Chapter 2

AN: Well here's the next chapter guys, I know I probably should have made this a part of the first chapter but it is as it is. I would like to thank all of you for reading and for favoriting and following this story. I have made a slight alteration to the end of the previous chapter, nothing serious just changed some dialog so Hanzo doesn't immediately reveal he is from another world. Response to the reviews:

James5463: I glad you liked it, you cant have Scorpion using his signature move without the catchphrase.

Colt Cobra: I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, there is a difference between Hanzo and Scorpion.

rvala117: I'm happy you enjoyed it.

Chadman 2.0: Thanks for the review. I don't think I will take a beta, I prefer to write alone but thanks for the advice.

Imhappy0126: Thanks for the advice.

CykaBlyatintensifies: I'm glad you liked it.

Guest: I know I could have made it longer but I just wanted to get it out there. Thanks for the review.

CandyAsher: I'm happy you liked it.

Guest: Thanks man, you as well.

"One of the militia said that you took on an alfa Beowolf immediately after taking out two Ursas, that's impressive. He also said that you used mostly your fists, which is even more impressive," the huntsman said.

"I thank you but honestly it wasn't much, the Grimm simply charged at me mindlessly with no strategy, taking them out was easy," Hanzo replied truthfully.

"Nevertheless, what I said before stands, the people are grateful for your help and I will give you a portion of the reward that the mayor promised me but before I do I would like to know the name of the man who I will be giving it up to. The name Jiro," the huntsman introduced himself while offering Hanzo his hand.

Hanzo looked at the hand for a moment, he didn't know the man so he did not need to tell him his real name but then again this man fought and bled on the same field as Hanzo and by the looks of it the huntsman was genuine, "Offering a part of your reward is an honorable thing, I'm grateful for that."

Jiro chuckled. "Yeah just don't tell the ladies that, I got a reputation to keep after all," he said with a smirk. For a moment the huntsman reminded Hanzo of a certain actor from his world, they both had the same slightly arrogant tone and had the same cocky smirk. His instincts were telling him to be cautious, at first glance this man might seem decent but experience has thought him to never judge the book by its cover. There is no telling what kind of people might inhabit this realm even if they possed as heroes and protectors.

The grandmaster took the offered hand. "My name is Kuai Liang."

"Liang, ha, definitely a name you would hear in Mistral. Well, Liang I'm all patched up and ready to go so I suggest we find the mayor and get our reward, the militia will take care of the rest. I would like to use some of that money to get me a well-deserved drink."

"You took an injury while fighting, shouldn't you wait at least a bit before decide to do anything?" Hanzo inquired as he looked at the huntsman's bandaged arm.

Jiro shrugged. "The wound isn't as bad as it might look, plus my aura will heal it quickly."

Hanzo simply nodded but was still left with the question of what the huntsman meant by aura. It apparently has the ability to heal, so it could be some kind of magical energy, or more specifically is it like his fire aura or something akin to Johnny Cage's green energy? He would have to look into it later, now he had to get some other answers and his best option would be by following this man to the mayor.

"Fine then, let us go to the mayor," Hanzo said, Jiro just smirked and proceeded to walk up the street with Hanzo following him. He observed the village, the houses and other buildings, the architecture reminded him of old European architecture but the people were dressed in what appeared to be twenty-first-century clothing. As they passed through the street, the two men caught glances of the village inhabitance, many of who expressed their gratitude for helping them against the Grimm. Hanzo began to wonder just how frequent these kinds of attacks are, if there was a specialized type of warrior then the threat is more serious than just a few creatures hunting in the woods. Right now he wanted to know more about the man in front of him and the huntsmen in general.

"As a huntsman, are you self-taught or did you train somewhere?" Hanzo asked.

Jiro turned his head towards Hanzo as he walked. "Trained and graduated from Beacon academy," the huntsman said proudly and sighed. "Good times, I still keep contact with my old team," So there is a place where these huntsmen are trained, he would have to look into that later.

"What it like training at Beacon?"

"Fun, but it is not a joke also. The professors and instructors all capable and know their stuff, some are more eccentric than others or stiffer like they have a pole up their ass but they are good at their jobs, especially professor Ozpin."

Hanzo decided to keep the conversation going. "Why didn't you stay with your team?"

"Did for a time but then finally decided to go off on my own. There's more money to be made if you work alone than as a team although a team does come in handy at times when the odds are stacked a bit more against you than usual like this time. If you hadn't arrived things would have been much bloodier," the huntsman's smirk turned into a frown, his demeanor went from jovial to serious. "The mayor underestimated the number of Grimm in the area. The attacks started sporadically but the negative emotion just made them more frequent until the all-out assault you saw today."

"What about the rest of the area, is the situation the same in the rest of the frontier?"

