The devourer of darkness

The first kill

"Brace yourselves" Kenta said in a rather quiet voice. Ichiro took the advice to heart, tightening his grip around the voulge that was just as heavy as a pack basket of Mana crystals.

Kenta tapped on his buds "Captain Yoshiro Kenta; troop 408SL-Karma. Mission three hundred and eighty nine." Kenta reported.

Ichiro realised it was necessary to report a mission. He also observed that Captain Kenta tapped on his comm buds to report, and all of the hunters around him who did not wear helmets had buds, it was clear the rest of the troop did.

They marched until they reached the darklands, and immediately; the aura changed. Infact Ichiro together his poor sight in the darkness needed a torch.

[We have entered the darklands.]

The vanguard held their weapons in positions that Ichiro found enviable, all he could do was feel clouded by the darkness the further they went.

[Unknown hall -- three Ris, ten degrees North]

Ichiro was tired of walking by now, his legs were giving up, and all he wanted was a break. He didn't even care about the hall, all he wanted was to rest.

There were three types of halls in the beast realm: the safe halls which were complete buildings that once served as a courtroom to the beast lord. These halls were empty because the beasts had no access to this halls as the doors used the same mechanism as Komons, making them safest place to camp and regain strength during missions.

The second type of halls were wrecked halls, half destroyed buildings with higher chances of beasts inhabiting them. Also there were chances of beasts attacking them through the openings, it was the worst hall to be in.

Then there were claimed halls, halls that were inhabited by servants and courtiers of the late beast lord's court.

Ichiro could only wish the hall was a safe hall. Even worse was when whispers could be heard far into the darkness. The whispers materialised into beasts marching out.

"Do not spread out!" Kenta ordered. They were four beasts approaching them from the north, it was almost like they were blocking the part. Obeying Kenta's instruction, the hunters maintained the formation except for the vanguard. In one uniformed attack, the beasts fell dead.

'ohh...that's the power of the SSRs'

"Move" Kenta ordered. The march continued, and seeing how well the vanguard handled the beasts Ichiro was rest assured. infact, he immediately gained some momentum.

[Unknown hall -- thirty three metres away]

More beasts attacked, but the vanguard handled it all like a piece of meat. Ichiro could not be less impressed. He realised hunting was not as scary as he thought, because Ryo was right; the diamond formation was tight. Not even one beast had come his way.

[Unknown hall -- twenty metres]

By now Ichiro could see the hall from the middle where he was. It was a building about twenty metres tall and about fifty five metres wide, clearly impressive. It didn't even look wrecked and for once Ichiro was grateful for his luck.

[Unknown hall]

"On your six" Kenta informed the hunters to be more alert. He released a bug imitation detector, that flew above the hall, scanned it and report was sent to Kenta via his earbuds.

He tapped on his gauntlet

"Unsafe hall" he stated

[Wrecked hall-- gaining access]

a few hunters in the middle gasped, but Ichiro could not even afford to, he wore a poker face used to experiencing nightmares like this and having all his hopes crushed in ten seconds

'my bitter luck!!'

[Wrecked hall access allowed]

"Do not panic. We shall march in as one. In three..."

Ichiro expected a countdown, but there was nothing after Kenta's spunk talk. Infact, the hunters began marching almost immediately. A hunter whose badge said 'Ranger' bumped into him. The hunter Ichiro recognised as the really lousy guy in the van on his first day frowned

"Keep up" the hunter hissed.

Entering the hall, Kenta as much as everyone looked around the hall trying to find anything, but to their surprise there were no beasts and the hall was as quiet as a graveyard. The roof Ichiro observed to be the only damaged part of the hall. To him, the beasts were beyond intelligent to construct a building of such calibre. At first the Komons impressed him, but the halls were even more impressive than all those crap comics and movies had made them look

'or is it just this one?'

The pillars stood tall and elegant, made of material Ichiro identified as bronze. He had not seen a style similar to these, not even Columbus, or Corinthian could match. The pillars were sculpted into a serpent spitting out a spherical object anyone could guess to be an orb. On each side of the Dias these pillars stood majestically. There were ancient wall sconces, and the tomb style roof, now destroyed by beasts with no value for architecture. Ichiro grimaced upset.

Kenta heaved "It appears there are no beasts in this hall. We shall camp here for the night and resume the mission tomorrow." He said motioning for the hunters to follow.

