The familiar sensation of awakening my talent surges all over my body. And the feeling of gaining a new power inflicts me with pain as my body is trying to get accustomed to the magic. And soon, it’s over. The magic transfer is complete. I now have the gift of foresight. Good.
But now comes the next question. Should I hunt for more demons?
I look at my phone. It’s already almost 11 p.m.
Crap.
If only the foresight demon wasn't so far away, then maybe I would have more time to hunt more demons. Come to think of it, I wonder if there are any demons nearby that I can kill to make this day satisfying?
As if my new gift of foresight was answering my question, images started to enter my mind. I see a convenience store that seems to be nearby. Then, a familiar man exits it with a can of soda in hand. It took me a while to realize that it’s the driver from before.
That’s odd. Why is the vision showing me this?
I watch patiently as the driver drinks the whole can of soda and heads for the back to take a pee. I was about to shut the vision off because I have no intention of watching someone take a loo in public. But something caught my attention. It’s the displacement of the shadow on one of the posts. I notice it seems to be moving.
Memories of my past began to fill my mind like a puzzle. I remember that there was once a demon who could hide in the shadows and murder people every night. I remember how it caused a lot of death in the hunters' association because, with its power to travel in the shadow, it could basically travel anywhere.
I know that this isn’t the time to celebrate, but thinking about acquiring that kind of talent will make sneaking out easier! I have to hurry, not only to acquire the skill but also to protect the guy from being killed.
I remember the words that the driver said to me earlier. If I decipher it correctly, it seems like the driver is supposed to die today. No wonder he thought I was going to kill him back then.
I ran as fast as I could towards the location of the convenience store. It’s only a block ahead, and since it’s this late, I am fortunate that the area is clear. I manage to reach the location in time.
Just like in the vision, I see the driver drinking the soda that he bought from the store. I stood in the shadows to keep myself hidden as my eyes scanned the area to locate the shadow demon.
It’s here, and it keeps itself hidden in the shadows of the street lamp near the store. It’s waiting for the driver to move past it so it can use his shadow to get to the back and follow him. In my vision, that is how the demon killed him.
Too bad for him, but the shadow demon is going to be the one to die today.
The shadow demon is a little tricky. If it can sense that it is in danger, it will flee. From what I recall, it can travel through shadow, but if there isn’t any shadow for it to crawl, it is trapped.
I have to act carefully. Right now, it can easily escape through the shadow of the trash bin and use it to travel to the other street. If it manages to get past that, then it’s over. I have to act inconspicuously so it won’t know what I am doing.
Using my phone’s flashlight, I can use it to trap the demon in place. And I have to do it before the cab driver moves past the street light.
I pocketed my phone and knife in my hoodie and started to move carefully towards the store. I kept my eyes on my phone and pretended to scroll, but in reality I was just preparing to turn the flashlight on. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest. I can’t tell if it was from excitement or from nervousness.
My eyes kept stealing glances at the street lamp to know how much distance I needed to cover.
Just a few more…
I held my breath. It's like the idea of breathing would startle it.
As I neared the shadow, I cast my phone flashlight to the ground, making sure that the shadow demon no longer has anywhere to travel to. At first, I wasn’t sure if the demon was in the shadows, but upon seeing some slight movement from it, I could not help but let out a breath of relief.
Good. It’s here. I caught it! But now what?
“Oh? Aren’t you that girl from earlier?” As if luck were against me, the cab driver notices me and begins to make his approach. “How is it? Did you meet the prophet?”
“Stay away!” I scream at the top of my lungs, hoping that my voice can at least intimidate him enough to back off. Unfortunately, it was too late. The cab driver steps in and casts his shadow within the range of the street lamp.
Before I can shift my flashlight to block off its path in the shadows, the demon already rests within the shadow of the cab driver. But it did not stop there. The demon was far too restless to emerge from the shadows to attack the cab driver.
The man screams and stumbles back, but the demon, now resting in the man’s shadows, follows him.
The demon’s real form is just like a shadow. It’s as black as darkness, with no eyes—just a big gaping jaw and sharp claws.
Its gem rests on the ground where its body connects with the man’s shadow. I almost missed it if I haven’t looked twice at the spot.
“HELP!” The man screams frighteningly and throws his empty can of soda to the demon. The only effect it had was to divert the demon's attention long enough for me to draw my knife and strike at the gem.
I missed it because the man thought that it was a good idea to run. I cursed because the tip of the knife got bent.
“STOP RUNNING!” I screamed and ran after the man. He wasn’t able to run far enough because the demon clawed his back and drew blood in the process. The man falls to the ground in pain, but at least it stopped him from running.
Before the demon can strike the man again, I lunge at it. My arms skid on the cement ground when I dive for the gem. My eyes fully focus on the gem, and my arm muscle tightens when I exert more effort to stab my blunt knife to the demon’s gem.
The shadow demon screams. It turns toward me, and even when it doesn’t have eyes, I can feel its fury. I press on the gem further to increase the crack. The demon went for the attack with its teeth, but I use my left hand to push it back. At my current body, I am still so weak that I can barely keep it from biting my head off.
The shadow demon has other ideas. It dug its claws into my shoulder and drew blood. I bit my lower lip to keep myself from screaming. I’m getting weaker, and it is getting dangerous. I should have known that battling a demon that plagued the city in my past life isn’t going to be easy. But with its gem cracked, the demon is getting weaker. Right now, it is a battle between the two of us over which side is going to pass out first.
I release my hold on the knife and push myself up. It resulted in the claws digging further into my shoulder blades, but at least I can now freely use my feet. With the gem having a massive crack in the center, I use the heel of my shoe to stomp on it, shattering the gem in the process.
The demon cries out in agony and lets go of me. It begin to whitter in the air and is now reduced to ashes.
Finally, it’s over.
I fell on my knees and gasped in pain. The surge of new power slivering inside my body felt like someone was inserting a foreign liquid into my veins.
The power to cross the shadows is finally mine. And yet, it is not the time to celebrate. The man’s life is still in peril, and I am losing a lot of blood.
I dug in the man’s pocket and called the emergency hotline before I left. I used my newly acquired shadow weaving magic to leave the scene.
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 th
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