Monster Hunting (1)

"Are you okay?" came the bemused voice of Vera behind me.

I nodded wordlessly my mind still spinning from the fight.

"Well you sure did a number on him," she commented dryly as she walked up to me.

All the club members had left at this point in order to escort Dwight so it was just the two of us alone.

"You're bleeding a little," she said, her eyes lighting up in hunger.

Suddenly, I noticed a pair of little fangs protruding from her lips.

If I wasn't mistaken, she hasn't had blood from a live human yet, and a vampire always remembers their first.

It was as if I was struck with a plan from the heavens as a small grin began making its way on my otherwise aloof face.

"Would you like to taste?" I asked teasingly, my eyes bending into crescents.

Her eyes widened slightly, as she processed what I said.

After a brief moment of silence, she responded.

"Yes," she replied coolly, almost sounding as if she was in a trance.

Angling my neck so that she could sink her fangs in, I waited with closed eyes expecting the sharp tips of her fangs to press on me at any moment.

"Hehehe..." a slight chuckle echoed in the room which then turned into full-blown laughter.

Opening my eyes, I glared at her as she cackled, hunching over her knees and clutching her stomach.

"You really thought I'd fall for that?" she chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It was worth a shot..." I muttered bitterly, shifting my gaze to the side.

Gazing at me with an amused look, she finally opened her mouth.

"I'll tell you what since you've got balls of steel. let's compete in a Monster Hunt. if I win you'll accompany me this weekend to the city for something. if you win I'll give you one wish, what do you say?" she asked with a crooked grin.

"What's the catch?" I asked carefully, watching her closely.

She tilted her head, before shaking it with a laugh.

"Nothing. just having some fun. come on let's go kill some monsters." she replied, taking my hand.

I looked at my hand for a moment and then back to her.

"No thanks," I said coldly.

She stared blankly for a moment before breaking out into laughter once more.

"Why not? I was hoping you were going to be my date. or are you afraid you'll lose?" she asked with a playful smirk.

"There's no need to find out, you have nothing to offer me," I said bluntly.

"Hmm..." she hummed contemplatively before exclaiming, light returning to her eyes.

"If you win, I will give you the Mana Code to a Movement-Type Spell that belongs to my family, no one else in the world knows about it."

Hmmm? She couldn't possibly mean 'That spell' could she?

"Why would you bet something so important?" I asked suspiciously.

"Well let's just say I need you for something that only you can help me with," she answered mysteriously.

Hmm... well, I am sorely lacking a Movement-Type Spell although I did have shadow step it wasn't a spell so it was useful but not very powerful, on the other hand, I'm not sure what she had planned as this was never written in the novel.

Well, it's high-risk high reward.

"Fine, let's get it over with," I grumbled.

"Yay!" she said, pulling my hand towards a doorway.

"Ah, wait," she said, coming to a stop before heading toward the weapon rack.

Deftly unhooking two slender rifles she handed me one.

"These are Specialized MSM Rifles that we use for hunting monsters so take care not to break it, ok?" she said with a dazzling smile.

Her constant cheeriness only caused more wrinkles to grow on my already frustrated self.

Then grabbing my hand once more she pulled me to a gateway on the other side of the dojo.

It was a shimmering gateway that seemed to distort as we entered it, and suddenly we were met with an immense forest view.

"This is the forest surrounding Rosaria Academy. It is said that there are monsters here that are stronger than those found inside the walls of the academy. There are many monsters here, but I assure you none of the ones who are strong will show up as they usually hide deeper within the forest," explained Vera with a smile.

I sighed deeply as I glanced around at the vast forest of trees. I hadn't been outside of the school building for quite some time now.

The forest was covered in an array of colors from green to reds and yellows.

The sun shone brightly in the clear blue skies above us and the air was crisp and cool.

Vera smiled widely, looking around with glee as she continued.

"I hope you enjoy our walk through the forest. It should take a couple of hours to reach the outskirts of the forest. I suggest you stay alert, although the higher rank monsters tend to stay deep within the forest we should still be prepared," she warned.

I nodded, glancing at the ground as I tried to ignore the prickling in my feet as I took a step forward.

My shoes sank into the ground with each footstep as I trudged through the thick vegetation of the forest.

