With the setting sun, darkness came to the world and the netizens of the dark awaken from their slumber to face a new night. A shadow can be seen in the setting sun carrying a sleeping figure in their arms outside of a clearly newly built house. The light seems to bend around the figure as if it didn't want to go near or even touch them.
The people of the dark looked curiously upon the new face, they didn't get a lot of newcomers around here. Especially with the forest so close, sometimes the beasts get hungry enough to come here for a snack. They stared, as the figure moved into the house and activate a formation which made it impossible for them to spy on him. The dark people glance at each other having a silent conservation and agreeing to ignore the stranger, after all anyone strong or stupid enough to come here would prove themselves one way or another.
-I'm a line break don't mind me-
I let out the breath that I was holding as the gazes on my back finally left as I activated the formation. I took a moment to appreciate the decoration of the house it was a cool color scheme of blue, silver, black, and highlighted with a dark green. I also remembered to request a slow transition to a warm palette as it came closer to Silvie's room which was at the far end of the house.
The house was a modern one with the front door opening into a high tech kitchen decorated with some plants on the counter and a clean cut silver on black aesthetic. This then opened up to a living/dining room on the right which had more of a blue and silver than the black of the kitchen, it had a couch which was big enough to double as a bed and a holographic TV which almost had an aura signalling EXPENSIVE to the world.
There were bookshelves on the wall which were made from a dark wood with a cherry scent to them. Walking down the hallway at the back, the wall which originally was a black in the kitchen and a silver in the living room becomes a dark blue stopping at a set of double doors which was my room. Moving on the dark blue becomes lighter slowly transitioning to a dark green as it becomes yellow and following that orange, Silvie's favorite color.
I thought of how expensive this house was taking in consideration the area it was located and slapped myself mentally for how much I spoil my little sister. Silvie was in no way a spoiled rich kid but being born with rich parents and having me for an elder sibling (not at all humble bragging) she had the best of everything at a young age and had to consider her image as a hunter's kid. This led to an unconscious taste for pricey things and a 'common' sense which even I knew was anything but common.
I set her in her green, orange, and purple room which doesn't clash, thankfully, as I had designed it myself to represent her favorite color and my favorite feature of her physical appearance (don't tell her that, she'll get even more narcissistic) her eyes.
It was now 7mp with darkness already covering the city, because the ride here was pretty long and boring I was ready to go out for some target practice. I looked at Nekoma and Silvie, worrying about their safety in this place even with the formation made around the house. I could leave the cat thing here as it was a second set of eyes that wouldn't drain much of my qui but if someone did get in then it was pretty useless.
I looked at Quartz sending a questioning feeling through the bond looking for a solution in our ancestral memories. I had a few methods but none of them guaranteed that she would be safe, Quartz showed a grim look before sending me an almost foolproof but slightly, shall we say, grim method of keeping an area safe. It was a formation not a wierd spell formation cross but a full on powerful formation from our Koi Moonlight Dragon Bloodline.
This was what is called a Blood Formation it is based on the ever growing almost sentient formations of the demonkin which lived in the Abyssal realm. I didn't know how this could be found in our ancestral memories especially this easily accessible but this gave me a foreboding sense of what this bloodline could mean for my future.
This specific formation is called Blood Lotus Sacrifice it...well it and formations like it aren't particularly banned but they are very actively discouraged as they require a blood sacrifice and sometimes it needs specifically a human sacrifice. Thankfully, not all Blood Formations require human sacrifices this one just needs the death and yin qui of something for it to work. Quartz and I discussed it for a few minutes but eventually agreed that it was the best method we had on hand and luckily I could make a little bit of yin qui which should be enough for me to make a weak version of it.
Now that I think about it with my yin attribute body if I give a bit of blood to the formation and hunt something that has even a tiny bit of life force it would power the formation enough that it would be days before I would need to power it again.
[o-0] <~ Fuyu's face right now.
We (Fuyu and Quartz) smirked (imagine a really big cobra with its mouth slightly open looking like an evil villain wrapped around a pretty bishounen) and studied the ancestral knowledge to get the details regarding how to set up the matrix (core) of the formation and how it would work. I studied it and felt relief as it indeed did work the way I hoped it would with yin qui being the main thing powering it and death qui just helping to enhance it.
