The best hunts are multi-layered, satisfying, and leave you wanting more. This one is no exception. ENJOY!
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The fake system message taunted Jack…
[Teacher Flintlock Has Offered a Deal!]
[How Badly Do You Want to Escape?]
[Are You Ready to Suffer? Y/Y?]
Seeing this, he couldn’t help but laugh. Was this teacher seriously using the opportunity to test him again? And as the man’s gray eyes stared him down, the fiery letters wriggled with urgency, a timer appearing.
[3…]
[2…]
[1…]
“What’s the point?”
That was Jack’s answer— or lack of one.
His meaning was simple: ‘Maybe I Awakened, maybe I didn’t, but there’s no need for me to tell you all about it, is there? So, what will it be? Will you help or not? I don’t have all day.’
His frank and slightly annoyed expression was enough to convey his thoughts, the teacher chuckling in appreciation. Neither confirming nor denying was certainly a smart move.
In some crazy way, perhaps having no Quirk was better than having a defective one. It was better if he didn’t reveal it before he had at least the most basic of understandings of it.
Still, that would be an issue for a later time…
“Kid, that guy outside really wants you. He’s strong, too. Strong enough that the one week of training you did with Darius won’t matter. Your only option is to run, but I can’t exactly show favoritism either, now can I? Instead, I’ll give you a choice.”
Along with his words, the fire returned…
[Select One Trial Option!]
[Pain / Fear / Maze ?]
[Choose Wisely!]
…
“If only wisely was an option.”
He cracked a smile as he checked the options. Pain and fear he knew he could handle, but as for the maze, what was that even about? Perhaps his wolves could help, but maybe not.
Poking the air, he smashed his pick or picks. As he hit Pain & Fear at the same time, both actually lit up into an inferno that seemed to want to consume him. Then, an instant later, it happened.
“Pain and fear? Hopefully, you won’t regret it…”
With those words, the man set one of the walls ablaze. No, it wasn’t just ablaze but entirely gone! With this, what appeared was a crazy tunnel of fire that radiated so much heat.
Space itself warped, the new tunnel leading god knows where in the school, the thing a shortcut that seemed straight out of Hell. He could already feel the fire licking his soul.
[Fiery Mysterious Tunnel Opened!]
[Uncertain Destination!]
[Harrowing Journey!]
…
“I’ll count till ten. Afterward, I’ll open the door and let your little friend in. Whether you’re done crossing or not will be out of my hands. That much should be fair, don’t you think?”
Once more, the fiery countdown returned, Jack knowing it was now or never. Bracing himself, he dove right in— and found himself in a world of fire.
Was this a variant of Teacher’s Domain? The place seemed like its own little dimension, one road of fire branching out into countless, the water inside him already evaporating.
“This is worse than an oven! Fuck, can’t linger…”
Just exclaiming was hard. His lips cracked, droplets of blood escaping, only to be vaporized instantly. He was being roasted alive, the entrance behind him looking so tantalizing.
Yet, he powerfully took a step forward, his feet slightly sinking into the floor made of fire. It was like wool, if wool burned your soles and ankles with every step.
But just as he had barely entered…
A weird sound echoed: the crackling of ember, the whooshing of wind, and the buzzing of an insect. Then it appeared: an ember-firefly-fairy-like thing.
It could only be described as a glowing dot, one that seemed more than friendly as it hovered around him a couple of time, seemingly inspecting him.
“Bzztttt! Bzzzzt! Bzzzttt! Bzzzttt!”
“Ah? Hello, little one, are you here to guide me?”
The road had many forks later on. This thing was probably here to help, right? He was enthusiastically ready to call out, “Lead the way, I’ll follow!” but he never had time.
As soon as he opened his mouth, it wriggled happily. Then, it rushed toward his maw faster than a youngster closing incognito tabs. It saw a hole, and it wanted in!
