Kino was given tissues to stop the nosebleed as he insisted on joining the raid instead of going to the infirmary where he would be sent home over something ridiculous like a nose bleed. It’s his first mission as a wraith hunter and he doesn’t want to miss the experience.

Parker Team and Maxi Team were sent to the C-rank sites 10 minutes away from the headquarters. Riding a navy blue armored van, the five members of the Parker team immediately went for the purple gate located on a middle school baseball field.

“I-It’s a middle school! What if kids were harmed?” Kino couldn’t help but ask. He cannot imagine if it had happened at Reno’s school. He’d be anxiously worried to death.

Parker looked at the newbie from the rearview mirror in the shotgun seat. “Two of our heralds, a dealer, and an enforcer from the other team were already sent in advance to the site. No more kids are around the school at this hour.” The team captain answered.

Parker Yue is the assigned captain of the Parker Team. The cold man in his early twenties is a team captain since the age of 19 with his unique fighting abilities as a dealer. Kino can still well-remember how the man saved his life at the S-rank gate raid by slashing the B-type ogre in front of him. He gulped as chills traveled down his spine. The man who saved his life turned out to be his captain. The respect he had for him deepened even more.

“We’re here.”

Strong winds could be felt as the hunters stepped out of the van a few meters away from the C-rank gate. Unlike the winds Kino felt from the S-rank gate the last time, the harsh winds of a C-rank gate were considerably weaker. How weak would it be if it came from the D-rank gates the two other teams were raiding at the same moment? Like the Gate’s purple color, the skies above it were painted in the same hue, creating a sinister aura. A few sneaky people in the neighborhood were already around the radius watching from afar, not minding the not-so-strong winds emitting from the Gate. They gave way to the hunters as soon as they saw them appear, though.

A fold was already formed around the gate. A decent-looking young man inside the barrier immediately noticed the group. The herald opened a hole the size of a door in the fold to let them in. Once inside, Kino got the chance to see the gate with nothing but black space at the center. It’s smaller than an S-rank gate, yet they still emitted the same chilling vibe.

“Where’re the wraiths?” A tanned-skin hunter named Aran asked the herald with a raised eyebrow. He has messy hair dyed in pale blonde and natural hazel green eyes. He’s one year older than Kino, and an enforcer like him. They all looked at the herald.

“Slaughtered.”

Everyone's heads turned to the girl who suddenly jumped in front of them all. Her flaming wolf-cut red hair swayed at the wind, dancing with her trench coat hanging on her shoulders like a cape. She turned around to flash a boastful smile to greet everybody.

“Solar.” Both Parker and Maxi muttered, in a tone as if they already expected it to happen. The other herald called Julius, heaved a bored sigh.

“Solar took care of them already.” He says. Aran rolled his eyes from what he heard. “But we don’t have enough heralds to close the gates so we just waited for your arrival.” He added.

The captain looked at Kino and Calix. “I apologize on behalf of her actions. This raid is supposed to give you experience as new hunters, if only one of our members followed my orders and calmed down.”

“‘Calmed down?’ How am I supposed to calm down when they’re already out of the gate!” The girl called Solar looked at her captain bewilderedly.

The captain chose to ignore her to save time. “What kind of B-types are they?”

“Just the Imps,” Julius answered.

Solar looked at the huge metal gauntlets on her hands. Is she a herald? Then, is it even allowed for them to use weapons such as that?

“Then we should close it before another batch of wraiths come in–” Just as Aran was saying, they heard growls inside the gate. The hunters positioned themselves hastily. Kino, who didn’t know what to do, stuck close to Calix and imitated his movements.

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t stick with me. I’m a dealer! Didn’t Maxi tell you that back in your training?”

“But I don’t know any–”

“Here they come! Everyone, forward!” Maxi announced. It was the signal for the hunters to attack the upcoming imps. Imps are a goblin subspecies standing at 4 ft. (120 cm.) tall. They aren’t a deadly type of B-type wraith compared to ogres, but they are a bunch of annoying little devils. They multiply at a rapid rate and if not subdued, can eventually kill a group of people as they attack in huge numbers.

Kino pointed with his gun, but he didn’t know if he could shoot or not. The battle became disastrous in seconds. He was worried he might cause friendly fire.

He unknowingly stepped back at the edge of the fold until his eyes jumped to the watching citizens outside. He feels fear, yet he still cannot help but be embarrassed. He should join the raid as close as possible, he’s a hunter, but he doesn’t know what to do in the first place. It was as if he had forgotten all the training he did with Maxi yesterday. Kino spotted the other enforcers from her team, they’re scattered at the end of the fold and carefully shooting the imps from a distance. How he wished he could be as skillful as them. He raised his gun once more, trying his best not to tremble.

Until someone pulled his gun down.

Getting surprised, his finger pulled the trigger and shot holes in the ground just in front of his feet. Jumping out of fear of shooting himself, he cursed.

“Shit!”

He looked up with an irritated expression and saw the girl, Solar, smiling at him. Why is she here?

“You’re gonna end up shooting us if you keep acting like that, man.” She swiftly took his Glock from his holster. Kino tried to grab it, but she lent it back. “Enforcers can use their secondaries and get closer if it’s too hard for them.”

“Solar! We need your help!”

A group of other heralds on the western side called.

“Coming!” The girl replied.

Solar clenched her customized gauntlets and her herald brooch glowed brightly. The metal fists lightened up as if the brooch was responsible for regenerating it for her.

“A newbie on Parker’s Team, yeah?” The redhead turned to him once more.

