145-157

Chapter 145 No Help

'Alright, it seems that this is the limit.'

At this moment, Leonel crouched on the highest branch of a tree that could support his weight, concealing himself within the dense foliage as he analyzed the gun in his hand.

The gun had quite a simple sleek silvery black look to it. Its nozzle was especially long and narrow, leaving it heavily weighted toward the handle. But, Leonel favored this design very much. Since it was like this, the long nozzle wouldn't influence his shot downward.

Though the gun looked to be intact, if one looked closely, it was possible to see several fine cracks along its surface. Leonel estimated that this nozzle could at most take two more shots before it broke along the points of weakness he purposely built in.

After testing it, Leonel knew the limits now, and they were exactly in line with the experimentation of his Dream World. A single nozzle would last somewhere between 20 to 30 normal Force shots. However, if he used his Light Elemental Force, it would at most last 2 to 3 at most.

If Leonel used the second phase of the gun and loaded it with a projectile he modified from his atlatl darts, then it could shoot just one.

Though things were like this, there was good news as well.

Leonel twisted and pulled the chipped nozzle off. After slipping his protective gloves on, he pulled Little Tolly from the Segmented Cube and got to work.

He immediately activated [Melting Hands]. This technique worked similarly to [Delicate Touch] in that it heated up materials using the oscillation of atoms, however, it was much simpler to use because its application was broader. Since the nozzle's alloys were already set, there was no need to use [Delicate Touch] to fine tune the metal characteristics, so it was more of a brute force technique rather than a finesse technique.

Leonel's fingers worked deftly. Almost like a musician plucking the strings of a harp, he worked in unison with the little Metal Spirit, melting down the metal.

Upon sensing that the metal had reached the ideal temperature for molding, Leonel used Spirit Unity with Little Tolly to project the Dream Sculpt image of the nozzle's blueprint. This communication with extremely steady and completely without flaw, displaying the prowess of Leonel's ability once again.

Most beginner Force Crafters who use Metal Spirits struggle with this step. The advantage of Metal Spirits is that they were able to mold metals into incredibly intricate parts just by comprehending the will of their partners, however, was this really so easy?

How many could think of a single thing without straying? Even if you wanted to focus on a single thing, could you guarantee you wouldn't have a few stray thoughts? And, even if you succeeded in not having any, could the image you projected truly be perfect?

The human

mind was known for playing tricks. Often, memories are easily distorted. The only way for a Force Crafter with a Metal Spirit familiar to circumvent this weakness is by constantly tweaking the image they send through Spirit Unity. Only in this way can they ensure the final product is perfect.

However… Leonel had his Dream Sculpt? Was it even necessary for him to do such a thing? The image he projected would always be perfect.

Little Tolly acted quickly, wrapping the melted body up and shaping it into a thin rectangle of metal in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Leonel's eyes flashed, his palm flipping over to reveal a quill with a beautiful white feather.

Taking advantage of the moment, Leonel's hands moved swiftly. Force Art after Force Art was drawn across the surface of the floating rectangular piece of metal.

Of these Force Arts, there were three kinds. One was a Force Compression Art, the second was a Force Acceleration Art, and the third were Force Barrier Arts.

The Force Compression Art concentrated the Force Leonel poured into the gun into a fine point. The Force Acceleration Art made the nozzle into a rail gun that accelerated the Force bullet continuously. And, finally, the Force Barriers were arranged along the inside of the nozzle such that the bullet was forced to follow a winding path that would give a stronger spinning action to the final product.

There were multiple Force Arts of each kind dotted along the inside of the nozzle, making it look as though it was densely packed with graffiti. Yet, it still exuded a mysterious and somewhat ancient aura.

The moment Leonel penned the last Force Art, the rectangular sheet of metal rolled close under Little Tolly's manipulation, forming a nozzle completely identical to the one that Leonel had just melted down. The only difference was that this one didn't have even a single crack on it.

'16 minutes and 24 seconds. Not bad, I'm getting faster.' Leonel smiled to himself.

If others knew that he had just Force Crafted while squatting on the balls of his feet, high up in a tree… It was just best you didn't compare yourself to others.

Obviously, with how much time it took, Leonel couldn't do this mid-battle. But, it was definitely not too much of an inconvenience. After all, he had two guns and ten nozzles total. The only reason he had bothered to reforge this nozzle now was for the sake of preparedness. Since he had time now, there was no need to ruin a second nozzle, or else he wouldn't have time to cry later should a worst case scenario situation happen.

Leonel put the gun away after twisting the newly made nozzle onto it. Then he smiled, watching Little Tolly rush around his fingers as though the little guy was seeking credit.

"Yes, yes. You did very good."

Leonel didn't want to keep putting the little guy into the Segmented Cube, so he let Little Tolly stay out. His father had made it clear that keeping the little guy cooped up wasn't a good thing, so it was only right he let it out every once in a while.

'Alright, I've already collected over 20 Beast Crystals from a few B and A-grade threats. I guess I should look for a greater challenge this time…'

According to Violet Rain, B-grade crystals were worth one point, A-grade were worth ten points, and S-grade were worth a hundred. There was a month of time, so though Leonel was fairly certain he was far ahead at the moment, he knew this wouldn't be enough for him to slack off.

Suddenly, Leonel shook and fell from the tree branch.

To an outside observer, it seemed that he had lost his footing and was now paying for it. But, just a moment later, the branch he was sitting at was blasted away. No, even the side of the tree trunk it was attached to looked like something had taken a bite out of it. The issue was that… there was nothing there!

Despite the fact there was nothing to be seen with the eyes, Leonel's alertness was on high. He felt all the hairs on his body stand up, the residual effects of fusing with the primitive man's consciousness still benefiting him.

'Dammit, if I fall to the ground like this, I'll definitely break a few bones.'

Leonel's jaw clenched. At that moment, his back was facing the ground as he fell and his eyes were trained on the place the branch he squatted on had just been. If he didn't brace himself for the fall, he would suffer. But, he still didn't dare to turn away.

Leonel involuntarily blinked. It was a normal action, no different from the thousands of times he had already done it in his lifetime to this point already. However, he could have never imagined that, this time, it would come with dire consequences.

It was only a split moment, but when Leonel opened his eyes once more, a streak of black was already about to hit his chest.

Was it going to do to his torso what it just did to the tree? And why was it that his instincts were screaming at him? Telling him that his Quasi Bronze chain necklace would be of no help…

Chapter 146 SS-grade Threat

Leonel's thoughts accelerated. A moment later, he understood where this feeling was coming from.

In the past several months, he had learned quite a lot about Force Crafting. In that time, how could he not look into his Quasi Bronze chain necklace? After suffering the barrage of several bombs, it had suffered a few minor cracks, but Leonel could tell that those 'minor' defects actually decreased the strength of the treasure by as much as 10%.

During his studies, Leonel had learned about the type of treasure his necklace was. As an energy based defensive treasure, it also came with several downsides.

One of those downsides was an inability to function in the presence of Force disrupting towers. This was something Leonel learned personally, much to the sadness of his shoulder. But, most importantly, it was incredibly fragile when meeting higher level Force types.

What did this mean? It meant that whatever was in the process of attacking him now had grasped a Force Strengthening Deviation.

Whether or not this Force Strengthening Deviation was powerful or not compared to other didn't matter. All that mattered was that it was at the very least a level beyond normal Force.

'Dammit. Aren't these deviations supposed to be rare? How the hell did I randomly come across one like this?'

As Leonel continued to fall to the ground, he couldn't help but lament his bad luck once again. At the same time, he caught the faint inkling that though this 'Project Hunt' provided good opportunities, it could very well create new enemies for Earth as well.

If there were other beasts this powerful… Let's just say Leonel didn't want to think about it.

Just as the black light was about to collide with his chest, Leonel's right sole lit up and he stamped down hard, sending him shooting off to the side.

As he did this, he couldn't help but shake his head. First it was the chariot, now it was this weird creature. When he chose these treasure shoes, he had never thought that instead of using it to glide through the air, he'd always be using it to escape a sorry state.

Luckily, he had already upgraded his treasure shoes. Now, the cool down on their activation was only 30 seconds and they also provided a boost to his leaping ability.

The moment he gained some distance, Leonel took out his two pistols, firing four rapid shots, two from each.

SHUU! SHUU! SHUU! SHUU!

Unlike a normal gun, the sounds of Leonel's shots were no different from whistling wind. However, even compared to a gun of the 25th century, though the range was at most half a kilometer, Leonel was confident that the piercing power and lethality was

a few levels higher.