Ichiro looked round the hall once, it was supposed to be a well built courtroom, but now it was wrecked certainly by the beats themselves. The beasts wrecked halls and inhabited them as they could not access the doors. The hunters had already lit the lamps in the hall, less bothered after the affirmation captain Kenta has given them, but this was what bothered Ichiro the most. Everyone was settling in, finding a place to seat among the massive thrones, while Ichiro simply just found his place on the floor. He was not concerned about being alone on the floor, afterall all the nasty hunters were out of his face, and imagine the beasts returning to see creatures three times smaller finding comfort in their thrones. Ryo and the rest of the SSRs were busy discussing with the captain on how to fix the roof, and the hunters who had served as the rearguard were preparing to return to the van and get supplies.

The lamps had oil, yet no one was concerned. If there was so much oil, to Ichiro it meant the landlord was around somewhere. And maybe not in the hall, but to him, it was sure to return. He couldn't tell anyone this although, asides the fact it was only a speculation, no one would listen to a nobody like him.

"Tare so gane wo nayasuru?! (Who dares to bother my sleep)" A loud voice roared. The doors immediately shut, and the hunters quickly grabbed their weapons ready for what was coming; a grade four infectious beasts.

"It speaks" one of the hunters murmured too horrified to move. Only grade four beasts or above were intelligent. And the hunters had just entered a trap well set for them. To Ichiro, it wasn't even a trap, they could avoid all this by avoiding the 'unsafe' hall. But the giant captain had his own thoughts

'and God knows they're full of shit!'

"Maintain the formation" Kenta ordered holding his fist up

"Wa namutati mina wo uti-kudakamu" the beast roared rushing to them its purple eyes glowing in the dimlight. It was aiming for their middle and Kenta immediately passed the order

"Spread out!"

The beast changed its mind and attacked Ryo, but Ryo was faster. He somersaulted and landed in a three point pose by Ichiro's side. "Stay with me..."

"Focus on the mission, Ryo-san" Erika grunted running towards the beast. Boru joined her

"Yes, you can't protect that, that...thing..." Sliding low and with a swift movement, Boru's sword met the beast's flesh, slicing its thighs. It roared again, and this time more beasts came running out of the inner chambers.

Ryo ignored the queries of his colleagues and glanced at Ichiro standing up straight. "Can you use the voulge?" He asked

"I..."

"If it's too heavy, I do not think I have a weapon that would be even less heavy. Use your dagger as a probability weapon, and act as my decoy..." He pointed at the beasts approaching "can you distract them by attracting to yourself, and I will attack them from the rear. It will be much easier that way" he said glancing at the beasts once more. Ichiro found the decision hard to make.

"Do not worry, Ichiro. I won't let you be harmed" Ryo said nodding. Ichiro nodded as well

"I don't have a vault" he muttered

"Give it to me then"

'eh?'

It suddenly felt like Ryo was a witch. And Ichiro could not trust him... infact who had he ever trusted that didn't fail him? He inhaled handing the voulge to Ryo, afterall with or without him; he could still end up dead. Immediately Ryo received the weapon, it vanished.

"Good. on my cue, you act" Ryo said moving farther away. Ichiro removed the dagger from his sabatons and stared at it contemplating if he was ready, he could not afford to die and did not want to disappoint the high ranked hunter who was putting hopes in him.

"Now!" Ryo called.

Ichiro nodded vigorously even though he still had not made up his mind.

'what if he isn't fast enough and the beasts catch up with me?' he let out a cry of frustration that was just enough to gain any beast's attention and even that of the hunters who wondered what the Rookie was doing.

"What is he doing?" Ayumi asked rhetorically. Kenta motioned for her and Erika to close in, but Boru joined them uninvited. His motto was; 'wherever Erika goes, I go' and Kenta couldn't really stop him, besides Boru was a supreme hunter, and he would make the job easier...or harder? It all depended on Boru's mood.

They had fallen the beast successfully and now it was left the grade two and three beasts.

"I want you to decapitate each beast you encounter, but let Yuto land the killing strikes..."

