As the wind blew strongly on Red Mountain, an indistinct leaf flew into an androgynous youth’s face, landing squarely on his left eyelid as he rested against a tree, leaning slightly to keep his balance. The youth had a waist long pure white ponytail, deep blue eyes, light peach skin with no blemishes, long legs, and a thin waist. Hanh, the youth in question, was a feminine beauty that would be perfect if it wasn’t for his height and lack of breasts, which were evidently shown with his simple clothing that often tightened around his body. Used to debris hitting his face due to his 1.8 meter stature, a rarity in his village, Hanh calmly plucked the leaf from his face and threw it into the wind, immediately floating in the distance. Opening his eyes and ending his quick rest, Hanh walked up a steep incline through two trees to reach the main trail of Red Mountain Forest.
Hanh’s current mission is to hunt two boars or one kouprey, as it is every other day. Red Mountain, a conglomerate of five villages, rely upon Red Mountain Forest for their food and livelihood. Hanh, contrary to his appearance, has massive strength and instinct, well enough to handle a wild beast or two. Because of his deceptive strength, Hanh joins the ranks of veteran hunters in his efficiency at catching food.
Walking the main trail, Hanh finally noticed a small footprint, similar to that of a kouprey. ‘Just what I needed.’ Using his skills honed over the years, Hanh followed a series of footprints through mud, eventually finding a wild kouprey. The beast was grey with white legs, with dirt covering most of the foot. It was tall with a hunched back, and had horns jutting from its small head outwards to the left and right. A close cousin of the cow, some unlucky souls would unwittingly assume koupreys are the same, not knowing the difference could cost a life. Hanh ducked into a bush, waiting for an opportunity. Looking at Hanh, no weapons appeared on his figure, with only his bare hands to fight. Most would consider the idea foolish; fighting a kouprey bare handed was like trying to punch a tree, a tree that can puncture your chest with horns and gorge your insides. Nevertheless, Hanh’s face was the very expression of calm, with no beads of sweat or nervous blinks. After gnawing on some grass, the kouprey wandered over to a small stream conveniently nearby Hanh. ‘This is my chance!’
Jumping out from the bush, Hanh struck towards the kouprey’s closest horn, causing a slight crack. Panicking, the kouprey swayed its head back before piercing towards Hanh with the damaged horn. Hanh stepped left out of the horn’s way, and sent a right fist towards the dodged horn, and continued to pummel it. With a loud cracking noise, the horn broke and blood poured out, leaving the kouprey angry. Now attacked by the other horn, Hanh instead ducked and gave an uppercut towards the jaw, stunning the kouprey. Taking advantage of the opening, Hanh with astounding flexibility gave a left kick to the other horn, breaking it clean off. The Kouprey was now pouring out blood from both horns, painting an exquisite picture of anguish. Turning around to run away, the Kouprey sent its hind legs backwards in an attempt to kick Hanh. While missing, Hanh instinctively jumped back and before he could move the kouprey took off at top speed, adrenaline pumping. Glancing left and right, Hanh picked up a fist sized rock and took one second to close his right eye and aim. Throwing with extreme speed and precision as if a master archer, the rock hit the kouprey in the left hind leg, causing it to cripple under its weight and fall to the ground. As the Kouprey struggled to get up with one broken foot, Hanh ran up from behind with a head sized boulder and crashed it down upon the Kouprey’s head, causing a mean splash to occur. With the Kouprey’s head squashed, Hanh was done.
Holding his hand in a knife like posture, Hanh sliced downward to the kouprey’s neck, severing the crushed head. Taking out brown straw from underneath his shirt, Hanh covered the kouprey completely in a net like pattern, tying the ends together. With his unassuming strength, Hanh dragged the Kouprey over his should as he headed back to the main trail. Walking back, Hanh heard a rustling sound in the grass. Glancing over, a boar stared straight back. ‘Must’ve smelled the fresh meat.’ Laying down the dead Kouprey, Hanh assumed a wrestling pose, ready for the Boar to charge. Black body and fur, the brown eyes of the boar were bloodshot, unable to resist the meat.
