I scratched at its skin with my hands. I seemed to be able to damage it even though it was previously as firm as a rock. Some viscous black goo was being peeled off of its skin.
With all the strength I could muster, I swung my right leg off of the ground and kicked it right in the head. This time, my kick actually managed to affect it, and the dark creature of the night was sent crashing into the ground. The bark which covered the ground was sent flying through the air, littering the sky.
I coughed and gasped as I began breathing in some precious air.
The creature stood frozen for a few seconds before looking up at me. The monster didn't have a face, it simply had a pure-black head like the abyss. All of a sudden, it began transforming its hand into some sort of blade. Its originally human-like hand was slowly becoming a black sword-like weapon.
Holy shit.
I took a few steps back as my legs shook violently.
I can't defeat this thing...
A few moments later, the Nightmare charged at me, it raised its blade-like arm and swung at me. I jumped out of the way as fast as could out of instance. I rolled onto the ground and tastes dirt and bark in my mouth. I scrambled to try to get up off of the ground but the monster was already approaching again.
No.
No.
As hard as I could, I swung my leg along the ground and kicked it in the ankle. The Nightmare slightly lost its balance however it didn't fall over. In its next movement, it raised its blade above my head.
Am I going to die...?
The pain that I suffered all throughout my life. The unknown death of my parents, the isolation at school, the rough windy nights—all of those memories flew around in my mind.
Ah, I hated this world anyways.
As the Nightmare's blade fell towards my head, I closed my eyes.
Well, it's all over.
It's all over.
It's all over.
It's all over?
Why am I still alive?
I opened my eyes which quickly consumed the scene in front of me. There was a person standing in front of me. Their white cape swayed in the wind. Their swords dripped with black blood, splashing onto the ground.
"Ah, I was almost too late; are you guys okay?" They suddenly turned around and crouched down in front of me. Her long brown hair, her face, I had seen it before. It was Celie, the local Shadow Hunter.
"U-um..." I couldn't think of anything to say. My heart was still pounding out of my chest from the battle with the monster.
She looked at my hand and suddenly gasped.
"Y-you're a Shadow Hunter, as well!"
A Shadow Hunter? Me?
"Huh? I-I'm a Shadow... Hunter?"
She quickly grabbed my hand and observed it. As soon as my hand was lifted off of the ground, the mark on my hand lit up.
My eyesight was filled with the view of various words.
{Shadow Hunter System - Initiating...}
-
Name: Noah Gait
Initiator: —
Date of Initiation: 09/06/2027
~
Type: B - Conjurer
Soul Mark: Inactive
Memories: Intact (Type C)
Affinities - Rank F
Abilites/Attributes: [Soul of Devouring Hope], [Destiny Return], [Darkness Hatred]
Personal Reality: —
-
What was all of this...
It... it says my name.
These were my attributes?
Does every Shadow Hunter see this?
The soft sensation in my hand.
"I assumed you just underwent initiation; how did you go?" Celie asked.
"Wha... what does this all... mean?"
She let go of my hand and stood up.
"I'll explain it to you later; I'm going to call an ambulance for this girl over here."
She took out her phone and began dialling.
Wait, where was my phone?
I was still lying on the ground; from down here, I scanned the bark, searching for any sign of my phone. Just a few metres away, there was a very subtle light. I reached over and grabbed my phone; I looked at the screen, which had partially smashed.
Ah, what a shame.
A few moments later, Celie returned to me. She crouched down and looked at me. I glanced up at her as she smiled.
"Have you seen all of your information?" She asked.
"Y-yeah, I just saw it."
"Alright, so type are you?"
I seemed to be able to toggle the screen on and off. I looked at my personal information once again and informed her.
"It says I'm... type B, a conjurer?"
"Oh, a conjurer? That's one of the best ones!"
"R-really?"
"And what about your abilities? Which ones do you have?"
"Uh... I have [Soul of Devouring Hope], [Destiny Return] and [Darkness Hatred]..."
"Hm... [Darkness Hatred] is a pretty weak one, I only know of one other person with [Destiny Return] and I have never heard of [Soul of Devouring Hope]."
Was that a good thing?
"So, what do they do?" I asked.
"Well, [Darkness Hatred] is an ability which gives you the ability to sense Shadows, even when they're invisible."
"Shadows? Are they different from the thing I just fought?"
"You just fought a Nightmare. Shadows are a completely different creature; you'll find out soon enough."
"Ah..."
I was still trying to wrap my head around what was going on.
"I have no idea what the other ones do," she said.
The of us looked at each other in the darkness of the night.
"S-so what do I do... now?"
"This is my first time as well. I've never seen a Shadow Hunter being initiated for the first time. I'm honestly not too sure, I'll take it up with District Supervisor. In the meantime, stay with me; it's extremely rare to get spontaneous initiations like this, most of our Shadow Hunters come from a facility and even that has terribly low success rates."
"But Miss Ellis will be looking for me..."
Our conversation was cut by the sound of an ambulance. The bright flashing lights illuminated the entire area. The vehicle sped to the sidewalk and several paramedics jumped out, all wearing dark blue clothing—like the police. They approached Celie.
