Hanmo, the A-Rank Hunter and the publicly proclaid Ice God, liked to drink his tea when it was steaming hot. As he drank a cup with one leg over his other, he felt calm.
The mountain range today had a nice climate. The cicadas were chirping, the sunlight was warm, and the sound of the stream was healing to the soul. But bad news didn't wait for your mood to be bad to arrive, sotis, it ca when you were happy.
Shiden entered the courtyard with a pale face, and his countenance only grew paler as he noticed his ntor's gaze.
Hanmo put down his cup. "What happened?"
The youth was trembling.
Hanmo sighed and stood up. He could guess. "I predicted this with at least one of you. Just say it—I will not be disappointed. I will try not to be."
Shiden closed his eyes with bitterness. "Master, I have failed you."
Hanmo looked into the distant skies with a lancholic expression.
Shiden dropped his head in defeat. "Usually, I would feel so growth in my physical strength every day—at least a bit. But since the last three days, my daily sensation of growth had stopped happening, and the other two already have a body that is stronger than ."
Hanmo shook his head. He could barely hide the disappointnt.
A Hunter.
They were a mysterious bunch, really. Once they awakened their Hunter Ability, their physical and ntal acuity rose every day until they reached their maximum potential.
When they reached their maximum potential, other qualified Hunters assigned them a Hunter Ranking. From then onwards, they would never rise in strength.
If they stopped growing stronger when they were at the level of Tier 0 Demons, they would be a C-Rank Hunter. If they stopped growing stronger when they were at the level of Tier 1 Hunters, they would be B-Rank Hunters. If they stopped growing stronger when they were at the level of Tier 2 Hunters, they would be A-Rank Hunters.
The current Shiden could be called a mighty B-Rank Hunter… but nothing more. And he had stopped growing stronger.
Once a Hunter stopped growing in strength, they would forever remain at that level.
Unlike Demons who could grow stronger and have breakthroughs, a Hunter was forever cursed to be the level they start at.
"It is a pity," Hanmo said, hiding his own sadness. Shiden really was his hope to save the world. The Trio Hunters wouldn't be the Trio Hunters if even one piece of the puzzle were lost.
Shiden leaned against the wall. "Master, is there really no way for a Hunter to grow stronger? B-Rank… is that going to be my limit?"
Hanmo closed his eyes. "A Hunter cannot grow in strength. I awakened as a Hunter years ago and I was an A-Rank since the beginning. I have never been able to go beyond that myself. It's not like we didn't try. It's just… hopeless."
Clenching his hand, Shiden silently sobbed.
Hanmo didn't bla the youth. The other two were now surely going to beco A-Rank Hunters. They were on the cusp of it, and they hadn't stopped growing stronger. A week more or so, and that will happen—Shiden must be feeling left alone.
Poor boy.
"Even if you are just B-Rank, you are not useless, Shiden," Hanmo smiled at a squirrel in the distance. "In the end, if soone destroys the Defensive Magic Skin of the higher demons, you can still touch them and change their shape in one go. That is a very wonderful power. Yes, you might not be an A-Rank, but you can be even more useful than them."
Silently, Shiden wept.
A Hunter just couldn't grow stronger.
Hanmo hugged the youth against his chest.
***
The noon sun was blazing.
At the mont, Mark was nearly a hundred ters away from the old Japanese aesthetic mountain mansion where Hanmo and his disciples were—a hamster sitting atop his head. He hadn't brought Dona along this ti, he had left her in the lab just in case this got ugly.
He could escape faster if he were alone.
Mark breathed in slowly.
He was in the woods, sitting at the peak of a pine tree surrounded by bamboo as he blocked the sunlight with his wings. He was rather uncalm.
Fighting against people like Hanmo just made you nervous—even if it wasn't a face-to-face battle. But the nerves helped make you more focused, too.
It was a sort of excitent, a craving for a worthy challenge.
He breathed out slowly.
Mark had never stood at the top of the world in anything, and he didn't know what it was like to be there. He believed that people who stood at that level must have a different mindset—a way of seeing things that people at the bottom would never relate to.
What did it take to stand there?
Luck?
Maybe.
But whatever it was, Mark had never been there, and it was his first ti facing soone who had been at that top place for years—Hanmo.
It made Mark both nervous and excited to find himself against such a person. For one, if he could outwit Hanmo, it would an that he was also worthy of standing at the top, and if he failed, Mark knew he could learn from this.
What was a must was just to survive and get Shiden as his own.
And for that, Mark had so plans. He looked at the figure of a young man at the bottom of the pine tree he was atop. It was the figure of none other than his Puppet, Seo Ran Hun.
This was his plan.
Seo Ran Hun was not only Mark's puppet but also one of Shiden's classmates. Moreover, Sun Ran Hun was the cousin of the young man whom the Trio Hunters caused to die, Seo Jin Hu. The Trio will give Seo Ran Hun so face at least.
The puppet ignored Mark's gaze and started climbing the mountain—Mark didn't even let his Soul Sense follow it.
He just used the senses of the puppet and for now, considered it as his focus point. He planned to use two tricks. For one, he would first get into Hanmo's gang, and slowly, he would find a chance to get Shiden alone.
Then, he had the confidence to defeat Shiden in battle easily.
A Hunter as high ranked as Hanmo would surely notice any Soul Sense even if he didn't have a Soul Sense of his own. Mark didn't want to risk it. So, he focused his senses on his Puppet and controlled it deliberately to walk forward.
The Puppet, too, was a Hunter with an amazing ability. It was just that, as of now, it was only of entry-level B-Rank. And since it was a classmate and a fellow human, imdiate aggression from the enemies was not going to happen.
Mark had also set up a hidden cara in the puppet's sleeve just in case he got so reputation-ruining content against the Trio Hunters. Get in, get comfortable with them, talk them into sothing, and slowly separate Hanmo from Shiden and steal Shiden's ability.
Once he stole Shiden's ability, Mark could change his own appearance to act like soone else. He could hide from Hanmo easily.
Mission, Stealing Shiden, begin.
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