Charging forward, the boar took off with expected speed as Hanh was ready to flip it. The tusks, usually a dull color from mud around the forest, had an extraordinary glean to them, malicious in intent. Approaching quickly, there was no retreat; either Hanh was gouged by the tusks or the boar is smashed into the ground. Now within arm’s reach, the oar’s head was forcefully tilted upwards as Hanh propped it with his left hand. Changing the trajectory and speed of the tusks, Hanh moved towards the boar’s left side keeping his left hand still underneath the boar’s head. Now using his right hand, Hanh lifted the boar off of the ground. The boar’s mind blanked as an unexpected action occurred. Hanh, not one to miss an opportunity, flipped the boar behind him and threw it against a tree trunk, breaking the forelegs.
Walking a steady pace towards the boar with two broken legs, Hanh at the last second jumped backwards as two tusks appeared where he previously stood. Another boar showed up! Feeling a sharp sting, Hanh looked towards his right leg which slowly poured out blood from a small cut encountered from the new boar’s attack. ‘Tch, Okris is going to worry now. Guess I can take the week off, with this much food.’ The new boar was 10% larger with red fur and fresh blood on the left tusk. Its eyes, like the previous boar, were bloodshot; not with greed but with rage. This boar was the other’s mate, most likely the male in their partnership.
Looking towards a nearby pebble, Hanh lowered his body at extreme speeds, throwing the pebble towards the male boat’s right eye. The boar jumped to the left, dodging the pebble, and built up dust as it charged at Hanh. Narrowing his eyes, Hanh stood straight like a tree trunk and readied his hand in a knife formation. The boar inching closer and closer, it threw its head up with the tusks aiming for Hanh’s stomach, spilling his intestines if it hit. With less than a second away from target, the boar lost its target before realizing its view was much higher than normal. Hanh, using his bare hand, has cut off the male boar’s head with a single strike where the neck was weakest! With the male boar most assuredly dead, Hanh quickly finished off the first boar and threw them both into the net containing the dead kouprey. With three heavy bodies inside a single net, it surprisingly held up, with Hanh even more staggeringly dragging it with his small frame.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Finally back on the main trail, Hanh carried the three bodies as he walked back to his village. His leg, previously cut by a boar tusk, was mysteriously fully healed, and without a single scar. This was yet another mystery of Hanh. Beauty of a maiden, strength of an ox, and now able to regenerate from injuries; such was Hanh. Arriving near Red Mountain, the conglomerate of five villages, Hanh’s scene of dragging three bodies was of not much notice amongst the villagers. Bronze skin with black pupils and hair, the average villagers compared to Hanh was like apples to oranges; while similar in that they are from the same village, they are too different to be compared. Hanh was thin, they were stocky, he was 1.8 meters, and they were 1.6. The differences went on and on, so Hanh stood out since young. As such, Hanh standing out now was actually the norm.
Red Mountain, having five different villages, was quite large with a population of 10,000. Of those 10,000 villagers was a circle of Elders with two from each village, each speaking for their own village. Being in charge of 10,000 people, the Elder were once mighty hunters renowned throughout Red Mountain, with little in the way of negative reception. What they say, goes; if an elder wants a virgin, they get a virgin, if they want more food they get more food. Only one existence is above the Elders: the Red Chief. Red Chief is the patriarch, above the Elder and above the gods. Said to have lived for at least 200 years while most Elders only lived to sixty, the Red Chief established Red Mountain long ago and is a role model for every child. Hanh is almost no different; Red Chief is a role model. Only difference is, Hanh actually lives with the Red Chief.
