THREE YEARS LATER
"I'm sorry, son. But you're not going to become a hunter." The doctor says.
Miso half-expected this. Only about 1% of the population has the ability to become a hunter, but the news still hits him hard, even though he convinced myself that he never had any hope becoming a hunter.
"Your ability doesn't really give you any strength or power increase." Doc says. "Your ability is a weird, evasive, running away type of ability that works at its best in urban environments."
Miso stays silent.
He just realized yesterday that he could pull two swords made of bone and skin out of his arms. He thought he would have some sort of cool offensive abilities.
"Your ability is called 'urban prey'. Here: This report paper will explain everything about your ability." Doc says and hands Miso the piece of paper.
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ABILITY REPORT
Name: Miso Shiitake
Age: 9
Ability name: urban prey
Total forms: 5
FEATURES:
1) (Mobility) Dash – Dash up to 50 meters at once. Dash speed can be improved. Current speed- 60 kmph. 1 second cooldown to replenish every 5 meters of dash. If all 50 meters used, 10 second cooldown until next dash.
2) (Mobility) City gecko - ability to stick to - and scale - any large enough object. 30 second continuous use. 0.25 second recharge per 1 second of use.
3) (Mobility) Nobody –2 seconds of complete invisibility and silence. Two charges. 10 second cooldown per charge. User CANNOT attack while using ability.
4) (Mobility) Sciophilia – When user stands in shadows, they become 15% less visible. Passive ability.
5) (Recon) sense tradeoff – four senses can be shut down in return for a 3x improvement in a single sense. Passive ability.
6) (Recon) Cyber creep - all cameras and audio recorders in a 200 m radius accessible to user. Passive ability
7) (Offensive) Bone swords - Two swords made from bone that can be stored in and removed out of both arms. Passive ability.
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Miso's heart rises. "B-but these abilities can be used to hunt monsters!"
The doctor sighs. "Look. You can apply for the Hunter Qualification Exam."
Miso feels a small trickle of happiness. "Yay!" But the doctor shuts it down before it starts sprouting more dopamine.
"But you won't get in. And for good reason."
"Why?"
"You have 7 features, yes. This number is significantly above average. You have 5 forms, which is also something you don't usually see even in hunters. They generally have 4. But Hunter type people need strong Offense and Defense or at least have some type of Healing. You have put almost all your points in Mobility, which – to be honest – is completely useless without – at the very least – Healing."
"But-" He gets interrupted.
"If you even get so much as casually slapped by a monster, your head will get ripped off your body. All it takes is just one half-assed hit to kill you. How the hell are you going to survive being a Hunter without even getting hit once?" Doc asks.
"I can-" Miso couldn't think of a solution.
"Just because you have swords doesn't make you fit to hunt. Deers have antlers, and they're prey. If anything, your swords are probably meant to be used defensively."
"I really do feel bad for you, kid." Doc says. "Your ability is unfortunately not good for anything. You can't use it for becoming a hunter or for doing other non-hunting jobs. I'm really sorry to say that."
"But you can still use your brains to get a good grade in school and earn a decent living. There definitely is a job out there for you." Doc sounds optimistic.
"....Thank you." Miso says miserably. He sounds like he's on the verge of tears.
"Umm- Your swords just came out yesterday. Your second feature will come within a month. If it doesn't come out after about a month, please come back to the hospital. After your second feature comes out, the other features will come out roughly every 1-1.5 years."
"Got it. Thanks." Miso stumbles out of the doctor's room, desperate to get out.