X-Rank Hunter

Chapter 2: Jim's Family

Tik-ti-laaa-okk!

(Rooster xd)

The morning hurriedly arrived as Jim suddenly woke up with his eyes reluctant to open.

But wait. Was he in heaven?

Jim saw a dazzling golden light piercing through the window, so he thought that it was the gate to heaven. He lazily got up from his bed but he felt rather weak and tired.

"Argh... My head hurts..." Jim blurted out as he also felt a little dizzy making it a little tough for him to stand up. With that, he just sat on his bed as he looked around in the area. At that moment, he realized that he was still in his room. He couldn't help but stare at one side while contemplating what had just happened to him last night.

Did he really die?! Jim held his cheeks for a moment and checked his body trying to know his current condition. But he felt rather strange.

He felt that he was regaining his energy at a fast rate! And his guts were telling him that as if he could do everything.

That was only a feeling though.

He raised his hand just in front of his chest as he clenched it to the hardest trying to feel the sudden increase of energy.

To his shock, blood dripped out from his hand but he didn't feel the pain that was supposed to be when one got wounded. He just felt a little pain as if an ant was biting him.

His eyes widely opened seeing that his blood suddenly poured out from his hand, he then immediately uncurled his hand and to his disbelief, there he saw a wound on his palm made by his finger.

"What the..." Jim couldn't believe what he was seeing at all. Just by clenching his hand, he immediately got wounded? It was just hard for him to believe it even after the fact that he saw it with his own eyes.

However, it didn't end there. He saw that the wound on his palm was slowly healing on its own at a rate visible to the eye until nothing was left even a trace of its scar.

As if he wasn't wounded in the first place.

This was the first time that something strange like this happened to him. Every time he got wounded, it took days if not weeks before it got completely healed on its own but this time it took only seconds for it to be completely healed.

Damn. Was he still dreaming? Jim pinched his cheeks trying to wake himself up. Not being satisfied, he slapped it to the hardest making him believe that he was wide awake and wasn't dreaming. But...

Argh, It hurts!

After some time, Jim recovered from the little pain. He then lightly tilted down his head as he stared at his palm. He couldn't help but ponder about the strange phenomenon that was just happening to him.

A wound healing on its own in such speed? He needed the help of his mother to do that!

Since he was still confused about what just happened to him and didn't want to believe it, he clenched his hand as hard as he could once again. And then again, blood dripped out from it, flowing down to his arm then dropping to his thighs.

He then unfurled his hand once again and saw that his wound was getting healed on its own. On the other hand, the blood that came out from his wound that dropped down on his thighs, returned to him as if it was being absorbed by his skin.

Just what in the world was this? If he wasn't dreaming then, there was only one thing that could explain to this...

Did he really die last night?!

Jim could only think frantically that he really died and now was a ghost. Or pehaps, an undead or sort of.

But no matter what was it, Jim didn't wish to belong to any of those.

Jim fell on his bed. His heart was filled with worry accompanied by a dying hope. His thought that he died made his whole world crumble. His many dreams that he wanted to achieve had all disappeared, burst like a bubble.

"!"

Thud!

Just as his final strand of hope was going to vanish, the door in his room was knocked open with a heavy thud.

Then the angry voice of his mother echoed in his room, saying, "Jim! Wake up already! Do you want to be late again?"

Jim immediately got up and saw his furious mom entering his room. His eyes widely opened in shock seeing his mother standing right in front of him. And tears fell from his eyes.

"Mom? Did you die as well last night?" Jim cried out.

Charley's eyes widened upon hearing what her son had just said.

"Huhu, I'm sorry mom I couldn't protect you from that damn blue light!" Jim slowly and weakly stood up from his bed as he walked closer to his mom.

Couldn't suppress herself any longer in sheer frustration, Charley clenched her fist and smacked the approaching Jim right to his head.

Sapak!

"What delusions are you talking about? What blue light? And what do you mean 'died as well'? Are you cursing me now? If you are so eager to die just tell me already and I will feed you to my damn pets!"

It was so painful that Jim couldn't help but hold the sprouting lump on his head. Only then did he realize that he was still alive! But knowing that he wasn't a ghost or undead, Jim heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.

Jim was just about to explain what was happening to him when he suddenly saw the piercing glare of his mom. Frightened, he could only swallow his words.

"Go clean up yourselves already and prepare for school!" Charley commanded authoritatively. "You might become like your father someday if you study well."

Gulp.

