Chapter 02 - Beast Killers

Sief reached the main street and, looking ahead, he saw that the number of conspicuous people had grown exponentially, causing him to widen his eyes and whistle in thought. 

'How am I going to get through here?' 

Everywhere he looked, there were people walking towards a single direction, and turning his head to the side, he saw the town square with a huge wooden platform being adorned by blue flags, in the center of which was a lance piercing a snake. 

Sief furrowed his brow slightly and turned his back to the platform, heading towards the city's exit while grumbling. 

"That wasn't there just now..." 

As he walked, his path became more difficult because he was going in the opposite direction of the people, constantly having to dodge while squeezing between walls and maneuvering to avoid the crowds. 

With all those conspicuous and armed people around, Sief didn't need to think much to deduce that they were adventurers, and as he looked at all those people, he wondered. 

'Did they all sleep here? It makes sense for that bald old man to try harder to keep us away, but something's going on...' 

It was rare to see such a concentration of adventurers in one city to the point of forming a crowd, so much so that it was the first time Sief had seen so many flashy armors and weapons that almost obscured his vision as he walked. 

Until he collided with something that threw him backward and made him look confused, and as he raised his head with furrowed brows, he saw a huge bald man carrying a hammer as large as his body, wearing only shoulder pads and bracers, seemingly eager to expose his muscular and scar-riddled abdomen. 

He briefly locked eyes with Sief and continued walking, grumbling as if nothing had happened. 

As he watched the man walk away, Sief furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue, continuing on his way. 

'I wonder how that clown fights with all that weight... I hope a tree falls on his head...' 

Slowly, he distanced himself from the main square and the alley where his tent was, but no matter how much he walked, the number of people didn't decrease, and the conversation always revolved around a single topic. 

"The group that hunted the mana beast is late, are they really coming?" 

"It would be a terrible move for the mayor of Dokkel to announce their coming and then not show up, but I don't think he would do that..." 

"But I wonder what the group that killed the Leviathan at sea is like... are we getting close to completely clearing the territories?" 

Sief listened and continued walking, looking back at his broken sword as he pondered. 

Clearing a territory was an exhausting and much more complicated task, as there was still no definitive way to drive the monsters to other territories, but the few cleared territories that were now cities took a long time eliminating the alphas of that region so it could become habitable. 

There were still mana beasts, which were unique monsters in their species and so powerful that they could command the alphas that controlled the monsters, being the greatest threat humanity knew up to that moment. 

The death of a beast caused a great impact in the region due to the number of monsters killed in the confrontation and could be the key to completely clearing the territories, known as Rupture. 

'This is the second beast to be killed, the first one died just over two years ago at the hands of the same group...' Sief sighed and put his sword in the small backpack on his chest, which he covered with another cloth and secured, taking the last piece of bread to his mouth as he thought. 'They become famous, I wonder if the beast killers started like this...' 

"THEY'VE ARRIVED!!!" 

A cry rang out in the crowd, surprising Sief who was pushed by the people who in synchrony were moving away from the street, forming a path that passed through the people who were shouting. 

"THEY'RE THE HEROES!!!" 

"THE VORPAL SPEARS." 

As he turned his eyes back up, Sief saw that from the windows the residents were taking baskets and throwing flower petals from them towards the main street, while slowly the sound near the city entrance intensified, they were approaching. 

With the crowd pushing to try to see the heroes, Sief furrowed his brow as he was crushed from all directions while people tried to see the group of heroes, and to avoid being crushed he swallowed the bread while crouching down, passing under people's legs still feeling uncomfortable. 

As much as he wanted to go his own way, all the people were pointing in one direction, and soon Sief reached the main street, seeing the street covered in colorful flower petals that created a decorated and lively scene, until a large shadow stood out, making Sief turn his face towards it. 

It was a huge woman who wielded an axe as large as her shoulders, her hair was braided and red, her smile showed authority and exuded confidence. Her armor with plates and fur gave her a wild appearance, and her arms were more muscular than anyone Sief had ever seen in his life. 

Sief didn't know how to react other than raising one of his eyebrows along with one side of his lips, questioning if that woman was real, her posture exuded confidence and authority even as she walked, until suddenly she stopped next to Sief. 

The young man stared confused, turning his face to a single person, whom Sief identified as the same hammer-wielding man who now seemed tiny next to that woman, reaching below her shoulders as she looked down at him with a wide, excited smile. 

The man began to tremble as he was observed by the heroine who seemed to be evaluating him or something more. Until another person appeared and touched the warrior's back, saying. 

"Ylda, don't do this in public, you'll ruin our image." 

It was a man who despite being tall, looked like just a youth in front of the enormous woman in front of him. 

Unlike her, he wore a longsword at his waist and walked in beautiful blue clothes under a white armor, his hair was brown and his eyes were red, and despite being much smaller, he exuded a different aura, but just as flashy as the warrior's. 

"Give it a rest, Lu Xian. Can't I find someone cute anymore?" She said with a long sigh, turning back to the street. "Haven't we done what we had to do already?" 

"Yeah, but the streets aren't a tavern or your home. You know?" He continued with a smile, and the two walked away on the flowery path as if nothing had happened. 

'What eccentric people...' Sief thought and continued to watch, confused, until he saw the hammer-wielding man with a flushed face and clearly embarrassed after that encounter. 'Cute...?' 

Seeing that scene made him stare with strangeness and disbelief, until another much smaller person ran past, following the two while saying. 

