Chapter 39
In an undetermined location in an unknown dimension, a giant fortress floats calmly in the middle of the infinite void; made of the most valuable and resistant materials on record in any universe. This fortress extends beyond sight; because its size far exceeds that of common habitable planets, to remove the gloomy aspect that generates such a gigantic construction; The entire fortress is illuminated day and night if that concept even applies to this space.
Despite the disproportionate dimensions of this construction that could well be considered an artificial planet, it vibrated with liveliness, and beings of all kinds could be observed in every corner of it.
A bronze-skinned, four-armed man was chatting with a girl with eagle legs and wings instead of arms; Whatever he said seemed to insult the girl as he was brutally beaten when they finished speaking. Diverse people with different animal characteristics, all kinds of skin and coat colors, extra strange limbs among other things; Just describing the various humanoid races that pass through this fortress would take months and that’s not including all the non-humanoid races. From colossal beasts with intelligence to elemental beings made of a type of pure energy or matter; all living together peacefully as they passed through the fortress.
Exactly “Pass”, with few exceptions, no one lived on this gigantic artificial planet; They are only passing through while they resolve various issues and plan their next missions.
This fortress that brings together the most advanced knowledge and technologies are one of the few of its kind, the amount of resources and manpower involved is so colossal that the difficulty of assembling can only be compared to the difficulty involved in the process of creating a Secure and encrypted pocket dimension with both magical and technological barriers to put said fortress inside.
All this is done with a single purpose: to be the headquarters of the interdimensional society of hunters or in short I.S.H.
.....
In one of the central meeting buildings, a lobby-like room of an office building on earth; a large number of people circulated from one place to another. In some circular plates that were at the edges of this room, people could be observed appearing in flashes of light, either alone or in groups. From time to time it was not simple flashes of light that appeared in the circular plates bringing people; sometimes spherical arrays made of energy and covered in runes appear leaving people at different times.
Unlike the flashes, the people coming out of the spheres seemed to come from different places; some dirty and with weapons in hand while others appeared seriously wounded screaming for medical assistance.
The people in this place seemed to carry all kinds of clothing, equipment, and weapons. Some weapons closely resembled the most well-known weapons on earth like swords, axes, spears, etc. While others did not seem to have any terrestrial counterparts, they have strange shapes; with unknown uses. Some of the weapons in this place were high-tech or make it look like and others looked like magic weapons out of a fantasy book.
In a sense this variety and strangeness were not entirely out of place; after all, anyone who was a witness to the wonders that pass through this fortress would think many things about it, but all of them would have one word in common within their minds: Diversity.
Amid this strangely ordered chaos, a spherical matrix of energy appeared once more; only that an unknown group or individual did not emerge from it. The person who emerged from it was a young man with black hair like night and blue eyes like the ocean, he seemed dumbfounded observing his surroundings; this young aspiring hunter was Desmond Astryd who had just been screwed big by automatic transfer.
Addressing this confused young man was walking a woman in her early twenties, although on the thinner side of the spectrum she still had sensual curves to admire, short sky blue hair somewhat disheveled; Although her appearance was almost completely that of a human and a quite beautiful one, she still had two features that gave away that she did not belong to this race.
In the first place, her hair moved lightly but constantly on her account, as if it were under the constant influence of a gentle force that kept moving; her hair itself also had a strange shine and appearance that made it look like something between the plane of matter and energy.
The second characteristic of the girl that did not look human was her eyes of a strange platinum color with pink pupils in the shape of a lotus flower; they were absolutely beautiful but certainly not originally from human beings.
Desmond seemed to notice that the unknown young woman was heading in his direction so he left all the doubts that filled his mind with him and prepared to strike up a conversation.
′′ Welcome novice hunter, I suppose you have any doubts that need answers; I see in your records that you are someone who went through the inheritance program so your doubts are probably greater. ′′ Says the woman very politely.
′′ you couldn’t be more right, miss. . .? ′′ Desmond on the other hand respond with a question.
′′ Oh forgive my rudeness, I forgot to introduce myself; my name is Elaisa Rossi Etvretka.′′ Elaisa made a gentle bow with one hand in her chest and the other in the left corner of her dress.
′′ There is no need for an apology Miss Rossi, I did not show up either; my name is Desmond Astryd. It is a pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady. ′′ Desmond replies with the same kind of courtesy and makes a gentleman′s bow.
′′ I see that you are a very sociable gentleman but I advise you to keep your compliments low until you became an official hunter, I do not mind hearing empty beautiful words, but most women around here care more about strength than words. ′′ Elaisa gave this hunter a little scolding to avoid misunderstandings in the future
′′ I will take your words into consideration, even with what little I know at this moment I am still aware that there are real possibilities of being vaporized by an inopportune comment′′ Reply Desmond with a little bit of a smile.
Desmond’s comment seemed to amuse Elaisa Rossi as she gave a quiet little laugh and then smiled softly as she continued.
′′ Quite insightful Mr. Astryd that has happened although not as often as you might think′′ She continues with the joke.
′′ Uff good to know, but let me slightly correct a misunderstanding Miss Rossi, my compliment was not just empty words; although it is not appropriate to be too enthusiastic in our first meeting at least I must say that I find her eyes charmingly attractive. ′′ Of course, being the class of man that Desmond is, he will never lose the chance to say something nice to a woman as beautiful as Elaisa.
The young woman froze for an instant as her hair began to move slightly more strongly and chaotically than seemed usual; her expression was quite complicated but she calmed down shortly after. She was quite grateful for the fact that due to her current position Desmond could not see her face.
′′ I strongly recommend that you do not say that again Mr. Astryd if someone else hears you praise my eyes I could have serious problems; if you want to flirt so badly, I can play along but don’t mention my eyes again. ′′ Answer Elaisa to Desmond’s flirt, there was a hint of sadness in her voice at the end of her sentence.
Sensing that he probably touched on a sensitive topic from the way the girl said that there would be problems if someone else listened, so that she did not seem disgusted with Desmond himself but with the topic itself; Desmond decided not to continue with the current conversation as he found the girl nice and needed information on his current situation.
′′ I′m sorry if I touch on a sensitive subject Miss Rossi, I′ll be more careful in the future′′ Desmond says with an honest look on his face.
′′ It is not your fault Mr. Astryd, it is normal that you do not know about it as it is a subject mainly related to veteran hunters. . . for the moment follow me we will go to an office so that you receive your basic tutorial training and make your official registration ′′ Says Elaisa in respond.
′′ Ugh I hate tutorials, is there no way to skip that part? ′′Desmond’s face couldn’t be more bitter.
′′ Hahaha nobody likes Desmond tutorials. . . cough cough I mean: nobody likes tutorials Mr. Astryd but they are quite necessary′′