Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - LOT

“That all you need, lad?” A middle-aged man nodded at Jack from the wooden counter he sat behind, his short dark brown hair shivering.

“Yes, Sir Gend.” Jack smiled at the merchant. He looked down at his getup, nodding his head. He wore a long-sleeved grey leather shirt, and a pair of slick long black leather pants. Each piece was well made, using strong materials, the type of gear you would see a Hunter wearing. Resistant to tears and scratches, long lasting.

After making the decision to take the Hunter examination, Jack had run about preparing. Over the previous week he had spent much of his time absorbing Spirit Crystals and getting stronger, but he had also spent some amount of time hunting beasts in the wild with his stronger strength. He had managed to earn a small sum of wealth through this, enough to purchase a good set of clothes.

A small leather patch wrapped around his waist. He’d tucked away the Lopsided Bear claws, as well as the sole remaining Spirit Crystal from earlier. Jack decided he’d keep the last Crystal as a backup instead of absorbing it, just in case.

On his shoulders he carried a small, lacy red dress, a gift he had picked out for Little Seven. It was a little big, but he knew Little Seven liked fancy dresses like this. She always talked about the fancy merchant ladies that walked past the courtyard of the orphanage.

He nodded sharply as he waved to the friendly merchant, exiting the store. He hummed a little song as he skipped off to the orphanage, excited.

Everything seemed to be going right.

..

..

Elsewhere in Snowbank City.

Several pallid looking figures sat around a long wooden table in a random inn, worried looks on their faces. At the head of the table was sat a man with a long, black beard and a short black mustache, capped by a balding head.

This man rolled a pair of white daggers in his hand, an ominous look on his face. He tossed the daggers between his hands, waiting.

A tense silence reigned for several more minutes. The small meeting room had only two windows letting light in, giving it a dimly lit appearance. The lack of furnishings or decorations gave it a rather barren appearance. There was a single entrance, opposite the man at the end of the table.

Abruptly, a huge man entered the barren meeting room. Wearing long scaled leggings and a brown woolen top, the man’s dark brown hair flowed and merged with his brown beard, giving him a slightly odd appearance. He wore a necklace full of strange white teeth, and had a long, bone spear tucked into his waistline. His height, however, was his most outstanding feature, standing nearly 7 and a half feet tall, towering above everyone else in the room.

“Ahh, Jackal! I traced your scent, hahaha!” The man walked into the room confidently, wincing as he knocked his head against the roof of the doorway. He looked around the room cheerfully, seemingly not noticing the pallid and depressed looks on the various guards sitting at the table.

“Corker. About damned time.” Jackal stopped tossing the small knifes from hand to hand, resheathing them as he stood up. From a small bag by his side he pulled out a scrap of cloth, imbuing it with Spirit to throw it across the table towards the large man.

Corker snatched the cloth scrap out of the air with a smile.

“Yes, I can trace where the young lord is with this, Jackal. There’s still a question of my fee, however…”

..

..

“MOVE ASIDE!”

A loud voice rang out, jarring Jack from his musings. He was currently walking down one of the many streets in the large city, headed towards the orphanage. Dozens of merchants and warriors lined the large street, moving too and fro.

Now, however, most everyone on the street had respectfully stepped to the side, heeding the loud calls. Jack looked behind him before hurriedly dodging to the side, out of the way.

A moment later, a large troop of blue armored warriors atop blue skinned horses rode past, the Snowbank Lord insignia painted on their chests. The warriors gave off a heavy, oppressive air as they moved, their eyes looking around the street savagely.

Jack watched them go, his eyes flashing.

These were the elite troops of the Snowbank City Lord, the Frostplate Guard. The weakest among them would be able to kill a Spiritual Beast on their own, while the strongest was second only to the Snwobank City Lord himself. The size of the force was small compared to the rest of the city, only 1200 guards, but their elite status was well and widely respected.

Ever since the Snowbank City Lord’s second son had disappeared, the Frostplate Guard had been deployed in the city proper, for reasons unknown to Jack. He shook his head as they moved past, being sure to stay ducked down.

Only power was respected in this world. Till he was strong enough to fend for himself, he wasn’t going to give anyone any hints as to who he was, especially the Snowbank City Lord.

Jack continued walking, and around twenty minutes later, he made it through the large city to stand in front of the large stone courtyard of the orphanage.

He took a deep breath and walked in, a smile on his face. He would soon be leaving this place for good.

He nodded at a few familiar faces he saw playing games in the courtyard or doing various errands. He walked through the courtyard and down a long open hallway towards the back of the orphanage, where the two large dorms rested. The guys and the girls slept in different spots in the orphanage, but there were no rules about visiting during the day.