He snapped his mouth shut, jumped backward, and—
The smoldering anguish of his jaw melting
The burning agony of his flesh searing
The fiery woes of his insides…
And that’s when he understood. There was the pain. As he felt himself turn into a living hot pocket, his Mana trembled, and wolves howled in his shadow.
Their leader was dying! A few tried jumping to his rescue, their eyes a sea of rage. Yet, that rage quickly turned into pure incomprehension as they saw something insane.
Jack was alone?! Not only that, but everything was burning? Then there was his stance: he was sitting cross-legged, pinching himself to no end. “It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.”
It was only after a little while that he finally managed to get up, his legs still shaky. Even now, he could still feel a burning throb in his stomach, but it wasn’t that bad.
“So that was the pain, eh? I guess now comes the—”
The fear. It was here already. Farther on the road, he could see it. It looked like a gentle cloud swaying in the non-existent wind, except it was freaking buzzing.
That was the Fear. Knowing that there were more of those creatures, that he’d have to face them, and that that gut-wrenching agony would be back.
Even he couldn’t help but shake.
“It’s fine. It’s just like those Nightmares.”
Calming his beating heart, he didn’t just walk toward the swarm of embers. He embraced it. Burn alive? Yes, it would hurt like hell, but so would it for the guy following in his footsteps.
Bracing himself, he powerfully stepped inside a sea of ember and— nothing. For all their buzzing, the creatures didn’t seem to actually want to attack him?
It was only at that moment that he realized… fakes?!
This was bad. If it was that easy, then wouldn’t his pursuer catch up in no time? It had to be something way worse for the latter to reconsider chasing him.
No, he had to do something. The first one had hovered around curiously for a few instants, and even now, he could feel their semi-sentient gazes on him. He had to try something.
“You guys, seriously? Giving up that easily? A random human invades your domain, and you’ll just step out of the way? Scoff, are you fiery wisps or kiddy night lights?”
Yet, he was only getting started. What came out of his mouth was an endless stream of insults as Jack kept dismissing them with every comparison.
“I’ve seen bugs scarier than you.”
“I’ve seen water burn brighter.”
“I’ve seen rocks more alive.”
…
“Is this place your domain? Nope. From now on, it belongs to us! My brother and I are only getting started. We’ll turn this entire plane dark and extinguish all of you!”
That’s when the Shadow Overlord appeared once again. Jack released ALL the Ink wolves he could, throwing caution to the wind.
AWOOOO- SPLATTER!
AWOOOO- SPLATTER!
AWOOOO- SPLATTER!
…
They came out swinging and instantly exploded with their inkish blood covering the fiery wisps, the latter going from fiery bright to an incredibly disgusting ashen black. Oh, and they looked pissed.
[Successfully Angered Fiery Wisp Swarm!]
[Do You Have a Death Wish? YES!]
[Get Ready to be Eaten Alive!]
….
And that’s when it happened. They turned their fire his way, one that was all-consuming, as they burrowed in his innards and burned him from the insides.
Was it painful? Very! Was it worse than anything he had felt? That too. Was it life-threatening? No. Professor Flintlock hadn’t permitted them to kill.
Yet, that didn’t stop agonizing screams from exploding out of his mouth. It was too much for a student to handle, and neither was he faking. But amidst the pain, he kept the insults flowing as smoothly as bribes in a corrupt government.
“Fucking bugs! My brother’s gonna murder you! He’s right behind me. You’re done! Oh, he’ll fuck you all so bad you won’t ever be able to fly anymore! You’re screwed! You can’t miss him, blue hair, badass, and shitload of cards. He’ll get rid of you all!”
Oh, and that last part they took personally.
Buzzing in deep anger, they kept tormenting Jack until he was finally nothing but an empty shell of a man, with an unfocused gaze and snot streaming down his face. Yet, even that wasn’t enough to satisfy them. Oh, right, there was still the brother…
[Fiery Wisp Swarm is Now on the Hunt!]