"It depends, this village and others like it are at the farther end of the frontier, not the furthest but close. Some areas have better protection whether it be the militias or the number of huntsmen roaming around."

"Aren't there enough huntsmen to help everywhere?"

"Unfortunately no, there is a good number of us, an army you could say but we can't be everywhere at once and some communities are just left to fend for themselves. I believe it's the same with Mistral unless the headmaster and the council had not pulled some kind of miracle. I was lucky to be in the area and heard that these people needed help so I came here."

Hanzo nodded as he walked. "Indeed the people were lucky that you came," he paused for a moment before he asked the next question. "How much does a huntsman earn doing a job like this?"

"It all depends but usually, the tougher the job the higher the pay. I have taken several of those in my time, earned me a good amount of lien,"

"Lien, that must be the currency," Hanzo thought. So far this man has given him so decent information, he knew where in this realm he was, that there is another place called Mistral which by the sound of it could be similar to Asia and that the huntsmen that fight the Grimm are trained at an academy, it's not much but it is a good start. Good thing this man was talkative. Hanzo was broken from his thoughts as Jiro suddenly stopped in front of a larger building.

"This is it, the mayor's office. He will see us inside," Jiro said and proceeded to enter the building through a wooden two-way door, Hanzo following a step behind. The hall wasn't lushly decorated with yellow walls and an occasional picture on the wall. The floor was covered with an old red rug with an orange line running through the middle. There were several doors to the sides and a stairway leading to the second floor. Going up the stair they came to an ordinary-looking door, much like the ones in the hall. Jiro knocked twice before a man's voice was heard.

"Yes, who is it?" an elderly voice asked.

"It's Jiro and I have another man with me," the huntsman said. Some shuffling could be heard from the other side of the door before they opened and revealed an elderly man with thinning grey hair and fox ears on his head. For a moment Hanzo thought that he was hallucinating but when he saw the ears twitch he just steadied himself. The old man allowed them inside the room which turned out to be an office.

"I take it that you had come for the reward I promised, yes?" the old man asked.

"Yes, as we had agreed but I won't be taking all of it," Jiro pointed over his shoulder "my friend here will be taking thirty percent of it. I would offer more but I came here first."

The old mayor looked at Hanzo his eyes going wide with realization. "You are the man who aided in the defense."

"That I am and it appears that I arrived just in time," Hanzo said in a leveled tone.

"Indeed you did my friend," the mayor said as he offered a hand to Hanzo. "I have already been informed about your actions at the north wall. I'm truly grateful for what you did, your timely arrival at the very least saved the lives of some of our guards perhaps more."

Hanzo took the offered hand and nodded. "There is no need for that, I only did what was right."

"Well that still deserves a reward," the mayor said excitedly and went behind his desk and opened a drawer, pulling a case and opening it. Hanzo saw the man pulling out some kind of colored plastic cards and putting them in a pouch. When done he closed the case and offered it to Jiro. "That is your cut as you said and this is yours," the mayor gave Hanzo the pouch which he took.

"Once more I'm grateful for your aid huntsmen, you both saved many lived today. Is there anything else I could give you feel free to ask?"

"Well, I would like to know which place here has the best whisky?" Jiro said.

"That would be Tansas Inn, she has the best liquor in the village," the mayor answered. "And what about you, if you need a place to stay, the inn is a good place as well."

"Thank you for the information but I would like to first know if there is a library I could use," for all teds and purposes he was stuck in this realm for now, at least until he finds a way back to Earth or any other realm he knows, so if he is going to be here he would secure some common knowledge.

"Certainly, there is one on the ground floor, first door on the right, it's no large but it's all we have. It has everything from history to literature."

"It will suffice," Hanzo said.

"What, want to read a romance novel before bed?" Jiro asked jokingly.

"My knowledge on Vale is a bit rusty so I wish to read some books to better familiarize myself with the area."

"Well considering how you got here in the first place, it can't hurt. If you need me I will be at the inn spending a portion of my reward," Jiro said and simply walked out of the office, a smirk plastered on his face as he looked at the money-filled case.

"So I take it you are not from around here?" the mayor asked.

"No, I arrived here by chance. If that is all I would like to take my leave."

The mayor chuckled "Yes that is all you are free to go."

With that Hanzo left the office and took the stairs down to the ground floor and into the library. It was as the mayor had said, not large but adequate. Hanzo put the pouch on a table and proceeded to stroll and look at the books stacked on the shelves. After a short, while he put six books on the table, a book about this world, on the Great war, on the history of the world, something called dust, geography and huntsmen and Grimm. It took him hours to get through all of them but by the time he had finished he had learned a great deal about this new realm, he found himself in. First, the realm was called Remnant and there were five continents, one of which was unnamed. There are the four kingdoms that occupy the realm Vale, Vacuo, Mistal and Atlas which was once known as Mantel. Each kingdom had a different history, culture, technology and people, Atlas being the most militaristic and utilitarian, Mistal being similar to Asia in its culture and architecture, Vacuo was a desert land full of hardship and Vale was similar to twenty century Europe. There was also an unofficial fifth kingdom called Menagerie where a humanoid species called the Faunus lived, they were basically humans with animal traits. Through reading the books Hanzo had learned that the humans were racist towards the Faunus for no real reason. It had gotten so bad that a war was fought over it, a war which the Faunus won.

