Kaze sat on the middle of a fallen log, resting his elbows on his thighs as he held his chin in his hands. He pouted, an irritated look on his face. “He invites me to go hunting, and to go to the Sunwolf forest, then promptly ditches me in the woods.” He grumbled, finding himself within Foraoise Forest, alone.

Kaze’s hair was puffy and white, his red kimono with white flowers being fixed during the week break. The guild was supposed to be having a meeting the next day, when Fenris asked his fellow hunter to head to the ‘Solar Woods’ with him to help the beastman deliver funds to his people. Kaze’s longsword lay attached to his hip and to the left of his feet, a hefty pouch filled with Feints.

“Mind if I join you?” A stern voice requested of the young god-slayer, Kaze looking up to meet the voice’s gaze. He was an older gentleman, with a thick grey beard, and a shiny bald head. His skin was tanned, with a black haori draping his torso, worn alongside a pair of light grey cloth leggings. He wore sandals made of metal, with quite a short stature too, though he didn’t seem particularly frail. Kaze was surprised at the man’s appearance, gesturing with his right hand to sit as he scooted to his left, adjusting his posture upright and kicking the bag of money in the same direction, scuttling aside.

“It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?” The man mentioned with a genuine smile, sitting down, his gaze focused on the treeline while appreciating the glimmers of sunlight that burst through the canopies.

“I suppose it is. I don’t think I even took the time to appreciate it.” Kaze chuckled, looking up and sharing the sights with the older gentleman. Kaze lost interest a bit quicker than the man, however, looking to him up and down, “You look quite… old.” Kaze attempted to state without insulting the man.

The man laughed, looking to the snowy-haired hunter, with a pair of glimmering silver eyes, “Do you know what day it is today?” He asked of the Godhunter, who would put their hand to their chin, Kaze pondering this question for a moment, before shaking his head. “It’s the first day of Age 517.”

Kaze looked at the man, before looking at the ground, “Huh.” He continued to stroke his chin, thinking for a moment, “Then I’m now twenty-five ages old.” he laughed to himself, as he looked back to the man. “How do you know it’s the start of a new age?” The gentleman was asked by Kaze, who was feeling very enlightened for a change compared to his conversations with the rest of his guildmates. “I only know how old I am, because I remember my mother telling me from what Age I was born.”

The man laughed again, planting his hands on his knees, as he looked to Kaze with great intrigue, “Well the way the oldest Gods tracked Age was via the planet and the sun.” He pointed to the sky, just after noon, “Where we stand, our planet, flies in a big circle around the sun, and every time it comes back around to when we started counting it, it’s a new age.”

Kaze looked to the sky, smiling, “That’s kind of incredible,” he muttered to the man, lime eyes twinkling as the god hunters gaze returned to the older fellow, “How many ages are you?”

The man waved his hand to signify he’d rather not speak on it, clasping his hands together between his knees. “My name is Fuizune.”

“Kaze, Kaze Odaya.” The godhunter replied, outstretching his hand to be met with the same, the pair shaking hands before returning to admiring the beauty of the nature around them.

The area surrounding the two continued to stun them. The grass was a gorgeous green, with trees that reached into the sky like skyscrapers. The flora and foliage were stunning, with colours akin to rainbows, laying among the forest.

“What are you doing out in the forest today?” Fuizune asked Kaze, looking at the different flora.

“I was meant to be hunting with a friend, but I seem to have lost him.”

“Hunting? What are you hunting?”

“Different game.” Kaze explained, looking to the older gentleman, “Whatever we can find really, though this forest is gorgeous with plant life, it lacks creatures of almost any kind.”

Fuizune thought on this statement for a moment, before looking into Kaze’s eyes, “That’s because most wildlife in Foraoise has been hunted to almost extinction.”

Kaze looked aghast, before surveying around himself, exhaling slowly, “That’s horrible.”

“Humans are too powerful, even beasts with blessings struggle against what humanity is capable of. There’s no opportunity for the creatures of this land to repopulate so they simply never did.” Kaze planted his elbows on his knees, looking to the ground with a sigh of disappointment.

“And now,” The man muttered with disgust in his voice, “Human’s are doing the same thing to the Gods of this land.” Kaze looked to Fuizune, with fear on his face, as Fuizune looked to the sky. “It’s unjust.”

“What do you mean unjust, they threaten humanity do they not?” Kaze questioned, alongside his own morals as he stood up, his legs beginning to shake.

“My friend, Kaze, within the age five-hundred and sixteen, three different Gods have been killed by humans. Of those four, only one of them attacked humans first.” Fuizune stated bluntly, looking up to Kaze, seeming disappointed.

“Then why does humanity hunt, if not out of necessity?” Kaze exclaimed, attempting to process these ideas.

“Out of fear,” Fuizune whispered through his teeth, grinding them together. The man stood up, taking in a deep breath and exhaling, calming his demeanour. “I apologise for getting overzealous all of a sudden, on a man I just met no less,” Fuizune chuckled awkwardly, as he extended his palm. Kaze reached out, shaking the slightly withered hand once again, the young man still visibly taken aback.

“Kaze, if I were to give you one piece of wisdom today, it would be that the Gods, are not so different to humans.” He placed his right palm on Kaze’s chest as he released his hand from the shake, Kaze looking down, still shocked and still confused.

A sharp pain burst into Kaze’s chest, his vision going blank for a moment, as what felt like mere moments past, before finding himself on his hands and knees, breathing ragged, the old man nowhere to be found.

