After days of boredom, bedtime, and repeated physical examinations, Akally was increasingly looking forward to being released home. He stared out the window, watching one of the roads dividing the city into a ruined and newly built section. The ruins of the past looked faced clean modern houses and skyscrapers. Nothing is as it used to be, at least not completely. Years ago, when the Dawn of Darkness shook the world, the gate to another world opened for the first time and inhuman beasts began to breathe our air. The smell of death and blood soon carried through the city streets, the fire engulfed the cities and forests at the same unstoppable pace, and the supreme predator was no longer human. Humanity defended itself in vain. Our weapons were not able to injure even the smallest monsters, whose numbers were growing. The bullets bounced off their skin, the sharpest knife acted like a blunt spoon in the trained soldier’s hands. The world has resorted to actions that no human should be able to do – biological weapons. Gases, poisons, and diseases. Something must have stopped them, anyone, who had not yet lost faith thought.

But that was only until several soldiers declined far faster than the number of enemies killed. Entire groups of determined men and women rushed to death to kill at least one other threat to humanity. However, a brave sacrificial act often ended in vain. Barricades fell like paper walls, and bigger, stronger, more deadly monsters penetrated our world through gates that could not be closed. From hundreds of victims, the numbers grew to thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions. Sixty per cent of all humanity has been maimed, killed, eaten, torn, burned, poisoned, and in the worst cases, captured and dragged to the nests that some monsters have created. No one knows for sure what happened in the nests because none of them returned. It was often too late for rescue, some even chose their death before the captivity, only deformed bodies covered with wounds, dried pools of blood, and the torn abdomen of women of various ages were found. The vivid image imprinted on the memory of everyone who saw it painted a horrible image of what was happening.

When everything seemed lost, the creatures from around the world conquered even the largest cities, and the first people miraculously endowed with the power of the Patron began to appear. It is impossible to say with certainty who the Patrons are. Some consider them to be lower gods, supernatural entities, or protectors of humanity. What was certain was that although they intervened and gave people the opportunity to defend themselves, they usually stand on the edge of a dispute and watch their chosen ones – awakened. Despite their strength, these people did not have it easy. Patrons weren’t and still aren’t communicative, so no one knew that the way to success was to close the way to us from the other side until one of the awakened was pulled through the portal by a creature on the run. A few braves decided to go after him, thus completing the first alter - another world - as they later called it. From a prey has become the first hunters. The hierarchy shifted in the new world and people returned to the top of the food chain. The ruined cities were rebuilt, the alters closed, and monster hunting became a generously paid job for some. After ten long years, the world has returned to a well-established order, but still different.

It was in such a world that Akally grew up, back then still an ordinary part-timer helping in a small shop. His days passed between the shelves at a slow pace, yet he did not complain about a quiet life. When he wasn’t spending his free time reading the manhwa, he earned a wage of few thousand which cover his daily needs. It was dark when he returned home, where a cold diner and a lonely sleep welcomed him. Akally’s father fled cowardly in one of the attacks, a sight of his broad back being the boy’s last memory of him. His mother took care of the lad herself, but she also found herself at the end of her strength. Alter released more than mere monsters into the world. In addition to claws and fangs, one of the killers was Cross’s disease, in which small black crosses appear on the patient’s body. It was discovered in an unknown patient, whom Dr Eric Losen, who was present, named Miss Cross originating from her symptoms. Unfortunately, without knowing how the disease progressed or knowing the source, the patient was dead after a month. Nevertheless, notes from Losen’s medical diary provided important information for contemporary medicine:

May 15th – Today I came across a girl in the camp in South Florida between the ages of 20 and 25 who have been lying in bed with a mild fever for two days. I considered her condition to be the beginning of angina until I noticed three small from two to three centimetres wide black crosses on her wrist. It’s not a tattoo, and because no one in the camp knew her identity, I named her Cross.

May 19th – Fever does not subside. Signs of crosses also appear on other parts of the body without any connection. Six seven have been added since the last entry. No other symptoms were found.

May 23rd – Fever rises dangerously. I use antipyretics. Counted 17 crosses. I ordered a precautionary examination of all who came into direct contact with her and me.

May 28th – Patient Cross has crosses all over her body, now I’m just estimating the number of twenty… eight? Delirium and exhaustion occur, and the patient is unable to rise to sit. Antibiotics stop working. I have ordered to check everybody for symptoms every two days.

