Chapter 1: The Fall of the Divine
Like a falling star, a shimmering body tore through the heavenly clouds, descending quietly to the ground.
It was evening, the vast sky glistened in red, and the evening sun was on the verge of slipping beneath the horizon.
Then, the fragment of the divine one, awoke from its slumber.
"Where am I?" He muttered with a soft, inaudible voice.
He was lying down on a paddy field, unaware of everything that happened to him.
He cleared his eyes and scanned around the vast field. And while he was busy letting his gaze wander around, a voice suddenly rose from the silence:
"Fragment has awakened, essence key released"
Just as the voice faded away, a floating menu of system text popped up before Kaiser. It wrote:
[ ESSENTIAL MEMORY TRANSFERRED FROM EARTH-0 ]
Suddenly, a flash of white light shone out brightly from Kaiser's eyes and mouth, forcing him to his knees.
"AAAHHH—" He screamed.
Seven seconds passed, and the glowing halted.
He shook his head, "What…where am I?" He muttered. Kaiser did not remember what just happened to him.
He gently opened his eyes and there was a system window floating before him. It wrote:
[ QUEST 1 : SURVIVE THE NIGHT ]
"Survive the night?" Confused, he attempted to touch the system window, but his hand went right through it.
"That's strange, I can't touch it even though I could clearly see it…" He waved his arm around, trying to touch it from different angles.
Then, "Wait, what am I doing here? Kaiser, that's my name. Why can I remember my name but not anything else?" Questions instantly flooded him, he did not know who or what he was.
"CLING!"
[ STATUS ]
NAME: Kaiser
STATE: Earth-0
AGE: 13
ATTRIBUTES:
- Enhanced Stamina Lv. 1
SKILLS: (NONE)
He stared at it, "This profile… I don't know why but I'm weirdly familiar with the interface" He read down the writing and realised it was his personal details.
Cold wind breezed through the paddy field, the grass and flowers bowing beneath it. With the sun no more, darkness consumed the whole field making it impossible for anyone to see.
No clothes, no warmth, body shivering—it was already a fight for survival.
Kaiser's teeth chattered, "The cold is too much, I'm going to die if I don't figure something out. But where am I?" He continued walking.
Minutes passed, and Kaiser did not realise that he was going deeper into a forest.
The green grasses around him got taller and taller, standing almost at the height of his chest.
"The grasses are getting taller, this is not good."
Whilst he was in the middle of assessing his situation, the moon shone obscurely showing the land. It revealed that something, a figure lurked somewhere in the bushes.
From his peripheral vision, he saw something moved at the corner of his eyes.
"What was that!" he flinched.
His pupils darted around the bushes, searching for the shadow he thought he saw…but not even a single chirp of an insect was heard.
"Something is watching me" He quickly bent down and hid below the towering grasses. Shaky breaths started welling up inside him, and all his senses urged him to run.
"—scrsh-scrsh!" A rustle broke out from behind Kaiser.
"What was that—" Kaiser turned around, and before his eyes was a human figure that stood still, not moving an inch.
"Hello? Can I help you?..." Kaiser asked with caution, but it did not answer.
"I am lost in these woods, could you please show me the way to a village?"
…
Again, it did not answer.
The dark clouds began clearing up, and the moonlight finally shone brightly.
But for Kaiser, the reveal did not give him comfort, but more terror. The light revealed its face:
Red bloody eyes, skin that was beginning to rot. It was a demon, staring at Kaiser with its drooling mouth.
Kaiser jolted, "What is that—" And took a step back.
The demon suddenly turned its head looking right at Kaiser, and without a sound, it began crawling on all fours.
Kaiser ran immediately.
From the bushes the demon jumped, making a leap that was humanely impossible.
It landed on Kaiser.
"What are you doing…get off me!"
Kaiser grabbed the neck of the soul-demon, preventing it from eating him.
The warm saliva drooling from its mouth splattered all around Kaiser's face.
"Tuh! Why you… why are you so heavy!" The weight of the demon immobilized Kaiser from making an escape.
"Somebody…somebody help me!" He roared out for help.
At the height of Kaiser's emotion, the system window finally appeared:
[ REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET ]
[ ATTRIBUTE UNLOCKED: ENHANCED STRENGTH I ]
"Enhanced strength? What does that mean—"
To his own disbelief, Kaiser pushed back the demon and stood before it on equal strength.
"I became stronger, what is going on"
Their arms tightly locked together and neither of them was making any progress in eating or escaping.
"I can defend myself, but I can't attack it" Kaiser groaned, struggling.
From its wet rotting mouth, a rasping voice muttered out, "Why…are you this strong?"
The demon, who Kaiser had thought to be a mindless creature, suddenly spoke out, "How is a human like you…so strong?"
"You can talk?" Kaiser's eyes widened in confusion, "Why are you attacking me?"
With a snarl the demon screamed out, "I'm going to eat you, you pathetic human!"
The demon drove a kick to Kaiser's stomach, and sent him flying across the field.
