"Did you know? Please tell me this isn't real."
Present Time
"Alright, get in the carriage. You're not the only passenger, by the way." It was an open-top, spacious carriage, so Mohin couldn't see who was inside from the outside.
Mohin went to the back of the carriage to climb aboard. Once inside, he found five people, all of them armed, and some wearing chest armor.
Mohin deduced they were hunters returning to the City of Hunters.
"Welcome. My name is Zain, and it seems we'll be travel companions," said Zain with a kind, smiling face that made anyone who looked at him feel at peace. He had light brown hair, almost black.
Mohin smiled back and said, "It seems so. My name is Mohin, by the way."
"Welcome, Mohin."
Mohin sat in the only empty seat, which was near Zain. "Zain, can I ask, are you a hunter? You look like one."
"Yes, I am a hunter, and the comrades here with me are from my team. I'm their leader."
Mohin got excited and said, "That's so cool! This is the first time I've seen hunters since Hunter Sain."
"Wait a minute, you know Hunter Sain?" Zain asked, surprised.
"Yes, he saved my village from some bandits once."
"You're very lucky. It's rare to see Mr. Sain."
"Why is that?"
"Because he's always training in the Dungeons or at the Gates. So he's rarely seen in public, honestly."
Mohin reacted with surprise, "Dungeons? Gates?"
Zain was also taken aback. "You don't know what the Dungeons and Gates are?"
"No, I don't."
"Mohin, what's your destination?"
"My destination is the City of Hunters, to become a hunter like you."
"You want to become a hunter, and you don't even know what hunters do?"
"Isn't it killing dangerous monsters that threaten countries, or being hired for protection from bandits?"
"Mohin, have you been living in a cage your whole life? Alright, this is Zak, my team's Mage. He'll tell you everything you need to know."
Zak had sharp features and said, "Let's start with the continents on our planet. Planet Earth has six continents. Three of them are human continents: the continent of Sonia, the continent of Vona – which is the largest – and our continent, called Truno. These three continents are close to each other, separated by borders established by the continent's rulers. The continent of Sonia is ruled by a single person. The continent of Vona is divided into five kingdoms: the Kingdom of Hain, the Kingdom of Tron, the Kingdom of Aren, the Kingdom of Binan, and the Kingdom of Dun, which is the strongest among them. Then comes our continent, which is split into two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Terez, and the kingdom we are in now, the Kingdom of Monu."
"As for the other three continents... The first is the Demon Continent. It is separated from the human continents by an ocean called the Silent Ocean, named because some hunters were sailing over it and found it strangely calm; even the waves made no sound, and it was difficult to navigate. As I've read in history books, the Demon Continent was once divided into several kingdoms, but a hundred years ago, a very powerful demon came and unified all the kingdoms, naming it the Demon Empire. This demon was titled the One and Only Demon King, and he is still alive to this day."
"The second continent is the Fantasy Continent, separated from us by the Ocean of Peace, named so because it contains no monsters; everything in this ocean is peaceful. We don't know much about this continent. We know it has more than one kingdom, and one of these kingdoms is the Kingdom of the Elves, due to an agreement made between them and the Ancient Humans, who wrote about this agreement."
"The third continent is the only one that the Ancient Humans knew nothing about, and because of that, they named it the Continent of Mystery."
"Now, regarding Dungeons and Gates... Gates are rifts between two different, opposing worlds. This rift is caused by one of the worlds, but it's limited; it doesn't encompass the entire world, only a small part. If a monster crosses through, it cannot roam more than 2000 meters from the Gate. If it does, it dies automatically. In our case, we are attacked by other worlds through these Gates. To this day, humans haven't discovered how to create a Gate."
"Dungeons are formed by a strange power originating from outside our world. This power affects the surrounding environment, twisting it to form a protective center for itself. The Dungeon is the reason animals transform into supernatural beings. This power within the Dungeon is most often an artifact – it could be a sword or something else."
"There's another phenomenon mentioned by the Ancient Humans: the Rift. The first and last appearance of a Rift was a hundred years ago. A Rift is completely different from a Gate. It's a disruption in time and space. It might send you to the past or to another world. The Rift gives you a task to complete, and if you succeed, you return to your homeland and the Rift disappears."
"And now, I'll tell you how to clear Dungeons and Gates. All you have to do in a Dungeon is find the artifact containing that external power and destroy it, or take it for yourself if it's useful. The Dungeon automatically collapses once that power is gone. If a human seizes the artifact, their power merges with it, and the power emanating from the artifact becomes natural and no longer affects the environment, but it still retains its unique properties."
"As for a Gate, all you have to do is kill the one causing it, which is usually the strongest monster among them, or in other words, their leader. Hunter's job is to clear this foreign. All this information I've mentioned is based on the accounts of the Ancient Humans."
"My heeeead! That's too much information to process!" Mohin said miserably.
"I know, right? This is the third time I've heard this speech, and I still don't understand some parts," Zain said, laughing.