The Hunter Games: A Monster Hunting LitRPG

I was actually about to duel for a girl I had no interest in being with! After breakfast, I tried catching Gun, hoping to coax him into believing that Reina couldn’t hate my guts more. The only reason we were tolerating each other was because we were on the same team. It was my job to protect her, and it was her job to protect her team. That included Naomi as well. Somewhere down the line, he saw something that wasn’t there. He also mentioned that the longer we fought together, the more feelings she’d develop for me. According to him, I was a six-foot jacked dude who was stupid strong and practically invincible—the attraction was inevitable.

Okay, first off, I was lean, not jacked….

No matter how much I refused to fight him, he would go on and on about never backing down from a fight. It was the Gun way. Doing so would tarnish his rep, and ruin our friendship, and a whole bunch of crap that I didn’t freaking understand! Not long after, the entire dojo learned about our fight, and as I got ready for it an hour after breakfast, I got a surprise visit from Naomi.

She slammed the bedroom door open, nearly tearing the hinges off. The ivory girl gave me a terrifying expression on her brick face, her lavender eyes piercing my soul as she asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

I sighed, slipping my socks on. “Getting ready for this unavoidable fight.”

“Why are you fighting for that bleep?”

“Wait, what was that?”

“Nothing,” she said, turning her eyes away from me. “It’s just… you said you weren’t into her, and yet—”

“I’m not!” I said, jumping to my feet. “I don’t get why no one believes me.” I paused, noticing the can of pop on the right of me starting to glow a dark purple. It began crumpling into itself, folding over and over again rapidly until it was the size of a dime. I turned my head back to Naomi and raised my eyebrow at her, before the wooden crate started to do the same thing.

That time, I jumped, the huge snapping noise making me wince. I didn’t know her powers could do that without her gesturing her hands, Naomi standing still as her meta turned that wooden crate into dust.

“Reina didn’t say anything when Gunther brought it up.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

“That’s because she was basking in the attention. Traditional Reina. She isn’t going to stop the fight. The idea of two guys fighting for her is a huge boost for her ego.”

“You know, I’d look at you differently if you could find someone like that attractive,” she scoffed.

I chuckled. “And I wouldn’t blame you. You need to be a certain crazy to date Reina, and have the tolerance of a camel to keep up with her heat.”

“So… what kind of woman are you attracted to, then?”

“Huh?” I said, turning back to her after I tucked my phone away. That question took me off guard, and I accidently left this dead silence in between us to fill in the awkwardness.

“Never mind,” she said as she turned away. “Good luck with your pointless fight.”

My phone vibrated soon after she left, and when I picked it up, I saw Gun’s text messages. I grunted. The dude was a meme god….

He was waiting for me in the garden, and as soon as I walked through the floral bushes and tall manicured hedges, I saw a topless Gun rotating his arm with a big smile on his face.

“Hey! I was scared you’d chickened out!”

I dropped my shoulders and sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Oh hold on, now. We have to wait for our audience!”

“Sorry we’re late!” I heard Ash shout from behind me. “I wanted to make some popcorn for the show!” When I pivoted, I saw Felix and Reina, too, the only hunter missing being Naomi. “Looks like everyone is here except Miss Purple!”

“She said she was going to sit this fight out,” Felix said with a smile. “She said to me down the hallway, and I quote, I have better things to do with my precious time.”

“If by precious you mean reading blank pages off a book,” Reina sassed, and I groaned.

“You guys didn’t say you were sitting to watch us fight,” I protested.

“Why wouldn’t we?!” Ash giggled. “I’m putting 7,000 Yen on Nero!”

Gun laughed. “Seriously? The guy has some pretty impressive talents, but they don’t compare to my sh—s-shit!” His eyes jumped when he tapped the com piece in his ear. “Since when did you get five abilities?!”

Oh right, that…

I forgot Felix and his team wouldn’t know about all of my gifts, seeing as they’d been popping off like fireworks lately.

“Five?” Ash said. “Oh, I didn’t even know he had that many!”

Gun gave her a playful glare. “And you still bet on him?”

“Five is unorthodox…” Felix followed, the look on his face a bit concerning. But then he fixed his expression. “Congrats! You’re the first hunter I know to have so many!”

“He’s nothing special,” Reina huffed, and then flashed me a cocky smirk. “And when he loses, it’ll burn all the more knowing he failed with so many perks.”

“Oh, so you’re betting on Gun winning, Reina?” Ash asked.

“I’m not betting.” She sighed. “I never thought I’d have to hear myself say this, but… I’m broke.”

“Holy crap, I think an angel just fell from the sky,” I teased.

“You keep smiling over there, Nero. Because in a minute, the only thing you’d be doing is picking your teeth up off the ground.”

