A group of caravans travelled across the desert.
The destroyer of the sands noticed the disturbance and set out to destroy the ones intruding on its territory.
"What's that?" One of the members of the crew asked, seeing something on the horizon.
"Lemme see." Another replied, before checking down his telescope and freezing "No- no way! We're not gonna be able to escape it!"
"What is it?"
"It's a Bloodbath Diablos!"
A great roar in the distance followed this, causing the hearts of everyone in range to sink.
As the beast that had massacred so many groups before charged, it was surprised to see only one challenger emerge.
The hunter drew his greatsword.
The Diablos had seen a hundred uses of this, the hunter was gonna try stopping the charge. That's why it also knew that it could keep charging without concern, it would trample him.
But at the very last moment, it felt that something was off. Before it could connect the attack, it was suddenly hit with a swing to the chin, knocking it off balance and sending it off course.
It crashed into a rock nearby before adjusting itself, getting ready to attack again. The hunter had now moved away from the rest, leaving this as just a one on one duel.
It tried to gouge him using the larger horn, but this was dodged with surprising speed. In retaliation, the hunter slashed back at its face.
These movements repeated for a little while, before the beast gave up and roared, growing more enraged. It tried to use the opening created by forcing its opponent to cover his ears, but find itself unable to react as well.
By the time it could move again the hunter had already landed yet another slash on its chest. The monster slammed its head into the ground in retaliation, the hunter barely sidestepped and smashing the side of his blade into its head. It retaliated with a charge that was barely dodged, followed by the hunter bringing his blade overhead, smashing it into the wyvern's face again.
All this seemed to do was enrage the destroyer further, causing its attacks to constantly get faster and more dangerous. Despite this, the hunter still showed no reaction.
Their battle continued on for what seemed to both to be an eternity, but to the rest of the world was only a few dozen minutes. The monster still had yet to successfully land an attack, always seeming to fall just short.
It had an idea.
It swung with its longer horn. The hunter dodged. This action was followed with a sudden snap of its own neck to the right, forceful enough that it felt like it was about to break. The hunter was caught off guard by the incoming other horn, barely having time to block.
This shoddy block could barely hold up, causing him to be knocked flying and crash into the sands a short distance away. The Diablos found that nothing stopped this follow up, so it took it gladly.
The monster closed in. The hunter rose to his feet as quickly as possible, but not fast enough.
Finally, things were going in favour of the monster. The hunter would be trampled within a second. Things were back to where they should've been from the very start.
It only understood the reason why everything was out of place when it went back to being wrong a moment later.
Everything froze once more. The hunter on the ground got up and moved to where his opponent had snapped its neck before. The action hadn't come without drawbacks, to just get in that one hit it had been left vulnerable there.
With one swing at this new weak spot, everything was over.
It was a few minutes before the caravans from before returned. Their leader emerged, throwing the hunter a cool drink which was quickly used.
"Good work as always, demon."
"I already told you not to call me that."
"Ah yeah, sorry. Still, being able to take down something this fierce on your own sure isn't something I could see a human doing."
"There's far worse out there."
"I know, I know. You think I didn't hire you without learning what you killed to get your fame? I've never seen a Ukanlos before, but I'm guessing its more scary than this guy."
"It's much larger, but in the end there's no real difference between them. All of these monsters are the same."
Back at Dundorma, comparatively nothing was happening.
Joseph lazily walked around the streets, having already parted from the rest of the group. He'd felt kind of off, so he thought he'd take a walk alone, see what it did. He finally worked out the problem a few minutes later.
"...I completely forgot to eat anything today, huh? Thinking about it, when was the last time I remembered to eat?"
Once he was aware of the problems, they finally started to affect him.
"Now that I think about it, doesn't this feel kinda like dying?"
He staggered a few more metres before collapsing completely, unable to move anymore.
"Don't worry, I'm sure the aura'll kick in any minute. It's always what gets me out of these kinds of situations."
Joseph waited there for his plot armour to save him. Unfortunately, the aura had no measures against starvation, it was only there for combat purposes, the battle against a person's own disorganised lifestyle didn't count.
"Hey, did you get attacked or something!?"
He looked up to see Vert above him.
"Ah… perfect…"
"What?"
"...Ya got any steaks or somethin'?"
"...Why?"
"Why do ya think?"
Vert had already lost any motivation to respond, giving just a "Seriously?"
"Yeah."
A few minutes and two well-done steaks later Joseph was functioning again.
"How do you just forget to eat?"
"Dunno, I just didn't remember."
"You need to take better care of yourself, already."
"Looking out for others is more important."
"This wasn't even that, you were just going on normal hunts. That aside, how are you gonna do that when you can't even stay standing?"
"I'll be fine."
"What were you gonna do if I hadn't spotted you?"
"I'd have made it somehow, like I always do. Aura's got my back, too important to die, all that stuff."
