Code Collector

For as long as he could remember, Allen has been alone all his life. People had only trampled on his identity just because he was mute, and the color of his hair was peculiar.

What he didn't know was that he had other memories that he had forgotten. As to why or how he forgot, Allen didn't know.

The scenes that played in his mind before. The woman who offered her hand to him, Jeremy who talked to him, and the incident that killed the woman. All of those were unfamiliar to Allen, he didn't even know how it all happened or when it happened.

What he was sure of was it did.

Whether he accept it or not, or whether he liked it or not, he had no other choice but to accept it. But letting the truth in wasn't an easy task. It was harder than hunting or battling someone that was ways more powerful than you. The truth will set you free, but the freedom will give you pain.

"Why are you telling me about that specific person?" Allen asked. "Is there nobody else around when the incident happened?"

"There were about a hundred people in that forest," Chen said. "But that boy was the reason why the Hunters had joined forces and attempt to kill the dragon."

"Tell me everything from the start," Allen ordered Chen. "And I'll give you what you want."

Chen grinned, "We have a deal then."

Several years ago, there was a day that was like any other day. Groups of Hunters would go to the field to do their job, some of them would come back from the forests to regroup, while the others just enjoy loitering around the camp.

It was still too early that the hidden secrets of the Otherworlds were still kept. Researchers were still trying to figure out what exactly happens with the beasts and where they go when they reach the certain level.

At least in their time, they knew that beasts had tiers in each grade. It was founded by Drake Nelson himself that not all beasts on the same grade has the same power level. He discovered it when he entered the Second World, Paradise.

When he battled beasts that were identified as Rare, but were stronger than the ones he fought in Haven. When he reached the Third World, Eternity, his theory was proven true and the tiers in each grade were created.

That same day, a group of Hunters were resting in the forest when they felt a surge of terrifying presence coming towards them at an alarming speed. Half of the group couldn't react on time and the beast caught them.

The other half who managed to dodge the rampaging beast were frozen in fear. A wide path of flames was created in just a few seconds, the trees, beasts, and anything on the path was burned to the ground.

On the end of the path was a beast, groaning in anger. It paused from running and turned around, feeling the presence of the Hunters its flames missed. The beast roared and returned to its path, taking out remaining half of the Hunters.

On Camp Twyla, there was a man who was hunting in the forest with his group. This man was one of the most powerful Hunters in town, a man carrying a shotgun in his hand and can solo kill a beast.

This man was Gary Gunn. He was a Hunter with a Ranger role and he was at the peak of hunting. His body was conditioned to resist elements, and his mind was programmed to persevere even when times were tough.

Needless to say, Gary was the ultimate Hunter from Camp Twyla.

On the other camp, Camp Gerome, there was also a group of Hunters that was about to leave the forest. The group was led by a man who was ruthless with hunting beasts and one of his members was a mute boy who was famous because of his white hair.

Despite this, the group valued the mute boy, treating him exactly like they were equals even when the mute boy couldn't handle complicated tasks. For them, the mute boy boosts their morale higher than the boost from their support Hunter.

The paths of these two groups would soon collide when they reach the forest.

"What is this?" Selena walked over to a charred path. It was a size of a four-lanes road but deep like it was a canal. 

Their leader, Lewis, went to the grove and touched the ground, feeling its heat. "Still warm. Whatever the beast that caused this must still be in the area."

"Lewis, this is not something we can handle alone," Kyle said. "Look at the damage it did to the forest. It's a high-tier Rare grade beast. We couldn't possibly defeat it."

"We're a couple of levels away from ascending," Lewis crossed his arms and scoffed. "If we can slay this beast, it will push us up into the higher worlds. Why won't you think for some time, Kyle?"

"I think Kyle is right," Selena said. "If we can get one or two more groups to help us, we can still get plenty of loot. This mark alone looks scary. As your support, I don't think we should do this."

"Supports don't make the decisions," Lewis said coldly. "The captain does. Supports only say whether you could heal or not. Watch your stand here, Selena."

This made Irene growl. She stepped in front of Kyle and crossed her arms. "Why are you acting like a little brat? Can't you just listen sometimes?"

Kyle scoffed. "I was the one who catapulted us right where we are right now. You don't think I know when we can do it or not?"

Irene had to lower her hands. She sighed and turned to Allen who was behind them. "Allen, what do you think? Do we do this or not?"

Allen looked at every single member of their group, Lewis in particular. The man narrowed his eyes at the boy, making Allen nod aggressively.

"See? Even Allen agrees," Lewis grinned and swung his arm around Allen. "Let's go find the beast and slay it."

"How do we know where it went though?" Kyle asked. We didn't see the direction of the beast. The other could lead us to where it started rampaging and we'll lose our precious time."

Lewis thought for a moment. He let go of Allen and placed his finger on his chin to think deeply. He then looked around and found traces of the direction of the beast.

"Look at this," Lewis said while pointing at the remains of a tree. "It's tilted to one direction, actually it's flattened to one direction after it was charred. Assuming the beast doesn't run backwards, this should be the direction of where it came from."

"Way to go captain!" a blonde woman cheered. She was wearing a white robe over her tight white suit. She took Allen's hand and grinned at him widely. "Last one there is a big ugly idiot!"

The group laughed while running to the direction to where the beast was running to. They looked happy, not worrying anything about their future. The only thing they know at the moment was that they were happy.

Little did they know, their future would take a darker tone.

On the other side of the forest, a similar argument was happening. Gary's group was divided into two decisions, one to follow the path and the other was to go against it.

Their captain was torn in between the two teams. He also was curious as to what lies on the end of the burning trail, but he also knew that it looked dangerous enough that he might not handle its power.

"We should just call reinforcements," one of his members said. That member was Hannah Gomez, their support. "I don't think my support abilities could support you while fighting such beast."

"But what if it just burns a lot of things but it's not actually dangerous when being fought?" their assassin, Claudette Bandit said. "If we try and follow it, and it is dangerous, we can always go back. But if its not dangerous and we just call for reinforcements, we might lose this chance to prove ourselves."

Gary sighed after hearing both sides. He massaged his temples and took a few seconds to breath. Being a captain wasn't easy especially at times like this.

"Gary, listen," Claudette pulled Gary closer to her, their eyes meeting. "We have always took risks, went to even darker paths than this. We were nothing before, but look at us now. We're one of the most respected groups in the camp."

"But Gary, we should play it safe sometimes," Hannah said. "I don't often have strong bad feelings for things, but when I do, it's true."

"She's right," Gary finally said, making Hannah smile. Her smile was wiped out off her face the moment Gary continued. "Claudette is right. It's not every dayt that we can encounter something like this. Besides whatever happens, I'll protect everyone."