As Yuu continued his "Nen" training, he could feel the changes in his body more clearly every day. His limbs, muscles, bones, and even his internal organs were growing stronger under the constant nourishment of his aura.
This included his innate gift—the "Six Eyes."
Because of the Six Eyes, Yuu was born with the ability to acutely perceive the flow of energy around him, granting him a panoramic, God's-eye view of his surroundings.
This trait was actually quite similar to "En" (Circle), one of the advanced Nen techniques.
The difference was that "En" had to be expanded through diligent training, whereas the range of the Six Eyes was a talent determined at birth.
However, by practicing Nen, the Six Eyes now had the potential to evolve.
...
Right now, Yuu was perched high atop a steep cliff, scanning the snowfield below.
Using "Gyo" (Focus) to concentrate aura into his eyes, he temporarily boosted his visual range.
Normally, he could perceive everything within a radius of about a hundred yards. With "Gyo" active, that range expanded to roughly three hundred yards.
"Even without 'Gyo', my base range has expanded by a few yards thanks to the constant nourishment of Nen."
The difference was small.
But considering he had only been practicing for a few days, it was significant.
If he kept this up, maybe one day he wouldn't even need "Gyo" to scan an area of several thousand yards.
"Though, if the range gets too big, my brain might fry from information overload... diminishing returns and all that."
Yuu suppressed his excitement and stopped overthinking it.
He shifted his focus back to the exam: finding those "Ice Crystal Bears."
According to Bisky, these bears lived in caves. And in this snowy mountain range, most caves were buried under thick layers of snow, making them nearly impossible to find with the naked eye.
Even for Yuu, the howling wind and shifting snow made it tricky to pinpoint the exact locations instantly.
About fifteen minutes later.
Yuu, who had been standing still as a statue, suddenly moved, shaking the accumulated snow from his hair.
"Found one."
Muttering to himself, he flared his Cursed Energy and dashed toward the location he had sensed.
Moments later, Yuu stood before a cave entrance completely sealed by a wall of snow. Inside, he sensed a massive bear, easily fifteen feet long.
Judging by its rhythm, it was fast asleep. He could faintly feel its slow breathing and steady heartbeat.
Yuu looked at the thick wall of snow blocking his path, then glanced up at the rabbit-shaped airship hovering in the sky.
He wondered what Bisky was doing right now...
Was she peeping on him?
It wasn't narcissism; he just didn't want anyone witnessing the technique he was about to use.
After observing for a few minutes and confirming that no eyes were locked on him, he relaxed his guard slightly.
"Let's make this quick."
Yuu quietly began to channel his Cursed Energy. He infused the surging power into his technique formula and aimed his palm at the snow wall.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
The next instant, a sphere of dark blue gravity, crackling with black Cursed Energy, formed in front of him.
As soon as it took shape, it became a ferocious vortex. It began to violently pull in the surrounding snow, plowing forward along the path Yuu had set.
In seconds...
"Blue" bored through the snow wall that was several yards thick, carving out a temporary tunnel just big enough for Yuu to walk through.
He moved quickly, slipping through the gap opened by the singularity.
Once he was through, he dispelled the technique, which was now packed tight with compressed snow.
Thud.
A heavy, dense ball of snow hit the ground with a muffled sound.
Fortunately, the noise didn't wake the giant sleeping inside.
...
Inside the cave.
It was pitch black, but that didn't bother Yuu in the slightest.
He walked along the snow-covered floor toward the back of the cave, activating his technique to wrap the "Infinity" barrier around himself.
A few steps later, he found the sleeping giant.
Now that he was up close, the details were much clearer than when he had sensed them from hundreds of yards away.
Thick fur. Razor-sharp claws.
The massive bear was curled up in a ball, like a pill bug, exposing only its back. Its back was covered in crystal spikes of various sizes, acting as natural armor.
It looked like an unarmored Dragon Turtle.
"Going by aura alone... this guy doesn't seem that strong," Yuu concluded after observing the Nen leaking from the bear.
Then again, that might not be accurate.
The biggest difference between humans and animals in this world was that animals didn't know how to train systematically to increase their total aura capacity.
So, judging an animal's combat power solely by "Total Nen" wasn't always reliable.
Yuu quietly skirted around the giant bear and headed deeper into the cave. He sensed a cluster of smaller life forms there—newborn Ice Crystal Bear cubs.
Their auras were weak but full of vitality.
Compared to the fifteen-foot monster behind him, these cubs were only about the size of a house cat.
They actually looked... kinda cute.
Yuu noticed that firmly grasped in their tender little claws were the blue gems Bisky had shown them earlier.
Looking closely, the gems were swirling with thick "Nen."
In other words, they were packed with life energy.
Yuu picked up a stray blue gem from the ground. Separated from it by his invisible barrier, he hovered his hand over it to inspect it.
"The material looks similar to the crystal spikes on the mom's back."
"But... why do only these gems contain such dense life energy?"
Yuu couldn't figure it out, but he decided it wasn't worth the brain power.
"Looks like I pass." Yuu smiled to himself, ready to stash the gem in his backpack.
But then, he remembered his black Nen beast.
"Speaking of which, I wonder if my pet can eat this stuff."
Seeing the dense energy wrapped around the gem, Yuu thought it was the perfect opportunity to test his Nen beast's dietary preferences.
He conjured the long-starved black worm in his palm.
The gem was floating right next to it.
"If it wants to eat, it should crawl over there on its own."
That was Yuu's theory.
He waited patiently for a few minutes... but the beast didn't move.
It acted like it was blind.
Even though a delicious, energy-rich blue gem was right there, the beast refused to budge.
"Picky eater?"
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
If this thing only ate sweets and refused everything else... it was going to be pretty useless.
No.
Being a picky eater is a bad habit.
It needs to be fixed!
With that in mind, Yuu didn't care if it was willing or not. He grabbed the Nen beast with his other hand and dropped it directly onto the gem.
Fortunately, once physical contact was made...
The beast seemed to sense the abundant life energy. Its appetite kicked in, and it finally reacted.
Latching onto the gem, it began to slowly absorb the nutrients through its skin. Its body grew at a microscopic rate.
Yuu watched silently...
After standing there for about thirty minutes, the beast finally drained the life energy from the gem. Its belly was swollen and round again.
Meanwhile...
The gem had lost its luster. The deep blue had faded to a pale white, clearly a result of the energy being drained.
"Just one small gem filled up my gluttonous beast, with energy to spare... this really is good stuff."
Yuu glanced at the cubs nearby. He decided to grab two more gems while he was at it.
However, aside from the one he found on the ground, the rest were tightly gripped in the cubs' claws.
Just as he reached out to gently pry a paw open, a heart-wrenching cry erupted from the cub's mouth.
At the same instant, Yuu felt the giant bear behind him wake up. A deep, thunderous roar drowned out the cub's cry.
"ROAAAAR————!!"
Massive vibrations shook the ground. Yuu listened to the heavy footsteps that threatened to collapse the cave and turned around.
Looking up into the darkness, he saw a massive silhouette that nearly scraped the ceiling of the cave.
It was blocking his exit.