Giant bears have a keen sense of smell. Even in the pitch darkness, it accurately pinpointed the small figure with a faint scent in front of it.
"Caught red-handed..."
Yuu muttered with a helpless expression. Then, he watched as the giant bear swung a massive paw horizontally toward his side!
"Whoosh————!"
Yuu saw the attack clearly, but habitually didn't reach out to block it. Instead, he let the giant paw strike his side.
Using the minimum output of his "Limitless Technique," he easily blocked the attack, remaining completely unmoved.
"Just as I expected, this bear isn't very strong..."
Yuu carefully sensed the bear's power through the technique barrier around him. Then, gathering Cursed Energy in his hand, he swung a powerful hook, knocking the bear's paw away.
Bang!
Currently, Yuu was operating the "Limitless Technique" at minimum capacity.
In this low-power state, the technique applied a thin layer of "Infinity" to the surface of the user's body.
This didn't stop the opponent's attacking motion, but it perfectly blocked the impact... giving the enemy the illusion of having "hit" him.
Yuu only chose this low-power mode when facing enemies he could handle with ease.
After all, only this way could he get a little tangible fun out of combat.
"ROAAAAR————!!"
The giant bear roared, completely failing to notice its attack had been ineffective. Filled with rage, it swung another paw at Yuu.
Unlike before, this time Yuu didn't choose to just take the hit. He pushed off the ground, flipping sideways over the giant paw.
He landed on the stone wall as if it were flat ground.
Yuu glanced sideways at the black Nen beast lying on his shoulder. until it finished digesting the energy in its stomach, the beast would exist in reality.
And it had a physical form!
Just like Razor's Nen ability, "The 14 Devils," Yuu's Nen beast could be hit by physical attacks. Currently, it was fragile and could be easily destroyed.
Since he wasn't sure if the beast being destroyed would interrupt its digestion or trigger some penalty mechanism...
Yuu decided to retreat for now and quickly ran toward the cave entrance.
But clearly, the angry giant bear had no intention of letting this intruder go—someone who broke into its home and seemingly threatened its cubs. It dropped to all fours and gave chase relentlessly.
Seeing this, Yuu glanced sideways at the Nen beast with its bulging belly, sleeping soundly. He couldn't help but complain:
"Eat, sleep, sleep, eat... Useless in danger, and I have to cover for you. What a useless guy..."
However, as soon as the words left his mouth.
The Nen beast seemed to understand Yuu...
Its previously lethargic body miraculously wiggled a few times. It lifted its head and let out a few "woo woo" sounds.
Yuu could clearly feel... it was expressing its dissatisfaction.
Although its appearance was still just a little black worm.
Yuu briefly felt that it was...
Kinda cute?
"No! What am I thinking!?"
Yuu hurriedly dispelled such absurd thoughts from his head, muttering internally:
"The point right now is..."
"This guy actually has self-awareness?!"
And, it looked like... its intelligence wasn't low either.
Did it have some intelligence to begin with?
Or did it gain intelligence after eating?
Or maybe, both.
"But thinking carefully... self-aware Nen beasts have appeared in the original work too."
In Yuu's memory, in the latest Dark Continent arc, during the Kakin Empire's succession war, the fourteen princes obtained their respective Nen beasts through the [Ceremony of the Seed Urn].
Most of those Nen beasts showed signs of wisdom and self-awareness.
"I didn't expect my tiny Nen beast... to have a brain too."
Yuu sighed sincerely, not expecting the Nen beast to show displeasure again.
"Woo woo!"
Yuu smiled and continued to provoke it:
"If you don't want to hear me nag, hurry up and digest the stuff in your stomach, then go back to rest."
"Once I get excited outside, I might be too lazy to look after you."
Hearing this, the black Nen beast nodded in understanding and seemed much calmer.
It curled up its body, seemingly concentrating its will... digesting the matter in its stomach.
...
Two minutes later.
With a loud "BOOM"!
The heavy snow wall outside the cave exploded.
