"How much is our hospital loan?"
Mike asked the cashier in the hospital about their remaining balance. He is very eager to take her sister with him.
"Well, it says here that she still have a total of 8 million in her balance, if you are interested sir, you can now take her home without paying it fully but please sign this promissory no-"
"I'll pay in cash!," he shouted which drew some attention.
The cashier gave him a puzzled look. Unable to understand what he stated.
Mike? Pay the bill fully? He must be kidding or She is just imagining!
"Are you sure sir?," her other eyebrow rose in doubt,
She is still not willing to accept such a foolish statement. The name of Mike could never be tied down to the word, Money! it's like the are the polar opposites of one another!
"Yes, I insist!"
When he showed a bundle of cash in front of the cashier, she could only mutter the phrase, Jusmiyo! (Oh my God!), in her mind. If its another person, she would not be surprised but for someone like Mike to pay such a large sum of money, it's really shocking.
At first, she glanced at Mike with a suspicious look, thinking that he got the money through illegal means. But after finding out that Mike's a hunter, all her doubts vanished instantly.
She knew that being a hunter is rewarding regardless of one's rankings. Moreover, the hospital is not paying her enough to be someone who' scrutinizing their clients' source of money.
'Right, even the weakest hunter could be struck by good fortune!,' she said on her mind.
After processing the papers, they went out of the hospital and instructed on the driver Mike advised his aunt to stay with her sister to their Grandfather's house in Cagayan.
"How about you? Won't you come with us?," his aunt's voice is full of worry, afraid that Mike would be put again to danger.
"I'm a hunter, Auntie! I must stay here in Manila to make some money for us!"
"But what if you'd be in danger aga-"
"Shh! I understand your worries but I don't want us to suffer more just because I stopped working! Taking care of my sister is already a huge burden on your back, you should just mind yourself! You don't have to work anymore, you're like a mother to us!"
The aunt is trying to hold back her tears but failed to do so. Without any children, she have already accepted the siblings as her own ever since their parents have lost their lives in an accident...
"Alright, but promise to comeback time to time, your sister will not be able to handle it if her beloved kuya will also die!"
"I will auntie, I'll make sure to become stronger in order to protect us from any danger!"
"We'll surely miss you!," she hugged Mike tightly before advising a trusted driver to take them to the far province.
Prior arranging the discharge of her sister, he has already coordinated with some of his trustworthy friends to protect his two most beloved at their stay in their Grandfather's house.
Of course, he is thankful for the new system. Without its assistance, he would not be able to earn the money that he used to protect his family.
As he is walking towards the hospital's gate he noticed a number of hunters gazing at him hardly. Mike was noticed by the system to be extra-careful as hostile enemies were detected.
"Damn, Sarimbal...," he cursed on his mind.
He could feel their Bloodthirst as they drew their weapons. Using the Eye of Mayari he was able to see their systems, allowing him to see their actual ranks and abilities.
'So they still look down upon me, huh?!'
He is dismayed seeing that none of them are even B-ranks.
As they approached him, they formed a circular formation to ensure that he would not escape. One of them even casted a barrier to prevent any breach to their human prison.
Mike appraised the barrier and was somewhat again disappointed that its level is only C-rank, too weak to even encapsulate him for a second.
'I could destroy this barrier within seconds, but I have other plan'
And that plan is to ensure that he would look weak in order to let their guard down. Once they did, he would slaughter them all.
"Take off your hood! We know that it's you! The hunter whom we abandoned on the Black Hex!," One of them that looked like the leader, ordered him.
He did so in a pitiful manner, causing all of them to laugh at him.
"Bwahahahaha! Look at him acting like a main character with that hood!"
"I can't! I'm sorry! Hahahahaha"
"I felt insulted to be ordered to kill such a weakling! My powers are destined for something greater!"
Mike knew it long before he met these bastards. Sarimbal Guild would not be stopped by anyone in achieving their goals. if it's necessary to kill somebody, they would be more than willing to execute it without any doubts.
"I don't want to die, I'm sorry for hiding from you! It's just that I'm too scared to even have the ability to reveal myself!"
"Shut up! Just die!," one of them punched him in the face but it only resulted on injuring himself.
"Ouch! You son of a bitch!," he then attempted to use his right foot to slam him on the ground but the same thing happened. Mike was not even injured while the other hunter had already broke some bones.