June 4th – The patient is awake only a few tens of minutes, then loses consciousness again. When the crosses reached 50, I stopped counting them. The medications I have at my disposal do not work. I’m at least trying to ease the pain. There is a daily health examination at the camp. No other case was reported. The unverified assumption is that the disease is not contagious.

June 10th – Organs fail, girl no longer regains consciousness. Pain relief and other drugs without any effect. I’m ending treatment.

June 12th – The death of Patient Cross occurred at 2:07 pm EST. The symptoms did not show up in anyone else. I did limited tests on blood samples. The source of the infection is unknown. The disease does not spread. Without more precise equipment, it is not possible to determine anything else. God bless her memory.

Let’s hope it wasn’t the same God who caused all this. Akally’s mother also suffers from Cross’s disease. Unlike the Cross patient, today’s medicine manages to slow down the symptoms of the disease, but at a high cost. Hunters have become the richest class in society. In addition to monster materials, they can often find a variety of herbs and fruits in the alter, which can have healing effects. It is one of the rarest and most valuable items that hunters can get from the alter. And the high price is the reason why Akally lives in such bad conditions. He spends most of his savings on hospital bills and medicines for his mother. She is his only living relative, and without her, he will have nobody left.

At that time, the little redhead was still a child when the Dawn of Darkness overwhelmed the world. He experienced and saw things that drove many adult men and women crazy. Death used to be part of the daily order, bloodthirsty monsters ran around the forests, often reminiscent of mutated animals, groups of humanoid races such as ugly muscular tall orcs using weapons but also little red, green, or brown goblins with primitive tools. After years of fighting, however, the hunters eradicated them and humanity regained control of the world, although the danger of alter was still present. During that time, the boy became a young man who earned a living while working in a small shop in his hometown of Camitis.

Less than an hour remained until the end of Akally’s work shift. Another lifeless day in a small convenience store was to end. The evening news was running on an old television in the corner of the room. It served more as a background sound so that there was no creepy silence in the shop. Occasionally, however, the owner of the store, Kartz, invited the lad to watch together. The redhead was taking out colourful bags of salty, spicy, and otherwise flavoured chips from a cardboard box, and then putting them on a shelf. He heard heavy steps behind him and a wooden walking stick tapping on the yellowed patterned tiles: “Another good job, boy,” the old man in the blue shirt and beige linen vest with pockets praised him.

“Thank you, Mr K.,” he turned to him.

“Don’t thank me. And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten,” tapped his finger on his temple,” you’re off tomorrow because you’re going to visit her. “

“I hope you can do without me tomorrow,” the boy smiled and continued filling the shelf with bags.

“Don’t worry,” the old man reassured Akally while walking over to the cash register, “these old bones can still do a little hard work,” smiled as he sat down in his chair and rubbed his right leg over light grey pants. Their conversation was interrupted by the loud television effervescence, where the program changed. A reporter stood at the gate to the alter on the screen: “We are interrupting the program due to an important report. Cursoros escaped from the alter behind me in the Stilla district of Camitis. MITEM has already arrived at the place and the commander of the unit for the elimination of escaped monsters is here with me,” he said, handing over the microphone to a man in a black jacket with the logo of the office dealing with the alter and hunters.

“Our organization Mors in Tenebris et Monstris has sent several groups to hunt it down. Whoever is near the alter, clear the area, and stay at home. Cursoros is not normally aggressive, yet they are dangerous. It looks like a mountain goat but exceeds the size of a rhino. Its thick brown and white fur protects it from attacks with blunt weapons, but its main advantage is up to two meters thick horns, these can with enough speed pierce concrete. If you come across it, run into narrow spaces where it will not be able to get after you.”

Mr K. frowned thoughtfully, “You should go home, boy.”

“Stilla is far enough away, they will catch it before it gets here.”

“I wouldn’t risk so much in your place. Just go. I wanted to close earlier anyway. No one would come at this time, even if no overgrown goat was running around the city.”

Akally nodded and went to the locker room. His work uniform consisted of a green polo shirt and a black and white striped apron. He changed into his old navy-blue hoodie and folded his uniform on the shelf. “I’m leaving, Mr K.!” Kartz just waved at him and continued to watch the news.

Dark alleys had long since not frightened Akally. The lights of the lamps comforted him, and the quiet nights gave him a chance to think in the fresh air. The news of the escaped monster did not scare him, because he had experienced several of them during his lifetime, but it always ended before the victims were killed. He was thinking of topics in his head that he would like to talk about with his mother tomorrow. He would certainly tell her how Mr K. had praised him, how he had managed to clean up the whole shop in just two hours, and most importantly he had to show her his good grade from the last exam, so she knew he did not skip the school.

