4th Night: First Hunt
Tetsuo headed out of the park, in the direction of his home. The words given to him by Rinne Enomoto kept echoing inside his mind, as he glanced at his portable computer while walking more than once.
"The Demon Summoning Program..." he thought "Here I am, about to confront myself with truths and fears, made into flesh..." He was fully aware of the graveness of what he was about to face. He also knew that he couldn't get his parents or his friends involved. He began taking deep breaths as he walked, intending to act as if nothing had happened. Eventually, he arrived in front of his house, where his parents greeted him with a smile.
"Welcome back, Tetsuo." his father started, with a smile on his face.
"How has your walk been?" his mother asked cheerfully.
"It was fine." Tetsuo replied, peacefully.
"Have you met anyone there?" the woman probed, once more.
"I haven't met anyone I knew there." her son replied, calmly.
"I'm looking forward to hearing more of your day while we have dinner." his father smiled, to which Tetsuo smiled back and nodded, before heading upstairs to his room. Upon entering his door, he took his computer off his arm and linked it to the charger, then placed it on his desk and started the installer passed to him by Rinne Enomoto.
"It'll take an hour to install..." he thought, noticing the roughly estimated download time on the screen, standing close to his computer in order to check. In a few minutes, his mother called from downstairs.
"Tetsuo! Dinner's ready!"
"I'm coming, mom!" the youth replied, heading downstairs, where both his parents were sitting at the table, waiting for him. As he sat with them, the family began their dinner.
"So, how did it go today, at school?" Soichiro asked his son.
"It went fine." Tetsuo replied "I've joined the Newspaper Club. Tomorrow will be my first day in there."
"Awesome!" his mother cheered, happily. His father had a smile on his face as well.
"Take your time in getting to know the place." he suggested "Trust me, you'll need it."
"Thank you, dad." the youth nodded, the same smile visible on his own features "I will."
"How did it go at work, darling?" Soichiro's wife asked him.
"It's going just fine, honey." the man replied "We're talking with a man who's interested in our products and is willing to produce applications for them."
"Are you discussing the workings and settings of Mirai's tech with him?" Tetsuo intervened, interested in the conversation.
"Precisely." his father confirmed.
"I wonder what kind of applications he's planning to launch..." the youth asked.
"I don't know." Soichiro replied "We haven't tackled the issue yet..." The two looked at each other with expression of slight concern over what the purpose of these apps could be.
Eventually, the dinner came to an end. Tetsuo rose upstairs, headed to his room and checked the download of the Demon Summoning Program on his portable computer, which was almost completed. The youth only had to wait a couple more minutes for the download's completion, then he started the application and checked out its option menu.
"Hmmm… Some options seem to be locked." he noticed "Maybe these functions should unlock while I use it..." He then tied the computer on his arm and went downstairs.
"Mom, Dad, I'll be going for a walk tonight, as well." he said to his parents.
"Again?" his mother couldn't help but ask. His nightly strolls were not an uncommon occurrence, but it wasn't enough to quench the woman's concerns about his son's safety. Knowing this, the youth nodded at her with a reassuring smile.
"Be careful, my boy." his father said, sharing his wife's worries.
"Don't worry, dad. I will." Tetsuo replied, before heading out the door "I'm out!"
"Take care!" both his parents replied. And so, the amber-eyed youth headed to Inokashira Park, where she was to meet with Rinne Enomoto that very night. It didn't take long for him to reach the place, dimly lit by the lights in the cherry trees. Under one of those very trees stood the mysterious girl, waiting for him.
"Asakura-kun." she said, with a serious expression on her features.
"Good evening, Enomoto-san." he replied as he walked closer to her.
"Before we begin, I must make sure that you're ready and willing to walk down this path." the girl said "You should know, by now. Once you begin delving into the world of demons, there will be no turning back." In response, Tetsuo nodded.
