After my encounter with the shadow monster, I was supposed to head back home and treat my wounds. But I guess that my empathic power reacted to my needs and led me to the closest demon with the ability to heal.
But of course, I needed to go through a lot of demons since they seemed to be in a pack. I managed to target the demon with the healing ability first, using my shadow weaving to heal myself before I took care of the rest. Among the pack of demons, I managed to acquire a keen eye and brute strength from them.
Since I am satisfied with my talent haul, I decided that it is time for me to head back and go to sleep. At least, that’s the plan, but when I finally managed to reach my room using my shadow weaving, I sense another presence in the area.
I went to grab my knife when I realized that it was already broken down and no longer useable.
As I figured, I need a proper demon-slaying weapon made of sturdy material if I am to hunt every night.
But I will have to worry about that some other time because right now I have to focus on the intruder in my room.
The light was off, so I am blindly relying on the light coming through my window for some visuals. There is a man at the far side of the room, leaning against the wall right beside my door. Something about the way that he walks seems so familiar when he starts to head over to me.
I ball my fist as I prepare myself for hand-to-hand combat, but I know that my body is already at its limit from all of the fighting I did. If I survive this time, I am sure that I am going to be sore all over my body the next day.
Not soon after the man steps into the silver light from the moon coming through my window did I recognize him. More like, it's the smiling mask that he’s wearing to hide his face that gives it away. The hairs at the back of my neck stood as I began to panic a bit.
The seventh prince.
“Well, now. No need to be so uptight. It’s just me.” That voice. Even though I only heard it once in my other life, it sent shivers down my spine. I feel like I’m losing strength in my legs. One of the things that I immediately thought of was to turn back and use the shadows to escape. But that would only put my family in danger. I don’t even know if they are aware that one of the seven princes of hell is in our home.
I was brought back to the present when the prince slammed his hands at the walls on either side of me to lock me in place. “That’s just rude. Is this how you’re going to repay me after I helped you? I am deeply offended by your actions.” He gently lifts up a hand and glides a finger over my hair to play at the strand that came loose from my ponytail.
“What do you want? Are you here to claim your price for the deal?” I’m shaking, which is why I was surprised when my voice did not falter when responded to him.
“Zarah, that’s rude. You didn’t even call me by my name. Or don’t tell me that you forgot about me? Shame.” I stiffen when he buried his masked face over my neck. The cold material of his mask makes me want to push him away, but I no longer have much strength in my body. “And here I was, thinking that you’d miss me. I want to cry.”
I rummage through my memories as I try to recall this demon’s name. I know that he mentioned it before while we were making our deal.
“I’ll count up to three. If you can’t remember my name, then the deal is off and I will murder your entire family. One.”
Calm down, Zarah, and try to think carefully. I know that it’s a difficult name, but try to remember!
“Two.”
“Verogphegor!”
The seventh prince lightly chuckled as he withdrew his face from my neck. His mask face looks ominous under this light, and I froze when he inched his face closer to me. “That’s a good girl. Do try to remember that. It might save your life one day.” He brushes his thumb over my lips when he moves a step back to give me some space.
I suck in a breath before looking at him. “What do you want…Verphegor?” I added his name when I noticed the menacing tilt of his head to the side when I did not address him properly.
“I’m simply here to discuss the terms of our agreement, baby bug.” He pauses as an idea strikes him. “By the way, can I call you by that name? I think that it suits you wonderfully.” He clasps his hands together dreamily.
“The terms. What are they?”
Verphegor sighs and crosses his arms in disappointment. “I knew you were an uptight person, but I never knew that it is up to this extent.” He shakes his head. “Well, since we are at it, my terms is that you keep me entertained as much as possible.”
I have to take a few seconds to process his words before I ask, “Pardon?”
“Don’t die on me. Your goal is to kill the princes as brutally as possible, because I will be watching. Easy, right? Especially since I allowed you to keep your old memories from your previous life. I mean, look at you!” He gestures for me like a proud parent with both hands. “You manage to siphon five talents from demons in one night! Especially that shadow weaving. Man, I am jealous right now.”
“I don’t understand,” It’s my turn to shake my head. “You want me to murder your brothers? Wouldn’t that…basically prevent your main goal of destroying humankind?” I watch the seventh prince carefully. Even though I can’t see his face, I am hoping more for the fact that I might be able to read something in his body language.
“Destroying humankind? That sounds nice but boring. I rather have you entertain me by killing my brother, then get strong enough so you can fight me instead. I mean, you died after fighting the sixth prince. I didn’t even get to have my turn. What a bummer.” By the way that he crosses his arms, I can only assume that he’s pouting.
