first quest?” Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Nope. Just skills, stats, and a ‘Good luck, don’t die’ vibe.”
He let out a soft sigh and leaned back against the lockers. “Great. So I’m the chosen errand boy.”
Amethyst leaned against the locker beside him. “Well, errand boy, you just found number two. That’s gotta count for something.”
Alex looked at her again. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, like she was already imagining herself lighting things on fire in style.
“Why are you not freaking out?” he asked.
“I did that last night,” she said casually. “Screamed into a pillow for like ten minutes, then tried the flame bird thing. Almost set my curtains on fire.”
Alex blinked. “You already used your powers?”
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“Obviously. Don’t you want to know what you can do?”
He shook his head. “I don’t even want this thing. I was literally just reading a comic in bed, and now I’ve got quests and XP bars and a doomsday deadline.”
Amethyst gave him a look. “Okay, yeah, it’s a lot. But it’s also kind of epic. I mean… we’re hunters now. That means something. Probably.”
Alex sighed again and looked down at his wrist. The watch blinked like it agreed.
“Come on,” Amethyst said, patting his shoulder. “You’re halfway to being a reluctant hero already. Might as well commit.”
“I don’t want to be a hero,” he said quietly.
“Too bad,” she said brightly, pushing off the locker. “Destiny’s already got you by the balls, dude.”
She started down the hall, her curls bouncing behind her.
Alex stood there for a second, debating whether to follow her or ditch the entire idea and fake a stomach ache.
The watch pinged again.
[2/5 Hunters Detected]
He groaned.
“Fine. Whatever. One hunter down. Three more to go.”
#####
Alex was halfway to his usual lunch table when Amethyst cut in front of him, walking backward with both her arms full of cafeteria food.
“Nope. You're sitting with me today.”
He raised a brow. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Come on, chosen one. We got things to talk about.”
He groaned, but didn’t fight her. Not really. He followed her to a quieter table near the back, away from the usual chaos. His friends threw him confused looks. He shrugged and sat.
“Are you always this pushy?” he asked, stabbing a nugget with his fork.
Amethyst popped a fry in her mouth. “Only when I’m on a roll.”
She leaned in, elbows on the table. “So. You ever think Athian’s done this before?”
Alex blinked at her. “What?”
“The whole hunter thing. Randomly show up on a planet, slap some powers on a handful of people, drop a monster in the middle of the school day? Kinda feels… rehearsed.”
He hesitated. “Yeah. They were way too chill about it.”
“Right? Like, ‘Oh hey, welcome to the fight for existence. Good luck not dying. Here’s your stats page.’ Like it was just another Tuesday for them.”
Alex nodded slowly. “They said I had to find the other Hunters, like it was some sort of test. It didn’t feel like the first time they’ve done it.”
Amethyst took another bite of mystery meat and talked through it. “And the system? Clean. Custom menu, readable fonts, cool color scheme. That’s at least version 4.2 level development.”
Alex gave her a look. “What are you even talking about?”
She waved him off. “My point is—this feels like a repeat event. We’re not their first experiment.”
“Or last,” he muttered.
“Exactly.”
They both picked at their food for a moment. Alex kept glancing at the watch on his wrist.
Amethyst spoke again. “Also, kinda shady they only told you to find the others. Like what….they just trust the boy with the tragic stare and flannel shirts the most?”
“I don’t have a tragic stare.”
“You absolutely do.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re just assigning roles. Maybe I’m the ‘reluctant chosen one’ or whatever.”
“Sounds like a terrible job description. Next thing you know, Athian’s out here running an intergalactic MLM.”
“What, like, ‘refer five hunters and level up faster’?” He smirked.
Amethyst snapped her fingers. “Exactly! You get XP, Athian gets power, and next thing you know, they’re trying to be the ruler of the freaking universe.”
“Do you ever stop talking?” Alex gave her a slow look
“Nope.” She replied cheekily.
He huffed out a laugh despite himself, then looked back toward the cafeteria doors. For a second, it all almost felt normal. Almost.
And then the watches started to buzz.
Both of them froze. Alex checked his wrist. Blue light flashed against his skin.
[Warning: Lower Third-Class Dweller Detected In Premises]
[Two Hunters On The Premises]
[Defeating Dweller: +1000 XP]
[You will each earn +1000 XP]
Amethyst was already scanning the room. “Where is it—”
A scream cut through the cafeteria.
They both whipped their heads toward the sound just as a huge purple lizard-like creature crashed through the side hallway doors. It had rough, bumpy skin, claws like kitchen knives, and a long green tongue that flicked out as it hissed. Its tail slammed into a lunch table, sending it flying.
People were screaming, running. Trays hit the floor. One student was snatched off their feet and thrown across the room like a rag doll.
Alex’s heart jumped into his throat. “That’s a Dweller.”
Amethyst’s eyes were wide. “That’s definitely a Dweller.”
“And everyone can see it.”
“Well yeah. The system said they’d be visible,” she said, breathless. “That’s why we’re not not panicking right now.”
Teachers shouted. Students pushed toward exits. A fire alarm started blaring.
Alex grabbed Amethyst’s sleeve. “We can’t just start using powers here.”
“Not unless we want to end up in a government basement labeled as ‘non-human anomalies,’” she said. “We need a cover.”
“We evacuated with them. Blend in. Then we come back.”
“Love that. Super safe plan,” she muttered, but followed him anyway.
They rushed with the crowd, shoving through the bottlenecked doorway as the fire alarm shrieked overhead. Students were crying, some hyperventilating, others just sprinting for the fences. The creature didn’t follow—it just roared again, smashing more tables, its claws gouging up tiles like butter.
Once they were out and across the quad, Alex pulled Amethyst toward the side hall that led to the lockers.
“Why here?” she asked, breathless.
He pointed. “The two weird dudes from chem class. Always wearing those dumb balaclavas. Their lockers are right here.”
“You beautiful paranoid nerd.” Amethyst's eyes lit up.
“Keep watch.”
He jimmied the lock on the first one with a brutal yank—it popped open with a snap. Inside: books, crumpled notes, and two black balaclavas shoved into the top shelf like they were nothing.
Alex tossed one to her. “Hope they don’t have lice.”
“They totally do,” she said, yanking it over her curls. “But it’s better than government detainment.”
“You say that like you’ve thought about it a lot.”
“Duh.”
They hustled back through the service corridor, cutting around the main path where teachers were herding students into the gym. They slipped back into the now-empty cafeteria—silent, eerie, except for a distant scrape and the sound of wet breathing echoing from behind the snack counter.
The Dweller was still here.
Their watches buzzed again. A countdown had started.
[Time Remaining Until Full Rampage Mode: 04:32]
Amethyst pulled the balaclava tighter over her chin. “Alright, Alex. Time to earn that XP.”
Alex looked around at the overturned tables, the spilled trays, the broken glass, and then at her.
He swallowed hard. “Let’s try not to die, yeah?”
Amethyst smirked under the mask. “No promises.
