Hanmo of the Ice

After moving down the sewage (a long trip), Mark expected some stench and some discomfort. But he was surprised to find a small door—hidden—on the wall of the sewage, and the crazy scientist woman entered it. 

Mark followed her.

He was still very cautious of her and held her at arm's length, but in the end, it turned out she hadn't prepared any traps. They ended up inside a vast basement of sorts with bright lights all over it.

Looking around, Mark was somewhat stunned. Even Dona, who was on his back, was stunned. Her eyes widened, and her hold over his neck tightened.

The place was huge and full of complex-seeming equipment. But out of everything, Mark's gaze focused on the thing right in the middle of the vast room. A huge humanoid machine.

He couldn't help but stutter.

"A mecha?"

Mark walked into the room and gulped slightly. 

"It doesn't work yet…" Yuri sighed. "It is a prototype I am working on. Times are crazy, you know? Hunters, Demons, and all this apocalypse shit. I need to work on it, and I am guessing it should give me some defensive measures."

Mark sighed, then looked at a particular wall, which was full of monitors. It had a huge assortment of visuals from many parts of the world.

"Those are from hidden cameras I set up around this hideout. If anyone—cops, Hunters, Demons—approaches us, we will be notified. It's live. It was very, very expensive to get set up, and there was a lot of underground work."

"Very… intricate," Mark mumbled. "Do you have a lot of enemies, woman?"

"Oh, quite a bit. I am sort of a criminal." Yuri removed her goggles.

Mark blinked. "What did you do to become one?"

Yuri spat, "I 'thought.' That's what made me a criminal. And also some human experiments—you can get what I am saying, right?"

"Yep. I am smart enough to understand your words." Mark nodded. 

So, this woman became a criminal because of her dangerous thoughts. Damn. A mad scientist, for real. One that does human experiments and consorts with Demons. And he was that Demon.

Yuri looked at Mark contemplatively for a while and then nodded. "Okay, Partner. Now, you can get fresh from that Bathroom. I also have clothes prepared, both for you and your…" she looked at Dona speculatively.

"She is Dona. My mate."

"Okay, both for you and your mate. Go in, refresh yourself, and return. I'll prepare something to eat, and we can talk about our cooperation while having some nutrients."

Mark smiled. "Come in with us to the bathroom, then."

He didn't trust her enough to leave her alone. 

Yuri sighed. "Fine, I guess I will have to prove my sincerity. I have no devices at hand, and there is a veil in the bathtub; you guys can enter it, and I'll stand outside."

…

Mark had expected the bath to be awkward, so he wasn't too bothered when it actually ended up being awkward. 

Hakase Yuri was fumbling about outside, hidden by a veil—he could see her shadow and also hear even her breaths—while he and Dona entered a generously big bathtub. Dona was obviously against the bathwater touching her, but she was too tired to resist. 

The water was cool to the touch. 

Mark slumped down into the water, and he and Dona both grew immensely comfortable soon enough. Only then did his mind slightly panic.

He saw Yuri as a normal person.

Calling the cops or others or scheming against him with other Hunters wouldn't be her go-to solution to get him—a demon—as her research subject. She could just poison him or something similar.

Maybe this bathwater itself was a poisonous liquid. He had been too careless. Exhaustion had made him do it. But even as he laid in the tub, the cold water felt like water, and he didn't feel anything wrong.

Just in case, Mark even looked at the violet screen within him to see his stats. Nothing like a poisonous debuff was there. He had a feeling it would be there if he was, in fact, being poisoned.

Becoming a Demon had made him paranoid.

Sighing to himself, he just washed Dona everywhere. She comfortably snuggled against him and no longer seemed to care for the water or the temperature. Taking the nice-smelling soap, he took a sniff and threw it aside.

It was too harsh to his demonic nose.

He just used plain water and some olive oil that smelled good to bathe in, and for the first time since he met her, Dona was completely clean. He even cleaned her unmentionables. 

Hearing the noise of something, Mark looked out the veil and stifled a groan.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Yuri said curiously, "I am just writing things on my hand with a simple pen. Is that wrong?"

"What are you writing about?"

"Demon Mating Habits, perhaps? It might be useful."

"…"

Fucking scientist. Paranoia really was killing Mark. He gritted his teeth inwardly. He couldn't even take a bath peacefully. 

All because he was weak.

If he was strong, he wouldn't have to be so worried about someone taking him by surprise. 

***

The bath ended quickly, and Mark and Dona got dressed in comfortable clothes. Even though he was a Demon, his size wasn't too ungodly. He was just a bit higher than 2 meters—so human clothes fit just well.

It was a simple white T-shirt and white boxers. How similar it was to Earth.

Dona also had a similar choice of clothing, but her appearance was now slightly different. 