“If you want to fight with me so much, then why not just fight with me now?”
“Too weak.” He waves his hand at me dismissively, which I take as an offense, but I already know that it is true. “I rather fight you when you are at your full potential.”
“If you wait that long, you know that there is a chance that I might be able to kill you, right?”
“A chance.” He shivers perversely and hugs himself. “It’s a possibility that even I don’t know of. Doesn’t that make things more exciting!?” I can’t tell, but I am guessing that he’s looking right at me through his mask right now.“S-Sure…” All the princes of hell have strange behaviors, but I think that I can safely say that Verphegor is the weirdest one among them. “Is that all of your condition? To get stronger, entertain you, and fight you?” I counted the conditions with my fingers. Three conditions that I don’t have to pay just yet. It’s like an interest pay of some sort.
Verophegor nods and silently claps his hands. “Yes, yes. Very good, baby doll. I knew you were smart. And there’s also one more.”
“More conditions?”
Argorius laughs. “Nah. It’s more of like an assist.” The seventh prince closes the gap between us again and lowers his head to whisper in my ears. “Call my name whenever you need my help. You only have three usage of my service.” He then draws back after that.
“Help? What kind of help, exactly?” I raise my brow at him suspiciously. “Is there a price for every assistance?”
“Darling, it’s in the package!” Argorius sounds like a businessman when he says it before fixing his look at me with that creepy mask again. “And as for the favor, it can be anything except for wishing to kill me of course.” The slight movement of his head made me realize that he was eyeing my body, which suddenly made me conscious cover myself with my arms.
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think I’ll be able to use those favors.” I hope he leaves soon because this guy is starting to creep me out.
The demon laughs at me amusedly. “Oh, confident, aren’t we? We’ll see about that. Sweet dreams, baby doll. I’ll see you next time. Or maybe soon if you think of dreaming of me.” And then he’s gone. He simply turns himself into smoke and disappears into the shadows of the night. “Oh, and enjoy my little gift! Consider it as a token of my love!”
I crumpled to the ground when his presence disappeared. I cannot express the deep relief that I have when nothing happened during the visit of the seventh prince.
Although it doesn’t seem like he intends to harm me, I still cannot shake the fear and vulnerability that I had when he was here. As I thought, I need a weapon to protect myself. And the only way to get one is to either buy one myself or get sponsorship from my parents for becoming a huntress.
While I was in a deep dilemma of where I am going to get a weapon, the blunt and broken knife in my pocket began to shiver. Curiously, I got it out and noticed a green aura emanating from it.
“What the hell?” I was lucky enough not to point the blade in my direction while I studied it because it suddenly enlarged and sharpens itself into a short sword. The material of the blade was something that I have seen before, but never at the hands of a hunter.
A demon metal. It’s forged using the fires from hell and the bones from a demon to make it sturdy.
But why do I have this? I can only think of one answer: The seventh Prince.
Is this the gift that he told me about before he disappeared?
Well, it doesn’t matter. At least I now what a proper weapon to use when I hunt at night. The only problem is, where do I hide this?
After my encounter with the seventh prince of hell last night, I decided that I need more training. And I need to get enrolled as soon as possible so I can stay in my own dorm and have the freedom to sneak off when I want to. And the only way for me to secure a dorm in the academy is if I have a talent to show. Right now, I am in the kitchen with my mother, helping her prepare dinner for tonight. Truthfully, I am nervous. I can’t show them my real talent, but I can pick one among the many other talents I acquired last night. And the one talent that I see fit to present as a mediocre huntress is: healing. As far as I remember, hunters with healing talents usually stay at the back of the groups so they can provide assistance whenever the teams are in trouble. I want to become a huntress and kill demons, but I also do not want to stand out too much or I might get picked out for important and time-consuming missions. I need to have as much free time as possible and get called on s
The following day, my father and brother took me to a weaponry store by the academy. It makes me excited that I am going to get a new weapon, but thinking back to the fact that I might have doomed myself in a potential ranking among the healers makes me less thrilled. A soft ring of the bell when we enter the store signals our presence. A shopkeeper wearing a white polo shirt with a black bow tie appears to cater to us. “Welcome to Reon Weaponry. How may I be of service?” He greets us. When he seems to focus on my father, his eyes widen in recognition. “Sir Winters, I apologies for not recognizing you so soon!” “We’re looking for a weapon for my daughter.” My father says after giving him one curt nod in recognition. He then gestures in my direction, which makes the attendant take notice of me for the first time. The man seems surprised, and I cannot blame him because I rarely come to gatherings out of shame that I have no talent. “Well, what does the young miss prefer for a weapon?
