Haa! Haa! Haa!
Ah shit!
We didn't know this.
Why it suddenly happened?
My hands won't stop shaking. Neither will my legs.
Warm liquid drips down my forehead. My entire face is covered in something black. Blood? Dirt? I don't know anymore.
My blades... I dropped them. Somewhere.
Haa... Haa...
My breath gets heavier with every passing second. It comes out white. Cold. Too cold.
My team already died half an hour ago. The silence is louder than their screams were.
Idiot! You fell off this time too!!
What should I do? What?
I tried to close my grip. Forced my broken fingers into a fist.
Argh!!!!!!
Pain shoots up my arm like lightning.
Arghhhh!!!!
I can't feel my surroundings anymore. My senses are dulling. The world is blurring.
It's coming... Towards me.... Fast...Too fast....
Is it over?
Is this where I die?
Yes or no?
I grit my teeth, tasting blood and dirt.
Fuck you, fate!!!
[ A FEW HOURS EARLIER ]
[ FREDRIKO UNIVERSITY, FREDRIKO, AVENTIC ]
No, no, no,
I'm late,
I'm late,
Again.
I sprint towards my exam hall.
Why? Because I'm late for today's class and today, there's supposed to be an exam and I'm 20 minutes late.
I stop near the door.
"Sir! May I come in?"
Haa... Haa... Haa...
My breaths are fast and heavy.
"So finally, our prince decided to join us. Come on in, dear prince."
He's angry. Obviously.
"Yes! Sir." I quickly find my seat and sit there.
He gave me the questions and a deadpan warning glare.
Q1. If 45x45x45 = x then tell what the poet wanted to say?
Uh... what?
Q2. If a couple gives birth to 1 crore children, then calculate their children's future wife's father's height?
Huh?
Q3. A train leaves Station A at 3:00 PM moving at 60 km/h. Another train leaves Station B at 4:30 PM moving at 80 km/h. If a Duman eats both trains, how many survivors reach the hospital?
...This is a joke, right?
I know it's not my serious exam but what is this, this is beyond child's play.
That's right, child's play.
Thirty minutes later, the exam ends. I don't even know what those questions meant and what I wrote.
I stood up. Went outside.
I walk through the hallway. Just— walking.
Many students walk beside me. Perhaps some of them are couples or friends.
Suddenly my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Mission time! Boss."
---
[ 17:09 PM, USHIKAWARA JUNGLE, AVENTIC ]
We are flying over the Ushikawara Jungle. Only a few miles delay from our target destination.
"Son, four more kilometers to the base." Father's voice echoed through our speaker. He's guiding us from RAW headquarters.
"So it's the time", Marcus said teasingly, grinning like an idiot. Same as always.
This is Marcus, our idiotic member. Who's gonna believe he's killed over a thousand Star-Class Duman?
"Nams... we're heading down," Sophie muttered before taking her parachute.
"Why the hell did I even come here?", Veyna muttered under his breath.
"To kill the Dumans, dawg", Marcus teased.
"You're so hopeless," Clara sighed under her breath.
"Yes! He is," Marcus teased him again.
"Yo! Boss, Don't fall behind," Sophie said before taking her armour.
Ethan just nodded.
Say something... Ethan.
This is me and my idiotic strong team members.
Slowly, every person in our team started packing everything for jump after hearing my father's word.
"Dumbass that's mine," Marcus said to Veyna.
Team started to wear their clothes made of some fabrics of Niclomantius—it is one of the things which came from the other world. Lighter than a feather, tougher than diamond.
"Ethan, My swords?" Clara asked.
"Here," he gave her swords.
"Ompho!, This simp only talks to girls."
"Marcus, shut up."
"Ok, ok, Ethan, I get it."
They sighed.
"Let's go," they said in unison.
And they jumped.
I looked at their empty seat. It's not new for me. Before it I had eighty six missions. Why am I even thinking this?
I sighed.
"So, Father! Wish me luck," I said happily.
"Good luck, Idiot." I heard a familiar voice in bluetooth which is not my father.
"Cari, don't talk while I'm talking to my father," I jokingly warned him.
"Ok, ok, I ain't gonna talk when my boss is talking to the other boss," he chuckled.
"Shut up. Bye," I chuckled. "I'm off to go."
I disconnected his bluetooth line.
I took my favourite swords. From the day I started working with RAW, I didn't like guns, so I ain't taking any.
What am I saying?
I'm not officially in RAW. Well, not yet.
"Captain Nams, off to go."
3, 2, 1... and I jumped.
[ OUTSIDE THE HELICOPTER ]
The wind current suddenly became worse—it was not like this when I was in the helicopter.
"Oi! there's something in the air," I announced to them.
"We know, Boss!", Marcus yelled back.
There's some dangerous gas in the air. But our suits protect us.
"Ahhhhh"
Someone screamed.
"What happened?"
"You know, as always, Marcus fell off. Again." Sophie's voice stayed calm. It always did.
The wind was bad. My landing wasn't great—but at least I didn't fall like Marcus. He always does, for some reason.
"Why are we here at night?" Veyna spoke in distress.
"Have you seen Dumans in daylight?" Clara asked him.
"You guys, just leave him alone," here we go, the only member who doesn't talk that much, Ethan.
The jungle is unnaturally silent. No birds, no insects, just the oppressive weight of the air and the twisted claw-like branches of the trees.
If this was some horror movie and I was the protagonist of that story, then fuck the mission. I'd surely ran off.