“Yeah, I doubt it,” I whispered, turning my head back to Gun. “I agree to this fight, but not the location. We already did damage to sensei’s meeting room and his kitchen. I don’t want to ruin his garden, too. Let’s move a few meters north.”

Gun agreed, and the gang and I went closer to the forest in the same area I’d taken out those trees earlier. Before we started the match, Felix entertained Ash’s deal and picked Gun to win. I had a feeling he knew he’d lose his money. I had no idea why he made that foolish bet, but only he knew his friend better than anyone. Maybe he was saving his pride. He’d made it clear that he wanted Gun to be happy, and even hinted Reina would be a good fit for him.

“Ready to get rocked, Dragon Head?”

I smirked and squared my fists. “I’m ready when you are, Gun.”

“Ready??!!!???” Ash shouted as she stretched her arm over her head, and with a strong burst of energy, she swung it back down and said, “Fight!”

“I’m not gonna go easy on you, Nero!” He slammed his fists together in front of him and shouted, “Let’s get right to the power house of spirits! White Aura, Polar Bear Spirit—engage!”

Hold on, did he just say polar bear?

Just like that, a huge beam of white light shocked the ground, the power feeling like a heat wave. I blocked my eyes with my arm, feeling a violent current stretch along the ground. It felt like a light vacuum sucking me in; the blast was so powerful that it danced the trees around us. When the violent wind settled, I peeled my eyes open, seeing Gun with a specter of a polar bear double in size!

So this is what Felix meant when he said spirit animal….

The fierce mug on that thing was downright terrifying. It stood over Gun like some type of armor, draping Gun’s back as it finished materializing completely. It was transparent, but the aura around it was real. The bear let out a deafening roar that echoed through the forest, causing a few birds to flutter away.

I could feel the power radiating from Gun as he took a defensive stance, and then leaped right at me.

Without wasting any time, I summoned a fire ball around my fist. The air around me sizzled and popped as I continued to charge my strike. I waited until he got close enough to throw my fire ball at him, but then Gun answered back in an unsuspecting way.

A goddamn ice shot.

The polar bear opened its mouth and shot an ice beam at me that ate my flames in a blink of an eye. For a split moment, I forgot Kenji’s training and froze, letting Gun hook punch me right into my face. I could feel the impact of that punch feeding ripples down my cheek. It seemed like time had stopped for a moment like a cheap slow-mo effect, giving me time to realize that I might have been fucked.

When gravity finally decided to let me go, I flew, then crashed into some trees before finally getting myself entangled in a bush. I stood up and snapped the thorns around my wrists, my body not feeling the prickling along my skin. They didn’t leave an impression, but that power strike from Gun did. I never really analyzed his stats, but after a punch like that, I had to think that his strength was at my level when he triggered his spirit gift.

Adrenaline ran through my veins—now, I had a real reason to fight back. Gun was more of a challenge than I thought, and I wanted to seriously see who was going to win this fight!

I had a whole Goku meta going on right now as I sparked some more flames. This time, I held the fire from my fingers and down my forearm, prepared to use it more defensively in this round.

“Hey Nero, you out there?” I heard Gun call out. “Man, don’t tell me you’re tapping out already! We’re just getting started!”

Gun was getting closer, his bear’s powerful strides shaking the ground beneath him. I needed to act smart if I wanted to stand a chance against him. Remembering Master Hayashi’s words, I focused on my breathing and centralized my meta.

“There you are!” he shouted as he lunged right at me. I dodged to the side with an agility Gun didn’t know I had. For a second there, he thought he had me, slugging with his follow up. His massive claws swiped through the air where I had just been standing, missing me by inches. Seizing the opportunity, I channeled my energy into a concentrated blast of heated air, aiming it directly at Gun.

He had his arm out to absorb the blow, but nothing happened. I looked at my sorry excuse for a strike as he lowered his guard, the guy staring at me funny. “Are you drawing blanks, my guy?” He laughed. “That barely tickled!” he taunted, revving up a side kick. I ducked under his leg and rolled to the side, then gave him a serious uppercut into his jaw.

Gun ate that punch and ate some air before he dropped down again, the sound of Ash cheering far away making me glance in her direction. I turned my head back at Gun again, trying to figure out how this spirit animal of his worked. The reason I didn’t hit him with my flames directly was because I didn’t want to kill him. I’d seen what a strong fire punch from these fists could do, and the last thing I wanted to do was take a life. So I went with a safer option. However, his bear had him covered.

His bear might actually be his body of armor after all….

“Nice shot,” Gun said as he picked himself up, where I noticed a trail of blood coming from his nose.

Shit, I held back with that punch…

He pressed his right nostril shut with his thumb and breathed out, flicking that drop of blood on the ground. “I gotta give it to you, man, you’re strong! But if there’s anything I like more than hot girls and hot guitars is a sweet challenge!” He squared up to fight me again. “That’s one for one. I’m not the type for ties, so… show me what ya got!”