Walking towards the Red Chief’s home, the disparity in treatment was obvious. As one left the base grounds for most villagers, the quality of building materials and size increased, showing a clear hierarchy of position, as is normal in a large group. Each Elder has a house with ten personal maids and a clan of thirty under his commands, not to mention these thirty also have their own squads under their command. Thus, each elder has a massive house easily taking up plots that can house around 100 people. So if each elder controls 1/100 of the population as an army, one would assume the Red Chief would have just as large a group. However, while more spacious than most, the Red Chief has a small mansion in comparison to the Elder. Housing only himself, his daughter, five maids and twenty guards, a modest amount compared to the Elder, some might think the Red Chief has less authority. It is simple, really; the Red Chief may have only twenty guards, but they are the strongest of the strong. Having the strength of five men alone, Red Chief guards are known to only be weaker than the elders and Red Chief himself, scaring any potential rebellion.
As Hanh walked through the Red Chief’s gates, the guards, who would normally bar anyone uninvited, instead gave a knowing nod as Hanh handed off the three bodies to a nearby guard, who somewhat struggled to carry it like Hanh himself. Hanh’s strength could still not find a match in the guards, only an elder and the Red Chief could match Hanh in strength, solidifying his respect in the guards’ hearts. It has to be known that an elder has had at least forty years of experience to build their strength, let alone Hanh who’s sixteen and only started hunting five years ago! If every youth in Red Mountain had a third of Hanh’s strength, they would be considered a good seed. Hanh is a shoo-in for elder position in the future. That is, if it wasn’t for the rumors floating around that Hanh is the next Red Chief.
Entering Red Chief’s house, Hanh threw his dirty clothes into a nearby bin placed at the entrance. Entering the Chief’s personal bath, Hanh took a quick look around. With Blue Croc mats and Ferocious Ape fur towels, Red Chief was incredibly well off, worthy of the leader of Red Mountain. Instead of entering the warm water prepared at all times for someone to enter, Hanh instead let down his hair by removing a piece of cloth tying his hair into a ponytail, now measuring the hair at ankle height. Hanh’s hair was impeccably white, pure without an ounce of dirt or sweat, with a curious shine that drew one in. Combined with his sinful body that never bruised which made men lust and girls blush, Hanh has received no few confessions from powerful youths, not to mention fights breaking out for his hand in marriage.
Reaching for a sturdy silver rack with fresh clothes, Hanh wore the finest clothes available. With a white inner robe, Hanh wore a red one-piece outer robe with patterns of red lilies and broad lower hems, which tightened around the waist and was tied together with a yellow girdle. Covering the feet wearing slippers, the red robe had gold inlays in the cuffs which snaked up to the neck and then raced down to the feet. Hanh was perfectly dressed for Red Mountain royalty… female royalty, that is. Hanh let out a small sigh. ‘I don’t understand Okris’ taste sometimes. If it wasn’t for my injury earlier, I would never wear such a thing.’ Yes, while Hanh might fit perfectly in female clothing, it was not his preference. Knowing his appearance, Hanh liked to exhibit what little manliness he could, by wearing simple clothing which unfortunately still gave an aura of femininity. While one would worry Hanh’s outside excursion would ruin the expensive clothes with sweat, Hanh’s body also never sweated or become covered in mud, with everything dirty not touching his body as if stopped by a force field. As such, Hanh never entered a bath in his life nor used soap, mostly because his body also emitting a slight attractive smell like that of Stock flowers.
Now walking outside the bath, two maids waited for Hanh’s leaving before entering to retrieve his clothes. Both maids took a small look at Hanh before blushing, making Hanh himself blush. ‘Geez, do I really have to wear this? Just because a guest is coming today doesn’t matter does it?’ The Red Chief, well known for his hatred of foreigners which extends to most of Red Mountain, rarely has a guest over. Only outside relatives of Red Mountain residents are usually allowed inside, and even then only to trade. To have a guest personally allowed inside the Red Chief’s home is unheard of for over sixteen years, which coincidentally concurs with Hanh’s birth.
Taking a deep breath while closing his eyes, Hanh prepared himself to act with propriety worthy of the Red Chief. Little did Hanh know however, that today’s meeting would set his path to becoming a master of the universe, known in every direction in every realm and domain. This is Hanh, Grandmaster of the Universe’s beginning…