Due to her D-sized bust and rather generous curves, she looked extremely striking after she was in her white robes, and seeing that Yuri, in some kind of curiosity, gave her hair a simple braid job. In just a jiffy, Dona looked civilized.

A grey-haired, red-skinned, horned, cute demoness in civilized robes.

Dona didn't like it at all. She kept purring in dissatisfaction, and that made Mark chuckle. All in all, Dona just wanted to sleep now, and honestly, he would like some sleep too.

Suddenly, Yuri took a remote from the side, and Mark's gaze shifted to her. She clicked a button with a sigh, and a news channel was turned on.

"The A-Rank Hunter who is after you is already here. He seems to have been closer than expected and arrived quickly."

Mark's expression changed.

"Where is he?" he asked with a calm tone.

"He is above the school where you appeared. Currently, he is talking to three students—look, the news is live broadcasting them."

Mark looked at the screen. His eyes shimmered.

Fulan. Maki. Shiden.

He clenched his hands as the news panel changed.

"Breaking news!"

Yuri also frowned as she looked.

"Right after the Seo Jin Hu suicide incident and Red School Demon incident, another shocking event had just happened in Sangrok Sports Hugh School."

Yuri cranked up the sound, and Mark patted Dona's hair. He knew what was coming.

"Three students Awakened and became Hunters at the same time. All three of them came to their Ability just thirty minutes after the Demon headed out and are still going through their first Awakening growth phase."

"We cannot tell what rank of hunters they each will be before they reach the limit in their growth but one thing is certain—this is a momentous event for humanity. Three new Hunters, each from the same place, same time, and with similar backgrounds."

"We have A-Rank Hunter Hanmo here with us. We will ask him about the Red School Demon incident and his opinion on the Trio Hunters."

Yuri muttered in amazement, "It really is something, huh? To think three Hunters would awaken out of nowhere. I say there is some kind of science behind this Awakening bullshit, though, and all three of them must have met some conditions."

Mark laid down on a crouch. "Can that A-Rank Hunter track us down?"

"Nope. He cannot." Yuri seemed sure of it. "Why do you think I made my hideout so close to the god-damn ever-expanding Mega Dungeon? The barrier between the Dungeon and the real world makes tracking abilities useless, and they won't ever find us now."

This woman really was capable. If she could really show him a way to evolve and become a Tier 1, Mark decided he would put a bit more trust in her.

"Hunter Hanmo. What is the progress with the hunting of Red School Demon? Is it really wise to spend your time here while the Demon might be out there, hurting innocent lives?"

A-Rank Hunter Hanmo—white-haired, icy-faced, tall, strikingly sky-blue eyes—said casually, "That Demon seems to have vanished from the tracking Hunters' perception. We are still tracking it down, but the highest probability is that it is already dead."

"Dead?"

"A demon has to make a Dungeon to reside in within 30 seconds of arriving in our World. Since he failed, our World's Will should have incinerated him. That must be the only reason we can't sense it—nor any new Dungeons nearby."

"Couldn't he be a Unique Demon that doesn't need to be in a Dungeon? Like the Dream Demon incident that happened two years ago."

"Could be, but the chance is low. If this were the case, it would have attacked immediately. Or it is possible that this is an entirely new kind of Demon, but the media doesn't have to worry about it. As long as the demon is found, I can reach it in minutes."

"An A-Rank Hunter giving us his words is really relieving." The reporter said, pushing aside many other mics, sweating. "May we know what your opinion is about the Trio Hunters?"

"Is that a fancy name for those three students?" the man mumbled. "They are still going through the trauma of losing their friend to a tragic suicide. It really is convenient for you bunch to forget that entirely, huh? Scum."

Ice covered the cameras, and the coverage glitched, but just before it completely darkened, Hanmo said calmly, "I am taking these three as my Students. They'll become good Hunters."

The screen darkened.

Mark frowned slightly. Now, those three were going to get trained by a being equal to Tier 2 Demons.

'The trauma of losing their friend?'

That couldn't be. Mark smirked inwardly.

He had literally entered one of the three students, Shiden's, mind. That kid was completely empty of thoughts. His head was silent like a grave.

It was not all as simple as it seemed. 

And some kind of figure was inside that Maki girl's shadow.

"Yuri," he called.

The scientist broke off of her thoughts and looked towards him. She was so calm about a Demon talking to her like her old friend. So uninterested in the Human affairs. This woman, too, was interesting.

"I want some insects. Any kind would do. Do you have some?"

"Eww…" The scientist frowned with a bit of displeasure. "They ruin all my chemicals. One single mosquito once cost me thousands of dollars worth of it. I get rid of all of those creatures from my lab before I get in."

She paused. "Wait, do you eat insects?"

Mark shook his head. "I need them. Arrange some for me somehow. And now, tell me, how does a Demon evolve to Tier 1?"