King Of Limbo

9 Chapter 9

It was a quiet late night in an unknown and dense forest. The cold night breeze was constantly causing the leaves to fall and drift from the many trees in the area.

All of a sudden a bright yellow door shaped light appeared right in the middle of this forest and brought that tranquility to an end.

For a moment it remained that way, glowing yellow like a setting sun but then a hand appeared out from it followed by the rest of the body to which it was attached. This individual came out wearing a plain robe and carrying a large black cotton sack in one hand which he soon settled on the ground, the entire scene was really far too out of place.

"It doesn't look special at first glance..." The figure was none other than the newly awakened Aron who muttered this in an irritated tone.

So much had happened so fast to him, he spent a time unknown enduring a torturous technique all for a body he knew nothing about. Even now he hadn't fully come to terms with what his happening and as for the so called legacy it was even odd. As far as he knew the legacy gave him only a set of clothes, an okay sword, a pair of strange ranged weapons designed by an even stranger old mage and lastly a ring that set itself on Aron's index finger.

As Aron prepared to open the cotton sack, the light behind him vanished. He quickly glanced back but gave no reaction as if it was to be expected.

'At this point why bother trying to figure out Argos's mechanisms...' Aron thought to himself before turning his attention back to the sack.

He first began by removing the plain robe he wore and started putting on the set of clothes he carried. Plain black trousers held up by a brown belt with holsters and a sword sheath. The belt had an additional brown strap that housed tiny metallic objects that Argos called mana bullets.

'The first time he showed me an Arcane gun as he called it, he fired them by simply infusing mana into them. The Arcane gun then shapes the mana and makes it take the form of a deadly projectile and fires it at a speed no archer can match...if that's the case then why these...' Aron paused to look at one of the silver bullets before instantly understanding why.

'Just one of these is infused with ridiculous amounts of mana forcefully compressed within them. The concept is simple but can I replicate them?... best to save them until I study the matter more.' Aron concluded before placing the bullet strap on his belt and continuing to dress.

Aron had no preferred weapon, for him he considered it ideal to have one long ranged and one close combat weapon just in case.

He soon proceeded to wear dark silver boots whose only upside seemed to be a strong material, which was the same case for the chest plate he wore after putting on a plain black t-shirt underneath it. He finished off by wearing some black gloves and finally a red hooded jacket.

'I highly doubt you'd store useless items Argos so it's best I wear everything for now...with that out of the way I should leave. It's not wise to linger in places I'm unfamiliar with.' Aron assessed before tossing the now empty black cotton sack.

Although the situation occurred far too quickly and without him preparing, there was nothing he could do but accept it and move on.

*Grrr*

"Can't I be left to grasp my situation in peace." Aron sighed before turning in the direction of a growl he had just heard.

Once he did so, he saw numerous red eyes lurking in the shadows of the forest that surrounded him from almost all sides. However Aron wasn't the least bit fazed once the creatures became visible to him.

'It looks familiar to something I saw in one of the beast indexes but I can't remember its exact name' Aron thought to himself before the silver ring he wore gave off a momentary glow. When the glow faded, Aron narrowed his eyes and looked at his hand with a brow raised.

'So that's how it is...' he thought with an approving look before taking out one of the Arcane guns.

"The Night Terror... nothing particularly dangerous about you."

The red eyes that were lurking in the forest belonged to what Aron called a night terror. It was a large wolf-like beast standing at around three meters tall in height. It's body was very muscular and covered in thick fur whereas its head had terrifying blood red eyes and sharp protruding teeth with drool constantly running down its mouth.

*Howl*

The largest of the Night Terrors released a fierce howl before stepping forward slowly. Although Aron had an intimidating aura and stature, a human was still a human in their eyes. Despite having great strength, beast mongers lacked intimidating auras towards beasts... at least in their early stages.

*bang*

A loud bang resounded in the forest causing the many howls and growling to stop. For a moment, the forest returned to its tranquil state, then all of a sudden the largest Night Terror fell to the ground and blood began flowing out from its head.

"Effective but far too loud, then again it's only against a tier one rank C beast." Aron mocked while aiming his arcane gun forward.

The remaining Night Terrors began to back away slowly with their ears lowered. Unfortunately for them Aron had no intentions of letting that happen.

Multiple bangs resounded in the once quiet forest along with the pained howls and squeals of multiple creatures. This lasted for only a moment before silence once again filled the air.

'If tier one beasts can be this confident it must mean there isn't any greater tier beasts present. Given how territorial beasts are if a stronger one was present then these weaklings would already be dead. The average territorial radius for beasts between tier one and two is fifty kilometers so I'm unlikely to encounter a threatening beast for a while.' Aron sighed and assessed before putting his arcane gun back in its holster.

,m A large part of him would have liked to try and test the difference evolving brought about to his body but he couldn't risk staying in an exposed place for too long.

"Better leave before anything or anyone shows up because of the loud noises." Aron glanced around at the multiple bloody bodies that covered the ground before leaving the scene and disappearing into the forest, he didn't even find the beast's mana attractive.

