Early in the morning, Kevin and his three companions were fully equipped and ready to go, heading out of the village.
"Be careful!" Melusine waved her hand and shouted from behind.
Kevin turned his head, waved, and smiled goodbye.
"Be careful, haha!" Menchi mimicked him in a sarcastic tone.
"No one will think you're mute if you don't speak," Kevin glared at her.
"Hmph. I wonder who was so stubborn a few days ago."
Menchi mumbled, then stretched out her hand and waved vigorously. "Don't worry, I'll remind him to bring you a gift!"
"So talkative. Let's go, let's go."
Four days had passed since the hunting day.
They were fully prepared now and had gathered intelligence, planning to go out together. Melusine had been coming to find Kevin every day these past few days, and she had become friends with the group. Learning that they were going out today, she had come specially to see them off.
Buhara and Gowen were not as lively as Menchi, but these past few days, they had to admit that regardless of any issues with the Saintess's identity, judging solely by Melusine's actions and will, she seemed to simply like Kevin.
As for Kevin...
He could distinguish good from evil, which allowed him to clearly feel the fluctuations in Melusine's emotions. And the other party completely matched his preferences. He was still a normal man.
If he hadn't maintained his most basic vigilance, he might have truly fallen.
However, he set those thoughts aside for now. They had more important things to do.
After crossing the boundary, the group stood at the edge, all looking at Kevin.
Kevin stood stunned for a moment, then finally sighed helplessly. "That guy is so impatient. It started buzzing in my ear as soon as I stepped out."
Clearly, the over here sound had directly sounded in his ear.
"No useful intelligence was gathered from outside either," Menchi said, somewhat helplessly. "Now, whether one can hear the difference in the over here sound—perhaps aside from luck, it might be due to different Nen abilities."
They had waited these past few days in the village for intelligence from outside to arrive.
Gathering intelligence naturally took time, but the information they received was very unclear. Excluding superficial factors, the only possibility was different Nen abilities. If it were truly just a matter of luck, there would be nothing to discuss.
And Nen abilities, for a Nen user, are generally hidden information—making it extremely difficult to gather useful intelligence.
Over the years, the number of Hunters who had come here and heard the over here sound, while not many, was not small either. Although the specific Nen abilities remained unknown, through some intelligence analysis, no commonalities had been found among them.
In the end, they could only come out themselves to see and test what the over here sound truly intended to do.
Kevin was primarily responsible, with Menchi and the other two assisting.
At night, they successfully arrived at the edge of that maple forest.
"Nothing unexpected," Menchi said. "And the sound in your ear hasn't sped up, right?"
Kevin nodded. "Unlike last time. It's normal now—ringing once every hour."
"Then let's wait and see if something like last time happens."
Due to insufficient intelligence, they could only do this.
Two more days passed like this.
These past few days, they had been practicing catching Red Finches around here, and Kevin could now easily catch them. Menchi and the others were still a bit behind—the speed of the Red Finches was still too fast for them.
However, they weren't specifically here to catch Red Finches. It was just something they did along the way. Moreover, Red Finches were clearly inedible, so their motivation wasn't great.
"It's been three days, and there's been no change at all," Menchi sat by the campfire, poking the fire with a stick and muttering.
Kevin also didn't understand why it was so quiet this time.
Was it because the stay wasn't long enough?
Last time, they had stayed here for nearly a week. This time it had only been three days—so the effect wasn't enough? Or perhaps some restrictive condition hadn't been met?
There were many possibilities, and they could only guess.
"Do you think it's possible that on the hunting day, you weren't actually the target—but Melusine was?" Menchi suddenly thought of this possibility and voiced it.
This made everyone pause.
"There's a possibility," Buhara said helplessly. "But it's impossible to confirm, isn't it?"
It was impossible to bring Melusine out. That was completely out of the question.
"Forget it," Kevin said. "Stay vigilant at all times. Let's complete our own objective first."
Their purpose for coming here was to hunt some of the unique creatures within this Secret Realm.
They temporarily couldn't find the source of the potential danger posed by the over here sound. This was merely a distracting factor. Their objective wouldn't change—it would be putting the cart before the horse to abandon their goal just to figure out the distraction.
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
Soon, they delved deeper into the dense forest, beginning to search for their targets using the Secret Realm distribution map they had seen before.
The creatures in this Secret Realm varied in size. Some were considerably larger than those outside.
It wasn't that the environment of the Secret Realm was different, but rather that the concentration of creatures here provided enough food for large-bodied creatures.
However, large size didn't necessarily mean strength—just like the Hidden Snake that had instantly knocked Gowen unconscious earlier. If it had been a large-bodied creature, Gowen would have had a much easier time fighting or fleeing. But facing those small snakes, he had instantly lost the ability to resist.
