Chapter 1: Chapter 1: An Adapting Start

In the land of Anria, near a mountain range, stood the mouth of a large cave.

Inside, bore darkness so brutal yet comforting, that it could pull you in without realizing it.

You never knew what could be lurking in that darkness. Besides the pointy rocks and the beautiful rocky landscape you could find, there could be threats as well.

Though some are mistaken as threats but are harmless.

The silhouette laying against a rock could be seen as one.

Like the light that shined its way into the cave, it also brought life to this creature.

With an exhale, it pushed itself up, standing in the darkness. It patted itself down before stretching, letting a few muscles be relaxed.

Its head turned to the light, and it moved forward, towards the cave's entrance.

The movements were stiff, it seemed to almost creak like an old door as it showed its unfitness and foreign nature towards walking.

Once reaching the exit, and finally exiting the darkness that was the cave, the figure could be seen more perfectly.

Despite the sun blaring down onto the earth, black clothes draped the figure. From his height of 6'0, no skin could be seen. 

The only exception was its face, or what appeared to be its face.

The mask was pale as a full moon, with two eyes on it, flaring with life as if to burn anything that dared to stare into it. The mask showed no mouth, nose, or any sign of emotion. 

But one thing could be seen on the figure's face.

Curiosity. 

Strolling forward once more, it could hear the flowing current of a coursing wind and the rustle of the grass by its sides.

The pathway it walked on was dirty, with the figure's boots crunching against the road's surface.

As the black figure's legs began to pick up the pace, it felt a few things being bashed against its back every step it took.

Hearing the clashing behind it, the figure looked over its left shoulder and found a handle there. When it looked over its right shoulder, it found that the handle that was longer than its face was attached to a blade as long as the figure's body, perhaps longer.

Upon seeing the large sword clinging to its back, the figure seemed to be reminded of something.

It has weapons, weapons that it knew how to use.

Something, however, interrupted its fazing out.

At some point, the figure encountered trees along the pathway it took, and it kept on going. By now it was getting a bit thicker, with the light that reached the ground being cut by half.

Now with this, a rustle of trees caught its attention, most likely fifty feet from the pathway.

When looking closer at the place where the shaking came from, it forced the figure to be on its guard, as for a second, it could see a silhouette.

Not a silhouette of a human, but an insect.

Being aware, the figure moved with a little bit of haste, causing it to turn into a dinner bell as its weapons clanged and banged to a great degree.

Long after that, it came across a fork in the road. It split into three roads, each having a sign of where it led to.

The figure, still paranoid, took the path to its left, not even acknowledging the names on the signs.

After a while of walking at a quick rate, the figure slowed down and relaxed.

---

Further up the road, was a large horse-drawn cart rumbling down the road as if to start an earthquake. Its load appeared to be a cage, which was packed with what appeared to be people.

Their cloaks and some clothing under that was the only thing that kept them protected, though they lacked shoes.

In front, two men sat at the front of the cart, one of them holding the reels to control the two horses that pulled the cart along.

The men's clothes were wrinkled and in poor condition, but compared to the people sitting in the cart, the men were much better off.

The man with the reels clenched in his hands opened his mouth to speak, "Cole, do you think these people will make a profit?"

The man next to him, named Cole, turned his head, "Of course Frank, we will make money,"

Frank shook his head, "Enough money? Enough to feed my wife and two kids?"

Cole sighed, "Yes, returning them to the villages where they were taken from will give us enough, but selling them, and then getting them again to return them will give us so much money that your table will be overflowing with food,"

"When you put it like that, even though we are selling folk," Frank said, "they have a better chance at living than being at Haverndale,"

Cole raised from his seat, "Speaking of which, we don't need to worry about them trying to find us to get these slaves back,"

The tips of Frank's mouth rose, "Say, what are you going to do with your share?"

"Try and get livestock and crop for the farm, as you know," Cole responded, "and perhaps some of the old alcohol when I have everything else of course,"

Frank turned his head to the back of the cart, "Levi!"

