Sometime In The Past...
"Maria..." Captain Darvin stood in front of the gravestone of his late wife.
He was alone right now. Standing in a large stone building with a dirt floor. It was a massive building housing the dead of those who could afford a decent burial sight. For those that couldn't they were typically thrown into a ditch and left to rot.
Darvin stared at the grave with his wifes name on it many thoughts going through his head. She had been killed by a dark wizard. A man who's magic allowed him to twist and bend his bones stabbing them out of his body. She had died saving him from a fatal attack.
"Her loss is hard isn't it." A voice amused making Darvins eyes go wide when he heard it. The entire room seemed to turn colder and darker all the lights dying out as as hand formed out of the darkness. The Count of the New World. The egg shaped man. "What if I told you there was a way to get her back." He smirked.
Who the hell are you." Darvin growled reaching for his sword. Blood flowed out as his arm was sliced clean off making his eye go wide.
"Now, now." The Count Smirked as he held his hand up. He now held what seemed to be a black heart. "Just be a good boy and give in." He whispered as his hand literally phased through Darvins chest and he let go of the heart leaving it inside of Darvin. Darvin collapsed to the ground screaming up a storm and thrashing around blood spraying out of his wound as he coughed and spat. "Just give in..." The Counts twisted egg like face gave a sinister smile. "This is the power of God after all. The beast. Let it take you over. Serve him and his followers and in return you will be granted your wish when it is all said and done. Become a Dragon and help me bring about a new world!" He announced breaking out into a laugh.
***
Present Day...
Tulip Village...
"This is... The sixth one we found that ended up being dead isn't it..." A solemn voice asks.
Standing in a small village, with a simple wooden wall, and many buildings scattered about, were several villagers. They all stood around the corpse of a young woman who was now dead. Her body pale as if all the blood had been sucked from her.
"B... But how could an Oddity Beast get into the village... We have the barriers?" Someone asked.
"Simple... Its not an Oddity Beast." A young man stated.
"Huh? What do you mean Rosco?"
Standing at the front of the crowd crotched down next to the corpse of the woman was a young brown haired man who was checking on the womans body. He was in simple village doctor robes and had a few tools. "She wasn't killed by a human." Rosco said simply. He pressed his gloved hand to the womans stomach. "She was pierced here. And when it happened all her organs in her stomach region, as well as her blood was drained. Slowly. Painfully. No human could do that. Not without magic. That means if the barriers are still up an Oddity Beast can't get in, and if it isn't an Oddity Beast it must be a-"
"A... A demon..."
"Master Way." Rosco asked standing up and resting the girls body on the ground. He turned to the back of the crowd where an elder man could be seen standing a sad look on his face. "What do we do now? If we do nothing I imagine the demon will get fed up and eventually devour us all." He mused.
The Master of the village seemed to let out a small hum as he held his walking stick and turned away from the group of young men and women. "For now let us burry the body. I'll let someone else handle the demon."
"Someone else?" Rosco asked. "What do you mean?"
"If there really is a demon then... We have no more options. I've requested an Arcane Hunter." He announced. Those words seemed to shock everyone down to their core.
"B... But sir. Hiring an Arcane Hunter is..." Rosco shook his head. "That amount of money will put our village in debt and then some. We can't afford that. Listen I'm sure David, Sampson, and Jonah will be back any day now. They're the strongest people in the village. I don't think anything can beat them. Not even a demon. I'm sure-"
"They're dead."
"...What?"
"Those three are dead." The Master hummed. "Trust me. I know. I can't tell you the agreement but a while back we all had a deal. If they haven't returned back by now then either their dead and rotting somewhere in the woods, or something worse happened. Whatever the case they aren't coming back. Now quit whining. Do your job other wise this village will fall apart. I hired the Hunter and thats, that." He grumbled as he began to walk away.
"They're... Dead..." Rosco said the words slowly as if he was testing them a strange look on his face for a moment.
"Big brother, big brother." A voice called out moving through the crowd. Rosco turned and saw a blonde haired fourteen year old girl running towards him. Acting quickly he took his doctor jacket off and threw it over the corpse of the woman before she could reach him. She always got sick around gore.
"Shelly. I told you not to leave the house." Rosco barked out. "I don't want you seeing this. It always makes you really sick."
Shelly came to a sliding stop her eyes casting down when she saw the obvious body that rested under her big brothers jacket. "S... Sorry... I... I just got a bit bored is all." She smiled. "An Arcane Hunter. Whats that?"
