I hunt them down with righteous zeal,
To purge the world of fear they bring.
This world of dread, where shadows dwell,
Will end the day I send them to hell.
************
As a kid, I idolized the Hunters. They were Clarions who stood up against the face of evil without fear, and that always seems like the coolest thing ever to me as a kid. When my Clarion abilities finally kicked in at twelve years old, I told my parents that I wanted to become a Hunter after high school.
Of course, they didn't take me seriously and they warned me to never bring up the subject again. My father was human, and my mother was a Clarion. My mother wasn't a fighter so, the idea that their only child wanted to be a Hunter was obviously hard for them to hear.
But I didn't let that stop me though. I started saving up from my after-school job to enroll myself in the Hunter Force Academy, and I also began learning how to use my Light energy and techniques. Having lightning powers was so cool!
Eventually, my parents noticed something was taking my focus away from school because my grades started to slip. They confronted me, and when I told them I was training to become a Hunter, they were devastated. They pleaded with me to give up, saying Hunters don't live long lives. Seeing the tears in my mother's eyes, I reluctantly agreed to abandon my dream.
But then, a few months later, my father was eaten by a Shadow monster that suddenly attacked the highway.
The Hunters eventually killed the monster, but the damage was done. My mother, who once begged me not to become a Hunter, now encouraged me to follow that path. I had seen firsthand the kind of monsters Hunters fought every day, and the pain I felt watching my father being devoured by a Shadow monster fueled my resolve.
I didn't want anyone else to experience that kind of loss, ever again.
So, when I graduated from high school at 18, I enrolled in the Hunter Force Academy. My performance as a student was so remarkable that I earned the nickname "Jason Thunderbolt" because of my lightning technique.
But even then, I was second-best after Joshua Egoshin, who was the heir of the Fracture from the prestigious Egoshin Clan. Being second to him was expected, but it didn't stop me from pushing myself. Over time, Joshua and I became best friends.
WAIT, BEST FRIEND?!
THAT DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT…
After we graduated from the Academy and joined the Hunter Force Association, the harsh reality of our world hit us like a storm.
I joined the HFA when I was 20, and now, at 27, I've risen to the rank of a Level 1 Hunter. But in those seven years, only six of the fourteen friends I made at the Academy are still alive.
I guess my parents were right; Hunters don't live long. But someone has to be the one who lays their life in the line.
One thing has become clear to me over the past seven years as a Hunter: Shadows are not meant to exist. They are a blight on humanity and Clarions alike, their only purpose is to bring tragedy.
I'm not exaggerating when I say Shadows are what's wrong with this world. And I'm not alone in feeling this way. Many believe, as I do, that Shadows should be eradicated from existence. This is our duty as Hunters, and I won't stop until every Shadow has been wiped out from the face of the world.
******
Ever since the beginning of the mass shadowfication in March 2015, Jason Enderby and Sanito Dyason had been put in charge of investigating the group behind it. Sanito dealt with covert operations and he was the right fit for the kind of mission at hand.
With his help, they were able to track the group behind the mass shadowfication but it took two months after that to get information on them as well as get the names of most of them.
Then July came and Kato Hamura was found in the midst of all this. Sanito had been the one to locate the hide out and sent Jason there to arrest and prepare them for interrogation. Unfortunately, the majority of them refused to talk even after they were tortured and one of them escaped custody.
After this, Sanito decided it would be best to gather more information covertly since his operations and information gathering had led them this far. He continued his investigation and was able to gather information on all the known members of their group as well as the name they had for themselves.
But shortly after he provided this information, he was found dead in his apartment at the end of July.
A funeral was arranged for him two days after and once August 2015 rolled in, the board of the HFA summoned Jason Enderby to report on their findings of the mission before Sanito's death.
*******
Jason stood in front of the door leading into the conference room where the meeting with the board was held. He took his time to adjust his tie to look professional and checked if the files in his hands had all the necessary information in it.
After he took a deep breath and adjusted his brown hair, he knocked on the door and a voice from inside the room called out..
"Come in"
Jason complied and opened the door and walked in.
The room was widely built and it had a big round table at the center and around the table sat seven individuals, all wearing distinguished uniforms and stern looks on their faces which always freaked Jason out.
Then the man who sat in between the seven of them smiled at Jason.
Gabriel: Welcome, Jason.
Jason: Excuse me sir.
Gabriel Esthath, a 50-year-old human,is the current head of the HFA and has been the head of the HFA for about ten years. When the HFA was established in 1947, the agreement was made that Clarions weren't allowed to hold this position or be part of the board of directors because humans didn't want to feel relegated to just being protected.
This was also meant to instill confidence and hope in other humans that they were actively contributing to the fight against Shadows.
Gabriel: Ahhhh Jason. I assume you're here with your report on the group?
Jason: Yes sir.
Jason opened the file in his hand and began to distribute the copies he had made to the members seated at the round table. Once he has shared every copy among them,
Gabriel: Good… Now I'd like you to tell us the details of your investigation and what you've learned.
Jason took another good look at everyone at the table and then steadied himself.
Jason: Yes sir.
******
THE KAIMI DAJA ASSAULT ARC – BEGINS