Matthew and Rose ran according to the direction that the woman pointed. Eventually, they reached a campsite under a cliffhanger just as Yuki mentioned.
"That must be it." Matthew said.
The campfire was still lit at the time, providing a much brighter lighting than the moon.
Matthew and Rose sat on a log that was placed near the campfire.
"Let me have a look."
"Ow! Damn that hurts." Matthew flinched when Rose pulled his arm.
"That's pretty bad. We need to stop the bleeding." Rose pulled her hands away and started taking off her jacket.
“Are you sure about using your jacket?” Matthew asked.
“It’s fine. It can be washed later.”
“Ow!”
Rose was not hesitant at all and pulled Matthew’s arm closer and started wrapping the jacket around his arm. She seemed really focused on doing so too.
“Done.” Rose said after she was done with the procedure.
Matthew checked his arm around that was wrapped in the cloth. “You’re pretty good.”
“I learned basic first-aid. It’s the most I can do.” Rose said with a soft smile on her face as if proud of herself.
“I see. Good thing you do then, thank you.” Matthew smiled brightly at her.
Rose seemed surprised and her face grew red a bit. “It’s… It’s fine.”
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
They both suddenly heard a rustle coming from the forest. In an instant, Matthew and Rose shot up from their seat and backed away.
From the depths of the forest, the same large wolf-like beast emerged from the darkness. It growled viciously as it once again exchanged glares with Matthew.
“Rose stay back.” Matthew held out his right arm in front of Rose.
“But you’re injured!”
“I won’t lose as much as you would in that case.”
“But-”
“Grooaarr!” Before Rose could retort, the beast roared loudly.
After it roared, it lifted its head high. Crackles of electricity appeared around the beast’s horns. A humming sound verberated.
VMMMM!
Then with a puff, the beast fired a large energy ball from its mouth.
“It can fire an energy ball?!” Matthew was very surprised by this.
“UWAAHH!!” Both of them screamed as they were pushed away by the force of the blast when the ball of energy hit the ground.
The campfire and the log were all pushed away too.
Matthew hit his back against the wall. “Ark! Uhuk! Uhuk!” He coughed and gasped for air.
“Didn’t expect that.”
“Aah!”
“Huh?” Matthew heard Rose’s scream. He looked around for her.
“!!” Through the cloud of dust, Matthew could see her laying on the ground with something big pinning her down.
“Please help…” Fear was visible in her voice.
“No!”
The beast opened its jaw and was about to chomp down on Rose, but before that could happen, something changed in Matthew. The beast flinched and slowly turned its head over to Matthew, Rose also sensed the change in the air.
Matthew had a different air around him. His eyes were different.
…..
Meanwhile at the woman’s location.
“Rawr-”
SHIEK!
Another arrow struck into a beast and brought it down.
“Phew~” The woman whistled softly after finishing off the beasts.
“Let’s see now… One, two, three, four… Eight. That’s quite a lot in this pack. Wait a minute.” The woman glanced over all the corpses, and she noticed something.
“No striped horns, the alpha is not here.”
“Aah!”
The woman’s high perceptive ability picked up on the scream.
“Damn it!” She broke into a sprint straight towards the source of the scream, her camp.
‘The alpha is much more dangerous than the normal ones. I need to hurry!’
“[Greater Speed]!” A yellow light covered her and instantly, her speed increased greatly.
In a few seconds, she reached the edge of the forest and saw the alpha beast along with the two people. The woman pulled out her bow and slid an arrow into it. She pulled the string back and took aim. However, something stopped her from firing.
She sensed something powerful. “What is this astra? It’s so strong! From him?” The woman turned towards Matthew. She saw something that was invisible to the naked eye.
Blazing red aura surrounded Matthew. His right eye changed colour from light blue to golden yellow and his pupil, into a vertical slit.
The woman felt very intimidated by such aura. “This guy... “
Matthew glared in anger at the beast while the beast glared back in fear. Its body shivered before the immense pressure it was sensing from the human.
It charged up another energy ball. Electricity curled up its horns again and it blasted one right at Matthew. The ball exploded upon contact with Matthew’s body, black smoke filled the area.
“A direct hit!” The woman almost shouted. What she saw next was unbelievable. “He’s unscathed?”
Matthew emerged from the smoke, dashing towards the beast. Before long, Matthew had closed the distance.