"Where is the patient?" They asked.
She led them to the girl who was lying on the ground.
The paramedics brought out a stretcher and transported the girl into their vehicle. After a brief moment, the commotion was over and the area became silent once again.
"Can you tell your guardian that I need you to come with me?" Celie asked.
"Um, I'm not sure if she's back yet..."
"Can you send her a message or something?"
"What do I say?"
"Tell her that you're needed by me, I can get one of the officers to deal with the rest."
"O-okay..."
I tapped on the cracked glass of my phone and sent a message to Miss Ellis.
"Are you done?" Celie asked.
"Yep."
"Alright, let's go."
She led me over to her vehicle, which was parked just a few metres away. I got into the passenger seat as she stuck her keys into the car. With a short rumble, we were off and going. As I sat in her small car, I looked down at my hand which had a very distinct mark on it, like a tattoo of some sort.
After a few minutes, we were in the middle of the city; she drove into an underground parking space for a large building. It was a big police station which apparently was also the facility where all the Shadow Hunters in the area resided.
We got out of the car and made our way to an elevator. She pressed the number 4 and the elevator began travelling upwards.
A few moments later, we arrived inside the building. My eyes were nearly blinded by the bright lights of the office. There were numerous rooms which were all bordered by walls of glass; there were nearly no walls that weren't fully transparent.
I followed behind Celie as she made her way to what appeared to be the head office.
She pulled open the sliding door and we were greeted by a middle-aged man in a suit.
"So, what do we have here?" He asked.
"Sir, this boy's just undergone a spontaneous initiation."
"A spontaneous initiation? Are you certain?"
"Yes, he's a conjurer and he's got the abilities [Soul of Devouring Hope], [Destiny Return] and [Darkness Hatred]."
"Destiny Return..." The man muttered to himself, "alright, I'll prepare the transfer of him to Elaine Academy. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"That should be it."
"Wait... what do you mean I'm transferring to Elaine Academy?" I asked.
"It's a school for Shadow Hunters. We're beginning to run out of Shadow Hunters, so we are receiving a lot of funding. I'm sure you'll like it." He responded.
"B-but what about my current school... and all the other things..."
"It's a boarding school with all meals and necessities provided; we can organise the transfer from your current school by tomorrow."
"I-I need to think about all of this."
He suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked me directly in the eyes.
"Do you know how rare it is that we get new Shadow Hunters these days?" He seemed to be quite distressed, "Even with all the government funding and experiments, we get less than 60 Shadow Hunters a year in total and those have to be spread across almost 20 different districts. Do you know how much of a problem that is?"
"Um..."
"And what's more, our current supply of Shadow Hunters is dwindling as internal issues occur and we've begun losing them. The Nightmares are getting stronger every day and if we don't get rid of them soon, the entire country will fall."
I didn't have anything to say.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"It's Noah—Noah Gait."
"Noah... please, for the sake of the district, go to Elaine. You'll be well taken care of and you'll have a great experience. They have state-of-the-art facilities and you'll be compensated very generously."
There wasn't much I could say to that.
Miss Ellis was working herself to the bone every day just to take care of me and her students. I couldn't... I didn't want to keep being a liability to her. I was thrown into her life one day and she's taken care of me like I was her own child. I want to give something back, to earn some money and live a nice life.
Even if I have to risk my life.
"Okay, I'll go."
"Thank you, Noah, I'll make all the preparations."
The man looked across at Celie.
"You can take him back to his place now. If it's possible, I'd like you to begin teaching him some of the basics, just whatever you can think of."
"Yes, sir."
Celie began walking back the way we came and she gestured for me to follow her. I walked behind her as she made her way back to the elevator. Now that I looked at her up close, she seemed to be quite young, in fact, she didn't look too much older than me, she looked to be 20, maybe 21 years old. How old did she begin if she's already a full-fledged Shadow Hunter?
"So Noah..."
"Y-yes?"
"Are you honestly prepared to become a Shadow Hunter?"
"Yes, I am."
"You do understand you are going to put your life on the line, this is a dangerous job, probably the most dangerous job. Are you prepared for that?"
"I am."
"I like your resolve; what's your reason?"
"I, um, I want to help Miss Ellis and make her life easier."
"Wait, you said your last name was Gait, right?"
"Yes..."
She suddenly froze for a moment and muttered something to herself.
"...the Gait incident from five years ago... does he not know?"
"Sorry, what was that?"
"N-nothing, I was just a little surprised, that was all."
We took the elevator back down to the parking lot and made our way back into her car. I showed her my address and she began driving back to where Miss Ellis and I lived.
"Noah, do you know what Nightmares are?"
"Um... they're monsters that attack people at night?"
"That's true, but do you know where they come from?"
"Not really..."
"They come from the minds of children, specifically the minds of helpless children, the minds of disadvantaged children and the minds of children who suffer great anguish," she continued, "Nightmares are completely man-made... but let me make this clear, whilst they come from the minds of the kids, the reason for their existence is all due to adults. Adults who put the minds of children through unparalleled stress."
Nightmares... from the minds of children.