Erlen woke up energetic—so energetic it felt almost unnatural. His body stretched on its own, muscles loosening with satisfying cracks as if he had finally slept properly after weeks. His hair was sticking out in every direction, messy enough to look like a bird's nest, and his eyelids were still heavy, but there was a strange spark in his eyes. A kind of restless excitement.
He swung his legs off the bed, rubbing his face before stepping into the hallway.
As soon as he turned the corner into the living room, he stopped.
President Rimon was sitting comfortably on the couch with Leora beside him. Rimon had one leg over the other, arms resting on the couch like he owned the place… which, to be fair, he probably did considering how much he funded them. Leora sat next to him, sipping her tea with a bored expression, wearing a loose oversized t-shirt and shorts.
"You woke up at last," Rimon said with a dramatic sigh, raising an eyebrow. "I've been waiting for the past two hours for you to wake up!"
Leora snorted into her cup.
Erlen rolled his eyes as he dropped onto the opposite couch.
"Yeah, yeah," he said lazily. "What's the reason you came here?"
Rimon leaned forward with a playful smirk—the type he always had when he was about to drop something big.
"I want you to get enrolled in the Hunter Academy."
Erlen blinked once, then twice.
"I thought hunters were rare?"
"They were," Rimon replied, crossing one leg over the other. "But times have changed. With demons, ghosts, and every possible creature getting stronger—and with more people awakening supernatural abilities—we had to create an academy."
"A school for people who can explode buildings by sneezing?" Erlen raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly! A school to train them, discipline them, and keep them from causing chaos."
Leora nodded knowingly. "So basically you want to tame them like wild dogs, right?"
Rimon laughed and placed a hand on his chest.
"No, no! I meant train them to not attack powerless civilians. And instead protect them."
Erlen shrugged. "You can't change someone's desire to kill. It's their mind, lol."
Rimon waved him off as if ignoring a mosquito. "Forget it. Will you join or not?"
"Yes."
Rimon clapped once, loudly. "Good. Then listen carefully—"
He turned to Leora.
"You will be coming with him too."
Leora froze mid-sip, tea halfway to her mouth.
"WHAT!?"
Her eyes widened so much they looked ready to fall out.
"Why me!? I don't have superpowers type shit!"
"Because someone has to keep him under control," Rimon smirked, pretending to whisper dramatically. "And because you two work well together."
Leora glared at Erlen as if this was somehow his fault.
Rimon continued proudly, crossing his arms.
"Plus—we've developed prototype robotic suits. They can boost a normal human to hunter-level power. Still early stage, but eventually they'll surpass even S-ranks."
Leora groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Fine then… I guess I don't have a choice."
Rimon stood up, brushing imaginary dust off his coat.
"Both of you should get ready—you leave tomorrow morning."
He turned toward the door. "I should get going. Goodbye!"
The moment the door clicked shut, Leora spun toward Erlen with a mischievous grin.
"Mr. Handsome, take care of me then!"
"Sure," Erlen replied, stretching again as he walked back to his room.
The moment he entered, a thought hit him like a slap.
Right.
The technique.
He sat on the edge of his bed and opened his closet. Inside, hidden under a pile of folded shirts, was the old book Rimon had given him. Its cover was worn, ancient, but the moment he touched it, a faint pulse of mana vibrated against his fingers.
He took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the floor, and opened it.
The words weren't normal ink.
They glowed.
Not brightly, but enough to feel alive, like they were written using mana instead of ink. Before he could process it, the whole room around him dissolved into darkness—like someone erased reality with a single breath.
He drifted into a strange visualization state.
He wasn't reading anymore.
He was watching himself.
A separate Erlen appeared in front of him, repeating the movements of the technique flawlessly. His form was clean, smooth, impossibly refined. His mana flowed like smoke, shifting around him until his presence began to fade—slowly, then completely.
It was like watching his own existence vanish.
No sound.
No shadow.
No energy signature.
No presence.
Just emptiness.
Then—
He blinked.
Reality snapped back.
The book rested in his lap again.
"…I learned it already?" he muttered.
He stood up and activated it instinctively.
The lights in the room dimmed around him—not because they actually dimmed, but because his presence faded so much that even light seemed confused about reflecting off him.
He looked down.
No shadow.
He walked.
No footstep sound.
Even the air didn't react to him.
"What the… hell is this shit?" he complained. "Am I just not going to have a shadow now? My presence can't be detected by anyone, even hunters above me!"
He waved his hand through the air, admiring the way his movement left zero trace. Then he deactivated it.
His shadow returned slowly.
He sighed.
"I was hoping for something more dope. Aghh…"
He flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, arm resting over his forehead. The room felt unusually quiet. Too quiet.
Tomorrow, he would enter the Hunter Academy.
A place full of dangerous people, talents, monsters in human skin…
And he was going there with Leora.
The thought made him sigh again.
Not because he disliked it.
But because life was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
And maybe…
a little more interesting.