1 Chapter 1 ≢ Let’s play a game(I)

Chapter 1: Let's play a game.

"Truly, nothing compares to a cheap steak and a glass of wine." Shawn ravenously sliced and ate the well-fetched steak in an open cafe near Aqual City.

Sitting across him was a girl in her mid-20's, with silky black hair, amber eyes, and fair-sized breasts. She wore a tight black sheath, which clearly showcased her alluring cleavage. Her name was Ivy Blaze.

Looking at him now, Ivy could not help but wonder, how could he, when needed, be so charming, yet oftentimes be so — ungentlemanly?

"Are you fine?" Ivy sighed and asked.

His fingers halted, and the knife slicing the steak stopped mid-way. "Fine?" Shawn smirked, "Why wouldn't I be fine? Look around, we're in Aqual City, my birthplace. And this cafe — my father used to bring me and my brother here as a child. Until, of course, he got slaughter in the war, leaving the 10-year-old me behind to care of his 7-year-old son. I always hated responsibility. And, now that responsibility is gone. My brother's dead." He shrugged, and his knife continued its motion. "Now, I don't need to send my hard-earned money, to him, so he could spend it on a worthless course, that in the end got him killed." The plate was now empty. "So, yeah, I'm fantastic. I got the money and even a vacation."

Shawn Blue was a self-made B-rank Hunter. Two days ago, he'd received the news of his brother's death through his mail. His brother attended the 'Crellevé Hunter Academy.' Located in Crelleve City. A military academy that forged naive teens into professional hunters.

Ivy leaned back - exhausted - after listening to his explanation. To this day, she could not ascertain whether he was just heartless or just not good with expressing himself.

"It's not a vacation…." she said, listless. "The guild master gave you 15 days off, so you could take care of your brother's funeral, deal with the loss and ask help if necessary."

"A vacation it is. Booze! and Beach! and Wome—" Shawn noticed her sharp gaze. Sometimes, I forget that I'm engaged.

"Fine. If you are not-so-depressed. Return to the guild on Sunday," She exclaimed with a slightly annoyed expression. "You're getting promoted from a B-rank to A-rank Hunter."

"Promotion?" he scowled, "I refused before, I'll refuse again. Being an A-rank hunter is the worst. You've to do all these interviews, attend seminars, and complete at least '50' three star-gates in a year. And even the income is not worth the effort. Besides, I've got you, and you're rich."

"Have you no shame saying that?" She crossed her arms.

"Dear, I'm shameless enough to use my brother's death as an excuse to obtain a vacation, what shame would I've admitting I'm a parasite relying on my fiance's money." He shrugged proudly.

"Humph!" she turned her head, lurched her legs, and left.

Life never goes as planned, they say. And for Shawn, an unexpected predicament appeared. He'd returned to Aqual City to construct a grave for his brother. According to the mail, his brother's corpse was never recovered. They said the dragon fire had turned everything to dust. So he built a small grave, burying his brother's old belonging, besides his father's grave.

His father's grave was located amidst a forest. The land had not always been a forest. Aqual City was once one of the 8 Crowned Cities. However, an unprecedented Gate opened there 15 years ago, unleashing 100's of deadly monsters and initiating a war. His father died in that war. The war destroyed half the city and killed over 500 million people until finally, aid came from the other 7 Crowned cities, and the war ended.

The half-destroyed landmark morphed into a forest. Rumor is that the souls of those fallen 500 million still lingers in the woods. The forest was thereby named 'The Ghost Forest.'

Ahh. What a plan I had. He'd planned to visit the grave for one last time, then leave and never return. And relish the 15-day vacation in some resort near the Waterfly beach.

But taking into account the people he met near the grave, he realized his plans would take a drastic turn.

Shawn stood head tall in front of the two graves—his father's and his brother's. That's when he heard a voice calling him from behind.

"Shawn Blue," said a man with a robotic voice. "A B-Rank Hunter associated with the Blaze Guild. Fiance of Ivy Blaze. Former citizen of the Aqual City. Presently, the citizen of the Crowned Blaze City. You cleared a total of 2 two-star Gates, 24 three-star Gates, and 100 four-star Gates. You inherited black hair and sword techniques from your father, Del Blue. You inherited your blue eyes, and inhuman healing capabilities from your mother, Gloria River. And, right now, you possess something that I desire."

Shawn slowly turned his head and saw a man, about 6 feet tall, the same height as him, who wore a long black coat, and a mask. A black mask with red stripes that took the shape of an Owl.

His ears flicked as he heard numerous footsteps around the forest—20 in total.

The night was cold, and the wind was brisky, and Shawn. Shawn had a playful expression. "I'm sorry, you writing my biography, or what?" Shaws took his arms out of his pocket. "Don't take it as an insult. You're clearly doing a great job. I didn't even know what my mother's name was."

Shawn found it implausible to read the man's expression through the mask. The masked man took a few steps ahead.

"Don't misunderstand," The Owl spoke. His voice was robotic and cold like the wind. "I stated such facts, to let you know of the knowledge and resources I possess. I preferred not to be taken lightly, and wanted to get this over with as peacefully as possible."

Shawn tilted his head to the side, "Would have been more convincing, if your men currently didn't surround me, don't you think?"

"Do not mind them. They won't interfere, so long as I don't feel threatened." The Owl halted, maintaining a gap of exactly 15 steps between him and Shawn. "Your father once gave you a Dragon locket, all I desire is to buy that locket."

Shawn pondered for a while, then his arm reached near his neck and clutched the locket he wore. He gripped and snapped the laces, tying them to his neck. After that, he opened his grip and looked at the locket with a solemn gaze.

