PROLOGUE

THE FINAL DAY ON THIS WORLD

-That’s a lot of people down there.

Staring blankly at the roadside while he was standing at the edge of the building. The wind is blowing like it whispers to his ears, the darkness surrounds as the sun sets, his body trembles as he grasps the little things that keep him standing on the edge.

-I can see them, are they shouting? I couldn’t hear them… why?

His sweat drips down, his heart begins beating faster, he feels the chill up into his spine as the cold breeze soothes the emptiness inside of him. No one can reach him, the crowd on the road side keeps on shouting “DON’T DO IT”, but the distance between them makes it harder for him to hear those words he's been longing to hear.

-Am I going to die? I don’t want that… I NEED THAT

His eyesight was blocked as his tears started to fall down, all of the emotions he wanted to shout, leashes out but not even a single word came out from his mouth.

Rescue team stretches out an elastic fabric anticipating when he will jump, while the rest of them sprint their way to the rooftop of the building. He pulled out a plastic pocket knife from his right side of the pants, he cut his wrist then as his tear dropped into his wrist, he pulled every ounce of his strength and stabbed his chest.

-I guess this is it…

He seized his fading consciousness, trying to stand still on the edge of the building, but then eventually he fell down from the 250 m tall building.

-If possible, I want to restart…

In the next instant, he-Hokori Kane-lost his life.

CHAPTER 1

1.

Pangeku, a place where humans who deserve a second chance of living were reincarnated. People who died from accidents, murdered or suicide will start their new life in this new magical place. Set on a late civilization, everyone has their own option to pursue their life, depending on the talent aspect given from the time they got reincarnated, some are precise blacksmith, others maybe a powerful mage, a skillful swordsman, or even an intellectual merchant. Everyone has the chance to master their own craft, living peacefully or heading for adventures. It’s up to them to live their own life to the fullest in this second chance of living.

“Ohayo!” Sprinting towards the center of the city, a beautiful blonde girl named Hinata Akari cheerfully greeting everyone along the way to the guild.

Hinata Akari is a beginner mage, currently level 15 and pursuing light and fire magic. She is quite popular to the locals due to her potential and her overwhelming magic aspect, earning the name young protégé.

She continues to sprint down with a smile on her face, but then a mysterious man wearing a black cape comes out from the corner. “puta! It hurts…” she shouted as she bumped at him at full speed. The Guy falls down but it seems like it did not hurt him that much.

“I’m very sorry! I didn’t mean to cause trouble early in the morning” She said while kneeling on her knees. The man stared at him blankly while removing some dust on his lap.

-I’M SCARED. I’M SCARED. I’M SCARED. I’M SCARED. I’M SCARED.

Those words repeatedly run on her head while kneeling down.

“tsk, how annoying” He said, as the man with the black cape walked forward like nothing even happened.

-EE?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! IS THAT IT? I admit that it’s my fault but it looks like I am more injured than him! Is he a robot?

Akari did not expect to start her morning this way but she was more surprised by the reaction of the mysterious man, she then slowly walks towards the door of the guild as she endures the pain of the incident earlier.

“Ohayo hinata-chan” a warm welcome from her twin friends named; Mizuno Ryuu level 14, a skilled swordsman who uses twin blades, mastering mist to outplay his opponent, he may be smart at fights but he is completely a stupid one. Mizuno Reiko level 15, a wise priest, uses healing and water magic, she is known for her strategic thinking and her extremely sexy figure, usually fixing her brother’s mess.

“I’d like to say good morning as well but I don’t think it’s quite appropriate for this day… I’m off with a bad start today” Akari sadly stated.

“It seems like you have minor bruises hinata-chan, wait let me heal you with my magic,” Mizuno Reiko cast her magic and healed the minor wounds from Akari’s legs and elbow.

“woaah, that works like a treat! Thank you so much Reiko-chaan”. Akari happily hugged Reiko.

“Using the first names already? I guess it’s better this way since I have a stupid twin” Reiko added.

“So what happened earlier this morning Akari-chan?” Ryuu curiously asked.

Reiko punches directly into Ryuu’s face “she was calling us by our first name to avoid confusion but it doesn’t mean you can casually call her with her first name!” Reiko furiously shouted.

“aaaaaalright, my bad…” Ryuu said while massaging his face with a little tear on his eyes.

“So what did happen hinata-chan?” Reiko repeats the question earlier.

