20 Chapter 19 - Journey resumed

"Woah, I'll sure miss this place. The bathhouses are seriously the best. How was your trip, Red?" the hunter asked.

"Pretty good." He said and stared vacantly at the vanishing city.

Although he stopped paying, the hunter took a liking to him and always stood by his side. When he asked why, the man said, just because.

No clear motive.

A whim that stemmed from the affection he built up with the man. Or maybe an ulterior, no it couldn't be.

Because the colours that swirled around him didn't contain impurities.

He finally had it. The ability that aura guardians all had, but he lacked. The last thing he lacked that made him just an aura master.

Not an aura guardian.

The path gradually became less well maintained. Cracks and a few detours resulted in a few hours of delay.

An expected one.

This time, it wouldn't be like the journey to Shion, because all kingdoms care about the paths leading to the sea and only one cares about the one going onto the mainland.

Higanbana alone fought daily to keep its status.

Not to mention cleaning the paths, just maintaining the bare minimum took a lot of effort and periodical support from the Mistral capital.

The hurdles came in many varieties.

More dangerous wildlife that didn't just include Grimm.

One bad snake bite and it could be all over without the right care. Even the experienced hunter didn't recommend hunting for.

Not just the hidden dangers. But also the spike in Grimm activity.

"Red, now we are entering a different kind of place. Imagine as if he passed a certain barrier. Here, you won't have to worry about Grimm only. You will also see the terror of bandits." He said.

It showed on everyone.

The carefree people began to look tense. No one took outings and even eating food and breaks now had rotations.

Anyone missing for just a few minutes could raise an alarm.

Even if they had twenty skilled huntsmen. Just one mistake that wiped a few and it would snowball.

Though Red managed to sneak in a few fights thanks to the hunter.

It started to become much easier. He noticed his teared muscles heal at a much faster rate than ever before.

The aura from deep within him. It already began to do its own magic.

While he was still far ways off from controlling it as a weapon or a healing tool, it made his training and fights much easier.

Grimm, contrary to the popular belief.

Did have emotions or rather emotions controlled them. He saw their own aura mutilate and harm themselves until Grimm attacked.

Most of the Grimm had this feature.

Only the older ones showed signs of their own spiritual wisdom. He didn't know how much it worked, but from the records of ancient Grimm.

The creatures might not be just simple machines of destruction.

Something made them this way. If they didn't adhere to the rule the creator set, they would suffer until they listened or died.

In a way, they might be even more unfortunate than humans and faunus.

Fake empathy aside. Red kept up his training even on the travels. The healing factor made it much easier.

Sometimes he trained during the night and slept when the sun shone.

And the results came pouring in.

All that was left was to awaken his own aura, which he hoped was possible. He still didn't know if his body had this kind of capability.

But he felt like it should.

During testing, which the experienced hunter agreed to.

He partially tried to awaken his aura just to test its presence. The man confirmed that he did have an aura, although it laid dormant much deeper.

Even if he did his best, his skill in aura manipulation might not allow him to awaken his aura.

A good oddity.

Sign that either he is talented or talentless.

With results of his normal training. Both of them were quite sure it came down to the former.

The training and fights crystallized into his own fighting style.

It began to bud.

Not only that, he also had numerous ideas about his own weapon. Thanks to his growth spurt, the parameters of the weapon would change.

Until it stopped, he would have to change it every now end then.

Right now, he felt like it was becoming too small. If he enlarged it further, he'd have not only more damage, but an effect on the larger Grimm.

Aside from the problems, normally, he gradually found about his own weapon.

The enemy that most people feared came.

Bandits.

The first time, they decided to pay a fee instead of an all out battle. Both sides had a considerable strength.

Normally they wouldn't clash with caravans of this caliber. However, some of them were practically bags of skin and bones.

A lot of settlements disappeared.

It made life harder for everyone, caravans, huntsmen and especially bandits.

The second encounter didn't go so well, though.

