Snow

In a round room, lavish ornaments casted a gold and silver sheen over a rectangle table - a two-layer piece of century-old wood and silky skin. An icy gust of wind flowed thought the place; it challenged the warm climate of summer.

From the lone window - acting as the front wall - the scenery was bland; a fog of clouded chocked the building.

It was a high place - too high for any useful benefits to humankind. Rich people took a fancy to this show of puffy clouds; they found it relaxing.

Across both sides of the table, twelve man and woman were scattered on the twenty-meters long meeting hall; all well-dressed, choosing neat black suits or a revealing one-piece dress.

"Hmm, alright - I'll open the twentieth annual meeting about necessary slays. Can everyone attest for their presence…" A woman raised her voice. She wore a white shirt on fair skin, with hugging black trousers; her hair, a long black mass, followed the curves of her neck. It reached waist height.

While a row of familiar names tickled her ears, she tied down this rowdy hair into a coherent bun; her sharp features were emphasized by the change.

"Ruth May, governor of the northern iceberg." With this sentence, silence befell the room.

A second passed. The woman fidgeted with a pen before coughing.

"I presume you all know the main topic of discussion here."

All nodded, again, without a word.

"The Karyla has been slayed." She paused. "That, all of you know, I presume."

A few mutterings were exchanged, before someone raised their hand in a formal gesture. It was a short woman - about a meter and a half tall - dressed in a complete suit; a black jacket and skirt.

"Miss Haiga, are we sure of this claim?" she said.

She - Miss Haiga - didn't answer; rather, with the push of a button, a transparent screen rose from the table. On its surface, a video was displayed. William, leaping into the air, only to get crushed by a sideways attack.

Then, a cut; the image went black. It reappeared in a static image. The python's severed, crushed, and exploded body could be seen sprawled everywhere. Blood and fluids dirtied the quality; nonetheless, the conclusion was evident.

It had died.

"This was taken from Sir Khork's camera. With his life, he took the one of our most feared opponent.", Miss Haiga weighted each of words, as if to conclude the matter.

"Bu-" A voice was cut out.

"Or at least, I would say if my eyes had gone bad. Awful even.", Miss Haiga let out a snicker.

"Moek."

"Yes, miss." A burly man answered, his thin hair barely clinging on their grip. He, however, was the tallest among everyone present.

"Look carefully." Miss Haiga clear voice echoed. She zoomed in closer to the Karyla's remains.

"Do you think that this is William's doing?"

Moek kept his silence for a minute, eventually breaking it down. "No, that would be impossible." His raspy tone brought no doubt.

"Why?" She asked.

"Well..." Moek scratched the tip of his chin. "Even you wouldn't be able to do this."

Everyone, except the two talking, shared a silent gasp. They wondered if this balding man had guts of steel.

Miss Haiga frowned. "...That is a fair point you make, sir. I can't think of a single human capable of doing this."

The short woman raised her hand in the same, military gesture. "How about in the future?"

Nobody in the room was clueless about the meaning; Miss Haiga bit her teeth with a smile. "I didn't say so - only right now." She emphasized the last part.

"My question for today is simple - what do you make of it?". Her legs were crossed.

"That we've lost a precious hunter for nothing." One of the man exclaimed.

"Khork wasn't that important, don't overstate things." Another replied. It was Ruth, sitting at the table's edge. His voice was a whisper.

"Was he? Then tell me, May. Who's going to replace him? Another one of your sheltered rookies?" The man asked in a mocking tone. Ruth gritted his teeth. He didn't reply; he hid behind silence - that's how everyone viewed it.

Miss Haiga clicked her tongue, a display of bother. "You two, shut it. While Khork was a valuable asset, our other rookies are more than capable of taking his place. That's not the issue here."

Moek spoke up. "Actually, the sword I tailored for him is more of a waste. The search teams couldn't find the bloody metal anywhere." He looked away with a sigh.

"Any other suggestions?" Miss Haiga asked. When silence answered, she clasped her hands together.

"Here's what I think." She took a breath, gazing at every person's in the room. "A stronger monster killed it - rather, it claimed the Karyla's weakened state."

Everyone raised their brows. "Are you joking? Something stronger that this thing? Does it even exist?"

"Well..." Moek spoke up. "The Karyla's corpse indicates signs of strangulation - something a human could never do. I mean, could you choke a beast like this?"

Everyone nodded at his acute observation. "There you have it." Miss Haiga said.

"It seems the northern part is home to worse than we thought."

She glanced at her far right. "Sir May."

Ruth gulped, before muttering a weak 'yes'. "Do train well this year's rookies, alright? We'll need them, more than ever." Miss Haiga had a prickly tone.

"Yes, of course." His voice shook, without steadiness.

