Top Bounty | The Bounty at Hand Book 1

DISCLAIMER!: (This is a re-write of my other story, which will be taken down a few days after this is released to give time for readers to adjust.) The story opens in Nurks, where a three-person bounty hunter team—Green (a deadly sniper and martial artist), his sister Grace (a wind-pulx user), and her husband Mark (a magic-imbuing "Crafter")—rescues an Elven girl named Careless from the crime boss Bush. Green renames her Carrie and promises to escort her to her home city of Lindhael. Fleeing the Conexe syndicate on a cross-country train, the group is ambushed by Helladorian gunmen and pale, silent Paipite assassins. Mark and Grace hold off the attackers while Green reveals his mastery of Kaisher, an elite martial art, before jumping with Carrie into the pitch-black Septaroth Forest. Landing beside a giant 5-legged Septaroth, Green pushes past human limits to slay the beast, suffering near-fatal internal injuries. Masking their scent with Borxt slime to hide from scavengers, he passes out—his silver soul aura briefly vanishing before returning. As they recover, Carrie teaches him basket-weaving and Green maps the terrain, though he maintains a cold, self-imposed emotional detachment. Concurrently, Coras—a warrior clad in 18 tons of osmium armor—hunts ancient shape-shifting demons called Sasscares. He battles elite Elven guards and slays demons while gathering intel on a growing threat to humanity. In the forest, Green and Carrie reach the hidden "Village under Grace." Leaving Carrie with a scholar named Vicky, Green ventures back out to retrieve his dropped dragon-inlaid pistol. He fights sound-hunting Pteranodons and helps a traumatized wanderer, Zachry, by defeating a pack of War Shadows. Consuming the monsters' glowing eyes grants Green shadow-merging abilities and allows Zachry to return home to Vicky. Reuniting with Mark and Grace in Marshe, Green enters the city-wide "Target Fest" combat tournament to fund the rest of their journey. During the high-altitude chain event, a competitor falls to his death after Green uses him as a springboard; wracked with guilt, Green self-flagellates his arm to numb the emotional pain. In the finals, Green easily outmatches a young man fighting for engagement ring money, but deliberately yields the victory so the man can win the prize. Meanwhile, Coras climbs a mysterious pyramid-like jungle mountain, fights its guardian Saint, loses, and is teleported out. Guided to his father's grave, he finds nothing and is confronted by his demon prey, Nearie. Outmatched, he watches her vanish and vows to investigate the worldly forces she manipulates, eventually discovering an old acquaintance possessed by a Sasscare. Tension peaks in Marshe when Carrie strays with a stranger who locks her in a forge. Unbothered at first, Green ultimately storms the forge alone, brutally crushing over five dozen slavers. Shortly after, an overwhelming Paipite strike force corners the group in the streets. Mark makes a desperate gamble: he imbues a single strand of Green's hair with lightning pulx. The resulting apocalyptic maelstrom levels entire city blocks, leaving Mark, Grace, and Green near death. At the hospital, Green flatlines on the operating table. As his soul slips toward the afterlife, Carrie uses her Elven aura-sight to enter his spiritual vision. She pleads with him to break his tragic isolation and fulfill his promise to take her home. Choosing to live, Green activates his internal arts to rebuild his organs and restart his heart. Afterward, a battered Green meets Coras outside the hospital. Recognizing each other as unnatural beings operating beyond mortal limits, Coras offers Green a future favor, cementing a mutual bond of respect as Green, Carrie, Grace, and Mark prepare for the road ahead.