Life Hunter

Arima flew above the sea in his draconic form. He was going so fast that it would carve the surface of the water. He was thinking about the map he had on the Main Land as he flapped his wings every ten seconds.

The size of the Main Land was definitely a lot bigger than the continent he just left. Actually, Arima didn't really look into it before leaving and there was not really much information about it. So, the map he had wasn't complete and was a little inaccurate.

"But still, it gets bigger and bigger. What is this? Some kind of game? And the difficulty changes too in a certain way," Arima frowned.

"{Yeah, it's the most peaceful continent but also the most dangerous at the same time,}" Night responded and Arima nodded.

The Main Land is the continent with the greatest population on the planet. It possesses the best institutes and armies. It's primarily ruled by the humans along with the other races. The beasts are the most passive, living in forests spread around the continent.

But, as Night said, there's something quite dangerous. That thing is the monsters. In the Main Land, monsters tend to gather and attack all at once, creating situations like raids.

The strongest intelligent monsters are said to live in the Main Land. Also, from what Lilis said, the strongest human on that continent is only around the second sky of the Earthen Realm. But she also stated that the strongest beings on this planet, omitting the Earthen Gods which are almost all at the peak of the fifth sky, are the magic beasts.

"Yeah, that's not surprising," Arima commented, "Beasts have a clearer mind than humans once they acquire intelligence. Especially the older ones. They have a 'clean' mentality and have impressive self-control."

"{Of course,}" Lilis' voice resounded through telepathy. Arima had put Lanya and Lilis in his storage to move toward the Main Land. Of course, Arima did some modifications to his storage. At that point, it could have been compared to a luxury hotel.

Arima remembered something and smiled, "Even before that. Night, you didn't forget Jorga, right?"

"{Huh? Of course, I remember,}" Night was confused.

"I won't say that he was an Earthen God but his strength should be around the third or the fourth sky of the Earthen realm now that I can actually associate it to something."

"{…Seriously?}"

"Yes," Arima plainly answered.

"{Then, that time when you argued with him…}"

"Yeah, of course, I lost. At that time, he could have beat me with a single attack. When you think about it, a beast that lived thousands of years, and had an inheritance, should not only be around the eighth level."

Arima wagged his wings and accelerated, "The reason he put me in high regards was most likely because he noticed that I wasn't normal, or my soul to be exact. I didn't know anything about Life Hunters then, but Jorga may have understood more than me with just a glance."

"{That was unexpected… and you owe a debt to someone like him.}"

Arima shrugged as if the wind pressure didn't affect him at all. He would also fire with Ira from time to time and no sea monster had managed to even stick out its head from the water since the beginning.

"{Who is Jorga?}" Lanya asked afterward.

"It's a very old serpent we met on a smaller continent. He also was Night's master for a day. So, in a way, he is your grandmaster I guess."

"{Jorga…Now that I think about it, I remember him being the inheritor of Jormungand, we keep a record of the inheritors in Heaven,}" Lilis mused, "{From what I recall, he had quite some talent and Jormungand is a mysterious existence that even gods don't know much about. Not only must he be strong, but he should also have some special power.}"

Arima hummed, "By the way, Night. I never asked you. How did Jorga train you that day?"

"{…}" Night fell silent for a while, "{Basically… he beat me up over and over again until I could more or less resist him and then break through. Now that I think about it, it's indeed strange that he overpowered me so easily.}"

Arima laughed, "Learning directly with the body is the fastest way to improve," He remarked and increased his speed once again. He generated a tidal wave and left an afterimage behind him.

*****************************************

It took Arima twelve hours to reach his destination. The Main Land was actually pretty far and he was going there with a casual speed. He even passed by another continent.

Arima landed on a beach and blew away the sand. He cracked his neck and released his resonance. Night reappeared as a cub and immediately jumped on his shoulder. Lilis and Lanya also stepped out Arima's shadow and stretched while yawning.

Lilis sighed, "It's a shame. Your storage was so comfortable. You even made a fake sun and nature. That was like paradise, I wish I could have stayed there forever," She said with a yearning expression.

"I'm not a hotel. I already demolished it. It takes mana for nothing," Arima retorted and even Lanya revealed a longing expression after she heard that Arima destroyed that place.

"Anyway, I'll memorize the detailed map for now."

"[Bestia Falcon]," Arima chanted and hundreds of small spheres of electricity materialized in mid-air. These spheres soon became birds that flew off in the sky.

"With this, I can scan the environment without alerting anyone. Well, let's check the surroundings at least," Arima looked at the sky and teleported away.

Lanya and Lilis followed him and they all reappeared a mile above the sea level. Arima stared at the ground and observed every detail.

"Well, for now… let's go there," Arima declared and once again teleported everyone without their opinion.

The four of them directly appeared at the gate of a town. As usual, no one noticed them thanks to illusion magic.