"Why?" Erika asked frowning, a grade two beast approached them, without looking at it once, she struck it down

"Yuto needs a promotion, and he cannot get that if he hasn't fallen at least a hundred grade three beasts. The Ascension ceremony is next month. The last progression test is four days from now -- The system needs to acknowledge him..." A grade three beast lurched their way and Kenta kicked it sending it crashing into the walls "...so I need everyone invested" he grunted. Boru grimaced

"Well, I also want to get promoted" he said, Erika nodded as well

"You know how Shibata-sama can be. I say your promotion can wait until the next ceremony..."

"Six months away? No Kenta-sama" Erika disagreed "grade three beasts doesn't really matter to you now. You should be hunting for grade four..."

"It does, and you know it." Erika said

"Fine, Kenta-sama" Ayumi said bowing slightly "Yuto!" She called as she ran off. Erika groaned turning "fine" she said dryly. Boru saluted "alright, captain"

"Why aren't you ending them?" Yuto asked

Ayumi shrugged "so you can get the kill points" she said slicing the hands of a grade three beast. Its cry was shrill, and gave Yuto more reasons to frown

"I don't need you to help me..."

"Ascension is next month, and the last test is next week -- you do" she concluded. Yuto groaned "let us help you, Yuto"

A good number of beasts ran after Ichiro who ran for his dear life. He shut his eyes running towards the big doors. Their mighty footsteps were getting nearer and nearer and he wondered why Ryo had not taken all of them down yet. His heart beating in his ears, Ichiro ran, not looking back once. Until he could no longer hear the beasts growling and snarling behind him.

He received a tap on the shoulder, but Ichiro assuming the worst shut his eyes.

"Ichiro-kun" Ryo called with furrowed brows. the instant relief Ichiro felt could not be measured, it was just Ryo and not those grotesque beasts. He breathed heavily turning around. His gaze fell on the beast on the floor trying to crawl away, but Ryo stopped it by stabbing the leg of the beast with a sword that appeared out of nowhere. It was pinned to the ground and had no means of escape except losing its leg.

"You need to be assigned, and you can only be assigned if you are an L rank." Ryo said moving away so Ichiro could get a clear view of the creature. Ichiro understood Ryo immediately, and without asking any questions, he approached the beast slowly. It was immobile and could no longer harm him, Ryo had made of that. Feeling elated than he should be, he stabbed the beast in its Tandem. It was too weak to react and with a sigh it vanished to hell. Ichiro felt the power surge through him, he felt different, and anew. Infact, all his fears were gone. What was this new feeling?

************************

The SR hunters went to get supplies from outside the gate, escorted by Ayumi an SSR. Everyone grimaced at the thought of her leaving them in an unsafe hall to follow her childhood friend but what could they possibly do?

"Kenta-sama, we have completed the survey. if beasts would be attacking us it would be until tomorrow, rest assured we can camp here" Ryo stated.

"Thank you, Ryo" Kenta appreciated. Ryo bowed and left to join the rest of his colleagues.

Geto rolled his eyes "I can't believe he let's us camp in an unsafe hall, a wrecked hall in the darklands. I mean, we narrowly escaped the beast that inhabited here, who knows what could be next. . . Core consuming beast" he murmured. Ren scoffed

"You worry too much. Ryo-senpai has scouted the area" he said shrugging.

"Ryo who reasons like a chicken, carrying that thing along" Geto shot Ichiro a glance that turned into a glare, and it made Ren laugh.

"You must really hate that Ichiro, but now he has Ryo's backing -- you better behave" Ren warned. "Did you hear? Ryo let him take a grade three" Geto asked in a lowered voice, Ren widened his eyes "that is amazing, he's become an LR". Geto furrowed his brows

"really?"

"Yes"

"Fuck, I need to work hard. With Ryo's support he could outrank us." Geto muttered more to himself. Ren chuckled "that is not possible, he does not have a Hunter's core. He will remain stuck in the low ranks."

****

The SR hunters returned with the supplies to the relief of everyone. They experienced beasts on their way, but with Ayumi it was as easy as counting your own fingers.

Ryo handed Ichiro the cup noodles he had already made, he held a bottle of water as well. Ichiro collected the ramen gratefully

"Thank you so much Ryo-senpai" he appreciated. Ryo nodded taking a seat on the floor, he drank half of the bottle of water and closed it.

"Your armour will serve better now" he said handing Ichiro the bottle of water "sorry, we have to manage resources. The mission lasts three days instead of the supposed two and all we get is what you saw Yuto and the rest bring" Ryo apologised for why there were only so little to manage.