Four pellets of white energy shot forward, spinning so quickly that they left spirals of air in their wake. For the span of the blink of an eye, it seemed like they were the center of their own miniature hurricane.

However, before they could even land on their mark, Leonel's eyes widened.

The line of black energy vanished into thin air, blinking away before the energy spheres could hit it.

PUU! PUU! PUU! PUU!

The four bullets tore through the opposing tree, leaving the same number of small holes in its bark and easily tearing their way through the other side before disappearing into the foliage.

The rustle of leaves of sounded as Leonel disappeared into the dense canopy of a tree he had kicked himself toward. He landed on a branch with a dull thump, the wood beneath him swaying up and down beneath his weight.

'… It disappeared?'

Leonel couldn't help but think back to Xinghai's blink ability. Could it be that this weird beast both had such an ability and access to a Force Strengthening Deviation? Wasn't this too exaggerated? If it had been any other youth who came across this creature, they'd likely already be dead.

The greatest trouble was that Leonel's Internal Sight was seemingly having problems locking onto the target, almost as though it was able to hide from the fluctuations of his Soul Force. This made this beast a hundred times more complicated to deal with.

'This is at least an SS-grade threat…'

Leonel silently waited for the beast to strike again. When facing an enemy like this, the worst thing he could probably do would be to move about randomly and allow it a chance to find an opening. It was best he stayed still, raising his awareness to its maximum and keeping his reflexes primed.

As Leonel did this, he began to concentrate his Internal Sight into a smaller radius. This was a technique he learned in Force Crafting. It was usually used so that a crafter could maintain quality control of their craft by increasing their observational ability, but Leonel now realized that it applied perfectly to combat as well.

He never thought there could exist something that could hide from his Internal Sight, but now he had been taught a lesson. He really had to be ready for anything in this new world order.

The sharp range on Leonel's Internal Sight was continuously compressed by him. It took a toll on his spirit to do this, but he didn't have any other choice. How else could he deal with an enemy he couldn't see?

200 meters became 100. 100 meters became 50. 50 meters became 25. At this point, Leonel had reached his limit and as much as five minutes had already passed. But… there was no sign of the beast that had attacked him.

Leonel clenched his jaw and continued to wait, not moving even after half an hour had passed. But, there was still no sign of the creature.

With sweat pouring down his forehead, he had no choice but to release his Internal Sight, allowing him to gasp deep breaths. He knew by now that the likelihood the creature was still stalking him was low.

'Was it scared away…?'

Leonel had always heard that animals were more afraid of humans than humans were of them. But, he didn't really know if this was true or not. At the very least, it seemed that this beast was gone.

Jumping down from the tree, Leonel soon landed on the ground. After taking a look around and realizing that the creature really wasn't going to attack him, he began to approach the center of the island with more caution.

Leonel flipped his palm over, causing a silver disk to appear.

"What Force Strengthening Deviation did that beast use?"

[ *Ping* Replying to Seed, there are fluctuations of Dark Elemental Force in the air ]

Leonel didn't react much to this, but this was only because he wasn't aware of just how unlucky he was. Dark Elemental Force was just as rare as Light Elemental Force. Yet, he had actually been marked by such an entity.

At that moment, on the other side of the island, another ship could be found anchored. A group of youths jumped from its side, swimming toward the shore with ambitious glints in their eyes.

However, neither those youths from the Eastern Lookout, nor the youths that came with Leonel from the Southern Lookout, was aware that there was a third gathering taking place as well.

Nearby a large lake on the island, a gathering of beasts was taking place. Though none of them exchanged words in a human sense, there eyes seemed to tell a different story.

From an outsider's perspective, all that could be heard was a series of grunts and growls. However, if one paid close attention and removed themselves from their preconceived notions…

These animals seemed to be having a meeting.

Chapter 147 Eastern Lookout

Unlike the youths from the Southern Lookout who had been stimulated by Leonel to the point none of them even suggested forming a group upon entering the island, the youths of the Eastern Lookout were different.

Without someone like 'Indomitable' egging them on, they didn't think twice before forming groups of two or three, walking through the dense forests together.

The top three youths of the Southern Lookout, setting Leonel aside, were Roaring Black Lion, Chasing Wind, and Thunderous Clap. Likewise, the Eastern Lookout youths had their own top three as well.

One would expect these youths to be leading groups of their own, maybe having too much pride to share a stage together. But, this wasn't the case at all. In fact, the top three youths of the Eastern Lookout formed a group together, hoping to maximize their profits and monopolize all three spots to the SS-grade Zone to themselves.

Ranked seventh on their Promising Rankings, there was a young woman who went by the name of Flowing Wind, a name not much different from the third ranked of the Southern Lookout, Chasing Wind.

Her form of dressing was particularly provocative. Other than a sports bra and a pair of skin tight spandex shorts, she wore nothing else. Though her face was covered by a mask tattooed in red swirls not unlike Chasing Winds green swirls, her fiery figure alone was enough to set one's mind ablaze.

It could only be said that she put more worth in her looks than her own safety, or else she would never wear such a thing upon entering a forest with unknown dangers like this. Well, it was either that or she was extraordinarily confident in her abilities…

Ranked fifth on their rankings, there was another young woman who went by the name 'Pisces'. The first feature about her that stood out was her flowing blue hair. What was even more striking about this color was that it was possible to tell that this color was definitely not dyed in the slightest. It could only be said that her awakening had caused this mutation…

Maybe it was something weird about the culture of the Eastern Lookout, but Pisces too was dressed particularly inappropriately. Though her clothing wasn't as provocative as Flowing Wind's, she still wore a flowing blue dress that was completely out

of place. Not only this, but her dainty bare feet could be seen poking out from its folds with every step. She hadn't even worn shoes.

As if these two weren't weird enough, the third of the was a young man ranked second on their rankings. He went by the name of King of Seas.

He carried around a golden trident that stood a head taller them him. It reflected the rays of the sun so well that it illuminated the forest despite how few rays made it through the thick canopy above.

This alone wasn't enough to raise an eyebrow. The true problem was that he was wearing nothing but a speedo, revealing his bronzed torso and thighs, each portion of which was rippling with muscles.

As though this wasn't enough to leave a person speechless, his speedo seemed to be made out of a brass metal, making it look more like a chastity guard than a piece of clothing. It was impossible to tell whether this young man had done this on purpose or not.

It could only be said that this group of three was simply too weird…

"There's something off about this forest." Flowing Wind spoke in a low voice. "Though we've already gathered a few beast crystals, it doesn't seem to be as many as we should have."

There was definitely something off. According to theory, animals should have the same chance at evolution as humans did. After all, there was no reason for the Laws of the Universe to favor humans over any other species. It wasn't impossible even for plants and vegetation to evolve.

This was all to say that even if humans didn't go out of their way to breed powerful animal sub-species, they would have likely awakened powerful members among each other regardless. If this was taken into account, the beasts they had come across to this point should be far more powerful. But, from Flowing Wind's perspective, they seemed to be quite… normal.

"Your perspective is just skewed." Pisces said lightly. "With the three of us here together, how could these animals not be easy to deal with? If you just consider the fact the most we've come across are B and A-grade threats, this is impressive enough."

"Maybe…"

It seemed that Flowing Wind was itching for battle. She was completely unsatisfied with the challenge and even somewhat regretted forming a team with these three. If things were like this, wouldn't the next month be too boring?

"If you're really feeling bored, there's still some other entertainment on this island." Pisces said with a light smile. "We could just find a few of our peers from the Southern Lookout to exchange some pointers with."

King of Sea's gaze sharpened at these words. It seemed that even though he was stoic and a man of few words, this prospect still made him feel quite anxious.

"Hm?" Flowing Wind's steps paused. "Finally, something interesting."

Without saying a word, she shot into the distance, not even explaining her actions to her two team members. It was almost as though she didn't care whether or not they followed her.

After sending a glance toward one another, King of Seas and Pisces could only shoot forward. Flowing Wind was their scout, without her, finding the next target would be a few times more difficult.

In the distance, Roaring Black Lion was in a fierce battle with a black bear. Considering he had already entered his beast form and the thin line of blood flowing from the corner of his lip, it was obvious that he wasn't having an easy time.

It was a small clearing of green within the dense forest, yet it managed to contain such a savage battle. The palms of Black Roaring Lion and the black bear continuously slammed against their opposition's chest. They looked like two madmen having a contest of brute strength.

