“Grrr!” The wiht growled, smelling the air and staying still.

  Its skin was charcoal dark in color; it walked on four legs, with two flying appendages looking like a bat’s wings on its back.

  The wiht was devoid of any hair, had sharp teeth, two holes looking like slits where its nose should be, and no eyes.

  Thankfully, it couldn’t see, and Alhen held his breath, not daring to make a sound.

  The next second, small protrusions came out of its chest until they formed perfect human ears, although bigger in size.

  His heart pounded against his chest as he took small and careful steps in the direction of the exit, which was close.

  If he could quickly reach the door, being fairly unnoticed, he would be safe.

  The wiht started moving around erratically, but thankfully not close to him.

  Feeling his breath running out due to his nervousness, he stopped and took ten seconds in total to inhale and exhale as low as possible.

  Throughout this time, his gaze didn’t divert from the wiht, who moved around trying to sense something.

  He almost had a heart attack once he saw the creature coming closer, only to step back a second later.

  Alhen continued his walk and approached the door slowly but surely, never taking his eyes off the threat.

  As he focused on the creature, he failed to notice the broken shards of glass below him.

  He stepped on one accidentally and almost winced from the sharp pain that traveled up his foot.

  The glass dug deep into his skin, and it took all of his willpower not to make a sound.

  He gritted his teeth and fists with strength as he slowly crouched.

  Alhen removed his gaze from the wiht and removed the piece of glass stuck to his feet.

  He slowly pulled on it, his skin stretching and ripping apart, leaving the bloody piece of broken glass on his hand.

  He made sure to keep the blood from dripping, not being sure if the wiht would be able to hear it or not.

  Alhen raised his head from his feet forward to look at the wiht.

  His heart skipped a beat when he noticed that its head was pointed directly in his direction, with its body frozen.

  “Sniff, sniff,” Alhen took a second to look at the bloody glass in his hand and returned his attention to the wiht.

  His body tensed as he prepared for the worst.

  At the sight of the wiht making a move towards him, he would rush to the door and leave before it could reach him.

  At least that was the plan.

  “Screech!” The wiht screeched loudly.

  Alhen felt as if his eardrums had ruptured; he had no choice but to cover his ears.

  He grit his teeth with all his strength, and his vision blurred.

  His body swayed from side to side as he saw the blurry silhouette of the wiht running towards him.

  When his senses improved enough, the wiht was already in front of his face.

  His pupils dilated as he used all his strength to jump to the side, barely avoiding a claw to the chest.

  He landed and rolled away, and just as he stood, he noticed his mistake.

  “Shit!” He cursed.

  Unfortunately, his little stunt had landed him further away from the exit.

  It currently stood behind the wiht, and there were no other escape routes in the enclosed space.

  ‘So this is a wiht,’ Alhen thought with his heart racing.

  Despite his heavy breathing, his eyes were clear, and his mind was sharp.

  He wanted to question how a creature like that even got close to the church, but for the moment, his mind focused completely on surviving the ordeal.

  The moon was the real problem; a single look in its direction would be enough to turn him into one of those monsters.

  Thankfully, to look at it, he would have to look up, something that he wasn’t planning to do anytime soon.

  He kept his eyes glued to the floor just enough so that he could see the wiht and keep the moon out of sight.

  The next second, he felt something warm trickling down his ears, and when he noticed what it was, he cursed once again.

  ‘Shit!’ Blood started leaking from his ears.

  He noticed the lack of sound apart from the constant ringing that started to drive him insane.

  Alhen observed the wiht closely, preparing for another attack.

  He saw how it opened its mouth widely, showing its gruesome, yellow teeth, before charging at him.

  ‘Fast!’ He thought, barely being able to react to one of its attacks and evading by taking a step backwards.

  “Slash!” The wiht slashed again.

  This time, its claws found their way to the side of his stomach.

  His malnourished body had little to no protection.

  His skin and muscles tore like paper, and blood flowed heavily out of it.

  Alhen suppressed the urge to scream as he held his stomach with his hand, attempting to stop the bleeding.

  Thankfully, the torture he had gone through allowed him not to faint from the pain and remain fairly calm.

  ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m going to die!’ Alhen thought as he barely dodged the creature’s next attacks while running away, but he was no match for the speed of the creature.

  The wiht chased him as a starving lion would chase after a gazelle.

  It refused to let its prey escape and slashed at him over and over again with intensity.

  It aimed a claw at his chest, but Alhen quickly crouched and passed in between the creature’s legs.

  He took hold of the shirt that was forcibly removed from him by the two men earlier on, holding it against his injury to avoid dying of blood loss.

  Alhen knew it wasn’t much, but it was all he could do.

  Of course, the wiht didn’t stay still; it quickly turned around and pinned Alhen to the ground.

  Its great strength didn’t allow him to stand up or escape its grasp.

  The wiht tried to bite Alhen without much success as he, with wide eyes and quick movements, avoided his death by shifting his body continuously with the tenacity of a cornered animal.

  The wiht screeched loudly before slashing at his chest once again, this time exposing his bones to the outside world.

  “Arghh!” he screamed; death was enveloping his body.

  His mind became foggy, and his eyes involuntarily closed.

  ‘Oh, is this how I die? So stupid. Why?’ Alhen thought, feeling as his body lost strength by the second.

  He couldn’t feel anything anymore, but he was sure that his body was cold, way too cold.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  And just as his senses were fading away, “Bam!” someone kicked the door open.

  Alhen’s eyes snapped open, and the wiht turned to look at the one responsible for the loud sound before its head… disappeared.

  He had not seen what happened.

  One moment the wiht stood, and the next it fell on top of him, its blood drenching his body.

  The wiht’s body blocked his vision of the moon, and he silently thanked that it had been like that; otherwise, he might have already transformed into one of those creatures.

  Now that the danger was over, he didn’t have the energy to do anything else apart from closing his eyes and gradually losing consciousness.

  A few seconds passed before Father Vincent appeared beside him.

  He knelt and called for the nuns, who arrived in a heartbeat.

  The veils on their faces kept them from looking at the moon as they drew close.

  They gave Alhen the mysterious blue liquid from a vial before cleaning his injuries and patching him up.

  One of the nuns placed a blindfold on his face to prevent any accidents in case he suddenly woke up.

  They took him in arms and carried him out of the room with brisk movement.

  Father Vincent chose to stay behind, looking at the headless wiht and the mess caused by the confrontation.

  “To think that this would happen.” He smiled lightly before looking at the moon directly in its complete form.

  “You are watching, aren’t you?” The air coming from the outside brushed his hair as he continued looking at it for a few seconds.

  His smile then dropped, and he looked away before leaving the room.

  Alhen slowly opened his eyes.

  The light coming from the candles beside him gave him a headache, and the heat emanating from them caressed his cheeks.

  They smelled nice, however, smelling of fragrant flowers.

  Coming back to his senses took a while, but once he did, everything that had happened came back to him.

  “I’m weak,” he thought.

  With this type of strength, he would never be able to kill the Father, who had taken care of the wiht like it was nothing, or survive outside.

  His first encounter with those creatures had almost ended his life.

  Alhen noticed that below his neck, something glowed brightly with a white light.

  The scarred burn gave off a tangible energy that he felt could strengthen his body and raise it to higher levels.

  This energy, however, was mild, and he couldn’t grasp the totality of it.

  The door leading to the room creaked open, and he snapped out of his thoughts.

  A nun dressed in the usual attire told him to follow her, without regard for his tired state.

  He got out of bed with difficulty, feeling a lingering pain where his right arm should be, even though he was healed.

  ‘Is this how having phantom pain feels like?’ he wondered before following her to the priest’s office.

  “Please enter; Father Vincent is waiting for your arrival,” the nun said with an open hand extended towards the door.

  Alhen looked at the symbol of the eye on her veil briefly before placing his hand on the doorknob and opening the door.

  The face of the father came into view, who watched him with an icy gaze.

  “Sit,” he said simply.

  Alhen tried to discern the situation with no result, as always, Father Vincent didn’t give away anything with his expressions.

  ‘Is he mad at me?’ He couldn’t help but think.

  Maintaining eye contact throughout his actions, he sat, and Father Vincent remained staring at him.

