Under the moonlight, the gnoll’s eyes

  glowed like embers. Its fur was a dark shade of grey, and it was patchy,

  as though infected with mange. Running across its left shoulder and

  down its chest was a large scar. The gnoll had a posture that made it

  look almost like it had a hunchback, made worse by the fact that its

  legs bent backward from its extra knee.

  It stared at Sebastian, baring its teeth, as it came

  closer and closer. Drops of drool dripped from its mouth as it growled.

  Moonlight reflected off the greatsword in its hand. Then it came to

  halt, just a few meters away.

  Adrenaline pumped through Sebastian’s veins. He broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of the beast walking across the field.

  A wave of fear washed over him, mixed with something he

  had never felt before—a strange exhilaration. It was like his quickening

  heartbeat awoke something.

  In the face of death, he didn’t want to run, he wanted to fight.

  As Sebastian prepared himself for what would inevitably

  be the hardest fight of his life, the gnoll spoke. Its words forming

  through growls in a broken accent.

  “My servants…. Dead. Now… YOu… die TOO!”

  Its voice was like an electric shock to Sebastian’s nervous system.

  He took a deep breath and quickly pushed all his feelings

  aside; this was neither the time to freeze in fear nor to recklessly

  indulge some new adrenaline junkie behavior. The gnoll was bigger, and

  most certainly stronger, than any monster he had faced so far, and it

  was clearly out for blood.

  Sooner than expected, the gnoll’s sword came swinging down toward Sebastian’s head, fast.

  He jumped back and felt his face be cut in half. He

  blinked and realized it was just an illusion from the wind pressure and

  terror from the near-death experience.

  The gnoll came running after and threw a backhanded swing

  with enough force that if it were to hit, he would be split in half.

  So, he didn’t let it hit him. He kept jumping and dodging.

  There was no technique or real skill behind his

  movements, but Sebastian had built up some experience when it came to

  dodging during his fights with the kobolds. Luckily for him, the gnoll

  had no real technique or skill either. Each swing was just wild strength

  and animal instinct.

  It might not have had much in the way of skill, but it was fast, faster than something that big had any right to be.

  Sebastian dodged attack after attack.

  Some got close enough to cut into his clothes, but none

  managed to reach his skin. Sebastian was laser-focused on the massive

  sword that swung at him at extreme speeds, so much so that he didn’t see

  the fist until it was too late.

  It struck his stomach so hard it felt like he had been

  hit by a bus. He lifted off the ground by the force and was launched

  through the air, rolling and tumbling as he landed.

  Sebastian coughed and almost threw up, but his physical

  cultivation didn’t just make his skin as durable as leather, it also

  affected his bones, flesh, and organs.

  He jumped to the side to dodge another attack as he considered his options.

  Damn, that really hurt. I can’t keep dodging like this, it’ll just wear me down. I need to go on the offensive, somehow.

  First order of business—get rid of that sword!

  Sebastian evaded a few more attacks and felt he started to get a better sense for its patterns.

  It was almost like it was too focused on its sword as

  well, like it was trying to be some sort of warrior rather than just a

  monster. If it had just bum-rushed him and used those massive fangs and

  claws to tear him to pieces, Sebastian would already be dead.

  He used that to his advantage.

  “Stop… running… and FIGHT!”

  Sebastian ducked under a wide swing, and he finally saw an opening.

  He struck back for the first time. Not with some big

  attack, though. He had no idea how strong its defense was; that fur and

  thick skin might be even more durable than his own, after all. No, he

  went for its hand.

  A quick backhand swipe cut off two fingers. The gnoll

  lost its grip on its sword, and it flew off into the distance as the

  gnoll screamed in pain and rage, drool slobbering everywhere.

  “AARGGHhh!”

  Sebastian used that window to stab it in the side.

  His sword pierced straight through its entire torso and

  came out the other side. It screamed again and swiped its arm at

  Sebastian, knocking him away.

  It stumbled back and looked down on the sword that was sticking out of its stomach.

  Sebastian rushed back and grabbed the sword from under

  its nose, and he used all his weight and strength, not to pull the sword

  out but to cut through.

  The sword came out, followed by an enormous gush of blood as the gnoll was almost bisected. Half its torso was cut open.

  As it turned out, however, gnolls were harder to kill than goblins and kobolds.

  It survived. Not only was it still alive, but its spine was still intact so it could still move.