He marched dreamily to a front door of an apartment building. He looked in his pocket, but the keys were not there. “Damn, I must have left them in the locker room.” He turned and ran straight back to where he had come from. A cold air pinched his cheeks lightly and gripped his throat as he took a deep breath during a sprint. The wind combed his red curls to one side. He slowed only when he saw the light from the shop window, which read in bold, “Kartz’s Convenience store - Nobody has what we don’t have.” Akally found this motto strange from the first day, but Mr K. had always insisted on it. As he approached, the picture became clearer. The light did not penetrate the glass window. The rays escaped and broke through the shards and pieces of glass that remained in it after a huge blow. The shelves collapsed, and the television rumbled loudly. Akally stopped in horror and stared at the terrible scene. What happened here? Where is Kartz? A wrinkled hand crept up on the broken counter. Without thinking, Akally ran inside and crossed the rubble. The old man was buried under the shards and fallen cigarettes that were on the shelf behind the counter.

“Mr K.! Mr K., are you alright?” He asked, carefully scraping away the collapse.

“Aly,” Kartz said dazedly.

“Don’t say anything, sir. We must take you to the hospital.”

“No,” he coughed, “run,” he pushed the boy away.

“I can’t leave you here,” Akally took Mr K.’s hand to help him stand up.

“Cur… Cur…” behind redhead was a loud sound of falling cans and chips, “Cursoros!” the old man warned the boy.

It was too late when Akally spoke. The fugitive threw him with its head out into the street. Akally groaned in pain. He grabbed his stomach, probably with a broken pair of ribs. Tried to pick himself up and get to his feet. A huge Cursoros was already coming out through the broken window. The lad could not shout even a faint cry. He rolled on four legs and crawled as fast as he could. It was hard to think clearly, how could he? A horrible death stood behind his heels. He thought of nothing but to escape and save himself. However, he managed to get only a meter away when the monster gripped his leg, squeezing hard it between its blunt teeth, and threw him effortlessly back into the shop between the shelves. Cursoros knocked the lad unconscious. Without a chance to defend himself or run away, his last thought was that this was the end.

Not knowing how much time had passed, he slowly opened his eyes to the sounds of loud chewing. The place where Kartz laid was covered in blood. Akally wasn’t sure what was going on until he saw Cursoros devouring an old hand with the watch Kartz wears. He bit the bones and muscles with brute force and swallowed large pieces of his body. The bloody nightmare turned Lad’s stomach upside down. Suddenly, colourless vomit came out of his mouth. Although he was a little relieved afterward, he realized that the chewing had stopped. He turned his head slowly and two deep black eyes stared at him. It was clear who would be the next meal.

Cursoros was in no hurry, walking calmly to Akally, who in fear closed his eyes. It sniffed the boy and opened its stinking mouth. Lad closed his eyes and prayed it would be quick. A force strong as an explosion swept through the store. Cursoros was pushed against the wall. The redhead opened his eyes carefully. In front of him stood a tall, muscular man in his thirties in green armour with short black hair. In his right hand, he held a huge two-handed hammer glowing with blue energy. He looked at Akally and smiled: “Darcy! We have a survivor!” he shouted, walking over to the monster, which growled as it rose, “Look at you, handsome, “ man spun the hammer between his fingers, as if it didn’t weigh anything, grabbed it with his other hand and swung, “you need to go a walk” he joked triumphantly, then with a single swing of his hammer he threw Cursoros away across the street.

A little girl screamed: “Aaah! At least you could have warned me, old man!” Said the short white-haired girl in the red robe and pointed hat, with a pink backpack on her tiny back.

“Ts,” he snapped, “who do you call the old man?! A kid like you has nothing to talk about! Go take care of the guy inside, Darcy. I’m having fun with a cute Cursy here.”

“The dinosaur and the goat, what a funny combination,” Darcy chuckled conceitedly and went to help Akally. She sat down on the floor next to him and took off her backpack. She unzipped her largest pocket and took out a small bottle of red liquid and handed it to the wounded lad: “Drink it!” The redhead looked at her suspiciously. “Do not worry. The MITEM will pay for it for you. This will help you get back on your feet.” He took the bottle in disbelief and drank its contents. The pain subsided and his wounds began to heal immediately without a scar.

