VERNER: The Devil Hunter

Thunder Flash Spear

The sun was shining very brightly on the green leaves in Willow valley which were looking even fresher with water droplets from the morning dew. Verner was back home after his horribly failed attempt to ambush master Rodric. He couldn't help but think about Rodric's challenge. It sounded very casual but there was a huge chance that he wasn't going to be alive by this time tomorrow. He sat in the dojo behind the house, staring at all the swords and weapons hung on the wall. Many of them were enchanted; weapons that have been laced with Qi or spells to give them special abilities. He had only ever used regular weapons during training, but if he was going to survive the night, he had to burrow some of them.

"Rodric wouldn't mind if I took a thing or two". He took a bunch of pocket blades and fixed them inside his coat, then he glanced over the swords until he chose one that had a metallic blue coloured blade with a spell inscribed on it. "Thunder flash spear", he read out, slightly confused as it was obviously not a spear. He had learned to transcribe spells of the thunder clan after spending over 3 years with Rodric. "I wonder what it does", he admired the beautiful craft work that was done on the sword, the curved shiny metallic blue blade, the quillon was diamond shaped and had ridged patterns and there was a small chain at the end of the dark brown handle. He pushed it into it's sheath gently and hung it on his belt, before looking around for more anti devil objects. Devil poisons, light gemstones, musk to hide his scents in the forest, anything that can help. He put them all in a pocket bag that he hung on his belt. "I need to train all day till master Rodric returns". He walked out of the dojo, shut the doors and headed towards to the forest training spot...

"Verner!!"

"Yes mam" He answered swiftly. It was Miss Amah, Rodric's wife.

"Going to train again, give yourself a break, you're too young for all these". She walked towards him with a huge box basket in her arms. She had long black hair and very pale skin and wore a white robe over a red gown. She smiled at him lightly as he smiled back nervously. If only she knew what was at stake he thought, how would she feel if he never made it back from the devil hunt this night. At this point, he started to slightly doubt his decision.

"I need you to pick up from fruits from the orchard in the pine strip, I want to make pies for the kids" She dropped the basket in his arms and rubbed his head, he was just slightly taller than her. "Take as many as you can so I can make a lot of pie, I know you love those". Verner's face lit up, "Miss Amah is just too nice" he thought to himself. "Yes mam, I'll be back in a minute" he ran off into the woods with the basket and a gleeful face. Miss Amah just chuckled before heading back to the house.

Verner did a lot of work and ran a lot of errands for miss Amah and her three kids, and she liked him very much because of his hard work. She would be devastated if Verner did not return from the devil hunt her husband is about to send him to, but on the other hand, she would be very proud of him if he succeeded and joined the Guardian society to be a devil hunter, and will probably make a lot more plum pies and porridge for him. "I won't die, I will survive the night, I'll become a devil hunter, I'll make her proud!!" Verner really cared about her because she reminded him so much of his own mother and how she took care of him, so he'd do what every son aspires to, he'll make her proud of him, but more importantly, he would prove Rodric wrong and become the greatest devil hunter that has ever lived.

"I know who I want to be, I know my destiny, and I won't let anything stop me" he said to himself as he scurried down the road with the basket in his arms and his sword in his belt. Today is the day his journey will begin...or end.

Verner arrived at the Orchard, there were lots of fruit trees of different kinds, each fruit had its own strip where it's kind were planted, he was searching for plum fruits in particular. A few other villagers were also picking fruits, the orchard did not have any real owner, it was just a part of the forest where people who felt like planting trees could do it, and any one in the valley could come to harvest from. Verner filled his basket and hung it over his back before leaving, he was almost a mile away from home and it was going to be a long journey back under the hot sun. He sat under a tree to get some shade so he could rest and drink some water. That's when he heard some rustling sounds from the bushes around him, he stood up immediately and clenched his sword, getting ready to draw, listening, watching, wondering what could be stalking him. "It can't be a devil, no devil can survive under the sun" he thought, "or is it possible?..." he got even more nervous as the rustling sound got closer, and closer, then he drew his sword halfway, getting ready to slice up whatever came out of there.