[Implicated an Innocent Student!]
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[Revenge is Best Served Fiery!]
…
Served fiery, was it? As soon as the creatures were gone, Jack quickly jumped back up on his feet. He would have loved to stay and see the result of his actions, but sadly, he had to go.
“I’m sure he’ll manage. He’s a Rising Star, right?”
Hopefully, it would buy him enough time…
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“He went in there?”
As the teacher nodded, a certain blue-haired card user couldn’t help but sigh. How slippery was this guy? At least, he’d soon be in his grasp. There was no escaping him.
“Alright, I’ll be going then. Professor Flintlock, please leave it open until I can catch up with him. The Student Council will thank you for being impartial in this matter.”
With this, he charged forth. As soon as he entered, he felt the smoldering heat, yet that didn’t even give him pause. This was just like the Burning Realm at the training grounds.
Needless to say, Brian hadn’t gone from “Useless Card Trickster” to “Arcane Dealer” in a year without suffering. Because of it, he couldn’t help but scoff.
“Jack Bright, how foolish can you be?”
Soon, it would all be over. He’d finally bring justice to the bastard who had used a loophole in the system for his own benefit while turning the school’s field inside out.
“Let me see, pain and fear, right? It’s probably gonna be a mental challenge. Whatever happens, I’ll just have to remain strong and blast it all away!” Ethereal cards quivered.
Sensing his own power react, he couldn’t help but smile. Those cards had always been there for him. Once upon a time, they had even been his “imaginary friends”.
As long as he had them, he had nothing at all to fear. Thus, he confidently stepped on the road of fire, ignoring the scariness entirely, trekking it even faster than Jack had.
Like that, it didn’t take him long to reach the first checkpoint. Soon, a cute fiery wisp appeared, circling around him as the thing inspected him with curiosity.
Yet, as it appeared, he felt his cards tremble.
Had they had any voice, they would have been growling. The mana they contained was already reacting to the fiery Mana of the thing, and very explosively at that.
The two energies combined were akin to Mentos and Pepsi, with a hint of extra spicy acid chili. It was only through his control that they remained perfectly still. Yet, he chuckled.
“What’s a little of pain? Do your best!”
He stood up to the thing, the creature invading his body just like it had done with Jack before. Pain, so much pain. A lesser man would have turned tail and ran right there and then.
He didn’t. He simply gritted his teeth.
He could do this, for sure! He kept his teeth gritted as the fiery attack invaded him. He almost bit his tongue as it kept wriggling inside him, yet he didn’t give up at all.
“With this, the pain’s already over. Now, there’s just the fear and the capture. The troublemaker can’t be too far ahead. Better increase the pace.”
He resumed the trek. So what if the surroundings were on fire? To him, it was nothing. Hell, even as he saw a swarm of fiery wisps coming his way, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s fake, it’s obviously all fake.”
Teachers wouldn’t torture students. The first checkpoint had already been skirting legalities, but if he was to be subjected to that many at once, it would be crossing a line.
Professor Flintlock was a Senior Teacher. Would he make such an obvious error? No way! His guts told him it was fake, and so did logic. Instead of fleeing, he charged forth!
“I’m sure the Newbie wasted lots of time here. I won’t.”
He’d sprint and catch Jack ASAP!
Hell, he was already picturing all he’d do to him once he was in his grasp. First, he’d beat him up, then bring him to the Direction and finally get him to apologize publicly.
Only then would people remember not to mess with the Student Council, at least not its Enforcers. After all, they were responsible for keeping the school orderly.
But just as his thoughts reached that point… wrong!
As he entered the swarm, he felt it. The buzzing was different. It wasn’t the curious buzzing from that singular wisp but instead, an enraged buzzing that wished him death!
In reaction, his cards trembled, almost calling out to him.
‘This isn’t fake. Master, it’s all real!’