If one looked closely, it was possible to see that the immediately vicinity of the black bear seemed to have sunk into the ground as though its great weight was effecting change on a much grander scale…

Flowing Wind appeared by the edge of the clearing, her eyes lighting up when she recognized Roaring Black Lion's beast form.

'Rank fifth on the Southern Lookout rankings… hehe, seems like I'll have a good harvest today.'

Chapter 148 Curiosity

Half a month later, Leonel could still be found walking around the forest. Though his harvests could be considered to be great, he was still in an incredibly sorry state.

His Quasi Bronze chain necklace managed to mend his clothes in places they had once been torn, but the limp in his gait, the caked blood and dried wounds on his skin, not to mention the paleness on his face were things it couldn't do anything about. This led to a situation where his clothes were in mint condition, yet his body looked like it had just gone through a hundred consecutive battles.

If one had followed Leonel from the start to now, one would see quite a weird scene. First, Leonel would find himself a beast to target. Second, he would easily kill that beast. And, finally, just when he was feeling complacent in his victory, that very same damned streak of black would attack him from an unpredictable angle.

At this point, Leonel had already had dozens of fights with that unknown beast. And though it couldn't be said that he always definitely lost, he most definitely didn't win either.

It really was too much. He had no idea why this thing was targeting him, but it rarely even allowed him a moment to rest.

By now, Leonel had learned from the dictionary that Dark Elemental Force, and his Light Elemental Force for that matter, weren't normal Force Strengthening Deviations. Each was incomparably rare and powerful. But, this only made him feel more aggrieved.

Just what were the odds of a beast with such a rare ability deciding to target him? Where was the justice?

At first, Leonel thought that maybe those with Dark Elemental Force had some baked in bias against those with Light Elemental Force. But, this didn't seem to be the case at all. He almost laughed at himself for having this thought.

This wasn't some cheap anime his dad liked to watch. There wasn't any light side versus dark side nonsense going on here, this creature just apparently didn't like the way he looked. What other explanation could there be?

Leonel sighed.

In a motion he had practiced one too many times, he flipped his palm, allowing his long-nozzle pistol to appear. He hardly shot a glance at his target before he fired, causing a white pellet of energy to pierce through the left eye of a fox that had been stalking him in some thick bushes. The poor thing hardly new how it died.

And, once again, as though on cue, a flash of black headed for the back of Leonel's head.

Leonel dove forward, ducking and rolling out of the way.

'Eat this.'

Light Elemental Force surged from Leonel's hand and into the pistol. A sharp eye would easily notice the nozzle bulge a small bit before a bead of golden energy shot out from it, barely able to hold out under the power of the bullet.

SHUUUU! BANG!

The streak of black dodged once more as usual, but Leonel heard its faint 'yip' that almost sounded like the bark of a small dog. It usually made this sound whenever Leonel sent an attack toward it that could threaten

it and it was something Leonel had been hearing more and more often lately.

The golden bullet collided with a tree that would take ten men to wrap around. Yet, it was blasted through as though no more resistant than a piece of paper.

The bark, the wood, its innards, all of it, was completely vaporized.

Even though Leonel didn't have much of a reaction to it now, the first time he had seen the strength of Light Elemental Force, he was stunned silent.

Leonel grit his teeth. 'You damned beast.'

Thanks to this thing, he couldn't eat, sleep, or even relax. Yet, there was still half a month more in this hell hole. How could he not be aggrieved?

Unfortunately, before he could launch another attack, the beast disappeared again. Once again, from start to finish, Leonel didn't even catch a glance of what it was. He only managed to decipher that it must be a small creature of some sort. Outside of that, he really knew nothing else.

Leonel took a deep breath, calming his agitation. He found a tree to lean against and slid down, taking a rest.

Aside from this particular annoyance, this Hunt couldn't be said to be completely without merit.

For one, he had come into contact with many beasts that provided interested prospects for Force Crafting. The only unfortunate part was that none of these would help him to repair his chain necklace. Unfortunately, he didn't have the skill to repair such a high level treasure.

His two pistols could be ranked around the Tier 5 or 6 Black. It could be said that it was his accuracy and his Light Elemental Force that made them so lethal. In his hands, they were no weaker than a Tier 9 Black treasure, but in someone else's, Tier 6 was the best they'd be able to hope for. Such a treasure was about Leonel's limit at this moment, something that left him a bit disappointed.

But, if these matters were put into perspective, just how shocking was it that Leonel, who had just stepped foot into the Force Crafting world, could already be considered a Tier 6 Black Force Crafter?

'Hm?'

Leonel noticed that there was someone coming toward him. But, since it was a human and not an animal, he didn't bother to move. This wasn't because Leonel assumed that this person wouldn't be hostile. The words Thunderous Clap had spoken to him were more than just a small wake up call to him about the kind of world he lived in now. Rather, it was that he didn't think this person in particualr could harm him even if they wanted to.

When that person entered the clearing Leonel was resting in and saw that it was him, they were stunned for a while.

"Indomitable, it's you."

The person didn't seem to be hostile. Of course, Leonel immediately recognized him. It was none other than Erupting Volcano, one of the young men Leonel had defeated during the gathering. It was easy to tell from the molten magma drawn directly onto his mask.

"Hello." Leonel said as a polite greeting.

Though Erupting Volcano's face was covered by his mask, Leonel could tell from his eyes that he was stunned. Toward such a thing, he could only bitterly laugh. Did they all really take him to be such a bad person? Even to the point they were shocked by something as simple as a greeting?

Erupting Volcano suddenly felt hesitant, not knowing how he should approach.

Leonel laughed lightly. "If you have something you want to say, just say it. I won't bite you."

Hearing such words, Erupting Volcano relaxed slightly.

"I don't know how much you know about what's going on right now?"

"What's going on?" Leonel's brow furrowed.

"As expected, you really weren't aware. In the past half month, there've been a few skirmishes between us and the Eastern Lookout participants. We were caught off guard because most of us traveled alone while they traveled in groups. A lot of us got ambushed and had our stash of beast crystals taken away…"

"So that's what happened…" Leonel mumbled.

"You know about it?"

"Well, a group did try to rob me a few days ago. But…"

Erupting Volcano smiled bitterly. Leonel didn't need to finish. He knew those people hadn't succeeded. Shaking his head, he continued.

"What's more pressing is the lack of S-grade and above beasts. Even A-grade beasts have been getting scarcer and scarcer."

Leonel frowned. Now that he thought about it, this was true. He only didn't notice because that creature was always attacking him. He knew that little thing was at least an SS-grade threat. With such a beast constantly haunting him, where would he get the time to think about why stronger creatures weren't appearing?

"It can't be that we've already hunted them all?" Leonel asked probingly.

Erupting Volcano shook his head. "That's impossible. Even though this island isn't as big as a continent, it's still at least a hundred kilometers in diameter. The population of beasts should be in the tens of thousands. We don't even number a hundred total, how could we clear them all in a few days?"

Leonel nodded. This made sense.

"So none of you have an answer to this?"

"Well… we've been trying to go to the center of the island for a long time. The problem is that there are a lot of rivers and lakes blocking the way there with dense populations of dangerous underwater creatures. I'm actually part of a scout sent out to find and stragglers so we can come together to make a push."

Hearing this much, Leonel fell into his own thoughts. Ultimately, he chose to follow only for the sake of his own curiosity. Why were the beasts acting so weirdly?

Chapter 149 Ruptured Artery

Near the center of the 'Project Hunt' island, there was a gathering of not so inconspicuous youths taking place. Some were looking toward one another with vigilance and hostility that could hardly be concealed.

If one could set aside the peculiarity of the atmosphere, the surroundings itself was quite? beautiful. Many lakes, rivers and rolling hills could be seen. The only issue was that it all seemed quite unnatural.

It felt impossible that such a scenery could be formed organically. It was almost like a painter laid down a fantasy world on their canvas, only for it to somehow pop up and become a reality.

The rivers wound in and out of the lakes like ribbons of water flowing as they pleased. Some of them didn't even take the green hills as obstruction, crawling up their sides and falling down the other in small waterfalls.

It really was a beautiful sight. But, it seemed that none of the youths had the mind to care about such things as they looked toward each other with vigilance.

Roaring Black Lion stood to one side, his gaze practically spitting fire as he looked toward a group of three youths. There were numerous wounds across his body, making it obvious that Leonel wasn't the only one having a hard time during this Hunt. But, judging by the hostility in his gaze, it was obvious that while Leonel was suffering at the hands of a beast, it seemed that he had suffered at the hands of his fellow man.

