Chapter 1: Beginning

Monsters, creatures of destruction, beings whose sole purpose is to destroy. For centuries these monsters have terrorized the world. Towns, Cities and even entire kingdoms have fallen to these monsters.

It took centuries of constant warfare against them to finally push a majority of those monsters out of the continent.

The leaders that played a key role to finally pushing the monsters out of the continent all met together to discuss amongst themselves on what to do in order to ensure that the monsters don't return back into the continent.

After a long and lengthy meeting they all decided to train and prepare in order to ensure that they are prepared when the monsters inevitably return back into the continent.

All of the leaders went to their specific kingdom and chose a strategic and important location and established Academies, to teach and prepare the next generation of what is to come.

Naturally this new occupation was something that all of the leaders all talked about and discussed; they all eventually began to discuss amongst themselves what this new occupation should be called.

There were many promising names to them, Adventurers and Freelancers were some of the more popular names for the new occupation, but after much deliberation the new name would eventually be decided.

They would be known as Hunters.

Now each academy that was established all took a specific field that their founder was good at. Such as Jarnac with swordsmanship, Merlin with magic casting, Artemis with marksmanship, and many many more. All of those academies excel at teaching a specific field, but out of all of those academies, one stood out.

Located at the center of the continent in between all of the academies is a single academy. Grayfield Academy the first Academy to be founded across the world. Founded by Florentia to be a beacon and model to all academies. Grayfield would go on to be the standard that all academies must follow.

Many influential and famous people have entered and left Grayfield, all of them bringing with them their stories of their adventures when they were still students.

But those stories are for another time.

The smell of fish permeated the entire docks as several service crews and sailors worked on the dock, not minding the smell. Several people were leaving the docks after landing there, one of these people is William Lark.

He had soft light brown hair, shining green eyes and wore a simple white t-shirt and pants and a soft and warm jacket. He also was currently carrying several small bags on him that inside contained his two daggers, his equipment, and all his other clothing and essentials.

And as of right now, he was leaving the port city of Treva, as he left the port he traveled a bit inside the city, visiting small stands and was generally enjoying his time inside the city.

William knew that he would be traveling by train to reach the capital of Kailin, the city of Beowulf.

But the train would be scheduled to arrive late so he has time to travel along and enjoy his stay inside the city, he just has to keep track of his time and don't get late.

And now, William was walking around the streets of Treva while eating, and enjoying a piece of Franzbrötchen, personally William doesn't like sweet pastry, but the sweet taste of butter and cinnamon makes it hard not to love the sweet pastry. He likes the taste so much, he actually bought a half a dozen of them.

And while he was walking, he heard a small scuffle in front of him as the thief, who was holding onto a stolen bag was being chased by some officers.

"Halt! Thief!" One of the officers shouted.

As the thief tried to run away, William stretched out his leg and purposely tripped the thief as the officers caught up to the thief. As the officers were apprehending the thief, one of the officers looked at William, he was by far the oldest among the guards.

William raised one of his eyebrows as the guard looked at him before speaking.

"Thank you," The officer said to William. "We've been chasing this thief for weeks."

William nodded, "Just trying to help in any way I can." He said as he grabbed one of his Franzbrötchen before taking a bite.

The old officer looked at William as his younger associates grabbed the thief as was dragged away,

"Tell me, are you going to attend Grayfield?" The old officer asked and WIliam nodded.

"Yeah, I plan to be a Grayfield student," William spoke. "That is if I pass the entrance exam."

The old officer nodded, "Well I shouldn't waste your time like this," The old guard said. "Besides if I remember correctly the train that's going to Beowulf city is going to arrive very shortly."

William's eyes opened wide at the realization, "Crap," He said out loud before running to the train station. "Sorry officer! I have a train to catch!" He shouted as he ran to the train station.

The old officer waved his hand at the running silhouette of William. "Take care kid! Good luck with the entrance exam!" The old guard shouted.

One of the younger officers looked at the old guard confused for a moment.

