It had been a week since Nathan started hunting with Chris.
These seven days were short enough that it felt unreal to think about how almost everything had changed for Nathan.
Their strategy for hunting had not changed much. Chris still led them into the tunnel to keep the goblin soldiers from swarming in. The only thing that had changed was Nathan.
Where initially he had started as being the bait, struggling against the goblins until Chris was able to intervene. Now he was able to take them on in a one on one fight as he slowly grew stronger with every soldier he killed.
Over the course of those days they hunted consistently and made sure not to overextend. Chris even insisted on rest days, forcing Nathan to stop even when he thought he could push a little more.
"Bodies break before minds realize it," Chris had said once. "And broken hunters don't make any money."
Nathan had listened to his advice as today was his first rest day.
As he woke up later than usual he felt relaxed. For once, there was no urgency pulling him out of bed. Nathan sat up straight and started to stretch.
'This is… nice.'
He made his way to the bathroom and turned on the sink, splashing water on his face. As he brushed his teeth, his gaze drifted upward to the mirror.
He paused.
"…Huh."
Nathan leaned closer.
His face looked different. Not drastically but his cheeks were leaner and his jawline had become more defined. When he lifted his shirt to check, he was surprised to see that there was faint outlines of muscle.
"I really can't get used to this," he muttered surprised.
He dropped his shirt and laughed quietly, finishing up with brushing his teeth, he headed back to his room.
Nathan sat down at his desk and powered on his computer.
Today, he had a goal which was not related to rifts or abilities, but rather using the money he had accumulated for upgrades.
He pulled up his banking app, eyes flicking instinctively to the balance.
Account Balance: $7,880
He stared at it for a second longer than necessary.
'I made this all in a single week.' He thought.
Before joining Chris, he had struggled to scrape together pocket change from goblin scouts. Now, thanks to hunting goblin soldiers for item shards, he was holding more money than he ever had in his life.
Nathan cracked his knuckles and opened the Hunter Forums.
After logging in, he navigated straight to the shop. This time, he wasn't just browsing.
He filtered the listings by Item Shards and as the page refreshed his screen was filled instantly with pictures of weapons, armors and accessories.
Names scrolled past in neat columns, each more fantastical than the last.
Hide of the First Beast – $10,000
A rugged leather armor set, its thumbnail showing thick, dark hide reinforced with bone-like ridges. Nathan clicked it briefly.
'Dropped by Tier 0 Wild Boar. Provides enhanced durability and minor resistance to blunt force.'
He whistled. "No wonder it's expensive…"
He went back to the listings and another item caught his eye.
Dire Wolf Fang – $7,000
A dagger crafted not from steel, but from what looked like long polished teeth. Thinking that it looked cool, Nathan clicked on it too.
'Dropped by Tier 0 Young Direwolf. Lightweight dagger that causes increased bleeding.'
He stared at it for a moment, imagining how it might feel in hand.
'Daggers are not my style.' He decided, reluctantly closing the page.
Nathan scrolled again but this time, he wasn't just browsing but instead he typed into the search bar.
Riverborn Spear
The result appeared almost instantly.
Price: $7,000
His heart skipped looking at the price but he clicked on it.
The page loaded to reveal an image of a spear, the shaft of which was etched with subtle wave like patterns and it's spearhead gleamed with a blue sheen as it looked like it was made from ice.
He read the description carefully.
'Dropped by Tier 0 Marsh Slimes. Enhances agility and movement fluidity while wielded.'
Nathan leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly.
'This is it.'
Every item he'd researched had unique properties, as some boosted stats directly while others enhanced effectiveness of a technique. From what he'd learned, this spear wouldn't simply make him stronger.
It would make him faster and more fluid with his attacks.
His fingers hovered over the mouse.
Seven thousand dollars, this was nearly everything he had.
But then he thought of his worn out government issued spear and how it struggled against the stronger goblins. This helped him make up his mind.
He clicked Purchase.
A new window popped up, asking for delivery information. Nathan filled it out quickly, putting in his address and providing his payment details.
He then hit Complete Purchase.
Payment Successful.
$7,000 deducted from account.
His phone buzzed at the same time.
As Nathan swallowed, the page shifted again. Now it displayed a simple interface with a large countdown.
Delivery arriving in: 10:00
"…Ten minutes?" Nathan muttered.
That was suspiciously fast.
He frowned, for a second afraid that he might have gotten scammed but soon he just shrugged it off. The Hunter Forums had a reputation meaning that if they said ten minutes, they probably meant it.
To pass the time, Nathan opened a livestream.
On screen, a group of hunters battled a creature that looked disturbingly like a mermaid, except its lower body was covered in armored steel like scales, and its voice shattered stone when it screamed.
Nathan leaned back, half watching the stream and half thinking.
'This really might be me someday...'
Suddenly, he heard a sound.
Ding-dong.
Nathan jolted upright, the doorbell of the apartment had just rang.
He glanced at the corner of his screen and saw that exactly ten minutes had passed.
"…No way." He muttered.
He stood and walked toward the door, still skeptical. Opening the door he froze as he saw what looked like a crow sat in the hallway right right outside his door.
"…Huh?"
The crow unbothered by his reaction hopped forward.
Then, before Nathan could react, its body warped as it's feathers collapsing inward and it unnaturally twisted into a swirling black mass, shrinking rapidly until a loud sound came out of it and it fell down on the floor in a square shape.
Nathan speechlessly stared at the sleek, premium black box land gently on the floor of his apartment.
Unexpectedly, behind him he heard fridge door creaked.
Lena stood in the hallway, mid snack raid, her eyes wide open as she took in the scene.
The siblings locked eyes.
"I don't even want to know what you've been doing," Lena said flatly.
She pointed at the box. "Please keep me away from this… black magic."
Then she turned and walked back into her room, closing the door behind her.
Nathan looked down at the box again.
And slowly he smiled.