Slowly, visible cracks appeared. Bits of light leaked through as the two realms met. As the cracks grew in size, a terrible buzz filled his ear. His eyes hurt as they tried to process what was going on. Then it stopped, a dark void surrounded by forks of energy. Wispy bits of plasma leaked out like grasping fingers. While he couldn’t see the destination, it was quite safe. Double-checking that all his loot was properly secured, he stepped through the darkness. The portal snapped shut, leaving the massacre behind. He was finally home.

  —---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The teleport wasn’t anything crazy. A moment of unconsciousness and then a rush of life. Time was…weird between bounties. What was months in that village was only about two weeks back home. It took a few seconds for the senses to return but he was home. The portals were remnants of an older time. This particular one was barely functioning. All that remained were two chipped granite columns and a broken arch. Even approaching was a bit dangerous, a thin set of stairs hovering over a cliffside. The waves crashed down below as the floating platform lingered in the air. None dared to build around it in fear of disrupting the magic.

  He carefully stepped down the slick steps and onto the grassy field. Turning back, he got one last good glimpse of the setting sun. Billowing clouds filled the colorful sky. Each one reflects the various yellows and oranges. That salty air ruffled his hair as he took a deep breath. It was rare to leave the city. For most all they could do was work and sleep. Life was hard, but at least they were free.

  He could only savor a few moments before the alarms started buzzing. Turning back, he faced the looming walls of the city. It stretched on beyond his sight, a harsh line cutting into the beauty of the world. They were nearly impenetrable to all, hurricanes dissipated, earthquakes routed away, all within protected from external disasters.

  Jax walked past the gates and into the decontamination chamber. Various drones appeared and assisted in the removal of armor. One by one, all forms of clothing were stripped from him leaving him naked, cold, and exposed. Lifting his arms, various hoses sprayed him down. It was a three-stage cleaning process. Each one is designed to remove any foreign matter. With so many realms to explore, they didn’t want somebody to bring back a crazy supervirus.

  A thin towel appeared and he began to dry off. With such a low-value bounty, he was given the bare minimum. No luxurious baths or complimentary food. Just a pressure wash and used rag to dry. Grabbing his armor tag, he took a glance at the return date.

  “Two days are you kidding me!” He groaned.

  Still, it was a complimentary cleaning. Might as well take what he could get, at least he didn’t smell like fermenting socks anymore. Drying off his hair, he wrapped the towel around the waist and glanced into the mirror. Everything was…rough. Huge bruises covered his skin, each one throbbing with a bit of pain. His left eye was nearly swollen shut and a few minor fractures appeared in his ribs. As long as he avoided deep breaths, he didn’t feel it. Hopefully, the healing wasn’t too expensive.

  With the physical cleaning down, he stepped into the mental evaluation office. Sitting in the wooden chair, the ceiling parted and a metal rod lowered. Attached to the end was a single eye, the nerves wrapping around the metal. Its pupil dilated as the device rotated around his body. Jax felt a presence brush against his soul, a slight touch as it scoured his brain for external influence. Deeming him untainted, it retreated.

  Leaving the decontamination chambers, he entered the locker room. The attendant was on standby and handed off a fresh set of clothes. It wasn’t anything special, just boxers, shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Nothing name-brand and quite itchy to wear. Still, this was the first set of new clothes he’d had in a long while. Most of what he got was from the local thrift stores or trades. Quickly changing, the man continued to glare.

  “Sorry man, the first time I don’t have any money yet” Jax replied. The man scoffed and left.

  It wasn’t required, but tipping the workers was highly encouraged. Jax made a mental note to give him some coin later–if he did come out on top. With a new set of clothes and a fresh smelling body, he was ready to return to society. He took the elevator down to the tram and hopped on. It was an underground tunnel that looped around the various portal sites. His was the last stop and it took nearly an hour to return to the slayer’s hub. Jax kept to himself and avoided eye contact with others. He was still new and didn’t want to piss anyone off. At one point he ended up offering his seat to another. Even at the final stop, he waited for everyone to leave before stepping off.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Jax paused as he stood at the exit. All he had to do was sign off on the kill and he’d join the slayer ranks. A warm sense of pride bubbled up from within, he did it. He had killed a god. This was the first step into a new future. Pushing on the door, he entered the slayer hub.