That was a really lucky save, I calmly took out Fukuro (dagger 1) cutting my palm so that it would pierce skin but not into the tissue. I concentrated on the yin, moonlight, and life in my blood and dantain pushing around my qui using my cultivation manual and creating magic as I push it out of my body through my palm along with the blood.
This caused the blood to shine a weird dark grey as it floated in the air creating runes of power in a decagon (10 edges) which then was captured in a circle of blood shining grey. I made sure that before the life mana integrated into the matrix it would be corrupted by the yin and turn into a partial death qui which should be adequate as a worse replacement for it. I then controlled the moon mana to work almost like a backdrop for the yin and partial death qui helping to keep the matrix stable and strong.
The formation when completed looked very ominous with the blood red lotus in the middle of a black decagon which itself is overlaid over a silver ring. I didn't have to speak the runes but I did chant them mentally to help me get used to the feeling.
Khiz tu Tuwf iz Tup o Syrm, Tcha Bawf, Khiz tu Tult, Wfba Tchbahn Vrmba - Blood lotus, feed, bloom, defense.
The chant was a mouthful and the runes completed the circle without needing another repeat which was good as I felt like I was getting quite light headed with the bloodlost and mana drain. I then slammed the matrix onto the cabinet next to Silvie's bed which held a (cute orange baby sheep) lamp I plan to use to hide the cursed thing. With the thing powered and matrix made I activated it and linked it to me, Silvie, and Quartz by thought.
I stood back and watched as red spider lilies and black lotuses invisible to all but me and Quartz (due to our bond) bloom throughout the room and (I knew) eventually the house. I could just imagine anyone unauthorized coming in causing roots and vines to spread from the flowers digging into the intruder drinking their blood and in time killing them.
I shook my head to get rid of the thought, sitting down to recover from the blood lost feeling the flowers around me sending vines up my body. I recovered quickly and moved out wanting to get as far from the house as possible since I really didn't want to think about the flowers' purpose again.
-I'm a line break don't mind me-
Moonlit Forest at Night
Dark black mist floated under silver trees upon a landscape of snow covered arboreal forest which remain both silent and not. The night air screamed of a tension which deepened as predators prowled and another joined in their hunt.
-I'm a line break don't mind me-
Fuyu stalked a Dark Moon Gryfer which had wander away from its herd, it had been 3 hours since he had left the house and he had gotten incredibly unlucky... [ha, that's what he thinks.]
He stayed to the outer ring of the forest which held only the rank 1 beasts with peak rank 1 being the kings with well established territories. The forest had three layers the outer ring for normal animals and magical beasts up to the peak of rank 1, inner ring for anything from rank 2 to 3, and finally the sacred zone which housed the king of the forest with an estimated rank of peak rank 4.
Fuyu was willing to hunt anything below rank 1 stage 6 because anything above that would be too dangerous, h*ll stage 4-6 was already pushing it. But for some reason it felt like he was a magnet for powerful monsters like seriously 5 minutes in and he was face to face with a stage 8 bear.
('_') <~ his reaction.
He ran the f*ck away because yeah no, but 10 minutes later here comes a stage 9 beaver (?). This kept on happening and only by using Shio (the Leviathan) to scout out a route around the creatures did he escape from all of the powerful creatures who for some god forsaken reason was attracted to him. He had to very slowly look for prey while avoiding predators and only got them off his tail after running a giant circle around the outer ring.
He thankfully only wasted 2 hours on the chase and got some productive work done when he found a herd of Dark Moon Gryfers which were a mix of eagle and deer changed and combined by shadow and moonlight. They were a sleek dark blue with white highlights in their antlers and wings. It's time to test out what he could do.
-I'm a line break don't mind me-
I set Starbolt (the sniper) on a small hill around a quarter of a mile from the target telling Shio to keep an eye on its position for me. I summoned Quartz who had to hide in my Grimoire because he was weighing me down when I was escaping. I nodded to him signalling that he was to watch for threats while I make sure we have a meal to bring back to Silvie.