"Heeeey!!! Wait up, guys!!!" 

It was a boy with black hair who quickly followed the two, only being able to see a staff he held with both hands and clothes that resembled a cloak with white and yellow details, which Sief continued to stare at until suddenly a step echoed in his head. 

Sief instinctively turned around and saw the last of the heroes arrive. 

It was a man with pale skin and blue eyes, his hair was long and blond, which seemed to dance with the wind and rested over a black cape that covered noble white clothes. 

His presence was different from all others, attracting everyone's attention to him, and unlike all the previous ones, he carried no weapon and just followed. 

Wherever he went, eyes followed him, and people began to move following the group as a new conversation started. 

"Astrad of the Golden Glow... he's so intense..." 

"And handsome..." 

"But also bizarrely strong..." 

As the followers of the hero group moved, people came out of their houses to watch, and after a few moments, Sief stood up, completely alone, and looked around the city, which now seemed completely empty. 

Sief felt a cold wind blow on his face again, and he looked back at his backpack, concluding. 

'It's hard to believe they were here.' Sief saw in the distance the heroes receiving crowns of flowers and gifts on the platform, but then he turned around, adjusting the backpack on his back and continuing to walk. "I don't think so, I am jealous?" 

He smiled and quickly reached the city gates, which were open and even the guard towers were empty, making him sigh with a frown. 

"Talking about waste of time... I wonder what these guardhouses are for when there are no monsters to invade." As he walked still furrowing his brow, he said. 

"The alphas are the strongest monsters of their territory, they always stay in places that are rich in mana." And far away, Beatrice continued to read the book that supplemented. "The alphas are the leaders of the monsters and when the leader dies, the monsters disband... but the greatest authority among them... that makes the monsters give their lives as soldiers, are the mana beasts... because their lives are so precious that the monsters are willing to give theirs for them... as soon as the beasts are extinct... your hero will emerge and a single territory will exist..." 

Sief passed through the gate starting to run with his sword in hand, and as soon as he stepped on the bridge, he felt a fresh wind blowing on his face throwing his hair back, and in front of him now was a forest resembling a huge borderless garden, the fresh air filled his lungs and made him sigh in relief as he leaned forward, starting an even faster run towards the garden. 

After some time, in the middle of a clearing in the forest, it was possible to see Sief with his sword already drawn facing two small creatures resembling smaller humanoid trees, each carrying simple wooden clubs and a cut stump symbolizing a shield. 

One of the monsters advanced and Sief smiled, also advancing, the club blow came and he narrowly dodged it, facing the creature that was already preparing to strike, but without wasting time, Sief cut off the arm with the club, making the creature's arm ooze sap as it released something similar to a grunt that was interrupted by Sief, who cut the branch that connected the body to the creature's head, which fell to the ground lifeless. 

Sief sighed in relief, but something hit him from behind and threw him forward, making him grunt as he landed and looked back noticing that the other monster was still alive and roaring angrily raising its club, making Sief click his tongue but quickly advance. 

The monster also moved to confront him with the shield in front of its body, ready to attack, but Sief quickened his pace and before colliding with the shield he crouched down and with his sword cut off one of the creature's legs, causing it to fall and in moments Sief jumped on its back, striking its head and again finishing off the monster that stopped moving lifeless. 

Sief sighed in relief seeing the outcome of the fight and got up, wiping the sap-stained blade on his own clothes as he began to remove the small branches that would serve for small constructions and the sap that served well as glue. 

Although they were simple monsters to kill, their materials still yielded brass coins, and if he haggled he could buy some stale bread, leaving Sief frustrated again as he pondered. 

'I guess the adventurers' movement scared off the monsters, I only killed a few ghost sprouts and a few goblins...' Gathering all the materials took some time and slowly the environment became darker, with that Sief furrowing his brow and thinking. 'Maybe the conquest of all territories isn't so far away...' 

In an instant the environment became dark as if the sun had been taken by a huge cloud and Sief raised his head, noticing the abrupt change. 

When he looked up, there were no clouds in the sky and the sun was still visible reaching its peak, but something was in the middle of the fiery sphere and focusing his eyes Sief saw something black emerging from the sun. 

Hands came out and something seemed to come out of the sun taking on a gigantic and black form, Sief widened his eyes as he continued to watch that being emerge, standing in mid-air still in front of the star. 

The being continued to observe the surroundings even from afar, until it leaned forward and seemed to retract its limbs, Sief squinted, but in an instant the being spread its arms bursting into flames that made wings as big as its body and a huge sword appear. 

The heat wave hit the field and threw hot air that made the grass burn, Sief widened his eyes and was pushed backward and slightly burned by the scorching wind. 

Sief tried to grab onto the grass, but everything he touched turned to ashes and the wind continued to blow, until his body violently collided with a tree and the impact made him spit saliva, but stopped his trajectory. 

Even in pain, Sief put both arms forward to protect himself as he watched the creature become larger and larger as it approached, making the same shadow that had covered the sun, but in front of the boy who gritted his teeth still with his broken sword in hands. 

The pressure generated by that being seemed like it would crush him, but it flapped its wings and leaned its body, flying back in the opposite direction to which Sief followed, making the boy fall to the ground coughing still feeling the impact on his back. 

Although the scenery remained the same, it was clearly hotter and Sief raised his head with his eyes as he noticed that the creature was flying over the trees of the garden, heading in a single direction that made Sief grit his teeth and jump starting a run, following the creature while wondering. 

'This-... is going to Dokkel!?'