Hunter's Offer

A young man in his early 20s, with grey eyes, short black hair and well shaped moustache approached him.

He had sensed the man's presence a while ago, thereby noticing the man was observing him. Out of curiosity, he waited where he was to see what the man would eventually do.

'Did my wandering around attract his attention?' He thought as he looked at the grey-eyed man. 

He was able to discern what the man had said, and was now scrutinizing the person's outfit to make out his nature.

But before he could come to a conclusion, the man said, "Are you wondering what I do?" 

The man pointed to the rifle he held, and added, "I'm what you call a hunter. I believe you'll fit this job best of all that's available! Oh, it pays well too… on some occasions."

By now, he had already guessed the man's job based on how he looked. 'He hunts? That doesn't sound bad as a job for me, especially with this body's capabilities.'

From where he sat, he looked up to the smiling man. 'Compared to the average, he has more mana and even controls his mana well. Should I go with him for now? 

'I might be able to learn a thing or two through him. But what if he was the one that was chasing this body before? I need to not be too trusting, but I also don't think he's one of the chasers…'

~ ~ ~

While the blue-eyed boy scrutinized him, the grey-eyed hunter was also having his train of thoughts.

As an experienced hunter, the hunter was also adept at observation. 

He was attracted here by the new gossip about a good-looking young boy going around begging for food.

And out of curiosity, he wanted to see the boy mentioned in the gossip, maybe give him advice or direct him to someone he knows.

Contrary to what the grey-eyed man expected, the boy he met was looking very capable with the way his mana was being controlled . 

The boy had the eyes of an experienced individual, like someone who had touched the surface of death. 

Although the hunter wouldn't say he was strong, he knew he was strong enough to cause a child to shudder with his unconcealed presence alone. 

And ever since he said his first word to this child, he released all control over his presence.

Yet this child looked at him fearlessly without flinching one bit. This piqued his ever growing interest.

Given his current circumstances, letting the boy work under him would be beneficial if he taught the boy well.

The only issue was that he was unfamiliar with this boy and his background, and that can pose a problem. 

'This kid looks talented though, he can control mana this much at such an age? Honestly, it would be a waste to leave him here…'

After a quick consideration, he decided that he would take him in for now, try to do a background check on the boy and let go of him if the situation called for it.

Now that he had come to a conclusion, he decided to pressure the boy more. He was the kind to get what he wanted.

"You seem to be skeptical about me. Y'know what? Just work under me for a bit, I'll give you accommodation and all, and you can leave anytime you deem it fit, that good?

"Of course, you'll have to behave yourself. This is a very good offer if I do say so myself." 

~ ~ ~

He looked at the hunter. 

He understood most of what the grey-eyed man had said. His vocabulary became better after engaging in a conversation with multiple people throughout the morning.

'He doesn't seem like he means any harm right now. Ehh… I'll just stay under him for a while and leave when I've gotten the hang of things. I guess that sounds reasonable…' 

With that in mind, he glanced at the man. Staying in line with the image of a kid that lost his memory, he simply replied, "Okay."

"Nice to have you on board, kiddo!" The hunter said, exchanging a short handshake with the boy. "Follow me." 

Hearing the hunter's words, he stood up from where he sat with the help of the hunter.

As he dusted his pants, he heard the hunter say, "Oh, I'm Des by the way. What's your name?"

Tilting his head slightly, he replied in a childish male voice, "I don't know." He tapped his head, and made a wiping gesture. "I don't know anything."

Des's eyes widened a bit, before chuckling.

"Hmm, I did hear people say you might have lost your memory. That's kinda sad, at least you're not a dunce that's oblivious, you seem to grasp some stuff. That's a good thing, you can just build yourself up again."

Des leaned forward and touched the boy's covered head. "You need a name to work with me. I'll call you Cifer."

The name suggestion caused him to flash a slight smile. 

'That… doesn't sound bad. Heh, it's better than the names I came up with. I even wanted to go with Judge! Eh… Cifer it is then.'

Seeing the slight smile on his face, Des also smiled and ruffled his covered hair.

"That's good. Seems like you like it."

Cifer bowed. "Thank you. Let's get along."

After that, Des led Cifer to his home.

~ ~ ~

As Cifer slowly followed Des, the hunter, he absorbed the view of this new world.

This world's architecture was way behind earth's own, and could be compared to those that were popular in earth's medieval days.

This area of town where Cifer found himself had less people because there weren't any attractions around here compared to locations where big shops, bar places and inns were.

This part of the town hosted most homes, and based on the time, the majority of people had already begun going around to other parts of the town.

Based on Cifer's guess, this was most likely the only 'quiet' place in this mid-size town.

After two turns, Cifer was led to Des's house.

Des lived in this part of town which explains how he was able to take notice of Cifer within a few hours of Cifer exposing himself to the public. 

And with how many people Des greeted on their way to his home, it makes more sense how the information reached Des.

Des knocked on the wooden door of his moderate sized home and said, "Dear, I'm back home."

In less than a minute, the door opened revealed a pretty young woman with brown hair that was packed into a bun, and black eyes.

This woman wore a yellow gown that failed to hide her small bulging stomach. This attracted Cifer's attention.

'He's married and expecting a child… He seems to be living well seeing how his home looks…' 

The young woman was about to question why her husband came home, but she saw the child that accompanied him and curiosity clouded her eyes.

"Is that the child that's been talked about?"

"It is," Des answered casually, "Let's go in, let me tell you what happened."

With a nod, Des's wife made way for them to enter.

The room he was led to was a simple room with a couch placed opposite a fireplace with a table in between them.

Asides from the couch, there's a wooden chair positioned at one corner of the room, beside a small tall table that held a flower pot.

The room was illuminated by the morning light that basked through the two windows in the room, each beside the fireplace.

The other half of the room was separated by a long cupboard that held the kitchen wares. At the otherside of the cupboard was the kitchen room.

After entering, Des gestured to Cifer to sit on the couch present in the main room, before he and his wife went into one of the inner rooms.

Cifer just sat on the couch as told and busied himself with his own thoughts.

'If he is hunting, does that mean we're going into the forest…? Heh, seems like I'm destined to go back there… Could he really be linked with the chasers within the forest? I kinda doubt that…

'Well, it's not too bad as long as I don't go towards where I 'woke up', if I notice we're going towards there, I will run immediately! 

'If not, the forest might also be helpful to me. I may get an opportunity to test out my Gift! 

'I need to get stronger before that God's task reaches me. Heaven knows what that being considers 'not that difficult'!'

While Cifer thought of becoming stronger, he turned to the rifle placed on the table.

'Another thing that made me interested in this man is this rifle. It exudes a subtle mana…'

He concentrated his senses on the rifle and pierced into the sturdy surface of the gun to try and see if he could identify anything.

And he did.

There were patterns that held mana inscribed within the rifle and the scope present on the top of the rifle. 

Without knowledge to use to assume its function, Cifer's interest in the rifle spiked.

At that moment, an interesting thought dropped like a bomb in his head.

'One day, I will also use weapons with crazy patterns like this right?'

A thought like this made him look forward to the future more.