He decided to drop off his sword and other gear at his dorm room first. He knew Little Seven didn’t like how dangerous it was that he went off alone to hunt monsters, though it didn’t bother him.

Humming to himself, Jack made his way into the long barrack like girl’s dorm and up to the second floor. He noted an odd scent in the air, like smoke. He made his way over to the room Little Seven shared with two other girls, walking quietly to surprise her.

He saw her door was already open, and, with a smile, barged in.

“Heyo! Guess what I fou-huh?!” Jack stuttered to a stop, standing still in shock.

The dorm room was in shambles. The three standard wooden beds, the small nightstand that would stand between beds, the large dresser, all of them were cracked or destroyed. Black ashes coated the room, giving it a dour and burnt appearance. The scent of fire and smoke was overwhelmingly strong.

In the center of the room were two figures.

One, a tall man wearing a set of long red leather pants, and an open vest, revealing rippling muscles, with a large gold and red tattoo of a great flame on his chest. He had long red hair, and an enormous greatsword strapped to his back. His face was handsome, with a strong jawline and a happy cheerful smile. His eyes, however, were cold as they turned to stare at Jack.

The man gave off a powerful, heavy air, just by being present. Jack felt a sense of helplessness, as if he could do absolutely nothing to the fierce warrior in front of him.

Standing right next to this man was a small, huddled figure, crying on the ground. Little Seven, wearing a pair of burnt up and torn scraps, trembling.

Jack’s eyes went red.

“LITTLE SEVEN!”

The world around Jack slowed.

His Natural Ability exploded forth to it’s fullest. Everything in his sight slowed to 1/5th it’s normal speed.

Jack had found that as his Spirit grew stronger, so too did his Natural Ability. Instead of the world slowing to a third, it now slowed to a fifth it’s regular speed in his perception.

He drew on his Spirit deeply, blue energy rippling to cover his arms as he reached for the blade at his waist.

His hand grasped empty air. He’d forgotten that he had just set his sword down in his room, not wanting Little Seven to see it and be sad.

In the time Jack had reached his hand to his waist, the red haired warrior in the center of the room had already leapt forward. Jack watched in horror as the man moved incredibly quickly, reaching Jack in an instant. The warrior’s hand lunged forward, aiming for Jack’s left shoulder.

The world is slowed to a fifth it’s original speed in my eyes. How can he move so quickly?!

Jack’s mind raced ahead of him as he pulled his body back and to the right, twisting. He brought his right hand upward as he moved, the Spirit covered arm and hand enhanced to be stronger.

He moved agonizingly slow, however, at nowhere near the speed of the fighter in front of him. Even as his right arm slowly began to rise, the warrior’s hand had already slammed into his left shoulder.

Thanks to his perception and preparation, Jack had managed to turn his shoulders at just the angle to absorb the impact. He felt a fierce pain in his right shoulder, however, and felt more than heard bones cracking. This single impact had already far exceeded what his body could handle. The warrior was incredibly strong.

Jack finished pulling his shoulder backward, and firmly twisted his body, taking the force from the red haired fighter’s lunge and using it to propel his own right hand forward with a much stronger blow than he was capable of. His Spirit Energy covered blow slammed towards the neck of the warrior, possessing a deadly force.

Jack’s eyes widened in horror, however, as he saw the face of the red haired warrior turn to glance at his hand. He watched in complete shock as the red haired warrior simply leaned backwards incredibly quickly, fully avoiding his attack by a bare millimeter.

Then, before Jack could make another move, the fight simply ducked forward with his hand again, slamming into Jack’s already broken left shoulder.

Jack’s control of his Natural Ability slipped away as agony overtook him, nearly blacking out from the pain. The world around him returned back to a normal speed as he slammed backward against a wall, his head going fuzzy.

“NO! Please stop! Don’t hurt him, please!”

A pitiful, desperate voice rang out in Jack’s barely conscious ears. Jack’s head began to swim as he felt the hand pressing on his left shoulder release him. He fell down to the ground, hunching against the wall protectively. Tears formed in his eyes as he managed to look up, his mind a maze of shock and pain.

“Sure, if that’s what you want, little princess. I only stopped him from attacking, I didn’t use Spirit or anything dangerous.” The warrior’s voice had a cheerful edge, at odds with his brutal actions of a second earlier, casually breaking the shoulder of a child.

Jack’s bleary eyes caught sight of Little Seven one last time. Her face was covered in tears and worry. The small brown necklace he had made out of the Bloodline Origin Stone was visible around her neck, the stone on it gone.

The last thing he saw before he fell into blackness was the small, pitiful little girl reaching her hand out at him.