"Hey, wake up!"

Adam's eye popped open, looking in front of him without much a look of wonder or merriment that most children showed. He sat up, looking over towards the kid that was smiling at him for some strange reason.

"It's Christmas! The orphanage is handing out all sorts of stuff!"

"…Go away…"

The kid would not be deterred, his happiness an impenetrable shield. The kid shook Adam a few more times before jumping out of his bed and running out of the room, squealing at the top of his lungs. Adam groaned a little before running a hand through his silver locks of hair. He kicked the sheets away from him, and slowly stood up. He took his time changing out of his pajamas into his clothing.

He walked out of the room, closing the door shut behind him as he made his way down the stairs of the orphanage. He walked over to the elaborate Christmas tree. Most people he recognized, others he did not, including one man that the others seemed to pay a lot of attention and respect to. The man smiled at Adam, who just stared back at without much of any emotion. The man seemed to notice this, and it faltered his attitude a little. Adam walked over to his own chair and sat down.

Only a few presents were placed near him, one a rather long and wide package, another quite small, about the size of a large piece of paper. He looked down, and something caught his eye on one of the packages. It was the large one.

It had his family insignia on it, something he had been attached to ever since he was a baby. He never knew his parents, since they died when he was just born, but he had heard they were pretty famous Hunters. Without having a mother to hold him or a father figure to idolize, he had soon grew bitter and sullen towards others around him, and wasn't that well-liked. He wore dark clothing to express his own mood, which the adults tolerated but none-the-less kept suggesting he change to more bright clothing. He always wore a black suede coat whenever he could, which had been a gift he received a few years ago and had been one of the rare times he had actually been close to smiling about.

He tried to pick up the package, but it was much too heavy for a kid like him to lift, though he did lift it about a foot before dropping it back down with a loud thud. It shook the ground a little, which the others noticed. He blinked and looked at the others. He then kneeled down and began to tear at the wrapping. A steel casing was buried underneath the layers of wrapping paper.

He tore and tore until all the wrapping paper was off. He then undid the clasps holding the lid down, lifting the lid afterwards. What awaited him was quite a sight. It was a photon sword! He had seen a lot of pictures of them. But this one was a little different. It was of yellow hue, and the material used to make the sword looked rather deformed and powerful.

"It's a Dark Flow sword. It was your father's."

He looked up and saw the man smiling down at him. Adam just stared back at the man before looking back down. He reached towards the other present, and the man seemed to smile wider as if he was the one receiving the gift. Adam opened it, and found a large envelope awaiting him. The brand of the Hunter's Guild appeared on the middle of the envelope.

He pulled out a few forms, all of them with the same signet of the Hunter's Guild on each one. He read them through and looked up questioningly.

"Oh! Well, we want you to join the Hunter's Guild academy. Hopefully, you can be just like your father and become one of the greatest hunters that ever lived."

He didn't answer for a few moments, then finally looking up, his red eyes staring back at the man.

"…Yes…"

-End of Chapter One-