"Raith..."
"What the hell do you mean by that?!!" Raith demanded, raising his voice as he threw his face at his brother.
"I–
Curtis found himself speechless at the kind of broken face that Raith carried, even though he was clearly angry he seemed more hurt, as though he had seen a terror.
"I'm sorry Ra–
"Just tell me what you meant?" Raith demanded still, drawing his brows together.
'What have I done?' Curtis blamed himself, he seemed to have forgotten because of what happened so far that his brother is only 22 years old.
He stood up with a smile and neared Raith, Curtis was not used to smiling, his face was gloomy with a single wrinkle running from the corner of his eyes down his cheek. He touched his younger brother's head.
"Happy belated birthday."
"Uhh..." Raith looked up.
Is this guy mad? I said what does he mean by what he said from earlier? As much as he wanted to say all of that. His right heart felt warm and this wasn't a bad thing.
Raith lowered his head and smiled, trying so much to hide the smile.
"Thank you...you still remember."
"Yes, although I don't think the others knew."
"Even I had forgotten"
"Don't worry, we will be here to celebrate the next one. It is strange how your birthday aligns with the first day of a new year in this world. Makes it special. You are special."
"No, don't do that, it is cringe."
"Really... if I was supposed to act as I always wanted to, you'd probably have died of the cringeness diseases. If that is a thing."
Raith looked at his brother's face. He still couldn't believe Curtis was the one talking. This guy had totally changed.
'How much leash did father put on him to make him so stiff, is this the true person he is underneath?' Raith wondered. This new self of his brother was something he wasn't used to but it wasn't such a bad idea.
***
America.
Compared to the picture and videos of it that Li Mingwu saw, the gate was bigger, it was bigger than anything he had ever seen, and this made him very sure that this was it.
Li Mingwu had gathered enormous experience over his years as a hunter and he can tell the unseen yet distinct difference in gates. For example, some gates might both be referred to as S-rank but one S-rank has more magic energy than another –which means that the one with more magic ever has a more dangerous monster.
So far so good he could compare it to one of the best gates he had raided. He strapped his breastplate tightly and fixed his vambraces, his armor was like that of a Chinese General. Considering his age, it wasn't out of place that his Armour was old-fashioned.
Chairman Whitman had begged him to use the modern tech armors that the America Association has finally been able to perfect. But he was stubborn. It wasn't like Whitman did not know of his master's stubbornness before. Whether or not he had chosen to wear the Armour the results were bound to be the same.
"Alright." The old man said as took his golden sword, hung it on his, and walked forward.
The gate was located in one of America's animal reserve centers, in fact, the magical energy being discharged around had caused a mutation in the animals such that they had to kill most of them and capture the ones that could be captured–to study the genetic mutation.
Li Mingwu stared at the gate, and slowly tied a red headband to his forehead, covering his forehead eyes that were currently closed.
Whitman watched from behind as his master prepared. He also was prepared in a body suit that almost made him look like a supernova warrior. It could be compared to that of MoK Jae-Hwa but this one seemed inferior and the helmet was detached.
Alec Whitman and a few other hunters stood behind Li Mingwu who gazed at the purplish-dark gate.
"Let's go..." he commanded and in one step of his leg, the wind blew softly and he was gone from sight. The hunters around were surprised, they didn't understand what had happened. But Chairman Whitman was used to this situation. While it always looked like Li Mingwu could transverse space, he wasn't that powerful, the thing he could truly transverse in and out of space was matter.
Nobody understood. But Whitman had studied the old man's past fighting record. He had noted it every time and the last time he visited him in China when Mok Jun-Seo was there was a final confirmation for him.
He grinned widely as he thought about it.
'With my trump card. I should be able to take care of this.'
—
"Woaaahh"
The hunters' eyes lit up as they saw a new world unfold before their eyes as they stepped into the gate.
A large forest with towering trees sprawled out before their eyes. It was different from what they were used to on earth, the leaves were green as usual but the greenness of each leaf was so bright that it felt like they were shining, it was as if this world was being played with HD resolution while Earth had been using 380P.
The hunters, led by Whitman gently walked across the land, with Whitman's warning resounding in their eyes.
"Do not touch anything. The deadliest of poisons lies in the most beautiful flowers, this warning is not about poisons and flowers."
They laughed when he said it–Whitman was often known for his jokes after all but his words never should be taken for granted. Besides, he and the dark guy walking beside him are the only two hunters that have been here before.
They were being very careful even as they walked.
"Hey... isn't this strange..." The brunette haired guy said to the lady beside him, as he pointed her attention to something.
I'm sorry for the lengthy response previously. Here is a shorter explanation:
Ancient pillars could be seen in the dense forest, their stones worn by time and reclaimed by nature. The broken remnants were adorned with vines, creating a beautiful scene.
"Chairman..." the lady walked faster to the front, catching up to Whitman.
"Did you notice this the first time you came?" She asked pointing her hand to the broken pillar.
"Yes..." Whitman replied to her as he paused.
She belatedly stopped and looked in front of her.
A large broken ornate gate leads to an abandoned building that seems to have been partially hidden by the forest.
"What is this? It seems like a Buddhism temple. Are Buddhism temples something we should be able to find in gates? Huh? Chairman, the last t—
"Duck"
"Huh?"
The Chairman suddenly pressed her head down with his large hand, forcing her to go low as a large spear passed where she was originally standing, grazing his chin.
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