Life Hunter

The water of the sea behind him became agitated and some big waves were formed. He stared, immobile, for a few minutes as the sounds kept echoing stronger over time. He stayed there until he saw two pointy objects sticking out of the water. He shuddered and watched as a large object resurfaced and pushed the water away.

He paled and almost fainted on the spot. A giant monster standing on his two feet emerged. His draconic head, human body, runic robe, and feathered wings completely stupefied the small man. It wasn"t over though. Just after, he witnessed three dog heads surfacing as they shook from left to right to get rid of the water absorbed by the fur. In just a few seconds, there was now a three-headed hound standing along with the tall demon.

The middle-aged man was shivering without rest at that point.

""Swim", he said. Now, walk at the bottom of the sea… Makes sense" He suddenly heard a human voice and looked at the source. A man in a white coat had also just come out of the water.

That contrast with the two other monsters jolted the man"s mind and gave him enough strength to flee. He threw his fish on the ground and ran away as fast as he could while doing his best to not scream. But the astonishing fact was how fast he was running. Maybe he could be compared to a sixth level with that speed.

Also, only when he started running did the three people notice him "Who is that?" Chulainn tilted his heads and raised his voice.

"Who knows. He must have been scared by your terrifying faces" Flavio twisted his coat to squeeze the water out.

Chulainn growled then gazed at Arima "So? Would you care to explain to us why we can"t use magic at all?"

Arima looked back at him and his pendant clinked. His body temperature was incredibly high compared to other creatures and the water on him was already evaporating "Well, in short; we are not compatible"

"Compatible?" Flavio frowned "To what?"

"The magic circuits here" Arima responded and looked at the sky "This reality is not really different from our own. I can"t say about history or mythology, but the eco-system is practically the same and even magic is similar"

"And even if the worldly energy is something we don"t know about, that"s not a problem since it can be used everywhere. That"s why it"s called "worldly". So, we can use mana in this reality but the problem is that we can"t connect to the circuits. Because our soul is not compatible. The reason is that this reality"s circuits are literally, not the opposite, but the anti of ours. An easy way to picture it is that the circuits in this reality used to cast fire are the ones for water in our world"

Chulainn furrowed "Basically, are you telling us that we are not able to use magic in this reality at all?"

"Not exactly, we can use it, but only inside our body. Our bodies have the imprint of our reality. We can use reinforcing magic for instance but anything that is projected outside of our body is impossible. We also can recover mana. Well, at least you two can; since I personally don"t need an external source of energy"

Flavio scratched his hair "But even so, we"re insanely weakened here. How are we going to fight the followers of G.o.d and Devil?"

Arima snickered "You"re entirely right. And you still don"t know everything too"

"What?"

"The standards in this reality are way higher than ours too. You saw that regular fisher too, right? In this world, humans are different, maybe they"re even completely different biologically compared to us. They"re all stronger in both magic and physical ability. A baby here could beat a normal teen back in our reality"

Flavio"s jaw dropped "…are you serious?"

"Absolutely"

Silence fell and Chulainn grunted "So what? We"re doomed to fail?"

Arima laughed "No way. There"s a reason why I told you to change into that form too. Most likely, while we"re in this reality, we will not be able to transform. So, we had to take our strongest form when coming"

"…Does that change something?" Chulainn retorted "I"ll remind you that I"m far from the level of a Guardian or a Pillar. I"m just a small h.e.l.lhound"

"Don"t worry, I still should be able to use life hunt. So, I"ll give some life force to you later. It"s useless for me and Flavio, but I think you can get close to Guardian level existence by doing that"

Chulainn fell silent "…you still haven"t told us how we are going to win. Me getting stronger will not allow us to overcome the handicap of losing magic"

"It"s quite simple. We just have to use a magic which doesn"t require us to project it outside. For example, you and I can use a fire breath without any problem since everything happens in our body. That"s one of the reasons I chose you to come; you can produce fire with your own flesh by just channeling mana. And if the occasion comes by, I can even control it myself to attack since it"s a fire holding the properties of our reality"

"…True"

"As for Flavio, he"s the best when it comes to healing magic. He can heal and control one"s body by just touching it. He is one of the rare persons who use life magic directly on the target. Even me, I either use a formation, my enchantments, or a vessel to cast healing magic. But he doesn"t need that. That"s why he is crucial. And since his appearance is one of a normal human, we can use him to communicate with locals"

"Mm, that actually makes so much sense that I"m mind blown" Flavio remarked and Arima chuckled.

