Humabon City greeted another day as the hour of Bukang Liwayway is about to finish. The warm rays of the sun started giving light to the city's former dark surroundings. And when it reached the territories of the esteemed Hiraya tribe, something loud was heard.
The roosters were just about to croak to signal the arrival of the morning. But someone took their job, a man whose voice was so loud it almost astounded the gods from above.
"AMARA, COME BACK HERE!"
From the vast open field of the Hiraya Tribe, Amara Hiraya ran fast. Her long, unruly brown hair bounced like a rubber ball. Her chocolate-colored eyes glinted, and her sweaty little nose was beginning to dry as she ran about the verdant grasses of the training grounds. Her cheeks were shaded red, and the corners of her bright pink lips pursed, because she was running for her life.
She was almost out of breath when she briskly hid the book of basic kabutihan spells inside her shirt. It bounced up and down in front of her chest, but she didn't mind. If she pays attention to it, she will be apprehended by the person who caught her red-handed stealing the said book from the library.
Behind Amara, a muscular young man is chasing her across the training grounds. Wearing only his amber-colored pants and no shirt, his tribal tattoo of centipedes and ferns on both arms greeted the rising sun. His long brown hair rippled in the air, and his dark skin glistened as sweat flowed down his body.
He did look gorgeous, but his face ruined everything. With his teeth clenched, his nose scrunched up and his eyes scowling like crazy, it made him more scary than handsome.
The young man's name is Hari Hiraya, Amara's kuya in this world. He was chasing her while shouting, "Come this instant, you little brat!"
Amara screamed in panic, she almost choked on her saliva. She glanced behind and saw that her kuya Hari was a few meters away. She stopped running and turned around to face him.
She might as well do something to push him away. She wants to do this, she just wants to survive in this world she had read from her favorite novel.
That's right, she transmigrated into the world of the novel she was reading, as the only princess of the Hiraya tribe, Amara Hiraya. That's also her name in her past life, by the way.
Her previous life was not good, she was fired from work, her boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend) cheated on her, and her grandmother suddenly passed away. And as a coping mechanism, she drowned herself in liquor. On her way home, she was hit by a ten-wheeler truck along the highway.
That was the summary of her lame old life. And the next thing she knew, she woke up in the world of Maharlika, the main setting of the novel entitled The Hidden Treasure.
The Hidden Treasure is a fantasy-mystery-romance web novel that is famous among youth and adults. Amara Hiraya is not even the main character of the said novel. She is just the one and only sister of the Male Lead, Lakam Hiraya. She is a mere extra.
The story started when Amara Hiraya was killed by a villain named Raha Sitan. That means her death is the key to the novel's plot development.
And how was she killed you say? No one knows.
According to the hearsays in the novel, Raha Sitan was obsessed with getting married to the direct woman descendant of the Hiraya Family to get revenge. This is because the original enemy of Raha Sitan is Lakam's immortal grandfather, Apo Bagani Hiraya. Raha Sitan tried to abduct Amara to make her his wife but killed her instead and left her body.
To avenge his beloved sister, Lakam Hiraya traveled across the Ligaya Continent to find Raha Sitan. He then met the female lead of the novel, the beautiful Tala Kalinaw. She is also on a journey to avenge her tribe which was annihilated by the villain. They encountered numerous monsters along the way, and eventually, they fell in love as normal main characters should.
One of the twists of this novel is that Tala Kalinaw is the spitting image of Apo Bagani Hiraya's late wife, and the rumored first love of Raha Sitan. He also wanted to abduct Tala Kalinaw, but he failed and killed her instead.
Yes, the villain is a literal lady killer.
Lakam Hiraya was angered by the death of his girlfriend that he prayed to Apo Bathala to give him the strength to kill Raha Sitan. Apo Bathala heard his prayers and gave him a sacred and precious sword that could kill an immortal. Of course, the only ending for the villain is dead, so Raha Sitan died in the end. The supreme god commended Bagani's hard work, so in return, he asked the god of the Underworld, Apo Sitan, to bring Tala Kalinaw back to life.
All is well that ends well. Lakam Hiraya and Tala Kalinaw became immortals and they lived happily ever after.
