章 11: Punishment

"Even if you have the null eyes the chances that you will survive your punishment is nil, and because of the will of one of the elders we will tell you the truth of the world, so you will not die ignorant." He said.

Jason looked at all of the elders, especially the one sitting on the lower thrones. He thought that one of them had made the wish and was granted.

"Are you ready?" The speaking elder asked.

"Yes."

"First I will start with basic knowledge. As you were taught, the world is one filled with supernatural humans modified by mana called hunters. Only a few 30% of the population can become hunters due to the fact that they're body is modified by the mana while the other 70% bodies are integrated with mana.

Hunters are there so that the gates will not overflow and unleash the monsters in it."

'That's the cover up knowledge known to the public, I didn't know they would tell me because they've been feeding me that bullshit for a long time.' Jason thought.

"That is the knowledge given to the public, the non-hunters." He explained. "But that is not the truth."

"Monsters first appeared after they had found a way to escape hell, the ones that could not successfully escaped are sent into a dungeon and hunters dispose of them by clearing it.

But the ones that successfully escape hell appear at the other side of the world, that was where the first monster outbreak happened, everyone that had seen the monsters died except a certain few whom reported to us." He explained.

'It's not different from the explanation in the novel.' Jason thought.

"At that time portals had begun opening up at this side of the world, people blessed by mana appeared and begun combating the monsters in the dungeons. The first recorded hunters were of the rank 5."

'Rank 5... That didn't appear in the novel. Something is wrong.'

"They began slowly climbing up, the people who awakened late were stronger than the early-bloomers. And after fifty years of humanity's struggle the first rank 1 appeared."

"That was when the monsters that had been spawning at the other side of the world had finally made their way here. It was war and it still is, humans were still evolving and soon got to the rank 0.

Those two ranks are confidential, and not known by the public. Let me simplify it, for example the young master you were caught talking to, Zane Hachiman is a rank 0.

That is the height of his full potential," The elder began smiling as he said that.

"Right now Humanity is still at war with the demons, though it is a secret and confidential, anyone outside of the hunters who know of this are killed immediately."

'Well, how is that my business. It's not like I even have anyone that'll listen to me because of my light brown skin.' Jason thought, he felt like the elder was done with his yabbing and it was time for them to announce his punishment.

"Ok, so what does this have to do with my punishment?" Jason asked.

"You are going to take part in the clan coming of age ceremony." The elder spoke.

…

"No problem." Jason said reminiscing about the events of the afternoon.

"They expect me to die there so I wonder how they'll be when I spook them with my ghost after I come back." He wondered.

The Hachiman clans coming of age ceremony was different and brutal even compared to the other clans.

The Hachiman clan sent the offspring of everyone in the main family and branch families into a dungeon with the objective of surviving for three months before they come to retrieve them.

"According to the novel the level of the dungeon gets higher with the expectation of the clan, so I have 4 years to get ready."

The minimum age for a hunter was 16 years so the clan wanted to make sure the next generation was ready and kill off those that were dead weights.

"It's almost nighttime." He said to himself as he stared through the window. "I should buy those items so I can increase my growth in the next few years."

[Item: Growth Candy

Cost: 500P

Description: Candy that permanently increases your growth by 1X

Duration: Permanent]

Jason bought two of them with the points he got from copying War God's Embrace.

They appeared in his hand, the candy was wrapped in blue paper.

He unwrapped them before popping them into his mouth simultaneously, the system hadn't warned him about any side-effects of taking too many.

He was hit with a sweet sensation unfolding on his taste buds, the taste of coffee!

"Nice." He said to himself.

And then it hit him.

Overwhelming pain that stretched out towards his bones and joined them, for some seconds the pain seemingly increased and took over him yet he did not scream.

After some seconds the pain died down in an instant, like it wasn't even there to start with. Jason blinked before continuing to stare out of the window, he was used to this because good things often required sacrifices.

"Though, its a bit shitty that the growth is only increases by one, it could have been at least 50X. This makes me fear buying 4X growth candy." He shivered at the thought of it.

…

"August do you think that was the right choice, telling the dark-skin about the truth?" A young woman asked him.

She had light-blue hair, with deep blue eyes, a snub nose and full red lips that seemed to be yelling for someone to devour.

"Of course, do you doubt my choice?" The clan head asked, his eyes glowing with pride.

The woman began laughing, her voice like a sweet song to the ear.

"So August you really grew some wings, it looks like I have to cut them." The woman grinned at his words.

"Do you think that because you are the clan guardian, don't think I'm afraid of you! You are supposed to do your job you damned animal!" He yelled releasing his magical energy.

"Just because you shaved today don't think you're not a monkey." Despite the power he was showcasing she didn't lose her smile. "That dark-skin wasn't as barbaric or savage as you, you damn monkey!"

She released her own magical energy, the air became heavier and the building they were in even collapsed.

August fell to his knees as he felt the air in his lungs become heavier, her magical energy increased the weight of everything.

Though he was clearly at a disadvantage he didn't let in, his eyes sparked in brilliance as he looked at her, the null eyes coming into effect.

He tried to look into her eyes but she stuck out her tongue, her eyes closed.

"I'm not even trying." She said flashing before his very eyes.

Her fist connected with his face, August felt the momentum of the punch carrying him like he was a vehicle.

He struggled to get onto his feet, but as soon as he caught himself she came with a spin kick.

As he tumbled on the ground his body was enveloped in a bright orange light, he stopped tumbling at once and got onto his feet, ready to begin the real fight.

The moon shone brightly, it was night but they were ready to fight until one was beaten.

"It's easy to see how pathetic you are when the moon shines through at this angle, how weak are you that you have to use your ace against me when we just started." She smiled as she said those words.

A crater formed as she took a step forward, then she was holding his neck, and then before he knew it he was at her mercy.

She held him for what seemed like minutes to him but was just a second as she drained all the mana in his body.

The bright orange light faded as August's reserves were emptied.

The woman grinned before throwing his body into the air.

She got her fists ready as they emitted faint mana.

*Boom

She punched him in the crotch, he had a painful expression as he rolled away surely his balls hadn't been busted but they would be out of commission for sometime.

The woman walked up to him, she put her feet on his stomach and looked into his eyes, his consciousness was fading.

"Don't forget your place... foolish monkey." Truth

A/N: Add this book to your library to motivate me.