"Yes, mom." Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Jim slowly turned around to prepare himself for school.

Meanwhile, his mom left the room to do chores. She really was busy.

But Jim was still a bit confused about what was happening to him. Last night, he suffered from the traumatic pain and then just now, he was healing like crazy to the point that he thought that he already was dead.

"Just what the hell is happening?" Jim was utterly confused.

Speaking of which, Jim was a member of a Hunter family, a Summoner and Beast Tamer at that. Even though he was just an F-rank, his family was out of the ordinary. Especially his father.

His father was one of the only four SS-rank Hunters in 'Maharlika Kingdom', the kingdom they live in, and he was the strongest among the four.

Maharlika was currently divided into three regions: Luz, Vis, and Min, symbolizing the three great forces of the Kingdom.

Each region was led by SS-rank Hunter from the Kingdom. The only person above them was the King of Maharlika and the elusive Chairman of the Hunter Association.

His father hated being tied down to any kind of rules or anything so he kept refusing to lead one of the three regions that the King offered to him. That being said, except his father, the other three SS-rank Hunters in the kingdom were leading the three regions respectively.

Jim's father might be irresponsible and kept playing around but he was the only Hunter in the Kingdom closest to the King of Maharlika in terms of strength.

Even though the King was the only SSS-rank Hunter in Maharlika, if both of them clashed against each other, he must be ready to pay a huge price to win.

Jim's father and his tamed beasts were abnormally strong to the point that he could shut down some S-rank dungeons by himself. He was also the only one in Maharlika who cleared an SS-rank dungeon alone.

Currently, ever since humanity had awakened peculiar power, there were only less than a hundred SS-rank Hunters all over the world who made this record.

Except for the King of Maharlika Kingdom, the Chairman of Hunter Association, and the so-called 'World Hunter' organization that governs the land of 'Encantadia', the world they live in, there were no other individuals, guilds or organizations or other forces that his father obeyed.

As his father made more and more progress, Jim could only look up while being ashamed of himself. He rarely saw his father, for his father loved to venture the world. The last time he saw him was 5 years ago before his father left without a word.

Jim knew full well that his mother felt so lonely when his father left. He knew as well that his mother didn't want him to become a Hunter just like them, but they had no choice.

Jim needed to become stronger to at least protect himself. But saddly, he just couldn't.

"I can't even tame a dog! How can I become like my father who can tame a dragon?!" Jim snorted as he lazily approached the bathroom in his room.

"What? Did you say something?!!"

"She heard it that far away?" Jim thought as his mouth gaped open in fright.

"I didn't say anything mom, maybe you're just missing dad that's why you're hearing things!" Jim hurriedly answered, afraid to be smacked again.

"Damn kid! Just prepare yourself already and get out of here! Or do you want my pet help you out?!"

"No mom! I'm fine by myself hehe."

"..."

"Damn it. Mom's hearing is really good, I almost get caught." Jim was of course, afraid to be caught by his mother whenever he was acting to give up since she hated the most those who give up even by a thought. So even though it was hard for him to become a Hunter, he still persevered and became one.

It was the unofficial rank though.

"Just why can't I tame a single beast?" Jim muttered to himself. "Am I really that weak for me to be detested that much by even the weakest among the beasts? Not to mention my younger brother had already become an E-rank Hunter when he was still 6 years old..."

The very day his younger brother awakened his ability, he already tamed an E-rank beast. He also summoned a Wind Spirit that very day as well. He was still 5 years old when he achieved those feats.

But now that his younger brother was 7 years old, he was now already a D-rank. And it was only a matter of time for him to become a C-rank.

Jim didn't know how many tamed beasts his younger brother possessed right now but one thing was certain, his younger brother was in a different league compared to his generation.

He was so much weaker compared to his younger brother even though he was three years older than him. Thanks to his younger brother's ability that he inherited from their father.

"So unlucky..." Jim couldn't help but sigh deeply as thought about the strength of his younger brother.

His brother was a genius in summoning and taming the beasts just like his father. He already cleared many level one E-rank dungeons and some level one D-rank dungeons by himself but Jim couldn't even clear even any level one E-rank dungeon.

The level one E-rank dungeon was considered dangerous to ordinary humans but it was very weak for the Hunters to the point that it could be considered as a playground for the Hunters who had just awakened their powers. However, considering these facts, Jim still couldn't clear it alone.

Well, he was just a weakling after all. Nothing was expected from the weakest F-rank.