You're wrong, she said flatly. 'My arrow saved the cat.' The simple, direct contradiction made Dev's head snap toward her in surprise. She had seen it the focused, deadly energy gathering at Aryan's fingertips in that final moment. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't the technique of a boy at play.
"I was hunting," Aryan said simply, his gaze steady.
"Hunting a 7th Layer Qi Condensation Realm Shadow Cat?" Dev scoffed, stepping forward.
"With that piece of pig iron?" He gestured dismissively toward the simple steel sword in Aryan's hand. "You're either a liar or an idiot."
"Dev," Leela said, her voice sharp, and the man fell silent instantly, though his hostile gaze remained fixed on Aryan.
Leela took another step closer, her jade eyes scanning him from head to toe. She noted his simple but practical clothes, the lack of a proper pack, the calmness in his eyes that was completely at odds with the situation. He wasn't afraid. He was assessing them, just as they were assessing him.
'Those who come this deep are either fools about to die or hunters seeking a specific prize. Which are you?'
It was a test, a statement designed to elicit a reaction, to confirm her theory.
Aryan's expression did not change. "The Final Trial is to be held in this forest. I believe in thorough preparation."
His answer was logical, plausible. It explained his presence without revealing anything concrete. It was the perfect, measured truth.
Leela's eyes narrowed slightly. She was a hunter of beasts, but she was also a hunter of men. She could read the subtle tells of deceit a shifting gaze, a nervous twitch, a waver in the voice. She saw none of them in Aryan. She saw only a deep, unsettling stillness, a calm that felt less like youthful innocence and more like a deep, frozen lake.
"The Silverleaf Rangers patrol this forest," she said, her voice a warning. "We keep the most dangerous beasts from straying too close to the cities, and we deal with poachers and other... unauthorized parties. This is our territory."
"I'm no poacher," Aryan replied. "I only claim what I kill."
A long silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken questions and suspicions. Dev was tense, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, clearly viewing Aryan as a threat to be eliminated. Leela was more thoughtful, her mind weighing the variables. This boy was an anomaly. His cultivation was difficult to read, but he was clearly no ordinary novice. He was calm, intelligent, and possessed a technique that had given her, a veteran hunter, a moment of genuine pause. He was either a high-born young master from a powerful clan, secretly testing himself, or he was something else entirely. Something more dangerous.
"The cat's hide and core are ours," Leela said finally, her voice leaving no room for negotiation. "We delivered the killing blow."
Aryan wiped his simple blade on a leaf, a small, professional gesture that mimicked Dev's.
Only then did he nod. "As is your right." He made no move to contest their claim. The hide was valuable, and the core of a 7th Layer Qi Condensation Realm beast was a potent alchemical ingredient, but they were not worth a fight against two trained professionals at or above his level. He had already gotten what he truly wanted from the encounter the data.
His calm acquiescence unnerved them more than any argument would have. They had expected a protest, a negotiation, the typical reaction of a young cultivator having a prize snatched away. His detached acceptance was not normal.
Leela made a decision. "We're making camp nearby. You'll come with us." It was not an invitation; it was an order. "We'll talk more in the morning. And you will not cause any trouble."
She turned and began to expertly carve out the Shadow Cat's spiritual core with a small, sharp knife. Dev stood guard, his body positioned between Aryan and Leela, his hostility a palpable force.
Aryan watched them, his mind a silent, spinning calculator. His experiment had been contaminated, but the contamination itself had yielded a new, fascinating set of data.
The Silverleaf Rangers. A patrol in the deep woods. He was no longer just a hunter. He was now, for all intents and purposes, their prisoner. And as he followed them out of the clearing into the deeper darkness, he began to analyze this new, unexpected phase of his field test.