"And if you can't-" She added. "- I'll gladly take Seika away. We're done."

No words were thrown anymore - they all left. Miss Haiga remained alone in the spacious hall on a date with silence. The heavy wooden door, plated in a thick layer of gold, creaked open. A girl's figure revealed itself - she had a classic working attire, covered by a brown fur coat reaching falling to her knees. Her white bangs hid her eyebrows, sitting on top of a trained gaze.

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"Miss Kei." The woman said, before offering a light bow, full of servitude. Anyone would frown upon hearing this familiar, yet distant tone.

"Seika." Kei's didn't budge a brow, not even a glance. She remained sat on her chair. In spite of it, Seika's face lit up, an emphasis of her youthful energy. "I brought you tea, miss."

A sweet aroma teased Kei's senses; hints of honey were scattered in the preparation. She liked it. As Seika walked closer, a blue cup in hand, Kei took a bold step, stole the warm cup, before emptying it in one gulp.

"Thank you, it's nice." Kei's tone lightened. She stared at her maid for a second - more accurately, at the white hair fluttering on Seika's scalp.

"Say, miss Kei." The maid spoke up. Kei tilted her head, alongside a hum.

"Why are you so bent on the north?" She continued.

"I don't get your question. The northern region is home to so many monsters - its walking calamities, at this point." Kei sighed. "Do we really have a choice?

Seika took a nearby seat, before sitting next to Kei. She leaned toward the table without breaking eye contact. "Then, I'll do an example. What made the Karyla so dangerous? Certainly, it was a threat if you provoked it - but then again, why do it? We should've just let him free, not feed Khork to him. And now-" From her pocket, she took out a folded sheet of paper, waving it in the air. "- there's even worse than him?"

"Seika." Kei's voice was heavy - half of disdain, half of understanding. "There's two reasons why killing it was necessary." Her fingers made a peace sign. "First, well, the lac he swam into was all soft water; the nearby towns were pumping it like crazy. And now, their water sources became contaminated because of it. We had to take care of the root problem, didn't we?"

Seika answered in a weak head bop; her resilience was obvious. "I agree with you, but aren't some sacrifices necessary? Sure, if it's clogging the capital's supply, but a tiny cluster of unnamed town? Is it worth Khork's, or any hunter's life at all?" She looked at the celling. "Not mine, that's for sure."

Kei sighed, before standing up. Her eyes followed Seika's. "Why did you want to become a hunter?"

Seika blurted out the answer. "To save lives, of course. That's doesn't mea-"

"If you really wished to-" Kei's raised voice overwhelmed Seika's. "- Then you can't go around and choose whose life are worth saving. We're not gods; we can't decide their fate. I don't have anything against these monsters - we're just protecting our kind, like they are."

Seika remained silent. "Got it?" Kei flicked her forehead; she answered by muttering 'yes'.

"I'm going, now. Don't forget to make this report clean. Else, we're a done deal." Kei pointed at the folded sheet on table, before waving goodbye. After a few seconds, she reached for the door handle.

"What about the other?" Seika shouted.

"What?" Kei took a step backward.

"The second reason. You said they were two." She pushed.

"Oh, that?" Kei turned around, a grin on her face. "It's for status."

The door slammed in a bang.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What are you doing?" Lee asked, peering at the cloth on Sami's waist. Its utility wasn't something she grasped.

"I'm covering my waist." Sami answered with a dry tone. They were a good distance away from the Karyla, in-between two massive lumps of rocks and asphalt - a mountain range. The landscape, invaded with a snow coat, reminded them of the white land.

A robot followed them closely - a rough assemblage of two steel bars and the remaining gold from the shiny armor. While moving in saccaded motions, three layers of the Karyla's skin rested on his shoulders. The rest - its meat, eyes, or any other useful-looking objects, he balanced on his arms.

Lee had insisted on using Sami's craft; they wanted to experience the human world barefoot - in their case, it didn't change much - and hoarding all of it was a unsalvable pain.

For an hour, they walked; the sky's color never shifted from its original blue.

And now, Lee fixated on this piece of cloth - a chunk of the Karyla's skin.

"I can see that, but why?" She thought, but didn't find anything wrong with her body.

Sami sighed. "That man, these parts were covered by two layers of fabric; the others, just once."

"So?"

"It means that they are hiding it on purpose." He said.

"Why?" Lee frowned.

"I don't know - you do it, though. It's a human custom."

"We don't even know how much time we're going to spend here - what's the point of following these? Besides, I've got no shame in my figure." She pumped her chest forward, like a haughty kid.

Sami snickered. "You've never seen it, where are you pulling this confidence from?"

Lee froze; because she didn't want to destroy the mountain, instead, her feet dug a meter into the ground, almost burying Lee underneath the rock.