"As for me, I have two hidden cards which I have yet to use. Most of my Arts are useless, but I still have Natus which I took from Ambor. I can"t copy magic unluckily, I can"t cast them after all, but I can a.n.a.lyze and break formations. My body is also immune to elements and I still can reflect them. In the end, there"s nothing to worry about"

"Yeah… I had forgotten about your stupidly cheated abilities" Flavio muttered and Chulainn was silently dealing with a headache.

"…You got a lot more powerful since last time we met… clearly…" He said and Arima shrugged "What about your trump cards? You explained that as if it had nothing to with Natus and your elemental body…"

"You"re not wrong" Arima nodded "One of them is something I just gained, and which I"m still refining" He stated and raised his hand. A green light came out of his hand and moved as if it was a liquid. Chulainn and Flavio were shocked "This is technically not magic, but also a power of mine" While he was doing that, a terrifying jade sun pulsated in his soul realm.

"As for the other joker, it"s related to Angra Mainyu" Arima followed "It"s not magic either since the legend behind it is literally me. I am the Ancient Spirit in that theory"

"That power… are you perhaps talking about the Evil Spirits?" Flavio a.s.sumed and Arima glanced at him.

"Indeed" Arima replied and shook his hand to disperse the green light "Anyway, let"s move. We"ll follow that fisherman first" He said and pointed at his shoulder with his eyes "Flavio, climb. I"m the only one that can fly in this situation"

"What about me?" Chulainn asked after Flavio had jumped on Arima"s shoulder.

"Oh, I"ll carry you too obviously"

"…How?" Chulainn had a bad feeling about that. Arima grinned and grabbed the neck of Chulainn"s middle head "Oh, no…" The h.e.l.lhound"s expression fell.

Arima deployed his hybrid wings and flapped them once, the wind blew and pushed the water away and the small boats docked were shaken. It was as if a tempest was approaching "It"s actually the first time I"ll be flying without any magic"s help" Arima wagged his wings one more time, a bit stronger, and dug the sand at his feet.

Chulainn groaned as he slowly lost contact with the ground. He was being pulled up in the sky like a mother picking up his puppy. Arima flapped his wings one last time with a lot more force. He instantly flew off with an incredible momentum as the earth below him was crushed. The air depression produced an ear-piercing noise. The water came back afterward as a small tide. It swept over the boats and put them back on the float before sinking the entire coast.

Chulainn looked down as they ascended and since he had nothing to do, he scanned the continent with his three heads. Flavio and Arima also did the same.

"Now that I think about it; without magic, we can"t get out of the atmosphere or even displace in s.p.a.ce at all. I don"t need to talk about other planes too…" Flavio made the remark and Arima hummed.

"Well, yes. I could get out of the atmosphere by causing ma.s.sive shockwaves through my body but that wouldn"t work anymore the moment there is no air to conduct the vibrations and friction. As for the other Planes, it"s another topic" He nonchalantly said "But, it should be okay. You"ll understand later" He declared and started flying in a circle above a certain town "Flavio, you go first. I need to land somewhere I won"t destroy anything by mistake"

"Sure… what do I say to the people there?"

"First of all, you need to use telepathy to talk with them. But since we can"t use magic, you won"t be able to do that. So, when you land there, raise your hands and do nothing until I arrive. I should be able to take their memories through their life force and understand their language"

"…" Flavio was speechless "…Do I find you some bad person to use then?"

"Yeah, you can do that" Arima nodded and Flavio sighed before he jumped off. As he quickly approached the town, he used the trick he had just heard about and overloaded his body"s muscles with mana and created a friction between his skin and the air. He visibly slowed down then redirected everything to his feet only. A small shockwave was produced the moment he landed which allowed him to land softly.

"Good. That worked like a charm" He verbalized and waved his hand strongly to disperse the cloud of dust. He instantly spotted several people coming toward him. This planet appeared to be quite advanced as he was brought against magic guns together with cold weapons.

Flavio gazed at everyone with dead eyes and did what everyone would do when a gun is pointed at them. He raised his hands in the air "(Please shoot already so I can have a legitimate reason to kill you)" That"s what he thought. Exactly like what everyone"s inner voice should be saying in that situation, of course.