Matthew chucked back his right fist, then thrusted it right to the side of the beast’s head.
“Haaghh!” Matthew yelled as his fist pushed the back.
A crunch came from the beast’s skull along with a broken horn. It was launched back a few metres and skidded a bit before laying dead on the ground. Blood poured out from its mouth and created a small pool under it.
“Such power!” The woman exclaimed in shock.
Matthew stayed in his just-after-punching position, stupefied.
“Wait… Did I just… What happened?” By how he was reacting, he had no idea what just happened.
He stared at his right hand that still had remnants of fire around it.
“Matt?”
“Ah, Rose.” Matthew immediately reacted to her call.
Matthew bent down on his knee and helped Rose to sit up. “Are you okay?”
“Uhh yes. How did you…” Rose’s question did not arrive as she took another look at the corpse.
But it was not hard to guess what she wanted to ask. “I don’t know either. Before I realise it, well, that happened.”
“Well, it looks like you didn’t need my help after all.” A voice came from behind them.
“Oh, it’s you.” Matthew said once he had a look of the owner of the voice. “Thank you for saving us.”
“No no, you pretty much could have handled it yourself. I saw what happened.”
“You were here the whole time?”
“No, I just got here. Why did you hide your power?” The woman asked.
“Eh? Hide? I didn’t hide anything, I don't know how I did it... But I did.”
“Huh? Impossible. You just mustered up a lot of astra back there. You beat that thing with only one hit!” The woman even acted out her words.
“Well… Yeah, I don’t know how that happened.”
“Then… Are you two from Solheim?”
“Huh?” Both of them said at once.
“... Okay, tell me from the start.”
…..
The campfire was relit and small logs were placed around it. A piece of meat was also being slowly roasted over the fire. The sounds of crickets slightly overlapped the sound of fire crackling, snapping the firewood bit by bit.
“So that’s how it is... “
“What do you think, Yuki?” Matthew asked the woman sitting across the fire in front of him.
“To be honest, it’s not really something out of the ordinary for someone to undergo a dimension transfer. Although… From a game? That’s a first.” Yuki placed her thumb on her chin.
“You mean it’s normal for these things to occur?” Rose asked.
“No, it’s not normal. World transfer occurs by supernatural causes. To have done so with a device… There can only be on.” Yuki had a very serious expression.
“What is it?” Matthew drew closer to her.
“I am not sure of it myself, but my opinion is that there’s someone behind this.” Yuki lifted a finger.
“Someone? Who?” Rose asked.
“I do not have any clue on who, but I definitely have a hunch that someone is behind this.” Yuki said.
“I see. Then what can we do? How do we get back?” Rose asked again.
“I do not know either. Maybe you could wait for a miracle to happen?”
“But how long would that take?”
“Who knows? It’s a supernatural phenomenon. It could be months, years or even tomorrow. There’s no telling really.”
“Then… What do we do? Just wait around?”
“I don’t know. Decide yourself.”
“That’s…” Rose fell quiet.
Now it was Matthew’s turn to ask. “What do you do Yuki? Are you working or something?”
“Oh, that. Actually, yeah, I am working a full time job.” Yuki seemed very laid back.
“Ho! What do you work as?”
“A Hunter.”
“Hunter? Like hunting down bears and deers?”
“Ahahaha!” Yuki laughed loudly. “Not exactly. We use the term ‘Hunter’ for those who venture about and do quests.”
“Oh, like an adventurer?”
“Yes, we used to use that term but for some reason, it was changed. So now we adventurers are called Hunters.”
“Whoa~ So cool!” Matthew seemed really interested in this. Well, as someone who had played a bunch of video games, of course he would.
“So can you use magic and all that wack?” Matthew asked enthusiastically.
“Ehh in a way, yes.”
“Whoa it must be so cool! Say, can I learn magic too perhaps?”
“Eh, you…?” Yuki’s eye (since one was covered behind her hair) moved up and down as if scanning Matthew before saying, “Yeah, you could try.”
“Alright! Can you show me sometime soon?”
“I can show you tomorrow after we get your arm treated.”
“Alright!” Matthew was so happy about it. Even Yuki was all smiles seeing him like that.
However, there was one person that didn’t like what was going on.