"Don't just push everything on your aura, I thought you were trying to avoid that."
"I've changed, y'know?"
"Don't just change one of your main goals cause you don't wanna lose an argument!"
Joseph made an annoyed noise and scanned the environment to look for a change of subject.
He noticed some carts being dragged across the street, injured hunters lying atop them.
"That seems like more than usual…"
"Things have been more dangerously lately, I guess."
"Guess that's why they lowered the age requirement to become a hunter to fifteen."
Vert stared at him in confusion.
"...I've never heard a thing about that."
"It's true though."
Staying here wasn't going to advance things either way, so their solution was to ask around.
In the end, every single person agreed with Vert.
"Wait, I think I've got it." Joseph announced after the twentieth response.
"Can't you just accept that whoever you heard it from had the wrong idea?"
"Well, that's probably it."
"Go on."
"Did Terrence ever tell ya where he came from?"
"Not really."
"He's from Pokke. Also the son of some famous hunter from there, Aron, his title was something or other demon."
"Wait… the frozen demon? The guy who took down an Ukanlos on his own?"
"That's the edge I was looking for. Anyways, Terrence's his kid. Left him there when he went wherever. The problem is that no one paid attention to the village anymore after he was gone, so they started trying to get Terrence to take his place, for pretty much his entire life. So they must've pulled some strings or something to get him to start at fifteen."
"Wait, how old is he now?"
"Seventeen."
"...Huh."
"He's got enough experience by now that he won't make any dumb decisions. Still, back in the day he definitely did. If I'd been a few minutes later one specific time I don't think he'd be fully intact."
"What happened?"
"He tried to fight a Ukanlos."
"Yeah, that is pretty dumb. Are all fifteen year olds like that?"
"I imagine most who'd become hunters are. Well still, point stands. The village was trying to push him into it, that was just part of their scheme."
"I see. Well, that'd explain why he is the way he is."
"Whaddya mean by that?"
"When was the last time you saw him be anything other than nice?"
Joseph tried to think back, not coming up with much.
"He's a ridiculously nice kid, don't think he could hurt anyone if he tried, it's bordering on unrealistic. That's all cause they raised him to be that, so he'd be what they wanted him to, without a risk of him leaving like the last one. He does whatever others want him to do. Looking at it like that, he's been raised to be a perfect substitute."
As Joseph was thinking of a response to that, they both suddenly noticed a presence behind them.
"What are you guys doing?" A familiar voice asked.
Both of them jumped a few metres away.
Joseph was the first to stammer out a response of "Y-yo Terrence, didn't see ya there. We're just talkin' y'know?"
"Yeah, we're talkin'." Vert added.
"Don't copy how I speak, he'll know something's up if ya break character." Joseph angrily whispered.
"It wasn't on purpose, I was just following your lead in the panic of it."
"Yer supposed to be better at this talkin' stuff than I am."
"The hell gave you that idea?"
"Cause ya know so many people, anyways-" Joseph now turned around to Terrence and raised his voice "So what're ya up to yerself, huh?"
"Just walking around."
"Walking around?"
"Yeah, walking around."
"That's… great, then. I'll let you get to it."
"Wait, first, there's something I wanna talk about."
"What is it?"
"Well I heard some rumours and apparently… Aron's gonna be passing through here tomorrow."
"Seriously, who the hell's writing such a convenient series of events?" Joseph muttered, before realising he was saying this aloud and shutting himself up.
"Wait, so you probably wanna meet him, right?" Vert asked.
"Yeah, no matter what."
"Then we've gotta make some kinda plan for that."
"Sure, that's what I was hoping for."
The next day, as expected, a certain trading group arrived in Dundorma for business. With them, their bodyguard.
Even though Aron tried to keep a low profile, it proved impossible. The moment the rest of the group arrived people knew he was there, the boss was using his status as a deterrent for any potential thieves. The white hair wasn't exactly helping him blend in to crowds.
By the time the rest of the group got there, he was already surrounded.
"Looks like it'll be difficult to get close, like we expected." Pointed out Vert.
Terrence looked uneasy.
"Then we've gotta stick to the plan for this." Joseph replied "Deploying tactical Josh."
"I'm right here, you could just ask me to go."
"I don't really feel like treating ya like a human today."
"...Ok."
As Aron was still surrounded by the crowd, too awkward to try moving, there was a disturbance off to the side.
A cloud of smoke suddenly appeared and from it emerged an incredibly short hunter with an eyepatch.
The crowd was shocked, before a general feeling of "Wait, who is this?" emerged.
Josh sighed and held up his scythe, causing a wave of realisation, the general feeling changing to "Oh shit, it's that guy!"
"I thought this guy was supposed to be dead?" "He only disappeared for a little while, no body or anything." "Still, what's up with that eye?" "He must've lost it in a fight." "Or he's just trying to look cool." "What happened to Isaac?" "Maybe they fought." "Or maybe they couldn't be together because of fate." "That doesn't explain the eye thing though." "He ripped it out for dramatic effect when they were breaking up."