Only when Arima took a step forward did the guards and citizens at the gate notice his presence. Most of them locked their eyes onto Night. But he wasn't the only one being stared at. Arima was quite good looking himself, and along with Lilis and Lanya accompanying him, they gathered a lot of unwanted attention.

Arima casually walked to a guard whilst ignoring the waiting line and handed him his card. When the soldier saw the gold and silver card, he started sweating and instantly bowed. He pointed behind him and let Arima pass without any further ado. That scene surprised the adjacent people, who had quite the diversity.

There seemed to be absolutely no barrier between races. On the previous continent, there were still cities that pertained to a certain race such as the Demon city. But in this town, the humans, the beast-men, the elves, the demons, the dwarves… they were all strolling and laughing together.

After entering the city, Arima discretely invoked a few familiars like cats, dogs, mice, and spiders. He only had to wait for a minute to get all the useful information he wanted.

"As always," Arima cracked his fingers and smiled, "It's library time."

"Then, can I go with Lanya?" Lilis grinned and asked.

Arima glanced at her, "Sure, but don't go sightseeing or anything. If you want to pass time, help Lanya break through the ninth rank," He instructed and the star pattern in his eyes spun once, "The dimension is open. Go inside."

Lilis wryly smiled and shrugged, "Okay, I'll coach her," She accepted and turned around, "Oh, right. Your mastery of the sigil is perfect," She added and disappeared with Lanya.

Arima snickered and directly went toward the biggest library of this town.

****************************************

In the other dimension, Lilis was getting prepared to 'beat' Lanya.

"What's the sigil you were talking about?" The latter asked in curiosity.

"Mh? Right, I didn't tell you yet," Lilis smiled, "Well, I'm sure you noticed the strange sign Arima has in his pupils, right? The small stars," She asked and Lanya nodded.

"That's what we call a magic sigil. When you want to conjure a magic, you usually interact with the world around you to cast it. You can use gestures, magic circles, the glow of your eyes, a sound such as a clap or a snap and, of course, chanting. To invoke magic, it's imperative to interact with the world."

"You can see it like this; to activate magic, you need to warn the world so that it can welcome it. This concept of interaction with the world is very important," Lilis carefully explained and Lanya silently listened.

"It's obviously possible to do magic with just a thought. But those magics are really weak and inefficient. The people who want to look cool by doing it are just puerile," Lilis stated with a grin.

"Now, this is where the magic sigils come into action. Sigils can be defined as something like a separate organ or limb. When one uses magic to a certain degree, and if he has enough talent, then he may gain a sigil with time. The stars Arima has in his eyes are sigils. He has a double sigil which is quite rare."

"Basically, the actual utility of that sigil is to interact with the world for you. Sigils are things that were created by the magic circuits entering our body and modifying it. In the end, sigils can greatly reduce the time you spend on casting and even totally disregard it if you practice enough. For example, earlier, Arima created the link to this dimension by just making his sigil spin once."

Lanya nodded, "Do you have one too? A sigil?"

Lilis smiled and pulled the collar of her shirt, "It's right here," She uttered and Lanya approached to inspect it. There was a sort of blue tattoo depicting a flower on her neck. Lilis covered her sigil again and then pointed at Lanya's hand.

"I don't know if you realized, but you also have one on the back of your left hand."

"Huh?" Lanya looked at the back of her hand and squinted her eyes. She barely succeeded to spot a faint white mark which looked like the wings of a dragon, "It's true…"

"Of course, you're the heiress of Chronepsis. It's a matter of fact that you would get this."

Lanya nodded as she stared at her own hand. Lilis watched her then contemplated about something, "…Lanya."

"What?"

"Do you like Arima?" Lilis asked in a casual tone.

Lanya put her hand on her chin and mused for a moment, "Maybe… I think?" She tilted her head and answered.

Lilis wryly smiled, "Well, that's still better than being flustered about it. Still, your character is slowly turning into a silent type. It's not good. You're being influenced too much by that guy," She grasped Lanya's shoulders and gazed at her seriously, "To cope with someone like him, you need to have a personality that counters his. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes…" Lanya awkwardly answered.

"Good," Lilis nodded in satisfaction, "Don't forget that."

If Arima was here, he would've already smacked that's goddess's head to shut her mouth, "Let's start. You also need to get stronger. Right now, you're far too weak."

Lanya nodded with a determined expression this time. Her body was gradually covered by beautiful silver scales. She grew a pair of wings and a tail. The transformation itself looked greatly like Arima's. But Lanya's draconic form looked less fierce and had more elegance to it.

Lilis whistled, "You're really pretty in that form…" She praised Lanya and released her aura afterward, "Arima is keeping this dimension active, so let's use it to our heart's content. I want you to enter the ninth level in the next six hours and maybe even advance to the tenth level by the end of this session. You have an Earthen One's inheritance; it should work somehow."