It wasn't just him who had such wounds and carried such animosity. Aside from Chasing Wind — whose indifference was maybe somewhat obvious considering the speed at which she could escape — they all had such gazes, even Thunderous Clap.

Toward such eyes, Pisces, Flowing Wind, King of Seas and the rest of the Eastern Lookout youths could only chuckle. Who asked the Southern Lookout Promising Youths to be stupid enough to travel alone? If it wasn't for this, would they have suffered such obvious losses?

Of course, there was one group amongst the Eastern Lookout fellows that didn't seem to be having such a great time. However, rather than having their eyes trained on a particular person, they were constantly

scanning the surroundings as though trying their best to find their prey.

"I know I'm beautiful, but is there a need to stare at me so intently?" Flowing Wind blinked her eyes and brought her elbows together, winking flirtatiously at Roaring Black Lion and Thunderous Clap, both of whom had suffered due to her.

The action was really too provocative. She was hardly wearing much to begin with. Now with this, it felt as though all her assets might pop out at any time.

Thunderous Clap didn't even spare her a glance, but Roaring Black Lion looked her up and down. Despite the rage in his eyes not dispelling, it seemed he was perfectly fine with enjoying the show. And why not? He didn't have to turn a blind eye to her beauty just to get his revenge, right? He would teach her a lesson regardless.

"If you want to look some more, I don't mind. But you'll have to get a little closer." Flowing Wind said sweetly.

"I wouldn't mind coming closer, but you look a bit fragile. I might accidentally snap you? half."

"Oh? But that's exactly what I want."

Flowing Wind blinked with expectation as though hoping Roaring Black Lion would cross the distance between them at that very moment. She looked every bit the part of a woman who couldn't wait a moment longer.

However, the underlying murderous intent was clear to the point that if one closed their eyes and only focused on her words and not her tantalizing figure, it would sound as though she was inviting you to the depths of hell rather than her bed.

That said, Roaring Black Lion didn't seem to notice as he took numerous broad steps forward. In a moment, he was so close to Flowing Wind that her ample chest just barely grazed along his ribcage.

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking up at Roaring Black Lion with an 'expectant' glint in her eye.

Just when it seemed that the atmosphere might take a turn for the worse, the sound of shuffling grass and a snapping twig sounded. Many looked over to find a pair walking toward them, both of who were young men. One had molten lava painted onto his mask, while the other wore a plain white one.

Everyone on the Southern Lookout side seemed to recognize both young men and even shot complicated gazes toward the latter. However, a hint of confusion could be seen amongst those of the Eastern Lookout. Well, almost all of them.

There was one particular group that seemed to have found the prey they were looking for. Almost like ravenous dogs tied to a chain they couldn't wait to free themselves from, they stared toward Leonel with all the animosity they could muster.

"You know who he is?"

Pisces who was used to being the only one of her group of three who thought about the overall situation noticed this distinct change.

Through gritted teeth, a young man who had red veins painted across his mask and went by the name 'Ruptured Artery', spoke.

"We were tied up in a tree and couldn't get down for three days because of him. We nearly starved to death."

Pisces frowned upon hearing this information.

"He was alone?"

"… Yes."

"And he still subdued you all without killing you?"

"Yes…"

"Or injuring you?"

At this point, Ruptured Artery stopped speaking. He was already enraged enough without having to deal with the odd gazes he and his group was now receiving.

However, the others of the Eastern Lookout could only look toward Leonel with vigilance. Ruptured Artery wasn't the best among them, but he wasn't the worst either. If he participated in the Southern Lookout gathering, he would have been the fourth or fifth seed. On top of that, he had been alone, yet he had been tied up in a tree without the ability to resist…?

Even with all this being said, the reason they were so apprehensive was because Leonel was a complete unknown… They had never even heard of him until this very moment.

Chapter 150 Coy Fish (1)

Leonel didn't react much to all of the eyes on him. He was much more interested in learning what was going on here. This place looked so beautiful, but judging by the fact they were all at least a hundred meters away from the nearest riverbank, nothing was as simple as it seemed.

"Hello." Leonel spoke first. Though he didn't think the amiable smile he had on right now was helping very much considering the fact he was wearing a mask, he still used it out of force of habit.

Those of the Southern Lookout responded to Leonel's greeting with awkward nods, while those of the Eastern Lookout didn't say much of anything. Most were only curiously observing Leonel, however, the young man in question walked by them all and approached the closest riverbank.

"Indomitable, wait!"

Surprisingly, it was Roaring Black Lion who called out. Hearing the voice, Leonel couldn't help but stop and look back.

"It's dangerous. There's a group of creatures hidden in the lake led by an exceptionally powerful leader. Some of us almost lost our lives."

When he was saying these words, Roaring Black Lion sent glares toward the Eastern Lookout youths once again. They had reached this place long before they had, yet hadn't said a word. Obviously, he had more than just one grievance with this group of people.

Leonel nodded. "Got it. Just want to check something."

Leonel turned back and continued to walk forward. Roaring Black Lion didn't try to stop him again, he had already done all he could. Plus, it wasn't like he could stop Leonel by force.

It wasn't long before Leonel had made it to the side of the closest river. He tried to reach in with his Internal Sight, but he suddenly found that passing it through water was a lot different than air. In fact, his range was reduced by a factor of ten, barely stretching down a couple tens of meters.

In truth, this should have been enough to make it to the bottom of most rivers. But, the issue was that not only was this river much deeper than usual, but even if it wasn't, the fact was that there was still the

rest of its length and width to deal with. Even if he could see to the bottom, he could still only look to the left and right a few tens of meters.

It didn't take Leonel long to decide that it was a fruitless endeavor. Instead of continuing to do something useless, he flipped his palm, causing the corpse of a deer with particularly sharp antlers to appear in his hands.

The others were stunned by this. Some even had eyes that gleamed with curiosity and greed, most of whom came from the Eastern Lookout. It wasn't that those of the Southern Lookout were better people, it was just that they knew enough about Leonel to not foolishly think of stealing his things.

Spatial treasures were already innately high grade treasures. They were all at least A-grade treasures. But, this alone wasn't enough for the to turn their greedy eyes toward Leonel. The most important point was how large of a space Leonel's spatial treasure must have.

What they didn't know was that this carcass wasn't taken from Leonel's spatial bracelet, but rather from his Segmented Cube.

In recent days, Leonel was really lamenting not knowing more about the Segmented Cube earlier. It was actually able to house Little Tolly just fine even while within his spatial ring. Had he known this earlier, he could have stored Aina inside it while he escaped that day instead of sending her off to some unknown world.

But at this point, he could only sigh. It wasn't like he could go back in time.

Leonel turned his attention back to the riverbank. Then, with strength that surpassed a normal human, he tossed the deer carcass toward it.

The reaction was immediate.

The calm surface churned. In one moment, there was not a life form in sight. But, in the next moment, the water suddenly fell as though a pit hole had appeared at its bottom. Then, a massive mountain of blue shot up.

Beneath the towering wave of water, Leonel could faintly catch a glimpse of beautiful, reflective blue scales.

Without hesitation, he pulled out his pistol, shooting a single normal shot. He thought that this would be all he needed to end things. But the result was far outside of his expectations.

DING!

Leonel's shot didn't even leave a dent. It rebounded off, causing Leonel to look in shock as his shot landed on a nearby patch of grass, burrowing into the soil.

After a moment, Leonel smirked.

'Well, good thing I picked that beast in particular.'

The massive scaled creature fell back into the waters, causing waves to flood over the sides toward Leonel. However, he didn't move, weathering the storm.

"… What is he doing?"

This was a question many of the youths were asking each other. Why was he standing in such a dangerous place? It should be obvious that normal methods weren't enough now.

KKKKKKKUUUUUAAAAAAAAAA!!

'There it is.'

Leonel's gaze gew focused. This was exactly what he was looking for.

'Don't blame me.' Leonel grinned to himself. 'I've lost count of the number of times I've gotten fish bones caught in my throat. Consider this a little payback.'

The rage of the massive beast shook the river. Leonel could imagine its pain. That deer he had fed it was no joke. Leonel had defeated it easily, but after testing the strength of its sharp antlers, the result shocked even him.

One could imagine the damage it could do inside that creature's stomach.