He could feel the fear, the loathing, as well as the call to madness. His cards were begging him to strike first before he got overwhelmed and he too shared that crazy feeling.
Yet, as his body shuddered, he forcefully forced himself to a stop. “It’s a test. It’s all a test. Why would those things even be angry with me? Yeah, it doesn’t make any sense at all!”
Confident in his analysis, he stood still, welcoming it all.
“Go on, do you worst; I won’t even—”
AAARRGGGGG!!!
AAARRGGGGG!!!
AAARRGGGGG!!!
….
As howls escaped his mouth, he finally noticed it. Black specs corrupted their glow, and there was something wrong with their aura. Could it be… those things had been tempered with?!
“What is this?! Stop! Stop it! Get away from me!”
He begged, yet there was no mercy to be found. Fueled by anger and revenge, they crawled all over and inside him, their fire burning him to no end as if fire hornets from hell.
It was even worse for a certain body part. The ones crowding next to his hair especially went mad. Every time they glanced at it, their very souls were reminded of a brash youngster’s shouts.
‘My brother’s going to kill you all! He’s the one with blue hair…’
Blue hair was here, except he wouldn’t be going anywhere. They’d destroy him, reduce him to a crying mess, and then they’d bring him to his “beloved” brother, the one with the big mouth.
They couldn’t wait to see all hope leave the bastard’s eyes!
And just like that, the torture resumed, one that a teacher never would have permitted nor condoned. In fact, a certain Professor Flintlock was now utterly frozen in place.
He had felt it from his Fiery Domain.
“This, what is THIS?!”
A strange power, an odd power, a crazed power, yet one that had no way to manifest in the physical world. He sent his full power to investigate without waiting, using 100% of his Mana!
A second later, what shone on his face wasn’t just shock but also pity.
The kid not having a Quirk? No, that wasn’t it. He had one, but one so powerful that it far exceeded the capabilities of his Mana. At this rate, it would perhaps forever remain inactive.
“He’s doomed. Being Quirkless would have been better….”
He sighed so profoundly that the entire domain shook. The fire shook, the wisps shook, and even a certain shadow shook. Actually, the last one shook even more than all the others combined.
Little did a certain Teacher know, but he had almost caused a world-apocalyptic event! As his Fiery Mana spread to observe the student known as Jack Bright, everything in the White Plane went to shit!
So much happened that it would have traumatized anyone.
→ A world-ending fiery portal rupturing the sky
→ A Phoenix Phantom made out of Mana
→ Godlike fiery eyes observing it all
→ Wolves scampering to safety
→ A Shadow hiding them all
….
As the scouting happened, it showed up as a ginormous Ethereal Phoenix to the inhabitants of the White Plane. Luckily, before it could even awaken fully, Shadow acted!
With a wave of his scepter, trenches appeared all over, which he ordered the wolves to fill. And before anyone could be the wiser, they were all perfectly hidden.
The Phoenix observed the plane, screeched thrice, and went away.
What was the purpose of spying on a uselessly dead world?
There was no point, so it departed like a fiery hurricane.
…
“AWOOO?!!”
It had barely left that wolves erupted out of their hiding spot, their tongues hanging out as they jumped around excitedly. What had just happened? It was so damn cool!
Anyone else would have been traumatized, and yet they were now happily glowing with pride. Their master was so awesome that even creatures like that were spying on him!
“Woo!” (Next time, we’ll hide even faster!)
As they clamored, a certain Shadow couldn’t help but worry. Had he made the right call by stopping this? Definitely. Even when his master was busy, he’d have his back.
And just like that, an attempt to peer into Jack’s Quirk lamentably failed. In fact, not only did it not reveal anything, but a certain teacher found himself panicking a little bit.
“Such a shame, but— wait, what?! What’s this?!”
Only now did he realize what was happening in his Fiery Domain. The flames he had set up as a trial to scare the students were now torturing one of them?!
