Savior

"Now, breath in and describe that monster of yours, we can't just postup a quest with so little information, well we can and we do but we always get shit for that" asked the receptionist, taking the occasion to complain a bit.

"Okay, Okay... So I couldn't tell all that much as it was night but at first, I thought it was just some guy in a bush, you know, taking a dump or something but suddenly, I noticed that the head was weird, I don't know how I didn't notice before but the shape wasn't exactly right and it stood up, it was super thin, starved I would say and it towered over me, more than twice my size I would say, it yelled something, it sounded like words but I didn't understand what it was and then I ran" explain the young man, he hadn't gotten hurt or witnessed anything shocking so he wasn't feeling too worried but still a bit as he had encountered this creature not so far from his village.

"Alright, I will make a quest for it but don't expect much, without a big reward not many will take it up" explained the receptionist before signaling for him to go and leave his place for the next person in line, a most suspicious-looking individual with for only identifiable feature a big grey beard with some branches stuck in it.

Walking back to his village, which was in extreme proximity to the city where the adventurer guild was to be found, he felt slightly oppressed, as if the trees were looking down on him, a cold sweat ran on his back as he tried to calm himself.

'It's nothing, don't worry, no need to panic, it's all in your head' he tried to reassure himself and took a look over his shoulder, immediately noticing the suspicious guy from before, walking a bit further right in the middle of the road.

'Come on, come on, he surely is just taking the same path as me, if he was following me, he wouldn't have made it so obvious or perhaps he knows that I would think that and followed me like that on purpose?!' the young man's thought quickly drifted in a vicious circle were every answer was that this strange man was after him for some reason.

This man certainly looked shady as hell, a long and large back cloak that covered his whole body, obscuring everything apart from his beard, not his arms could be made out as he walked.

In the end, the young man made it back home without a hitch, at some unknown point, the man must have taken a turn into the forest as he was no longer anywhere close-by when the young man arrived.

A few days passed, a few weeks and then a few months, the memory of this stranger was completely gone and the strange creature had not been spotted ever since, everything seemed to perfectly good.

One evening, when only the young man was at his home, someone roughly knocked on the door, causing some dust to fall of the ceiling and making the feeble walls trembled ever so slightly.

The young man didn't recognise who that could be and felt once more, very oppressed, it instantly reminded him of that bearded stranger, he slowly and silently made his way toward the window closest to the door and tried to take a peek.

He saw no one in front of the door and immediately, his muscles relaxed, thinking that it had just been a strong gust of wind or something but the very next instant, a hand broke throught the window, taking hold of the collar of his shirt and pullin him close the shattered window.

"You kid, your help, I need it!" spoke a gruff and tired sounding voice, the person casually removed the shards of glass that still remained on the window frame before pulling him out without any issue as the young man was petrified in shock and fear.

His assailant placed the young man in front of him, dusting his shoulders before speaking to him.

"Listen here, no there is no particular reason, it's just that I need a bait and someone who knows what it looks like is less likely to shit their pants, you get me?" spoke the same suspicious man as before.

"No, I don't get you, what the hell are you talking about!?" the young man awoke from his stupor and stepped back from the peculiar man, he looked just like he did a few months ago, the same cloak and seemingly, the same branches in his beard.

"About the venerer obviously! The thin monster you reported! Listen, the one you saw wasn't the real deal but there is one now and I assure you with everything I have, that dealing with it is a world problem, now follow me!" succinctly ordered the man, not taking no for an answer as he dragged the young man along with him without any issue despite his great efforts to try and resist.

They both arrived in front of a cave, a most typical cave that were very common to find, usually home to one or multiple monsters or animal.

"Listen, I managed to lure it down here by having adventurers go in there" explained the bearded man, his features still obscured by his dark cloak.

"What? Won't they die or something?" asked the young man.

"Precisely but the most important thing is that they will keep it busy, I could try and fill the cave with poison or make it crumble down but that won't work against the venerer, I am not certain of myself but I believe that i possess a way to kill it" spoke the strange man as he climbed up above the entrance of the cave.

"Now, you stay were you are and do your best to get the venerer's full attention" demanded the man, pointing a crossbow he pulled from his cloak at him to make sure he wouldn't run away.

The bizarre man's timing had been very tight as only a minute after that, a creature stepped out of the cave, faceless and thin, it was the same monster the young man had seen but this time, something was different, he could clearly feel the overbearing presence of the monster slamming down on him, he coughed as he suddenly realised he had stopped to breath for a bit of time upon its appearance.

It moved, the young man couldn't tell more than that, for him, the venerer had disappeared from its spot and nowhere to be seen, his eyes couldn't follow the simple movement of the lunge.

he closed his eyes as he expected to die in a moment but instead, he heard the sound of a few things piercing flesh before warm air washed over him, knocking him on his butt.

He opened his eyes only to realise that the area in front of him was covered in flames and littered with the body parts of the monster he had seen.

"KID! MOVE AWAY!" yelled the bearded stranger, right before the various pieces suddenly moved, reforming the monster at an unimaginable speed.

Thankfully for the young man, the venerer's had deemed him of lesser importance to kill than the bearded man and lunged in the opposite direction.

The man was able to dodge the attack and proceeded to throw various things in the flames, causing various strong aromas to coat the air, hurting the eyes, throat and nose of the young man.

The venerer stopped for a few moments before its head seemed to shape itself into a big ear, only for the bearded man to throw multiple copies of a single contraption into the air, causing excruciating sounds to fill the air.

The young man got back up on his feet and fled the scene, he had nothing to do here, leaving his abductor and the monster by themselves.

The bearded man chuckled and removed his cloak in a very theatrical fashion, revealing a long coat underneath, he pulled out a hat from said coat and put it on his head, his face was now uncovered revealing an aged face and a scarred eye.

He took something from his belt and swung it in the air, extending it into a long blade.

"Seems like its a rematch!" spoke the old man as the venerer was still confused due to the influx of strong odors and sounds, it put its hands on the ground and reversed the change on its head before moving in sharp zigzags toward its opponent.

The old man responded by bringing out his crossbow once more and shooting the ground in front of the venerer, the bolts exploded upon contacts and raised a wall of dust between the two of them.

The old man found this fight enjoyable but knew very well that this would serve no purpose in slaying the venerer, as such, he willed to activate the ability that had come a bit after he had received his title of venator, a title he was the only one to hold in this world and so it was for the ability he had been given.

The feeble hunters envy was its name, an ability whose description was clear, the jealousy felt by hunters in the face of the superior venerer but even with a fancy name, its power was simple and similar to something that existed.

As he activated it, the venerer's claws bursted out of the dust and neared his face but he was soon gone.

The old man's cothes didn't fit him anymore, his features were gone, he had gone up in height and his senses had been modified, standing across the venerer was an exact replica of itself, except for the consciousness inside.

The old man lunged forward, believing with all of his fibers that he would be able to inflict mortal wounds upon the venerer by using its own strength against itself, he was going to save this world, that he truly believed.

However, disappointement was strong and his lunge was stopped with ease, the true venerer grabbed his arm and swung him onto the ground repeatedly, shattering his bones over and over, it was quick when the fake venerer's regeneration weakened and that he was left on the ground as a mangled body.

The barely alive old man's transformation undid itself, his human body was in a much better state but the damage was real and he couldn't move, he looked up at the venerer and felt as if he could see another one, a figment of his imagination surely as there was but one real venerer here.

The venerer crushed his head, making his brain pop out of his skull, sending it sliding into the nearby flames.

A certain venerer turned its head to the side after the venerer that had slayed the old man finally managed to end the world it was in.