Hunters on the Loose (Pt. II)

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|| CHAPTER 39 | Hunters on the Loose (Pt. II) ||

"A cage unable to contain the greed of the Livings–– only to chain and to not cleanse.

"The rage and hatred boiling from the deepest abyss of their minds remain rooted to their core, for the flames are unable to burn their vengeful thirst to nothing but ashes.

"The hunters, they call them.

"Those who seek for blood and preys to hunt, the flesh they sell and the soul they capture, only to be traded with their greed and hunger for fame and power.

"The Livings, they dub them.

"It all starts from the sin that separates us all, what the Rulers decided."

––

It was quite a rough ride they had today.

One moment they were all prepared for today's lessons. Another second, they got lost in who-knows-where without any lead of what to do aside from splitting up and trying to find the way out themselves.

Shizuka heaved a heavy sigh, stretching her sore shoulders from all the sudden movements she had been making.

Running had never been her favourite activity.

Her stressed-out mind ignored how Orion and Vinnetra had been arguing back and forth in the background. Instead, she thought of how the others were doing. Sure, they had Kishi to probably help them with communicating from afar. However, they didn't discuss such a matter until it finally occurred to the girl.

Such a shame they forgot, she sobbed.

After one last shriek from Vinnetra (who was dodging Orion's annoyed hit), Shizuka was woken out of her stupor.

"Oh?" Shizuka finally noticed the rowdiness amongst the boys and raised a curious eyebrow, asking, "Orion-san, does it still hurt?"

Shizuka frowned a bit, worry written all over her visage. 'Did my spell not work?' she thought in concern, 'I thought that I had already perfected that spell a few weeks ago.'

Taken aback by the girl's question, he quickly composed himself. Much to Shizuka's worry, Orion silently clicked his tongue at his flustered state, quickly stating that he was fine. Only when Shizuka nodded hesitantly that the redness of his ears faded away.

Vinnetra dared to slip a chuckle out, struggling to hold his laughter as Orion's glower was practically boring holes into his hunching back.

"Can't you just shut up for one second?" Orion muttered in defeat after seeing how Vinnetra kept cackling at his little situation.

"Sorry, sorry..." Vinnetra wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, letting one last breath out before calming down. "By the by, what are we gonna do now?" asked the young Haile as he placed his hands loosely on his hips, somewhat slouching from the aching muscles attacking him.

Isseiris looked at Shizuka, only to earn a shrug from the latter.

He closed his eyes for some moment before speaking, "There's nothing much we can do about those men, to say the least."

"They're probably not someone we should mess with anyways," Shizuka added in, the vexation heard in her voice. "Who knows what we'll get ourselves into with some group possessing a Cuserius Staff."

"As much as I wanna agree with you, we can't just let them find those Antheroses though," Vinnetra debated with furrowed eyebrows.

From the corners of his eyes, he saw how Orion crossed his arms in a thinking manner.

He's oddly quiet after their little fight.

Paying no mind to the ash-blonde's sudden silence, the young Haile continued, "I know that I'm not as strong as you guys, but I really can't let those men find the Antheroses–– wherever they may be."

Vinnetra displayed a strong look of determination, only to receive a smile from Shizuka.

He flinched.

"Don't worry too much, Vin-san," she assured. "It's not like we're not going to find the Antheroses. Right?"

Crystal-blue eyes darted at Isseiris, putting him in quite an uncomfortable spot. The teen cleared his throat with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. Truthfully spoken, he didn't want to get involved in any of the matters they're facing right now.

Getting lost in an unknown place was enough of a hassle.

Though, he admitted, Shizuka's glance was enough to tell him how she's only encouraging Vinnetra to keep his positivity alive.

Neither Isseiris nor Shizuka liked the way Vinnetra evaluated his own strength.

They all knew how strong he was from that one defensive spell he cast in a battle between life or death.

