Monster Hunter
Prologue

Vegeta held the crossbow up to his eye level, focusing his vision to the spot he was going to tear apart. He aimed at the beasts throat and released the arrow, it flew through the air with a whistle, shredding through the thick layers of black mangy fur, skin and flesh, then finally splitting the creatures air passage.
Vegeta stood strong, not moving even a millimetre as the beast was still in inertia. The body of the beast came lunging forward toward him. The huge body began to trip and fall under its own weight. The chest of the beast was rising and collapsing as the last bit of oxygen left the creatures organs. Slowly choking, Vegeta listened as the last little gaggle could be heard. Only then had it finally stopped moving.

Vegeta let out a soft, almost silent sigh. His attention and senses had been on the job at hand, it all happened so fast he could only take in the visual information of the beast. Now, however, he realised they had been behind him wailing. He turned back to look at the group of women, they were huddled in a group on the muddy ground, shielding their vision of the scene in front of them.

Vegeta sighed again.

"We were coming back from the markets in Teamor, and we cut through the woods…"
The smaller girl of the four said, trying not to look at the man they were explaining to.

"It was following us, we didn't know what to do, we got scared and ran away…" another said.

"But that only made it chase us, if it wasn't for him… We wouldn't have…"

The eldest of the group said through tears..

The group of villagers all turned to see Vegeta, leaning up against a house, he looked over at the group and smirked. It had been months since he had gotten a decent job, it would seem his luck was changing. He had just randomly stumbled upon the girls running for their lives.

"You have a nest nearby, it seems they have taken up residence in your woods. I can get rid of them, for a price of course…" Vegeta said, slightly shrugging and offering up his hands to show he meant no harm to anyone.

In his experience, the less dangerous he appeared, the better his high rate as a demon hunter was. Go figure. The group of people started to chat amongst themselves, turning back to look at Vegeta, then continuing to discuss what he had just said. It was obvious they did not trust him, even though he had just saved these lasses lives.

"Bullocks, it was probably just some bear, out of hibernation looking for food. This mug is just trying to swindle us" A man said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring back at Vegeta.

Vegeta's smirk turned to a skowl, they meant to not pay him at all. He turned his back on the group of villagers and reached down beside him to a sack he had been carrying. Without looking back, he reached into the sack, grabbed a handful of blackish-green fur and threw it back over his head with one arm. The creatures head went flying, blood and flesh scattered all around the dirt walkways of the village. It splattered in the middle of the villagers. The women screamed and some of the men bent over to hurl up their last meal. The creature had a frozen look of terror on its face, as Vegeta's weapon and his black eyes were the last thing the creature had seen before it had stopped breathing. The eyes of the beast were once blood red, but were now cloudy and dead. They weren't going for the "I'm a friendly hunter just wanting to help" attitude. So the dark truth it was.

"It wasn't a bear, it was a hellhound. Your folklores call them many things, but make no mistake, they will be back in revenge for this one, for your children's and women's flesh and to spread their disgusting diseases. As I mentioned before, I am in the monster hunting business." Vegeta said as he brought out his crossbow from the holster on his back, also giving the villagers a flash of his belt, adorned with a variety of potions and knives.

"I will take a payment of 200 gold pieces for this one and the girls' lives, which might I remind you, had I not acted would have suffered a brutal death. And a further 500 gold pieces for the remainder of the job, then I will rid you of your hellhound problem." He said loading the crossbow with a devilish grin plastered on his face.