However, this wasn't all Leonel wanted. He was still biding his time, still waiting.

By now, the other youths realized that Leonel had done something. As for whatever it was, it was clear that it was very effective.

'There it is!'

The creature surged up once again, doing whatever it could think of to try and alleviate the pain it was suffering.

At that moment, Leonel did the unthinkable and jumped into the air with it.

Chapter 151 Coy Fish (2)

Leonel surged toward the towering beast.

With his improvement to his treasure shoes, even without activating its formation, his leaping ability was now beyond the realms of reason. Even jumping 20 to 30 meters into the air was no longer impossible. In a flash, he had already appeared above the creature, his palms flipping over to reveal two pistols.

'Wow…'

Despite the fact his goal was to kill this creature, Leonel couldn't help but hesitate in the last moment. It was simply too much of a work of art. Before the Metamorphosis, seeing such a beautiful creature was too difficult. Or, even if they did exist, they were on a much smaller scale than this.

He could immediately tell that this creature was some kind of mutated coy fish. Its scales were various shades of blue, varying from what was almost a deep black to a sky blue. Its fins shot through the air almost like a pair of wings and its tail fin, especially, flowed almost like the hair of a gorgeous woman.

If there were any hardcore environmentalists here, there was no doubt they'd rip him apart for even daring to have thoughts on such a creature. But, at this point, the dye had been cast. If he didn't shoot not, he would be the one in danger.

'Sorry big guy.'

Leonel fired a series of shots, unrestrainingly concentrating his shot on the eyes of blue coy fish.

KKKKUUUUUUUAAAAAAAA!!!

The bullets of white left spiraling trails of spinning wind in their wake, tearing a path through the raining water that shed reflective droplets in every which direction.

The damage was undeniable. A spray of violet blood leaked from the blue coy's eyes as it body tried to flop back down to the river. But, would Leonel allow this?

A layer of green enveloped Leonel's right sole. He launched himself forward, sending a strong kick toward the massive fish that knocked it toward the land.

Without pausing, the sole of his other shoe lit, stopping his rebounding force and sending him back toward the shore.

Leonel thought it would all be over at this point. A fish out of water, no matter how large it was, was just a fish out of water. It was self explanatory. In fact, it was even more

exaggerated considering how injured it was now.

But, Leonel had forgotten to consider one important thing. Just what was this coy fish's ability?

Just when the blue scaled coy fish was about to land on solid ground. A shocking change took place.

It took a dive as though it was going into water.

At first, Leonel thought that this was simply because it was blinded. Maybe it was in so much pain that it hadn't even registered the fact Leonel had just kicked it. But in the next moment, Leonel was left speechless.

The ground the coy fish should have landed against suddenly became as fluid as water. No… That wasn't it. It had actually become water!

Leonel could only watch as what once was solid land suddenly became a lake. And then, as the fish rampaged, completely blind to its surroundings, it became a winding river.

Suddenly, everything made sense. The odd structure of this island, the seemingly fantastical ways lakes and rivers appeared, the random and impossible to explain waterfalls… It was all the doing of this fish!

Leonel's eyes widened, realizing that blinding this beast was maybe one of the worst things he could have done. Now it was blind, in pain and enraged? On top of having such an ability?

"Run!" Leonel roared.

From start to finish, the youths of both Lookouts had been watching with shocked expressions. Leonel's actions seemed to get more and more wild with each passing moment.

Leonel fell through the air. The process was completely out of his control. He had already used both platform jumps of his treasure shoes, and though he had improved them greatly, the cool down time was still 30 seconds.

Where the was dry land below him before, there was suddenly a vast and steadily growing lake. Well, maybe calling it a lake wasn't accurate because the erratic movements of the coy fish made it look like a toddler had randomly scribbled onto a page.

However, Leonel wasn't worried. If it was before, he would fear a battle on the water. But, after he observed Old Hutch's use of Force, he was able to glide on the surface of the lake.

As far as he knew, there were no Invalids on this island. Maybe they had already been weeded out by the beasts or maybe they taken out by the overseers of Project Hunt. Even if this wasn't the case, the Invalids who would appear here would all be beast types, so they wouldn't be interested in Leonel to begin with. So, he wasn't shy with using his Force at all.

Leonel landed heavily on the surging waves below, his body sinking in to the point his hip were submerged before the bouyancy of his Force sent him shooting back up.

'This is difficult.' Leonel thought, his jaw clenched.

He had used this ability to run from the boat that brought him here to the island. But, back then, the ocean had been fairly calm. He hadn't thought that it would be so much more difficult when the water was agitated.

'I need to end this quickly with a Light Elemental shot…'

Had Leonel not been too conservative in his approach before, he most definitely could have ended this earlier. But, it was impossible, even for him, to predict everything.

"Haha! Dealing with such a beast is what I'm built for!"

At that moment, the quiet and stoic King of Seas suddenly became a totally different person, charging forward in his brass speedo with trident in hand.

Leonel frowned but he didn't say much. If there were others with water abilities, it really could be useful. Those without them had already heeded his advice and retreated by a long measure. The only exceptions were those who were seemingly able to use Force just like him.

'The Slayer Legion has Force users…?'

Leonel felt that maybe he had to reevaluate this group of rebels again.

While his mind was half wandering, half focusing on the battle before them, their movements had caught the attention of the beast toward the center of the island. Their intelligent eyes flickered with a peculiar light.

Chapter 152Coy Fish (3)

Leonel's eyes madly scanned the body of water beneath him. Since his Internal Sight was so limited upon entering liquids, his best reliance was his eyes.

Though it was true that this coy fish's ability was troublesome, there were some benefits to it as well. For example, the bodies of water it created were perfectly clear and without impurities, making it much easier to see through. The only thing that could disrupt Leonel's vision was the agitated water. But, wasn't this agitation perfect for telling exactly where that massive fish was?

At that moment, King of Seas soared into the air, diving down. Leonel faintly caught the sight of his skin growing greenish blue scales just before he entered the water.

Leonel didn't stop him. With such an ability, King of Seas was indeed a good candidate for taking the vanguard. The trouble was that Leonel was certain this fish was far stronger than King of Seas judging by his stats.

However, King of Seas had two advantages. Firstly, Leonel had already blinded the coy fish. And, secondly, Leonel had yet to get a clean look at his stats after his transformation. It was possible that Leonel had underestimated him.

Pisces shot a look toward Flowing Wind. But, after a brief communication with their eyes, the latter shook her head no.

Pisces immediately understood. It seemed that Flowing Wind's scouting ability was useless in the water. After confirming this, she shot forward along the green grass while Flowing Wind rose into the air, stepping on the wind as though it was solid ground.

As though not to be outdone, Chasing Wind soared into the air as well, followed quickly by Thunderous Clap.

Roaring Black Lion hesitated for a moment, but chose to stay back. That said… It didn't mean he would do nothing. He quickly morphed into his humanoid beast form, filling his chest with air and billowing out with a roar that shook the surroundings.

Leonel had been right. Roaring Black Lion's ability wasn't as simple as a transformation and a strength boost. He had a suppression ability he called King of Beasts. Though it worked on humans, it was especially effective on animals and had much more room to grow.

In this sort of situation, even though he couldn't partake in the fight directly, his role was still invaluable.

After his roar,

the wild movements of the coy fish slowed considerably, allowing King of Seas to catch up and land a resounding strike with his trident to its side.

A tornado of water blasted forward, sending the coy fish upward with an unquenchable momentum.

Pisces reacted quickly. Droplets of water seemed to form around her like sparkling lights as her dress and hair fluttered. Though she could be looked down upon for actually wearing a dress to such an occasion, one could only admit that she looked amazing doing it.

Flowing Wind and Chasing Wind reacted at that instant as well, causing the wind in the surroundings to kick up a storm that fused in the rising tornado of water.

KKKKUUUUUUUUUAAA!!!

The coy fish shot higher and higher into the air, unable to extricate itself. It was completely helpless.

"HAHA! This kill will be mine, King of Seas!"

King of Seas controlled the water around him, forming a miniature tornado of his own to shoot into the skies after the coy fish.

When he appeared, many couldn't help but be stunned.

Greenish blue scales covered him from head to toe. Odd fish-like membranes snapped closed and open over his eyelids. Fins jetted out the side of his face and webbing coated the distance between his fingers and toes. Anyway you looked at him, he was a fishman of legend.

He grinned a savage, jagged grin, a sharp row of teeth shimmering beneath the sunlight as he soared into the air.