Isseiris then broke into a small smile, going unnoticed by the others. He breathed out, "... All right, then. Our next objective is to find the Antheroses then."

Vinnetra and Shizuka cheered, clasping their hands to each other with the happiest smile they could muster.

They were bright, Orion complained.

"However," Isseiris cut in, a stern look on his face.

Seeing how there was another condition to what they were about to do was nerve-wracking to Vinnetra, especially how Isseiris was one of the coldest-looking students in their class. He gulped hard.

"... do remember that our main objective is still to look for a way out of this place," the Caraell reminded. "We can always go back to the Antheroses once we get some help, understood?"

"Sir, yessir," Shizuka playfully saluted with Vinnetra copying her action.

"All right!! Maybe we could find that baby Antheros along the way and protect it before those hunters get them!!" Vinnetra stated firmly, resolve in his eyes as the fire was seen behind him, burning brightly.

"Is it just me? Or is it really hot right now?" Shizuka queried while fanning herself as Isseiris sweat-dropped at the shorter female.

"No, it's hot, all right," Orion added lazily.

"Come, let's go. Time is ticking." Isseiris gestured for them to follow, and they did. "We can't go back to the park since our route is closed by those boulders."

"We could probably fly there?" Shizuka suggested, floating slightly and hovering above the cemented ground.

"We can cast some spells on you two as we fly there," Isseiris added in as well, preparing for a certain spell.

"I... guess we can try that... The others might be worried about us. It's already twenty-four minutes past our agreed time." Vinnetra looked at his pocket watch as he looked at the greyish-blue sky.

"It's gonna rain, huh..." Orion mumbled and held out his palm out, expecting some droplets to come into contact with his somewhat tan skin.

The sky rumbled and the clouds blinked ominously, hiding flashes of lightning behind their thickened lumps. They were moving along with the winds, towards where the warmth had no longer lingered.

Their feet parted with the earth, soaring above it.

As their bodies followed the gales, opposing their trails, the striplings made their way through the piercing cold and the stabbing chilliness of the air. The rainy season around Aeorece was considered to be extremely cold, although they couldn't get used to it even after more than a decade of living there.

The frigid temperature around the neighbourhood wasn't as cold as Aeorece, but it was enough to cause shuddering throughout their skins.

Not long after they were only tens of metres away from their last stop, bits of raindrops fell from the sky onto his cheeks and palm.

They fell one by one until it finally rained hard.

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Shizuka stared at the gloomy sky with an unreadable look, taking in the rain that fell upon her without blinking.

Finally, she closed her eyes, remembering a certain day in the past.

–– a day where it rained as well.

–– a day where everything went horribly wrong.

–– the day where her life turned on her and fate abandoned her.

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Minutes went by and their forms were finally sheltered beneath the roof of a terrace.

Bound behind an opened gate, the group was lucky to find the place as most houses were trapped with locked gates and were unable to use magic towards them.

They were wet and cold, drenched with rain that left them no room to breathe properly.

Shizuka tapped the end of her shoes on the wooden platform, hoping that it would at least get some of the water out of her flooded shoes.

Whilst Vinnetra was audibly cursing the weather (even if his voice was drowned by the thunders), Orion and the other two shivered.

"Say, can't you just dry us with that magic of yours?" Orion directed the question to the shivering girl as she looked at him with her doe eyes.

"I would have done it earlier if I could, Orion-san. But my magic seemed to deplete more here, and I don't know why. I don't even have enough mana to summon my spirits–– despite having endless mana."

She pouted as she stared at the rain, stiffly standing and shaking ever-so-slightly.

"Oh, I know. Why don't you use your flames, then? I can help us warm up with mine as well," Vinnetra suggested calmly, all the while grabbing an unused wooden table. He lit his hand on fire and touched the table, trying to burn it.

Keyword: trying.

The table did NOT want to burn one bit.

