After doing the chores, I came into my room with my shirt off to shower before eating dinner with Ashley.

I passed by my mirror and stopped as even though I came into my room often, I never looked at myself in it.

My dirty blond hair went past my shoulders, and my body was lean but not too muscular.

As I walked over to the shower, I imagined myself with huge muscles but stopped that thought as I would look terrible.

I took my shower and threw on the outfit I had laid out on my bed, and went to eat dinner with Ashley.

I noticed things that my brain had glazed over in the past three years.

I was almost as tall as Ashley.

She still looked the same as she had three years ago.

How is that possible? Same hair cut and same facial expression.

Is she immortal? Nah, that can't be.

I wonder how old she is, where she's from, and how she knew my parents.

I opened my mouth, but she cut me off as she placed our dinner down on the table.

"You're here just in time. I made your favorite steak and potatoes."

The smell was excellent as I sat down.

I scarfed down the food she made in an instant.

I sat there with a belly full of good food.

I yawned and pushed my bangs out of my face.

"I think I need to get a haircut."

"Don't cut it. You look good with long hair." Ashley took a bite out of her steak and continued, "Put your hair in a bun."

"A bun? What's that?" I asked, puzzled.

Ashley wiped her mouth with a black rag and tore off a thin piece from the clean end.

"Come over here."

I stood up and walked over to her.

She pulled out the chair next to her and pointed at it, so I sat down.

My back was towards her as she messed with my hair.

The hair on the top, side, and back tightened.

"And I am done." Ashley turned her attention back to her food.

I thanked her for dinner and pushed the chair back into the table, and walked to my room to check out my hair.

Once I got there, I saw my hair, and I liked it.

My hair was all in the bun except for my bangs, which covered my forehead.

I started doing poses but stopped after a couple and blushed in embarrassment. I glanced behind me, and thankfully Ashley wasn't there.

I opened my closet to see the outfit I would wear when I sneak out tonight.

Over the past year, I have been sneaking money away from Ashley without her knowing.

I think my parents are wealthy because Ashley has stacks of gold coins lying in a chest in her room.

I bought everything I would need on this hunt.

I would wear a black wool jacket, pants, and gloves with Kalifa scales woven into them.

The Kalifa is a sturdy beast with an excellent physical defense, and their scales are pretty light so that it wouldn't hinder me too much.

It cost a lot, but it would defend me better than regular jackets and pants.

The boots, small backpack, and belt I had bought were made from the pelt of a Farliae, a powerful black predator whose coat had sound-absorbing properties.

It cost more than all the other stuff combined.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The last piece of clothing I had was a mask made from the skin of a Graeling, giving me the ability to see through the darkness they created.

Its two eyes and slits were there, but the place where the mouth was, I cut it out and attached another piece of skin to it.

I can say it was my proud invention.

I bought a short iron sword and several throwing daggers, which were the hardest to hide from Ashley since she hardly ever went out of the stables. I hid them there.

I double-checked everything: bandages, food bars, water, and map.

I had it all, so I closed my closet and laid down in my bed, waiting for Ashley to sleep.

A couple of hours went by, then Ashley slowly opened my door to see if I was asleep.

She saw me fake sleeping and believed me to be asleep. She closed my door, and then I heard her door open and close.

I waited an hour before I quietly got up and sneaked over to my closet.

I put on my outfit, leaving my mask off, and sneak out through my window.

I quietly approached the stables not to awaken the horses. I jumped the wooden gate, climbed up the ladder leading to the hay storage, and checked where I hid my weapons and found them.

I took off my backpack, fastened the dark sheath to my back with its black leather straps, put the short sword in it, then put my bag back on.

I fastened the throwing dagger holster onto my belt, climbed back down the ladder, left the stables, and sneaked to the forest.

I pulled my hood up to cover my head and put the Graeling mask on when I reached the trees.

The darkness lit up, making everything much easier to see.

I climbed up one of the thick trees and jumped from branch to branch.

I would stop now and then to check my map, making sure I knew where I was.

I jumped for what felt like hours before I heard screaming a hundred meters ahead of me.

I quickly jumped over to where I heard it from, stopped at a tree near it, and saw a fancy gold and silver carriage on a narrow dirt road with corpses of silvered armored soldiers and horses littering the ground.

I stared at the corpse but felt nothing.

Dozens of Graelings surrounded the carriages, and I saw soldiers surrounding the fancy carriage in the middle.

A Graeling pulled off one soldier's helmet to reveal his pointed ears.

Are they elves?

I saw another get dragged out into the thick forest.

The soldiers were swinging their spears blindly.

They are going to use up all of their energy.

I need to help them, but I'm sure if I can take this many on alone.

I took out two of my daggers. I needed to help them.

I threw them at the closest Graelings.

Both daggers went through the eyes of two of the Graelings, killing them instantly but alerting the other ones.

Their black eyes met mine, and they crawled over to my tree.

I pulled out more daggers and threw them but only killed four more.

There were still way too many for me to fight alone.

I glanced down the tree and saw several of them climbing up.