Pulling his trident back, he mustered all his strength, using the water tornado beneath him to propel him forward and bring more power to his strike.

He could almost see it. The sight of the fish being skewered.

Whenever he activated his ability and entered this form, his blood would boil. As though he had a long lineage of Ancestors who lived for battle and blood, an excitement the dug deep into his bones would take hold of him. Because of this, a young man who was usually quiet and stoic would now have these outbursts where he had to kill. His trident needed to taste blood or else he wouldn't rest.

Who knew that in all his confidence, his trident would rebound off of the coy fish's scales as though he had smashed into a steel plate?

His savage expression changed as a jarring pain assault his arm. The rebound force was so strong that he felt his shoulder almost dislocate completely. And, despite the fact it didn't, he could sense a few micro tears pulling at the muscles in his arms.

The coy fish was sent flying toward the ground again, but this time, no one seemed happy about it. They all knew what would happen. The ground would turn into a body of water once again, and who knew if they'd be able to catch that fish again?

But it was at that moment that a young man who had been doing nothing but scanning the lake's surface this whole time suddenly moved. It was too bad for this coy fish but… 30 seconds had passed.

The water beneath Leonel's feet bubbled as his Force surged into his legs.

BANG!

The surface beneath his feet exploded as he launched himself into the air. Due to losing some of the momentum, he only managed to jump ten meters, but to Leonel, he felt that this was more than enough.

The moment he felt his momentum faltering, another green light blossomed beneath his sole. This time, he jumped over 20 meters, appearing above the flopping fish, two pistols in hand.

He didn't hold back this time around. Both pistols were outfitted with a bullet that jetted out from the nozzle like an arrow. In fact, instead of calling it a bullet, it would be more appropriate to call these loaded pistols harpoons.

If it was a regular shot, Leonel could shoot 20 to 30 times. If it was a Light Elemental Force shot, Leonel could shoot two to three times. But, if it was this harpoon modified from his darts… he could only shoot once.

There was a good reason for that.

BANG!

KKUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

The coy fish flopped to the ground with a resounding boom. But, this time, there was no new lake or river to speak of.

Chapter 153 Just Him?

Leonel landed on the coy fish, exhaling a long breath. At the same time, a bit of fear couldn't help but creep into his heart as well as a bit of anticipation. This coy fish's ability was really too sinister. If he had been fighting alone, it could be said that he would have had a much harder time even if it ended in his victory. As for why he was filled with anticipation, it was of course because if he could refine the ability into a treasure, the potential applications were tantalizing.

Leonel most wanted this ability for its application in escape. He could tell that the coy fish wasn't creating water, but was instead transforming earth into water. If this was a treasure instead of an ability and it was tweaked a bit, wouldn't it be possible to escape through the ground?

There was another type treasure Leonel was thinking of making, but for now, he lacked the skill. Of course, he hadn't forgotten about Xinghai. If he could turn Xinghai's 'blink' ability into a treasure, his combat prowess would take another leap. But, Leonel neither had the necessary materials, nor the skill to do anything with this idea.

Any such treasure would be of, at the very least, the Quasi Bronze Grade. Obviously, this was beyond him.

Leonel sighed, looking at the pistols in his hands. The nozzles had exploded from the inside out, leaving them useless. Unfortunately, now was definitely not the best time to repair them, so he could only continue from here with eight nozzles remaining.

After putting them away, Leonel made his way to the wound in the coy fish's eye and coated his arm in Force. Reaching inside and relying on his Internal Sight, he was able to dig out the beast crystal with ease.

The beast crystal looked like a smooth blue pearl, emitting a faint watery smell. The kind one would experience by a freshwater lakeside.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Leonel frowned, turning back to see King of Seas looking toward him with an unfriendly gaze. He had already dismissed his ability transformation, but judging by the red in his eye,? he was still suffering from a bit of blood lust.

It was immediately obvious to

Leonel that he was looking at the beast crystal in Leonel's hand. It was only now that Leonel remembered that to the other Promising Youths who had come with him, the Beast Crystals provided an opportunity to evolve their abilities.

Even if Leonel discounted King of Seas, there was still Pisces as well. How could they not both want a Beast Crystal from such a powerful water-type creature?

What Old Hutch had neglected to tell Leonel was that if one ingests a Beast Crystal from a creature with similar abilities, there's even the possibility of mutating and improving one's ability as well, making it even more desirable.

This beast was at least of the SS-grade in the eyes of these youths. Just how much would their abilities improve if they were to ingest it?

King of Seas was especially looking forward to the potential defensive boost to his scales if he ingested it. Back then, his trident hadn't even left a scratch after his full powered attack.

As for Pisces, she was especially fond of the water transformation ability. As things stood now, she could only pull water vapor from the air when there were no other sources around.? This was the source of all those beautiful sparkles floating around her when she attacked.

If she was able to evolve her ability in this way, it could be said that she would instantly become one of the most powerful on Earth, let alone her generation.

Regardless of who it was between them, it held lethal allure.

"Hey, you ungrateful bastards from Eastern Lookout. Indomitable got the final kill, don't you think you're a bit too shameless asking what he's doing? Obviously he's taking his spoils." Roaring Black Lion didn't back down even a step.

"Taking his spoils?" Pisces asked indifferently. "It was all seven of us who worked together to take down the fish, yet he didn't say a word before digging out the Beast Crystal himself. Even if he deserves the largest share, something that's still up for debate, he should at least discuss it with the rest of us, right?"

Those from the Southern Lookout frowned. What was up for debate? They all saw that King of Seas couldn't even scratch the beast's scales with his strongest strike. As for the rest of them, they only played a part in launching it into the air, something Leonel already proved would happen regardless as long as they were a bit more patient.

It could be argued that Leonel could have taken the beast out without help at all. The only reason those of the Southern Lookout stepped in was because they didn't want to remain idle while the Eastern Lookout youths acted.

Roaring Black Lion sneered. "Don't say I didn't warn you. He's not a person you can deal with just by ganging up like you did with me."

Flowing Wind and Chasing Wind descended from the skies. Since Flowing Wind didn't need the Beast Crystal as he ability had nothing to do with water, she didn't join in. As far as she was concerned, this wasn't an Eastern versus Southern Lookout issue. This was purely a fight for benefits. There was nothing personal.

She felt no need to put herself in any potential danger for the sakes of King of Seas or Pisces even though they were teammates.

Toward Roaring Black Lion's words, Pisces and King of Seas sneered.

"Can't deal with just him?" King of Seas laughed, the red in his eyes brightening a bit more.

If Leonel's guns hadn't broken right before their eyes, they might still fear him. But they all saw for themselves how they splintered and exploded. Of course a weapon capable of killing an SS-grade threat was enough to make them fear, but wasn't this weapon destroyed now?

Of course, these two simply had no idea that Roaring Black Lion wasn't referring to Leonel's treasures at all. How could they know? By now, they had already assigned the loss of that Eastern Lookout group led by Ruptured Artery to Leonel's guns. Now that they were out of the picture, there was nothing to fear.

Leonel scanned King of Seas and Pisces, his gaze expressionless.

Chapter 154 Geyser

The Leonel of the past might have really been surprised by this turn of events. In the world he was used to, even if people held such greed in their hearts, they wouldn't display it so openly. But, after his run-in with Thunderous Clap, he had already come to accept it. This was his new world now.

"I will be taking this Beast Crystal as it's useful to me. I'll also be taking a few of its scales and meat as well, but with a beast of this size, there's more than enough to go around for us all."

Leonel said words he was planning on saying anyway before King of Seas spoke. If he really wanted to slight these people, he could easily take the entire beast into his Segmented Cube. With his strength and means, would any of them even be capable of stopping him from doing so?

The fact he hadn't was already an act of kindness.

In Leonel's mind, the most important thing to him now as getting back to Aina. In order to do so, he needed to have adequate strength. It was impossible to tell what might be going on on Terrain.

When it came to matters related to Aina… He had no patience for nonsense, even if half that nonsense came from a beauty.

A suffocating aura bloomed from Leonel's body.

He had never been able to control this aura, but whenever his emotions became especially focused, it involuntarily leaked.

Toward this change, it wasn't just King of Seas and Pisces that suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Even the youths from the Southern Lookout could only look toward Leonel with ghastly pale expressions.

They had never sensed such a thing from Leonel, and how could they? That day, Leonel had been so tired. How could he possibly focus his emotions? Had he been able to focus on the task at hand like he usually did, they would have long since been drowned out by his aura.