Red Finches were a similar situation. Menchi and Buhara couldn't do anything against them currently.
Danger and threat levels clearly couldn't be judged solely by size.
Thus, without the influence of the over here sound, the four of them circled half of the Secret Realm, harvesting various targets. They had to stop because they had collected too much to carry.
"Oh, what a great harvest!" Menchi said with a cheerful smile, carrying a large backpack taller than herself.
Buhara was no less impressive.
Since both of them were carrying ingredients, and some creatures were large, the weight and size of the ingredients took up more space—which was why they each had a large pack.
Kevin, on the other hand, only carried a small backpack. The materials he wanted were all relatively small, and this time he had deliberately avoided hunting large creatures. In Kevin's view, compared to large creatures, dangerous small creatures had a higher chance of producing high-grade materials.
This was the experience Kevin had accumulated during this period.
"But it's really unlucky that I didn't find the Phantom Beast I wanted." As a Mythical Beast Hunter, Kevin's goal was naturally rarer Phantom Beasts. Aside from the Red Finch he had hunted earliest, his other gains didn't quite meet the requirements.
"Be content. After all, this Secret Realm is so vast. It's normal not to find them."
Kevin shrugged indifferently. He was quite open-minded. He had already gained enough, so he didn't mind not hunting a Phantom Beast. Anyway, the Red Finches were still in the forest and wouldn't run away.
However, this time he had finally found a suitable fusion agent—which was also a small goal achieved.
"We have enough. It's time to go back."
Their harvest this time was excessive, exceeding the standard for Secret Realm acquisition to some extent. But it didn't matter—they just wouldn't take it out and would consume it in the village.
To some extent, for Hunters, some rules of the Secret Realm were like toilet paper. But everyone would still tacitly agree to abide by them if possible.
As they set off on their way back, Kevin's ears began to buzz again.
"Wait! The time interval for the over here sound has shortened!" Kevin shouted a warning.
"It's quite polite," Menchi grumbled, placing her backpack at her feet. "Waiting until we've almost completed our objectives before appearing."
The group's actions were consistent. They didn't flee.
Although they had been outside for so long, their condition was still quite good. Moreover, their purpose for coming out this time was to figure out the problem with the over here sound. At this moment, just as they were about to return, the over here sound emerged—which suited their intentions perfectly.
"Above!"
A shadow appeared on the ground, and a huge creature swooped down from overhead.
Everyone immediately scattered, kicking up a large amount of dust. A strong wind howled. Sand and dust were instantly blown away. After jumping aside, everyone slightly shielded their eyes with their hands and clearly saw the creature that had swooped down.
This creature was covered in bird feathers, stood on four legs, had eagle talons on its front limbs, and a pair of wings on its back. But its head was that of an eagle.
"Griffin!" Kevin instantly recognized it. This was undoubtedly a type of Phantom Beast.
"There's actually such a thing?" Buhara was a bit surprised.
Gowen looked at the Griffin, his expression somewhat dazed.
As a Knight, he had heard similar legends since childhood—Pegasus, Griffin, Dragon, and so on. Creatures like Griffins frequently appeared in various Knight novels, either becoming hunted beasts or mounts for heroes. But without exception, these were all monsters to be feared.
The one before them was even more so. Its size was a full circle larger than a giant elephant, its wings spread incredibly wide. Sharp eagle eyes stared at the group, and a gentle breeze swirled around it.
"Be careful. Legends say Griffins can control storms."
The gentle breeze currently surrounding the Griffin was proof.
Kevin couldn't help but wonder—judging by the details, was the Griffin a Transmutation-type Nen user?
In his eyes, the Nen surging from the Griffin's body transformed into something like wind, swirling around it. That was very consistent with the characteristics of Transmutation.
After this uninvited guest landed, it didn't immediately attack. Its sharp eagle eyes scanned the group, and its body adopted an offensive stance, as if vigilant.
The over here sound in his ear continued to ring incessantly. Though Kevin was used to it and could subconsciously block out the sound, he was still somewhat affected.
The Griffin spread its wings. Its exaggerated wingspan blocked out the light, and it fiercely flapped forward.
Like a hurricane passing through, sand and stones flew. A strong gale swept over the group, instantly making them unsteady.
"Get behind me!" Buhara shouted loudly.
He was large and heavy enough. At this moment, he slightly squatted, lowering his center of gravity, remaining motionless in the strong wind. Menchi, who was not far from him, quickly ran over.
As for Kevin and Gowen on the other side, they could only rely on themselves for now.
