Falling into the Inférius, the man's head was buried in a snowy surface. He managed to pull his head out and spit out some pieces of the snow that had gotten into his mouth.
His vision was of a flat dimension, covered in snow and ice, with a very intense cold, which did not shake the man.
- "I just wanted to enjoy the night." He muttered to himself.
The man then stood up, looking back and seeing the exit portal from that dimension, but refused to return, knowing that the Renkai creatures could leave the dimension.
He began to walk through the *Inférius Blizzard* in search of the *Core* of the dimension.
Despite the snow-covered ground, the man seemed to walk very fast, as if he was used to being in these places. He could already see some Renkai creatures and the demon hunters fighting against them.
They were low-class hunters, two men using their weapons and some wind or water magic to make the fight easier. The woman in the group was providing support, acting as a healer.
Since Inférius was also a low class, the demons were not that strong, but they could still give those beginner hunters a bit of trouble.
One of the men was fighting with a sword and his wind magic against the demon, who was advancing aggressively towards him.
- "Hit him quickly, Alex!" He said in an almost desperate tone, using his magic to try to push the renkai creature
- "I'm trying, Tokimo!" Another man also said, hitting some demons that were nearby with a common bow and arrow, trying to distract them with a weak blast of water
Mary, the healer of the small group, was healing Alex from behind. It wasn't one of the best heals, but it was efficient.
She tried to go to Tomiko to try to heal her partner, but the renkai creature that was fighting with the boy turned towards Mary, jumping on top of her to try to attack her with its claws or bite her.
- "ahhhh!" Mary tries to escape.
- "Mary!!"
Tokimo tries to push the demon away with her wind magic and Alex couldn't hit the demon with his bow and arrow...
It would be certain death for Mary...
But suddenly, that same demon that was going to jump on Mary was hit with a shot in the head, right in the brain. Making the demon strangely shudder, as if it had been electrocuted and an internal part of its skull seemed to turn to ash, as if it had been burned from the inside.
Alex and Tokimo look to the side to see who saved their colleague and Mary also looks to the side to see who her savior is.
It was the man with long hair and an eye patch, who was advancing at great speed towards the other Renkai creatures.
He jumped, somersaulting in the air, firing several shots in all directions.
The group of hunters looked on in surprise as the demons were killed with several shots to their bodies and heads, but they also moved away so as not to be hit as well.
When the man fell to the ground, the demons around him had been killed instantly by his pistol shots, their bodies being electrocuted and in some parts being burned. But there was one more demon that was alive, advancing behind the man to attack him.
- "Watch out!!" Mary shouted, extending her hand.
But as a reflex, the man spun around, giving a spinning punch right to the Renkai creature's face with his mechanical arm, causing the demon to be thrown away, with its skull being shattered by the blow.
Alex, Mary and Tokimo, who are simple hunters who had just started their careers, were astonished and amazed. It may not have been the greatest display of power they would ever see in their lives, but it was still incredible to them.
- "My God..." Mary said, shocked.
She ran to the boy, who had his back turned, seeing the small massacre he had caused with those demons. She hugged him from behind, almost in tears for having been saved.
- "Thank you, sir. I... I thought I was going to die..."
The man turned around in the hug, looking at the healer with an emotionless expression, seemingly uncomfortable with that sudden gesture, but not opposing or showing it. He placed his hand on the girl's head.
- "Hm, it's nothing." He said.
The girl seemed to enjoy having the man's left hand in her hair, crying softly into his chest.
- "Don't worry, she's just scared." Alex says, putting a friendly smile on the man and placing his hand on the girl's back.
- "Seriously, thank you very much for your help." Tokimo says, standing next to Alex.
Mary raised her face, looking curious, placing her hand on the man's face, feeling the cold surface of the boy's skin.
- "We're having to wear heavy clothes to withstand this cold, how can you handle it so much?"
- "Besides, what is this?" She tries to touch the man's eyepatch.
But he holds Mary's hand, moving it away from her eyepatch.
- "I'm already used to this cold... the eyepatch... it's not important." He says, very calm.
- "Mary, you need to behave in front of the guy who saved you." Tokimo says, placing a friendly hand on her colleague's shoulder.
- "Yes, sorry." She walks away, wiping her tears.
The group gathers again, taking a deep breath to go back to exploring that Inferius Blizzard, but the man interferes.
- "Return to your homes, get better and then go back to an Inferius when you're *really* ready." He says in an emotionless but firm tone. Not wanting to be contradicted
The group of hunters feels a shiver, not only from the cold of the Inferius Blizzard, but also from the man's tone. They nod respectfully and turn to leave the dimension...
The man turned to continue searching for the Inferius core, but felt a touch on his shoulder. When he turned, he looked at Mary, who was standing in front of him, nervous and cold. He probably had more questions, but he decided not to press too much.
- "Boy, what are you going to do here, alone?"
- "And also... what's your name? I wanted to tell my mother the name of the person who saved me today!" She says, offering a smile.
- "..."
The man was thoughtful for two seconds, looking at Mary, speaking in an emotionless tone of voice.
- "I'll end this dimension alone, don't worry. And my name..." He became thoughtful again, but finally said.
- "Just call me Slady."
- "Thank you for saving me, Slady."
She went to him, giving him a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, returning to the group of demon hunters, her friends and teammates.
The man, whose name was now revealed, Slady, did not react to Mary's gesture, almost indifferent. But he seemed to be grateful for the humble reward.
Then, looking towards the great path, he observed the renkais creatures that he would have to face to reach the core of that dimension and close that Inférius Blizzard, starting to walk in that cold and icy dimension, alone.