  A primal scream erupted from the beast, and it reached

  out to grab Sebastian. Its massive hand almost wrapped around his torso,

  and its claws dug into his side.

  Sebastian was pushed down into the ground, and the Gnoll brought its maw down in an effort to bite his entire head clean off.

  As the monster was moments away from killing him,

  Sebastian took the sword still in his hand and stabbed at its head.

  Using its own momentum, he pierced through its brain.

  It collapsed on top of him.

  The impact knocked the wind out of him, and its head fell so close to his own that a fang cut his cheek.

  Level 24 gnoll killed

  Essence drops gained: 3.5

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  With the rush of energy he gained from the newly formed

  drops of essence within his meridian system—circulating like a river

  throughout his spirit body—he recovered enough strength to push the

  gnoll off of himself.

  He pushed himself up and trudged back to his cottage,

  confident that there would be no more raids. His mind was a blur, but a

  smile formed on his lips as he made his way back.

  Sebastian tended to his wounds and

  cultivated for a few hours to recover at least a little before falling

  asleep. He slept for the rest of the night and well into the day. It was

  late in the afternoon by the time he woke up, awakened by a knock on

  the cottage door.

  When he opened it, he was met by two strangers. One was a

  clean shaven man with short hair, and the other was an athletic woman,

  also with short hair. They were both dressed in some sort of simple,

  green uniform, more police than military.

  The man looked up from his little notepad. “Good

  afternoon. Sebastian, correct?” As he greeted Sebastian, the woman held

  up a flat disk the size of a hockey puck, flat side toward him, with

  some symbol on it. She returned it to her pocket before he could even

  see what symbol flashed on its surface.

  “Uhm.. Yeah,” he responded as he got a bad feeling about what this was about.

  “I’m sure you know why we’re here,” said the man. “Mr.

  Tanner did his duty and reported the appearance, and subsequent killing,

  of a suspected rank 2 or possibly even rank 3 monster close to town. A

  gnoll to be specific. He also reported that is was killed by you, a

  freelance hunter at,” he looked through his notes before continuing,

  “level 20. Alone. Without any support.”

  His partner continued, “That’s quite impressive. Most

  gnolls are in the high twenties, if not level 30, they usually take a

  team of rank 2 hunters to kill. To hunt them alone, hunters are

  recommended to be at least rank 3, preferably well into their level

  thirties. Yet you, Sebastian, killed one all on your own despite being

  just level 20.”

  The man turned to his partner. “I wouldn’t want to take one on alone unless I had reached level 40 myself.”

  “Me neither. So you can imagine our surprise.”

  Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck as he awkwardly responded, “Yeah, it was a lot of luck honestly.”

  “Was it luck that killed,” the man checked his notes again,” 17 kobolds?”

  “Kobolds are tricky to kill. I sure wouldn’t want to face even half a dozen myself.”

  “Me neither. Even the hunters at the association were

  impressed. So, clearly you’re lying about your level so you wouldn’t be

  shipped off to war as soon as you hit level 30. You’re not the first

  draft dodger we’ve come across and you won’t be the last.”

  Sebastian’s brows furrowed and his hands raised in a

  pleading motion. “I’m not a draft dodger, I swear! I really am just

  level 20—or 21 now.” His pleading fell on deaf ears.

  “It’s a damn shame we don’t have the authority to drag

  your ass to nearest military center ourselves, but you are officially

  expected to report to the commander at Blackoak Outpost by the end of

  the week,” said the man.

  As he explained, the woman took out a notepad and filled

  out some ticket, ripped it from free and gave it to Sebastian. “Failure

  to do so will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest.”

  He leaned in closer. “Please, we would love for you to

  give us a reason to hunt you down. Hunting draft dodgers is the best

  part of this job.”

  With their business concluded, the two walked off without even bothering to listen to another word.

  Sebastian closed the door and took a deep breath. He leaned on the door and sank down to the ground.

  Shit! Declan reported me. This is

  why I shouldn’t have used my real name… At least they don’t know my last

  name, hopefully that counts for something. Regardless, I can’t stay

  here, and there’s no way I can report to the military. For one, I really

  don’t want to get sent off to war, and secondly they would definitely

  do inspections of all sorts, and my full name would probably raise some

  red flag. Lyra would absolutely send people to find me and kill me.