I turned to see Vera walking right behind me. The sunlight reflecting off of her midnight black hair and golden eyes made it hard to see where she was in the forest.

Her uniform slightly differed from mine as unlike my blue one, hers was maroon colored.

As I gazed around, I realized there were a lot of different plants and animals, from birds to insects to even giant spiders scurrying about. The forest was filled with life of all kinds.

However, if one were to look closely one would notice that all these ordinary creatures were in fact not ordinary.

Everything in this forest was mutated with mana.

Even some of the vegetation.

I turned my attention back to the path ahead, seeing the shadows of tall trees loom over me like guardians protecting their domain.

"What are you staring at?" came the ever-bemused voice of Vera.

I turned my eyes away from the woods to see her glaring at me.

"Sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts," I replied distractedly.

" Oh? you weren't perhaps admiring my beautiful body were you, you naughty boy..." she said coquettishly.

I sighed and shook my in exasperation, some mental illnesses had no hope of being cured.

"Hey! you just thought something really bad about me didn't you?" she shouted, her eyes narrowing.

"No, I wa-" I began before being interrupted by a loud crash.

Thud-!

A loud thud was heard before a bunch of animals came scampering out of the foliage running in every direction.

Vera and I quickly stepped back, watching as a herd of snow-white deer with icicle antlers ran past us, their hooves making a sound like thunder against the ground, leaving a trail of frost in their wake.

They then bounded away into the dense foliage.

GAOOOOGHH-!

A loud howl was heard echoing through the forest as loud thumping footsteps approached us.

We both froze.

Then I felt something tug on my cloak.

I gasped as I looked down to see Vera clinging to me like a scared child.

"Really?" I said incredulously, exasperated that she would do this in our current situation.

"You don't have to be such a wimp, I just want to have some fun."

I sighed and grabbed her arms, dragging her behind me as I turned to face whatever was coming at us.

And then from the dense foliage, a hulking monster emerged.

The creature had the body of a wolf mixed with a snake's head with long white fur, its large jaws opened wide to reveal two giant fangs.

The beast roared at us, its powerful lungs rumbling as it moved towards us with surprising speed.

The thick forests did little to hinder its movements.

"Move away from the middle," I ordered Vera.

She looked up at me with wide eyes before nodding.

We both moved back to the far edge of the pathway and watched as the creature closed in on us.

Its body was covered in scales of various sizes, from small to as large as its fang-filled mouth. Each scale seemed to emit a faint glow of magic as it moved.

It was as large as an elephant.

Lifting my Mana Rifle and aiming at the beast, I quickly fired multiple shots in rapid succession.

The magical bullets hit the creature in the chest as its thick white fur was pierced by the glowing projectiles.

The animal howled and charged at us.

I quickly ducked and rolled to dodge, firing my rifle once more.

Another shot hit the beast in the shoulder, causing the scales to split and burst into white flames.

The fire was quickly snuffed out, however.

"Crap," I uttered, as I watched the beast's eyes glow red with rage as an impossible strong aura suddenly enveloped its body.

Turning my gaze to Vera, our eyes locked as I noticed a slight fear in her eyes as well.

I think we might have bitten off a bit more than we could chew.

*Importante mi amigo wtf I don't even speak Spanish what am I writing?*

Sorry for not posting yesterday with no warning I was just exhausted and didn't feel up to editing a chappy so I went straight to sleep in the bossom of my empty bed, sadge. also maybe I'm losing my mind cuz I wrote in Spanish like wtf.

also, I do want to clarify something about the updated schedule, uhhhhhhh so I finally got the option to apply for a contract, but Nah bruh. I don't want to because then I actually have to write like every day and I just don't have the time for that so I'm going uncontracted and I'm just doing this novel for fun.

This means that while yes I am doing it for fun, it's also something I want to see through to the end so essentially if I don't feel like posting I won't post and sometimes there may only be a few chapters a week, but I will guarantee you guys this. I will always post until the end. even if it takes time I will not drop. so yeah, love you guys and ur comments I especially like questions cuz they help me with plot holes and engage my passion for the novel so please ask away as much as u want. anyways that's all as always hope u had a great day, Hugz <3