Dawn arrived on the three people. Matthew and Rose helped Yuki pack up and soon, they were on their way.The sunlight only slightly pierced through the leaves of the forest canopy, granting the three protection. Tweets of birds, buzzing of insects and the rustle of leaves as wind blew by accompanied them.Matthew seemed to have been more aware of his surroundings since now he knew he was in a different world and so, he was lagging a bit behind the group.Rose took this chance and got closer to Yuki.“Hey, Yuki.” She started.“Hm?” Yuki glanced at Rose.“I have a few questions to ask you.”“What is it?”“What are you planning?”That question made Yuki flinch a bit. “What do you mean?”“Why did you sug
“Here you go.” Yuki handed a note of currency to the driver that lent them a ride.“Thank you.” The middle aged man replied.“Safe travels.” Yuki said lastly before the man sped away with his carriage pulled by a dinosaur looking creature.“Even the carriages are pulled by raptors…” Matthew muttered by himself.“Matt, are you really sure about this?” Rose asked him in a whisper.“Yes, don’t you understand how cool it would be to throw fire or water out of your hand?” Matthew said.“I understand, but do ‘you’ understand how dangerous it is?”“Of course I do. I don’t just throw myself anywhere without thinking, you know?” Matthew proudly pointed at himself with his thumb.“I am doubting th
A few days later, in the bustling city of the Northern Omni Kingdom. Matthew, Rose and Yuki stood before a massive structure that was… “The Omni Hunter Academy.” Matthew read aloud the name of the place that was in front of them. The academy ground was huge. There was a vast field to the left and another one to the right. There were also quite a few buildings with signs of different facilities. People of all races can be seen present walking, chatting, playing and training. Both Matthew and Rose were astonished by this scene and almost stopped breathing. “Hello there.” A soft female voice came from behind them. They all turned around to meet who the voice belonged to. “Are you perhaps new here? I’ve never seen you before.” The woman glanced between Matthew and Rose. “Eh ah no, we’re not new, nor are we
Ten months later…The Omni Hunter Academy secondary field. Almost all students were gathered here for a very specific event today.“Attention! Attention students!” The principal, Grandmaster Algernon, spoke on the megaphone to get their attention.The students slowly died down into a silence. The principal cleared his throat before continuing.“Now, I believe all of you have been informed of what you are gathered here today.”“YEEAAHHH!!!” The students yelled in unison.“Today is a special event that we conduct every year, the Annual Quest Completion. About half a year before the annual Hunter exam. It may not be a requirement,however, we will evaluate your skills and abilities and decide whether you are eligible for the exam. This is, of course, for your safety.” The principal said.
The leaves rustled as the wind blew softly. Only a tiny bit of sunlight was allowed to pass through the canopy of leaves as Matthew and Rose quietly moved under it. Their footsteps moved in the same direction as the footprints left behind by the zombies of last night.“In the end, we followed them the next day…” Matthew muttered.“Sh-shut up! It’s your fault for sleeping last night!” Rose strongly retorted.“Yeah yeah, I wonder just who knocked me out last night hmm?” Matthew glanced at her with an unhappy expression.“I already said I’m sorry!” Rose clenched her hands beside her and shouted.“Well, at least they left footprints behind.” Matthew returned his focus to the quest at hand. “By how they were moving, these guys are definitely under someone’s control.”M
Rose stared at the zombie that had a sword stuck in its head.“I can beat this guy no problem.” Rose extended her hand out and casted a spell. “[Greater Fireball]!”A much larger version of the previous fireballs flew out and exploded in the face of the undead.“!!”To her surprise, the zombie was not even scratched.“That was a mediocre level spell. How?” Rose glanced over at the mysterious figure at the furthest back. “Must be his doing. We need to take him out. How is Matt doing…!!”When Rose glanced over at Matthew, she was surprised to see. Matthew was confronting the big zombie along with the smaller ones at the same time. However, the small ones were definitely faster than before and the big one was also definitely stronger. But Matthew was holding his own against all that. 