###

Grass, burnt black, with crimson painting the ashen pastures. Fenris awakened, his glimmering eyes widening as he quickly sat himself up, looking around, breathing fastening. The clearing he sat in the centre of was destroyed, blackened and bloody. His two gauntlets laying to his left, far from where they originally lay. He brought his right hand to his cheek, the hole gone and repaired, though a circle absent of fur now lay on his face.

He brought himself to his feet, lifting both of his gauntlets before clicking them into place around his wrists. “Ah, so you’re awake.” A voice echoed behind Fenris, the beastman turning on the toes of his lycanthropic feet, with his fists up, ready to fight.

“Relax.” The voice spoke, as they came into the sunwolf’s view. It was a being draped in brown and black robes, layered over one another. Their hands were black, withered, the being reminding Fenris of The God of Sand, Gaineamh. Their face was covered by one of their many cloaks hoods, with most of the different robes and cloaks torn, shredded, none even extending past the creature’s forearms, a pair of leather bracers covering them instead.

He was walking around Ligneo’s corpse, a gaping hole in the half-treant’s chest, lifting fragments of the limewood he wielded from the ground and placing them in a pouch. “I’m not opposing you, I’m here to congratulate you.”

Fenrisolace dropped his guard, fists at his sides as he approached the being, his feet stepping through the horrid ground beneath. The entity swiftly brought their eyes towards Fenris, a pair of purple lights glaring through the darkness under their, hood before fading into the black. Their metal greaves turned towards the beastman as they gave him a bow, pushing the pouch of living wood into an inner pocket of one of their many cloaks.

“What are you? A scavenger?” Fenris snarled, gripping his right fist tight, as the particular person shrugged.

“Are sunwolves not people who thrive on scavenging? Would it irritate you if I lived like your own people?” The man retorted, with a snicker.

“What are your interests.” Fenris reworded, the creature pondering for a moment, bringing its onyx black hands to its chin, its fingertips long and malicious, before responding to Fenrisolace.

“I want to see what happens when I do something.” Fenris looked aghast at this response as if he was insulted personally. “I have something to do for you in fact,” they muttered, as they pulled a grey metal stopwatch from a pocket outside of their cloak, flicking it open, before using his dagger-like finger to turn the hands.

“How is your cheek?” They grumbled as they fidgeted with the silver casing.

The beastman itched at his empty patch of fur, a surprised expression appearing on his face. “You healed me?”

“You would have died. He dealt heavy damage to your heart and lungs, and you had lost mountains of blood that was continuing to flow around your throat. I used a high tier healing based survival potion to save your life, there’s nothing more to it.” They muttered as if it was uninteresting, as Fenris placed his left hand on his chest, his bruises vanished.

“Found it!” The creature yelped with excitement, causing Fenris to jump as if a loud bang had erupted, his fight or flight activating. A grey rock flew out of the stopwatch, the casing being smacked shut as the stone flew into the air, the metal trinket tucked away. The entity snapped the stone from midair into their grasp, to the beastman’s continued confusion and bewilderment, as in a moment the stone shifted from its earthen form into a blade. As if from midair, a massive dadao sword was now in the being’s hand, being held with ease despite how immense its size was. “The Dominus Hunter!”

He threw the blade to Fenris, who caught the sword’s grip with his right hand. The blade was large, definitely intended for use with both hands, though Fenris alike the mysterious individual, was able to wield it with a single hand as if it was nothing. The blade was long, with a golden crossguard and in pristine condition, better than a sword just off the forge.

“I don’t really use swords.” The wolfman muttered, inspecting the blade, with a tight grip on the red-hide of which wrapped around the handle.

“You’ll enjoy using this one. I promise.” The creature giggled maliciously, Fenris glaring to it, still sceptical.

“And what do you want for giving me this sword?” He snapped, as the creature turned, looking to Ligneo’s body, lifting something more from the ground.

“I already got my payment, I’ll need no more from you Fenris.” They muttered, glee in their voice.

Fenris’s confusion continued as he angrily stared towards the creature, “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“You may refer to me as ‘The Merchant’, and need know no more.”

“Merchant. I don’t understand this.” He muttered, inspecting the blade before realising the creature was inches from him, bringing a lime ball of light towards the beastman’s chest.

“Wh-” Before Fenris could comprehend, still confused by all of the varied information flying towards him, he only noticed the orb. The ball of light resembled the forest entirely, to the flora, the grass, the trees, to Ligneo, to Crann. It was planted onto his chest, sinking into his heart, a pain surging throughout his body. The beastman flinched, fire beginning to form around his shoulders as he became suddenly enraged. The pain was nothing compared to the strike Ligneo had planted on his chest, Fenris beginning to glare towards The Merchant, gripping his new sword tight.

“Ah, well I see that I’ve upset you with that, so I’ll just be going.” The entity chuckled, beginning to hover as Fenrisolace brought his head lower, preparing to lunge. “Well… bye.” The person announced, and with a single wave seemingly vanished into thin air.

Fenris slowly stood up straight, bringing his left hand to his chest, gripping his fur tight as he took in a deep breath, before releasing it, lowering the sword, the tip of the immense blade grazing the grass.

“...Hey,” Kaze muttered, Fenris turning on his feet to face his ally. The clearing was destroyed, left in a complete state with a corpse on the ground, the beastman holding an intense sword.

Fenris looked to Kaze for a moment, unsure of how to emote, before exhaling through his teeth.

“Hey.”