X-Rank Hunter

"Hmph," Ben harrumphed coldly seeing that Janine had actually wanted to come with them. However, although he appeared cold outside, why was it that he felt happy and relieved when he heard Janine was coming? Ben couldn't understand himself at all. Perhaps, it was because of the trouble that Janine would bring in her wake if she was not with them. Who knew if she might cause a beast stampede if they let her alone.

"Alright!" On the other hand, seeing that all of them agreed to look for the other one, Jim didn't want to waste any more of their time as he decided to go onwards.

The sooner they meet the other one, the better it would be. But of course, they couldn't be careless. Who knew if the other one would be hostile to them and then attack them without reason if they met each other. Although if they fought, and it would likely be 3v1, they couldn't be underestimating any of the X-rank Hunters. After all, each of them was incredibly strong in their own ways. Who knew if the other party had a trick on his/her sleeve that could fight multiple opponents.

Jim knew this fact full well. And he would definitely try his best to put on his wariness against the other one.

But then, the three of them hadn't even taken a single step when suddenly, a tremendously terrifying aura engulfed the whole land. Without any exception, all the three of them had their cold sweats drenching them as even breathing was hard for them.

What in the world was going on now? The three of them simultaneously shifted their gaze in a certain direction. They even jumped and climbed up a certain tree as they finally saw something like a pillar of silver light striking the sky. When they saw it, they were more than sure that the suppressive aura came from it. Just what in the world was that?!

"Let's go there!" Jim said. After which, he waved his hand and Bagsik had turned into blood and then came back onto him. He then shifted his gaze to the both of them as he said, "Both of you, hold onto me."

That place was pretty far away for them to walk into. He didn't know how long for the other two but if Jim walked with his feet, he calculated that he would reach that distance in half a day even if he ran in his fastest.

But thankfully, one of his Blood Minions was found near that direction they were heading. Jim planned to use Exchange so that they could go there with almost no time.

"Alright," Ben walked closer to Jim as he held his shoulder. He could still guess what the other party wanted to do.

Janine on the other hand couldn't make sense of what Jim was about to do but seeing Ben obeying his command, she still grabbed Jim's arm without question. And with an innocent look at that.

As long as the little creature was in her arms, she couldn't be bothered by any other else.

Seeing that it was now all ready, Jim took a deep breath before he said, "Exchange!"

After saying that word, the three of them disappeared leaving only a red bee that replaced them.

****

"What the... hell is this..." Ben had a hard time gulping a mouthful of saliva when he saw the pillar of silver light this close. The aura it exuded out was way more oppressive than before.

Around them were many corpses of beasts of which their body had many cuts or had a missing part. The stink of blood was all over the place as if a war had just occurred here not too long ago.

Ben swept his gaze around to have a better understanding of the situation. But no matter how he looked at it, he only found it as the beasts being massacred by an individual. Because he could see that their wounds and the damage received by those beast corpses were caused by the same thing such as something like a sharp object.

"Bantay..."

Ben was still trying to learn what was going on when he heard Jim muttering such a word. Ben then turned his gaze to Jim as he found the other party shaking in agitation with his fist closed very tightly.

"What happened, Jim?" Ben asked. He didn't know why but this was the first time he saw the other party losing his calm.

Even Janine was a bit surprised when she saw Jim acting like that. Was the situation really that serious? And what Bantay? What did he mean by that?

"One of my tamed beasts is inside..." Jim responded with a mutter as his gaze was fixed on the pillar of silver light. Just what in the world was going on? It was faint, but he could feel that Bantay was definitely in there. So why was Bantay inside that place?

"Do you mean, inside that light?" Ben asked with a frown as he too shifted his gaze at the pillar of silver light. "What's your tamed beast doing in there?" 

"I don't know, but I'm certain that he is there..."

"Then, shall we enter?"

"..." Jim pondered over it. Although his tamed beast was there, and he didn't know if the other party was in danger, he couldn't be careless and do rash moves. And besides, even if the other party was really in danger and even died in there, the other party could still come back onto him in the form of blood as he could summon him again if he gave him Life Energy he needed.

With that in mind, Jim managed to calm his agitation. He took a deep breath as he replied to Ben, "Let's wait and see first what's going to happen."

Jim could see that even if they entered that place, there was still nothing they could do. They might even put their life in danger if they did so.

"Alright," Ben nodded his head. He could see as well that the situation was too bad for them to take lightly. He felt like even a moment of carelessness could possibly deliver them their doom.

However, the two of them had just decided what to do when suddenly, they felt that something was amiss. They looked around them before their gazes landed on each other.

"Where's Janine?" The two asked each other with three question marks above their heads. And upon realizing that neither of them knew the whereabouts of Janine, their hearts skipped a bit.

What the heck?! Where did the other party go? How did she suddenly disappear without them noticing her? The duo frenziedly looked around as they tried their hardest to search for Janine in worry.

And to their horror, they found Janine already entering the range where the pillar of light was. What the heck was this? The two of them were very careful as they didn't dare to enter that place carelessly. But who would have thought that Janine who they thought was with them was now actually entering the place they were so careful about. Was this brute even thinking? Couldn't she see the severity of the situation?

This Janine was really making them mad!

But then, why were they worried about her? It was not as if they were friends in the first place. But still, if they thought about it the other way, although they weren't friends, they weren't enemies now as well. Perhaps, their concern about her was for them wanting to be friends.

"Hold on!" Jim bellowed. But just after he said those words, Janine had already vanished on sight. It was obvious that she had just finally entered the pillar of silver light.

Tsk! Jim gritted his teeth with his fist clenched very tightly. Hesitation! He wanted to enter as well but he was too hesitant to do so.

"What to do now?" Ben asked. He even felt that he was starting to rely on the other party's decision-making.

But then, if he was the one who would be obeyed, he would rather enter the pillar of light as well. Although it appeared dangerous, he felt that something good was hidden inside. Who knew if there was some kind of treasure that might have just revealed itself.

"Damn, let's go in too!" Jim gritted his teeth. Since Janine was already inside they too should at least muster all their courage to see what was inside, right?

And also, just like Ben, he felt that something good was probably inside. He wasn't sure about it but Jim was just hoping that it was something that would benefit them.

With that in a plan, the duo rushed towards the pillar of light. Although Ben could go there in almost an instant, he still kept his speed at Jim's.

Nonetheless, they still kept their wariness against the place they were heading as not even a trace of carelessness was could be found from the both of them.