'Why are you so supportive to younger kids, while you're so tough on us?" The younger one asked.

The older officer looked at the younger officer and spoke. "Well, children like him are going to be the future of the world. And unlike me and you, our time in the spotlight is long over." He stated. "So get back to work!!" The old guard shouted, causing the younger officers to panic and hurry up.

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Back to William, he ran as fast as he could back to the station, pulling out a pocket watch. William saw the time.

15 minutes left until the train leaves the place.

Quickening his pace, William slowly began to run faster and faster, until he was now using magic on some parts of his body to help him run faster.

Using the many skills that he learned when he was younger, William quickly traversed the busy streets, making sure to not hit anything while he was running.

As he was running, William saw a person lifting a stack of boxes, near him was a small kid who was playing. As the person walked, a small gush of wind caused the person to drop the stack of boxes, all of which were aimed at the little kid.

Reacting quickly, William leaped forward to the kid and grabbed him before he was hit.

As he did, he rolled on the ground and looked at the kid in his arms.

"Are you all right?" William asked.

"Uhh, uh-" The kid didn't say anything as it looked like he was overwhelmed.

William nodded as he looked at the kid. "It's okay. It's okay." William said, "Just breathe and relax." William said.

The kid nodded at his words. Behind him the person who was holding onto the pile of boxes earlier rushed at them.

"Eren!" He shouted. "Eren are you alright!" The person said.

The person who held up the boxes earlier rushed at them, William quickly stood up and took a couple of steps back. The kid saw the person who held the stack of boxes earlier and rushed at him.

"Big bro!" The little kid said as he hugged his older brother.

"It's alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I wasn't careful." The big brother said before looking at WIlliam. "... Thank you" was all he said.

William nodded before leaving, he gave the little kid his older brother a glance.

"Just make sure to be mindful of your surroundings. If you're not, someone might get hurt." WIlliam said before he began to run again back to the station.

Pulling out his pocket watch once again, he saw that there were only 8 minutes left until the train departed.

Sighing to himself, William continued to run towards the train station. Running with everything he had, he entered the train station and saw that he had only 5 minutes left until the train departed.

William sighed to himself in relief. He was glad at the fact that he arrived on time.

After a short while William boarded the train and entered.

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On the other side of the train, a hooded figure walked towards the train.

One of the guards that was guarding the area approached him cautiously.

"Sorry sir, but I would need you to remove your hood before entering the train." The guard said to him as he walked to him.

The hooded figure did nothing but looked up at him in silence before nodding slightly.

"I… See. You are just doing your job." The hooded figure said. "I guess… I have to respect you."

He grabbed his hood and pulled it down, his white hair was revealed to the guard, until he stopped midway. He pulled his hood back down, concealing his hood once more. Looking back once again at the guard. The hooded figure looked at the guard for a moment

"..." He said nothing as he looked at the guard.

The hooded figure walked towards the guard while he reached underneath his dark robe. the guard tenses as the hooded figure walked up to him.

"Look kid, if you stop now I won't hurt you. But you need to stand down." The guard advised the hooded figure.

The hooded figure in return, chucked as he looked at the guard for a moment.

"Too bad," The hooded figure said before he pulled out a knife and stabbed the guard in the heart. Killing him instantly. "I don't care." was all he said.

As the lifeless body of the guard fell to the ground,the hooded figure looked down at the dead body and tilted his head before he continued walking and boarded the train.

"In the end," the hooded figure spoke to himself, "Nothing matters."

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William walked around for a bit as he looked around at the scenery in the train.

The train was built with finely made wood, followed by some metal outlines in the structure of the building.

It was built by the Robin Corporation, a continental sized business, and is one of the world's largest businesses. This train was built alongside the Cross-Continental railroad system, a system that was created 30 years ago to help facilitate growth and development across the continent.

That and making a profit.

William quickly went to his assigned room in the train, as he entered his room he placed all of his bags in the room. He also took off the jacket that he was wearing and opted to not wear his jacket. For now.

