25 Hunting Club
"Isaac?" Valeria called out from behind me.
"Hmm?" I turned around to find her standing there.
She wore a stern expression, but upon closer inspection, I could see her cheeks were slightly red from exertion as if she had been running a lot lately.
Her hair was tied into a ponytail and her eyes were sparkling like a young child's. She was probably in her late 20s and had a curvaceous figure and a sharp and beautiful face.
It had been a week since I had gone to acquire the spell and I had been training it since in order to improve my Mana Control, However, today I received a message on my phone to come to the Hunting club.
"I heard from Genevive that you picked Blockade as your spell?" she asked, rhetorically it seemed.
I nodded wordlessly, still unsure as to why she was there.
"Ah, I see you are a little confused. well, I won't take up to much of your time so show up at my office tomorrow morning at 8."
I tilted my head with a confused expression on my face.
Suddenly an evil grin emerged on her face marring her beautiful complexion.
"You said you needed help didn't you?"
"Well, We're going to begin your training."
***
Arriving in front of the Hunting club entrance, I took a moment to take in how big the club room was.
It was similar in style to a dojo I had seen in anime. It had a large tatami mat floor, spruce wood flooring, and a few pillars surrounding the perimeter of the room.
At the center of the room was a long wooden table and at each end of the table was a row of weapons racks.
On the walls were several large paintings of people wielding guns in a variety of poses.
Each of the firearms was beautifully crafted and gleamed with the light of the wisp lanterns that hung along the wall.
"Admiring the scenery are we?" came a shrewd voice to my left.
Angling my head so I could stare at her, I glared for a moment before softening my expression.
"Was it necessary to sneak up on me?" I asked, slightly annoyed.
"Hmm, well I found it fun," she answered with one of her evil smiles.
"Do you call threatening students fun? Vera Vingate."
"How did yo-" she began, before stuttering. her eyes opening wide.
"I know everything about you, you're a vampire sent by the Serpents Guild, the largest guild in the Thenition Theocracy.
You are a talent scout for new recruits, however, you just received a mission to eliminate the first princess of the Kingdom of Elfheim." I finished with a whisper as I leaned into her ear.
I hadn't realized initially who she was but after asking a second-year student for her name, I remembered.
She was a spy sent by the Serpents Guild, the most powerful guild in the Thenition Theocracy which was a country where the so-called 'Evil' races resided and was ruled by the Church of Thanatos the death god.
The evil races weren't to be confused with the demons, the demon race was purely born for destruction and to end all life in the universe.
The evil races on the other hand were made up of several races that were similar to folk tales of old such as the vampires.
The Thenition Theocracy is always on the verge of war as tensions run high with the Kingdom of Elfheim as they share borders and since the elves believe in the goddess of life and nature, Gaia then they often fought religious wars as the Church of Thanatos believed in power and prosperity from death.
The Kingdom of Elfheim is ruled by a queen, who due to the violent nature of the church was forced to begin opening relations with the Mages Alliance by sending the first princess to Rosaria Academy in order to build an alliance between the two countries.
It should be noted that Rosaria Academy is not the only Magical Academy and that there were many others, mostly in other countries however there were several others in the Mages Alliance that were simply not as renowned and as well funded as Rosaria Academy.
As I finished whispering in her ear, I felt a pair of fangs pressing against my throat.
"What's to stop me from finishing you off right here?" she asked with a cold voice, a murderous aura emanating from her.
However, before I could answer she moved away, her hair flaring out like wings as she spun around.
I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine as she stood facing me.
"If you ever mention what I am again you will die." She spoke slowly as if speaking to a young child.
Her hair whipped my cheek like a whip as she stared into my eyes as though examining an insect under a microscope.
Then a small smile emerged on her face.
"I do like a man who does his research and is all mysterious too.
I hope for your sake you keep my interest for a long time." she said with a smirk, before sauntering off to the weapons rack to grab a pistol.
I stood frozen to the spot from the amount of killing intent she had been radiating at me earlier.
I knew she wouldn't hurt me as she had invited me to the club in order to get me to join the Serpents Guild which meant she saw something valuable in me. however, I never imagined how terrifying that killing intent could be.
She must have been at least a Kator Class Mage to cause me to almost buckle under that pressure.
After taking a deep breath and calming myself down I followed her toward the weapons rack, where she selected two pistols and handed me one of them.
"These are Specialized MSMs," she explained as I examined the gun. "We will have a little shooting contest in order to gauge your level of skill before we take you on any Monster Hunting Expeditions."
"You will compete with me and we will each try to score as high as possible. The middle ring is worth 10 points."
"We will compete for ten rounds, understood?" she asked, raising her eyebrows as if asking me if I wanted to complain.
I nodded my head leisurely, I wasn't particularly worried.
However, just then a commotion caught my attention as a crowd began forming next to us.
"Senior! I can't accept this newbie competing with you straight away, after all, you are the best in the club. at least let me compete with him first." came a whiny voice to my right.
I turned around to see a blonde-haired boy, glaring holes at me as he stood up from the corner of the room where the rest of the club members were shooting.
He had a rather short and stout stature which allowed him to get through the crowd easily.