"There has been no turning back ever since I've seen those demons." he replied "If this is the only way I have to defend myself and those I care about from demons, I'll take it. And besides, one must know things in order to be able to take the right decisions about them. I'm ready."
"That's what I hoped to hear." the girl replied, and the youth could swear he had seen the corners of her mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly. It only lasted an instant, however, before her usual stoic expression returned. "Now show me." Immediately, Tetsuo opened up his portable computer and started his newly acquired application, then showed the screen to Rinne.
"Looks like the program is ready for use..." the girl observed "Ok, let's start your first hunt." She then pressed some options in her program, extended her arm, and a sheathed katana appeared in her hand. The stunt left Tetsuo's eyes wide in stupor.
"You must be surely wondering how this is possible." Rinne said, as if understanding his feeling, while she handed him the katana "You'll learn very soon." All the youth could do was nod in understanding, take the katana and latch it on his waist. Then, the girl plucked three stones out of her pocket and handed them to him. Tetsuo eyed them confusedly.
"You'll need them." Rinne quickly said. "Now follow me." She then turned around and began heading out of the park, with the astonished amber-eyed youth putting the stones in his own pocket and following her.
"Enomoto-san..." the youth asked the girl "Are there other people with the program, like us?"
"Yes, there are." Rinne replied, with a nod "For what purpose they're using it, there's no way to tell..."
"So that means I'll have to be careful with other people who have the program..." Tetsuo observed.
"Yes, Asakura-kun." Rinne replied "At least, make an effort to figure out their reason for using the program." In response, he nodded in agreement. As the two youths talked, their steps led them to an area which was eerily quiet in the night.
"In this area is quite easy to find demons." Rinne began "Here, you will learn to use the Demon Summoning Program. The first thing you'll need to learn is how to interact with demons." Tetsuo nodded in understanding, and a question rose in his mind.
"Is it easy to find demons in here?" he asked.
"Yes." the girl confirmed, with a nod "I've been here many times myself. I find this is an excellent training ground. Here, you will gain your first demons and learn about the functionalities of the program." Tetsuo listened to her attentively. "First, you'll have to find a demon, then you'll have to talk to it and convince it to join you. Most times, it'll ask you for something in exchange for accepting to serve you." At those words, a realization dawned on the mind of the amber-eyed youth.
"So that's what those stones were for!" he exclaimed, to which the girl nodded in confirmation.
"Those aren't common stones." she explained "Those are Life Stones. They are normally used to heal your demons, but you'll find yourself using them as negotiation material many, many times." Hearing those words, Tetsuo plucked from his pocket one of the stones the girl had given him and eyed him with stupefied eyes.
"So it looks like they're pretty requested among demons..." he mused. As he finished speaking, he seemed to notice something in the corner of his eye. He immediately turned his gaze and noticed a shadow, different from a human shadow. Upon turning to see what that shadow belonged to, he saw a demon which looked as imposing as a statue. It stood tall, like a human, its feet were clogs, and it had clogs instead of hands as well. It had two horse heads, each with a single horn, and two minuscule wings. Tetsuo was surprised and intimidated by the being, but nonetheless gulped and stepped towards it, throwing some glances at the stones in his hand from time to time. Eventually, the demon laid its eyes on the youth.
"Human..." it spoke "I have never seen the likes of thee in this place. Why art thou here?" Tetsuo gulped once more, then he took a breath and managed to find the words to reply, while looking at the creature calmly.
"I don't know. I'm here to figure that out."
"Thou canst see me..." the demon observed "Art thou a child, lost in the deep, dark forest?"
"Yes, that's how one could put it." Tetsuo replied earnestly, with a nod.
"Would it not be easier to turn thine back and walk away, out of the forest?" the creature inquired.
"Not when I'm lost." the amber-eyed youth replied "I'm already too deep inside the forest to see where it begins and where it ends. The only choice I have is to keep moving forward, in the hopes of finding something that might help me find my way." The being's two heads slightly lifted in amusement, which was shown by a slight wagging of its tail.