He looked at all of his bags and decided to check if all of the things were in his bag.

Checking one of the more larger bags, he saw that it was filled with all of his clothes, nodding to himself, he moved on to another bag. The other bag had all of the supplies that he needed during school and some money that his foster parents gave him.

And the last bag had all of the needed supplies that William would need to become a hunter.

Looking at his bag one picked up a small box inside of the bg and opened it and saw his dual knives. Picking up the duel blades he looked at it carefully before nodding to himself.

Originally he thought that he should place his dual knives back into the box but he decided against it. William thinks it might come in handy later.

Going back to his bag, William grabbed two knife holsters and placed them at his hip. Sheathing his knives into his holsters, William grabbed his jacket that he placed at the bed.

He quickly wore the jacket and used it to hide the two knives that were on his hip. Nodding tio himself, William smiled as he left his room, but not before making sure to lock the door.

Traveling across the train, William walked around the train, and eventually found himself at what seems to be the Restaurant part of the train.

Inside of the restaurant was made with high quality wood that provided even ventilation across the train cart. there were plenty of tables inside of the train,

William walked to one of the tables that was near one of the windows that overlooked the outside of the train.

As he sat down at his table and briefly looked at the window and admired the outside for a bit. A waitress came by his table with a menu in his hand and handed him the menu.

William looked through the menu and began to think to himself what kind of food he would like to eat there.

He thought about the fact that maybe the food here might be tasty, but knowing the fact that the food here is from the train, he doesn't have any positive feelings.

Looking back at the menu, he saw that the menu was rather simple, nothing to fancy. All of the food there can be made rather easily. Looking back at the menu and smiling, he called the waitress to pick his order.

"Hello, can I take your order?" The waitress asked, William.

William nodded, "Yes, I would like to order a simple Ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of water." William said.

The waitress nodded, "Ok, a ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of water. That would be 15 thaler."

William looked at the waitress briefly before nodding, "Here." he said.

The waitress nodded, "Ok just wait a few minutes sir your order would arrive in a few minutes." She said,

William nodded as the waitress left to hand out the order to the chefs. William sighed to himself as he thought about the price of the sandwich.

'15 Thaler, really?I could buy a small scale dinner for a family at that price.' William thought to himself.

William shrugged to himself as he looked back at the window and admired the view outside.

After a while the waitress arrived with a ham and cheese sandwich alongside a glass of water.

"Here you go sir." The waitress said as she handed the plate and glass of water.

"Thank you very much." WIlliam said as he took the plate and cup of water from the waitress.

William looked at the plate of food in front of him, a ham and cheese sandwich with a glass of water.

William took a small sandwich and took a bite. He smiled to himself. The sweet taste of the ham alongside the creamy cheese made the sandwich a treat to eat.

While Wlliam savored the dish in front of him, an anonymous figure entered the train cart. Their pure black hood and robe surrounded the figure in pure darkness.

One of the waiters came to the hooded figure only to look at him and was shocked as he saw that the hooded figure was covered with blood. Nervously the waiter looked at him and asked.

"P-pardon my rudeness sir, but I would request that you remove your robe and turn yourself to the guards accordingly." The waiter said as he looked at the hooded figure with caution.

By now, everyone in the train cart looked at the Hooded figure, including William as he silently watched the entire scene. One of his hands reached out to one of his knives as he patiently waited.

"..." The hooded figure said nothing as he looked at the waiter, revealing to him a small strand of white hair. "Why should It matter?" He said.

"Ahhhhh!!!" The waiter shouted out in utter horror as he turned around and attempted to run away. "It's Nyx! It's Nyx!" he shouted as attempted to run. Only for the hooded figure known as Nyx grabbed him by the neck and pulled him closer to him.

The hooded figure tilted his head as he pulled the waiter closer to him, he asked. "Tell me, why does my name scare so many people?" He asked. "When all I'm doing is helping them."

