Penn swiped the keycard to enter the dorm room, glancing around as the door swung shut behind him. The clean, white room was a standard bachelor apartment. With the smooth concrete walls, it was apparent that the design team behind the Hunters Association also had their hands dipped into the staff dormitory.
The space was large enough to fit a single person comfortably but small enough to take only ten steps from the door to the opposite wall, where the bed was next to the faux balcony. All he had to do was spin around to see the kitchenette and the standing shower bathroom by the entryway.
Penn dropped his large bag next to the bed and sat on the fluffy mattress, where new blankets waited in their packaging. As he stared at the empty, cold space, a loneliness crept inside him. Until he graduated from high school, he had been with his family, and when he joined the army, he was with his comrades in the barracks for almost every moment of the past nine years.
Now, for the first time in his life, he was alone. The bed was bigger and softer than his standard cot, and the large balcony door brought in more light than he was used to. It was eerily quiet. Penn stood up and opened the balcony door. The lower bars that blocked the other side gave a feeling of an actual balcony and provided basic safety.
He pulled the screen door shut to let in the breeze, and the basic sheer curtains blew around him as he leaned against the railing. The golden glow poured around the buildings as the sun started to set. Looking down, he spotted the creek from earlier. As he shut his eyes, his thoughts began to fill with anxiety. He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time before taking his wallet out of his bag and heading out of his dorm room.
"Let's go take a look, shall we?" Penn mumbled to himself, stretching as he exited the dorm building. He spotted a café in the building next to the creek and headed there for a simple coffee. Penn sipped the hot beverage as the breeze swept past him, the wind getting cooler as evening drew close. As he followed the path to the creek, an odd sense filled him, and he finally looked around.
It was then that he realized that besides the café staff, he had not run into a single person since he left his dorm room. And even now, with several dorm buildings in the staff community, not a single person was in sight. Could there be that many Hunters who had gone off to raid dungeons? It was the only thing he could think of since he was not yet familiar with the life of an awakened at the Hunter's Association.
Feeling apprehensive, he strolled slowly along the shallow waters, which were no deeper than his shins in some parts. The stream was well maintained, with stepping stones every so often and some basic filtering plants adding to the greenery in the water. Spotting some small, minnow-like fish, Penn reached down and scooped up some of the cool water, catching some smaller fish in his hand.
"Those aren't minnows," said a low, rumbling voice that laughed mockingly. Penn's head snapped in the direction of the voice, and someone was sitting in the shadows on the opposite side of the creek. The setting sun cast a heavy silhouette against him, hiding his features.
"Ah," Penn replied, eyes shifting to the side in his hand. "I don't know much about different kinds of fish. You could put sushi before me, and I could probably not tell the difference."
"Hmm, usually for someone in their twenties, sushi is standard…" the mystery man chuckled, blowing out the smoke from the cigarette he was working on.
"Could you tell me what kind of fish this is?" Penn sheepishly asked.
"Garra Rufa, have you heard of it? Hm, probably not," the man mocked again. "It's a famous fish used in spas for foot treatments like psoriasis. Those buggers love dead skin. If you're ever up to it, just stick your feet in the water, and they'll come out as soft as if they were new. It'll be like a slight tickle."
"I'll pass," Pen responded awkwardly. "I'm not a fan of anything touching my feet."
"That's a shame," the mystery person replied cynically. "I'm a big fan of feet, especially the pretty buff boy variety."
"Well, good thing I'm not pretty," Penn mumbled to himself, putting his hands back in the water to free the fish.
"Pfft," a laugh escaped the man before he covered his mouth and looked away. The edges of Penn's eyes flushed red, but he remained silent. "You're built pretty well. Fighter class?"
"You have a good sense," Penn nodded, keeping a straight face as he watched the water. "Close combat, but nothing special. Just basic skills, like quick draw."
"Hmm, you must be military," he continued, leaning forward as if to inspect Penn closer. He took another drag of his cigarette. "Then you're a new hunter? You seem very awkward for your build. People don't tend to awaken so late."
