Crashh!
Bang!
"Ugh!"
I groaned as I was thrown from the entrance of my apartment to a cabinet near the sofa. Blood rushed through my throat as I coughed a mouthful of blood.
'shit. An internal injury."
I wiped my mouth clean as I tried to sit up. The appearance of a tall, ominous shadow made me stop dead in my tracks.
I wanted to look up but I couldn't. It was as if a barrier was put just on top of my head to deny me access to look at the attacker.
It is definitely a hunter, maybe a corrupted one. I don't know–
"Cough!"
I stopped my thoughts as the assailant kicked my unprotected stomach, making me cough up blood.
"Ugh..."
The attacker grabbed my hair and made me look up, harshly. There, I saw silver-gray hair covering their face, but I could still clearly make out the thin black lines scattered on his skin like spiderwebs. The symptom of drinking the dead blood of one's own species.
Corrupted.
They appeared alongside the trials of ruin and the Tower of Growth seven years ago. Humans discovered the existence of the corrupted due to the inhabitants of the 34th floor of the tower. Humanity found out that drinking the dead blood of a very dead human could lead to the system offering a new class to the awakened.
Most of the Awakeners felt disgusted at the information they had acquired, but not all felt that way; unsurprisingly, the Awakeners and hunters of Earth had also adopted this unfortunate information. And does, the organization of corruption was born.
The Raining Vail is what they call themselves. They were nothing but a cult of evildoers whose purpose has yet to be known or yet to be disclosed by the Awakeners Bureau.
Ordinary humans felt immense fear at the corrupted and Awakeners because only an Awakener can become corrupted. After all, they were the only ones to get access to the system window.
The Awakeners, however, didn't like the idea of the corrupt staining their image in an already semi-dystopian world. They couldn't let the ordinary humans lose their trust in them because it would ultimately lead to a fight between the two.
A fight was not needed right now because society has yet to build itself up completely. Traces of monsters still lingered on the streets. It had become better than that seven years ago, but it was still not safe.
That was why, two years ago, a famous hunter, made a guild specifically for hunting the corrupted. They succeeded in making the organization fall into hiding because of how much they managed to kill and capture.
It was easy spotting them after all; black lines of the dead were littered across their face and all over their body. It cannot be hidden by magic or makeup because it was a rather fair penalty by the system.
That was all I know about the corrupted, and this being in front of me is undoubtedly one. The only problem is that the attacker was not human.
Pointy ears. A visible horn half hidden by his gray, silver hair.
"Wh... What are yo– ugh."
They banged my head against the wall as it cracked. They looked at me in the eyes with a menacing glare, I also looked back, my head numbed as I felt something drip at the side of my head to my shoulders. Blood.
My eyes at least managed to glare back at the being in front of me, even though my whole body was in bad shape due to the throw a while ago. On another thing, now that my head is at a normal angle, I finally managed to know the gender of the attacker.
A male, but definitely not human. Tall and bulky but not too much. His face was almost covered entirely because of his gray-silver hair. The black lines are visible on his cheeks, neck, and the arm that's holding my hair.
He growled at me as I felt my body getting weaker and weaker. I am an awakened, and I am also a hunter, but I'm only a D-rank hunter. Only slightly stronger than an average human, adding to the fact that I'm not an attack-type hunter, but a mage.
A person might think that even a D-ranked mage could at least defend themselves in this situation. Well, unfortunately, I'm not exactly normal. Unlike other hunters and Awakeners, I couldn't see my status window. The last time I saw a window interface was when I was asked by the system what type of class I wanted to pick. I picked the mage which was the only option they gave me.
So, in summary, I was basically just an ordinary human with a class that handles magic but can't use it because I was denied access to it by the system. I probably just have more stamina than an average human and have a slightly faster recovery speed, but that was basically it.
I snapped out of my thoughts as I slowly spoke.
"Wha.. what do you wa-ugh.. want?"
He gripped my hair tighter I could see the muscle in his hand tightening. He was holding back. He wasn't here to kill me, he has a purpose, but what is I–
"You're the one who caused this."
My eyes widened as I looked at him dead in the eyes. He continued.