No, it wasn’t just that, but there was a viciousness to it. Hell, his fire wouldn’t show such animosity even when he was facing actual enemies. He had partially lost control of it?!
“Jack, what the hell did you do?! Seriously?!”
Already getting a headache, the poor teacher quickly manipulated his Quirk, ending the one-sided beat-up and revealing a student looking so distraught he seemed harmless.
The power and dominance of a Rising Star he had shown before was all gone— or so it seemed. As the “Trial ended,” he shakily got up, light returning to his eyes.
“I’m alive. I’m actually alive? Wait, no, I need to catch him. I’m close, I’m so close, I can feel it. C’mon Brian, you won’t always be unlucky; you got this! You totally got this!”
As the hunt resumed, even a certain teacher couldn’t help but gasp. This kid, it wasn’t just his Quirk that was odd, but so were his enemies! All this for a few Squirrels?!
Even he doubted his eyes, not that it would prevent him from watching.
As for what happened next, it was a fucking shitshow.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
It was lunchtime, and lots of students happily gathered in the cafeteria. Some had their lunches, others bought theirs, yet all couldn’t wait to dig in. After the morning events, they simply couldn’t wait to talk with their friends.
“Not to brag, but I actually got myself a Squirrel. Amazing, right?”
“Amazing— not. Don’t play. I know you just bought yours.”
“Bah, what do you know? Standing in line takes skills!”
“Pfft— Stop arguing, you two. What classes did—”
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”
…
Many things happened daily at Legendary-U, but a portal to Hell wasn’t one of them. Yet, how else could one describe the burning horror that had just manifested?!
Big, no, huge! The portal was so vast that it looked like it alone could annihilate the school. As soon as they saw it, many guessed that today Legendary-U would end.
They could feel the vicious energy coming from it!
Run? It was already too late. Countless activated their Quirks, ready to fight to their last breaths. Many more ran, but those didn’t matter: they were cowards.
Death facing them in the face, the ones remaining braced themselves. As it opened, they got ready to throw everything they had at it and—
“Wow, that was FUN!”
A happy youngster came out.
He didn’t seem to mind the chaotic energy oozing out of the portal, nor did he mind the anguished screams that echoed in the background as if wails of damned spirits.
Many recognized as the Squirrel Seller, the incongruity of the moment stunning them. Why was he here? What was that thing? Why was he laughing? But before they could ask…
“Welp, he’s gonna be here any minute. Gotta go, take care everyone and see you later! I’ll try to restock the Squirrels tomorrow if the admission bug isn’t fixed yet!”
As if the most natural thing to do, Jack waved them goodbye while spewing a promotional spiel. It got even more confusing as his pursuer showed up a minute later.
The hunt was still going even now?! Yes, it was…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A weird vision appeared through the corridors of Legendary-U. Was it because traumatized students could be seen dragging their feet across the halls? Yes, but not just that.
Amidst the pale students, there was also… RED?!
No matter where one looked, there were students covered in red cloaks that hid their bodies completely from head to toe. As for what they were doing… it seemed like they were just chilling all over for some reason.
Had a new cult joined Legendary-U? Was it a new and weird fashion for some reason? Could it be exchange students from another school, possibly from another country?
There were countless guesses as to why that was…
“Maybe they’re a terrorist organization!”
“As if! They’re clearly religious!”
“What if they’re aliens?”
…
They were all wrong— kinda.
It was technically aliens, just not the mysterious kind they had expected. That much was revealed as a blue-haired youngster bolted in and violently disrobed one of them.
The Arcane Dealer?! Wait, was Jack hiding as a red-robed youngster? Well, that would surely allow him to navigate the corridors incognito, right?
As for the face that was revealed after the hoody came down, it was one of a very playful Red Devil, one who could be heard chuckling to himself as a youngster cursed.
“I’ll fucking find you if it’s the last thing I do, you bastard!”