"Refrain yourself from attacking! It is our master's duty to land the first and last hit!," Their masked leader taunt them.
"Yes, sir!"
After uttering those words, he glanced back at Mike.
"You'll come with us!"
They pushed him inside a white van and drove to their destination.
"Please, don't do this to me! I have a family!," Mike sounded like he's forcing himself to look so pitiful. He tightened his voice to sound so scared while he made a cringe look that looks like he is begging to the kidnappers to release him.
'Once, we get there, I'll present these guys' head to the Saintess and the Templars, and later on, to the Guildmaster himself.'
Mike is already smiling cunningly on his mind. For him, only his genius could execute such a plan.
'I'm really, smart! Damn it! I should have called myself as the God of Geniuses and Naming! How does that sound? Very wonderful!'
Using just his intuition he already knew where they are taking planning to take him.
"Of course it's in Bulacan, where their central administration lies! They are not fooling me with their predictable movements!"
He is just hardly controlling himself not to reveal his hilarious smile to the hunters.
Apparent from the minds of the kidnappers, Mike is slowly enveloping the Van with an invisible smoke that slowly suffocates everyone except him to death.
"Moon Magic, Lunar Haze...," He muttered in a whisper which activated his spell.
Without even them detecting the reason, they suddenly coughed wildly with the lack of air in their surroundings.
"Die, Assholes!"
***
"Please tell me why we are here?"
On an abandoned factory, the Saintess alongside the Templars were ordered by the Guildmaster to meet some of their hunters slash kidnappers, whom he ordered to kidnap a man.
When they asked the man's identity and relevance, they were only told to confirm and bring him to their building.
"Don't kill him..."
Those were the exact words uttered by the Guildmaster.
Now that they were waiting on the place, they were discussing about their group's future plans.
"I'm planning to stay in Palawan for a while!," said by the Nephtys to the group.
"I don't know, maybe I'll continue working...," the Spearhead.
"I'm planning to retire, actually!," The Archangel revealed his intentions.
"What? You did not say anything about this every time we are talking, Brother!," the Saintess told him.
"It's not like I have to tell you every single of my plans!," Archangel argued.
The Saintess is annoyed by her brother's words, "But still, if you're going to make that kind of big decision, confer to me!"
"I'm afraid, that's not going to happen!"
All of them glanced to the direction where White Wolf is situated. He is wearing his usual stealthy armor while his back his inclined to the mossy wall.
"And how could you predict that? I don't remember of you having the skill to foresee the future!,"
"I don't but the Guildmaster will know did you forgot his skills?"
They suddenly realized that the Guildmaster could have been watching them right now with his powerful skill, Acuity, which allowed him to observe allies like a CCTV even from miles away.
"I just want to rest yet he already assigned us a new task?!," Nephtys complained but at the end, cannot do anything.
While they were talking, Merlin, who is uncomfortably gazing at one direction, suddenly casted a magic spell to a seemingly blank space.
They rushed towards his direction and scolded him.
"What the hell did you do?," Archangel is totally freaking out.
"Hmmm? Have our intelligent mage suddenly turned into a crazy psychopath?," White Wolf joked which made them awkward.
"Look!," Merlin pointed to the space where he casted the spell. To their surprise, it revealed a white van, which is burning, possibly because of Merlin's attack
"Shit! It's ours!," Spearhead panicked.
They immediately recognized the vehicle and opened it, only to see a horrifying scene to their eyes. How could such a person do this?
"Are they the B-rank hunters that the Guildmaster have planned to hand us the man whom they kidnapped? Why the hell are they dead?"
"It's probably because of Merlin's attac-"
Before Spearhead could accuse Merlin of killing them, Archangel noticed that their throats were slashed while there is a sign of suffocation.
"Take a look at this!," Archangel started explaining after pulling out one corpse, "If the cause is the explosion, they would have burns all over their faces but rather, their skin is violet and their throats were slashed, it's as if they were killed long before they even arrived at the destination!"
"You're right!," they all exclaimed.
"B-but if that's the case, who could have done something so lawless?!," Nephtys is now brimming with anger.
"Me..."
They glanced to a lone concrete post at the center of the building. There, they saw a mysterious hunter whose face and body is covered by a mask and a sleeveless cloth-like black armor. His right eye is shining like silver while he is flicking both of his fingers as if he is delighting at the gruesome sight.
"Who the hell are you?," the Saintess drew her magical staff.
