Elijah and sukiro were on their way back to the camp..
The silence was loud..
Both of them were quiet, lost in their thoughts and in what had just happened..
Sukiro had finally achieved his dream, the day he thought was so distant had arrived
He thought that everyone would have been happy for him, yet he was met with..
With anger, sorrow, fear, horror
The one guy he considered an ass, the grumpy aunt was the only one who was not affected by it
"Do you know why all of them were… well speechless?" elijah asked
Sukiro lifted his head, his face had turned into sadness itself..
He slowly shook his head, indicating he is oblivious to the reason
"It's the colour the crystal imitated.." elijah replied calmly
"The colour?" sukiro asked curiously
"Yeah the colour"
"Does colour matter that much?" he questioned
Elijah nodded
"The colour indicates your class, blue for fighter or warrior, green for healer, purple for alchemist, brown for tank and silver for mage" he spoke
"What does red mean then?" sukiro asked
"That's the thing, red has never been shown"
"There is no class that represents red sukiro" elijah spoke looking at sukiro, his face twisted with fear and horror
Sukiro stood frozen..
"But how is that even possible??" his tone had changed into disbelieve
"Exactly.. Everyone was shocked even me"
"We all knew you would be S-rank by now but.."
"You have to understand in that moment everyone was scared and terrified not to mention that your reaction didn't help" elijah shrugged
"Is there nothing on what red could possibly mean?" sukiro asked desperate
"There was one thing, long ago but no one believed it" elijah spoke walking ahead
"What?", what was it" sukiro asked
"It was written in an ancient text, it read something like.. 'The colour red represents the ancient, primordial, evil bastard beings' something like that" elijah said his tone dead serious
"Really?!" sukiro yelled his eyes widened
"No dumbass, i just made that up right now" elijah looked at him with pure disappointment
They had been walking for a while now, it had turned night
Elijah was leading the way with sukiroo close behind him
"Seriously though, was there anything about the red?" sukiro retorted pushing elijah to tell him
"There was actually, it was written long back though" elijah grumbled
"What was it?" sukiro questioned him for the hundredth time
"It was written in an old language. It took many years to decipher it but it did say something about the red colour 'there will be a time when a hunter will appear… his class will be none like the ones seen before.. It will glow red.. Like death itself and that is what it means.. The hunter will bring about death, destruction famine to the world and will finally end everything we know of' "
"Yeah nice try but i don't fall for the same thing twice in a row, i am not that dumb" sukiro said raising his eyebrow
Elijah turned to him his face dead serious "i am not joking" he spoke
The air had seemed to stop..
Sukiro stood there in silence comprehending what he had just heard
"And that isn't even the weirdest part about that text" elijah said his tone calm
"That scripture was written 4000 years ago.." elijah spoke
"But hunters or even dungeons didn't even exist back then" sukiro said gasping
"Exactly" elijah said dead serious
Sukiro stumbled back "My fate is to… end the world?"
Elijah stood still.. "Your fate isn't to end the world… it is to turn the world into hell"
His throat tightened and his fingers trembled.. "That can't be true right?" he chuckled nervously
"Well the answer would be" Elijah slowly looked above to the stars "we don't know…"
"Don't know??" sukiro asked aggravated
"There has never been a case of a red hunter in existence… with the sole exception of you, sukiro"
he looked at sukiro his eyes filled with worry for the first time "you are the only case in history"
The wind picked up… the night grew darker… the breeze turned colder
Both of them choose silence..
No words were spoken
Until…
The similar feeling of warmth washed over them
The smell of wood burning.. The camp tents.. The smell of the delicious food that sukiro loved
Yet today it felt foreign
Sukiro stopped, stood still
Elijah turned back "standing like a statue won't make you one"
"How can i.. How can I walk back there?" sukiro mumbled
"I am destined to destroy the world Elijah.." his voice was shallow. As if he wanted to disappear
"Look at you sukiro, you are literally six or something months old i don't think a baby like you is destroying anything soon" elijah chuckled
Sukiro didn't reply.. His face was still filled with sorrow
Elijah sighed "I am not the guy for emotional talks.. Heck i can't even express my own emotions" he thought
"But even if you were the damm devil.. They would choose to stand with you in hell every single day"
Sukiro's eyes widened he looked up at him surprised
A slow nod and a little smile followed
They slowly walked into the camp…
Each step felt heavier than the last
With each step his breath got shallower
And then the fire roared through the earth
The camp fire..
home..