I was tired. Tired of running. It's been three years since my suffering began.
And today... I had a chance to forget all these worries for a while. For three years, I would be under the protection of the state. The Hunter Academy.
That is, if they accepted me. My concern was that I had deliberately shown an unique and weak looking ability. If they didn't find it intresting they might have just rejected me. Of course I had reasons for not showing strong abilities.
The crisp envelope was embossed with the crest of the Hunter Academy. The seal was stark contrast against the surrounding mess of my apartment.
Without further thinking I tore it open. Inside, the letter was brief, almost mechanical:
Congratulations, Kai Renfield. You have been accepted into The Hunter Academy. The New term begins in one week. Do not be late.
My heart felt at ease my reading the letter. Leaning back in the chair, I stared at the cracked ceiling, my thoughts wandering.
I remembered the first time I'd seen the academy's advertisement. It was in a newspaper. A fairly famous one.
'The Hunter Academy: A Sanctuary for the Gifted. Three years of free academic with free living facilities inside the campus. Away from the ordinary world we will make your dreams become reality...'
At the time, I'd dismissed the Idea because I was already stronger than hunters my age and my abilities required something that ordinary law won't allow me to do.
Another reason was that they didn't take students eighteen.
A sharp knock at the door broke my train of thoughts.
"Pizza delivery for you, sir."
The person's tone made me smile. I knew who it was.
"Really? This again?"
I shifted in my seat, bracing for what was about to unfold.
Without warning, the door exploded inward with a deafening crash. Splinters flew, and smoke billowed through the opening.
A figure emerged from the wreckage, his eyes glowing with cold, malevolent intent.
"We meet again, boy. Good job hiding for three months," the man sneered, voice thick with disdain.
He was a bounty hunter. And had already tried to kill me one time but I never faught him. I didn't know what ability he ha
My eyes narrowed, as I noticed something different about the man.
He's confident.
"Breaking and entering is a crime, you know," I said flatly.
The man didn't reply. Instead, he flung a red blade infused with raw mana.
I dodged, in swift and controlled motion, but not without effort.
The table behind mr erupted into splinters, the letter I'd just received torn apart in the chaos.
I responded with a fast punch to the man's stomach, but the blow barely seemed to faze him.
With unnatural speed, the man reached out, fingers grazing my arm—a touch, but enough.
Pain flared through my triceps as the skin split open, blood spilling onto the floor.
I tried hard to control my impulses. I needed to assess this man. So I retreated few steps back.
The man also recoiled, taking a brief pause to reassess.
By now I had only a couple of thoughts:
He can blast anything he touches and throw blades that explode on impact.
The man grinned, his eyes gleaming with sadistic delight.
"There's no crowd like last time, boy. I'll end you this time. "
Before I could respond, the man hurled three blades. One towards his left, then one to the right, both hands moving in tandem. And with a step and a leap, he aimed his hand directly for my chest, his body a blur. Time seemed to slow.
I tried to calculate possibilities to avoid this and suddenly I realised his previous words hidden meaning.
'No crowd like last time? He thinks... I see.'
Just as the man neared, about to touch me, I vanished in front of his eyes.
The man stopped dead in his tracks, confusion flashing across his face.
"What? Where'd you go, you shit!?"
He turned around. Only to find me.
"Here."
The words died in his throat as a sharp blue crystal coloured sword made of energy pierced his chest. His eyes widened in shock as blood spilled from his mouth, dripping onto the floor.
"Two...? How..."
"You don't know my attribute do you?"
"You--"
"I guess... that's understandable. Your boss wouldn't want the world to snatch me before him."
The man tried to speak, but only a gurgling sound escaped as he collapsed, blood pooling beneath him.
I checked his Attribute Core. Attributes Core was an energy ball like thing I could see in people. It allowed me to absorb that energy and steal their powers. This was one of the reasons a certain man whom I'd never seen or heard, was interested in my body.
"Interesting magic. I'm keeping it."
The man's body lay still, blood staining the floor as I extracted his core. Taking the core was sometimes a lengthy process so it was not easy to get many attributes.
But after facing many enemies, I had quite a few Attributes.