“So I was running a bit and a guy with an all black setup came out from nowhere! I bumped into him, I know it’s my fault that’s why I said sorry but then HE CALLED ME ANNOYING!” Akari explained.

“he seems like a cold guy huh?” Ryuu answered.

“cold guy? All black setup? I think I heard him somewhere…” Reiko added.

“Never mind, let’s just do some quest on the guild, I don’t want to ruin this day because of him” Akari replied.

They entered the guild and directly went to the job request, hoping for a good mission that will help them to level up. They assess all of the job requests carefully because their party lacks frontline. They only have two range magic users and a swordsman. They prefer a quest that has range advantage.

“look I found one! It says a herd of three horned bulls is heading directly to the farm side at the east, we need to lead them to the west side tomorrow morning. It’s an urgent quest, we could get plenty of gold on this one.” Reiko explained.

“I don’t know… I feel like there’s something off with that?” Ryuu replied.

“don’t worry Ryuu, We have your Sister, Reiko-chan, she’s the most promising tactician right now!” Akari answered.

The party accepted the quest and left the guild. They head down to the market place to buy some equipment to help them accomplish the quest.

2.

“Oy Nee-san why do I have to wear this armor made out from wheat early in the morning? It’s very itchy” Ryuu asked. He continues to scratch his body while repeating the same question until they reach their destination.

“Yosh, we are already on the right track, just firmly stand right there, you can start running to the west side of the map once the herd is near, don’t worry we will provide you support from a distance” Reiko explained while grinning.

“THE WHAT NOW? OY SINCE WHEN DID WE DECIDED THAT I WILL BE THE BAIT ON THIS QUEST?” Ryuu shouted.

“Hihi, Hinata-chan and I did yesterday, now do exactly what nee-san said okay?” Reiko replied.

“Goodluck Ryuu-san! I am sure you can do this! Besides we need to test your speed so hang in there” Akari added.

“Called it… I knew something was off about this…” Ryuu whispered.

As they patiently waited for the herd, the ground began to tremble. A force of a 3 horned bull is equivalent to a speeding van, a herd of those huge beasts can be felt miles away.

“I guess here they are, Guys be ready now!” Ryuu stood up and stretched up a little bit.

The intensity grew, the footsteps were getting louder, as they came closer, the Alpha that led the herd noticed Ryuu from a mile away. It changed it’s directory and took the bait.

“HERE WE GOOO!’ Ryuu sprint as fast as he can.

“YES THEY TOOK THE BAIT” Akari responded.

While Ryuu was running from the front side, Akari and Reiko took each side to make sure that no one would be separated from the herd using their fire and water magic. The execution continues but the herd is slowly gaining to Ryuu.

“HELP ME, I’M ABOUT TO GET RAMMED HERE! NEE-SAN I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” Ryuu shouted.

“Let’s do plan B! Remove the costume and get out of there! We will direct the herd from the sidelane!” Reiko replied.

Ryuu removed the wheat armor and threw it to his left side. Using his mist magic, he created a clone of himself in front him then jumped to the right side of the herd. Eventually, the herd rammed the clone made out from the mist.

“Hang in there guys we are almost there!” Akari shouted.

As the party approaches the valley on the west side of Pangeku, The Herd suddenly splits into two groups.

-oh no this isn’t good.

A total of 10 three horned bulls run to the left side where a small town is built, while the rest of the herd proceed to the valley.

“Lead them to the valley, I’ll protect the small town!” Akari shouted.

“Roger, We’ll catch up to you as soon as we reach the valley!” Ryuu replied.

Akari ran to a shorter route to outmaneuver the beasts. As soon as she got there, she firmly stood and cast her magic spell directly to the beasts.

“FIREBALL!”

She repeatedly cast her fireball but there’s no sign of slowing down from the huge beasts. After awhile Ryuu and Reiko catched up and tailed from the back side of the three horned bulls

“AKARI-CHAN GET OUT OF THERE! WE CAN’T STOP THEM!” Reiko shouted.

-please stop, please stop, please stop, please stop!

Akari stood still and launched her fireball hoping that the beasts would eventually stop. As the moment of desperation comes, the field suddenly gets dark, the bright morning turned into a pitch black surrounding. The beasts slowed down and eventually stopped from running because of the sudden change from the atmosphere. As the darkness fades, 6 of those three horned bulls were laying on the ground while 4 of them were missing. Reiko and Ryuu sprint towards Akari whose on her knees as it all settles.

“Are you alright Hinata-chan?” Reiko asked.