The humans and the Faunus have been fighting the Grimm for thousand of years, there was a great war between the four kingdoms that occupy the realm and after the war, the monarchs were replaced by councils and the four huntsmen academies were established in each capital and it was then that the huntsmen were formed. While reading up on the Grimm he had learned that there were many different types of Grimm, different types for each region with some more common amongst them. The first Grimm he had faced were called Beowolves and the large one he had killed during the defense was an alfa Beowolf, the leader of the pack. There were the two bears he had killed the Ursas, then there were the boar-like Boarbatusks, ravens like Nevermoars and many other types. Each type had its own strengths and weaknesses, for example, the Beowolves were faster while the Ursas were stronger.

There is also a resource called dust which is used for practically everything, something Hanzo found illogical. Back on Earth, there were some resources that people were more dependent on than on others but by what he read this was much more than that and one company basically controlled most of the dust in the world. This posed a major weakness to the people of Remnant, every one of their civilizations was wholly dependent on dust for everything from energy supply to weapons. They had some knowledge about other energy sources such as the sun and the wind but those weren't utilized as much as they should be.

Feeling his eyes tire, Hanzo rubbed them and closed the final book he was reading and proceeded to leave the library and into the town. As far as information goes, he knew that he was only scratching the surface but it would have to do for now. At the very least he had some knowledge of where he found himself and what he could expect from here on. As he stepped onto the stone cobbled streets of the village which were being illuminated by the street lamps he gazed at the night sky. Stars filled his vision, a sky so similar to the one of his home and yet so different, he failed to find any familiar constellations, he could not even find Orion's belt. His gaze moved from the starry sky to the shattered moon, when he first saw it last night he was left speechless, Hanzo had seen many things in his life but a moon that was shattered was a new one. The only power he could think that could be responsible for that is the power of the gods. Something happened to this realm in the past and Hanzo was interested in the mystery of what that was.

He walked the streets for a short while until he found the inn the mayor had mentioned. Upon entering he was greeted by a smiling waitress.

"Good evening sir, what can I do for you?" the brunet woman asked.

"I would like a room for the night and a hot meal if that is manageable," Hanzo said.

The woman smiled brightly at him. "For the hero of the day, I could do nothing less," she said and proceeded to go to the kitchen in the back.

"Liang over here!" Jiro said and Hanzo looks around to see the huntsman sitting alone at one of the side tables. Walking over to him Jiro bid the Shirai Ryu sit with him and the grandmaster obliged.

"Took you long enough, I thought you had lost yourself in those books. That would be some story to tell, beat an army of Grimm only to be ended by a stack of old papers," Jiro said with a chuckle.

"I was only familiarizing myself with Vale, I have little knowledge of it," Hanzo said.

Jiro took a sip from his drink and looked at Hanzo with an inquisitive gaze. "You really don't know much about Vale, do you?"

"Unfortunately no, only the basics," Hanzo said truthfully.

"Well, you aren't from around here so I don't really expect a foreigner to know as much especially if it is your first time here. Is it your first time here?"

"Yes, it is," Hanzo said as the waitress brought him his meal, a plate of roasted meat and vegetables. He paid her for the meal and the room after some initial refusal on her part, saying that she was giving it to him for free as a reward for helping them out but she eventually agreed to take the money. "So I have told you some things about me, it would be only fair for you to answer some questions about yourself, wouldn't you agree?"

Hanzo gave the man a stilly look and for a moment he contemplated refusing but he knew that right now that might not be the best idea, he had a cover story and some information on the continents so he could give some answers while keeping personal stuff wage. "As you wish."

"Splendid," Jiro said with a smile. "Now tell me from which part of Mistrel are you?"

"Northeastern part, from a village near the mountains."

"And that's where you learned to fight like that or you picked it up somewhere else?"

"I was trained by my father and family," Hanzo said.

"Must have been some training. From a few guys that spoke to me earlier they said that you practically tore your way through all of the Grimm using your fists mostly," Jiro said in an impressed tone.

"My training was… hard but it prepared me well for what became my life, mostly," Hanzo said, a trickle of sadness was noted by Jiro in the man's last word.

Jiro leaned back into his chair and put his glass close to his chin. "Well with your skills you could easily be a huntsman, all you need is a license. "

Hanzo raised an eyebrow at that. "How does one get a license?"