  I need to leave. There’s no way to

  know what kind of Tracking Skills or magic they might have to track me

  down, whether as a discarded Blessed One or just as a draft dodger. I

  need to get as far away from here as possible. Hell, I need to get out

  of Lumeria entirely.

  I can’t go east, or north for that

  matter, because of the war. That leaves the countries in the west and in

  the south. I haven’t gotten a lot of information about either options,

  but at least I’ve heard a little bit more about the Calindor Federation

  in the south, and there is a train headed that way. The countries in the

  west are pretty much a complete mystery. There’s probably some caravan

  or something headed west, as well, but I think my best bet is the train

  south. Hopefully they haven’t put me on some blacklist, but that’s

  unlikely, they don’t even truly know my identity besides my first name.

  If I remember the schedule right,

  the train should stop by Blackoak in a few days. I’ll hop on and head

  south. Once there, I’ll find some way across the border. They shouldn’t

  be able to find me if I make it out of the kingdom.

  Sebastian got himself cleaned up, grabbed his bag, and walked out.

  The Tanners probably just followed the law, it sounded

  like people were supposed to report both monsters over level 20 and

  people over level 30. He wasn’t actually over level 30, but he could

  understand why they might think so.

  He decided not to judge them too harshly, but the pain of

  betrayal made him not very eager to confront them. Instead he left the

  farm quietly and walked back to town.

  His shoulders slumped, weighed down by the reality of yet

  an another struggle, as he dragged his feet away from the farm, and the

  cozy cottage, he had grown to love. The only place that had allowed him

  to feel at least somewhat normal now also made him feel betrayed and

  even more alone than before.

  Once he made it to town, he went to the market to ask

  around about the train. He was in luck. It would arrive in three days,

  within the time limit he had been given by the officers, and would make a

  stop in Blackoak as planned.

  As for a ticket, he learned they were purchased on

  boarding and fairly expensive, but what good was money if it wasn’t used

  when he needed it.

  He couldn’t bring himself to stay at Elvira’s inn, but there were plenty of others in town.

  An inn closer to the where the train was supposed to stop

  had some empty rooms. He spent his time waiting for the train

  cultivating and eating.

  Three uneventful days later, he walked over the small

  station on the outside of town, where a handful of families and other

  travelers were already waiting.

  His eyes scanned the area, searching for any signs of

  guards coming to arrest him. There were a couple of guards, but none of

  them seemed to care about him. To make certain, he stood to the side and

  kept as low of a profile as possible as he waited for the train to

  arrive.

  Huh, there are no train tracks or

  platforms or really any indication of a train, except a small sign and a

  dirt road. I guess I’ll go out on a limb here and say that this train

  is probably some other strange magical alternative to the trains I’m

  used to.

  Roughly half an hour later, a rumble could be heard, and Sebastian noticed that everyone else got ready. The train was arriving.

  He brought his attention over toward the rumble where the

  train gradually came into view. It approached the, so called, station

  fast. As it got a little closer, Sebastian noticed that he didn’t see

  the train he was expecting at all, instead there were two massive

  creatures running at full speed toward them.

  They were the size of massive elephants and looked like

  some sort of furry, mutant rhinos with three big horns at the front of

  their heads.

  As they got closer, they slowed until they came to a stop just past where the people waited.

  The train—as the people here called it—was in fact a

  massive caravan of very large wagons and carriages connected like train

  cars—on large wooden wheels—pulled by those rhino monsters.

  With the long chain of connected wagons and carriages, Sebastian had to admit that it did actually resemble a train.

  As soon as it stopped, workers opened doors on some of

  the carriages and folded down small stairs to let some passengers off

  and to let the waiting passengers on in exchange for some coin.

  Sebastian joined the small queue forming and made it on board the train without incident.

  It wasn’t quite as crowded as Sebastian expected since he heard it was the only train going to Luxendorf for about two months.

  The train carriage sort of resembled a modern train

  car—although more so a cheap one found in places where they had to

  squeeze in as many passengers as possible—yet had its own twist. On one

  side were single seats which reclined into beds. There were thin

  dividing walls between each seat. On the other side of the aisle were

  compartments with two padded benches—which doubled as beds—facing each

  other with a small table in between. There were also two more padded

  beds attached to the walls above which could be folded down to create a

  bunk bed.

  The aisle was completely open all the way through with nothing separating the single seats and the compartments.

  Most of the travelers were families or other groups using

  the compartments so Sebastian managed to snag himself a single seat for

  his journey south.