“What just happened? Did you cast that immense shroud of darkness?” Ryuu added.

“You stupid brain, You know her magical aspects were the exact opposite, she wields fire and light magic! By the way, why didn’t you cast your light magic Hinata-chan?” Reiko responded.

“It happened so quickly, I tried to cast my light magic but I couldn’t break the shroud, what bothers me more is the fact that I can actually see well in the dark because of my light magic, but that was the first time I couldn’t see anything. The only thing that I saw was a figure of a person…” Akari answered.

“Well at least you are fine and it stopped those three horned bulls, if anything, I guess we should be thankful for its help” Ryuu responded.

“I think it would take some time before these beasts wake up, let’s rest here for a while then after that, you go back there and get your wheat armor while Hinata-chan and I gather information from that town, maybe they know a guy who uses dark magic” Reiko replied.

After they regain their energy, The party proceeds as they planned. Ryuu found the wheat armor but it was crushed by the herd earlier, he then tried to fix it and transfer the wheat on his cloth instead.

Meanwhile, Reiko and Akari searched all over the small town, asking if they knew someone who has a dark magic aspect, they were having a hard time finding any information because dark magic aspects were quite rare, until they found an old lady who claimed that she also experienced the same thing. They went to the elderly’s house and began to discuss the past experience of the old lady.

“Good afternoon ma’am, so is it true that you have encountered the same thing?” Akari asked.

“It happened about 2 days ago, I was walking in an alley at the capital after I bought some ingredients for my small restaurant. A group of bandits showed up and asked for gold, since I already bought the ingredients, I don’t have any gold with me, I offered them to take my ingredients instead just don’t hurt me, but they got mad. The man holding a knife charges in but then everything went dark. When the shroud settled, I saw the body of those bandits cut in half. I was so scared that I couldn’t even move, I was terrified at that moment. A young man approached and lifted me but I eventually passed out. The moment I woke up, I was at the knight’s station, I asked them if were did the guy went but they said that a masked man just drop me there and walked away, I told them if they have anymore details because I want to thank him when I saw him again but they couldn’t tell me more. I was confused back then because the only thing that I remember was a young man, black hair with dull eyes carried me but the knights said it was a masked man.” The old lady explained.

-Black hair? Dull eyes? It looks like the man I bumped into 2 days ago… no no no… it couldn’t be him, I mean he doesn’t even care when I fell down while on the other hand this man that she was talking about is a hero. Maybe they are 2 different persons and the one that she was talking about is the same guy who saved me earlier.

Akari remembered the incident 2 days ago, the description quite matched but the attitude doesn’t fit well. Akari then proceeds to tell what they have experienced earlier. The discussion continues, the speculations grew but they end up having no leads.

“Thank you for your hospitality ma’am, we appreciate the information that you gave to us,” Reiko said.

“That was nothing if you ever found out who he is, feel free to drop by and tell me about it, I’ll cook the best seller here for free” The old lady replied.

Akari and Reiko headed back to meet up with Ryuu. shortly, the 3 horned bulls woke up from its slumber. The party proceeded to lure the remaining beasts to the west side valley where the rest of the herd went. They eventually finished the given task and went back to the guild to claim their reward.

3

“Yow check this one, while both of you were gone, I collected these horns from those bulls, Don’t worry coz they can grow their horns back after a week or two.” said by Ryuu.

“So you were the reason why those bulls were hornless…” Reiko replied.

“Well that explains why you don’t want us to open your bag” Akari added.

“Hehe, I’m kinda desperate for a new weapon though, Nee-san let’s go to the blacksmith!” Ryuu responded.

“Haaaay, Fine, you and Akari-chan head to the blacksmith while I collect our reward at the guild, I’ll wait at the guild after you sell those horns to the blacksmith” Reiko replied.

Akari and Ryuu entered the shop of the blacksmith. In that instant Akari noticed the black cape man talking to the blacksmith. She sat down to avoid bumping with him again while Ryuu was patiently waiting for the blacksmith. As she glanced randomly, she noticed the items that the black cape man handed to the blacksmites, it was similar to the horns that Ryuu was holding. She started to be a bit curious and observe carefully from a distance. As the man left the shop Akari rapidly asked the blacksmith.

“How many horns did that guy have?” Akari asked.

“They were 12 in total, why did you ask miss? Want to offer better?” The blacksmith replied.

“Ryuu-san I’ll be right back, wait for me at the guild!”