"Thou knowest the predicament thou art in." it observed "Thou showeth honesty, and art quite brave, for thine age." In response, Tetsuo shook his head.
"I'm just trying to understand what I'm seeing now, this world in which I'm in..." he replied.
"Hmmm..." the demon then posed another, more tricky question to the human in front of it. "Answer me this. If I were to command thee to die, on this instant, what would thine reply be?" The question surprised Tetsuo, whose eyes widened. He then pensively put his fingers under his chin, thinking of the best words in which he could put the answer. Then, when it came to him, he replied.
"I wouldn't do as you tell. You can't just ask humans to die."
"And why is that?" the creature kept asking "Cannot a human put an end to his own life with his own hands?" Having thought about it, Tetsuo was prepared, and explained himself.
"Yes, they can, but they do so only if they don't see anything to live for in front of them and feel that they'll never find it. In other words, they would do it only if they, in their despair, saw themselves as already dead..." The demon stood silent, making the youth tense up, which he tried his best not to show. Finally, it let out a laugh, surprising him.
"Such an answer was exactly what I hath expected from thee." it spoke, then, the amusement in his voice gave way to a more serious tone "But, I think this is enough idle chatting. Thou wisheth to have me by thine side, dost thou not?" Tetsuo, not knowing how he should consider that question, hesitantly nodded.
"Thou art an interesting son of man, indeed." the demon continued "But, thou must learn, the services of a demon are never given away for free. I have demands of my own. Wilt thou hear them?" Once again, the youth nodded.
"I demand a Life Stone from thee, in exchange for my services." the creature said, extending his clogged arm. The youth, knowing that he had just what he wanted, hid one of his stones under his sleeve, and handed the other two, putting them on the clog. "One for each of your heads." he said. Once more, the demon laughed and its tail wagged in amusement.
"Wishest thou to impress me?" it spoke "Thine liberality is much appreciated, but beware, it might lead thee to ruin if thou trieth it on unworthy beings." Finally, it made another, final request.
"State thine name, son of man."
"My name is Asakura Tetsuo." the amber-eyed youth obliged.
"Very well, Tetsuo." the demon spoke, bowing courtly in submission "I am Centaur. From now on, I shall fight by thine side." Then, a notification sound came from Tetsuo's portable computer. Checking the program, the youth noticed that all necessary information about the demon had been registered.
"Wow..." he uttered in surprise. From what he could see, Centaur could fight with ice magic and needle bullets.
"Excellent job, Asakura-kun!" Rinne called, with her slight smile, catching his attention, then, her expression returned stoic as she gave more explanations. "Remember: different demons will ask different questions. You must be prepared for unpredictable twists as well when talking with demons, keep that in mind." Tetsuo nodded in understanding. "Different demons also mean different societies, coexisting in this underworld." Finally, she drew her twin knives "Now, the next thing you'll need to learn is to fight in this world. The blade I've given you is not enough, by itself. You need demons by your side, to support you in battle. Once you'll be fighting, you'll know what I mean." She then turned and used her program to summon her Karasu Tengu next to her.
"What do you need of me, Rinne?" the flying creature asked.
"We have a new user of the program." the girl replied. "I'm helping him out with learning how it works." The black creature glanced at the amber-eyed youth and the statuesque demon standing beside him.
"He's already gained a demon, I see." it mused.
"Yes." the girl confirmed "Now it's time to move to the next step: battle."
"So there are dangerous demons in this place, too?" Tetsuo couldn't help but ask, with some concern in his voice.
"Dangerous?" Karasu Tengu exclaimed, with a snort, and failed to hold back its chuckle while Rinne shook her head.
"The demons we're going to fight are very numerous, but not really dangerous." she explained "Perfect for battle training." With that, the two hunters walked towards an abandoned building along with their demons. Once they were close enough to the building, they could see that some strange slime was moving, behind the open entrance. Eventually, the slime rose and took indefinite forms, only held together by very scarce amounts of bone, with only one glowing red eye. These multiple forms began to slowly move out of the building.