In that moment, the red in King of Seas' eyes completely retreated as though it had met something it feared.

Leonel hadn't done

a thing. He simply stood there and spoke. But, even if he told others that he wasn't purposely trying to suppress them, who would believe him?

All the youths from the Southern Lookout only looked toward Leonel with more fear. Could it be that he had really held back that day? Or had he really been tired? That hadn't been a joke?

After realizing what was happening a flash of embarrassment and anger appeared on King of Seas' face. However, but he could do anything about it, what happened next left him stunned.

The very guns he thought were already broken were taken out by Leonel once again. They could only watch as he calmly twisted the broken nozzles off and replaced the? with new ones as though nothing had ever happened.

King of Seas and Pisces couldn't help but gulp.

This was already Leonel's final warning to them. If they really insisted on continuing, then he wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson. The last group that tried ended up in a tree for a few days, Leonel had no problem doing that again.

Though there was now hesitation in the eyes of the two water ability users, Leonel could see that their resolve was slowly growing firmer.

This sort of opportunity, it came once in a lifetime. Most of the water ability beasts could only be found in the ocean, but who dared to venture into it? The waters were simply too dangerous and who knew what beasts evolved down there out of their control?

In addition, just being an aquatic beast didn't guarantee a water ability either, and even if it did, it was unlikely to be as good as the one in Leonel's hands right now.

Even with all this being said, there was another, maybe even more important, reason they had to do this. This place was one where they would be the strongest. And, they could tell that Leonel wasn't comfortable with battling inside of water. If they tried to take this battle elsewhere, their strength would be greatly diminished.

There was no better place for them to battle than by all of this water.

KKKKKKKRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Just when everyone was preparing for battle, the sound of a raging beast came from the distance.

Leonel's pupils shrunk. 'It's not just one beast.'

BANG!

An explosion caused many of the youths present to feel their ears rupture and begin to bleed. At first, it was impossible to tell exactly where this explosion had come from and what had caused it. It was simply too loud. But, a moment later, a raging pillar of billowing white steam shot into the air in the distance.

The pillar was so thick and vibrant that it could be seen from over ten kilometers away with a clearness that made it feel as though it was right before them all.

'Force?'

Leonel's eyes widened. That pillar, he could feel it. It was a flood of Force with a level of density he couldn't fathom.

'Is that the Force Crystal mine Old Hutch was talking about? Is it supposed to explode like that?'

Worry began to bubble up in Leonel's heart. Before, he was freely using his Force because he was certain that there weren't any Invalids on this island. With his density of Force, the Invalids that could threaten him were too far away. Plus, they would all be creatures of another species, so they wouldn't bother with him either.

But, this density of Force was on another level. In addition, if it really came from the Force Crystal mine, that meant it didn't come from any one species and might very well attract creatures of all kind.

If this island was suddenly surrounded by an infestation of aquatic Invalids, what could they do? How the hell would they get out of this place?

Leonel's blood ran cold.

Chapter 155 Convince

Leonel was likely the first to realize the problem, but he most definitely wasn't the only one. In the recent battle, many of the youths had displayed some level of Force manipulation, whether small or big. There was no doubt they knew exactly what the geyser in the distance was.

'This isn't good….'

Not only would this geyser cause the island to be quickly surrounded by aquatic creatures, but there wasn't any guarantee that these creatures wouldn't come inland as well.? It was wishful thinking to hope that they wouldn't. Leonel had already learned that lesson once before.

'The only way is to quickly stop that thing.'

After making this decision, Leonel aimed his pistol at the fish corpse beneath his feet, powering it with lethal Light Elemental Force, and firing.

His sudden action caused many who had been paling under the stress of the sudden change of events to whip their heads toward him. However, by then, Leonel's purpose had already been accomplished.

He had perfectly aimed his shot toward a vulnerable point between the scales of the coy fish, causing them to bend at that point. Then, he reached down and pulled up with all his might, ripping the scales free from the dead beast's body.

He worked quickly. In what felt like the blink of an eye, he had already pulled off over ten beautiful blue scales, each of which was over a foot in length and about half of that in width.

When he had about 20 in his possession, Leonel stopped, having stored them all within his spatial ring. Then, he looked off into the distance.

"If you all want to survive this, I suggest we put aside petty disputes for now and head over there. If we don't stop it, we're finished."

Leonel's calm voice had a magnetic appeal to the youths around him. They couldn't help but instinctively want to listen.

"Going over there? Are you insane?"

Of course… How could everyone be of one mind. Where there were those with one thought, there would always be those with the opposing. This was just the way of the world, the way things worked.

The person who spoke was none other than Ruptured Artery. Despite his history with Leonel, he hadn't spoken out of spite. Instead, he

spoke on instinct. How could that place not be dangerous.

This coy fish was the very first SS-grade threat they had ever met, and they all very clearly realized that they couldn't do anything to it. If it wasn't for Leonel, they would have forever been unable to cross this region toward the center of the island.

Knowing this, it was obvious to them that there was likely more than one such creature like this here. And, this also explained the scarcity of beasts as well. If they linked all of these points together… there was most definitely a hoard of dangerous beasts maybe no less powerful than the fish beneath Leonel's feet ahead.

After thinking to this point, how could they possibly dare to continue forward? The best choice was to wait for their overseeing Commander to come back and retrieve them.

"I will only say a few more words to convince you. If they fall on deaf ears, I won't be responsible for what happens to you after this.

"One, you're not the only one's in danger. Your Commanders, waiting off shore for you all, are in even more danger than we are. There's nowhere to hide on the open ocean."

Leonel had hardly begun when the youths turned several shades more pale. Having thoughts that their Commanders were infallible would be utterly stupid. The Metamorphosis just began. Even though higher ranking officials could be said to have far greater combat experience than them as youths, the truth was that there wasn't a large power disparity between them and their Commanders.

There were very few exceptions to this. Geniuses like Old Hutch who could make progress even in a Third Dimensional world, then explode with all their potential now were incredibly rare. Simply put, there were most definitely no such people amongst the Commanders.

"Second, time is of the essence. Even if the Commanders could deal with the initial wave, could they survive a second, a third, a fourth? If you want any hope of making it off this island, the quicker the geyser is dealt with, the better.

"And third… you really don't have much of a choice."

Leonel looked into the distance with a solemn expression. The direction he was looking at was surprising. In fact, he was looking toward the complete opposite direction of the Force geyser.

The dense forest of trees began to rumble and quake.

First, it was subtle. It was an ever so slight swaying of the grass or rustling of the leaves. Then, it felt as though the ground itself was trembling. Soon, even the thick trees themselves began to swing to and fro as though made of rubber.

The Promising Youths looked toward their backs with an eerie cold permeating their hearts.

They suddenly understood what Leonel meant. Though the number of beasts in the forest was less than they imagined there would be, there were still many there. It was enough for Leonel to have killed over 20 in just his first few moments on this island. Even if the number was lacking… If they were all to converge on this point…

They really didn't have a choice but to continue forward. If they tried to fight against the tide of beasts… wouldn't they be swallowed whole before even realizing what happened?

Having said what he needed to say, Leonel didn't hesitate to dash into the distance toward the geyser, thinking to himself that he most definitely needed a treasure capable of transportation soon. But unfortunately, that would require crafting something much larger than he ever had before.

In Force Crafting, difficulty wasn't just decided by the overall grade of the treasure, but also the size of it. A craft that was extremely small or large was definitely much harder to craft even compared to a craft several levels higher in grade.

However, now wasn't the time to think about such things. Leonel could only lament his bad luck. This was supposed to be an easy trial he could place first in with a minimum amount of effort. Why had it suddenly become a life or death situation?

Something about all of this felt off. Things weren't so simple as they seemed.

Chapter 156 Over The Hill

Leonel crossed lake after lake and river after river. He knew that the youths were quickly following behind him, hoping to put some distance between them and the beast hoard coming from the dense forests.

The wild, thunderous roars and booming tremors seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Leonel's Internal Sight remained vigilant, but his expression was only growing more and more solemn. He noticed that his senses were growing less sharp. It was almost as though something was interfering with his ability to see the whole picture clearly.

'It must be the increased density of Force, or maybe its the fact that Force is so unrestrained and volatile…'

Leonel didn't have a perfect answer, but this was his best guess. However, he didn't get a chance to think of any more examples because his footsteps suddenly came to a grinding halt.

His heels dug into the ground in an exaggerated manner, it was to the point he almost fell backward.