"Hmm?"
"I heard the village Master mention he's hiring an Arcane Hunter? What is it?" Shelly asked cocking her head to the side.
"Oh that..." Rosco hummed for a moment. "Well... Its kind of hard to say... Basically some people, around 30ish percent of the population are born with an energy called Arcane Energy. A select few of these people, only about 1% of that 30% are born with a lot of it though... These people are often Nobles or very rare commoners. These are the Arcane Hunters... You see four hundred years Ago the King of Camelot, King Arthur created the first ever group of united Arcane powered people. He called this group the Knights of the Round Table. However Lancelot, his strongest Knight turned traitor fleeing away and created his own Nation known as Alnwick. After that the last two Kingdoms Wormelow, and Avalon, the one we're in, were formed and they created their own groups as well. Avalon created the Arcane Hunters. Ten Guilds of mighty warriors who are sworn to serve the King, and are hired by the people to finish quests. They hunt down Oddity Beasts, rouge Wizards, Dragons, Monsters, explore Dungeons, and most of all... Slay the Demons that returned Several years ago... They use magical powers to battle from items to spells."
"So... They're like superheroes!"
"...Maybe at one point..." Rosco said a frown on his face. "But now... Not so much. Now they always request loads of money. With the King of Avalon gone they can basically do whatever they want... Still... They're the only ones that can kill a demon. Especially when it takes a humane form."
"Takes... A human form?"
"They've arrived!" Several people called out.
"Huh..." Rosco frowned for a moment. "That was fast. I was hoping I'd have more time to... Hey Shelly I'm heading back to my clinic. Come back before dark."
"Right..." Shelly said but she wasn't really paying attention. Instead she was staring at the entrance to the village as was several others.
Walking towards the village slowly was a young woman in her early or late twenties. She had short shoulder length dark brown hair as coal black eyes. She wore a pink kimono with small bits of armor on it and a large glaive hung on her back as well as a katana from her belt. Most notable though was a cloak wrapped around her which had the image of a small flaming bird on it. The mark of her Guild.
Everyone was transfixed on her as she entered the village. She looked around for a few moments but then slowly moved forward towards the cloaked body of the dead girl. She pulled it off and began to inspect the corpse. She seemed to say a few words, perhaps a prayer, and her eyes glowed for a moment as she stared at the corpse. Finally she stood up giving a small smile to the villagers.
"Um... Hello. I'm... Well my name isn't actually important." She said shaking her head. "Can someone please take me to the man who hired me?"
"I'll do it!" Shelly announced jumping forward and grabbing the woman's hand. "This way!" Shelly dragged the woman through the village. "Thatswordissupercool! ImShellybythewaywhatsyourname? Ohisittruethatyouguyshuntdowndemonsanddragons? Andthatyouknowmagicandthingslikethat!"
"Uh... I'm sorry you'll have to speak a little slower I'm afraid I don't understand..." The Arcane Hunter said cocking her head to the side.
Shelly took a gulping intake of air. "Is it true that you hunt demons and dragons?" She asked finally.
"Oh? Well yes I suppose. Well... We don't hunt down Dragons as dragons all went extinct four hundred years ago when King Arthur sealed them all away. And demons are... They're very rare. Little is known about them other then they always seem to take on the form of a metal skeleton and they hide inside of a person. They're very powerful. Some people actually call them dragons. Strange warriors wandering from place to place with hair as white as snow and a single red eye. Those lot are rare and usually get themselves killed off claiming to chase after Gods and Devils. But yes. We do fight demons. Though not often as they're rare. I will admit though more have been popping up ever since..." She went silent and didn't say more.
Before Shelly could ask anymore questions they arrived outside of the Masters house. "He's in there. Master Way runs this village. He's very important to all of us." Shelly nodded.
"I see." The Arcane Hunter gave a small smile and entered the building closing the door behind her. As soon as she was inside her mask dropped her smile fading. "I'm here about the contract." She stated entering the building.
Inside of the building she found Master Way resting behind a desk. "Ahh... Of course." The elder nodded. "You arrived fast... I requested you yesterday."
"I was in the area. My last mission had me hunt down a lion like Oddity Beast." She shrugged. "Now. You said there was a demon issue?"
"Yes." He nodded his head. "We've lost six villagers already to it. I assume you saw the body?"