"Alright, give me that - quickly." Lee complied. As Sami threw her a piece of the Karyla's skin, she tore it apart in one, smaller part, before tying it around her waist.

Lee twirled around, trying to get a glimpse at her appearance. "Pff, it feels weird. Uncomfortable." she laughed.

"Well, it's like that. Bear up." Sami said; to which Lee shook her head.

"Sure."

They resumed their walk - or rather, slugged thought the mountains. It was a gauntlet of uneven terrain, dense layers of frozen snow - also, unbreakable pyramids of rocks. The scorching sun collapsed on their exposed skin - a sunburn heaven for humans.

Issues met them at every corner.

"Sami." Lee whispered with carefulness.

"Hmm?" Sami's head turned sideways - he was knee-deep in white and gray snow.

"This -" She stroked her forehead; beads of sweat were soaking it wet. "- The hell is this?"

"Well..." Sami witnessed the same phenomenon happen; this time, on his chest and legs. "That man had it too, remember."

Lee widened her eyes, like a display of genius. "Ah! That guy, the dumb human. What's his name again..."

"William." Sami blurted out.

"Yeah, that's the one. Still!" In Lee's hand was solid snow; she closed her fist, crumpling it to a powder. "It also tickles my skin." When she threw it in the air, the gales dispersed it to the left, then upward to the peaks. A snowflake fell on the tip of her cheek.

"Pretty..." Lee said - indeed, it was - before wiping it off her skin.

"It probably has something to do with that big round ball." Sami pointed at the sun, whose heat melted the snow in the lower levels; he stared at the blazing ball.

"I've been wondering about it too. What's that? Got a clue?" Lee asked.

"Not really..." Sami looked downcast - he's never encountered such a thing in the white land; thus, the concept remained foreign to him. "But it's affecting our body."

"It's like something's bustling inside of my body; under my skin. Is it a human concept?" Lee couldn't rack her brain around it.

"I think it affects everyone. A universal concept, maybe. I don't know. Like how we couldn't break the white room's floor and ceiling at all, something like that." Sami shrugged. He wasn't quite as impatient unravelling this world's secrets, because asking somebody would resolve this issue.

A weeping sound left Lee's mouth. She crouched in the deep snow, her body was buried. "It's so complicated. It's so annoying." she muttered like casting a curse. Her golden hair, deposited above the snow, stood out amidst the white landscape.

"We'll just ask somebody - then, we'll think about the rest." Sami's words made Lee's face lively again. After a short silence, a sound of epiphany escaped her mouth. She stood up, brushed off the snow, and peered at the Sami's robot.

"...What?" Sami said.

"Does he have William's sword stuck inside this mess?" She pointed at the robot's arms, who showed no reaction - much a robot-like expression.

After rummaging through the cluster of skin, meat, and metal, Sami took out a triangular-shaped piece of gold, his size in length. He threw it backward - Lee caught it by her fingernails.

"I have an idea. To counter this stupid yellow ball." A side of William's sword had a bright white sheen on it - to the point of looking fancy next to the many gems graved on the wooden handle. Lee branded it towards the sky and the sun.

At first, her hands - both placed on the blade's backside - tickled, twitched at random intervals. Sami watched Lee with doubt and expectation for stupidity.

Then, the ground shook - layers of snow all around them began melting or disappearing. A column of light - a invisible mist - materialized between the blade and the sun - whose width was the sword's, while its length bordered infinity.

Lee saw a dot over her head. As she squinted her eyes, a bird appeared. It was all black because of its rough fur, and its wings - a deeper shade of black - were curved in a round shape above its body. A crooked nose occupied the left side of its face, the other by a pair of twitching yellow eyes - their position were everchanging. Under the belly, six elongated legs completed its ugliness.

The sight both made Lee and Sami's face contort - it was truly a disgusting being, thoroughly.

However, as it flew under the sun, a gaping hole appeared, cutting off the body into two parts - a remaining leg and wing, and the head. They soon vanished afterwards. Blood poured from the sky and stained William's handle, turning soggy.

Sami watched in awe with a smirk - Lee, too - not because of the ray of light; but rather, two achievements.

"Look, my skin doesn't irk me." Lee pointed at a black spot underneath the sword, shaped the same. Sami nudged his body closer - both were free from the sun, albeit not in the most comfortable way.

"Do we bring your robot?" Lee asked with a laugh.

"A shame we can't." Sami retorqued.

They understood the concept of shadows - the first achievement.

The other - however - carried much more importance. About fifty meters ahead, on top of a towering cliff, a woman ogled the two.

She had orange hair and nothing to say. Also, a petite figure.

Lee and Sami thought that they'd landed a cute insider.