Behind the cart, was a horse jogging with a man straddled on top of it. Upon hearing his name, Levi moved up front, next to the two men.

"What?" His voice was of boredom, and a yawn was added.

Frank raised an eyebrow, "Were you sleeping again?" 

Hearing this, Levi could be seen sweating, before speaking, "What? No, no, I was not, I was looking at the lock the whole time!"

Cole pinched the brim of his nose while Frank shook his head, "Never mind that, what do you want to do with your share?"

"I don't really know," Levi replied, looking up to the sky with his hand on his chin, "Maybe I'll wash the horses or buy them treats?"

"Really? The horses?" Cole butted in, getting a disapproving look from Levi.

"I love horses, they are reliable when you need them, so you have to take care of them," he said, patting the side of his horse, "if we never had these horses, then we would not have made this-"

A voice interrupted his speech.

"Will you shut up about your horse?!" This voice belonged to a creature that was in a small cage that hung on the side of the cart that was in between Levi and Frank.

"Can you shut up, fairy?" Levi snapped, hitting the cage, causing it to swing around, making the captive swirl in confusion, "Otherwise, I will make sure you wished you never used your tongue,"

The fairy looked out of what little space it had and looked sternly at Levi, its small wooden glasses glinting off the sunlight, "My name is Paige, not fairy, and I doubt you could, I bet you are not even half the man you are with those threats!"

"Why you little-" Levi raised his hand once again to strike the cage.

"Don't forget why we captured her," Frank spoke up, making Levi sigh in frustration.

"She was pretty easy to catch, was she not?" Cole asked, "A good reward can be replaced for this fairy if we find the right person that is,"

"I doubt anyone would want a fairy from half a man," Paige said, pointing to Levi," and from a pain in the neck and a brain-dead alcoholic,"

"At least we are not behind a cage," Levi replied, which made Paige fold her arms.

The cart then stopped, leaving an unwelcome silence.

"Oi Frank, why did you stop?" Levi asked, seeing Frank and Cole having their gazes in front of them.

He did the same and stood still on his horse.

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Not too far away, on the road walking slowly towards them, was a figure dressed in black. Their attention went to its mask, which looked from side to side, not noticing them.

"That guy...," Cole muttered, breaking the silence, "he must have gold on him,"

"What? don't be silly, he looks pretty tall," Frank said.

"But slender," Levi spoke, "I doubt he has any muscle,"

"He is also covered from head to toe," Cole said, "that is a great way to hide any gold on your body,"

Frank sighed, before speaking, "How will you strike him though? Your sword can be seen a mile away,"

Cole lifted one of his hands, revealing a dagger, "Shank him will this,"

"As Levi had said," Cole continued, "this man looks to have no muscle, so I should take him down easily,"

"If that fails, we will back you up," Levi said.

Cole nodded at that, and when the figure came closer within hearing range, he got off the cart and stood in the figure's way.

Paige listened to their conversation, confused out of her mind at what they were talking about. However, when she caught sight of their target, the victim's safety was not the first thing that came to her head.

"What?" She said to herself, flabbergasted at what she saw.

But then her mouth formed into a grin, "So there was one that awakened?" Paige looked at the three men, "Those fools,"

"Excuse me, traveller!" Cole shouted to the figure, making it look at the man, "I have something to propose to you,"

The figure, curious as ever, walked over to Cole, stopping a few feet near him. 

Cole, however, took a step back. He was considered in the middle of tall and in between, but this person broke that tall scale by a longshot.

It took a moment for him to get back his voice, "Are you interested in purchasing a slave?"

His left hand was raised to the cart, where the people inside sat motionless, not taking in what Cole had said. In truth, these people were not necessarily slaves, but some innovation had to be done.

The figure stared at the cage filled with supposed slaves, beginning to think.