-If I’m not mistaken there are 4 bulls missing after the shroud faded. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he has 12 of those horns knowing that it’s a three horned bull. I have to clarify this.

Akari realized that the events were connecting and there is no way that it is all a coincidence. She sprint outside hoping to catch up with the black cape man. She randomly ran on different alleys but she couldn’t find him.

-Where did he go? Where did he gooo.. DAAAAAMN!

As she approached a corner, the black cape man appeared, they bumped at the same place they first met 2 days ago.

-aww, what now? I might not be able to find answers at this rate…

Akari slowly opened her eyes and saw an Adventurer ID on the ground.

-Ho..ko..ri.. Kane?

Before Akari saw the full content of the Adventurer ID, Kane picked it up.

“It was you!” Akari shouted.

“Can you stop running every time?” Kane asked.

“I was looking for you, I have plenty of questions for you!” Akari replied.

Kane walked forward and ignored Akari.

“Wait a minute! I saw you at the blacksmith, you sold him 12 pieces of horns earlier! Those were the same horns that we have, not to mention there are 4 missing three horned bulls earlier! Are you the guy that saved me from those beasts?” Akari asked while catching her breath.

“It wasn’t me, I have a three horned bull as a companion which I use to travel. Sometimes I cut its horns when they are too long and sell it to that guy, it was a coincidence that I sold him 12 of those. Now excuse me.” Kane explained his situation and walked away.

Akari was speechless that time because of confusion. She then walked back to the guild where Ryuu and Reiko were waiting.

“Where have you been Hinata-chan? Ryuu said that you followed some guy? How was it?” Reiko asked.

“The story connects but he keeps on denying it, wait let’s ask the guildmaster if a guy named hokori kane is part of our guild” Akari replied.

They headed to the guild master’s office to ask more information about Hokori Kane.

“Hokori Kane you said, He was part of the guild before, unfortunately 2 days ago, he came here to the office and quitted the guild. He only goes straight to my office and asks for the hardest job request that we have. He didn’t even use the guild’s main entrance, every time that he goes here, he will just climb and break the glass over there then leave 5 golds as he proceeds to his mission.” The guildmaster said.

“Well that explains the broken window over there..” Ryuu responded

“He was the strongest person that I ever witnessed but I never saw him finish a quest with a party, by the way why did you ask Hinata-san?” the guild master asked.

“I am looking for a guy who uses dark magic, he saved me while we were doing a job request, my speculation was it might be him but I am not sure about it. Does Hokori-san have a dark magical aspect to his kit?” Akari responded.

“According to his record he only uses dark magic alongside his black katana. Though it could be a different person because he is not the type of person that cares with his surroundings, plus he is not the only person who has a dark magical aspect. Actually we have 5 dark magic users on our guild, if you want I’ll tell you their names and you can go ask them” the guild master replied.

“I am pretty much sure it was him… Earlier I was certain that there were 10 three horned bulls heading to the small town near the west side valley, the black shroud was summoned but right after it faded, 4 of those beasts were missing. Afterwards we saw him selling 12 pieces of the same horns that we have. Black magic, plus the horns, it is impossible that it was just a coincidence…” Akari responded.

-Hmmm.. I can’t believe that there will be a day that he will save someone… but the dots were connecting perfectly, if that’s the case maybe I should use Hinata’s party to have him back at the guild…

“Alright Hinata-san, I have special requests only for your party, if you manage to bring him back to the guild and have him to your party, I will give your party a ticket to a summer expedition which will be next month. The experience there is doubled and plenty of loot just by finishing a dungeon. Would like to accept this?” offered by the guild master.

“THIS IS A GOOD CHANCE! I CAN BUY A NEW PAIR OF SWORDS WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY!” Ryuu excitedly insisted.

“I think it’s a good offer, in fact, we do need an additional frontline in our party, not to mention the guild master said he was the strongest here on our guild. What do you think Hinata-chan?” Reiko added.

“Fine, I think it’s a win-win for all of us. I should probably bring a gallon of patience with me” Akari replied.

“Yosh. That settles it. I'll tell you the details on where you could find him, just don’t tell him I gave you this information, remember this is a secret mission and a special request only for your party. I hope for your success.” The guild master happily responded.

With curiosity on their minds, the party left the guild. They split the rewards for today’s accomplishments and head for the end of the day. Akari goes straight to her bed, overly exhausted, hoping she can peacefully rest that night.

-Hokori kane… You are indeed a mysterious man…