Over fifty bandits, with some of them possessing an aura, ambushed them during the night. Luckily, Red was about to train and already had a weapon in his hands.

Real fight against humans felt much different compared to Grimm.

Small details, even hyper movement, became very important. He knew that if he grasped it, he could play around his opponent.

Nevertheless, the situation didn't allow for studying.

In the end, he managed to impale two normal bandits and stall a bandit with an aura. The battle itself almost cost him his arm.

Another day arrived.

More problems arose with fewer supplies. Injured huntsman and from the rest, only 15 could perform at their best.

It almost cut their combat power by a quarter.

Much to their relief. After a month of slow travel, they arrived near Higanbana.

Everyone rested, and the merchant sold some of their stock. Due to the bad circumstances, they managed to shed almost half of their cargo.

The merchant decided to wait half a month.

For a few reasons. The problem with injured personnel and the most important piece of information he got.

Nuckelavee was spotted near the path they were about to take.

A terror of the entire continent.

Something that dozens of experienced huntsmen died to.

The thing grew so much that numbers didn't matter anymore to it. Pure power was needed or an extraordinary huntsman.

Except that who would take such a task?

Mistral lacked truly powerful huntsmen.

The elites of Vacuo stood loyal and seldom left their kingdom.

Atlas would agree if it included a contract and Vale had people that talked loudly all day but somehow always manage to do nothing.

It all boiled down to the lack of interest. One that the big players could afford to not care about.

13 days later, good news came.

Nuckelavee appeared dozens of kilometers away and destroyed a settlement.

A rare opportunity that the merchant decided to grasp.

They didn't go slow anymore. At full speed, they couldn't waste a single moment.

Thanks to some luck. They managed to recruit a few more huntsmen and their numbers grew to 26.

The game began.

If they can pass by Kuroyuri, they will be safe.

2 days later, they arrived with the minimum amount of sleep. Even though they employed the best scout to evade bandits.

Their luck finally ran out.

Red sneaked into the backside and waited for the fight to begin.

Soon, shouts and clashes of metal and flesh resounded throughout the convoy. Rapid, unorganised footsteps soon arrived near.

He prepared his spear.

The second they broke into a caravan, he lashed out like a snake.

Thankfully, it was a normal bandit.

His blood dripped as he took out the spear, thrusting it at the other. This time, the enemy reacted and blocked his blow.

Except that the blade of the spear suddenly fell.

Confused, the bandit couldn't react.

A pole shattered his jaw as he felt a piercing pain in his guts. Red combined the two together and went out.

The fight continued.

With a lot of energy to spare, he tried to find a blind spot. Moments later, he walked through the thick bushes right behind the enemy formations.

This time, he had his spear on his back.

In one hand a pistol he got from a bandit and in the other, pure combustion dust crystal.

With a ting, a bullet followed.

BOOM

Flesh stuck to his clothes. It took two bandits cleanly off.

He threw another one, trying to shoot it. Alas, the enemy came right after him. He shot randomly a few times before throwing the gun away.

This time, it couldn't be a normal bandit.

Red readied his spear while slowly backing off near the caravan.

Sure enough, a tall, almost 2 meter beast appeared.

His bicep muscles bigger than his head. And the height difference couldn't even be compared.

Burn marks on the bandit's clothes looked like simple decoration.

Both of them didn't talk. The giant swung a huge club almost as big as him. Red could only dodge as the ground shattered to pieces.

His heart began to beat faster.

One hit, and he's gone. The giant prepared to swing his club again.

Red dashed back.

His opponent didn't wait and lunged at him, but Red was ready.

He jumped and threw himself as far as possible. The club fell down as an even more terrifying power flung the club away.

BOOOM

The giant staggered.

With deep breaths, he stabilised himself and didn't even search for his weapon.

Red saw the situation from the corner of his eye. A bullet flew just in time and hit the back of the Giant.

He didn't flinch. In his eyes, there was only one person.

But even that changed when it appeared.

SHRIIEEEEEEK