"We'll be doing the following..." Auren states, but unexpectedly looks at Kieran. "But before that... one question."
"Did you or your team spot any... let's say... dangers to airships, like spiders in treetops or predatory birds?" he asks. "Just asking because of what happened last time...."
"No," Kieran firmly responds.
"Good, then we'll be continuing on foot for another week. If we discover no threat, I'm ready to use the airships to scout. For now, I believe we should hunt for more of these nightmarish wolves. I also want them analyzed and see if their bodies have any use."
He sighs before looking at Leira. "As much as I want to disagree with further experiments... Leira and Konrad, you both made a good point. For what reason do these wolves transport their victims? Maybe they like the smell? Maybe that's food preparation for them? In any case... I'd like to find out more. There should be more things to find as well. More importantly... how are they able to use a rudimentary version of Nen? The wolf I killed was definitely using something resembling Ren, though much less effective and weaker, but still."
"The limit is 1 week," Auren declares. "Afterwards, we'll resort to using our airship, and should we find nothing even then... we'll leave."
"But Auren..." Leira mutters, obviously disagreeing with him.
"You got a week, Leira," Auren states. "If you want us to risk more people and more resources, then prove to me that it's worth risking our lives out there. I believe a week and then, if there are no dangers for our airships there, a trip with the ship is enough to find anything of value... should it exist."
"Commander," Auren continues. "We don't plan on returning next time, so we'll be out a bit longer. I want to make it to the centre of the island at least."
"Understood," Kieran replies. "Please keep up communications. We will explore more thoroughly, but slower."
"Understood, Leira?" Auren asks.
"Of course," she replies, her lips curling into a forced smile.
"Seriously, you are such an exploration addict... you are usually so calm and rational, and even after staying for 2 years in that dangerous hell of a forest in the east of the Yorbian continent, you are still so desperate," Auren complains, slightly annoyed.
"It's more like a city now..." Leira mutters, but resigns herself to Auren's accusation and stays silent, while the others smile awkwardly.
The team spends the night relaxing and eating a copious amount of apples, which are neither particularly tasty nor bad, making Auren feel incredibly confused.
If his entire dream is farming apples, why do they taste so normal? Weird old man.
Only Leira stays busy, analyzing the sack of spoils she picked up, working inside a small hut designated for experiments. She also personally prepares a small cage for the beast and gives instructions to the staff members on how to secure and treat the beast.
Back in their airship, relaxing comfortably in the lounge after eating Marsha's cooking, Neffi can't help but stare at him.
"Auren..." Neffi says, sounding like a child asking for a favor. "You were going to tell us about your Hatsu."
"..."
"I can freeze things and stuff; let's leave it at that, okay?" Auren says, not intending to say more.
There is no need to explain more than its use. There is no benefit in telling them the detailed mechanics behind this Hatsu, aside from curiosity.
Puffing her cheeks, Neffi shrugs and drops the issue. Still, she stares at Vanessa with expectant eyes, who, to her apparent surprise, remains calm and doesn't ask anything. On closer examination, her Aura, which she trains meticulously by using Ten the entire time, is incredibly calm, despite her massive Aura reserves.
I could tell them... but I don't want them to know the details... or anyone. Thoughts are not as secure as one tends to believe. This must be my joker, something I don't reveal to just anyone. I can openly use Limitless Waters... but this... is something else entirely, and it's best it remains my secret. I can use it, but the secrets behind it must remain with me.
Why would I go into detail with pointless explanations? That could be my undoing one day if they encounter someone hostile with abilities like Pakunoda, Milluki, or maybe even Shalnark.
The next morning, more or less fully energized, the group gathers again, flying towards the island together with Kieran and his men.
Even Leira looks fairly calm, and despite Auren's fear, she seems to have gotten a fair bit of sleep.
Back on the island, Auren's group splits off again from the soldiers, everyone's expressions much more determined and serious, knowing what danger awaits them as they move through the mysterious jungle.
The group walks in a similar formation, Auren again at the head, Eternity in his hands, as he cuts a path through the jungle.
Instead of scouting carefully, the group walks forward in a straight line, avoiding most beasts, only to be confronted by a single, lone, round, hairy beast, which Auren kills in a swift, decisive strike, easily splitting it in two.
Making rapid progress, as they're not exploring but more or less rushing through the jungle, and with Auren's experience and extreme skill with En allowing them to avoid any kind of danger, it doesn't take long for them to reach the spot where they encountered the wolf.
"Auren..." Konrad mutters. "I've been thinking... wouldn't whatever we're looking for be even more dangerous than the wolf?"
"Of course," Auren replies, briefly turning around. "That's possible... but frankly speaking, I'm not looking for beasts but something more useful. However, if we encounter something like that, chances are more wolves are around... maybe worse."
"Ugh... I shouldn't have asked," Konrad says, making Goreinu smile awkwardly, seemingly sharing his fears.
"We talked about tactics. Stay calm, and nothing will happen to you... if things go wrong, I'll cut off your legs and carry you back," Auren says, with a grin, before proceeding.
"Why cut off my legs in the first place..." Konrad mutters, dissatisfied, while also showing relief at the same time.
The jungle grows even thicker, causing Auren to stop for a second.
"This feels strange... the air is moist, I smell water nearby... swampy water, judging by the smell of it," Auren comments.
"Hellbell has been seen in the wild swamplands of the Dark Continent..." Leira states nonchalantly. "So has Nitro Rice."
"Don't jinx it," Auren says, shaking his head. "That would be way too easy... but yes, it looks like the snake species... I discovered during the Hunter Exam... could actually be close by."