Just now, he had reached the top of the largest hill in this stretch of land, only to find a sight that his heart plummet.

Though this was an island with a relatively circular shape, there was just a single path toward the center of it. This was precisely why the actions of the blue coy fish had stalled the youths for so long. With it taking control of the single path forward, they had to either find a way to bypass it or kill it the very same way Leonel had.

The reason that there was just this singular path was because entrances from all other angles were flooded with deep valleys that seemingly had no entry points. Together, they became deep pits with unfathomable depths.

Flowing Wind and Chasing Wind had already considered the idea of simply flying over these valleys. But, for whatever reason, that still ended in failure. As for exactly why, maybe only those two women knew.

At this moment, those valleys became those eerie death pits once more, trapping them. The trouble was that they weren't trapping them outside, but rather, inside this time around…

However, just this alone didn't warrant this reaction from

Leonel. He had already known about the deep valleys that blocked the path to the center of the island. After all, he had been here for half a month, how could he not think of venturing further in to find more targets?

The trouble was that his path had been blocked. He wasn't omnipotent, nor had he reached the point of being able to cover the island completely with his Internal Sight. As such, just like the other youths, he had to slowly explore the island, trying to find another entrance in.

It was then that he was lucky enough to run into Erupting Volcano and was able to learn that it was precisely because this one entry point faced the location the Eastern Lookout youths entered the island that they were able to find it first, followed by those of the Southern Lookout.

So, why was all this important? Why was it that Leonel was frozen in place, even to the point of becoming an anchor that stopped the youths from moving forward any longer? …

It was because the moment he reached the top of the hill, he saw an army.

One shouldn't mistake these words to mean that a group of humans were below. No. Each and every one of those 'soldiers' in Leonel's line of sight were beasts.

They were separated by their species. One group of a few dozen was led by large bear that stood at over five meters tall with brownish gold fur. Another was led by a tiger no smaller than the bear, except its stripes were a bright red-gold instead of the normal black. Yet another was led by a snake over ten meters long, covered in black scales…

As if these three weren't imposing enough, there was still another three.

There was a spider with vicious steel incisors and countless beady red eyes. Its size was the smallest at just three meters in length, but such a thing hardly stopped its grotesque visage from displaying its full might.

The next was a lemur, a monkey like creature with a zebra striped tail. It was far larger than it should have been, standing no shorter than the red-gold striped tiger…

However the last was maybe the most shocking of all. It didn't seem to be a beast at all. Or rather, it was, but had been stripped of all its flesh. It stood on all fours not much unlike an ape would. From head to toe, it was nothing but bone.

Its body was covered in a faint transparent light that seemed to reflect the vision of an armor, but it would often flicker and disappear as though lacking the ability to maintain its own form.

These six creatures were easily the most powerful. However, what truly shocked Leonel were the orderly 'soldiers' to their backs.

Each of them had a troop of their own, neatly arranged as though they truly were an army of humans rather than beasts. Each took control of their own species, wielding absolute authority.

The golden brown bear had a troop of bears. The red-gold striped tiger had a legion of tigers. The black-scaled snake's troop filled the air with endless hissing… Each had their own centers of power. Even the bone ape had a legion of apes, though their flesh and blood was intact.

Leonel quickly tried to calm his breathing. However, any hopes he had of not being noticed had already long since been thrown out the window. The instant he had made it to the top of the hill, he found six pairs of eyes trained on him.

The bestial, murderous intent made it feel as though a bucket of ice water had fallen onto his head. His heart beat involuntarily slowed.

At that moment, the brownish gold bear roared and turned its head toward the spider legion. To Leonel's dismay, the spider's numerous beady red eyes landed on him once again, its mandibles snapping together in what looked like a response.

Chapter 157 Weakness

The youths who charged forward with Leonel paled. Their legs grew weak to the point some of them all but collapsed. There was even a good portion of them that wanted to turn and run this very moment. But, when they thought about the horde of beasts to their back, they realized that there really was no place to go.

Were they really finished? Just like this?

Some of them were here for a chance to enter an SS-grade Zone. Now that they thought about it, just how foolish were they? A single SS-grade threat like the coy fish had stumped them for so many days already until Leonel came, wasn't it too much of a joke to be striving for such a quota?

The more they thought like this, the more they disparaged themselves, and the greater their fear grew.

In the distance, the horde of spiders was swiftly moving forward, their eight limbs shimmering beneath the sunlight and slicing through the wind. They could only imagine what it would feel like being pierced by one of those things… How horrible would their deaths be…?

Though these youths were part of the Slayer Legion, their childhood's weren't much different from Leonel's. Fights between the Empire and the rebels were much rarer in those days compared to after the Metamorphosis. It could only be said that they were marginally more prepared than other youths since they received military training.

But now… they froze up. Facing a beast one on one was one thing, but suddenly facing over a hundred charging forward like this made them feel as though their lives were already finished. This would really be their last day on this Earth.

"Hey!"

Leonel suddenly roared, shocking them out of their thoughts. His voice was so loud that it traveled over a mile, even overshadowing the rushing sound of Force surging out from the geyser up ahead.

"If you don't want to die, pull yourselves together! You see over there, there's a network of caves. Our goal is to cut through here and make it there. Then we might stand a chance. I'll take the vanguard, don't lose sight of my back!"

They all saw what Leonel was pointing toward.

After the rolling hills of green the blue coy fish had called home, the

land suddenly became bleak and desolate, filled with grayish black gravel-like land. This bleak land was connected to the valley system that blocked their entrance from other regions. Without any context, it looked no different from a land of death.

Nearer toward the center of this land of death, there was another hill. Though this hill wasn't as tall, it was very wide. It was made completely of dull grayish black stone and had numerous holes of varying sizes dotted across its surface. In truth, it was more accurately described as a hive rather than a hill.

The geyser of Force, still jetting out into the skies, came out from this very hive, out of a hole at the very center of it all. Leonel could also tell that the origin of this geyser was incredibly deep underground.

Thinking of the deep valley system, Leonel couldn't help but think that they were connected in some way. But, even though he intuitively felt this, he didn't have the time to put his brain power toward trying to figure it out. The spider legion was already closing in. In the beginning, they were over half a kilometer away, but now, they were already less than half of that.

'We have the high ground right now, but trying to maintain this position is stupid. Those beasts seem to have intelligence, so if they see that the spider legion is losing, they won't just sit idly by.

'The good news is that they only sent one of the six groups after us, leaving a gap in their defenses we can take advantage of. The bad news is that we still need to make it through the spider legion and those other five legions if we want to seek refuge in that hive.'

Leonel gritted his teeth. He knew they needed to charge, there was no other way.

The truth was that turning back to pierce through the horde of beasts toward their backs would be easier. They had far less organization and would definitely be weaker than this threat up ahead. But, if they did that… then what?

There were definitely even more beasts headed here from the ocean, having sensed the surge of Force. If they couldn't deal with this problem in front of them, they would be finished.

Leonel flipped his palm, a familiar spear appearing in his hand. Compared to the last time when its spearhead had been split by Hutch's blade, it had already been repaired.

How could he come here without first comprehending Spear Force? After Leonel did this, the dictionary unlocked a lot of information about the Spear Domain ring for him. There were many useful things, but what was most important to him now was the fact that spears acknowledged by the ring can be repaired!

Unfortunately, he had left the primitive man's spear outside for too long, causing its consciousness to dissipate. As a result, the ring no longer acknowledged it and was unable to repair it. But, this primitive woman's spear was different. Not as much time had passed and since it was just a low level spear of the Spear Domain, it didn't even take an hour to repair fully.

Leonel's aura completely changed, becoming even sharper and more violent than before.

Seeing this, the youths inexplicably felt a sense of calm. Before, when the aura was aimed toward them, they found it difficult to even breathe. But now, having experienced the aura of protection Leonel's teammates had for so many years already, they suddenly felt their strength surging.

Leonel took out the dictionary and slipped it into his pocket. With the situation like this, he couldn't afford to keep it hidden any longer.

"What's the weakness of that spider king?"

Leonel's sudden words caught the youths who had just regained their bearing off guard once again. But, they were even more shocked when there was an actual response.

[ *Ping* Replying to Seed, the seam between the head and body is a vital point. ]

Leonel didn't even turn back after hearing this.

"Follow me, I'll carve out a path."

He could feel his blood boiling. He understood that this was his true state. The state his Lineage Factor was meant to be in.

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