"You who created us in hopes to meet us and yet you abandoned and forgotten. You started everything. "
"I- I don't know wha–
Crashh!
"Let the man go now!"
The place where the door was supposed to be was now utterly destroyed as hunters, probably called in by my neighbors, appeared, holding weapons such as a sword or a spear.
The frontman pointed his glowing sword at the attacker and threatened him to put me down.
I was relieved to see rescue hunters here saving me, but deep inside, I was still in shock and denial. The corrupt in front of me knew something. He knows. That can't be. I made sure to burn it all. I erased it ALL.
My thoughts scrambled trying to look for answers for how did this corrupted know. Maybe he was just mistaken. Maybe he was crazy. Yes. He must be crazy. He needs to be crazy.
I calmed myself as the attacker let me go, and not once did he look at the hunters. He just stared at me coldly. The hunters probably didn't notice the black lines on his hands because of the dim room, so they didn't attack him immediately.
"I'll be back for you. This time, you won't be able to leave your responsibilities. Not this time."
He spoke, his voice deep and with pure malice and certainty. After that, he just.. vanished. The hunters wore a face of shock as they immediately came running in looking for traces of the attacker.
"Teleportation. Was he a mage? Certainly didn't look like one."
A hunter with dark blue hair spoke, he was the one leading the hunters and the one who threatened the corrupted. He looked at the other hunters as he then looked at me, who was getting healed by a healer.
"All done. His ribcage was fractured but I healed it, along with the injury on his head and his fractured wrist. Although, he would at least need a few more days to heal completely."
The healer spoke as he stood up, helping me stand up as well.
The blue-haired man nodded.
"Good, I'm glad you weren't badly injured, sir Campbell; it would have been a disaster."
I looked at him as I felt all the curious stares of the other hunters. Now I was feeling rather suspicious. Usually, if one were to call a nearby Awakener Police because of an attack in a civilian area, they would only send about five to seven as most if the situation isn't that dire, adding to the fact that I was the only one attacked and no civilians were targeted, they should have only sent seven hunters to deal with it.
I scanned my messy apartment. There were definitely more than twenty that came. There were even hunters guarding the broken entrance.
My confusion had probably shown on my face as the blue-haired hunter smiled gently and spoke.
"You must be wondering why so many are here sir Campbell."
Oh right, they also knew my last name. Suspicious.
"Why–
"We are here originally tasked to escort you to the headquarters of the Blue Phoenix Guild on the orders of the guild master."
My eyes widened as I tried to process the information.
The Blue Phoenix Guild. Ranked 9th in the global guild ranking. Although they were not in the top five, they are a very famous guild in the United Kingdom. Why? Because they have a prophet in their guild. One of the only four prophets on earth.
A prophet was a hidden class that could only be obtained if one was personally chosen by the system. It was the class that could see into the past, present, and future of a person.
There were only four that were chosen since seven years ago.
Choi Ru-Han was a prime example of this. He was the first prophet to be picked by the system. An A-ranked prophet from Korea. He specialized in using prophesy whilst in combat, making him one of the top hunters in Korea and has a very high ranking globally.
The Blue Phoenix Guild, on the other hand, has Sienna Hughes. She is an A-ranked prophet specializing in looking at the past and future of a person.
She was the one who saw the future potential of the now S-ranked hunter Elliot Woods.
Being called in by her guild master must mean that I must have been seen by her, my future at least. If it was any other person in my place, they probably would have become excited.
Not me though. Instead of being excited, I became worried about one thing.
'Did she see my past? That can't be. Why would she use it on me when she doesn't know me. Calm down. Calm down. '
Using her skill to look into the past was different from using the skill to look into the future. To see the past, she needs physical contact with the one she wants to use it on.
'She probably just saw my future. I have to calm down.'
I thanked the hunter for informing me as they escorted me to the car saying that a new suit would be given to me at the headquarters.
As I sat alone at the back of a fancy black car, I pondered many scenarios that may occur hoping that the one that's worrying me the most wouldn't be the one that will actually play out.
Because if so, I don't think I could handle erasing another memory from history again.