X-Rank Hunter

It didn't take long for the both of them to reach their distance on the boundary where the pillar of silver light was. And the more they came closer, the more their heart beat in restlessness. As if the place was trying to say to them, "Stay away from me!"

But the duo couldn't care much about it now. When they reached their distance, they unhesitatingly entered the boundary as both of them disappeared from the outside.

After they entered the pillar of silver light, the two of them had immediately halted their steps. They looked around them but what they saw was another forest.

But this time, it was a bit different. They could see no dead beasts in the area and instead of blood, what they smell was a fragrance of a flower. But then, the suppressive aura in that place was still too strong trying to limit their movements. If not for them being strong enough as well, then they might have already kneeling on the ground now. Or perhaps, they might not even have the ability to enter that place.

"What kind of place is this..." Ben asked. But from what it appeared, his words were more like a curious word that escaped his mouth. So Jim didn't answer him but instead, he swept his gaze across the area. Besides, even if he wanted to answer Ben, he didn't know as well what kind of place was this.

Putting aside the suppressive aura, Jim could see that that place was too peaceful to look at. And it had become even more peaceful with the fragrance of the flower blooming in the area.

Crash!

But then, the both of them suddenly heard a loud explosion as they raised their guard immediately. They turned their gaze to where the explosion came from as they finally found someone fighting.

"Is that Janine?" Ben asked in a low voice. He could see that Janine was fighting some kind of middle-aged man as she was now on the defensive.

"Bantay..." But then, instead of a reply, what Ben had heard was a worried voice.

Ben then focused his attention on the fight as he asked Jim, "Is that man, a beast? Is that your tamed beast?"

"Yes," Jim replied as his frown made his face distorted.

"Then, what are you doing? Hurry up and tell that beast to stop attacking." 

"I..." Jim already tried that but he wasn't able to contact Bantay even through telepathy. "I think Bantay is being controlled by someone else."

"Your beast is being controlled?" Ben was a bit surprised. Controlling some kind of beast that was already been tamed was something that was not too easy to do. It needed an abundant amount of Mental Energy to do such a feat. Especially when they were talking about a beast in a High Ranker level.

But Jim's beast was actually being controlled? That was really surprising. Ben could see that Jim's beast was a High Ranker. To control such a beast, that individual must not be ordinary.

"I think the one controlling my beast is the other X-rank we are looking for..." Jim made a guess with their current situation. And from what he saw, Jim felt that his guess was highly likely to be correct.

Ben nodded his head as a response. He could tell as well that there was a high chance that the other X-rank Hunter was hiding somewhere and was planning to attack them.

"Then, shall we forcefully stop your beast?" Ben asked. He could see that Janine was on the defensive and was being pushed back. But well, it was only because she was protecting the little beast she held in her arms. That way, she would definitely be suppressed especially when she was fighting a High Ranker beast that had just lose its mind.

"Alright," Jim nodded in agreement. He could see that Bantay was suffering in his current state as saving him by stopping him forcefully was the best choice they could do now.

After Ben heard Jim's agreement, he suddenly disappeared from where he was standing with a swoosh and little shockwaves. After which, he appeared just behind Bantay as he was already attacking the other party with a short sword.

Ben's sword then cut on Bantay's back as Bantay shouted in great pain. Bantay had immediately turned around as he swung his hand only to hit no one.

Janine, on the other hand, had finally managed to escape Bantay's furious barrage of attack. She could just reflect the other party's attack but since the little creature was with her, she couldn't do so.

Because every time she received an attack and then use her bloodline ability to reflect it, the reflected force would first, enter her body and then come out of her body to go in all directions. That being said, since she was holding the little creature, the reflected force would definitely hit it if she used her bloodline ability to reflect damage.

Yes, every time she reflected a certain amount of damage, she could guide the reflected force in a certain direction allowing her to have a good defense and offense at the same time. But even so, her entire body was still releasing the reflected force making anyone or anything that touched her received a certain amount of damage.

And Janine wasn't planning to harm the little beast in any way. With that being said, Janine was being pushed back by a mere beast making her a bit frustrated.

But now that she was free from the barrage of attack, she was really thankful to the one who helped her. But when she saw the one who helped her, she couldn't help but snort with a pout. "I can just take care of myself, why do you meddle to the other people's business?"

Thankfully, Ben didn't have a good hearing ability like Jim as he didn't hear Janine. And since he was busy fighting and suppressing Bantay, he couldn't care much about anything around him too.

But Jim clearly heard Janine's whining. And he couldn't help but put on a bitter smile. Nonetheless, he couldn't care much about it as he went closer to Janine as he asked, "Why did you suddenly enter here, what if something bad happened to you?"

Janine shifted her gaze at Jim as she tilted her head in confusion before she frowned. "Why do you care? Are you my mom?"

When Jim heard it, his complexion suddenly turned dark. His veins were even popping out on his forehead out of sheer frustrations. Who did she think she was? Did she really think that he cared about her too much? He was just putting some concern about her since she was too careless, but now that Jim thought about it, this brute didn't deserve such treatment.

Just why in the world did they even try to follow this ungrateful brute here in this place? Jim didn't have in any mood to talk with her now but before he could even turn around and leave, he suddenly heard the other party speaking again.

"Hold my little baby for a bit. I'm just going to beat up that old man." After Janine said those words, she passed the little creature to Jim carefully as she cracked the bones on both of her fists. She was even tilting her head from left to right then right to left so that she could crack some bones on her neck.

After what happened to them earlier, Janine was now trusting Jim when it comes to holding her first love. She trusted that Jim wouldn't run away with this little creature anymore.

That being said, she could let Jim hold with her first love for a moment. After she was done with her business, she could just get back her first love from Jim.

On the other hand, Jim found his eyebrows twitching violently. Who did she think he was? Was the other party treating him like some kind of babysitter? Jim's frustration couldn't help but level up as he held the little creature's body with both of his hands.

But when Jim was about to refuse Janine, he would have just found the other party already left and was rushing towards Bantay's direction. And this made Jim's frustration level up once more.

That brute was really making him mad!

Jim couldn't help but shift his gaze to the little beast he was holding.

But the little beast saw the expression of Jim full of dissatisfaction while it was being held by him. The little beast had immediately turned sad as its eyes had become watery. It could be seen that the little beast was now about to cry at any moment.

Seeing this, Jim's mouth twitched uncontrollably for a few moments before he hurriedly forced a smile. He even lifted the little beast above his head as if it was some sort of treasure that Jim had so proud about.

Jim was afraid that if he didn't do something like that, the little beast would cry out aloud making it a bit more annoying. Helpless, he could only try his best to please the little beast.

And it appeared that his effort was paid off as the little beast's sadness had immediately turned to joy. And this made Jim heaved a sigh of relief. It was as if he had just overcome some sort of danger.