"You just have to apply for it, you can do it at the nearest guild. They will evaluate you, check your past and if all is in order then you will get your official huntsman license," Jiro said and took another sip from his drink. Hanzo thought about it for a moment, he was in a new realm with no allies, no supplies, in uncharted territory and with no way to go back home. From what he learned being a huntsman is a decent job with good pay but there is a problem with that, he has no past in this realm. He could get a good layout of the land by traveling around and protecting those in need but simply wandering around will not do for him. He needs to find some way to go back home, he knew that the Shirai Ryu will be well without him, they were well trained and prepared for the time when he would die and one of the most senior members would take over the mantel of the grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu. One of the proudest moments of his life was when he first gazed upon the newly rebuilt clan of warriors that was once destroyed by Quan Chi. His clan was strong, they will endure, they will prosper and they will do their duty in protecting Earthrealm and until he can find his way back there it is his duty to do what he can to help here. He swore a vow and by the Elder gods he intends to honor it but he will not do it as a huntsman but as a Shirai Ryu.

"So what's your plan forward?" Jiro asked Hanzo as he took the final sip from his glass and put it on the wooden table.

"I think I will stay here for a few more days, learn a bit more about the surroundings, help where I can, buy the supplies I need and head-on," Hanzo answered.

"Well I'm going back to the city of Vale in a few days so you can come along with me if you want," Jiro offered.

Hanzo gave the offer a thought but after a brief consideration declined with a shake of his head. "I thank you for the offer but I think I will stay in the frontier for a while, help out where I can," he also didn't want to be caught into some kind of a trap, he might be new to this world but he knows not to trust people easily even if they offer help.

Jiro shrugged "Fine, be it as you wish. As I said I will stay here for a few more days to help out too. If you change your mind, just tell me," Hanzo did not give a verbal response but only a nod and proceeded to eat his meal. After he was done he said goodbye to Jiro and went to his assigned room. He took off his weapons one by one and put them next to his bed before gently laying on the soft bed, closing his tired eyes and wondering what this strange new realm will bring.

As he said to Jiro, Hanzo had spent the next several days continuing his reading on this world, offering his help where he could he even gave several hand-to-hand combat lessons to a group of militia who said that they wanted to fight like him, he saw no issue in teaching these people how to better defend themselves, especially now that he knew what they were up against on daily basis. To fight like Hanzo would take years of training and honing your skills, not to mention that Hanzos fighting style was a personalized blend of Hapikdo, Pi Gua and Moi Fah and his hellfire magic. The people of this small village were normal everyday people, men, women and children who were unlucky enough to find themselves leaving on an inhospitable world like this one. Their only protection was the small militia they had and an occasional huntsman, they didn't give the special forces or a protector god to watch over them, the latter was strange to Hanzo, as fat as he knew every realm had its own gods. Then again it could be much worse, they could have someone like Shao Kahn ruling them.

When he was sure that he had learned enough about this new world he went to the nearest shop and bought what supplies he would need which included food, water, a map, a pack to put those things into and few other survival trinkets,

As he stood over the bed in the inn bedroom he was given, going over the supplies he had one last time a knock was heard from the door. Turning around he saw the huntsmen leaning at the open door with his arms crossed.

"Leaving us so soon?" Jiro asked rhetorically. "Planned to just leave without saying goodbye?"

"I have stayed long enough, it is time for me to leave on my own path," Hanzo said as he put a can of food into the pack.

"It's kinda a shame, people were just starting to like you around here," Jiro said with a smirk. "They could use someone like you."

"As much as I would like to stay, I can not."

"Yeah, there's always more things to see and more people to help right. I find you the lone wanderer type, helps people but never stays to long in the same place."

"You would be wrong in your deduction, I have spent a lot of time in the same place it's just now that I choose to wonder instead of lingering."

"Huh, well my old professor always said that deduction skills could use some work."

Hanzo put the last of these belongings into the pack and swang it over his shoulder. Walking over to the door he was stopped by the huntsman who looked him in the eyes before offering Hanzo his hand.

"Thank you for helping out here, I'm not a man to admit things easily but I grateful you came along and did what I could not."

Hanzo stared at the hand for a moment before he shook it. "As I said before, no thanks are needed."

Once the handshake was done Jiro moved out of the way and Hanzo walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"Stay safe Liang," Jiro said.

"Likewise," Hanzo replied as he exited the inn.

Jiro watched the mystery man through the windows of the inn as he left, once he was out of sight Jiro took out his scroll and called a number, moments later the man who the number belonged to picked up.

"Hey, boss… yeah the mission was a success, although it was harder than you said it would be. Luckily for me I had some help… I need a favor from you, could you check the name Kuai Liang for me?"