I layed down, pushing moon qui into my right eye and locking on the target through the scope. I mentally readjusted the parameters for the shot, first I couldn't hit the head or heart because the monster core could be in either position (at least for Gryfers), while the wings were also off limits because they were one of the big selling points for any Gryfer. I also didn't want to damage the hide or prize cuts which are worth a lot.
Leaving only a few options, one of which would be the neck which is my preferred choice as it kills quickly, semi-cleanly, and leaves less pain or suffering. I lined up the shot, signalled Shio to get ready to defend or at least acquire the kill and pulled the trigger. Flinching slightly from the recoil, as I hadn't gotten used to it yet, I motioned to Quartz who went ahead of me to clear the way.
The shot hit target expectedly and made no sound as guaranteed, I smoothly slung Starbolt onto my back and moved to follow Quartz in one movement. As I move to secure the kill I used one portion of my mind to look through Shio's eyes and keep watch for any scavengers. These actions made my blood heat up and adrenaline run through me, the Attakai family were always hunters not only because of our talent but because of the innate high we get when fighting for an objective or in a dangerous situation.
It's why I would never try to smother Silvie (too much) if she wanted to be a hunter or any other dangerous profession. I had done this type of thing for years, in fact, I accompanied our parents several times on the hunts for food during winter. Of course, only for the 'normal' (though nothing is really normal on Sanguis) animals.
By the time I got to the kill, the blood was starting to attract some unwanted attention. A stage 4 Blue Fire Fox was circling the clearing with Shio and Quartz keeping it from coming closer. I stayed hidden from sight taking out Meja and Maina ordering Quartz to keep it preoccupied while I tried to mount a sneak attack.
[Meanwhile…] BOOM!!
-I'm a line break don't mind me-
Foxes and Fire
...Why? Why do all of my hunts always end up so exciting? Like seriously the gods (if they exist) always seem to have something out for me. Everything was going according to plan until that cursed fox decided to fire a supercharged foxfire straight at Quartz. Who (keep in mind) is right in front of the loot so technically it is planning to blow everything up but itself.
(*o*) …
I mentally screamed at the world's injustices and fired twice, once at the fox's heart and once towards the f*ck*ng fireball which would make Quartz (and Shio) into a very fried and dead beast (and water thing) if it went off. That caused two things to happen, one it made one very dead fox and two it f*ck*ng made an EXX-PLO-SION (comment if you get the reference). Now mind you I don't normally curse because I was raised like a highborn but this situation just keeps on getting worse and I reserve the right to take out my frustrations.
Thankfully, I shot the thing while it was in between the fox, Quartz, and the center of the clearing so it didn't destroy everything but that probably alerted everything within 3 miles radius that a fight just happen and that's great except if a king comes to investigate we're all dead! I used my space ring to store both corpses and resummoned Quartz ordering Shio to wrap around my forearm, and I ran the f*ck away from that mess.
F*ck, I can hear the Gryfer herd coming to investigate the disturbance, I ran for 15 minutes straight crossing 5 miles and hid in a tall Fir tree to take a break and reassess the situation. Right now we had enough from the two prizes for around 25,000 credits if I sell only the parts I didn't want, if I sell everything around 75,000. It's 2 am with the night still dark but the moon setting and dawn approaching, I conversed with Quartz finally settling on trying for one more before returning home for the night.
This time I'm going to be getting closer, so as to not repeat that quite unbecoming incident. [Writing as this kid is so god d*nm difficult, he's too high class.]
I stalked the forest with only Shio, Meja, and Maina as my company. I noticed several high stage beasts nearby avoiding them successfully most of the time, apart from them I only found some normal animals which had no value so I left well enough alone. I already had plans for my next contract and you can only gain as many contracts as your spirit can support, for me that means every rank I'm getting one or more slots but I would never use that many contracts. I follow more of the quality to quantity motto.
But something I'm really looking for is a beast that would be good as either mine or Quartz's augmentation or soul gem respectively. For Quartz almost anything with a good affinity and power would be adequate we even have some methods to power up soul gems if we have too. But for me finding an augment is like trying to find an abnormally talented normal animal with an awakened ancient bloodline. In other words like trying to find unicorn hair or phoenix feather on the bare ground.