"Auren... we're trusting you for the anti-Hellbell strategy," Neffi states, looking solemn.
"Don't worry... I've tested it," Auren declares. "One of Prince Benjamin's men was a skilled manipulator, and I let myself be controlled on purpose. It took a few months of training, but I've set a special activation condition on my Nen... specifically Azure Restoration. Once I lose total control of my body, it will activate. In theory, it should work out just fine, even if I'm the first one being targeted... you just need to hold out until I regain clarity. Also, the snake I presented to Ging wasn't a real Hellbell, and I've grown stronger... perhaps I was overpreparing. Don't worry too much."
"No..." Leira states. "Chances are, the snakes here, if they still exist, are far more potent than the one brought back to the known world. Without your preparations, our approach would be suicidal."
"..."
"Let's just proceed," Auren says, moving forward.
Despite smelling the swamp and despite walking for another good 10 minutes, Auren still doesn't see any of it.
However, instead of sensing anything resembling a snake, Auren senses another large creature with his En.
"Wolf..." Auren mutters quietly, pointing in its direction.
"We should kill it silently; we can't move past it and then get ambushed or, worse, backstabbed later on," Neffi says, activating her Hatsu, Living Poltergeist, and preparing to attack.
Eren does the same and looks ready to engage.
The group carefully approaches the wolf. It doesn't take long until they arrive in front of it.
They see the same grotesque wolf on the ground, surrounded by five beast corpses, the same round beasts they met previously.
Auren can't help but wonder what is happening as he spots the wolf eating them, but also carefully picking out various parts and organs and placing them onto its back, inside its cage made of bones, which is almost completely filled with meat.
The wolf stares at Auren, but shows no sign of aggression at all.
"It's full... and so is its... basket," Leira notes. "It won't attack us without a reason."
"Shall we... follow it?" Vanessa suggests.
"Are you insane?!" Konrad says, raising his voice a little too much, causing the wolf to look up.
"..."
Konrad....
"..."
Filled up, the wolf's belly protruding from its body, sagging towards the ground, it walks away.
"Might as well..." Auren mutters. "If I spot more, we'll discuss if we should abandon the chase."
Stopping their Hatsus, the group gives slow and careful chase, Auren deliberately staying a fair distance away.
Giving chase at a medium pace, the wolf, walking relatively slowly, having just filled itself up with food, the group suddenly feels the ground becoming more moist and soft.
As they chase after it, their steps now barely meet any resistance, and they feel their feet sinking into the ground with each step.
"Not good," Auren says, briefly stopping.
"We should follow," Leira states. "The wolf won't go into a deep swamp; this much is fine. There should be a way through it that doesn't lead through water. I believe if you focus really hard, your En should spot a route..."
Easier said than done... I can try...
Auren uses En and focuses really hard.
Though unsure, he slightly adjusts his course and leads the group after the wolf, moving faster so as not to lose it.
Somehow, thanks to his adjustments, the ground gets a little harder, and while they see and smell actual water to their left and right, the path they are walking on is still relatively firm.
Suddenly, Auren pauses again.
"Not good, second wolf," he relays, sensing a second wolf close by, right next to the one they've been tailing.
"Do we run?" Neffi asks, looking slightly nervous.
"They..." Auren mutters, focusing on his En. "They're fighting each other?! Violently at that! That's not playing around."
"What do we do, Auren?" Leira asks.
Thinking for a second, Auren replies in a serious tone. "I've got a feeling... what we're searching for might be right in front of us. We need to go. Follow me."
Rushing forward, Auren and the group see the two wolves lunge at each other, both bodies covered in gruesome bite and claw wounds.
Auren, however, is fully focused on the surroundings, desperately looking for anything else, until he finally senses what he is looking for. A slim, yet long body, writhing at the edge of a nearby pond, half of its body in the water.
"A snake..." Auren concludes.
Immediately, he unleashes his Aura, but also uses In, approaching the snake's last position with incredible speed.
In just a few seconds, Auren appears right in front of the snake, which barely manages to spot him before he reaches it and glares at him with red eyes, but is instantly cut apart by Eternity, its head severed in one clean motion. Immediately, he stabs Eternity into both halves and drains the Aura, which, to his disappointment, just takes a few seconds for each half. Thankfully, the Aura gain is immense, even larger than when he killed the wolf.
Close... I felt it manipulating my mind... it's the same... no stronger than the ones I saw. Still... so much Aura... Eternity is progressing again, at an incredible pace!
With the Aura drained, Auren does not linger; he looks at the two wolves, who thankfully continue their fight, regardless of the snake's demise.
If they both go all out and cripple each other... we won't get anything.
Jumping into action, Auren rushes toward the two wolves, activates Limitless Waters, and increases Eternity's length before stabbing it into the wolf he assumes is the second one that appeared.
Due to the sharpness of the blade, Eternity has cut deep into it and has caused a fatal wound. Auren then stabs it into the beast's head, ending its life, Eternity greedily draining the remaining Aura.
Meanwhile, the other wolf sinks onto the ground, breathing heavily and resting.
As the others arrive next to Auren, he sees that Leira is already holding the killed snake in her hands.
"I... can see a second head... though it's smaller than the first one and seems underdeveloped," Auren notes. "But this is... without a doubt... a degenerated version of Hellbell."
"Why haven't you killed the second wolf?" Konrad asks, nervously pinching his nose to avoid the smell.
"Because... we still need it," Auren says, smiling as he activates Azure Restoration and walks toward the wolf.
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