  “What happened earlier this cycle is truly unfortunate. I’m glad that you still live; it would be a shame if something were to happen to you,” he said

  Alhen calmed down, clearly having expected something worse to be coming out of his mouth.

  Father Vincent continued, however, and this time he didn’t feel relieved.

  “That’s why I have decided that you are ready to begin your life as a hunter for the church. A mentor will be assigned to you; he should be arriving shortly,” he said before leaning back on his chair.

  Alhen frowned and, with a downcast expression, said, “I wasn’t able to do anything against that creature.”

  Father Vincent laughed at his words, expecting him to react worse than he did.

  “So that is what you were worried about. Do not pay attention to such trivialities. The man who will be training you is of the highest quality and will make sure you become an exceptional hunter. Do not lose your energy when you have yet to kill me,” Father Vincent said while laughing a little.

  Alhen clenched his fists.

  ‘That’s right,’ he thought.

  ‘Why am I feeling like this? Of course, I am weak; I have never trained in my life, and yet I was able to survive against one of those creatures. I will definitely become stronger, and when I do…’ His gaze shifted to Father Vincent, looking at him with murderous intentions.

  ‘I will kill you.’

  “Why are you looking at me like that, Alhen? You are scaring me,” Father Vincent said mockingly.

  Alhen didn’t pay attention to him, ignoring his words and falling silent.

  Before the silence could spread, however, Father Vincent spoke once more.

  “Instead of wasting your potential not doing anything here, it will be better if you learn through the capable hands of the hunter that I will be assigning you. He will resolve many of your doubts, and at the end of your path, you will end up better because of it.”

  Alhen opened his mouth to say something, but closed it soon after.

  Thinking about it, staying in the church would be a complete waste of time.

  He would be wasting countless cycles without showing real growth.

  Going outside would be more dangerous, but his future would be solidified.

  Also, it would be nice if he weren’t tortured every day, even if it made him more resilient; it was still an unpleasant experience.

  “Alright,” Alhen said, accepting his fate.

  “When is my new mentor arriving?” he asked.

  “BAM!” Alhen flinched, and the door leading to the room broke, landing just beside him with a hard thud.

  “It seems that he is already here,” Father Vincent responded.

  Alhen snapped his gaze in the direction of the entrance and saw a seven-and-a-half-foot-tall giant entering through the small doorframe, having to lower his head to do so.

  “Old man, what in the Korghus is this letter that I received, care to explain!? I am not mentoring some brat; I have got better things to do!”

  The man, who had a rough and deep voice, came in, not looking at all pleased with the situation.

  The man wore the mask of a crow with a sharp, slightly pointed beak that hid his facial features.

  His attire mainly consisted of the color black, with a leather jacket, resistant pants, and boots.

  He wore a high hat and held a cane in his hand, a limp evident on his left leg as he walked.

  “Calm down, Alaran. You still owe me for saving you; remember?” Father Vincent said calmly, trying to calm him down.

  Alaran, however, gripped the cane tightly in his hands as he walked closer to him.

  “You saved me, so what? I never asked for your help. It would have been better if you had let me die in that cave instead of making me mentor your pet!” He shouted.

  “Crack!” The cane in his hand broke the wooden floor below from the pressure his soon-to-be mentor was releasing.

  He came face to face with Father Vincent, waiting impatiently for his answer.

  “Do not be like this, Alaran. I know exactly what you want, and I have told you how to achieve it. Please humor me this one time and take care of my son; he requires someone as capable as you are.”

  Alhen grimaced at having to hear the word ‘son’ coming out of Father Vincent’s mouth.

  He would have yelled at him if not for the fact that the man in front of him seemed to be unstable and dangerous.

  Alaran scoffed, looking disgusted by what he was hearing.

  “Flattery will get you nowhere, old man. What makes you think I will not snap your student’s neck the moment he angers me?” He asked with a serious tone, causing Alhen to flinch on the side.

  Father Vincent laughed at his words, as if he had heard the biggest joke of the week.

  “We both know that you would not do that, because if you did,” he stopped laughing.

  A serious expression took hold of his features as he stared deep into Alaran’s eyes.