The templars did the same and prepared for an imminent fight. They were very determined to punish the hunter who killed their comrades.
"I can sense a tremendous amount of mana coming from your body! Are you an S-rank mage-type hunter?," The Merlin, always accurate in his predictions, asked the man calmly while holding a fireball on his right hand.
"I'm not obliged to answer any of your questions," his voice is penetrating their ears viciously.
"Well, if you won't answer our demands, killing you might suffice our rage!," The Archangel leaped into the air and swiftly struck the hunter on the chest with his sword.
To his surprise though, he found the man unscathed after his powerful attacks.
"He casted a barrier! He is a powerful mage! Be careful, everyone!"
They then started encircling him from all sides, ready to attack.
They expected that the masked hunter would be scared but to their horror, they found him smirking on his lips while revealing an ominous-looking pair of Purple gauntlets on his arms. Just from looking at it, the Saintess and the Templars knew that it is highly dangerous.
"Before I started testing these guys out, I'm afraid I have to disrupt your reinforcement from your bastard Guildmaster!"
He flicked his fingers and they were enveloped in a cold-misty environment where darkness permeates the surroundings.
"Where the hell did you transported us?!," White Wolf suddenly shouted but was abruptly silenced when the Hunter casted another spell that vanished his mouth.
&!((!&*@@@%@^%!!%^!%!^%!
The other templars panicked at the sight of White Wolf without a mouth. Enraged, they mindlessly attacked the mysterious hunter with their most powerful spells.
"Heavenly Casting, 4th Circle, Dominion!"
A single light was blasted, directed at the hunter who, even though looks like he is in the midst of vulnerability, stayed at his position, bracing himself for a possible damage.
For Mike, who is the masked hunter, and therefore the one who killed the kidnappers, let the attack hit him to test out his new healing skill, Recuperate.
That's right, this battle is only seen by him as an opportunity to train his new skills and weapons. A psychopath indeed!
***
"Damn it! My eye hurts!"
Trace Antonio, the notorious and unknown, leader of Sarimbal Guild, is suffering from a headache and eye bleeding due to the doings of the mysterious hunter in the abandoned factory.
By using the skill, "Acuity", he can always observe his subordinates' actions even though he wasn't in the actual place they were in. It is a handy skill in supporting allies especially if you're too far away to provide a reconnaissance, however, there is also a reason why he only used it when he can foresee that there is no battle.
Despite not being in the battlefield, all attacks lashed out by the enemy on his allies, would automatically inflicted on his eye.
The spell casted by the Hunter on his vision is not just any attack, it was meant for him.
"How could he know that I can see them with my own vision! Damn it! That hurts!"
Such things are not possible to be inflicted on an X-rank like him so why? WHY A MERE HUNTER IS CAPABLE OF HURTING HIM FROM MILESS AWAY?
"Is it possible that, that hunter is an unknown X-rank? No way! All hunters must undergo the test conducted by the association in order to get a license! If that's the case, then he could be a special hunter?"
Once again, his words were stopped by the excruciating pain, caused by the severe bleeding of his eyes.
"Ahhh, Damn it! Fuck! It fucking hurts! I can't take it anymore!"
As a response, the nurses and healer-type hunters who heard his painful cries immediately rushed to his aid.
"Master, are you alright?," one of the healers spoke to him.
"T-take m-me t-to the F... Fac...," before he could even finished, he passed out from the lack of blood on his head.
In his vision, a realization struck him that he saw as the only possibility...
'I-is I-it y...you, M-mm... Mike?'
***
"Impossible, that's horrifying to see!"
To their horrors, they saw Mike lost almost half of his body but still somewhat smiling even though blood is gushing out from his injuries. This is after he decided to let the attack, reach him.
"Everyone, finish him!"
The Saintess ordered the attack with the intent to kill the mysterious hunter with their overwhelming attacks.
However, to their shock a barrier hindered them from continuing their assault on Mike, who is still smiling while activating a skill through the system.
*You have been damaged! Activating the skill, 'Recuperate'!*
All flesh that Mike lost during the attack, were recovered instantly which shook the enemies down to their bones. For them, such a scene is not possible by human standards.
As soon as Mike was healed, he said something to the Saintess and the Templars, who are still trying to attack him by destroying the powerful barrier that he casted while still trying to understand what the mysterious masked hunter has been saying
"Don't die easily, the fun is yet to come!"