Matthew opened his eyes to a world of flames. Around him was just simply an endless sea of fire without anything else in sight. "This dream again…" Matthew did move and only stood there idly. Even though he was surrounded by fire, he did not feel pain at all. One would think that this was definitely just a dream if not a nightmare, but for Matthew who had seen this many times already, it was something different. He could not explain what it was. He just sensed that there was something else about this dream that he had. In the far distance, he saw a gigantic figure of a lizard of some sort. Its eyes were glowing bright yellow in the darkness above the fire. "That thing again… What does it want with me?" Matthew asked himself. RINGGGG!! Matthew's head was suddenly ringing. It caused pain inside his temple that it forced him to
Matthew and Rose walked around the area for a bit since the exam hasn’t started yet. Both of them were ready to go. Though they were both not wearing any heavy armour, it was the setup that best suited them.Matthew wore a normal looking blue shirt with a red short sleeved jacket and standard pants. Though these clothing seem normal, they were made out of specially made mana strings which its durability and strength is partly imbued with the user’s. Other than that, he also wore a pair of gauntlets on his forearm. He carried a sword on his back which had a fiery design to it. He also had a badge with the number 3 on his chest.Meanwhile Rose was wearing a dark blue one piece dress with little decorations of red on the skirt and her abdomen. She also wore a short cape on her shoulders and her usual red rose hair pin. She also had a badge with the number 2 as well.“There sure are a lot of people here.&rd
At the edge of the pit, it was them. A total of nine of the Scarlett family members.From the right, a woman with long red hair and black and white dress was casting a healing spell on Bilgrae. A male elf in full black armour with a star shaped bang of three red points and two white points and his black hair was split in the middle. A demon with dark violet hair and a pair of horns at the side of her head and wore a jet black skin tight suit which exposed certain parts, Crymillia. In the middle, it was a man with short bright red hair wearing a black and gold robe. Then, a man with black hair in a red and black suit. Another demon with about the same features as Crymillia except that his hair was short and he wore a black cloak over his suit. Then there was a man with spiky red hair in a red robe with a high collar, Crone, the one that Matthew and his friends fought at the Great Sandcastle. Finally, there was the black feathered avian human, Skystorm.Seeing Skystorm in good health, M
Confronting Bilgrae now was what he expected to see from a Dragon Emperor.Matthew was now at maximum output of his astra and all of it was condensed in his body. Bright red scales covered his entire body and he grew slightly in size. His muscles became more toned and also increased in size. A pair of horns of a darker tone of red grew out of his forehead that curved to the back of his head. Both of his eyes were glowing golden as his hair was.“Let’s finish this!” Matthew did not delay any further. He couldn’t maintain this form for long so he must finish the fight quickly.Matthew dashed toward Bilgrae who was ready for Matthew. Their fists clashed again and this time, not only was Bilgrae pushed back, he felt pain in his knuckles. Matthew was much stronger than before and far faster too. Utilising his speed, Matthew went for another punch to Bilgrae’s gut.“Oof!” Bilgrae got the air knocked out of him with the first hit.Matthew followed up with a barrage of punches. Bilgrae truly
After being blown away by Skystorm’s wind, Matthew regained his footing and was met with the big lizardman, Bilgrae Scarlett. Bilgrae had a smirk on his face. Matthew stood up and faced Bilgrae, but his eyes were not on him. Matthew’s eyes fell on Falynx in the far distance.“Are you still concerned about that monster?” Bilgrae asked with his deep voice.Matthew looked at Bilgrae now. “It’s hard to know which one is the monster here.”“Heh, you’re right. All of us are monsters deep inside. It just takes one misstep to turn a person into one. You’ve been there too.”“No I haven’t.”“Maybe not to you. But the whole world saw you as one. Now that monster suddenly turned into an emperor and they suddenly glorified you, while some still hate you of course.”“Hmph.” Matthew huffed.“You’re angry with me, I understand. I purposely did not kill that beast. Out of compassion.”“Don’t lie. You Scarletts don’t know what that means.”Bilgrae wasn’t smiling anymore. “You don’t know how merciful fa
Akame and Skystorm were separated from Matthew and Bilgrae. Akame stood up after being blown away by the powerful gust of wind created by Skystorm. Their eyes met. Both of their irises were bright red and gazed deeply.“I will be your foe, Red Cardinal.” Skystorm said.“What relic will you take? What will you use it for?” Akame asked.“Straight to the questions huh… That’s not any of your business. Why would you care what we take anyway if you’ll die?”“To evaluate whether it’s worth fighting for or not.”“Hmm, a smart choice. If you don't want to fight, then I shant confront you. Sadly, it seems that Lord Dragunov disagrees with you. If he is in the way, then we must remove him. I don’t think that leaves you an option now.”Backing out from this would mean that Matthew will be fighting two people. If they weren’t among the Scarlett Army’s strongest, it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to deal with alone. Both of their foes were really strong and Akame had no expectation of defeating