When my parents told me about augments and soul gems, I just knew that they would be a rather painful experience for me. Soul gems come from beast cores which are refined then incorporated into the body giving more abilities or sometimes even affinities or daos. They take the literal form of gems usually making a pattern on the body of the holder, one example being a bunch of diamonds making a ridge down the back of a holder.
Augments on the other hand, are the human equivalent of soul gems which take the form of tattoos on the holder's body and give different forms which the user can transform into. A danger can be found in the fact that if the augmentations do not fit together with what is already there such as the user's affinity or dao it could cause a backlash or even death. They come from the soul of a beast or can be obtained by fulfilling a contract with a powerful creature this makes them more powerful and dangerous than soul gems. Please note that with each transformation there comes new flaws and gifts which have to be taken into account with the next augmentation.
I sighed at the mountain like task which represented trying to find an augment that suited me. I mean imagine having a rare if not never before seen combination of affinities (at least in demihumans) and then being told that you had to find something that is similar to that. You would be sad too, anyway getting back on topic I had finally found something not too strong or weak for me to hunt.
The target was even something that would benefit us (me and Quartz) very well, it was a Moonlit Poison Eagle which now that I think about it, either that or the fox would be adequate as soul gems for Quartz…
I was about 300 ft from the target as I was afraid of alerting it, even this close was getting dangerously in line of sight for a stage 3, especially one in the eagle family. I myself can see at a distance of 250 ft without qui empowerment and not taking into account Quartz bloodline which gave me heat sensing.
I gave a mental countdown, 2,1, 0, ping (Meja made no sound but my mind made it seem like it did cause I was used to the sound) after which I ran with qui empowered legs towards the prey just in case and you know what? Something did happen, the shot arrived where I wanted it too even with the eagle reacting by moving to the side. But the thing is something or in this case someone else was hunting it and was trying to steal my prey.
Yeah no, not happening, in my 11 years of being a hunter I had never lost my prey to another and I'm not starting now. I fired a warning shot but by then they had already arrived in range to use a space ring (d*nm thief, they were closer than I was, about 20 ft). I summoned Quartz getting ready to fight cause looking at the thief they were only rank 1 stage 1 like I was until I had absorbed the moonlit owl cores.
'Ha, a stage 1 against me? Yeah, try again kid.' - Fuyu kinda being an arrogant flag planter…
I glared at (and studied) the thief who dared to steal prey from a hunter while being a hunter himself. He was a mangy looking taller than me (and I'm like 185 centimeters) so I guessed 17 or 18 but probably weighed less than Silvie, had red hair (I think?) which looked almost black because of the dirt in it, and golden eyes (weirdo…I'm not at all jealous (I'm not saying Fuyu's lying but I'm not not saying that either).
I noticed that for some reason he had no space ring cause he was carrying the kill (?). Weird...every awakened usually get a space ring as one of their first purchases as it is essential for hunting.. 'hm'. (Thoughtful Fuyu.)
"Why you steal kill?" - Fuyu trying to communicate without Silvie to translate…
"..." - Kid (He's your age, you know?)
'Fuy [Fuyu's nickname] maybe I should handle the negotiations?' - Quartz through the link.
I agreed and summoned Quartz who immediately lowered himself to show pacifism.
"Hello stranger. Why have you stolen the prey of another? If you needed prey there are plenty of targets which haven't been chosen please give us back our kill as we truly do not want to spill (demi)human blood today." - Negotiator Quartz who has better social skills then our protag.
"Me hungry, not strong to hunt." - Gold Eyes
'Oh no, not another socially awkward (demi!)human!' - Quartz mentally
"...*sigh, give kill, follow, will give food." - Fuy who was supposed to stay silent.
"My mas-" - Quartz who was cut off.
"K" - Gold Eyes who apparently understood our protag.
I (Fuyu) stared at Gold Eyes for a second almost amazed at finding another who understood my speech. So with that Gold Eyes gave me my kill and the first hunt ended with 3 prizes, a demi-human tag-a-long, and 5 stupid incidents in total. It was 5 am, the Sun was coming up, time to go home…(even with a tag-a-long).