The conversations continued like this for a while, but there will still many more crowded around Aron.
"Looks like it wasn't enough." Vert observed "Phase two. Joseph, distract the crowd."
"Can do."
Joseph then chucked a flash bomb straight at the crowd.
"Wait, isn't that too close!?" Terrence protested.
"It works."
"Yeah, but that could probably blind them!"
"They're faceless members of a crowd, they'll be fine." Vert explained "Anyways, now for the last part." She jumped down as it went off.
Aron had noticed the flash bomb and covered his eyes in time, the rest weren't as fast to respond. Still, he didn't really have anywhere to go amongst the confusion. He then heard a voice directed at him.
"Hey, wanna come this way? There's someone important for you to meet." Aron didn't have much else to do, so he shrugged and went "Sure, why not."
Putting aside her surprise at how much easier it was than expected, she led him away from the crowd. By the time the crowd could see again, he had already disappeared.
Terrence saw him go and froze up a little.
"What're ya hesitatin' for?" Joseph asked as he looked over.
"Dunno, I'm just unsure."
"Wantin' to see him was one of the reasons ya went to the outside world, might as well while he's here."
"I know that but… I just feel uncertain. Like, should it really end this easily?"
"Dunno. Goals always seem like something so far away, so I guess this does seem kinda anticlimactic. Still, let's spin it another way. Ya spent I don't even know how many years, at least a decade, waiting for this to happen. So now's the time for it to happen. Well still, if ya ask me it should've happened earlier anyways, but that's a what-if so who cares, just get going already this talk's only gonna get worse the longer ya let me go on."
Terrence got the general message and took a deep breath, before heading to where the other two were.
For the first time in twelve years, Terrence got a proper look at his father. They didn't have much resembling each other except for the colour of their hair colour like snow. He looked incredibly strong, as expected of a greatsword user. Compared to him, Terrence felt inferior, still not strong enough to use anything heavy effectively.
Aron noticed him. They both recognised who the other was, but neither felt like starting it.
Terrence took another deep breath and began "Y-yo, it's me, Terrence. It's been a while… huh?"
"I guess it has. What are you doing here?"
"The hell kinda question is that-" Vert began, before Terrence tried to stop her.
"I became a hunter and started exploring the world. Meeting you again was one of the reasons for that, to be honest."
"...I'm assuming you want to question me, then?"
This time it was Joseph who was getting ready to yell, so Terrence cut him off first.
"Yeah, of course I do. Why did you leave me behind in Pokke?"
Aron took a long pause to look away distantly before speaking. "Do you remember anything about your mother?"
"No, I don't even know what she looked like."
"You resemble her a lot. Too much. That's why I couldn't be there anymore."
This time Terrence couldn't stop them.
"What shitty reason is that!?"
"I know, I know. It was terrible. I can't forgive myself, either. Whatever you wanna say I've already put myself through it a hundred times. Still, I could never force myself to go back up there, just out of fear… Could you give us some time alone, just to talk?"
The other two looked to Terrence, who simply went "Sure, why not." They slowly and clearly unwillingly backed away until they were out of sight.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that despite everything, I'm currently happy from the bottom of my heart."
"...Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Terrence watched his expression, hoping for some change, but all he saw was a flash of blue. A second later Terrence felt his entire body freeze. Nothing externally changed, but he couldn't move a single muscle. His body was completely still.
"I'm incredibly happy… that you forgot.
That was the first time in years that one of Aron's sentences had included something vaguely resembling happiness.
Terrence immediately recognised that his life was at risk. Memories started to flash through his mind, from the very start.
Travelling along the road, seeing Aron fight, seeing the mysterious power for the first time.
Returning to Pokke, the stormy and hopeless night, the buzz after Aron's successful Ukanlos hunt. His brain finally settled on the night Aron left.
For the first time in perhaps his entire life, his father finally looked straight at him. He kneeled down, still a safe distance away from him.
"If I ever see you again, I'm afraid of what I'll do to you. I want to avoid that, for her sake. But something beyond my control is urging me to."
The memories blended with the present before him, as his attacker began to approach him. In the past, the talk continued.
"So I ask of you, please remain isolated on this snowy mountain for the rest of your days, never needing to see the rest of the world."
His attacker was now at the point where any swing couldn't possibly miss, he began to reach over his back.
"Perhaps it's useless to hope for good fortune at this point, but it would be the best possible scenario if we never have to meet again."
The man who Terrence had spent so long searching for grabbed his weapon and prepared to swing it down, Terrence knew that this would undoubtedly cleave him in two.
The past and the present finally synchronised, for just that final word.
"Farewell."
The blade was brought crashing down.
TO BE CONTINUED