The Beginning

One fine morning, as usual, leaving for college, doing assignments, hanging out with friends, and going home afterward. Nothing special and nothing interesting, as usual.

The world might have changed because of the Cryptids, but since the existence of the Tempest Garden, the organization that can fight the Cryptids uses spirit weapons. Weapons that were created and possessed by the spirits of the Cryptids themselves. The world can carry out normal activities, even if only in a few places.

Tempest Garden started appearing three years ago. Two years earlier, humans would do anything just to hide from the Cryptids and survive. Of course, it also included me in it.

The city is called The Tempest, named after an organization that is said to be the savior of the human race. An energy barrier surrounded the city made with Tempest Garden technology. It's hard to believe this sci-fi kind of technology was created in just five years since the Cryptids started invading Earth. Sometimes the barrier just looks like magic, I thought.

If I think about it, I'm a pretty calm type of person. My body is nothing special, just an ordinary person in his twenties with black hair neither long nor short. I am about 180 cm tall with a physique like most Asians.

Even if at this moment I saw a murder or things beyond human reason, technically even though I was quite shocked I should still be able to keep my composure.

I think all the experiences in these five years shaped the personality I am now.

"Slowly but surely, humans are being able to live their lives as usual," I said while looking at the road. Children playing, young people my age, even younger, joking and laughing. As if this world is still the same as before.

I closed my eyes for a moment and entered the alley, which is the shortcut I usually take to go home.

"cling!! trass.."

Hmm, what is it? I saw a mysterious light that was not common in an empty alley on my way home. Indeed, very few people dare to go through here, even among my friends. I'm the only one who dares to go this way, not because I'm brave, but because I don't care about it at all and because it's a shortcut.

I approached the empty alley; I tried to pay attention from a distance to what was happening. I was silent for a moment, then I reacted.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect something like this in a city that should be safe. " I laughed in a small voice while feeling surprised but still calm watching what happened,

I witnessed a fight between a woman with a spear and the Cryptids.

The woman wore a long white and blue coat, and her hair was silver, long, and tied in a ponytail. Since I only saw her from behind, I didn't see her face. However, given her good body proportions, she was probably beautiful.

As for the Cryptids, it is the opposite. The creature looks humanoid standing on two legs and having two hands. His face was ugly and had one horn on his head. Even during my two years of survival, this was the first time I'd ever seen a humanoid Cryptid type.

They listed humanoid cryptids as the most mandatory to avoid. That's because, their intelligence level is high enough to make a strategy, although not at the human level. If I have to make assumptions, it's probably at the intelligence level of the velociraptor dinosaur.

I kept observing the fight from that woman while hiding at a safe distance. I'm pretty confident in the hiding skills I have to survive two years in an area full of Cryptids with this.

The woman then attacked by swinging her spear. However, the Cryptids avoided it by jumping to the right. Not stopping there, the woman changed the trajectory of her spear toward the Cryptids by slashing to the side. The cryptids escaped by jumping up using the woman's spear as a fulcrum.

Not stopping her attacks, the woman spun her spear rapidly and launched a thrust attack toward the Cryptids who were in the air. However, her attack was stopped by the Cryptid's hand and followed by a kick toward the woman. The woman dodged it by releasing her spear from her grip and counterattacked the Cryptids with her fists. It blew the cryptids toward the building. Finishing her attack, the woman caught her spear again before it fell to the ground.

When she was about to take a step, the Cryptid that should have been knocked over was already in front of the woman. Even though I didn't see her expression, I could tell that she was just as surprised as I was. Before I could even raise my voice to warn her, the Cryptids punched the woman. With swift reflexes, the woman blocked it with her spear. However, she was still blown away by the powerful blow from the Cryptids. Her spear was thrown high into the air and the woman flew past me who was peeking until she crashed into the empty building wall behind me.

The spear of the woman fell into the ground right in front of me. Surprised me because I almost died stabbed by a spear.

"Oh F**" I seemed to have realized something. The woman was thrown behind me and her spear was currently in front of me. And the monsters are in...

I looked at the Cryptids, and it was looking at me now. Several options came to mind.

run!? Can I? Impossible

Oppose!? I only know to hide and can't even win against mobs of Cryptids. Impossible!

Stand still like a statue!? Haha, ridiculous.

Is this the end? I survived two years in a Cryptid infested area only to die in front of a Cryptid. Not to mention in a city that should be safe.

"Hey! kid"

Good. Now I even hear a strange voice inside my head at the end of my life.

"Hey, kid!! Listen to me!"

This sound is quite annoying. Can't you put me at ease at the end of my life? Although only imagination it is still annoying. Wait a minute, imagination? I've never experienced it despite nearly dying many times in my two years of survival.

"Who are you!?" even if his figure was not visible, at least I answered him calmly. Of course, to maintain my calm prestige. Even though right now I'm panicking inside because the Cryptids are slowly approaching.

"Touch me! That way, you'll at least have more time to talk to me."

"Touch? I don't even know where you are. How can I touch you?"

"I am in front of you"

"Eh? But the only thing that was in front of me was, I paused for a moment to connect all the possibilities. And then, mindlessly touching the black-patterned white spear that was in front of me.

The woman dared to fight the Cryptids with only a spear. Which meant she was likely a member of the Tempest Garden. And if she was a member of the Tempest Garden, the weapon she used would of course be, a spirit weapon.

For a moment my entire vision went black. And then, everything turned white. I was in a room that was all white. I don't even know the end of this room.

"Thank you for following my instructions, kid"

A voice came from behind me saying that. Out of curiosity, I turned around to see his figure. I had mentally prepared myself to see the shape of that spear Cryptids spirit. No matter how scary he is, I will stay calm.

A white tiger with black stripes. His body may be as big as an elephant's. Long fangs like a Smilodon, a type of big cat that has become extinct. His face was very close, maybe only two meters from mine. ah… f** this is so scary, maybe even scarier than the Cryptids out there.

"Ho..very interesting. You're not even surprised after seeing this figure of mine."

Surprised!? I even feel like running now. If it wasn't for this strange white room, I would have run long ago. You don't even know how many times I want to pass out right now. This tiger makes all the Cryptids I've encountered before look like normal herbivorous animals.

"So? What do you need for a Cryptids spirit like you to call me?" Not wanting to stare at the tiger for a long time, I spoke.

"Would you do an exchange with me?" replied the white tiger.