An invisible spherical vortex, spinning and attracting the surrounding snow, punched through the wall like a large round bullet.
Close behind was a white-haired boy carrying a black backpack.
Yuu, as before, used the technique "Blue" to instantly break open the snow wall and rush out of the cave.
Moments later, the massive giant bear caused an even bigger commotion, forcefully smashing through the snow at the entrance with its body, sending snow flying into the sky!
And once again, it let out a roar that echoed through the heavens.
"ROAAAAR————!!"
This huge disturbance instantly attracted the candidates who had been wandering around for most of the day with nothing to show for it.
"It's a beast's roar! Could it be an Ice Crystal Bear?"
"Let's go check it out!"
"..."
Yuu sensed many candidates gathering nearby, quickly heading toward the sound.
Fortunately, his Nen beast had just finished digesting the energy in its stomach.
It was now in a deep sleep.
"Good work."
Yuu smiled faintly, casually withdrawing the Nen beast back into his body, then turned to face the tall white bear in front of him.
Without the beast, he could finally focus on fighting it.
Having roughly gauged the giant bear's strength earlier, Yuu was certain it wasn't even as strong as a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit. So, he didn't activate the "Limitless Technique" again.
Instead, he simultaneously channeled Cursed Energy and condensed "Ten" around his body, entering his self-created state of "Cursed Ten."
Currently, Yuu could only choose between "Ten" and the "Limitless Barrier."
Although in the "Cursed Ten" state, his defense wasn't as good as "Limitless," his physical capabilities were more than doubled.
Yuu moved with incredible speed.
Suddenly launching off the snow, he shot toward the giant bear's face!
Seeing this, the already angry giant bear thrust its sharp claws at the flying figure.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
Yuu recited the technique mentally, creating a small gravity sphere at his side. By compressing space, his body shifted in the air almost like teleportation.
Then, using the same move, he pulled himself onto the giant claw that was brushing past him.
Dodging the attack while using the claw for a second leap.
Offense as defense!
It all happened in a split second.
The giant bear had no time to react before the agile Yuu landed a vicious kick on its head.
"Bang!"
This seemingly simple strike instantly made the giant bear dizzy.
Yuu used the massive recoil to retreat rapidly, landing on the snow and sliding a distance along the ground, stopping not far from the bear.
"That felt like kicking a rock..."
Yuu silently lamented; the bear's hide was tougher than he imagined.
He had used his full strength just now, an impact at least equivalent to being hit by a speeding electric scooter, but the bear just shook its head, seemingly fine.
The giant bear attacked again.
But Yuu showed no signs of fatigue; instead, a smile appeared on his lips.
"I'll take this as a rare sparring session."
He charged at the giant bear again.
...
Half an hour later, Yuu was covered in sweat. There were four or five clearly visible scratches on his cheeks and arms.
On the other side, the giant bear looked particularly miserable. Its massive body swayed, panting heavily, clearly visible in the cold snowfield.
"Let's fight again next time."
Yuu also felt a bit tired, so he headed toward an icy lake he had noticed earlier.
As Yuu expected, the giant bear wouldn't stray too far from its nest. Seeing him walk away, it didn't pursue.
Instead, dragging its exhausted body, it returned to its lair.
On the way, Yuu couldn't help but sigh...
He stole the bear's gems and then beat it up.
And even thought about fighting it again next time...
Such behavior of "shearing the sheep"...
Seemed a bit unethical.
"Next time, I'll switch to a different bear."
Even the fattest "sheep" isn't enough if you only shear one.
Just like those gems earlier, the stock in the cave was clearly limited. To increase his harvest, it was better to increase the number of targets.
Thinking of this, Yuu glanced at the darkening sky and quickened his pace, planning to fill his stomach early and conduct a few more searches during the night.
Yuu recalled the sleeping Nen beast and guessed that it would likely undergo a significant change soon.
"Looking forward to it."
"Hope it's a cool-looking guy..."
...