I sound like a coward. We all do. Fair because it is the team of cowards.
We drew our blades. Readied our guns.
I take a long breath.
"All good?" I asked.
"Yes, except one thing."
"What is it, Sophie?"
"Our long-distance communication aren't working haven't been we landed in Ushikawara," she said.
"What?"
How could I even miss that? Aren't I supposed to be their captain?
Calm down Nams.
"It's ok. We still have our flare, right? When we're done or sense any danger we can't stop, we'll use that," I said, trying to speak with as much confidence as I could.
It's ok, right? Yeah, it's not like some god-tier Duman is gonna appear today.
"Let's go," I announced and sprinted towards the Duman base.
They followed me to the base. Veyna especially hates Dumans—we all do—but he hates them too much.
Six months ago, he lost his sister. He heard she was returning that day after finishing her tuition. But then she went missing. A few days later, they found her in some jungle. Most of her body parts were missing. Doctors found many bite marks on her body which matched most of the Duman cases.
But what's a Duman doing in Fredriko city?
He hates them but he fears them so much, yet he doesn't stop slaying them.
Dumans aren't easy to kill. In another way, Dumans can't be harmed by any normal human weapon.
We don't know the reason behind it. It needs something special like our guns—made of Azinthenium, a rare element from another world.
My blades are different. It made of some kind of unknown material, like my father's blade. Father call this The Blade of Theridiam.
"...."
These blades are actually my mom's. Before she went missing she uses these. And obviously she's the reason why I learn double blade style.
"Scan." Ethan activated his scanning device.
"Guys, around thirty-four presences I'm getting," Ethan said, bored as always.
"Copy that," we synced.
No wonder this place gives creepy vibes. The more we go towards the enemy base, the creepier this place gets.
"Captain, we might face problems tonight," Ethan muttered.
"And why is that?"
"I'm sensing more than 25 Duman and more are Star rank or higher," Ethan said.
"Star class, huh."
Star class—when any Duman has more than five horns, then we call it a Star Class Duman. Below that is Ginefa, and higher ones are Demon class.They move way faster than people's eyes could follow.
We started to see some Dumans in this place.
"Go."
Sophie shot one of the Dumans and it hit directly at its head.
"Watch out!" Too late. A Duman slammed into Clara's stomach. Gone before anyone could react.
She jolted away. Hit a large tree. Hard.
I quickly went to her side.
"Don't come!" I shouted. "Keep us safe for a moment."
Duman started appearing from the surroundings.
"Oh, God Nihility protect us," Veyna muttered before killing a Duman.
His swords moved faster than many RAW members perceptions. But that's not enough.
I lifted Clara's head and put it on my lap.
"Hey, hey, are you ok?"
Obviously she's not. Blood is coming out of her mouth.
What was that? Who moves that fast? That strong? What rank? Star? Or Higher?
"Hello father, there's a demon rank Duman here."
"Father?"
"Father!!!?"
Ahh, how could I forget our connection isn't working.
"Ahhhhhh... Take this, you son of a b—" Marcus growled before slaying some Dumans.
"Captain!!!" Ethan shouted.
A Duman almost reached me.
How could I be this careless!
I hissed.
I held the Duman's head and crushed it with my bare hand.
"Boss! You know you have swords," Marcus teased.
I chuckled.
I pulled out a bandage kit from my bag.
"Clear them all. They're just lower ranks."
"Clara, unlock your suit."
"CIMY, UNLOCK," Clara muttered.
I removed her suit's stomach part and started to bandage her wound.
"CIMY, Turn on the X-ray mode"
"How? How a Duman that strong—it completely shattered your bone," I said while bandaging her wound.
"Argh!!"
"Could you lift your body?"
She lifted her body.
"There! There! It's almost done."
She's panting.
"Ahh. At least it's just one bone." She tried to smile.
"CIMY, LOCK."
I readied one of the injections.
"Is that Garimin?"
"Indeed it is. It will remove your pain for only a few hours."
"I know, Captain."
" But after that few hours, It will hurt like hell , Boss"
"You can handle it. You're strong. I know you can."
"Oi! Womanizer, are we done?"
I looked at Marcus.
"Marcus! You know I can cut your salary over 50% if I report to my father about you," I warned him playfully.
"You wouldn't dare, Boss." Marcus pouted.
I looked at the surroundings.
"Where are Veyna, Clara, and Ethan?"
"They went ahead."
I sighed.
Those idiots!
"Clara, can you run?"
"Uhm, no, I can't. Please carry me like a princess." Marcus pitched his voice high, mocking someone.
"90%," I glared at him.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'll stop."
"That's more like it."
She stood up.
"Yeah, I can run. Basically I'm not feeling any pain."
She's tough. Will I ever be that tough?
"Let's go!."
We sprinted towards the Duman base.
Why do they make these bases?
Why? This question has haunted me for months. I've tried to solve it. But can't. All I can assume is that they hunt in groups.
We reached there.
Sophie, Veyna, and Ethan were panting.
Three Duman corpses lay on the ground.
"You good?" I asked.
"Yes, Captain," they said in sync.
"Captain, one of them ran away," Veyna muttered.
"It's o—"
I caught a spear-like thing that almost hit my chest.
Argh!!!
It happened so fast that my mind couldn't even comprehend it, but somehow my body reacted before I could sense anything.
"Captain!"
"Boss!"
"Nams!"
"Captain!"
"Captain!"
"Are you ok?" they asked in unison.
I tightened my grip.
"Something is here," I hissed.
----
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