It was clear to me that he had quite the cute little crush on our blood-sucking friend over here and wanted a chance to show off.
"Oh?" Vera said, an evil smirk playfully dancing on her lips.
"Alright, if you insist," she said melodramatically before handing him her pistol.
"Let us begin then!"
Turning around to face the target, my expression eased as I concentrated on the pistol in my hand.
Feeling the weight and shape of it, I positioned it with practiced ease as I prepared to shoot the target.
My finger tightened around the trigger as I exhaled slowly, my heart pounding with anticipation.
Aiming carefully at the center of the target, my finger squeezed down upon the trigger.
At that instant, I felt something hard push against my wrist as I fired. The sound of a gunshot ringing through the air as it rang in my ears.
A flash of pain shot through my shoulder as the recoil slammed into me.
It seemed although I was quite experienced with firearms that this body still struggled to handle the recoil.
However, my aim was true as the bullet hit slightly off the center scoring me 8 points.
I could hear several exclamations behind me as I got ready to fire once more.
"Oh? so you have shot guns before." came the teasing voice of Vera behind me.
Rolling my eyes at her antics I got into position.
This time aiming for the inner circle and hoping for ten points, I took my shot.
An explosion of noise rang across the room as my bullet smashed into the inner circle giving me a total of 18 points.
Bang-!
Bang-!
Bang-!
I continued firing until I had fired ten rounds before looking at the scoreboard.
~ScoreBoard~
Isaac - 96 points
Dwight - 77 points
Winner: Isaac
--------------------
"It seems I won," I said, turning towards the man who challenged me.
However, no sooner had I turned did I see a fist come flying towards me, it was already too late to dodge.
"You bastard! you must have cheated!" came Dwight's voice through my ears, as I flew backward.
I hit the ground hard but was able to roll over quickly before pushing myself back to my feet.
Looking over to face him, I was surprised to see his eyes were filled with tears of rage.
"I would have beaten you if you didn't cheat." he accused as he raised his fists again.
"Cheat?" I repeated, confused.
"Don't act innocent!" he cried loudly as he charged forward at me once more.
I readied myself for another attack as his next punch slammed into my shoulder with surprising force.
I stumbled backward, my back colliding with the wall causing it to creak ominously.
He landed a few punches and kicks on my body before he was able to pin me against a wall.
His hands were wrapped around my neck, his fingers digging into my flesh.
"Stop, before I cripple you," I said calmly even as his grip choked me.
However, his hands dug deeper into my throat as he pressed in harder.
"Quiet!" he growled into my ear.
I looked over towards Vera, however, she just stood over to the side along with the rest of the club members, glancing at me with amusement in her eyes as if she was watching an amusing show.
Anger flooded my calm mind as I decided I had no choice but to retaliate.
With a deep breath, I pushed myself back as I twisted away from him and kicked him in the shin hard enough to make him stumble backward.
I used the opportunity to launch a kick into his stomach, forcing him to bend over slightly.
Using that momentary weakness I grabbed onto his shoulders and punched him in the face.
"You fucking bastard..." came a hoarse cry from him as I hit him in the mouth.
Blood burst forth from his lip as he spit out his teeth.
I was panting with anger as I grabbed his right arm and yanked it behind him. His shoulder and arm were bent awkwardly backward.
Then, I pulled hard on his collar.
"Hahhhhhh!" he roared, his voice echoing throughout the room as he struggled furiously against my grip.
As his arms started to give way, I grabbed his hair and slammed his face into the wall.
Blood splattered across the wall as his head cracked against the surface.
I grabbed hold of one of the tables and used it to smash his face until I heard bones crack.
As he groaned in agony a chair flew past my face and collided with the wall behind me.
The rest of the club members were now rushing toward me in order to stop the fight, However, I didn't care.
I held back my pain and ignored their efforts to stop me as I pressed down on his broken nose and smashed his skull against the floor.
Then, I grabbed his hair and lifted his head up as I pressed my knee against his throat and choked the life out of him.
There came a chorus of gasps and cries from the people watching, but I did not care.
All I cared about was the look of terror in his eyes as he realized that he was being killed by a boy he considered a newbie a few minutes ago.
"Stop." came a thunderous voice behind me.
I turned around to see Vera standing there with her arms crossed.
"Calm down, and assess the situation." she mouthed.
Suddenly, a wave of relief washed through me as it finally dawned on me what I had done.
"Are you two alright?" came a concerned voice coming from over my shoulder.
I turned to see the club members standing there in a semi-circle, some still holding guns.
"Don't just stand there. help them," said Vera without looking away from my face.
I felt guilty as I turned to see the bloody mess that was once Dwight.
I moved to kneel beside him and take off his jacket before laying it out next to the other students that were helping him.
As they lifted him and carried him off to the infirmary, I couldn't help but wince as I thought about the consequences of what I had done.
Valeria was going to kill me.
*Mhm, just read*
Whoooo baby it's Sunday and we back! in all seriousness though since u guys voted for Valeria's illustration next then u get ur wish it's on the illustration chappy. hehe.
Anyways hope you enjoyed as always, Hugz <3