After purchasing my new weapon, we decided to head for the academy so I could enlist myself. The academy’s interior feels nostalgic for me because, in my case, it’s been a long time since I walked down the hallway. In my past life, I never got the chance to visit the academy again since I dropped out. I feel a little bit excited now because I can actually be a student here once more. And a student with talent at that. My brother, father, and I are waiting in the dean’s office since they recognize my father as one of the most respected hunters in the guild. Right now, I’m facing my old dean, who is also my father’s high school friend - Mr. Bruce Fierce. My father is telling him about my talent for healing, and the whole time that my father speaks about me, I see Bruce watching me in doubt. Mr. Bruce is not a bad person. In fact, in my past life, he died trying to protect me from an attack by one of the powerful demons. “Ducal, I believe you when you say that your daughter has fin
“Keep those shoulders tense! Don’t make your body fully relaxed when shooting those arrows!” My father barked an order at me while I was trying out my new bow. Don’t get me wrong. I already know how to shoot with an arrow. I just don’t want to stand out as much after the whole scholarship thing happened. From now on, I really have to try to keep everything low profile, even as I fight in front of people, at least. “Dad,” My brother heads over to place a comforting hand on my shoulder before he faces our father. “Give Zarah a break. She just started training.” I can’t help but smile at Logan. No matter what happens, I knew that I could always count on my brother to help me out – even when it means talking to my grumpy father about my training. “She has had the skills before, so her body should remember it naturally.” My father sighs and shakes his head before raising his head to look at me. “I’m sorry, Zarah. I might have had the feeling that you were purposely trying to fail. Of
That night, I got back in my room after some successful demon hunting. I didn’t get a talent, but at least I managed to save a few people that were supposed to die today. Even though it wasn’t much, I feel like I am slightly changing the future here, which is my real purpose anyway. My father did not call me back downstairs for training while they were talking to Archer earlier. Somehow I feel bad about the guy and a little embarrassed for myself because I know that they were getting a little too protective of me, especially my brother. I guess I can’t blame my brother for his reaction since I just broke up with a relationship and got cheated on. He must not want to see me get hurt emotionally again – not that it ever bothered me. I was merely acting to be hurt and crying for a bit in front of him, which I now consider a mistake. “How naughty. You’re still using the window when you can use your shadow weave to enter your room?” I whirl back and pin Verphegor to the wall, only to g
The next few days of my training, I started to take all of my parents’ and brother’s advice seriously. I hate to admit it but it seems like Verphegor’s advice was the right one. Now that I am with my family, one of the best hunters in their time, I should take this opportunity to learn from them. Since I stopped holding back, I noticed that my father’s training with me has slowly begun to increase. They did question me about my techniques, but that was easily dismissed by the fact that I had been in the academy for a while before I dropped out. I almost forgot what intense sore muscles feel like, and I have to say that I welcome it. Every night, still try to look for demons with special abilities, but it seems like they were pretty rare to come around at this time, which is such a bummer for me. These days, the foresight talent that I have stolen has become quiet, which is a little bit of a cause for concern on my part. I wanted to know if the future had changed or not. “Zarah,
A swarm of demon bats flew over our heads. The thing about these demon bats is that they are not regular in size. They are about the size of a chihuahua, with razor sharp claws and fangs that could rip you to shreds. Screams of delight and protest from those who were observing us from outside the electric cage echoed in the air alongside the terrified screams of the children. I twisted my cuff, turning it into a crossbow, to parry a demon headed my way. After that, I shot it between the eyes, killing it in an instant. I barely managed to dodge the second demon coming my way. The area was so crowded that it was hard for me to make any sort of movement. Other scholar applicants were doing their best to protect themselves from the demons, but it could not be helped when some of them were injured after getting scratched by their talons. But that wasn’t the worst injury that they could get, it was the poison that the bat was spitting at the participants. Purple ooze comes out of their
“Zarah, are you okay?” My brother, who is considered as my advisor behind the ring, rushes to me. Every contestant can have one mentor behind the stage to assist them while they wait for their turn in the ring. I give my brother a smile with my lips. “I’m fine. I’m a healer, remember? I can’t say the same for the others though.” I turn to the other kids with me. The only ones here are those who survived the first round. I know that I am about the same age as them, but where I come from — when I come from — I am mentally older. Logan sneers, but not at me. I can only imagine that he is sneering at the organizers behind this. “Zarah, you know what? This is not worth it. If you want to quit, you can just tell us. Father and mother will take care of your educational fees. You are a winter. You do not need sponsors.” I know that what he says is true, but somehow I have a gut feeling that there’s something abnormal about this. From my experience, I've learned that always following yo