  The circular room was divided up like a pizza. Each section represents a different level of slayers. He had started at the lowest of low–Tier 1. After that, there was Tier O, Tier Gold, Tier I, Tier α, Tier A, and the specials. It was a stupidly named system, everyone knew who was at the top. However, the government constantly pushed the idea that all hunts were equal no matter the difficulty. It was bullshit, their society ran on the corpses of gods. Sure every bit was used, but their power levels were drastically different.

  Walking through the main antechamber, Jax passed into the tier 1 section. It was barren. No snacks, no couches, and nobody to greet them. Only a few wooden chairs, the service desk, and the bounty board. The guy running the place was young and got the job through some nepotism. He was kicking back, feet up on the desk, and playing games on his phone. And honestly, what else should he be doing? This tier was something people avoided, only the truly destitute started here. The richer ones could buy enough equipment to start higher. Just power through without any worry. Unfortunately, Jax did not have that luxury.

  Crossing to the desk, Jax looked down at the slacker.

  “Hey, can you…” He interrupted

  “Hold up, nearly done at this level” The worker responded.

  It was an awkward few moments as Jax patiently waited. He didn’t want to piss the guy off, they knew future hits. While they were not supposed to play favorites, sometimes they’d “forget” certain information. He never really got it, anytime a slayer succeeded. Their workers would get a small bonus for their troubles. It encouraged them to do a bit of research and help out. But at this tier combined with this kid’s rich family, it probably wasn’t worth it.

  He closed the game and glanced up. A look of shock crossed his face.

  “Oh wow, you made it. Honestly, kind of surprised, when I saw you leave with nothing but two daggers and a suit; I thought you’d be dead in a week. Hell even bet some credits on ya not coming back.” Before Jax could respond, the man shifted back to the computer and started typing away.

  “Name,” He asked

  “Uhh, Jax Smith” Jax respond

  “Jax Smith, what the hell man. If you are going to be a slayer you need a lot better name than that. It’s gotta be like Jaximus the Great, The Jaxinator, Jax be nimble Jax be quick, something else thing bloody Smith. ” He had no filter.

  “Look, they asked for a last name and I didn’t want to just give mine up for the world to see!” Jax was on the defensive. He didn’t want those in his neighborhood to find out about his new work. If he succeeded then he’d likely be robbed for the funds. And if he failed…he’d get robbed before it passed to his family.

  “Sure man, ahh Jax Smith assigned to a miniscule death god. A footnote of a god it looks like. Damn, you took on something this pathetic and lost an arm. Are you sure you want to be in this business? You know my dad’s looking for a few new cleaners. I could put in a good word for you.

  “LOOK!” Jax raised his voice but only got a shit-eating grin out of the man. He was enjoying this. Taking a moment, Jax collected himself.

  “Look, man. I am sure your dad is…wonderful. But I got a family to feed” he lied.

  “Can I just get my credits and move on? Could really use a warm bath tonight.” He continued.

  “Sure sure, no need to rush. Let’s see here. Base credits are…10,000. Take out the brokerage fee, portal fee, transportation fee, advertising fee, washing fee…”

  “What, I thought the wash was complimentary on successful kills?”

  “The Washroom is complimentary, you still need to pay for the supplies” he snapped back.

  “Merchant split, and convenience fee…that’ll give you a net total of 3,400 credits. Would you like me to apply it directly to your account?” The man looked up with that stupid smile once again.

  Jax wanted to fight it, but it just wasn’t worth it. He knew a lot of these fees were…adjustable. But this wasn’t the time to battle. 3,400 was a huge chunk of money, that was nearly 6 months' worth of work. He still had to sell off the remains. Still, it only was a small dent in the 10,000 he used to prepare. Hopefully, the materials brought back would put him in the green. If not, he didn’t want to come crawling back and begging for this…cleaner position. But better to lose the ego than starve in the streets.

  This time he did tip the worker.

  “Hope that covers the lost bet” he commented and left.

  His next stop was the Stats Station. Time to see if he had gotten any stronger.