X-Rank Hunter

"!"

"W-where am I?!"

Jim opened his eyes as the first to greet him were leaves from the tree that kept rustling with the wind while the other leaves kept falling from time to time. There were even a few birds perching on the branch of the tree while they were happily dancing and singing together.

It was already morning at that time and the sun had just risen trying to chase away all the coldness on the surroundings.

Jim got up from the ground as he swept his gaze around to see where he was. While he was sitting, he found himself in a place unknown to him. It was a forest, but he knew that he never came here before. Nothing was too strange as well as everything seemed normal.

Jim then closed his eyes and all he heard was a sound of a forest, a perfect place for beasts to settle. And just what he had thought, wild animals and beasts were all around while doing their daily businesses. If there was anything strange, that would be, nothing was strange.

"M-mom?" Suddenly and Surprisingly, Jim still remembered about his mother. Not only her, he checked his memory and to his shock, he remembered clearly each and everyone he knew. What was going on now? He thought that he would forget all of them as they would forget about him as well when midnight arrived. But it was already morning and he still remembered all of them? Was that all a bluff? Was all their worries and tears all for naught? That would really be a huge pity.

But wait! Jim suddenly realized that something was amiss with his behavior. Why was he regretting the fact that he didn't forget his family? Did he go mad? Shouldn't he be happy that something like this had happened instead?

Jim shook his head frenziedly trying to chase away his stupid thought. After which, he stood up and checked his current condition as well. Seeing that nothing was strange and his strength was still at its peak, Jim shifted his attention to his surroundings.

As for now, the normal range of his hearing could only reach 200 meters or so radius. If however, he focused his hearing range in a single direction, he could only reach a maximum distance of about half a kilometer diameter. That said, he wasn't able to figure out how wide was this forest really was.

Jim felt no dangers around as well. He also didn't feel uneasy despite appearing here without knowing how. Not even his sixth sense was telling him to be careful as if it was telling him to put his guard down instead and just relax.

And that was what made Jim even more aware of his surroundings. No matter what, this place was strange to him and he might encounter some hidden dangers if he walked around the area.

So to be more careful, Jim spread his arms as he spoke, "Come out, all of you!"

So then, many drops of blood came out of his body and floated in the midair. Not long after, the beads of blood morphed into red sparrows as they all flew all around and were waiting for an order.

"Spread and find out what is this place!" Jim commanded seriously. With the help of these Blood Minions of his, he might be able to learn something about this place.

With that being said, as Jim wanted to speed up the search, Jim let out another batch of beads of blood. He had just recalled about his other type of Blood Minions he created, the bee-type!

This time, the beads of blood that came out from Jim's body were way numerous than earlier. There were about a thousand of them now. Not long after, the beads of blood morphed themselves into the bees of which it was their true form. The bees then swarmed the area as Jim couldn't help but let out a smile. With this, Jim felt that he would be more at ease and could let all his worries worry for themselves. He was just hoping that with these many Blood Minions he had, he would find some valuable information regarding this place.

"Spread!" Jim waved his hand as he commanded authoritatively. The bees then dispersed in all directions trying their best to obey their creator.

"Hmmmm..." As there was nothing for him to do now other than to wait for the good news, Jim found that it was a bit boring. Should he hunt some beasts around and create few Blood Warriors? Jim felt that it would be best to do it other than to waste his time waiting stupidly.

With that in mind, Jim raised his hand at chest level and a small ball of blood, larger than the beads of blood of his Blood Minions, came out from his palm. He let it floated a little away from him as he said, "Come out!"

The small ball of blood then morphed itself into a beast. It was Jim's Evolving White Wolf! Upon coming out, it immediately let out a joyous howl as if it felt blessed being chosen by its master.

Jim knew the ability of this Evolving White Wolf. For him, this wolf could be a good mount. It could erase its presence and could stroll the forest without alarming anyone. This wolf was great to use for launching a sneak attack. But did Jim even need to use sneak attack? With his strength, he could turn any A-rank beast into one of his Blood Warriors.

But of course, Jim knew the extent of his strength well. But he knew as well that it was much better to be more careful than to be conceited with his strength. Who knew if this place was full of traps.

Jim then stared at his Evolving White Wolf as he had noticed that it was a bit muscular. He walked behind it and sure enough, this wolf was a guy! Jim nodded in realization as he'd just recalled that he was yet to name this wolf. He then put his hand on his chin contemplating seriously what name he should give to this wolf as he kept staring at the wolf like some kind of pervert.

On the other hand, Evolving White Wolf felt awkward and uneasy. What in the world was his master doing?! What was his master staring at?! Should he sit down to hide his private part? This pervert master of his could really make him mad! If he was just a girl, he might already have kicked his master to death.

"Oh, that's right!" Jim slapped his forehead as he suddenly recalled that the wolf had already had a name. It was a bit foggy but if his memories didn't fail him, his little sister who was happy meeting the wolf had given his wolf a name.

Bagsik! [1]

Jim muttered the name of his wolf given by his beloved little sister. When he walked in front of the wolf again to stare at him, the other party seemed to become some unfathomable being in his eyes. It was as if the other party had slain, and slaughtered his way to become the strongest. This name really sounded cool! Jim nodded in satisfaction.

After which, Jim jumped on Bagsik's back as he commanded while pointing in a certain direction, "Let's go, Bagsik!"

Rawr!

Bagsik didn't dare to be negligent from his master's order as he ran deeper inside the woods. He ran past towards couple numbers of beasts and wild animals but none of them noticed his presence at all. As if he was just a wind passing by.

Jim on the other hand swept his gaze around but he saw no one worthy as his Blood Warrior. Just what kind of place was this?! Jim suddenly felt annoyed seeing all the low-level beasts around. Surely, he would never make any of them as his Blood Warriors even if he had no choice anymore. He felt that he would instead waste his time creating numbers of Blood Minions than making these beasts around him as his own. He even felt that the Blood Minions he could create would be many times stronger than any of these beasts if they ever became his Blood Warriors.

"Not you, not you, not you..." Jim continued his search as he ignored every beast he stumbled upon. He didn't even know how many times he had already clicked his tongue in disappointment thinking how useless this place was.

That said, Jim closed his eyes instead as he tried to put his consciousness to his Blood Minions for him to see what were they doing. But it only made him frown even more when he realized that no matter how far and wide did his Blood Minions had spread, and no matter how many times he switched his consciousness to the random Blood Minions he had sent, he could only see endless woods with low-level beasts strolling everywhere.

Just what kind of beast-forsaken land was this?! Jim thought that the forest should be the home for the high-level beasts since they could increase their Physical Energy from the ambiance of nature. But what he saw now made him think if he was just living his entire life in a lie. Was all the teachings in the Academy all for naught? How come that there was no note-worthy beast in this forest?!