Funeral and New Pain

(A/N: Hey sorry about the delay for this chapter. I lost motivation but hopefully it'll get more traction soon. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this!)

Everything has been a blur. Benny and Danny have been great in helping me. Now I am standing in the church. Mom looks peaceful laid among all the flowers below Yggdrasil root, which looks like a blooming tree with leaves that have a slight blue glow.

I wipe my tears as I try not to cry again. "Thank you again, everyone. Not just for helping with mom but for allowing her to rest in your sacred burial grounds too… it truly means a lot…"

Benny puts an arm around my shoulder and sighs. "Nym your mom was a great woman who did her best. She was kind to everyone even when some weren't kind to her. Keep that going okay? I know it seems hard now but things will slowly get easier." I nod a bit, glancing at Danny who is on my other side.

Her eyes are red and puffy from crying too. I haven't slept much but I don't think she has either. Maybe I should try baking something sweet to help her. I'm not sure.

After the wake everyone moves to the burial grounds to watch as my mother is buried. Most of the town is here and I appreciate it. Mom loved this town after all. As people slowly filter out and head home I turn to say my thanks but stop as sudden pain comes from my chest to hip then my abdomen. Everything slowly turns black.

****

Benny freezes for a moment when he sees an Elven man new to town approach Nym. Without a word the man draws an old beaten dagger and slashes Nym from his left shoulder to his right hip before plunging it into his abdomen. Benny rushes forward at an impressive speed to catch Nym. "Don't worry kid, it'll be fine."

As Benny lays Nym down carefully the Elf starts ranting to everyone. "You all should be ashamed! You dare to let these filthy humans rest in sacred grounds!? What would our lovely Goddess Uva say!?"

Benny ignores the man for now as he calls out for Danny. "Danny! Tend to Nym! Anyone with an affinity for healing magic help too please!" With that he stands and walks over to the man, who is still ranting.

Without a word Benny draws back his fist, letting loose and decking the man with a resounding crack. Most assume the cheek bone is what made the sound.

The man gets up slowly and glares at Benny. "What the hell!? What do you think you're doing!?"

Benny calmly stares back as he responds coldly, "As far as I'm concerned you just tried to kill my son. Now I'm going to make you regret it, you racist prick."

The man scoffs and raises his left hand. A red magic circle forms around his wrist as he creates a large ball of fire. As he goes to launch it the fire ball dissipates, leaving the man confused as he takes a punch to the stomach and nearly vomits.

Stumbling back the man creates a spear of flame only for it to dissolve again. Benny doesn't hesitate as he grabs either side of the mans head and jerks it down as he brings his knee up to meet it. A soft crunch is heard and Benny lets go, the man collapsing.

A young man who had grown up with Nym looks to an old elf who is sitting calmly and watching. "Hey old timer. What happened to that guys magic? He looked confused when it went out."

The old man nods. "That is because Benny overpowered the man's spell with mana. As you know we each can hold a certain amount of mana within ourselves. If you used a spell to create something like that fire ball then depending on how much mana you used I could simply nullify it by using three times the amount of mana. Which would cause it to dissipate like that. Benny was confident in his ability to physically take him down so just canceled his magic."

The young man nods as he considers this. "So will Nym be okay? That looked like a nasty cut."

The old man shakes his head. "I do not know. Let's hope so." He looks towards where Nym is being treated by several people, including Danny, who is trying to carefully remove the old dagger before moving him to the church.

****

I open my eyes to blank space. It's white all around. Sitting up slowly I look down but don't see any injuries. While sitting confused about what happened and where I am I hear a woman's voice and look to it.

"So you are Nym?" A woman with black hair down to her hips is standing nearby now. She is smoking from a pipe like old humans used to do before cigarettes were invented. I nod hesitantly and she continues.

"I am Tena, Goddess of Eternal Rest." I start to panic hearing this and she chuckles. "Calm down. You aren't dead. Yet anyways. You're half dead and in a coma. Though you are dying slowly and the chances of you surviving aren't high."

I sigh. "W-what should I do then? I promised mom I would try to live a good life. And I couldn't even make it that long without her…"

"Don't blame yourself young man. The world is cruel. But I can help you. If you agree to my terms."

I pause and stare at her, unsure if I should accept. "What's in it for you..?"

"You're cautious and suspicious? That's surprising since you seemed so naive. I get a demon Hunter out of the deal." I look even more confused now. "During a time when I could not properly handle the dead, hell, and purgatory quite a few creatures escaped. So I've recruited those that seem worthy as a demon Hunter in order to send them back. I'll give you a second chance on life as well as my blessing and you will use that blessing to hunt these creatures."

"Hmmm. Okay if I accept what does the blessing do and what things am I hunting exactly? And how can this be bad for me?"

"Simply put I bless you and you develop something based on who you are. Even I do not know what it is. And as a hunter you will be forever tied to death. Wherever you go should they learn you are my hunter the people there are highly likely to be cruel as you will be seen as a bad omen. You will be hunting creatures like the wendigo, vampires, werewolves, and other things mortals deem demonic in nature."

"I don't know…"

"That's fine. Take your time to think about it and pray to me should you decide to."

With that the woman vanishes and I'm left alone in this space. I really don't know what I should do.