"Those demons are what you were talking about?" Tetsuo asked, feeling slightly relieved, since he had been expecting something worse.
"Yes." Rinne replied, with a nod "These Slimes will be your targets. Use your katana and your demon to fend them off." While the Slimes kept moving out of the building, the amber-eyed youth quickly drew his katana, as his Centaur prepared itself to attack.
"At thine order, Tetsuo." it spoke. When a group of Slimes moved close enough to them, Tetsuo immediately slashed at one of with his katana. As the creature dissolved, green dust sprung from its remains and flew into his portable computer, as well as into his demon.
"This dust..." he couldn't help but think "I've seen it before, when Enomoto-san defeated that demon..." There wasn't too much time to think, however. Another Slime lunged at him, but he was ready to meet it with a second slash.
"Now!" he shouted, and Centaur conjured a sphere of cold magic between his heads and fired it to two Slimes, instantly freezing them. The youth and his statuesque demon continued fending off the rather weak creatures together, while Rinne and her winged demon mowed down Slimes as well, respectively with her knives and its wind attacks.
"Ahhh! Someone help me!" Suddenly, a frightened female voice reached the amber-eyed youth's ears, whose eyes widened in stupor.
"Someone's in trouble!" it thought.
"Centaur! We're moving in!" he called his demon, and entered the building without hesitation, followed by the statuesque being fighting by his side. Rinne and Karasu Tengu followed suit. As they got deeper in the building, the Slimes became more numerous, and it became harder for Tetsuo to fend them off with the slashes of his katana alone. That was where his demon came into play, firing balls of cold against them. Rinne and her demon watched as the newbie under her care showed a remarkable prowess in managing his demon in battle. At a certain point, however, a great number of Slimes was on their way.
"Leave this to me, Tetsuo." Centaur said, and his chest opened up in various points, from which needles sprung, ready to be fired against the slimy beings. The statuesque creature immediately shot the needles against the platoon of slimes, dissolving each and every one of them instantly. Tetsuo was left speechless by the demon's deed.
"Great job, Centaur!" he exclaimed "Thanks for the help!"
"Glad I could be of service." the demon replied, then, both it and its master noticed an item on the floor, which had most likely been dropped by one of the Slimes defeated by the needle attack. It was a crystal orb, fairly reminiscent of crystal balls used by sorcerers and shamans to predict the future.
"Thou shouldst take it." Centaur suggested "It is a Bead. Its energy makes every wound vanish from the demon who uses it." Tetsuo nodded and took the object before moving further in. What he and his demon found was a fairy dressed in a blue dress and matching leggings, heavily wounded and intent on evading the lunges of Slimes that were attacking her.
"Leave her alone!" Tetsuo immediately shouted, his eyes narrowed, making the Slimes and the fairy turn to him.
"A human's here?" she couldn't help but exclaim "And he can see me?!" The slimes immediately turned their lunges against Tetsuo and Centaur, only to be met by the former's Katana and the latter's spheres of ice. The demon and his master were quick to dispatch them, before rushing to the fairy's aid, followed by Rinne and Karasu Tengu.
"You've come to save me?" she asked.
"Yes. I've heard you crying out for help and I couldn't help but come here!" Tetsuo earnestly replied, making the fairy blush.
"Th-Thank you..." she replied.
"Canst thou move?" Centaur inquired.
"Not really..." she replied "Those stupid Slimes really did a number on me..." It was then that Tetsuo and his demon noticed that her wings were clipped, most likely because of the Slimes' attack.
"Tetsuo." Centaur called his master.
"Right." the youth replied, with a nod, and then flashed a warm smile at the fairy while picking up the Bead he had found before from his pocket and handing it to her. "Here, this will help you." The fairy quickly took the orb in her hands and it dissolved as her wounds rapidly healed and her wings were completely repaired. She smiled happily in seeing that she could fly again, and quickly flew to Tetsuo's face, hugging it and causing him to blush.
