Becoming a mage

Hunter let go of Vixen's lifeless body with no expression. After seeing Hunter slaughter the youngsters, Kolvar's fear of Hunter increased by folds. When he turned his head to see Thrud's body, he could only sigh. All of this could have been avoided if the youngsters had simply taken another quest or stayed in their sect. While he was feeling pity for Thrud and the youngsters, Hunter searched the youngsters for astral coins and was able to find fifty coins. He put the coins into his pocket and turned his focus toward the dead bandits. Before leaving for Bellburn city, Hunter gave each bandit a share of the chest full of valuables. Although their deaths forced Hunter to alter his future plans for the criminal empire, at least he could loot their bodies and grab the valuables. It could help him tackle the financial side of the business for a while until he could get his brew business up and running.

"Can you cut the ropes, please?" Kolvar raised his voice to get Hunter's attention. Hunter approached Kolvar and cut the ropes around the elf's wrists.

"Search their bodies and take everything you can," Hunter pointed at the dead bandits.

"Don't you feel a shred of sadness or pity for them?" Kolvar asked Hunter. In Kolvar's eyes, Hunter seemed more focused on looting their bodies than feeling bad for their deaths.

"Me crying for their deaths won't bring them back," Hunter said before heading into the destroyed tent where he stayed. A few seconds later, Hunter exited the tent with a sack in his hand. He put all the excess astral coins he couldn't fit into his pockets, chains, pieces of jewelry, and valuables into the sack.

"We should bury them," Kolvar said while searching Thrud's body.

"We don't have time for that. I'll just burn them all, along with these assholes," Hunter threw his glance at Richard and his group.

"The least we can do is give them a proper burial Hunter. They deserve that," said Kolvar.

Hunter dropped the sack and looked Kolvar in the eyes.

"You seem to have forgotten these bandits used to murder people for a few astral coins and a piece of jewelry. They are not saints and deserve shit," Hunter snickered.

As much as Kolvar wanted to give them a proper burial, he knew Hunter was right. Everything they had in the chest was stolen from innocent people. Even Thrud had murdered many in cold blood, and Hunter's words reminded Kolvar of the horrific reality. Deep down, Kolvar knew the real bad guys in this situation were them. The youngsters were tasked to eradicate the bandits so the merchants and people could travel through the forest without fearing for their lives.

Unfortunately, they met an otherworldly villain called Hunter and lost their lives. Despite how he felt about Hunter, Kolvar still felt loyal to him. Every time Kolvar looked at him, he saw his innocent friend Parker. His friendship with Parker made him stay by Hunter's side no matter what. Besides, Hunter was the one who gave him his freedom. Without Hunter, Kolvar knew he would still be working as a slave in the devil's button field, dreaming about the wind against his face and good sleep without any fear.

"Did you really have to kill her?" Kolvar asked Hunter, looking at Vixen. Even after she died, she looked beautiful as a full moon in a starry sky.

"So because she was a chick, you think I should have spared her?" Hunter asked Kolvar.

"That's not…" Kolvar mumbled as Hunter shook his head.

'Listen carefully, elf. I don't discriminate. If you piss me off, I won't give a damn if you are a chick, guy, or even the bloody emperor of the world. I will end you," Hunter came to Kolvar with the sack and motioned him to drop everything he had into the sack.

"There are people in this world I can't kill, but none I won't kill," Hunter said with a smile of a killer. Now that he had spent some time with Hunter, Kolvar couldn't disagree with him. He was indeed a murdering maniac. If one asked Kolvar for a piece of life-saving advice, he would definitely tell them to avoid crossing paths with Hunter.

Finally, after looting their bodies and putting everything valuable into the sack, Hunter and Kolvar left the camp on their horses. On the other hand, Thrud's horse carried the bodies of the youngsters. Eventually, when they traveled far from the camp, Hunter buried the bodies in the forest and continued his journey toward the goblin camp. On his way, neither of them uttered a word. Kolvar asked a couple of questions but received no answer from Hunter. The latter was deep in his thoughts, pondering whether he could choose to be a mage or a warrior.

Hunter had to weigh the pros and cons of being a mage or a warrior before deciding. Being a mage was his first choice because who wouldn't like casting spells? The earthling inside Hunter wanted him to be a mage and use magic. However, a mage wasn't built for close combat fighting. Even a commoner could threaten a mage's life if they managed to catch the mage off guard and strike before they could cast a spell. This was why the mages wore powerful talismans on them at all times. The next choice Hunter had was the path of a warrior. Contrary to mages, Warriors were trained for close combat. Like spells to Mages, the warriors had martial art techniques that could enhance their speed, strength, and power. Coupled with special weapons, a warrior could truly become a powerhouse quicker than a mage.

