Kaiser of the New World

Kai took a deep breath, the harsh cold burning the inside of his throat as he grimaced slightly.

God's, why is it always so cold?

The answer to that question was an obvious one, but he couldn't help but complain about the blizzard, it made hunting so much harder after all.

It was another day, and Kai was back outside the walls of the city. The blizzard was much weaker today than yesterday, so he could see a lot further in the distance.

The furthest thing he could make out was a gigantic mountain, completetly blocking out all of that direction.

The mountain was incredibly steep, it looked more like a cone rather than a mountain, jagged edges protruding from its body. Its peak rose far into the sky, almost threatening to stab the boundary of space.

Even though it was absolutely massive from where Kai was standing, it was still incredibly far away. For some reason, the blizzard seemed to contort around the shape of the mountain, as if shielding it.

But other than the mountain, the surrounding land was actually pretty flat. There was the odd hill here and there, each of them completetly covered by snow, but none of them could compare to the mountain.

Turning his attention away from the mountain, Kai started focusing on the sleeping rhino bear beast that was in front of him.

The situation was a little bit calmer due to the fact that the bear he had to hunt was sleeping this time, but it could also be considered a little more dire because Kai was all alone for this hunt.

Ezekial had told Kai earlier in the morning that he had something to take care of back in the city, so he let Kai out into the wilderness all by himself, saying that he was ready.

Obviously he didn't just let Kai go empty handed though, he gave him the regular spatial storage with that purple flamed candle included, but he also threw in a compass that pointed back towards the city, just in case he ended up getting lost.

It was a handy little thing, but not really needed since Kai could actually make out the walls of the city because the blizzard being weaker today. Still, it would be handy if it ended up picking up while he was out here hunting.

Tapping his forearm a couple of times, Kai mentally prepared himself for this hunt, which didn't actually take long as there was going to be one massive difference between this hunt and the hunt yesterday.

Today, Kai didn't have to limit himself because Ezekial was around.

And he knew that there was no one around as he had done a quick scan with Soul Sense and saw no other souls than that of the rhino bear's

The bear's soul was pure white, exactly like snow, but there was tiny spikes on it that reminded Kai of the bear's horn itself.

He wasn't actually sure how that would work, a soul having spikes on it. If Kai's was like that he definitely would have accidently stabbed his heart or punctured a lung or something. That meant that either the bear didn't have its Soul Core formed or its bodily anatomy was based around its soul and its organs were in different positions.

Maybe I should dissect it a little after this hunt...

A good idea, but one that would have to wait for after the hunt. Shaking his head, Kai got ready to begin the fight.

Only this time, there was no need to get close and put himself in immediate danger.

No, since Ezekial wasn't around, he could simply just fight it from a distance.

Taking another deep breath and ignoring the bitter cold, Kai extended both his hands and summoned two vibrant fireballs into each of his palms.

The fireballs consisted of red, blue, green, yellow, violet, white and gold, each colour representing a stat from his soul.

One of the new features of his upgraded Soul Flame was that he was able to throw the flames, the only downside being that they slowly weakened the longer they were away from him.

Still, the fireballs would be able to function as a perfectly suitable opening attack.

Winding an arm back, Kai pretended that he was throwing a baseball before letting a fireball loose. He didn't even wait for the initial one to land before passing the second fireball into his right palm and and throwing it again.

Before the first one managed to land, Kai was able to throw a total of four fireballs, each one slowly dimming as they soared through the air.

There was one thing that Kai didn't account for though, and that was the climate. The blizzard around him also affected the strength and life of the fireballs, only speeding up the rate at which they weakened.

But luckily for Kai, they were still able to reach their target with enough strength to deal some damage.

As soon as the first fireball hit, the bear's body was lit up by the vibrant flames. Instantly, the bear got up with a roar, just as the second and third fireball hit.

The bear's fur slowly started to burn as Kai felt a wave of something inexplicable, sending a shiver up his spine.