Penn snapped his head in surprise in the direction of the stranger. It was accurate and one of the main points of the Hunters Association public classification room. Usually, one awakens when they become an adult between the ages of eighteen and twenty. Once they become adults, it is standard for someone to go to the Hunters Association to get tested to see if they are power users. If so, they are given their classification probe and awakened identification.
"I am military, or was I should say," Penn agreed. "I awakened last week, and I was transferred as of today."
"Hmm, a variant," the man stood up. His shadowed body, backlit by the setting sun, was quite tall. "Usually, variants are a higher class, too."
Penn looked away awkwardly. From his point of view, he wasn't entirely lying. He wasn't going to advertise that he was a guide, especially to a stranger who could be a Hunter far beyond his skill level. The man stood up and bounced across the creek, stepping on stones with ease. He landed in front of Penn, looking down at him with an expression void of emotion.
The stranger towered above Penn's five-foot-ten - probably over six feet by three or four inches. He was relatively lean compared to his seated, shadowed self, which looked too large to comprehend. He had curly, sandy-gold hair that reminded Penn of a fluffy golden doodle. His slight tan made his cold brown eyes stand out in contrast - resembling a dog with eyes that looked too human for such a furry face. He looked youthful, boyish even, but was a beautiful man regardless - leaning more on the pretty side.
"For someone so young, you're talking to me quite comfortably," Penn mumbled.
"Young?" He laughed in response, his face showing a look between amusement and surprise - the first most human expression that had appeared on his face since he stepped forward. "No one has had the guts to call me baby face directly."
"I would never!" Penn snapped his head up, surprised at how his words had been twisted.
"I would hope not; it must be a simple mistake made by someone in their twenties," the man of mystery teased. "I would just like to state that I'm in my early thirties."
"Oh!" Penn unknowingly gasped before coughing and turning his face away. The man took a last few steps forward, mere inches from Penn's face. He towered above, looking straight down his nose at Penn's pale face. He was too close for comfort, and goosebumps formed all over Penn's body.
"You don't feel like a hunter," the stranger's low voice made Penn flinch, mainly because his pretty face didn't match, but also because his breath tickled his eyelashes. "Your aura is… fascinating, beguiling, even."
Penn froze, his instinct telling him that his man was dangerous. His voice caught in his throat, and he couldn't respond, so he just stood at attention, looking right back into those dark, empty eyes. Penn squinted after a moment, wondering if he was imagining that the eyes were getting darker. A ring sounded along with a vibration from his pocket, and he reached down for it.
"Oh, excuse me—" Penn looked up and realized he was alone. He whipped his head around, but the area was empty once again. After the phone rang yet again, he snapped out of his confusion and headed back toward his dorm building as he answered his phone.
***
Penn entered the patio from the pub, heading to the table where a waving hand emerged over the sea of heads. His neat, medium-length auburn mullet stood out, and his midnight-blue eyes caught the streetlight easily, lighting up like stars in the sky.
"PJ!" Tennant yelled in excitement, jumping up from his seat and clasping Penn's forearm. "Welcome, buddy! I was worried we couldn't meet when my uncle told me you were being transferred to the Hunters Association. Congrats on awakening!"
"Ah, thank you," Penn said with a small smile, his shoulders relaxing as he sat across from his best friend since high school. "Where's the wife?"
"Hailey is working with some idols on their choreography for the upcoming showcase."
"And you're not there with her for such a large project? You mentioned last time that you had to choreograph their music videos, concerts, and even stripped-down versions for music shows and challenges."
"Exactly, but I need a break to visit my other favorite human during such a difficult time."
"Your uncle called you," Penn interrupted, staring blankly at the man across from him who made exaggerated movements.
"Yeah, he called me…" Tennant laughed awkwardly.
"Fine, let me tell you what happened." Penn sighed and clasped his hands as he began to explain the events that had transpired.