"Aah!" Kaiser landed on his back, coughing roughly in pain.
He raised his arm, and barely managed to push himself up from the ground.
"Am I going to die here? Am I going to be eaten?" He crawled away from the demon.
But when Kaiser glanced behind him, he realised it was meaningless.
The demon crawled even faster, like a feral skinwalker hungry to eat its meal.
"I can't do anything…" His arms gave up, surrendering to death as he saw no way out.
…
Though some might reject it, miracles do happen in one's life. And this time, it favoured Kaiser.
Like a silent wind flying across a field of wheat, a man, who was wearing a dark blue cloak, ran towards the demon.
In the blink of an eye, he sliced the demon's head in half, and killed it in an instant.
"I never thought I would find a demon here" He calmly returned his sword back in its sheath.
The man looked back over his shoulder, "You there, are you alright?"
"I'm—" Before he could answer, Kaiser collapsed unconscious.
…
Three hours passed, and inside a cave was Kaiser sleeping.
The dark rocky cave was lit up by a fire, and the stones were cold like a blade pressed upon one's skin.
"You're awake"
Kaiser looked to his right and saw the man who was sitting against the wall.
The man's name was Kuroiichi, he had a mix of black and white hair that grew to the length of his waist. He had sapphire blue eyes, and wore a dark blue cloak.
"You saved me didn't you? Who are you?" asked Kaiser.
"My name is Kuroiichi, and we're inside Thror mountain. Here, you should drink some water"
Kaiser took the waterskin, and drank a refreshing amount.
"Can you tell me how old you are?" Kuroiichi asked
"I don't…" Kaiser paused, and remembered his profile from the system window.
"I'm 13 years old, and my name is Kaiser"
"I see, so you're born after the Seven Years Curse.
Tell me Kaiser, do you plan on becoming a demon hunter?"
"Sorry, but I am afraid I don't know what a demon hunter is. But please tell me, what was that thing that attacked me, was that a demon?"
Kuroiichi looked a bit surprised by Kaiser's answer.
"So you don't even know about…nevermind.
Yes, that thing that attacked you was a demon, a soul-demon."
"Soul-demons?" Kaiser asked.
"Yes, soul-demons. As far as I know, they eat red-blooded humans, and they go out to hunt only during the night when there is no sunlight. They have enhanced strength, speed and vision, which makes them the perfect hunter in the dark.
The longer they go on without eating man, the weaker they become. Your encounter was such example"
"You mean to tell me that the demon I just fought was a weakened one?"
"That's right.
You should sleep now, we'll talk again tomorrow"
The two of them slept beside the warm fire inside the cave, and the first day was over.
…
Thick white clouds wrapped around the mountain, the rocks were wet and slippery. The morning sun hung deep red on the horizon among the clouds, and Kuroiichi was standing at the entrance of the cave.
"Do you always wake up this early?" Kaiser walked out rubbing his eyes, he was still sleepy
"Yes. Good morning Kaiser, did you sleep well?"
"Yes good morning. And I woke up today because of you, thank you again"
The mountain and its land were green with trees and plants, which was strange as they were in the North.
The horizon was white, it was clear that snow and ice enveloped everything, which again made it more strange that the mountain was not as cold as the other land in the North.
Kuroiichi sat on the edge of the cliff, one leg hanging free to the sky.
"Do you believe in gods, Kaiser?"
"Why do you ask?"
"This mountain is called Thror Mountain, it was named after Thror, the god of lightning.
The moon god Lunas, is also currently worshipped by many people of this land."
Kaiser leaned against the wall, he answered. "I think that they are not exactly as they are described. People exaggerate all the time, so maybe these gods are just really powerful people in the past."
Kuroiichi softly smiled, "Then we share the same idea, Kaiser.
Maybe Thror and Lunas do exist, or maybe they do not. But their names and stories have been passed down through many generations, so that must mean they played an important role during their era.
Every one of us has a role to play in this world, just like these gods. And now it's our turn to play our roles as well"
"Hm? Play our roles?"
Kuroiichi stood up from the cliff, and he walked over to Kaiser.
He stood straight, his hand resting on the sword handle. "Let me reintroduce myself.
My name is Kuroiichi. I am a knight sworn to protect the innocent, and I am also the strongest demon hunter in this world. Listen Kaiser, an era of war is coming. And this world will cease to exist and fall into oblivion if we do not work to save it."
"A war is coming?"
"You must be confused right now, but you experienced it first hand didn't you? The demon that tried to kill you. People live in fear, and their numbers continue to grow day by day."
Kuroiichi held out his hand, "So let me ask you this Kaiser.
Will you let me train you, and become a demon hunter?"
"CLING!"
A system window popped up before Kaiser:
[ AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE TRAINED BY THE HEAVEN'S CHILD HAS OCCURRED ]
[ QUEST 2 : ACCEPT THE REQUEST AND BECOME A DEMON HUNTER ]
"Become a demon hunter, this is…"
End of Chapter 1.