The waiter that was being held by the neck by Nyx said nothing as he struggled against his grip.

Nyx looked down briefly to the ground as he sighed out to himself.

"Very well," Nyx said, looking at the waiter as he grabbed a knife and aimed it at the waiter. "You have outlived your usefulness." Nyx said as he aimed his knife and attempted to strike him.

Everyone watched in horror at what was about to happen. Everyone except for William, because he would never let it happen.

Using a small bit of his magic power, William moved at such speed as he was able to grab the waiter away from Nyx's grasp.

William released his hand from the waiter as he looked at him for a moment.

"Are you ok?" William asked.

The waiter looked at him for a moment before quickly nodding.

William smiled, "I'm gla-'' He said only to see the waiter's face looking out behind him in horror.

"Look out!" the waiter shouted.

William reacted quickly as he grabbed his knife and was able to deflect a knife that was thrown towards him.

William looked at Nyx, his eyes focused only on him. William noticed that his hood that was covering his whole face was removed, allowing for William to see him clearly.

Underneath his hood was a pure short white hair, and what covered his face was a pure black mask that completely covered his face, except for his eyes.

"Hey," William said to the waiter. "Get everyone out of this place," he said. "It's going to get ugly."

The waiter quickly nodded, "Y-Yes!" The waiter shouted as he quickly left his side and quickly escorted everyone out of the train cart.

The waiter gave William a worried glance, the waiter knew that William was still a kid, but from what he's seen. He must be a kid aspiring to become a Hunter. Silently praying for his victory, the waiter left William to fight Nyx.

Nyx tilted his head, as he looked at William slowly.

"Interesting…" Nyx slowly said, "And just who might you be?" he asked.

William shrugged, "Who me?" he said to himself. "I'm just a kid who wants to become a Hunter." he said.

Nyx looked at him for a moment before slowly nodding, "Nice dream…" He said to him, "Too bad it won't happen." he said.

And with that Nyx, threw a knife aimed at William. William reacted quickly as he grabbed his other knife and deflected the knife and countered by grabbing a plate near him and throwing it at Nyx.

Nyx dodged the plate that was thrown at him by ducking down. Slowly standing up and looking at William.

"..." He said nothing before tilting his head. "You truly are interesting…" he said before charging in front of William.

William braced himself as Nyx charged at him, quickly blocking and dodging all of the attacks that Nyx sent at him. Willaim countered with his own attacks.

Only for Nyx to block all of them.

As the two of them sent their attacks at each other, William found out that he was slowly being pushed back by Nyx. Sighing to himself, William suddenly kicked Nyx back.

Taking deep breaths to compose himself, WIlliam began to plan his next move against Nyx.

From what he knew about Nyx, he was a criminal, probably a murderer. Physically strong and skilled with a knife. He also possibly has skill in hiding based on his ability to get on this train without being noticed.

What could he use against him, he only has his knives to fight him. He didn't really expect to fight someone of Nyx's caliber during his lunch time. William sighed to himself, he knew that he was at a severe disadvantage against him.

William looked at Nyx as he recovered

His thoughts were dashed as Nyx continued his assault at William. William dodged and blocked nearly all of his attacks, and even sent out some of his own counter attacks at him.

Although his attacks did not seem to slow Nyx down. William knew that he had to do something different to get an advantage. But what?

He could use his magic to even the playing field against Nyx, but that comes with the risk of giving Nyx the ability to use his own magic to fight him later.

Unluckily for William, Nyx was able to grab him by his shirt and push him outside of the train cart.

Reacting quickly, Willaim used his magic to create a wind rope and wrap it at Nyx and one of the support beams of the train cart.

William gave Nyx a smirk, Nyx internally clicked his tongue as he threw him up the train cart.

As Willia was thrown at the train cart, William balanced himself at the top of the train cart. Moving quickly he went to the end of the train and looked down and waited for Nyx to come to him.