The shape of his locket was like a half-moon. In total, there were two lockets. Once combined, they would look like a golden moon. One part of the locket had the figure of a white dragon facing the ground embedded in it. The other had the figure of a black dragon facing the sky on it. His father used to say; it prophesied, "Hell and Heaven."

The half part of the locket he carried imprinted a picture of the white dragon facing the ground.

"Sure, but it's a family heirloom. I cannot just sell it for cheap." Shawn proclaimed with a smile.

"I knew, you would be reasonable. Hunters nowadays, are all fools, suspecting everything, never trying to see the bigger picture. It's rare to find a man with whom I can reason." The Owl took out a smartphone from his pocket. "I assure you, I shall pay a fair amount."

Shawn's eyes slightly widened for a moment when the Owl showed an amount on his screen.

"15 million mains, that's quite a lot." Shawn was surprised by the amount, 15 million mains. It was a large amount, so large, in fact, that even Ivy Blaze, a member of the Blaze family, wouldn't spend that amount casually. The only person who Shawn knew could throw around that much amount of cash was the Guild Master himself, Caesar Blaze.

"Indeed it is. As a sign of amity, how about I transfer it right now?" The Owl asked.

Soon after, Shawn's phone in his pocket vibrated. The amount was indeed transferred. Seeing this, Shawn shrugged. "Fine, take it." He extended his arm, which held the locket, indicating to take it.

The Owl moved closer. His steps were yet not relaxed. His body posture emanated caution. Once he reached a suitable distance, he stretched his arm and gripped the other end of the locket.

"I must say, it was a pleasure making a deal." The Owl proclaimed. But when he tried to retract his arm along with the locket, he realized Shawn's grip on the other side of the locket was still rigid.

"Is there a problem?" The Owl asked.

"It's just one thing." Shawn's eyes were fixed on the locket, but the Owl noticed his eyes didn't exactly look at the locket, but they reminisced on something—something of the past.

"He never complained you see," Shawn said with a solemn voice.

"I do not understand," said the Owl, slightly confused.

"I never liked brats, kids who cried over every little thing, boiled my blood. When father died, I assumed, the little brat, would weep, and cry and be a burden."

The Owl listened keenly.

"But he never did. To escape this city, we'd to walk for over 5 days while facing monsters at every turn. I slew the monsters, I forged a path. The brat just followed. I'd decided, should he fail to follow me, or lag behind, I would abandon him. But he never did. For 5 days, without any water, or food, he followed. Not once did he complain, maybe he felt like he would burden his big brother, who kept facing the incessant threats. So, he kept quiet. Even when his little feet bled, even when his throat ran dry, he kept quiet."

"Please, carefully consider your next actions." said the Owl, still gripping the locket.

"And, I couldn't abandon him. When I became a hunter, I transferred all the money I earned every week to his account. With all that money, he could have had any life he wanted. A life filled with pleasures. A life that I always wanted. But the fool decided to follow in my footsteps and join the hunter academy. For a hunter, death is always an inevitability, as a Hunter, myself, I understood that better than anyone. So, when I heard he died during a quest, I didn't feel much. After all, it was a path he chose. But, you see, he'd the other half of this locket," His gaze sharpened. "So, tell me, were you involved in any way?"

The Owl remained silent.

"A troublesome ability indeed," The Owl let go of his grip on the locket. "And here I thought, you were a reasonable man."

Clack! Tick!

Shawn felt numerous gun muzzles, all pointed towards him. Yet, he didn't act. He kept the locket back in his pocket and stood there with both arms inside his pockets.

"I'd hoped I wouldn't have to kill a member of the Blaze Guild. Quite unfortunate indeed." The Owl gave a signal with 2 of his fingers.

Around 19 men revealed themselves from around the tree. All wore long black coats, wore a black mask on their face, and carried a mini-machine gun.

Clap!

"Guns? How primitive," cried Shawn.

"Old, yes, nevertheless, useful."

The Owl clapped his arms. After that, the sound of bullets firing echoed through the Ghost forest.

—-

"To think, you would have mastered Psychokinesis, at such a young age," The Owl said as he saw all the bullets stop mid-air before they could even get as close as 10 inches near Shawn. "But how long can you hold?"

The barrage of bullets seemed never-ending. But Shawn's eyes remained still and focused.

Once enough bullets had gathered, he waved his arm, and all the bullets in midway suddenly changed their direction towards the Owl.

Swish!

The bullet sliced through the air and spiraled towards the Owl.

"Meaningless," The Owl waved his arm. The bullets again changed their direction and penetrated a tree. "I happen to know such tricks as well."

"Is that so?" Nineteen bullets stayed afloat atop Shawn's arms. They all swirled in different directions.

The 19 bullets penetrated the 19 masked men's heads. They all fell to the ground in a loud crash.

"Now, it's just the two of us in such a lovely night." Shawn grinned.

"Before you make any judgment, you should be more heedful of your surroundings." The Owl retorted, his voice still remained unfazed and cold.

Shawn's ear flicked, his eyes followed the noise. The 19 who had been shot to the head started to rise. Some of their masks broke, and under the moonlight, their face was revealed. Their eyes had no pupils, it was completely white, and their skin was the color of a rotten corpse.

"Undead? A necromancer. How nice. I get a fight an extinct race." Shawn's eyes shone. Under the moonlight, bright white light started to emanate around his fingers.

[Summoning〈MoonBlade〉]

Near his palm, the hilt of a blade started to form.