Chapter 4: Unexpected Guests
The next morning, Leo ate some wind-dried beast meat to replenish his energy, then left the palace and headed toward the sea.
With his level now at 23, the aura required for further upgrades had become enormous.
After half a year of hunting, the large prey in the forest had dwindled significantly, and his leveling speed had inevitably slowed down.
Given this, Leo no longer fixated on leveling up quickly.
Today, he planned to visit the seaside. On one hand, he wanted to try hunting marine creatures—large fish or crustaceans should provide decent aura.
On the other hand, he also wanted a change of taste. After half a year of eating land animals, he was getting a bit tired of it.
He slung a self-made leather backpack over his shoulders, containing a stone knife, bone spear, fire starter, and some dry rations.
The leather armor, after half a year of use, fit him quite well, and the bone plates on key areas provided effective defense against ordinary claws and teeth.
...
Just as Leo set off for the seaside, on the other side of the dimensional rift.
Satotz, Casper, and Selena were cautiously making their way through the forest. Since entering the dimensional rift, they had explored quite a few areas.
"Mr. Satotz, look at this!"
Casper crouched beside a peculiar fern plant, carefully collecting a sample and placing it into a specialized container.
"This type of plant is nearly extinct in the outside world. I never expected to find a complete ecological community here!"
The young scholar was as excited as a child, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses.
His backpack was already filled with plant samples, soil samples, and insect specimens.
Selena followed behind him, chewing gum, her right hand always resting on the hilt of the short knife at her waist. She scanned the surroundings warily, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Casper, you're getting too excited," she muttered. "Be more cautious. This dimensional rift feels a bit off—since we entered, we've been walking for nearly two hours, and the creatures we've encountered can be counted on one hand. That's not right."
Satotz, walking at the front, nodded.
The Ruins Hunter was dressed in a well-tailored suit, his purple hair neatly combed, with only a mustache on the lower half of his face. His sharp eyes observed the surroundings.
"Selena is right," Satotz's voice was calm but alert. "Judging by the environment, there's ample sunlight, lush vegetation, and no shortage of water. There should be a large number of creatures living here. But along the way, we've only seen a few small birds and insects."
He stopped and crouched to examine the ground.
"And... look at these traces."
Casper and Selena moved closer. On the ground were faint claw marks, already blurred, but they could tell they belonged to some medium-sized beast.
Strangely, there were no fresh droppings or fur around the claw marks, as if the beast hadn't been active in this area for a long time.
"It's like they were driven away, or..." Selena didn't finish, but the implication was clear.
"Hunted," Satotz stood up.
"If the entire forest is like this, it means there's a powerful predator here, or... someone is systematically hunting."
The three exchanged glances.
If it was the former, they needed to be careful; if it was the latter, the situation was even more complicated—who would be hunting long-term in a dimensional rift?
Natives? Or explorers who had entered before them?
"Keep moving, stay alert," Satotz made the decision.
Their direction of travel was precisely toward the location of the palace.
...
Meanwhile, Leo was on his way to the seaside.
He was following a frequently used hunting route, thoroughly familiar with the surrounding environment.
While passing a hillside along the way, he casually destroyed a medium-sized ant nest.
Over the past six months, he had deliberately left some ant nests untouched, clearing only a portion each time, then returning to "harvest" after the colony had rebuilt.
This sustainable approach allowed him to steadily obtain a small amount of aura.
[Aura +6.8]
[Level: 23 (13.8%)]
The gains were modest, but better than nothing.
Leo continued onward, checking several traps he had set earlier, successfully catching two wild rabbits and a groundhog.
When handling these small prey, his movements were skilled and efficient, completing the skinning and meat extraction in just a few minutes.
"That should be enough." He wrapped the animal meat in leaves, placed it in his backpack, and continued toward the seaside.
After walking for about half an hour, Leo suddenly stopped.
There was movement ahead.
Not the sound of wild animals—it was voices, and more than one person.
Leo instantly grew alert.
"People! Did they come from outside? I wonder how strong they are?"
He quickly concealed himself behind a dense thicket of bushes, peering through the gaps in the foliage toward the front.
