Nathan felt the cold touch of the gleaming Bronze metal under his fingers and he couldn't help but shiver. A faint golden hue suffused from the sword, bathing the dimly lit room in showers of gold. The hilt was built to be one handed and was bound in leather strips. The edge of the blade was thin and seemed sharp enough to slice through steel.
A celestial bronze sword. That was one of the rewards in the Apprentice Hunter's Satchel. It was certainly one Nathan had been delighted to have received.
Monsters could only be hurt through magical metals - the likes of Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold and Stygian Iron.
Of the three metals, Stygian Iron would be the strongest but Nathan remembered reading that only beings in tune with the underworld could wield it.
But Celestial Bronze did the job well enough. A single touch could vanquish monsters back into tartarus; as was seen when Mrs Dodds, or one of the Furies was scratched by it and instantly turned into dust.
Generally, the effectiveness depended on how strong the monster was and how much mythological significance it had.
At least he assumed it to be so.
He couldn't say for sure.
"This feels nice." Nathan smirked, holding up the sword in the air and feeling it's weight.
It felt just right.
A big worry of his had been that he wouldn't be able to actually wield the blade.
Since the metal apparently could feel 'importance', however that worked, and would pass right through mortals because they weren't 'important enough' to be hurt by it, he had some doubts about actually wielding such a weapon.
All weapon bearers in the books had been demigods. At least to his knowledge of the first book and the wiki.
But it seemed he was worried for nothing.
Though, as a test, he did try to cut himself with the edge.
And he had to say, seeing a very real piece of metal pass right through his skin without harming a single cell was... surprising.
Does this mean if I fought a demigod with Celestial bronze weaponry, I would be at an advantage? They won't be able to harm me would they? Scratching his chin in thought, Nathan let out a chuckle. Just cause they can't use the blades doesn't mean they can't use their hands. I'd rather not get punched by demigod fists.
Keeping the sword back into his inventory, he focused onto the bow and the Quiver.
It was a longbow, with a 45 kg draw weight. That was 100 pounds for those concerned and was the equivalent of an average war bow.
He picked up the box and pulled onto the string.
Instantly, he felt the strain on his arms and back muscles. With some effort, he managed to pull the bow string all the way to his chest.
Holding it still for a moment, he gently loosened his grip until the bow was back to it's resting position.
"Damn... archers are some real monsters to be pulling shit like this." He said under his breath. Unknowingly, his respect for medieval archers began to grow.
It would probably be better to get the first shot in with full power. Under intense combat, I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it all the way back with the way I am currently.
Shaking his head, he focused back on the Quiver and the thirty arrows inside it.
They were 'enchanted' as per the system.
The Quiver was enchanted to make any non-broke arrow back into itself over time, meaning he wouldn't lose the arrows.
As for the arrows themselves, they were enchanted with harming magic and their durability was slightly increased.
For an Apprentice Satchel, he had gotten some very very good stuff.
Keeping the bow back, Nathan sighed in his heart and checked his status again.
He had practiced a bit with mist manipulation as well; making him appear as a creepy man with a strange mask to some people. Seeing as how they recoiled at his sight, he would say it was pretty successful.
And so, it was time. He looked at the time.
5 pm. Three more hours to go and he would be on the hunt.
"The streets of New York always have some sort of monster." He muttered to himself.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
There was a tall man with black hair and deep blue eyes. His body seemed to have been carved from stone, with strong arms and bulging yet lean muscles.
Now that I think about it, since I am hunting at night, there's probably not even going to be many people around. And it's not like phones and the like are even a thing yet... I probably should have went with increasing some of my stats. Or perhaps a skill that lets me track things...
Nathan cringed. He vowed that if he found himself in another situation like that; which he was inevitably going to, he would first write out all the pros and cons of the things he could create, and only then would he go through with it.
And it wasn't like it was a completely useless purchase. Mist manipulation had tons of uses in this world.
...
Night came quickly and Nathan walked out of his house; dressed in a dark hoodie and pants. He was also wearing black gloves for the added aura.
His senses began to spread out again. Goosebumps appeared over his arms and back.
Everything seemed... clear. The twilight hours had just ended and the sun disk had sunk into the horizon; covering the world in night. But his eyes saw everything. The faintest bits of light, the smallest movements at the corner of his vision, all of it was visible.
Rustle!
Nathan jumped and turned to the sound. He felt something moving in the bush.
Something small.
From the bushes a car slowly walked out. It met Nathan's eyes, hissed at him, licked it's paw and ran away.
"...I'm feeling awfully jumpy now that I'm actually out hunting..."
Steeling his heart, he continued on his way.
New York was still a very large city in 1947. Post war, soldiers were returning, European immigrants were arriving and the economy was in a boom.
For that reason, New York was still very active in the late hours of the night, even until 1 am.
This would later lay the foundation of one of the cities of the world that doesn't sleep.
Nathan walked along the sidewalk. As he went on his way, some passerbys gave him curious glances but didn't mind him.
His fashion sense was... eccentric to say the least.
Hoodies were still considered work clothes, and nobody wore them in public. Factory workers and those working in cold environments were the go to when it came to hoodies.
In public, people usually wore suits, dress shirts and sweaters.
Nathan was one of those people that really liked the concept of old school clothing. The long trench coats, the dark and cool looking suits - like the series, Peaky Blinders. But now that he was in that age, he found the thing to not be so great anymore. He was accustomed to the free and more comfortable form of fashion, where everything goes really, so long as one was comfortable and wasn't committing any public decency violations.
It was not a surprise that people looked at him funny. Only he knew that such fashion would become increasingly prevalent very soon, even though it might seem crazy now.
But hey, this was New York. Everyone saw their fair share of eccentric people on a daily.
I'm eagerly waiting for the arrival of gen z... man, we were so unserious about it all. The generation raised on memes. The stick up everyone's asses ain't getting smaller in this era.
Nathan slowly moved further into the city. His senses were at an all time high. After the war, monsters had started to roam all around with more confidence. Before, they were all so thickly covered with mist that even he had some difficulty with seeing them at first. And even when he did, they were almost always hidden away.
But the war had changed that. They were a lot more numerous. Walked right along the streets. Right now, he saw a lot of them.
A giant leopard like creature jumped before him on the road and disappeared behind a turn. A woman with her bottom half made out of two snake like tails walked briskly along the sidewalk. A Greek sphinx with the head of a woman, haunches of a lion and the wings of a bird was laying silently on the road, sleeping. A lanky giant stood silently at the side of the road, staring at the air as drool dropped from his mouth.
He was partly tempted to attack, but the lanky man gave him a strange feeling, so he was hesitant. In he end, he shook his head and he moved further in. His reckless wandering brought him to a working class neighbourhood.
Buildings and factories closed in on both sides and there wasn't much foot traffic here.
And then he noticed it.
On one of the rooftops of a building, a group of tiny, goblin like creatures.
They had a light skin tone and an oval head with a long, crooked nose. Their backs were hunched without exception and they all wore rags for clothes. And every single one of them bellowed with a sickening, mocking laughter.
It wasn't clear at a glance what they were laughing at, but strangely, Nathan felt himself feeling a sudden surge of confidence. It was unlike the feeling he had felt with the giant man or the leopard or many other monsters he had encountered on the way.
It was Hunter's Instincts at work. He instinctively knew that he could hunt these creatures without too much danger. Every other creature carried considerable risk; but not them.
It's the first hunt. I should be taking it easy. No need to take unnecessary risks.
In that moment, he decided - he would hunt one of these today.
...
A/N: Add to Library:)