Line Hunters

6. Reasons and Reasons

Without knowing Ian's background, the students and the teacher thought he had asked that because he was truthfully selfish, oblivious, or simply did not care. Ian's question was pure with no intentions behind it.

"Because you're the strongest and Predators are dangerous!" a student replied.

Predators...

Dangerous...

The words of Ian's savior came back to his mind.

"Dragons are dangerous, Ian. We have to protect each other, so when you see a dragon, you must kill it so it will no longer harm humans. Humans are frail, so they need someone strong to protect them."

"I'm... strong?"

The woman smiled gently. "More than anyone can imagine."

Ian saw the terrified looks on his classmates and got up, walking toward the dragon who was now the size of the desk it was standing on. There was also a time when Ian stopped a dragon from killing a little girl, but the girl was frozen in place and shaking.

"What is it that leaks from her eyes?" Ian had asked.

The blindfolded woman walked over to the girl and looking back at the boy, answered, "They are tears, Ian. Crying comes with all sorts of emotions, but the most common is distress and anger. Sometimes, you cannot control them."

"Why are you touching her head?"

"It's a way of comforting someone. Comfort and assurance can be physical or come through words."

"Ian, don't get too close!" a girl said, grabbing the corner of his jacket.

The boy paused and patted her head. "It'll be alright."

The girl, "..."

Ian turned to the dragon, his eyes now containing more emotion, and determination, than before. The dragon's eyes widened as warnings blared in his mind, screeching at his brain to run, run, run!

Ian's eyes connected with the dragon's terrified eyes.

"You're made of pure moonlight..."

Give it to me.

Ian raised his right hand, his open hand directed at the dragon, who finally snapped out of the loud terror and attempted to run, but it was too late. Ian made a grabbing motion and pulled his hand closer to him, and right away. A bright light shone, forcing everyone else to look away. There was a large amount of flowy, pale green light flowing toward Ian, who was also surprised by the amount. The dragon screeched violently until its body disappeared into a thin green smoke that went toward Ian too and ultimately vanished.

For a moment, everyone remained silent, stunned, and still processing what just happened. One moment, a dragon was upon them and as quickly as it appeared, the gentle-looking boy had made it disappear with a method that seemed to be so agonizing. Everyone shuddered, recalling the dragon's screeching.

"Ian, that was so cool!"

"How did you do that? What did you do to it?"

"I'm curious as well," the teacher said. "I've never heard of a method used to kill a dragon like that."

"I expelled it."

"But it was light green and not black!"

"It was a level four made of pure moonlight..." Ian now wondered why such a strong dragon would come to a school.

"That was a level four? How terrifying it would have been if someone tried to fight without knowing its level of power!"

"I expected a level four to be so strong but it seemed so weak..."

"I wonder about that too, but let's talk about how Ian easily defeated it! A 1,512 spiritual power can defeat a level four Predator."

Ian turned to the boy and kindly said, "Don't be delusional, that dragon was already extremely weakened."

"Still amazing! Ian, if you entered the Line Hunter Trial, you would totally ace it!"

"The Line Hunter Trial?" Ian looked at the boy who mentioned it.

"Ay, you're interested? You should take it, I would feel so safe knowing we have a certified Line Hunter in our school."

Just then, someone laughed. It was one of the guys who had made fun of Ian earlier. "Him? Taking the Line Hunter Trial? What a joke!"

"Ken, watch your words," the teacher warned.

"Am I wrong, though? Everyone saw his physical score. Do you think the exam is something to be taken lightly because of your high spiritual power? There's no doubt there'll be a test based on fitness and once Ian flunks that, he'll fail!"

Another student rolled her eyes at Ken. "So what? So he's not strong, but that doesn't mean he'll be dismissed. He'll just have a low rank."

"She's right," the teacher chimed in. "In fact, that was one of the things I wanted to go over today. So if everyone could get back to their seats, I will start explaining it."

"Teacher, is there some sort of pretest or qualification expectations before the actual exam itself?"

"Sort of. Anyone can take it. The biggest obstacles before taking the exam is getting a certified SS Line Hunter to recommend you, then getting accepted by the head of the exam, and getting to the exam itself, which is part of why you'll need to be recommended. The location of the exam is a secret and only revealed to those taking the exam. Mr. LaCrow is a certified SS Line Hunter you can talk to if you'd like to take the exam."

After school, Ian was saved from the trouble of finding Mr. LaCrow, who was looking for Ian.

"I want to take the exam," Ian said as soon as he saw Mr. LaCrow.

The man was surprised, then blinking, he laughed. "I was actually looking for you because I was coming to talk to you about that. Why do you want to take it?"

"So it's easier to look for the Risers."

Once again, Connie was surprised and he thought about laughing it off, but he saw that Ian wasn't joking—if he even knew how—and remained polite. "Ian, you are aware of how difficult it is? Only 11% of participants passed it, and the ones who didn't, either died or sustained severe injuries. If you're going to take the exam, then you should be prepared to die."

"Death is not an option for me, I won't die. If I do, the world will die too and I will die again if that happens."

Connie, "..."

In his mind, he questioned the freshmen this year. Not only were they all so confident and careless, but they were also reckless and didn't seem to be scared of death! 

_________ 

To make it easier for myself, I will publish chapters that has to do with the main plot, then afterwards, I will add in filler chapters. 

Also, I really, really, want to make this a WEBTOON, but I really struggle with color and perspectives. I'll be done with the base colors but from then on... Any advice is appreciated!