Chapter 1 Elfied

Town of Maldore, Elfied Empire

"Hnnggg...." a soft yet almost groggy groan escaped his mouth as he shifted on his bed, sunlight was striking his face and he can feel it, slowly opening his eyes and blinking for a bit his eyes went over and wandered around the room. Wooden picture frames hung aroung the cobbled walls, some small vines and leaves were growing out from the cracks of the cobblestone wall, a medium birch table was filled with assorted pots of peculiar plants, herbs, and flowers, underneath the table was a small round chair, it's edges looked soft as fabric. Chirps and rustling of leaves could be heard, the wind blew gently over the open window gently caressing the white silk curtain. After tossing and shuffling about more on his bed, he finally stood up and raised both his arms into a stretch and yawned loudly. He then scratched the back of his head and murmured "what a strange dream... me being a Halmian... and what were those voices? creepy..."

|| Note || Halmian: Term used for "Human" ||

Dragging his feet along he went out, a bunch of birds that flocked on the doorstep flew away as the door opened, and a bunch of rabbits welcomed his eyesight along with a dog happily trotting towards him while wagging its tail. "G'morning.." he said still sleepy while patting the dog's head. He then took a small bowl on the long plank table just beside the door and headed to a small well, took some water with the bowl and splashes it on his face. After a bit of scrubbing he looked into his reflection to see if he missed a spot, his eyes were round yet sharp at the edges, his green irises showed peace. His tan completion accented his eyes and his soft mild peach colored lips. So far he didn't miss a spot on his face, then he looked on his hair, his black hair was shooting up in different directions, he frowned on the sight, he could've always swore that he sleeps and wakes up in the same position yet his hair looked like he tossed and tumbled on a hill while sound asleep. Staring at it for a bit more he reached out for the wooden comb just beside the place where the bowl was and combed his hair gently, now it was quite straight and fluffy. Just then a voice greeted him along with a man smiling while walking towards him "Rululan! morning!", the man greeted, he smiled back at the man and greeted "Morning Mymyrr", Mymyrr smiled in response and stopped a few meters from where Rululan stood "come on you wouldn't want to lose the opportunity of early hunts" Mymyrr stated while twirling a dagger in his index finger, he was already fully eqquiped with a bow and arrows and his trusty daggers. Rululan went inside his house for a bit and carried a longsword sheathed in wood case in his waist as well as some capturing nets, then hurriedly ran over to where Mymyrr was. The two went off and hit the road towards the small town ahead, it was already busy and filled with other wandering adventurers and locals. "the town chief's spirit beast said that there's going to be a great amount of beasts on the forest today" Mymyrr said while walking towards a bulletin board. "Hrmmn, it has been quite long since we had a nice haul" Rululan added following Mymyrr, he looked around at the notices posted on the board, some were pamphlets to a bar, some gabe information, there was a small town map on the top right, and the posts that most hunters focused were the list of beasts and monsters one can have a chance to catch today. "wow F class beasts? that's amazing!" Rululan exclaimed as he pointed on a list containing F class beasts.

F class beasts are quite rare in a small town like Maldore, from the first letter of classification, F stands for Friendly class beasts. These beasts are docile towards different races, some will attack Halmians while be friendly towards Elfieds while others would be the opposite. Maldore's chief also has his own F class beast, and it was the one who announced the arrival of his fellow F classes, however only special beasts on the same classification can sense their movements within 20 miles, this even though some people already has F class beasts explains why beside them only the chief's beast was able to sense it.

|| Note || Elfied: term both for Elves and Rogues alike ||

Busily scanning the list a hand patted Rululan's shoulder it was Mymyrr, "time to go". Both boys went towards the entrance of the hunting forest, along with a huge crowd of Elfieds. Chatters could be heard from the entrance up to the bulletin where Rululan was, all has one goal today. Have an F class beast companion. Altough classified safe, these beasts are also a pass key in order to reach the next level hunting ground, this is the only requirement to reach a level 2 hunting ground, but as it sounds simple, F classes are rare and migrated from empire to empire turning friendly to ferocious and vice versa. The magic barrier on the entrance of the forest started to open and everyone stood there with great excitement, the early hunt is about to start!

"I hope I'll get a good F class beast..." said a boy with a saber on his back, another man holding a staff clicked his tongue "as if those beasts would want to show themselves to you" "well aren't you too confident that they will to you too?" the two boys kept arguing as the barrier finally banished and made their way inside the forest.