After their encounter with Falynx, they reached an agreement to conduct an investigation as they intended. Falynx had flown back to the surface on its own. Matthew and Akame headed to the temple and arrived at the front door.For some reason, even though they were underground, it was as clear as day down here. It was not dark and not too bright either, like a cloudy day.There were stairs that led to the door and the walls in the area were already partially destroyed. Some of the stairs were also gone. The giant door was made of stone and seemed to be intact with little cracks around the hinges.Matthew pushed one of the doors open. It was surprisingly heavy so Matthew had to lean into it to move it. Akame went inside first and inspected the place. There was a stage and a podium carved out of stone at the end of the great hall. A mural was carved out of the wall behind the stage depicting a supposed god holding the sun in his hands.Matthew left the door open and joined Akame to look
In the middle of the desert, there were two figures running across the sands. Clouds of sand were left behind in their quick steps. The cloak provided by the minister was really working. No sand was sticking onto them.“We’re getting close.” Matthew informed Akame.Almost two hours have passed since they left the city. Many monsters came their way but they were easily dealt with. It caused a little delay but not enough to affect their momentum. Falynx’s presence was still about 10 kilometres away.“Be ready for battle.” Akame said.“Remember though, don’t kill it.” Matthew reminded her.A few minutes later, a gigantic figure could be seen flying in the sky. The creature had the body of a snake, the head of a crocodile and six pairs of batwings. Its yellow eyes with black vertical slits looked down at the incoming people below.Falynx bowed its head and began descending. Matthew and Akame saw this as an engagement in battle. Matthew called out the Dragoknight to his arms and increased
The sun was already high up in the sky in the Capital City of Kubalt. The weather was hot and dry as usual in San Coro. The street around this particular area was not that busy since it was right in front of the Palace of Al-Jauhara. One would occasionally see knights patrolling the area. Akame was waiting under the intense heat of the sun. She had covered herself in a large black cloth to protect herself from the heat. The guards out here only wore light armour compared to the ones inside, probably because their armour would be too hot to wear outside. Not too long after, she finally saw the one she was waiting for. Matthew was jogging toward her. He wore his long sleeved red hooded jacket and an orange shirt under it and a pair of black pants. He also had his usual travelling backpack with him. “Phew, sorry, did you wait long?” “Not too long. Did you not use a teleportation scroll?” Akame asked. “I did, but the closest one was to Yanbue City. Neither Platinum nor Rose were famil
“What brings you here, Akame?” Matthew asked.Just a few moments ago, Akame had arrived in front of Platinum’s cave. Someone like who was a Coloured Hunter, passing through the Blackwood Forest and up the cold mountain was not a problem. Or not.Akame was hugging herself to keep warm but it was not helping at all. “Achoo! C-can we talk somewhere warmer?”“Oh, come on in.” Matthew invited her inside.Akame went in and they both made their way to the living room. Matthew didn't think that it was alright to bring her to the others directly. The living room had a fire to keep them warm, so here was enough.“Ah~” Akame warmed herself up by the fire and put her hands out.“So, what are you doing here without equipment to survive on a mountain? Certainly you didn’t come to interview us?” Matthew asked.“Queen Cleopatra sent me. We will investigate the ruin she mentioned together.” Akame said with the same emotionless voice as usual.“Cleopatra? Well, I was gonna head there in a few days anyw
Matthew and Rose arrived at the foot of the mountain just by the Blackwood Forest where they dropped off of the carriage while Guinevere headed back to her palace. It was already very late in the afternoon when they got to the forest. Matthew carried Rose's luggage in hands while he also wore his backpack."I can carry my own stuff." Rose said."No, I will carry them for you. Anyway, are you sure you'll be fine?""My magic resistance is quite high. I also know how to disperse mana if it does accumulate inside me. How long exactly is it going to take to get up there again?" Rose looked up at the ledge near the mountain peak where Platinum's abode was."Well, usually only a few hours if you're moving at my usual speed. If we're walking though, a few days at least." Matthew said."But we're not walking, right?" Rose asked."Nope." As Matthew replied, a shadow flew past over them.A jade green dragon circled them as she descended to the ground nearby. Upon landing, the dragon folded its w