And Nyx did come up, but not before quickly throwing a knife up at William. William quickly backed off the edge and looked at Nyx, who came up the train cart.

"You missed." William said, "And you're not getting your knife back." he said.

Nyx tilted his head before looking at him.

"... That knife does not matter to me." Nyx said as slowly walked towards him. "So can you use wind?"

"Yeah, useful isn't it." William said as he nodded, still keeping his eyes on Nyx. "Although it can get a little windy when I use my wind."

"...Yes, It is windy" Nyx said before quickly charging at William.

William reacted quickly as he dodged and attacked back at Nyx. Only for Nyx to block all of his attacks and send back his own attacks at him.

Willaim narrowly dodged all of his attacks as he sent out another attack at him.

Nyx also dodged all of them. And using his superior strength, he pushed William back."

He looked at William. "...Is that all you have?'

William took in deep breaths as he looked at him, "No, not yet." he said, finally deciding to use his magic to create another set of wind rope and went back and attacked Nyx.

Nyx and William clashed both of their weapons, with William using his wind ropes while fighting Nyx.

And eventually William wasable to restrain Nyx as the train began to pass a large bridge overlooking a large valley with a river at the bottom.

William looked down at Nyx as he tightened the rope on him.

William took a deep breath as he looked at him. William was absolutely exhausted from fighting Nyx.

Despite being restrained by William. Nyx still was able to look at him silently. His white hair was seen as he looked at him through his mask. His blood red eyes were looking at him in silence.

"... You certainly are interesting." Nyx said.

William looked down at him. "Stand down, after all this, you're going to find yourself behind a cell." he said.

Nyx tilted his head as he looked at him and leaned his head forward at him.

"...You're interesting… and somehow familiar." Nyx said, "But sadly, it cannot be."

And in an instant, William was pulled back by something. Reacting quickly, Wiliam turned around and stabbed what was behind him, only for him to hit nothing.

Turning back around, William saw that Nyx was able to stand back up. Luckily for William, the wind rope that he made was still tied to William.

Looking once again at William, Nyx chuckled to himself.

"...Hah," Nyx said. "I feel as though we will meet again when the time comes. But right now, we must part ways." Nyx said before taking a step back and falling down the bridge and into the canyon and river below.

"Wait!" Wiliam said as he was quickly pulled alongside him.

Deciding to cancel his wind magic, Wiliam was able to rebalance himself as he looked at where Nyx took a step back.

Sighing to himself, William went back down to the train cart.

William looked at the completely destroyed train cart and sighed to himself in frustration.

"What a mess." William said to himself. "How am I? Going to explain all of this?" he said to himself.

'I hope I don't get in trouble because of this.'

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'I stand corrected.' William thought to himself as he was behind bars.

The moment that the guards that were all placed in front of the train car arrive at the restaurant, William was immediately apprehended by the guards, undercounts of suspected crime. Despite the words of protest of the people that were in the restaurant when Nyx .

William willingly followed the order of the guards. Personally, William wasn't all that concerned about himself and knew that he would eventually be released by the guards for being the one who protected him.

One of the guards suddenly entered the cell in which William was at and escorted him out of the cell and led him to an interrogation room.

William sat down at one of the chairs in the room and quickly looked around the room. It was generally empty, figures.

Suddenly one of the doors opened and a Young and handsome man entered the interrogation room.

He mostly looked like he was in his late twenties to early thirties, he had blonde hair and piercing yellow eyes.

He looked at William for a moment, his piercing yellow eyes looked at him with a hostile look.

William internally began to worry about who this person was. He knew that this was the interrogation room and that he would most likely be interrogated. And the person in front of him was most likely the person interrogating him.

He looked at him for a few moments, before walking forward and taking the other seat right in front of Wlliam.

He looked at William dead in the eye and spoke.

"Would you mind recounting what happened earlier?" He said to him with a tone that screamed at William, seriously.

William internally began to internally sweat, deciding to cooperate with him William decided to recount his story about what happened earlier.