"Fucking hell, is that what bloodlust feels like?"

It was not a pleasant feeling to say the least. It was like there was an invisible force trying to impose its will on him, it reminded Kai of the Demon's aura, just a much weaker version of it.

The fourth fireball landed directly on the bear's head just as it turned to look at Kai, saliva dripping from its fangs and instantly being dissolved by the heat before it could even land on the snow.

"Hey big guy, enjoying yourself?"

Sadly, the only response Kai received was that of a roar as the bear started charging at him. The ground trembled beneath it as it got closer and closer to its target.

The bear watched as its prey began to tremble in fear, its eyes widening as it got closer and closer. Seeing that did nothing to soothe its anger as even now the flames were still burning it.

By now though, the flames were much weaker than when they initially landed, but the bear wasn't paying much attention to that, all it wanted was to kill the one who had injured it. Its mind was so clouded by rage that it didn't even mention its prey's right hand shimmer slightly.

Seconds passed excruciatingly slow for the bear, each passing second was a second longer that its prey survived, and it didn't like that.

Luckily, the bear was just about to clamp its jaws down on its aggressor.

However, as it opened its mouth to catch its prey in its jaws, its prey's hand shot forward.

The bear, inwardly happy that it's prey was so willing to easily sacrifice its arm, went to chomp down on-

The next moment, the bear's entire body stopped as one of its eyes exploded. The bear's body shuddered before going completely limp as Kai retracted his arm.

You have gained XP

Sighing, Kai shook the blood off of an invisible blade as Esurient started to shimmer into existence, its red body a much darker shade than the blood that just got shaken off.

"Good job buddy."

After patting Esurient's body and wiping it clean on the singed fur of the bear, Kai returned the blade to the safety of his soul.

Still no level up.

He was a little upset that he somehow still had not leveled up, but it wasn't that big of a deal, maybe he just levels up too much in the tutorial...

It could have also been because of the fact that Ezekial said that these bears were some of the weaker beasts out in the snow, but Kai had killed five of them now, if he combined that with the other beasts he had killed in his training then he was surely due a level up.

After getting over the fact that he hadn't leveled up, Kai realised that he had messed up in the process of killing that bear.

How was he meant to sell the pelt of the beast when it was all singed and burned?

Reaching into the spatial storage that Ezekial had loaned him, Kai pulled out the receipt and let out a sigh of relief. Luckily, the Singing Vixen had only requested the bear's meat this time, not any of its other body parts.

Taking out the sword he had been loaned and not Esurient for the task, Kai got to work on completing his commision.

Because he had less to collect, it only took him ten minutes to get all the things he needed, mainly the meat. He still cut off and took the horn though, just in case he ever ended up needing it. This time, he equipped his own spatial storage ring and stored it inside, along with the rickety table he stole from the shopkeeper back in the tutorial shop.

After that, he began his journey back to the city. Once at the main gate, he expected to be stopped and examined like Ezekial always was, only the guards insisted that there was no need and just told Kai to go through. A little strange, but Kai simply assumed that they somehow knew that he hadn't been taken over by any horrifying creature.

As he walked the streets, Kai smiled as he took in all the sights. Children playing on corners, alleyways much cleaner than anything you would see back on Earth, people walking the streets and going about their lives, he took it all in.

Once he reached the Singing Vixen, Kai exchanged a few words with Annie before getting his payment and Molten Cocoa before ending the conversation with his signature question.

"What do you think of your life?"

To which Annie responded with:

"My life? I love it."

Once he delivered the goods, Kai made his way back to the castle and made his way back to his bedroom. The fight today had been the easiest by far, but for some reason he felt the most tired after it.

Once back in his bedroom, Kai got ready for bed before going into the bathroom.

After washing his face, Kai looked at his reflection in the mirror and smiled.

He really was happy here.

*Small Note*

Damn, a thousand favourites on chapters altogether. Thank you to anyone who's favourited a chapter 🙃