Vinnetra stared at it in utter puzzlement, trying his hands on it again and again, but to no avail after almost half an hour. Isseiris held back a laugh as Shizuka just didn't care and laughed to her heart's content, ignoring the embarrassed look Vinnetra was holding in.

"Come on!! Don't laugh!!! And Isseiris, I see you over there!!!"

Vinnetra flushed at his little mistake and hid his face in his hands. The redness of his ears could even rival a tomato, much less his whole face. It was drowning in crimson.

"You know magic doesn't work on these things, right?" Orion smirked as he mimicked what Vinnetra tried to do before, tapping the surface of the table several times.

"I FORGOT, OKAY?! Gracious Gaia, please kill meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" poor Vinnetra cried out as his face became redder every second that had passed, allowing steams to come out of his ears and head.

Shizuka laughed uncontrollably, letting tears seep out from the corners of her eyes. The young Caraell beside her held in his laughter, muffled between his hands and shaking shoulders.

"Gaia, have mercy..." Vinnetra slumped his shoulders, sighing loudly. "... At least Isseiris laughed?" He raised an eyebrow at the light-blue-haired male, causing the taller male to stop whatever he was doing.

"Oh, yeah... We never see you laugh before, Issei-san~!" Shizuka peered at the taller male from Vinnetra's shoulder, blinking continuously.

As Vinnetra's blush died down, it's now Isseiris' turn to blush, though only a slight pink brushing his cheeks warm. He hid the bottom half of his face with his hands as the others laughed in amusement.

It was nice revenge from Vinnetra.

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–– even if he couldn't get one on Shizuka.

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Evening was fast to come as the four children wandered aimlessly after the rain.

The sun which had been their only source of light and warmth was about to say goodbye, waving behind the curtains of rain and allowing the crescent moon to slowly show itself, along with the blinking stars.

At some point, they grunted and cursed the gods for the situation they're in.

Other times, they had nothing left to say.

Their magic energies were all gone as they kept battling those black-shrouded men. Exhausted much faster than usual, it didn't help that those men carried several advanced magic tools and Cuserius staves with them. They never did find the baby Antheros, so they decided to give up on it and tried to search for the others.

"I wonder if the others are all r–– achoo!" Shizuka sneezed behind her long sleeves and rubbed her nose, causing it to get reddish by the second. "–– ight... Gosh, I think I'm getting a cold..."

"S-Same goes here... God, it's hella cold here..." Vinnetra added in, rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm himself. The group quivered as a strong wind blew, causing the two poor kids to sneeze and sniff uncontrollably.

Orion only heaved a small sigh and commented bluntly, "You guys have weak physical endurance towards the cold, huh?"

"Oh, shut up," snapped them both back. Vinnetra sneered, "Don't pretend like you weren't cold earlier either."

Orion paid no mind to his words and looked left and right, helping them search for a place to set up a temporary camp.

"Also, it's not like I wanted this cursed body...!!" Vinnetra countered in between his sneezes as the girl stayed quiet, trying hard not to sneeze–– but that was proven to be quite hard with her stuffy nose and tickling sense of smell.

"... And you guys are supposed to have some strong magic as well."

"Strong magic doesn't mean a strong vessel, ya' know!!!" Vinnetra let out his tongue at the ash-blonde male, earning a shrug from the latter.

"Good thing our clothes are doubled. We won't get too cold at night," Shizuka muttered as she sneezed again. "Ah... how great. My nose stings."

"Where are the others anyway? I haven't heard any yelling or news of them searching for us," the raven-haired male questioned casually while attempting to climb a tree, trying to get a better view. But he failed miserably and slid down the trunk, unable to get a steady footing due to the rain.

–– at least, he tried?

"Vin-san, let me do the looking..." Shizuka offered and sweat-dropped at Vinnetra's failure. She flew upwards and squinted her eyes, looking out for any sign of the others. After not being able to find them, she finally returned to the ground.

"Did you see them?" Orion inquired the other two behind him, anticipating a certain answer.