  “I will kill you, and you will not be able to get your revenge. Do you not want them to suffer for what they did to you? For what they did to those whom you hold dear?” He asked, letting the words hang.

  “If you care about any of that, you will listen to my request and mentor my son.” Finishing those words, the smile returned to his face as he waited for an answer.

  Alhen watched the interaction with a nervous gaze, not daring to breathe and be noticed by that man.

  “Tsk!” Alaran ultimately clicked his tongue before taking a deep breath.

  He exhaled for a total of five seconds before staying still, looking at the light coming from a candle on Father Vincent’s desk.

  His head moved to look at Alhen, and he stared at him without talking or moving.

  Alhen couldn’t see his face due to the mask he wore, and wondered what was going through his mind.

  His palms sweated as he waited for a word, or something that would break this suffocating silence.

  “Kid,” Alaran began, “I am your new mentor; if you make me lose my patience, I will kill you myself.”

  The way those words had come out of his mouth made him completely believe that he was being serious.

  Alhen nodded in understanding, causing a slight nod of approval from Alaran.

  “Very well, I have prepared something for you, Alhen,” said Father Vincent.

  His gaze moved from his now mentor to the father, who he saw taking from under the desk an axe with a golden eye painted on its blade.

  It also had a handle consisting of precious metals, which made it stand out from the rest of the room.

  He then proceeded to take out a silver revolver with the engraving of a golden eye on the side of the grip and decorations similar to the axe.

  Alhen looked at the weapons with wide eyes.

  He then looked towards his missing right arm and immediately frowned.

  “How am I supposed to use these weapons with only one arm?” he asked.

  Father Vincent shrugged his shoulders and said, “Figure it out.”

  Alhen’s eyebrow twitched, and his lips rose into a grim smile.

  Alaran, on the side, started laughing heartily, which dumbfounded him.

  ‘So he can laugh,’ he thought.

  “There’s another problem, this axe is too eye-catching, won’t I get robbed the moment I step outside? I thought that the outside world was dangerous,” Alhen commented, looking at the axe with an unsure expression.

  “What? Are you rejecting my gift? I am sorry to say that this is what you are getting. Nothing more, and nothing less. Also, there is a reason I am giving you this and not normal weapons,” Father Vincent said, his usual smile being gone and replaced by a frown.

  ‘I will die as soon as I go out, won’t I?’ Alhen thought.

  “These types of weapons are called ‘Thuls;’ they are made specifically to deal with wihts. Normal weapons or bullets won’t be able to harm these creatures,” Father Vincent explained.

  “I understand,” Alhen said with a sigh.

  “You were branded earlier this cycle with the Luna Signum of our church; that sign on your chest will be able to give you strength beyond what a normal person can achieve,” the father smiled.

  ‘So that’s why I was able to get out of my restraints on the moon gazing room,’ Alhen thought.

  “Your new mentor, Alaran, will explain everything about it when you go to your first hunt in a few minutes,” Father Vincent said.

  “Wait, what do you mean about going to a hunt in a few minutes? I am not prepared for that!” Alhen exclaimed.

  “And let me tell you something important. Never show your sign to anyone. Hunters associated with Lord Oros have been hunted like parasites. Many envious people want to see the downfall of this church,” Father Vincent advised, ignoring him completely.

  Alhen felt resigned after being ignored, but he ultimately nodded slowly at the message.

  “Anything that you are not sure of, you can always ask your mentor, and he will explain it to you. For now, go ahead,” Father Vincent said before turning his head to look at his son’s mentor.

  “Alaran; guide him to hunt some lesser wihts near the waterfall, and make sure that he doesn’t die, you know what will happen if he does. Next cycle, I want him to take the hunter test,” he said.

  Alaran reluctantly nodded on the side, looking like he wanted this interaction to be over with.

  Father Vincent turned to look at Alhen and sent a brief smile his way that to Alhen seemed to hold malicious intentions.

  “Alhen, when you become a hunter, I have a surprise for you,” he said.

  Alhen didn’t like the sound of that, but he didn’t show it, choosing to remain silent.

  Alaran scoffed at the father’s words and turned, walking towards the exit.

  Noticing Father Vincent’s gaze, Alhen stood and followed behind his mentor with shaky steps to experience his first hunt.

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