There is an ongoing Book 2 for this novel, it is about Bagani and Tala's journey to the immortal realm called Tadhana Continent. Their next enemy is Raha Sitan's brother, Minokawa Sitan.
Amara doesn't know the contents of the second book because she just recently finished reading the first book. And although her destined death event was still not happening at the moment, she's been preparing to escape.
She plans to save as many gold coins as she can, and before the villain can get out of his prison, she will run away to the countryside and have a peaceful lazy life to avoid dying. Because who wants to die a second time?
In her thought, "Not me, of course!"
Going back to the present, Amara stood still and tried to feel the cold breeze of the wind on her skin. She focused until she knew that everything was ready.
When Hari realized what she was about to do, he ran as fast as he could while shouting, "Don't you even dare use mahika on me, you little brat! You are forbidden to do so! "
He tried to use his mahika as well to prevent her from moving, but it was already too late.
Amara clasped her hands as she smiled at Hari, who was still running towards her. She inhaled, and the moment she let out a breath, she immediately shouted, "Hangin!"
In an instant, a powerful gust of wind attacked Hari.
As though the wind had a mind of its own, it forcefully carried Hari away from Amara, sending him flying in the air, and taking him to nowhere.
As Hari was taken away by the wind, he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Just wait, I'll tell our father what you did. And our Apo will hear about this! "
Amara was smiling while awkwardly waving goodbye to him. "Goodbye, kuya Hari, and I'm sorry!"
When she didn't hear his booming voice anymore, she turned around again and ran towards the mountains to hide and study mahika.
It's already a known fact, even from the novel, that Amara Hiraya is a stubborn girl. Ever since she was young, she has been dreaming of becoming a Katalonan. But it was not possible as she is a direct descendant of the Hiraya family.
According to the novel, despite the Hiraya Tribe's pride in its excellence, it has been extremely rare for a direct Hiraya woman to become a Katalonan or let alone a Babaylan.
For some reason, a full-blooded Hiraya woman is not allowed to practice mahika. They always get the same fate of being married off to neighboring tribes as soon as they reach a marriageable age. Not one Hiraya woman even became a Babaylan, which is an imperative job in every existing tribe in Maharlika.
It is a special case when it comes to the said family. A direct Hiraya woman is only born every few decades, sometimes it's a rare occurrence. And when a Hiraya woman is born, it usually symbolizes anything that is bad luck. They say it's because of the curse of Apo Mumbaki.
Raha Sitan, better known as Apo Mumbaki, is an immortal user of Kadiliman. He was too strong to deal with that Bagani Hiraya could not even kill him, so they just locked him in a black earthen jar.
Three hundred years later, the golden strings of the jar will weaken and he will escape from his prison.
In the book, there is a legend about him. Before he was imprisoned, he cursed the Hiraya Family. That he will come back on the day a direct Hiraya woman is of age to marry, and he will snatch her away.
So Bagani Hiraya did his best not to make that happen. And his solution was, to forbid a direct Hiraya woman from learning mahika, and be married off at the age of eighteen. As if that's not the worst luck for her since in this novel, Amara Hiraya just turned eighteen.
She really doesn't get why there are too many details about Amara in the book, but at least it will help her in the future. But if there are many things to say about her, the author should not have killed her off at the start of the story.
Make her alive, damn it!
Amara sighed, she is downhearted by the fact that she would get married to the villain, and worst die soon, if she wasn't able to escape from here. Well, this place is good, has delicious foods, and she have her sweet youngest sibling, Gaki. And there's also the handsome male lead of the story, kuya Lakam.
Her face reddened as she giggled to herself. Pull yourself together, Amara! Now is not the time to simp on your older brother!
Once Amara made sure that she was already deep in the mountains, she climbed up on top of an acacia tree and took out the book of basic kabutihan spells from her yellow shirt.
A while ago, she used wind mahika to push her brother away. But it was not strong enough. She had seen her other Kuyas execute stronger magic.
With the skills she has now, Amara doubts that she'll be able to leave this place. She needs to learn more. Because one day, she will be able to battle with Maranhigs and other monsters.
She heard that there are always Maranhigs (walking corpses) that are causing terrors in the countryside. She should at least train herself for the worst things to come when she is finally able to live independently.