"Thank you, human!" she said "Thank you so much!"
"I-It's a pleasure for me..." he embarrassedly replied, eliciting a chuckle from her. Eventually, she pulled away and looked at him with shining eyes.
"Please, let me return you the favor, my hero!" she said, her hands clutching one another "My name is Pixie, and I'll follow you wherever you'll go!"
"Well, nice to meet you, Pixie-san!" Tetsuo replied "My name is Asakura Tetsuo. I'm glad to know I can count on you."
"Impressive." Rinne thought while watching them, her ghost of a smile sitting on her features "You rushed in to rescue someone, found a demon in trouble, and saved it, then it joined you willingly..."
"Thou art quite jolly, for a being of this dark underworld..." Centaur observed.
"And you look like an old, rusty statue." Pixie retorted "What are you doing with a handsome human like Tetsuo?" The youth blushed, while the statuesque demon felt offended.
"Thou, impudent little critter!" it said, while the fairy stuck out her tongue.
"Calm down, both of you!" Tetsuo called both of his demons, who immediately ceased their banter. Then, Rinne walked closer to him.
"Well done, Asakura-kun." she congratulated him. "You've shown a good prowess with the Demon Summoning Program, so far." Then, her expression returned stoic as she continued. "Now it's time for you to learn about another function: demon fusion."
"Demon Fusion?" Tetsuo couldn't help but exclaim "So you can fuse demons?"
"Exactly." the girl confirmed "You can merge two different demons through fusion to create a more powerful demon." The amber-eyed youth listened to her with wide eyes, stupor sitting on his features "This is a process that requires magnetite."
"Magnetite?" Tetsuo asked, confused.
"You'll learn about it soon enough." Rinne said, understanding her fellow hunter's concerns "For now, just know that you have more than enough to fuse the two demons you have with you." Tetsuo turned back towards its demons, who, in turn, looked back at him
"Dost thou intend to fuse us, Tetsuo?" Centaur asked.
"I've already joined a human, and I'm about to being fused already?!" Pixie said in a disappointed tone, puffing her cheeks.
"O-Only if you're uncomfortable with it, Pixie-san..." Tetsuo replied. At that, her features softened.
"I'm only doing it for you, my hero." she said.
"If thou wishest to fuse us, then so be it." Centaur gave its approval as well.
"Ok. Thank you." he earnestly said. Then, he began handling the menu of the program, eventually managing to set up the fusion. When it started, the two demons became enveloped by shining rays of aura, and then joined together to form a new demon, in an explosion of light which forced Tetsuo and Rinne to cover their eyes. When the light subsided and Tetsuo was able to open his eyes again, he saw an alluring woman with long blonde hair and white feathered wings. She was blindfolded and her body was covered in black bandages. A choker with a severed chain was around her neck.
"Nice to meet you, my dear human." she said to her gobsmacked master, in a gentle, angelic voice "I am Angel. Use me as you wish."
"N-Nice to meet you as well, Angel-san." Tetsuo recovered himself from his stupor enough to be able to reply to her "My name is-"
"You don't need to tell me your name, Tetsuo." the creature interrupted him "I was born from the fusion of demons who knew it, thus, I know it, as well."
"Oh, I see..." he replied, then he smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad to know I can count on you, Angel-san!" His earnest statement earned him a chuckle from his new demon.
"Good job, Asakura-kun." Rinne said, with her usual stoic expression "Now you know the basics of the Demon Summoning Program. I must say, this was really not bad for a first hunt." Immediately, Tetsuo turned to her with a smile.
"If it wasn't for you, I would have never learned to use it." he said. "Thank you, Enomoto-san."
"There's no need to thank me." she replied in a stoic tone, her emotion betrayed only by a slight blush on her cheeks "You're a Hunter like me, now. I have the duty to help all those who are now part of this world." Tetsuo nodded in understanding.