Kino nodded with no sound. “Cool. Let’s be best friends!” Without waiting for an answer, Solar left, sprinting toward the other heralds’ direction.

Giant imps began stepping out of the Gate. They stand at 9 ft. (270 cm.) tall and are the strongest type of imp goblins. Parker, positioned in the frontlines, held his sabers tightly. He was preparing to attack, and slash the huge monsters in half when Solar took the spotlight, once again. Using her gauntlet filled with manipulated energy, she jumped at the center of the marching titans, then struck with a flurry of powerful punches in every direction as she waded through. They would fly about 10 meters anywhere across the fold having been on the receiving end of such devastating combinations. Hunters had to dodge dispatched imps to not get hit. If it weren’t for the barrier, the bodies would have hit the school building’s walls for sure. Few of the smaller imps were affected by the impact. Hunters used that advantage to slaughter them all.

Thanks to Solar, Kino had the determination to get closer and finish the remaining imps he found breathing on the ground, like a scavenging hyena feasting on the lion’s leftovers.

Eventually, after making sure there weren't any imps left alive, the heralds closed the gate with manipulated energy before the third batch of B-type wraiths came in.

“Ha! She did it again!” Aran crossed his arms as they walked back to their vans.

“Who? The Solar girl?” Calix chuckled. Kino followed the two quietly.

“Yeah. She thinks she can beat all of the wraiths, it’s annoying.” Aran rolled his eyes.

Calix raised a brow with a confused expression, then smirked. “Well, she’s amazing. I can’t blame her for thinking that way.”

“Yes, she’s amazing! No one can deny that. She’s one of the best heralds in the headquarters at the young age of 19, but the main reason she does that is because she wants to steal the captain position from Parker! She has a very disrespectful mouth, alright? And she only does what she wants. She’s a selfish woman and she cannot be a team leader with her attitude!”

“Damn, Aran-boy. Did I bruise your ego that bad?” Hard arms hit the men’s shoulders from behind. Kino coughed horribly from the impact like he was suffering from tuberculosis. Solar’s smirking face appeared between him and Calix. She wasn’t wearing her gauntlets anymore, as they are nicely put on the pouches she designed herself on her waists. Seeing Solar up close, Kino noticed she has golden amber eyes and a small fang could be seen from the left side of her teeth. Aran, who was just talking ill about her, turned pale and blue. “As a wraith hunter, I’m only doing my best so I can be the number one hero!”

“Number one hero?” He couldn’t help but be curious.

“The top wraith hunter in the world. My great grandfather claimed the title of being the top ergo-herald in the world back in his day. But since he’s already long dead, I want to take his place. Not just the top herald title, but the top hunter title as well!” She explained as she nodded her head proudly.

Looking back, Kino couldn’t deny that Solar definitely looked like a hero during the whole raid. Watching her slay those monsters with her gauntlets and trench coat draping her back, she can pass as the female counterpart of the cartoon superhero Reno watches after school.

“I didn’t know there was such a thing.” Calix shrugged his shoulders.

“There isn’t.” Aran seconded with a poker face.

“But I will make it happen.” Solar boyishly smirked, then turned to face Aran’s direction. Her eyes turned to slits, her expressions turned serious in a matter of milliseconds. “And hey, I don’t give a single shit about being a team captain. I only care about being the top hunter in the world. Heroes are mostly the secret weapons of their groups, aren’t they? So that’s what matters to me.” Calix and Kino silently agreed. “Four-eyes can keep his captain position for all I care.” Solar’s voice is naturally loud, so everyone around the van could hear her, even Parker who was sitting quietly in the passenger seat. Kino wonders if he was just gonna ignore what he hears from his members, especially from their female herald, or if he’s already so used to it that he doesn’t care anymore.

“Are you just gonna keep talking? Stop making people wait and get inside the van, now!” A pair of blue eyes shot Solar a glare. Solar glared back and stuck her tongue out at Julius, the male herald of the team. He has short, ash-blonde hair and is the shortest among the six male hunters.

Upon seeing the guy, Solar whispered into Kino’s ear who was standing closest to her, “You just met Solar’s number one hater. Now meet Parker's number one fan.” She pertained to Aran.

“Hey, I heard that!” Julius exclaimed.

“Hey, Aran. If I catch your silly, little mouth talking shit behind my back again, the next time we raid an S-rank gate, I won’t bother thinking twice of throwing you inside the Gate before we seal it, and tell everyone you got killed in action. That includes you, Julius. How does it taste to lick Parker’s butt all the time?!” She pointed at the other guy.

“You witch–”

“All of you, get in. Now.” Everybody fell silent when they heard Parker’s authoritative voice from the shotgun seat. Solar rolled her eyes, then high-fived Ellis, the driver and one of the team’s enforcers, before jumping inside the van. Ellis could be easily identified among the Parker team members with his sleepy eyes, thick eyebags, and disheveled, black hair. It was said that Ellis was a former workaholic salaryman. He’s 10 years older than Parker, but his facial features make him look younger than his actual age, which most in the headquarters usually mistake him for being in his mid-twenties, despite his face looking very stressed on a daily basis.

Calix chuckled. “She’s so cool, isn’t she?” He pointed at Solar with his thumb. However, Kino was just stupidly standing before him, waiting for his turn to get inside the van. Calix’s gray eyes were twinkling in adoration; he bet he could see stars in them. His cheeks were also blushing hard. “Her arms... I want her to put me in a headlock.”

Kino’s eyes twitched in disgust. “Y-You’re done for.”

Does he want to be dominated by a woman that badly?

That night, all he wanted to do is lay down in bed and sleep.