Facing such a hurricane, Kevin stomped his legs down fiercely, directly creating two pits in the ground and embedding himself firmly.
Gowen, on the other hand, materialized his greatsword and plunged it into the ground, gripping it with both hands to stabilize his body.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Strange wind-whistling sounds rang out, and unreasonable blade-shaped air appeared among the flying sand and stones.
"It's attacking!"
Several invisible wind blades pointed directly at Kevin.
Kevin blocked with his arms in front of him. Nen surged forth, forming a hexagonal barrier.
With crisp collision sounds, the wind blades gathered by the strong wind dissipated powerlessly.
Then—a red Nen arrow pierced through the hurricane and struck the Griffin's head.
Extremely irritating hot dust instantly exploded.
Though it was immediately blown away by the strong wind, a considerable portion still clung to the Griffin's head from the explosion. The extreme irritation made its head shake wildly.
It fiercely swept its wings toward Menchi's direction, sending out strong wind, wind blades, and a few feathers together.
Due to the wind pressure, Buhara couldn't dodge at all. Given the extreme speed, he had no possibility of avoiding the attack—so he could only endure it head-on. The feathers cut into his body, and a bloodstain immediately appeared on his stomach, blood flowing out. But the wound didn't seem deep.
Taking this opportunity, two more Nen arrows flew out.
One, yellowish-brown, hit the opponent's wing. After being struck, the entire wing began to shake erratically, and the wind pressure immediately lessened.
The other, jet black, was a purely offensive Nen arrow. It pierced directly through the feathers and left a crater in the Griffin's flesh.
"Now!" Kevin said.
Taking advantage of the reduced wind pressure, he stomped his legs fiercely, rushing toward the Griffin like a missile. Kevin led the way, his extreme speed tearing through the wind pressure. Gowen followed behind, gripping his greatsword.
The buzzing in his ears became increasingly noisy—reaching a point where it could no longer be ignored.
—He disappeared.
At this critical moment, Gowen was momentarily stunned, because Kevin, who had been leading the way, had vanished. He had simply disappeared before his eyes.
The wind pressure instantly changed, and the external pressure immediately sobered Gowen.
Kevin is gone.
He made a quick judgment: he had to rush to Menchi's side and rendezvous with them now. Taking advantage of the reduced wind pressure, he quickly rushed to the other side.
Kevin, who had been charging forward, instantly lunged forward, braked his movement, rolled once on the ground, and jumped to the side in one smooth motion.
But the attack did not arrive.
He looked at his surroundings. This was clearly different from where he had just been. It was a purely black yet strangely visible area.
"Some kind of Nen space?" Kevin muttered. "I've been trapped."
His Nen contracted and wrapped around his body in a defensive state. He held the syringe in his hand, ready to inject himself at any moment. He observed his surroundings warily, sending out his Nen and scanning in circles.
"Caw, caw, caw!"
A strange cry—also like the laughter of some creature—echoed through the dark space.
Kevin's scan instantly locked onto a figure.
Right in front of him, a creature appeared in the dark space. Though this space was dark, it didn't lack brightness. A humanoid creature stood before him, with black feathers on its body. Judging by the claws extending out, it clearly had bird-like features. It had a bird's head on its neck but stood upright like a human.
"Raven?" Kevin stated the other party's identity.
This was a highly intelligent magical beast, almost indistinguishable from humans in cunning, and rare in number. He had never heard of such a magical beast in this Secret Realm—there were no records or intelligence about it.
"Human." The raven spoke in a hoarse, sharp, and strange tone.
"You can communicate. You're intelligent." Kevin kept his voice steady. "So... can you let me out?"
"Caw, caw. Of course you can get out—as long as you die."
The strange tone made it clear: the other party's hostility was undisguised.
"Your malice toward me is truly overwhelming," Kevin said. "Did I do something to offend you?"
He felt that he had always been benevolent. Even with magical beasts, as long as they could communicate, he would treat them kindly.
"From the moment you stepped into this area, you offended me."
Ah. I see.
The other party seemed to want to chat. So he'd continue.
"So you're going to trap me here? My companions are still outside. And I don't think you'll be able to trap me that easily."
"Caw, caw. Let's see if they can survive the Griffin first."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Sharp whistling sounds rang out. Several feather-shaped projectiles shot directly toward Kevin.
Kevin jumped aside, dodging the attack.
He had no intention of enduring it or catching it. After all, these feathers were imbued with Nen, and this was a Nen space. He had never heard of ravens having such abilities—this seemed more like a Nen ability.
Moreover, the other party had been maintaining En the entire time.
So... non-human magical beasts can also possess Nen abilities?
Having both life force and will—it didn't seem strange at all.
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