Crap!

I jumped off the tree, landing on the middle carriage.

My sudden appearance scared the soldiers as they turned to face me.

My mask scared the life out of them as they tried to stab me with their spears.

"STOP!" I roared, and they listened

I glanced down to see there were only fourteen soldiers left.

I can make this work.

"Listen to me if you want to live. I will tell you where to strike and when!"

I gave them numbers; the further soldier's number was one, while the one close to me was fourteen.

The closest Graeling was to number four.

"Four! Stab to your right!"

He did what I told him and stabbed.

I saw the spear go through the chest of the Graeling.

It fell to the ground and didn't move.

The next three more Graeling crawled towards us.

"Three stab straight! Seven stab to your right! Eleven stab to your right!"

Three and Seven hit their marks, but Eleven missed and got dragged into the forest, screaming.

I led them through it until one Graeling was left.

"There is one more left, and it's mine!"

I jumped off the top of the carriage, landing in front of the soldiers.

They looked at me in confusion because I was way shorter than them.

The Graeling was backing off, but I wouldn't let it. I had one more dagger.

I threw it, hoping to hit its chest, but it hit its left hind leg, causing it to trip and fall.

I quickly pulled out my short sword, jumped on top of it, and plunged my sword into its chest.

It was still moving, so I kept stabbing it until it stopped.

I took my sword out and wiped it on the clean part of my clothes, and put it back into its sheath.

I quickly gathered most of my daggers, and I walked out of the forest towards the middle carriage when I was stopped by three elves pointing their spears at me.

The one in front of me spoke. "We are grateful for what you did, but you need to identify yourself."

I didn't want to give them my name.

My name will be...

I met eye contact with the soldier. "I am Nero."

The other soldiers surrounded me.

The soldier requested, "Take off your mask."

"No," I replied bluntly, but they didn't like that.

Multiple spears poked into my back.

My right hand gripped one of my daggers.

"Stop." a voice behind the soldier called out.

I looked behind him and saw a tall, pale, long-eared elf.

He had short silver hair with an ivory-white jagged crown placed in it.

His dark emerald eyes were deep and expressive.

He had a sharp, cleanly shaven jaw, and his eyes were deep and expressive.

He was wearing a long white robe with golden branches inscribed on it.

The surrounding soldiers bowed down.

I stood there, just wondering who he was.

My spine tingled. *whoosh*

An invisible weight appeared on top of me, trying to force me down. I resisted, causing my body to ache and creak.

I glanced up at the white-robed elf, who stared at me coldly.

"Kneel." His voice was ice cold.

The weight increased and caused me to fall onto my knees and hands.

The weight was pushing me to the ground. I lifted my right hand, grasped one of my daggers, and threw it at the elf.

My one arm couldn't support my body, causing me to fall onto my chest.

I glanced up to see the dagger was heading straight for the elf's forehead. Then it bounced off nothing like there was an invisible wall in front of him.

This elf was strong.

"A short but aggressive one, aye? So tell me, beast hunter, what are you doing in Elven territory?" His voice was still ice cold.

"Be..ast... Hunt...er?" I asked in between breaths, as I could barely breathe.

"Yes, you, what are yo-"

"Zelphar, what are you doing?" A female voice cut him off.

The elf named Zelphar, still looking at me coldly, spoke gently. "Renna, I am just dealing with another beast hunter who came after us elves."

I saw a head peek out of the carriage's open door.

The female elf, who I believed to be named Renna, had long white hair with an ivory-white taira. Her face was perfect, almost like a doll.

Renna's big azure eyes stared at me with interest.

"This is the first time I have seen a beast hunter wear a mask made from a Graeling." She waved her hand at one soldier and demanded," Please take off the mask and bring it to me."

A soldier came over, and I struggled to move or stop him, but the weight had pinned my arms to the ground.

The soldier's hand came down and ripped off my mask.

Zelphar's and Renna's facial expressions turned to pure shock.

"He.. he is just a kid," they spoke in sync.

I felt the weight on me disappear, giving me the chance to escape. I grasped another dagger and threw it at the soldier's foot, who took my mask.

He dropped my mask to grasp his foot in pain. I jumped up, ignored everything else, grabbed my mask in mid-air, and sprinted away.

I looked behind me to see Zelphar just looking at me run away.

I was going to turn my head around when I saw another female's head peek out of the carriage, and our eyes locked on each other.

She looked to be around my age.

She had long silver-white hair and light emerald eyes.

Her face looks exactly like Renna's.

I forced my head back around.

I ran for an hour before climbing up a tree and felt safe enough to catch my breath.

What just happened? Why did the weight almost vanish? Why did he watch me escape? Are they going to come after me? They saw my face.

I calmed myself down.

They won't find me. I will be fine.

*Whoosh*

Something hit the right side of my chest, causing me to fall off the tree branch I was on.

I tried to grasp the branches as I fell but failed.

I hit the ground with a sickening thud.

My body flared up in pain instantly.

I glanced down at where I got hit and was horrified.