Rululan and Mymyrr waited for the crowd to disperse as they slowly walked their ways toward the entrance. I hope I'd also find myself a companion. Rululan thought to himself, Mymyrr seemed to notice him deep in thought and he chuckled "Rululan I know you'll have a companion today, and well be seeing each other on level 2 hunting grounds in no time" Rululan smiled back with his words and they continued on, deep in the forest they are still following dirt tracks and as the two encountered a forked path Mymyrr tool his dagger and proceeded to make a huge X Mark on the tree in the middle of the forked road, afterwards he looked at Rululan and they both nodded. It was time to leave the dirt path and venture the forest. Monsters and beasts dont show up in places near dirt paths or towns, ferocious beasts exists, those are the beasts that reside on dirt paths and close to borders and walls to cause chaos, however this town never had any experience with one wrecking havoc.

Rululan knelt down and examined the grass in front of him, the morning dew rested on the leaves, the soil seemed wet, he placed his palm toward the ground and felt the force within it. Rululan is a Màchite, a lower class of elves, theyre easily distinguished because of their small and less pointed ear as well as their low spiritual level. Màchites are quite the normal class in the Elfied empire, this is why Rululan never thought of it as a big deal, although lacking in spiritual power he made up with it with his flawless beast tracking skills. Mymyrr stood beside Rululan with daggers on each hand as guard to anything that will try to attack him in a vulnerable position. Mymyrr on the other hand was a Rougue a higher class of Elfieds and as the name states their closely related to rogues and assassins, Rougues are well known throughout the empire as the knights and protectors of the borders and with it they can enter any hunting grounds even without companion beasts given the blessing of the King. Although carrying a known class, Mymyrr's family preferred to make him start off the same as a Màchite in order for him to hone his skills and know the basics without tarnishing the family's reputation once he becomes a Border General, the position of his father. Mymyrr and Rululan has just started going on hunts about two months ago since Elfieds aged 18 above are the only ones approved for level 1 hunting grounds.

"there's a level 3 beast up ahead, it seems like a radiant type" Rululan said as he stood up and brushed of the dirt from his palms. Mymyrr sheathed his daggers and they continued along slowly. "Aren't radiants quite a difficult enemy?" Mymyrr asked as he followed Rululan in a crounching position "Well... they aren't that much of an enemy as long as you don't stare at their light source" Rululan replied, Mymyrr opened his mouth seemingly about to ask another question when Rululan stopped on his tracks and placed a finger in his lips "shh" Mymyrr automatically draws his daggers and Rululan readies his sword, just ahead was a Gleaming snake, a normal radiant class beast, they have no sense of sight and only feels their surrounding to guard itself from danger, with scales that can temporarily blind a person for about an hour to a week once the light reflected to it shines directly on the victim's eyes these snakes scales are quite good to make a profit with. The two nodded to each other and started to separate, Mymyrr silently walked to the left and Rululan to the right, they plan in encircling the beast in order to have a better hand in fighting it using a classic ambush trick. Finally closing on the unaware target. Suddenly, a dagger flew right into the snakes abdomen and pierced through it, it wriggled on the floor and started to take protective measures, the scales started gleaming and because it was wriggling from the pain the light it emitted was also burting at random directions. Rululan emerged from the bushes with eyes tightly shut, he relied on his ears and tracking ability to point out where the snake exactly was and threw a binding net to it, the snake stopped wriggling and the gleams stopped, Mymyrr emerged from the bushes and went to pick up the dagger he threw. Rululan proceeded to tie the net and place it on his capturing pouch. "The first beast of the day" Rululan smiled. "Good thing it was just a gleaming snake, if it was a radiant bear we'd be sweating to death already" Mymyrr jokingly stated along with a chuckle.

The two continued on their hunts and tracked more beasts along the way, Mymyrr would be the one to deliver the first hit and Rululan will back him up till the beast is weak enough for capturing. Just as the chief's beast announced, there are a lot of beasts on the forest today. "Hey Mymyrr" Rululan called out while walking down another path "hmm?" Mymyrr replied while wiping his dagger clean from blood.

Rululan, "There's something weird here..."

Mymyrr, "What weird? a new type of beast?" he asked while looking at Rululan who has just stopped walking and was staring on the ground "No no not that, there were a lot of hunters earlier at the entrance remember? Even though the forest is huge and all, it's normal not to bump on other hunters but... isn't it a bit too silent here?" as Rululan pointed this out Mymyrr also stopped on his track and went silent. The only sound the they can hear were rustling of leaves. "Now that you mentioned it... where are the clashing sounds and even the chirping birds?..." Mymyrr asked with a worried tone. They stood there silently for another 3 minutes and not even a chirp of a bird nor a caw of a crow responded throughout the forest. Something's not right.