Meanwhile not too far from where Aron was, a group of humans were huddled together in a panicked manner.

The group was made up of three men and one woman, all in armor of poor quality. The tallest of the men wore metallic rusty armor and wielded a large mace in his right hand. He had a shaven head and a scar on the upper part of his left eye.

The remaining members of the group all wore leather armor of varying designs. The man next to the large bald warrior wielded a short iron sword and looked to be the most panicked of the bunch. He had bright brown hair and average features.

The woman was more composed and wore a wicked smile on her face. Her leather armor was black and complimented her curvy figure quite well. Strapped to her exposed hips were a pair of sharp daggers that seemed to add even more allure to her.

The last man was composed but looked to be out of place in the group. His armor was of the poorest quality and his sword carried many dents on its surface. The biggest thing that set him apart from the rest however...was the fact that he was just a boy that looked to be no older than fifteen.

"Uhh...Boss? Did you hear those sounds? S-sounded like Night terrors...and plenty of them." The panicked man pointed out towards the large bald man who simply remained silent and began to ponder.

"Oh come now Luke, why panic over something we haven't even seen? I thought you were more manly...." The raven haired woman placed her hand on the shoulder of the panicking man she addressed as Luke and lightly rubbed it.

"Uh...I am manly Rilda...it's just I'm worried for that kid...yeah that kid. It'll be a problem with the people of the town if he gets hurt, you know?" Luke wore a nervous smile as he explained his reasoning for not wanting to stay any longer.

"My name is Thyrus and I'm not a kid so I'm not scared" The child Luke referred to spoke up for himself and voiced his views confidently.

"Mmm, I like brave men. Since Thyrus has no complaints then it's all up to you now boss. What do you say?" Rilda asked the large man who had been silent for a while.

"*sigh* it's best we check it out, let's just be careful. Follow me." The large man ordered before turning in the direction the noises had come from. Rilda happily followed while swaying her hips while Luke gave Thyrus a scowl before following as well.

The group continued through the forest following the large man who led the way. All of a sudden however the large man came to an abrupt halt.

"Hey boss? Why are you stopping? And is it just me or does it smell strange here...." Rilda asked as she approached the large man but trailed off once she reached his side.

Soon Luke joined the two and had his eyes immediately widened and his palms began to tremble as he saw the scene in front of him. Thyrus however went pale and leaned against a nearby tree before throwing up.

"What could have done this?....we need to leave now!" The large man looked at the many Night Terror corpses that covered the ground only for a moment before feeling a sense of danger overwhelming him. His decision received no protests as everyone cautiously retreated as fast as they could.

Some time later, they managed to escape from the forest unharmed and were currently rushing towards a large wooden gate with two guards standing on either side.

"Branos? Even you?" Upon seeing the group approaching them, one of the guards called out towards the large bald man in the lead.

"What do you mean even me?" The large man inquired while breathing heavily. The two guards glanced at each other with worried looks before one spoke up.

"Since a while ago, many hunters have been rushing into the town. Each one of them is saying they saw many dangerous beasts brutally killed and some even ripped apart in large numbers...I'm starting to worry Branos. You're the best hunter in this town, how bad is it?" The guard asked worryingly but Branos simply gave the guard a look that said it all.

"Damn it alright, quickly everyone get in, we're going to have to lock the gates until we know more of what could be out there" The guard quickly instructed and Branos nodded with a cold sweat running down his forehead.

After Branos and his group entered the small town compromised of simple homes mostly made of wood while some of brick they could see many locals talking in whispers with looks of worry on their faces, he paid them no mind and went directly towards a tavern.

Once he and his group entered, they saw many familiar hunters which caused Branos to look all the more worried. Before he could say anything though a loud cry from a woman resonated throughout the tavern.

"Thyrus! Ah thank goodness you're okay *sniff*" A blonde haired woman in a tavern wench's attire hugged the boy with tears running down her face. The boy hugged the woman back while nodding his head.

"It's alright ma, I'm fine." The boy reassured but the woman continued to hug the boy.

Branos looked around the tavern and let out a sigh of relief as all hunters he knew were present. However his gaze soon settled on an unfamiliar face that sat alone at a table in the corner of the tavern.

"Who's he?" Branos asked the adventurers seated at a nearby table but all of them shrugged. In such a small town it wasn't hard for most people to remember one another so a new face stuck out like a sore thumb.

"The guy just walked in and didn't say a thing when we asked, he looks like a traveling hunter who came into the town because of what's going on in the forest. A lot of people who were traveling have settled in the Gaya's inn because they were scared to travel." One of the hunters answered, causing Branos to give a nod and return his gaze to the unknown figure sitting alone.

"What's wrong Boss?" Rilda asked curiously but Branos simply showed a smirk.

"Let's go ask this unknown "hunter" a few questions, maybe he knows something we don't." Branos stated before starting to walk over to the table.

....

[BEAST INDEX #3: Night Terror]