Once again, the hunt was still ongoing…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A certain curious group of students couldn’t help but raise a brow at the gym that was blockaded in the middle of lunchtime. Actually, it wasn’t just the place that was weird, but also the signs.
| Gripfruit Eating Competition! Only Participants Allowed! |
| Gripfruit Eating Competition! Only Participants Allowed! |
| Gripfruit Eating Competition! Only Participants Allowed! |
…
The signs were always the same.
“What kind of stupid event is this?”
“What’s the point of a competition if no one’s watching?”
“I guess it’s kinda like a spar, but for eating? Sounds dumb.”
…
Yet, just as many were puzzled, a certain blue-haired student came in like a rocket. “Think you can hide in there? Eating Gripfruits? I’ll eat them, and then I’ll waste you!”
It was only then that the bystanders understood. Was it yet another scheme for Jack to run from his pursuer? So this replaced the Red Devils, who were out of Mana, eh?
“Hey, let’s go watch! I can’t wait to see this!”
“We gotta register for that, however?”
“So what? Stop being a baby!”
…
Near the gym, lots of similar students came to the same conclusion and joined out of curiosity. They shouldn’t have. They freaking shouldn’t have.
They would soon learn the meaning of Gripfruit. The stuff of nightmares, the kind that would make anyone sick the first time they ate it. The kind that was life-trauma-inducing.
It barely took five minutes.
Jack went in, waited for his opponent to eat a single Gripfruit under the stern gaze of the Training Instructor, and then quickly escaped as his pursuer was busy failing to vomit.
Hook, line, and sinker! As for the Hunt? It was about to end…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lunchtime was ending. This was the last chance Jack would have before he had to rush back to class. As for the teacher summoning the tunnel again… fat chance!
Yet, that was the least of his worries.
One would have expected his opponent to have given up already, right? From fiery torture to wasting his time to decoys and puking his guts, he had lived through Hell.
Yet, even now, it wasn’t enough, for he was still here.
Eyes bloodshot, cards rumbling vengefully, and a gaze that was more indomitable than the fiercest of tyrants. Even the vomit at the corner of his mouth wasn’t enough to ruin it.
He had overcome every obstacle Jack had tried to stop him with, and now it was about to come to an end. The man had finally cornered him inside a damp and dark corridor.
Shivering, Jack couldn’t help but pause…
“How about we call it a draw? Let bygones be bygones. Listen, the Squirrel thing’s just business, I wasn’t trying to cause trouble I swear! Why don’t we start over?”
At this moment, his gaze seemed too pure and innocent, as if he hadn’t been toying with his opponent for hours already. Sadly, the other guy was too far gone to be reasoned with.
“You’re done. You’re fucking done. You’re done—” He sounded like a broken record as he tunnel-visioned on him. Yet, it didn’t matter anymore; it would finally end.
He stopped speaking. He stopped thinking.
His cards charged forth, but so did he. At that moment, cards and man unified as one, the ethereal cards seemingly singing as the assault started. And it was VERY powerful.
Jack felt it even from a distance. He felt it even more as it came closer. So much Mana. So much destructive power. There was absolutely nothing he could do against it.
No dodging or running would save him, and even if he fought back with the entirety of his energy, he’d come short. Knowing this, he snapped his fingers.
The man was 1 meter away from him.
“-.. . ...- --- ..- .-. / .... ..- -- .- -. --..-- / --. . - / ..-. --- --- -.. -.-.—”
As the Gelatinous cube engulfed him, he finally realized the trap he hadn’t seen in rage-induced madness.
If only he hadn’t fallen for his opponent's devious provocations! He had dozens of ways to deal with a gelatinous cube, but none now. He had been so close...
It had all been part of Jack’s devious plan. Alas, it was far too late for regret.
The acid jelly overcame the man, the disgusting liquid encasing him in a grasp impossible to escape, entering his mouth and filling him entirely. This was the end.
The last thing he saw was a smiling youngster.
“Was it worth it? Now, time to die…”