"I did. Can you tell me where this demon is or what kind it is?"
"No. I can't sorry. Nobody has seen it... We think its taking on a human host."
"A human host... Some demons will crave that which they don't have. They'll take a humans body and carve out his or her insides then fit themselves into the corpse wearing it like a flesh suit and keeping it alive with their foul magic. However thats not possible here."
"It's not?"
"No. A demon takes about... A little over a Month to fully set up their flesh suit. However they eat once a week. But these six killings have all happened in the past week. That would mean the demon is frustrated and not killing for food but out of spite and anger. Likely a low level one like an Imp. My point being though. There would be a lot more bodies in the village if its been here long enough to take on human form."
"R... Right. Well... Still don't rule it out as a possibility you know."
"Hmm... I assume you have my payment?"
"Yes... One hundred thousand Bells. Quiet a lot." The Elder sighed. "Still. We have no choice."
"I see. Thank you. I will collect it if I can kill it."
"If?"
"Demons are tricky. Even weak ones. Should I die theres no need to pay me so please wait until after the threat is dealt with." She stated standing up. "Until then. I have a demon to hunt." She stepped outside and instantly Shelly jumped onto her arm. "Oh? Were you waiting for me the entire time." She asked looking around.
"Yep! I'm your guide! I might not have any of that whatsyamacall it stuff my brother told me about but I can at least help out this way."
"I see. Well then thank you."
"I'm actually glad you're here." Shelly smiled as her and the woman began to walk. "I was... Kind of scared when the killings started up again."
"...Again?"
"O... Oh yeah. Last year. We started having a villager drop dead every week. But week five it all just kind of stopped. We tried to find out why but David, the warrior of our village just said they solved the issue. That was around the time him and a few others left to go hunting every week as well."
"Hmm..." The Arcane Hunter frowned. "Could that be why-"
"You aren't really dressed like a Hunter. More like one of those fancy noble people." Shelly mused.
"Hmm? Oh my gear. We Hunters serve the King first before all else. In a way we are his Knights, but yes I am a Noble. I come from a well off family. The term Hunter however comes in the fact that we are tasked with dealing with all magical threats. Be it hunting down rare magical loot, slaying monsters, catching rouge wizards, or witches, or simply hunting down demons. All things magical we deal with."
"Neat! How long have you been a Hunter thingy for then?"
"Not long." She said simply before stopping. She stared up at the sky. "It's getting late... Demons usually act then... I'd like to fight it now but I'm still a bit exhausted."
"You can stay with me and my brother!" Shelly announced.
"O... Oh there isn't a need for that." The Arcane Hunter said waving her hands. "I'm sure I'll find something. Besides. I'd like to create a barrier around the village first. It will help me keep track of them then..." She mused as she began to head out of the village Shelly following after. The Arcane Hunter stopped once she was outside. "This should be a good spot." She hummed crouching down. She held her hand out as a brown aura glowed from it. "Row Earth Mold." She muttered. The dirt moved underneath her hand and began to twitch and mold to her will forming a strange sort of map out of the dirt.
"W... Whoa! What was that!" Shelly asked with wide eyes.
"Magic. Arcane Hunters all have it. We say a spell and it happens. We must say the spells level, type, and intent. This is a rule that all human mages must follow. Casting a spell silently is impossible unless other things are met." She hummed. "I casted a level Row spell. There are five levels. Row, Vil, Ril, Vow, and Full. Row being the weakest and not requiring a lot of mana, Full being the strongest and requiring a lot. From there I said the spells type. In this case it was an Earth spell. Last was my intent. I wanted to shape the earth. So. Row Earth Mold. That was this spells name. All spells must be said like this in that order with the level, type, and intent. Anything that can cast magic without saying the spells name is using another means to cast that spell."
"So cool. So uh? What did you make."
"A Map of the town."
"So wait I was just rendered useless since I was going to be showing you around!"
"Yes."
"Damn!"
"Please shush. I have to focus on the map for powerful Arcane Energy- What... That doesn't make sense?"
"What is it?" Shelly asked.
"Someone is entering the village... And they have... So much energy..."
Meanwhile at the entrance to the village several people all turned as Davi Hawker, carrying a small brown bag, walked in. He looked around for a moment before giving a smile showing off his razor sharp teeth. His eyes stared at that ever floating blue butterfly.
"Oh yeah. I can smell it. One step closer to reaching Oliver."