Since Hunter had the devil's cry, choosing to be a warrior seemed like the best choice.

"System, I choose to be a mage," In the end, Hunter decided to become a mage. Not that he thought casting spells were cool. He was not a child to make decisions based on how cool things were. The reason behind Hunter's decision was he had enough training to fight toe to toe against even the most proficient fighters in the world. Hunter was all about maximizing his chances of dominating the battle. Rather than winning a battle, Hunter always preferred dominating it. To continue his dominance in this world too, Hunter needed to be versatile in everything. Hence, he chose to become a mage first and then a warrior.

[The system requires 15,000 badass points to unlock the elemental chakras in your body. Please be aware that the current cultivation of the host only allows one elemental chakra to be opened. The host has to level up to unlock more elemental chakras] The system informed Hunter.

[Does the host wish to continue?]

"Yes," said Hunter.

[The host must choose one of the following elemental chakras, Fire, Water, and Earth]

Seeing the system had given him only three elements to choose from, Hunter frowned.

"Where are the rest of the elements? Where is the wind element?" asked Hunter. Judging by Parker's memories, which were mostly useless and about dancing, Hunter perceived that the Wind element was the strongest among all. It didn't mean the others were weak. It just meant Wind elements had more powerful spells than the rest. Therefore, Hunter wanted to be a mage who specialized in Wind first. Unfortunately, the system did not have Wind elements as one of the choices.

[The host must reach higher levels to unlock more elemental chakras. For now, you have to choose one of the three] said the system without any emotion at all.

"Then, Fire," Hunter chose the Fire element because the Water element had mostly healing spells while the earth had more miscellaneous spells like building and growing things. Only the Fire element had spells that could be used to kill or cause destruction. So Hunter had no choice but to choose the Fire chakra.

[Considering the host has just started your journey in this world, the system will gift you a free spell] Despite the system's otherworldly voice, Hutner almost sensed an annoyance as though the system hated giving free stuff. Hunter however was delighted to get a free spell to start with. After choosing to be a mage, he spent most of his badass points and still had to convert the valuables into astral coins.

"So when-" Hunter started questioning the system as he suddenly felt an intense pain in his body and brain.

"Fuck!" Hunter shouted before falling down his horse. In his entire life, Hunter had never felt such excruciating pain. Even when hundreds of bullets penetrated his body, he didn't feel pain such as this. It was like every cell in his body was being crushed and torn. Everything around Hunter went dark, and the only feeling he had was this horrible pain. Hunter's horse neighed as Kolvar immediately unmounted his rise and ran to Hunter, who squirmed on the forest ground like a fish out of water.

"Hunter!"

"Hunter, what's happening?"

"Hunter!"

Kolvar shook Hunter by his shoulders and shouted at him. However, Hunter neither heard nor saw Kolvar. Instead, all he could see was utter darkness. Then, an intense heat appeared in the center of his chest as Kolvar noticed Hunter's eyes suddenly glowing. The black eyes turned crimson red for a moment, and when he looked deeper, Kolvar saw flames within them. Kolvar was completely stunned and terrified, yet he did not let go of Hunter. While holding Hunter in his arms, Kevlar felt the temperature around him rising significantly to the point Kolvar started to sweat bullets.

Finally, after an unknown number of minutes, Hunter felt the pain lessening in his body. The pain he experienced slowly turned into a soothing warm sensation throughout his whole body. As the pain lessened, Hunter felt stronger.

[Congratulations! The host has successfully become a mage]

[Congratulations! The host has unlocked Fire Chakra. The host can now cast all the fire spells within your cultivation level]

[Congratulations! The host has learned the fire spell, Inferno Blast]

Once the pain completely faded away, the system filled Hunter's sight with notifications. He took a few seconds to read all of them and stood up to his feet.

"Are you alright? What just happened?" Kolvar questioned Hunter.

"Just a sudden pain. That's all," Hunter lied through his teeth without telling Kolvar that he just became a mage. Although Kolvar was Parker's best friend, Hunter still hadn't trusted Kolvar enough to reveal his powers. In fact, Hunter wanted to keep his powers hidden as long as he could. If his enemies had no idea he was a mage, he would automatically have an advantage over them.

After everything was said and done, Hunter summoned the system and willed the system to show him his new spell.

Spell: Inferno Blast

Effect: Releases a burst of intense flames that engulfs and damages enemies in the area of effect

Casting time: 1 second

Hunter was stunned when he saw the spell crimson red glowing letters before his eyes.

"Casting time is one second?"