7 Demon Jaegers

In a deep cave that was dimly lit by a bonfire, sat two people talking to each other. On one side was a lean, muscled man. He had nice sharp features both in face and body, and was gifted with two shining green eyes. He had a pointy mustache and had covered himself in wolf pelt to protect him from whatever he may face in the unknown forest. Three scars went from his chin to his collarbone, as if he had swiped by an animal or beast with fierce claws.

On the other side was, well, you already know him.

"What is it you want from me?" Zedrel asked aloud, getting more and more flustered by the sudden kidnapping. However, this unknown man had yet to tell him anything as he glared into the fire, looking deeply concentrated. "Do you know what a Demon Jaeger is?" He questioned me. I stared bewildered at the middle-aged man, but he kept observing the ever raging fire waiting for an answer. "No, I remember nothing". I told him flat out.

"I see." he responded. I thought that was it, but just as I was about to ask him what it was he saw, he spoke again.

"The Demon Jaegers were created for more or less 2000 years ago. The fallen angel Lucifer had descended from the world above to wreck chaos and destruction upon us. Humanity struggled against his army of demons, but as time went by some demons fell in love with our people. And as they mated, there was a 0.1 percent chance the child would be half-demon. You have demon blood flowing inside your veins. Yet you smell and behave like a human."

Honestly, it sounded like pure nonsense, but I let him speak out as I had nothing else to entertain myself with on such a lonely night.

"My name is Marvin Jaeger, and I am 433 years old. I fought alongside my brothers and sisters in various battles against noble demons and demon lords. But within the last 100 years those nasty demons got rights and are now protected by the government."

I slowly got what this man was saying, but I still didn't have any clue why he would tell me all this. Was it just to give me a history lesson or did he have anything particular in mind?

"You, my friend, are fit to be a Demon Jaeger. If you want to, I can teach you how to fight, think and behave like a true Jaeger would." As he said so, he gave me a nerve cracking look as if he would kill me were I to decline.

I felt a sudden decrease of oxygen in the air around me as I struggled to breathe and began sweating bullets. The blood was rushing to my head, and I used my last bit of strength to lift my arm in a reaching motion towards the still dead serious man.

And with my last breath I dumped on the solid ground and felt a sting of pain in the back of my head which knocked me out.

Everything was once again black and this despairing yet homely feeling of being alone in the world had returned to me in full. I felt myself in a weightless state as the rocky ground that carried my true body were no longer here. I looked around confused, but within long I recognized the blue glints in the far off distance. Floating around in within grasp of fate was my consciousness as I repeatedly counted the shiny lights I kept losing track of where I had gotten to.

That was when I noticed a purple fire that was burning lightly in the far-off horizon. It was slightly bigger than the other glints, and it was actually getting nearer. But with it came an overwhelming desire to get hold of it, and so I struggled to get closer and closer, and I sure did. My eyes were greedy for the lit flame and I saw nothing but its magnificent slashing and whipping blaze.

But no matter how much I stretched and twisted myself, I just couldn't grasp the fire that was so patiently waiting to be wielded in my hands. But suddenly the voice of my mother rang loudly in my head. "My son, get strong to survive!" And my demonic dad followed right after.

"Tch! Strong? Have you seen him, he will never grow strong!" This voice, however, was superior to that of my mom's. And made me grit teeth in frustration, as I had yet to catch the everlasting flame.

But all shattered in front of my eyes again, and I fell through space and time until I landed right where I had left off, in the cave.

The sounds of the cracking wood and blowing bonfire besides me entered my ears as I slowly regained my composure.

"Are you okay? I am sorry for releasing a bit too much aura back then" Marvin said while offering me a roasted chicken leg, with an apologetic look on his face.

"I accept" I said while collecting the chicken from his hand.

"What do you mean?" Marvin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, I accept your offer about teaching me." Honestly, I didn't like the thought about relying on anyone else, but I would never get my revenge if I didn't get stronger. And fast.

He almost dropped the half-eaten chicken as he looked at me bewildered, unknown about how he should react. "Yes! Excellent, we shall begin the training tomorrow!" He yelled, truly enjoying the moment.

And sure enough, I laid down on a pile of gathered leaves and slept smoothly for the first time in forever.

The next morning was when hell started, except compared to the dungeon, this was heaven.

"Alright since you only have one arm and apparently no muscles on it, we'll start with a saying that will stay with you until you die."He grinned until he suddenly changed mood into a dead serious stare. "Never let anyone get close to you".

I was taken aback from what he said, but it wasn't something I would have a troublesome time mastering, I already had my nice comfy shell that pushed anything emotional away from me.

So I nodded, and we then proceeded the rest of the day with only theory to practice.

--> ??? <--

The wind was dashing in the snowy mountains, and you could hear the faint cries of snow wolves camouflaging themselves in the white landscape, waiting patiently for their prey to get a step too close.

If you went even beyond the cloud breaking mountain tops, there was a small fort called 'Fort Draugen'

"So Marvin has settled down and become a mentor? He must have found something really special then!" The old men and women cheered throughout the hall as they emptied yet another drink. After all, they fought alongside him long ago. Not all the battle scared warriors were as old or strong as Marvin was, and he was deeply admired because of that.

But as the night carried on, one of them suddenly asked a question that got them all thinking.

"Why were Marvin even in that forest for all those weeks?" A man asked after he had pondered on the question for a while as well. The silence followed with everyone trying to come with a dumb remark, but no one actually knew why he left.

"Demonic energy were overflowing the forest, so he stepped in investigate" A hooded man explained to the elders as he sipped on his drink again.

A lot of 'oh' repeated stupidly throughout the hall, and you could clearly see age had left its mark on their memory.

A 'tch' escaped the hooded man's mouth as he went back to his room dissatisfied.

He pulled the handles to the still sturdy doors and sat on a majestic bed, waiting for someone to enter as well. And sure enough, soon another person entered the room.

She had a cape and a hood on and looked awfully suspicious as she pulled out a letter containing valuable information, and left it lying on the floor. "For you" She said as she left the empty room and the letter to himself.

--

'Hello Helric

I have a contract for you.

Eliminate the target 'Zedrel', you will find him in the lost woods, but the exact location is unknown.

He is not a demon, but might become a threat to me and my heir if he is allowed to live on.

He might or might not have any companions with him, but I doubt they will hinder you in collecting the reward for slaying this man.

Reward: 500 Gold

Thanks in advance.

-L'

--

He thought of the possibility of running into Marvin, but quickly denied it. The Lost Woods were a large area and filled with demons so if it would be weird if this 'Zedrel' were the massive release of demonic power.

But getting there might cause a slight delay as Marvin took the last porter with him when he left. So it'll at least cost me 3-4 months travelling to get there by horse, and then another month at least to localize the threat.

He reached for a candle on the table and lit the edge of the letter on fire as he let it burn out in his hand. Prepare yourself, boy, I'm coming for you.