“Thanks,” he said dejectedly. He tried to get up but fell to the ground immediately.

The girl caught him with her small arms: “Careful, the pain is gone, but your body needs time to regain its strength.”

“Kartz,” he said exhausted.

“Kartz?” Darcy turned in the direction Akally was looking. When she saw the pile of blood, entrails, and flesh, she shook her head and pulled the redhead away: “Only a special healer would help him, but there aren’t many,” she explained, ignoring the horrendous scene.

Akally pushed her away and stumbled over to Mr K: “If I stayed here, he could still survive. If I didn’t leave, I could have saved him,” he sobbed. Redhead knew he couldn’t match a monster like Cursoros, but there was surely something he could do. The more he thought about it, the more his conscience and the idea of ​​what would happen if he stayed grew heavier.

The young boy tried to say something, but the words didn’t come out of his mouth. They were stuck deep in his throat. He sat beside Kartz, his hands stained with blood, eyes red from crying, breathing hard through his mouth, ignoring his stuffy nose, from which he dripped clear mucus mixed with other fluids. Suddenly the whole world seemed to be holding a minute’s silence. The flickering fluorescent light did stop humming, the wind stopped blowing, and the refrigerator beeping sound disappeared. Darcy let him mourn Kartz and went to wait outside. Akally could only hear his breath and heartbeat as it darkened before his eyes. He blinked a few times and realized it wasn’t dark. A clean black rectangle appeared in front of him, on which gold letters gradually appeared. [Last survivor sympathizes with your loss and offers you power. Do you accept?] Akally didn’t understand what was going on, he was still shocked by Kartz’s death.

[Last survivor asks again; do you accept power?]

“Mr K.… Kartz is…”

[Last survivor demands an answer.]

“…dead… If I didn’t leave… If I helped him escape…”

[Last survivor demands the answer as to whether you accept power.]

Akally begins to perceive the message, “Last survivor? Power?”

[Last survivor gives you a chance to fix it.]

Lad ignored the absurdity of the whole situation and replied to the unknown: “There is nothing in the world to fix this.”

[Last survivor doesn’t understand.]

“He is dead. Why is this happening? Why did he have to die? Why is my mom dying? Why did so many people have to die?”

[Last survivor offers you the power to change that. Do you accept?]

“Leave me alone!”

[Last survivor promises to remain silent if you answer him.]

“Okay, do what you want. But leave me alone!”

[Last survivor has been appointed as your Patron. Statistics recalculation – in progress.]

Akally’s body began to glow with golden light. The girl outside turned in surprise.

[Statistics conversion – completed. Last survivor bestowed upon you the following abilities: Rise, Level D; Healing, Level C; Strengthening, Level C.]

“Wait, what does that mean?!” Akally was frightened as he read the message while the glow intensified.

“That boy,” Darcy said in astonishment, “is awakening.”

[Last survivor changed skill Level – Rise, Level change: D > A. Required balancing of abilities - in progress.]

Akally’s glow almost blinded him.

[Required balancing of abilities – completed. Healing, Level change C > F; Strengthening, Level change C > E]

The golden glow stopped. The ginger lad looked around uncomprehendingly: “What was that supposed to be? What happened?”

Darcy ran to him, “Look at your abilities, open your status!” she shouted impatiently.

“Status?” Akally repeated without thinking, and another rectangle immediately appeared before his eyes:

Name: Akally

Title: Saint

Patron: Last survivor

Health: 87/100

Mana: 200/200

Attributes:

Strength: 10

Swiftness: 15

Endurance: 10

Magic power: 20

Abilities:

[Rise] Level A – Resurrects dead person and heals all injuries.

[Healing] Level F – Heals insignificant injuries.

[Strengthening] Level E – Increases little attributes of allies.

He is overwhelmed by the information he does not fully understand. Name, Title, Patron… Looks like Hunter Status.

“Is that…?” Akally’s eyes widened.

“Exactly! This was an awakening, a process of becoming a hunter,” she explained enthusiastically.

Reading Status momentarily detached Akally from reality. His eyes caught on an ability called Rise.

“Revives a dead person” reads the label aloud. He looks at Mr K.’s body leading himself. It wasn’t clear if it would work, but it was the only way to find out. “How do I use an ability?” he asked.

“Just say it out loud,” Darcy laughed at his silly question.

Akally folded his hands in a hopeful prayer, “Please work,” he whispered.

[Rise]