Enter Venatore

Two guards opened up the wooden village gates, allowing a sprinting wagon to pass. Mesmerized, they observed the turquoise being pulling the wagon. The guards could see clearly its head and body like a horse’s, but instead of legs, sea waves flowed and foamed as it moved across the plains. As the turquoise waves reflected the sun, growing ever smaller, the guards relished the view and closed the gates.

"No turning back, heh?"

On the wagon a man, called Masayoshi, looked back on the closed gates. He had blonde spiky hair shining in the sun and he was touching his thin beard with longing.

"Do we even have a reason to turn back?"

The man who replied had the reins of their horse. He wore a leather vest over a white shirt and his curly azure hair shone on the sun. While he spoke, he touched a silver medal on his neck, which depicted a mountain and a rainbow.

"Well, Nobuo, I guess I am just mourning the possibilities that are now gone." Masayoshi sat to the side, his green eyes reflecting the green plains where they rode.

“Don’t worry, Masa, I know it does feel crazy to leave the peace of the village to face the wild Incogoremus, but we should have an easy time today, and then things will slowly fall into place." Nobuo gazed towards the horizon, his blue and pink heterochromic eyes both glistening with hope.

"Well, we could be exploring ruins or hunting a dragon on the other side of the world but we are just around the corner and hunting a rajnam which is… let’s say it is pretty far from a dragon. Well, we did choose an easy start after all." Masayoshi sighed.

"That's the spirit Masa! We could have looked for so many scary missions, but hunting this rajnam should be a piece of cake! Our first step towards the exciting life of venatore!" He closed his fists: "I cannot wait!"

"Well, I will try to keep my spirits up then!" Masayoshi did not notice that his friends closed fists were shaking.

***

"Slow down, Nobuo," said Masayoshi while observing his surroundings.

"See anything?" while Nobuo saw the beauty of the plains grassy surface blistering with sunlight, Masayoshi eyed the details. Small rodents that hid from their wagon, birds coming and going on the trees and...

"We can stop now, I need to take a closer look."

"Heya!" Nobuo obliged and the horse stopped. Even then, its legs and tail streamed like waves. Both of them jumped out of the wagon. Masayoshi took a horse-shaped jewel from his pocket and the turquoise horse flowed inside it, disappearing. This trinket was called a revertoir.

"Take a look," Masayoshi pointed towards a puddle of liquid faintly shining with soft shades of the colors of the rainbow.

"That... that's beautiful."

"I agree. However, this is the sign of a rajnam, they leave those trails and puddles." Masayoshi pointed ahead, "you can see there are other puddles going into the trees. If we follow those, we shall find it."

Nobuo and Masayoshi advanced through the trees. As they followed the slimy puddles, the green vegetation turned to hues of yellow and red and the heat was weakened by a steady wind. The only sounds they could hear were the shy birds chirping and the creaks of the brownish leaves they stepped into. Near a small clearing around a creek, Masayoshi extended his arm and said:

"Stop, here it is." Nobuo looked, and ahead of them was a trail of slime and after it a white blob, its height reached their hips. The blob was translucent and inside it was a curved brown structure with red lines, reminiscent of a slug's shell.

“It is even shorter than you, Masayoshi.”

"Let’s focus, you numbskull. So that's a rajnam. It doesn’t seem too dangerous."

"No," Nobuo took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as ever."

Nobuo grabbed the medal adorning his necklace and Masayoshi pulled out his notepad in his pocket. Those two were actually cistella, magical objects made to store and equip their gear. With a flicker of their fingers a subtle light covered them and they were equipped. Masayoshi now had a light evergreen gambeson, and his brown pants were reinforced. He also held his weapon, a large bow of gold colored wood. At the same time, Nobuo was covered by a worn out bronze colored plate armor, and on his hands were a tough silvery axe and a heather shield made of steel and lapis lazuli.

Nobuo rushed towards the rajnam. Swiftly, he swung his axe horizontally and the creature widened itself making him miss. Nobuo tried to strike again, vertically, but again the rajnam changed its shape, avoiding the attack. The monster shapeshifted to a hammer and struck at Nobuo who defended with his shield. Through the trees, Masayoshi prepared a shining blue arrow and shot it at the rajnam. The arrow hit it and spread a chilling force that froze the bottom half of the creature. Then Nobuo recovered, cut the rajnam's top part with his axe and then split its shell with an overhead strike. He took a breath and shouted:

"Yes! We did it!"

"It was very easy," replied Masayoshi, relaxed, "no need to celebrate so--“

"I am glad it worked! I might even get some of this rajnam to eat, some say it tastes like coconut and let's--" they were interrupted by a loud roar which chilled their spines. "What's that?" Nobuo's eyes were wide.

"I don't know!" Masayoshi replied taking a step back and getting closer to his friend. Another roar, this one shook even the trees.

"Incoming!" Nobuo shouted, brandishing his shield. In front of him, the trees rustled and from then a form emerged and rushed towards them. The men jumped to the sides to avoid the attack. They quickly stood up and turned around to see the creature. It was a feline of golden, red and brown fur, the size of their wagon, with a sprawling mane. It roared, barring its dagger-like teeth.

“It is a ligerus!” Masayoshi exclaimed, while Nobuo got up and advanced, using his shield to bash the monster. It then turned towards him and struck with its front paw. Nobuo activated magic on his shield, diverging the force of the attack. On the other side, Masayoshi prepared his bow. His arms were shaking as he charged his arrow and made his shot, which only grazed the feline.

The monster felt the pain and turned around using its tail to strike at Nobuo who dodged it and then jumped towards Masayoshi. All he could do was defend himself with his bow which was thrown away by the ligerus. The monster hit again and Masayoshi felt his right side flaming with pain. At the same time, Nobuo reapproached to draw the attention of the monster, striking with his axe. Hearing that, the ligerus breathed fire towards him.

Nobuo's reflexes made him release his axe and roll on the ground. The feline quickly jumped over him. Without his axe, Nobuo used his shield and magic to resist the monster's strikes. However soon the magic faded and he felt his arm shaking and his muscles on the limit.

"Nobuo!" Masayoshi was far from his bow and there was no intervening. Nobuo's arms finally failed and his shield was on the ground. The monster was prepared to feast.

Creaking and rustling sounds in the colorful trees interrupted them. The monster quickly stepped away from Nobuo, attentive to the sounds. The rustling came from different parts around the clearing, confusing the ligerus. Nobuo and Masayoshi observed as a female figure emerged from the trees. As she rushed, they saw yellow pants flowing into an indigo tailcoat and into her pink bob hair which shimmered with the sunlight. She then wielded her weapon, a long steel crescent-shaped scythe with a bronze clamp and a sturdy wooden handle.

The feline jumped away and breathed fire. The woman sidestepped and with a quick movement cut away its right front paw. The monster wailed in pain and lost its balance, but reacted trying to strike her with its tail. The woman then used her left hand to lean on the monster's back and jumped on it, landing on its other flank. She then sliced its front left leg, spun to avoid another tail attack and pierced the feline's head with an overhead strike.

The feline's body fell and the forest was silent.

Still panting, Nobuo and Masayoshi looked at each other in awe, their adrenaline clouding their comprehension of the brutality and grace of that warrior. However, before they could even get up, the woman turned towards them, her scythe's crescent blade shining behind her, with a silvery, slightly pink shine and drops of blood running on it.