"There's no problem" Ichiro said shrugging slightly.

"I should inform you that after now, no matter how much you try; you cannot ace the ranks. You can only be recognised as a hunter, but without a Hunter's core you remain stuck in the lower ranks. Can you tolerate that?" Ryo asked Ichiro who nodded slowly

"I can. Thank you for all your support, Ryo-senpai. I do not know what I could possibly do without you" Ichiro bowed his head and Ryo patted him

"What about Nanami? I mean, he died saving you. I know you do not know how or why, but I do not want to be detailed... but that is how it went" Ryo said inhaling. Ichiro sucked his teeth, it really was a burden having a person die for your sake

"Nanami was a brilliant hunter, taking after his father...did you know Nanami's father is Gyokuro Haruto?" Ryo asked turning to Ichiro who shook his head his eyes wide with surprise, Haruto was an Alpha hunter who died two years ago. He was popular for being the first hunter to take down a grade six core consuming beast "I didn't know Nanami Gyokuro was Haruto's son" he confessed

"I know, Nanami was really humble. His father died a great hunter defending the lives of people, and so did Nanami... it's just, I hoped Nanami would ascend the ranks this Ascension ceremony. It is indeed a disappointment" Ryo chuckled dryly, and Ichiro lowered his head dropping the cup of noodles

"I'm really sorry" he muttered quietly

"No, no, It is not your fault. Rather it is these beasts who we fight. And we must end them, Ichiro" Ryo said firmly. Ichiro remained trapped in his gaze "lest they enter our world and ruin us. Just like they ruined Nanami's bright future." Ichiro's heart clenched tightly and he sighed

"I am still responsible" he murmured

"No, Nanami died because he believed your life was more important. And that is because he believed in you. You can't keep running away Ichiro, you have to fight; it is the debt you owe Nanami; fight with your life..."

"Gather around in fifteen minutes" Kenta ordered

"Eat up" Ryo urged nudging Ichiro who picked the chopsticks. He ate in silence taking Ryo's words to heart; he could not run away anymore.

The hunters gathered around in a circle while a fire burned in the middle keeping the cool of the limestone building warm. To Ichiro, the fire was danger: it could attract more beast and ruin the tiny bit of peace the hunters were getting. Saying nothing, he sat between Ryo and Kenta as no one else would sit next to him.

"Tonight we shall rest and gain our spirits. We have tried our best to cover the broken roof with energy shields. We do not have enough to cover every hole, hence I am asking us to be alert even in our subconscious state, anything could happen. We shall resume our mission at exactly two thirty am in the morning and continue with the diamond formation." He informed

"Yes sir" the hunters chorused quietly careful not to attract any beasts.

"Good. You can go to sleep now" he said standing up. The hunters dispersed into their sleeping bags, except Ryo.

"Shouldn't you go to sleep as well?" Kenta asked, Ryo bowed

"You should not watch us sleep alone, Kenta-sama" he said sincerely. Kenta scoffed slightly "you are always trying to be kind and sincere...to everyone" he turned to Ryo who stood upright

"Ichiro deserves kindness as well" he muttered. Kenta chuckled rubbing the back of his head

"Of course he does. But when we are out here; we need everyone focused on the mission and not clouded with thoughts of showing kindness to a hunter who will never exceed the Low rank. It's a waste of time" he said shrugging slightly

"I know, but for a non-hunter to leave the comfort of his home, and become a hunter, it takes something, Kenta-sama" Ryo said lowering his head

"Or else home isn't comfortable" Kenta muttered. Ryo agreed with him

"That alone is a reason, but I know Ichiro isn't here just for the mana" Ryo was firm, and Kenta wore a thin smile

"I've seen many non-hunters join this troop. They come and go, and it is always for the mana. We who are hunters fight beasts for a purpose; which is to stop these creatures from entering our world..."

"Of course" Ryo wanted Ichiro assigned, and he wasn't giving up "believe me, Kenta-sama. Ichiro sees that as well. Knowing Nanami died saving his life, he would give hunting his best even though he cannot ace ranks..." Ryo knelt down kowtowing to Kenta's surprise "please, Kenta-sama. Allow Ichiro become an official hunter in our troop"