"Nope. I haven't seen any of the Antheroses or those hunters either," Shizuka answered defeatedly while crossing her arms, thinking about something. Her answer wasn't exactly what they hoped for, but it was a bit better than having nothing.

"The adults are not looking for us, are they...?" Vinnetra stated gloomily and sat on the stone pavements.

The atmosphere surrounding the group wasn't as bright as when they first split up. It wasn't so bright in the beginning either, so it only got worse.

"There might be something we've missed. It's like we're in a different time or dimension or something..." Shizuka mumbled to herself as she's trying to wrack her brains for an answer.

Something lit up in Isseiris' head as he got their attention with his guess, "What if we are in a different dimension? Like a Magic Space. The user can control whatever they want in their Space, right?"

"So that means they write the rules around here?" Vinnetra asked with uncertainty as the platinum-blonde-haired girl nodded.

"Yes, that's what a 'Magic Space' is. That's probably the only explanation as to why our magic depleted so easily!" Shizuka exclaimed in frustration as Vinnetra rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort the poor girl.

"That being said, we still need to find those Antheroses. If they're trapped here, too–– along with those sketchy ass dudes–– who knows how many there are that those hunters are after." Orion walked towards the main road of the neighbourhood.

"Yeah, we need to find those Antheroses and secure them quickly. If those hunters get their hands on them, they could make even the highest grade of illegal weapons." Isseiris trailed ahead, preparing some stuff.

Orion went into one of the houses that were unlocked and grabbed some knives and weapons, or whatever there was that they could use.  Isseiris and Orion gathered the weapons inside a random bag they found in one of the houses.

"What do you mean by 'illegal weapons?'" Vinnetra hesitantly queried, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"He meant their antlers," Shizuka answered for the light-blue-haired male because he and the ash-blonde-haired male were too busy. She pointed at the non-existent antlers at the top of her head, giving the sign that she was talking about the Antheroses.

"'Antlers?' What do they have to do with weapons?"

"Remember that the baby Antheros' antlers had flowers on them?"

"Uh-huh."

"They can be used as a powerful support item for the Cuserius Staff. The Antheroses are known for being beautiful creatures, but deadly as well. Those flowers can bring you death if you consume them–– no," Shizuka paused.

"Even if you touched one with your tongue, it will immediately kill you." Ending the explanation with a solemn visage, Vinnetra froze in place.

"Well, you don't need to worry too much, Vin. We got two geniuses in our class with us," Orion grinned, directing the statement at the female Ichijou and the young Caraell.

The two looked at each other before raising an eyebrow at the ash-blonde boy. But before Vinnetra could ask again, an Antheros came out of the house that Orion went in before to get some knives.

"What in the––?!"

"Is that the one from before?!" Vinnetra shrieked, clinging onto the platinum-blonde-haired girl's arms whilst her eyes glimmered and sparkled.

"Nope! Look, that one is taller than the previous one!" Shizuka pointed out while walking cautiously towards it.

It's as if the creature could sense that she meant no harm, it lowered its head for her to softly caress, which both enjoyed. When Vinnetra tried to touch it though, it got scared at the sudden action and hid behind the female.

"Sheesh, no need to show that you don't like me." Vinnetra pouted at the Antheros, causing the others to laugh at them.

"Okay, now that we found one of the Antheroses, that means there are probably more out there. We need to get it out of here. Come on," Isseiris gestured to his friends as they went on their way.

Shizuka rode on top of the creature to tell it where to go. Fortunately, the creature trusted her enough to follow her orders–– even though it didn't know what was going on.

There was nothing going out of the ordinary for them until suddenly, the ground shook and the area surrounding them swirled and turned. The word 'nauseous' was not enough to describe the churning in their stomachs.

"…?"

"What is happening?!"

"Whoa––"

"Gah!!"

|| CHAPTER 39 | Hunters on the Loose (Pt. II) - To be continued... ||

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