It didn’t take long for the police to be called to a particular devastating crime scene. Anton, Slough’s Chief of Police, was called due to the certain person who was involved in the matter. Currently, both sides of the tunnel were sealed off with special yellow police tape.

The area close by was blocked off just in case any evidence might have been left behind, and finally there were only a few police officers at the scene taking photos. A higher tier town might have utilised more, but for the likes of Slough this could already be considered a large force.

The Detective had been staring at the body for a while and inspecting it, evidence had already been collected as well. Standing up, Anton took off his white gloves, passing them onto one of the other officers, as he began to rub his eyes.

“You should be careful, what if some blood got on your hands.” The young officer Roo cautioned his superior. In his hand he was holding an evidence bag, it was clear and see through allowing one to see inside there was a card.

“We got a report back from the lab. You know who that is, don’t you?” Anton asked the young rookie.

“Isn’t it another victim of the Altered murderer? Although this is the first time that they appear to have sliced the head off like that.” Roo answered as he quickly turned to look at the scene and away again. This particular body was in a worse state than the others, and it appeared that even a large part of the arm had been eaten.

“Wow, you really are a rookie, do they let anyone pass these days? Or is it just that the force is desperate for more people?” Anton shook his head. “Even before the results came back, it’s obvious that our Altered murderer has been here. The surprising bit, however, is the male victim.

“We’ve been looking all over for him. This is Billy Bruntin who we had initially suspected to be our Altered murderer. According to the guy in the lab, he’s not an Altered, yet for some reason the Altered Hunters have left their calling card. Still, his blood does match up with all blood found on the other scenes, he is our murderer all right. Have Hunters started becoming judges of death now as well.”

Lifting it up, Roo started to spin the clear plastic bag, trying to get a better look at the card. He thought it was strange for a card to be left at the scene, and he had initially mistaken it for some business cards… for some restaurant or something.

“Why would they use a red dragon on their calling card? I thought they hated all types of Altered… although I’ve never heard about a dragon-type of Altered.” Roo uttered in confusion.

“That’s actually classified information that is prohibited to be revealed to the public, since the government doesn’t want copycats from appearing. You can also tell fakes from clears, using a special method but you will learn that as you go on. By the looks of it, they’ve gotten here way before we did.” Anton let out a big sigh.

“But then what about the arm? It looks like it’s been eaten by a beast!” Roo complained.

This was the strangest thing, because they had found DNA that they had on file. In fact, it had appeared in multiple areas, but they had yet to find out more about this mystery Altered.

‘Could it be those two Altered that fought each other? … I’ve heard of Altered getting in fights with each other over the territory they claim, but to actually hunt each other? Or maybe that was just that day. Billy might have been working with an Altered doing his killings and one got away. Another option, could it be that we have an Altered Hunter who is an Altered himself? … That or a hunter was working together with our mysterious Altered.’ Anton chuckled at this ridiculous thought. ‘Like that would ever happen. The day I see that, pigs might fly.’

——

Inside the empty dojo, underground, a young teenage boy was sitting atop his legs, with his back up straight. Blake was currently in the secret base that his father had created. One that only Altered Hunter knew how to locate and open.

On the table, inside a glass like container, was the severed head of Billy Bruntin. His sharp teeth were still showing. More so on one side than the other, and there were also some other non-human details on the head, such as coloured fur, and slightly pointed ears.

‘It was a good thing that I cut the head off when I did. It seems like it was in the middle of reverting.’ Blake thought. ‘We only assumed Billy was the Altered who had been killing those people, but we never confirmed it. … Well, technically he’s not an Altered but a Werewolf. I wonder if Dad will recognise the difference.’

Thinking about his father, Blake wondered a few more things. When his father would came back, would he be proud that his son had managed to hunt an ‘Altered’ ‘on his own’. Would it count towards his first star? Or would he be upset with Blake that he had risked his life during his absence.

Looking to his right, the young Altered Hunter also saw the broken sword and all the gadgets he had used up. Some of them Blake could reset or repair, so they could be used again, but the same couldn’t be said for the sword.

Most of the items Altered Hunters used would be crafted by themselves. This was at least true for the small gadgets, but the swords and armour weren’t things one could easily create.

‘Each hunter has access to certain items from the Hunter’s Association based on their rank. Once I get my first star, I will be eligible to get better equipment for myself. A better sword would be nice.

‘I wonder what kind of items those five-star top hunters have access to…’

For a second, Blake caught himself daydreaming about the future as one of them. It came as a bit of a shock to the teenager that he had actually enjoyed what he had done today. The thrill of fighting, risking his life, besting a superior enemy.

In the past, he had hated that his father had forced him into the Altered Hunter’s lifestyle. Ozacas Hunt would often claim that it was in their blood… and for the first time, Blake felt that he understood what his father had meant.

So far, he had tried to avoid it, Blake had often made excuses when his father had offered to take him out hunting, but killing Billy had felt… satisfying. The teenager felt as if he had actually achieved something.

‘When you come back, Dad, maybe…maybe I’ll start to take this hunting thing seriously.’ Blake thought as he stood up from his position, and for a second Gary flashed in his mind. The two of them working together to take down Billy.

‘… if only you hadn’t become a Werewolf… You would have surely made a great Altered Hunter…’

*****

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