At the same time, he suppressed his breathing, minimizing his body's aura as much as possible.
Six months of hunting had honed his perfect stealth skills.
The voices grew clearer.
"Be careful, this thing has aggressive intentions!"
"I know! But it's an endangered species, Selena, don't attack!"
"Tch, what a hassle."
Leo slowly moved forward, his movements as light as a cat's. Soon, he saw the source of the voices—
In a clearing in the forest, three people were surrounding a cave badger.
Leo recognized this creature: it resembled a badger but was larger in size, with well-developed forelimbs adept at digging burrows and a fierce temperament.
This cave badger was baring its teeth at the three, emitting a low, threatening growl, but it didn't attack outright, seemingly wary of something.
Then he looked at the three people.
Purple hair, a refined suit, a face without a mouth... Leo's pupils contracted slightly, and his calm heart couldn't help but stir with excitement.
Satotz?
The examiner for the first phase of the Hunter Exam, the Ruins Hunter who screened candidates through a marathon?
Leo quickly recalled the plot of Hunter × Hunter.
Satotz, a professional Hunter specializing in ruins exploration, with a meticulous personality.
In the original story, he was one of the few Hunters who never fought, and his strength remained unknown.
The other two—a bespectacled young man carrying a large backpack, looking scholarly; and a red-haired woman with a fit build, a short knife at her waist, currently looking annoyed as she sheathed her half-drawn blade.
"Selena, don't harm it," the bespectacled man, Casper, said urgently.
"If we can't harm it, then what do we do?" Selena grumbled as she returned the knife to its sheath.
Satotz stepped forward. "Let me handle it. I can subdue it."
He raised his right hand, palm facing forward.
Leo was in a state of Zetsu, unable to sense Nen—but the cave badger seemed to sense something, suddenly growing restless and taking a few steps back.
Just as Satotz was about to act, his movements abruptly paused.
Immediately afterward, this professional Hunter sharply turned his head, his gaze accurately fixed on the direction of the bushes where Leo was hiding!
"Someone's there!" Satotz's voice suddenly turned cold.
Casper and Selena were both startled, quickly turning toward the direction Satotz was looking at, instantly assuming combat stances.
Selena's blade was drawn another half-inch from its sheath, while Casper pulled a metal baton from the side pocket of his backpack.
"Come out now!" Selena shouted sharply. "Or we'll attack!"
Behind the bushes, Leo's heart skipped a beat.
"Discovered?"
How was that possible? His current stealth ability was so refined that even beasts known for their keen sense of smell would struggle to detect him. Moreover, he was at least twenty meters away, with trees providing cover in between.
It was En!
Leo understood instantly.
Satotz had been maintaining his En for vigilance. While Leo was hiding nearby observing, he had inadvertently leaked a trace of his aura, which was detected by Satotz's En.
Since he had been discovered, there was no point in continuing to hide.
Leo took a deep breath, slowly stood up, and raised both hands to signal that he was unarmed.
He stepped out from behind the bushes and faced the three of them.
The cave badger, which had been prepared to fight for its life under the threat, turned and fled the scene the moment it saw Leo.
"Hello, I mean no harm," Leo said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.
Under the sunlight, Leo's full appearance was revealed to the three.
He wore a crude cloak stitched together from multiple animal hides, with a leather armor of the same material underneath, reinforced with bone plates at key points.
A stone knife and several bone throwing darts hung from his waist, and he carried a bulging leather backpack on his back.
His skin was tanned to a wheat color from long-term sun exposure, with faint traces of weathering on his face, but his eyes were clear and sharp.
He appeared young, with a lean and sturdy build, and his movements carried an alertness and coordination uncommon in ordinary people.
Casper widened his eyes in surprise. "I never expected someone to have survived in this dimensional rift until now!"
Selena did not sheathe her blade. She scrutinized Leo up and down, her eyes filled with caution. "Who are you? How long have you been here?"
Satotz remained silent, but his gaze fell on Leo like a tangible weight, as if trying to see right through him.
Leo could feel those eyes assessing every detail about him: his posture, breathing, muscle tension, weapon placement...
The scrutiny of a hunter, with pressure as heavy as a mountain.