The man looked like a giant in comparison to the two young ladies. He even was taller than the old hunter, who was at least 6 feet tall. This man's body was well-built with a light tan skin tone. His hair, which was dirty blonde, was pulled back into a high manbun, while the back part of his head was cut down to a buzz. As one look downward toward the bottom of his face, a bushy medium length full beard was present.
It seemed as though, he been outside for a long time, due the fact his exposed skin was cover in a layer of liquid. Then again, he was wearing a pair of long pants and a long shelves shirt, although they were rolled up passed his elbows. Anyone would sweat in such clothing during the mid-spring heat.
Once the group got closer to the bear-like man, the young lady suddenly spoke in a playful tone, "Hello, father. Still chopping away, I see. You are such a work-a-holic."
After hearing the melodious voice of the young woman, the ax within his hand, stopped right before it hit the tree.
"Libbey, my dear!"
The hairy old man shouted with joy, as soon as he saw his beloved daughter. He throw the ax down into the ground, and then walked over to his daughter. As he was walking up the slope towards his daughter, he noticed there was a group of people following closely behind her. "I see you brought me some help, for this tired old man. Nate what do you say? Wanna help this old man chop down some trees? It's a good workout for your body," responded the hairy old man with a hearty chuckle as he slapped his left arm, that was held up in the air, to show off how sturdy it was.
"Old man! Hmph! You're not even 40 years old. I think you just want a chatting partner to brag about how beautiful and wonderful your daughter is," Nate retorted strongly.
"Guilty," he admitted as he laughed, while grinning from ear to ear. "With my lovely wife gone, she's my only kin of course I'm gonna talk her up constantly. Plus, everything I say is 100% true," the hairy old man said with confident.
Instead of correcting the man again, his old friend jumped straight to the point. "Cain, sorry to disturb you while you're working. The village elder sent me here to discuss a proposition that might give us some more clue on who is our mystery assailant," relayed Nate in a serious tone.
"Oh really." Cain responded as he lifted his right eyebrow intrigued. "Well then, let's head back to the house and have a chat."
The swap group, now complete, retraced their footsteps back to the lumberjack's cabin. Once inside the house the lumberjack took a seat in the living room, while his daughter went and prepare some refreshments.
The other three sat down among the remaining seats within the living room.
"Shall we start the discuss now?" A middle aged man suddenly spoke firmly after everyone was seated.
Nate coughed twice before starting the main discussion. "Cain, old friend... this is Hunter Bruce and young Miss Artemis, she's a hunter as well. They are from an organization of hunters that are proficient in dealing with inhuman creatures. The village elder summoned them to our village in hope that they could help us with our problem," explained the old villager with ease.
The lumberjack glanced over at the middle aged man in a strange form of clothing. He rubbed his chin as he sized the man up. The man seemed to be around his age, and yet was well fit, even more so than himself. He could sense an alpha class aura radiating from the man. He summed up that the man was someone one should never drop their guard around.
His eyes then slowly scanned over to the young women, who was dressed in a maroon knee-length dress. To him the young lass did not look like a delicate beauty like his precious daughter. Her calm and composed expression lacked the presence of what a young women would have. This observation made him a bit uncomfortable as a doting father. Then a frown creeped up on his face, when he recalled their profession.
'A hunter that hunts inhuman creatures. What does that even entail?' the lumberjack pondered as he observed the two hunters. "What do you mean by inhuman creatures?" asked Cain in an unconvinced tone.
"Well…... according to the hunter the one we are dealing with is an inhuman creature. The specify name of these beings are called demons." Nate added.
"You believe that we are dealing with a type of demon? Demons are only an entity that are made up by parents to make their children behave," replied Cain coldly as he looked directly at the older hunter.
"Demons might be a myth to some people, but they are without a doubt among us, hiding their presence within the shadows. So, According to the information we have gather, I am positive that a demon is at the root of this case…. Also, Nate here have seen and fought with the creature. The only problem is we're not sure what type of demon that we are dealing," responded the older hunter truthfully.
"Hmmm…. It's not that I don't trust the village elder judgment. I'm just the type that don't believe in folktales. I only believe in what I see for myself," Cain said in a way that convey his doubts.
"Sir we can only give you our word. It is up to you if you believe us or not," the older hunter said in an indifferent but not cold tone.
"Okay, let go about it this way. Tell me something that can make me think otherwise. Something that can confirm your organization credibility," proposed the lumberjack as he shifted his body weight into a position that suggests 'he is eager to hear how they will attempt to convince him'.
The older hunter remain silence for a split second, after the village lumberjack spoke. As he was about to roll up his shirt sleeves in preparation, a gentle voice broke the brief silence within the room.
"Sir. These creatures do exist. Lucky for you it's not the type of monster that attack my village," uttered the young female hunter with confident.
The older hunter's motions froze as he looked at his young Miss. He was ready to show and explains the hardships of being a demon hunter, but the young lady beside him beat him to the punch. What shook him the must was that the young Miss was willing to talk about her personal experience, which she usually avoid talking about, due to the trauma she suffered from it.
The room now suddenly was quiet. Everyone was staring at the young female hunter in anticipating. Even the daughter of the lumberjack was staring at her in silence, once she had returned with a tray full of refreshments.
The lumberjack took a good glance at the young lady as he arched one of his eyebrow, while his daughter was shaken by what the young female had said. "Your village was attack by a demon?" Libbey asked in an unhurried and sadden tone.
Artemis nodded her head in agreement, yet her face was devoid of any emotions. "Yes. I was a very young girl when my whole village was wipe out. No one was spare from the ruthlessness of these creatures. Although, there were only two of them, they were able to slaughter my whole village, because of their enormous size. Their body resemble that of humans expect for that one imperfect on their face. Their abnormal height and their singular eye created chaos and panic among my people. I, myself was even so scared to the point that I could not move….," the young female hunter shared as she remembered.
"If your whole village was slaughtered, then how did you survive, if you don't mean me asking?" voiced Nate feeling a bit conflicted. He was curious about the young one experience, but he also worried about the emotional state of the young girl. On the surface she looked unaffected but honestly how could she not be.
"Honestly, I was saved due to a group of brave men. The first man was my uncle. He cautiously instructed my mother to drop me down the village's well. While everyone was either frozen by fear or running for their life, my uncle at that time only cared about my survival. My survival was assured due to the efforts of demon hunters like my uncle Bruce," responded Artemis as she looked at the man sitting beside her with a smile. Her smile was not an affectionate smile, but more of a smile of gratitude.