"______" Voices.
'______' Thoughts.
ELRIC POV:
It has been an year since I came to the forest, I have been hunting ogres for the past six months. I hunted the ogres only when they were alone or in a group of three. I found a suitable place to stay but it was too the open and the ogre attacked that place even when I was sleeping, so I had to abandon that place. Now I was roaming around in the forest looking for a place where I could live peacefully. I just started to blindfold myself while hunting, as it was difficult to kill a ogre without seeing it before. But now I was at a level where I could kill an Ogre without seeing easily, however, if three or more ogres were to attack me now, then I'm not sure if I survive there attack.
While I was wondering around in the forest, I suddenly came to a stop as I asked myself,
"Smell of blood?"
I thought,'Ogres don't fight each other, it can only be that they are either hunting someone or someone is hunting them. The chances of the first one is quite low because if someone came all the way here then he would easily be able to handle a few ogres. But who could it be?'
I went towards the stench of blood, hid behind a tree, took of my eye patches and looked at what was happening over there. I was shocked as I saw a boy, 17 to 18 years old sitting on the corpse of ogres. His back was in my direction so I could not see his face. Even though I was hiding behind a tree, he still noticed me and said,
"Don't you think it's impolite to sneak up on someone you don't know?"
I expected that he would notice me but not this early. I answered without hesitation,
"It is necessary for safety measures, as I don't know if you are a friend or foe. And as I am a sharpshooter, I have to stay at a distance to face an enemy. If you are one that is."
He stood up and looked towards me. His red eyes shining brightly along with the moon, black hairs moving like the flame dancing and wearing red Hakama (A Japanese traditional clothing) and holding the sword on one hand while the scabbard on the other. He nodded and answered,
"Hmm, But don't you think it's the same way for me. If someone were sneak up on you, won't you also think of them as your enemy. And the thing is you should not tell anyone about your skills."
Just as he stopped talking, he immediately came towards me and the next moment his sword came to a stop near my neck. I was completely unfazed and didn't even even blink. His sword was near my neck while my knife was pointed at his stomach. He started laughing and said,
"Sharpshooter, huh, don't bull shit with me. You are saying that this is the movement of a sharpshooter."
I replied,
"You shouldn't believe someone you just met."
"Yes, you are right. You know what, I like you."
He said while moving away his sword,
"What is you name? You seems to be younger than me."
"Don't you think it is impolite to ask for someone else's introduction without introducing yourself first."
"Huh, Ok I will formally introduce myself. My name is Kiyoshi Itsuko. I am 17 years old and a D Rank hunter."
After hearing his name I became shocked. 'Kiyoshi Itsuko was the name of the youngest member of the Death Row(A group of mercenary containing 9 people. All of them were at least high intermediate grade.). He became an S Rank at the age of 30. I couldn't recognise his face because all of his body was covered with scars.' I smiled and introduced myself,
"My name is Elric, just Elric. I am 12 years old and an E Rank hunter."
"Wow! You are much younger than I expected and your speech doesn't match your age at all. Everyone called me a monster but for you to be an E Rank hunter at that age, even I am surprised."
'You are already a C Rank, dumb ass and it was basically because of you that I became a Hunter. You were one the most famous hunters even at the time of war.'
After introducing ourselves, he asked me,
"Are you looking for a place to stay?"
I replied,
"Yes"
"Then why don't you come along with me, I found a cave over there. It's pretty big so you can stay there with me if you want."
"Ok"
While we were walking, he suddenly asked,
"So what is your gift? My gift is Dancing Flame."
"My gift is really Sharpshooter.", I replied.
"What? Then how were you able to react to my speed?"
"I just predicted your next move. I knew you would come close to me, because of the way you were standing, and you never unsheathed your sword like you were on guard; so all I needed to do was lift my knife up and, Bang."
He was looking at me with wide eyes, then started laughing and said,
"To be able to observe me even in such a dire situation. You really are incredible."
"It is very important to observe the opponent's every movement to survive on a battle field. That is why I made it a hobby of mine."
"Hah, to think I would hear this from a 12 years old kid."
We reached the cave. The cave was made by the ogres that was why it was very big. The cave was simple but had a training place with a lot of swords and recovery potions. I was looking in the cave with wide eyes then looked at Kiyoshi who was smiling and said,
"You would never go to a dangerous place with out any proper equipments, now would you?"
I looked at my stuff and nodded with agreement. I only had a pair of knifes, a piece of cloth to blindfold myself, some clothes and a lot of mana stones. We shared a lot of information. He came from the opposite side of the forest and was now going to leave. The forest was very wide and had three parts. In the outer most area of the forest F Rank monster lived, inner to that is where the E Rank monsters live and In the middle of the forest is where D Rank monsters lived. The forest was divided into four parts North, South, East and West. We were currently in the West part of the forest. He has been in the forest for the past Eighteen months. He also trained me for a month and also gave me a sword before leaving. He packed his stuff in his dimensional bag and left.(In a dimensional bag one could store any thing with in a certain limit of weight.)
After Kiyoshi left I went back to my old Training method and stayed in the cave for about an year. After training continuously for five months, I left the cave and went to the central part of the forest. The D Rank monsters ( Dire wolf) were quite a pain as they attacked only in groups, But I still killed them. I also collected a lot of mana stones as they were very valuable and expensive. I stayed in the central area for one and half years, Now I was 14 years old and also became a D Rank hunter. I had almost killed all the monsters on the west side of the forest. I packed my stuff (A sword and many mana stones). Now, my black hairs were reaching my shoulder, all my clothes were tattered and my height also increased a lot.
I left the forest and went to the nearest town that was about a kilometre away. I bought some clothes then went to the barber and gave each of them a mana stone of ogre. Both of them happily took it without complaint, as a mana stone could easily be sold for about 10$. I went to a telephone booth and called someone. After getting ready I went to a famous coffee shop in the town and sat down near the window. A young man entered the coffee shop and sat in front me. I greeted first and said,
"Have you been well?.....
Kiyoshi."
"Great", He replied.
"I will get straight to the point, I have two favour to ask you.", I said with a serious face.
"What is it", he smiled and asked.
"The first is that I want to sell all of these.", I said while putting the bag full of mana stones on the table. He looked at it and just smiled.
"Ok, give me 24 hours.....
By the way what is the other favour."
"I will tell you that after I come back from a trip."
He questioned,"A trip to where, you just came from one, a long one that is."
I replied smilingly,"To the Dark forest."
"Dark forest, you don't mean the one under the demons control. Right?"
"Yup, that one."
"Are you crazy, do you think that you can survive there."
"Nope, not like this. But I can if I get proper equipments. That's why I want you to sell these mana stones."
"Ok, Ok, you are not gonna listen to me anyway, But promise me that you will come back alive."
"Of course, do you think that a puny demon is enough to kill me, After all the hellish training I went through. I will be back, alive. Don't worry."
'After all, I don't have to fight them directly, I just need to take 'that' from the Dark forest and leave. All my level are also much higher now.'
{Status Window}
Name : Elric
[Status]
Age. : 14
Mana. : 4.3
Strength : 5.1
Agility. : 5.6
Poison Resistance : LV 2
Sixth Sense : LV 2
Sharpshooter : LV 3