In his right hand, Cole held the handle of the dagger, which had now become sweaty. The plan that was made up was not thought out to a reasonable extent. Whether the figure bought or declined did not matter, Cole just needed time to find an opening, and strike.

Looking to finish deciding, the figure looked at him, shaking its head.

"Oh? Not interested? Well thanks for your time," Cole said.

Though, Cole was not done with the figure's time.

Like a predator in hiding that found the right moment to attack its prey, his right arm shot out like a string from a readied bow, the dagger confident and straight, ready to pierce through flesh.

He believed that a surprise attack would work better, as Cole was the first one to notice the big sword that hid shyly behind the figure's back. He believed that if he drew his sword out beforehand, the victim would turn into a butcher with that weapon.

What he did not believe, was the tall figure moving quickly to the side, dodging the thrust. 

As he stared in shock at what happened, he felt something. 

Something he felt earlier, and that something was the feeling of cold hands grasping his neck.

Now those cold hands never left, and they grew colder and tighter as the figure lifted its right hand and swiftly backhanded Cole, right in the head.

Cole flew a few feet before landing in front of Levi's horse.

"Cole!" Frank shouted, jumping off the seat of the cart and running towards Cole's body.

Levi got off his horse but drew his sword at the figure, who took a step back.

"Don't you dare move," Levi's voice was cold, yet he still hesitated when he glared at the figure.

He turned to look at Frank who was still looking at Cole.

"Is he okay?" He shouted.

"His head..." Frank stated, "is open,"

"What?" Levi spluttered out, shocked at what he had heard, "What do you mean open?"

Frank stood up, turned around with his sword out, and teeth gritted together, "His brains are outside of his head!"

Levi took a deep breath upon hearing that. Looking down at what appeared to be Cole's head, looked to be blood and the bits of the supposed brain matter that lay close to his head.

The sight had also caught the glance of Paige and she forced herself not to look at the remnants of a dead man.

Frank looked at the figure with anger and then back at Levi, "Levi when I charge, you charge as well,"

All Levi did was nod.

The figure only stared at Levi, who was in front of him and then at Frank, who stood on his right side, once every few intervals. 

Frank and Levi stood, their actions fueled by anger and rage, their swords aimed at the figure in black. 

It only took a few seconds, before Frank ran forward, and the next moment so did Levi.

Having been fueled with the goal of revenge, Frank had left an opening when he charged forward.

If they had a clear mind and charged together, perhaps they would have satiated their short-lived lust for revenge.

But this small opening was revealed as Frank's eyes narrowed as he saw the figure dash towards him.

He tried to lead the tip of his sword to where his enemy would dash but had his eyes widen at the feeling of steel being plunged into his neck.

As fast as the metal was in, it quickly escaped, and what replaced it was the seeping blood that ran out of the wound like a wolf pack chasing after a deer.

Frank could only hold his hands toward the wound as the figure moved back, narrowly missing the downward slash of Levi's sword.

Though, as the sword smashed the ground, letting dirt fly, Levi watched as the figure spun around to its right while moving.

During this three hundred and sixty-degree spin, the figure placed the dagger back into its sheath, which was on the right side of its waist, and had its left arm on the handle of the weapon it had on its back.

Levi's mind was in a frenzy, 'How is this guy so fast? The speed moved at to stab Frank, and narrowly dodge my slash...'

A sentence could only go to his head before the figure went past his sight.

'That guy is not human.'

The figure, now done with its turn, had drawn out the sword and with the force of a locomotive, swung the blade diagonally.

What clothes and skin stood in its way offered no resistance as the blade sliced through it like a knife through butter, cutting Levi in two.

The bodies of Frank and Levi dropped to the ground and the figure stood still, holding the sword that made a small dust cloud shoot up into the air as it collided with the ground. Despite this, Paige still was a witness to the scene.

'So it is true,' She thought, staring at the figure.

What doubts Paige had about the strange individual, vanished and were replaced with clarity and acknowledgement.

She knew that this creature was a Huntsman.

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