She flipped open the book of basic spells and started reading. It has been a routine of hers to read basic spells every morning, followed by martial arts and sword training, which is thankfully not forbidden. She needs to learn everything she can get her hands on or else she won't be able to survive in this world.
After that, she is then required to wear the standard attire for a Hiraya lady. Because she is a princess, she has more trahe de mestizas and baro't saya than the number of her friends. In fact, Amara Hiraya doesn't have any friends!
"Did you find her?"
"No, but I can sense her. She's nearby. "
She stopped when she heard the voices of young men near her. From the top of the tree, she quietly peeped down only to find her kuyas, Datu Hiraya, and Damian Hiraya standing a few meters away from the tree where Amara was hiding.
Ah of course, Lakam Hiraya is not the only brother of Amara Hiraya. In fact she is the unica hija of the Hiraya Family.
The Hiraya tribe has an immortal patriarch, Bagani Hiraya. Next to him is the current leader of the Hiraya tribe, her father, amang Lakandula Hiraya, and her mother, inang Lakambini Dalisay-Hiraya. Next are their children from the eldest, Lakam, Hari, the twins Damian and Datu, next is Amara, and the youngest is Gaki.
Datu and Damian are aged nineteen, who look so much alike. If they look at each other, it would seem like one is looking at a mirror. Their long hair was tied up in a bun, and they were wearing the typical yellow shirts of the Hiraya Tribe. Unlike Hari, the twins were a few inches thinner in physique and a few inches shorter in height. But just like Hari, Damian and Datu also have tattoos of centipedes and ferns on both of their arms.
Seeing her twin Kuyas looking for her, she stood up from the branches and prepared to sneak away quietly.
Damian frowned and looked around. "I can't believe she secretly studied mahika. What is going on in her head, is she crazy?"
Datu sighed in defeat. "Amara is a green, unripe tomato. She's stubborn, and she breaks a lot of rules. "
Amara frowned at what she heard from her brothers. Even though she was hurt, she still can't blame them because they were actually telling the truth about her.
"No wonder our father decided to marry her off now."
She felt her ears ring at what she had heard. She's been living in this world for about a month now, and the worst has come to worst!
She need to get out of Humabon City as soon as possible, or else, the villain will come for her and kill her!
Due to her shock, she stumbled backward and fell from the tree she was hiding in.
Damian and Datu immediately sensed her and quickly caught Amara before she even hit the ground. The twins supported Amara's back and gently made her stand up to collect herself from the shock.
The next thing to fall from the tree was the book of basic spells, and it landed right on Amara's head before it finally fell onto the ground. She exclaimed in pain, "Ow!"
The twins laughed at her. "That's what you get for doing something you are forbidden to do," Damian said.
Datu picked up the book and stared at it. "Hari said, you used Hangin on him to escape. Father and mother will be furious, especially kuya Lakam."
Amara paced back and forth in front of her brothers. She wasn't alarmed about her father, or her kuya Lakam, being furious at her for using mahika on Hari. Rather, she was alarmed to know that her father would marry her off. "What do I do? What should I do? Our father will marry me off! "
In the novel, Amara Hiraya would come to know about her engagement after Lakam Hiraya punished her for using mahika. But today, news of her engagement came in advance and she hasn't done anything to change the storyline. So what the hell is happening?
The twins sighed. "It's not confirmed yet, but sons of direct families from the Dakila Tribe, Kalinaw Tribe, and Bughaw Tribe are asking our father and mother for Harana. They have just arrived here in Humabon City."
What the hell?
Terms Definition:
Kuya - The term Kuya means Older Brother.
Green unripe tomato - this is actually a filipino idiom which is usually phrased as "parang nagmumurang kamatis." It usually refers to an adult woman who is not dressing up or acting according to her age.
Harana - translated as "Serenade." It is the traditional form of courtship in the Philippines, wherein a man would introduce himself and woo a woman he fancies. Usually conducted by singing under the window of the woman.
Apo - Apo is often translated as "leader" "patriarch" or "elder," also a title when addressing a god.
Trahe De Mestiza - also known as the Maria Clara dress.
Baro't Saya - literally blouse and skirt. It's a traditional attire used by women in the Philippines in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.