Ascension: Online

"I'm glad you two both understood the meaning of my glance," I said once we were out of the Hunter's Guild building.

"What, only the two of us? You weren't worried about Sakura-senpai?" Ichigo scoffed.

"Of course not!" Hina-nee exclaimed. "Kaze-kun and I have telepathic communication."

Uh… we don't. We really don't.

"Right, the whole sibling thing?" Horiya laughed.

"Uh… a-ahem," I cleared my throat to take control of the conversation. "The quest said the snowolf pack is in Lidya forest, north of Qilian City."

Hina-nee opened up her System and switched to the 'Map' tab. "North is… that way."

She pointed directly past the fountain located in the center of the city. We were currently on the south side of Qilian, so in order to reach the north gates, we had to just keep going in the direction we were currently heading in.

Around half an hour later, we reached the gates - it was a pretty big city, after all; took quite a while to get around. Once there, we showed them our guild cards, and they let us pass. However, they did say that while our guild cards could serve as travel permits as well, it was a good idea to get a proper one. I made up my mind to do that once we got back from doing this quest.

By this time, it was nearly 3 PM. Furuwa should be done with school right about now. Jim should also be closed to finish teaching, if not done already.

*****

The cool afternoon breezes of autumn swept in relaxingly on our faces as we walked.

"These snowolves… what do you think they are?" Horiya asked.

"Given the species names we've had so far, such as sickleboars, moonserpents, and such… I'd say it's safe to assume they're some kind of wolves," I conjectured. "White wolves, perhaps?"

"The quest description on the bulleting wall said they were 'emerging'," Hina-nee pointed out. "Are they slowly appearing now that it's close to winter?"

"Maybe. I mean, they do have snow in their names," Ichigo shrugged. "But whatever the case, we just gotta beat them, right?"

"Don't let your guard down. We don't know how powerful they can be," I warned.

"Yeah, yeah… but in the end, if they're meant for us Recruits to take out, then they can't be too hard to kill, no?"

"I… suppose that's true," I sighed. "But even so, don't underestimate them. Even a cornered rat will bite a cat… as the saying goes, one who is cornered will fight like a devil."

It didn't take too long for us to reach a forest. A little over half an hour, maybe. We had asked the guards at the gates where to go, and they just told us to keep going forward if we wanted to reach Lidya forest. So, we did. And now, here we are. There was an open, proper road for us to walk on, one that had probably been cleared out and constructed by the city. Trees surrounded us on both sides, and the road seemed to have no end as it continued straight forward with the occasional curve or turn.

"This forest… it's huge," Hina-nee mused, looking around. The trees were dense and thick - we couldn't even see just how wide this forest went on either sides of us. We weren't exactly keen to do so, either.

It would be a different story if a Vault was nearby, but I checked my Quests tab and didn't see anything. That said, the primary quest I had been meaning to look into was still there, with the timer now saying '13:15:23:01'. Exactly 13 days, 15 hours, 32 minutes, and 1 second from now. Since it was 3 PM at the moment… that would mean this timer would run out at 6 AM in the morning. That was troublesome. Deciding that this wasn't the time, I closed out of my System.

"Does anyone have any skills that could help us track down where these snowolfs are?" I asked the other three.

"I'm really close to Level 11," Hina-nee replied. "Once I level up, I'll be able to acquire the Sonar Pulse skill I told you about, Kaze-kun!"

"I see… let's find some Magic Beasts for you to kill, then," I suggested, to which they all nodded in agreement.

*****

Lydia forest was filled with Magic Beasts for us to kill. We were able to hunt down quite a lot just by wandering around randomly. We kind of got carried away and ended up killing a lot more than we originally intended, but extra XP never hurt.

In the end, I leveled up to Level 17, halfway to Level 18. Ichigo and Horiya both reached Level 17 as well, while Hina-nee went up four levels, reaching Level 14, since we let her get most of the kills.

"Alright, now all I have to do is get the skill…" she murmured, opening up her System and operating it skillfully. "And… done!"

"Sweet," I said with a wry smile. "Test it out."

Hina-nee nodded and closed her eyes to help her concentrate. She appeared to chant something within her head, then suddenly, an orange energy pulse erupted from her body and scanned 180 degrees in front of us.

Hina-nee's eyes snapped open. "There!"

"H-Huh? Where?" Ichigo and Horiya looked around in puzzlement.

"Ah, you guys can't see it because only the user can see it, but I can see multiple living beings being highlighted in orange right now, straight ahead of us," Hina-nee explained.

"And… are they wolves?"

"At least they seem to be, yes."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Ichigo chuckled, and rushed on ahead together with Horiya. "Let's go!"

"Uh, wait, you'll alert them if you go in like tha-" I began, but he was already gone. "Damn it… those two are so troublesome…"

I moved to chase after them, but Hina-nee stopped me, grabbing my forearm.

"Hold on, Kaze-kun," she said. "Don't worry… they won't be able to find them anyway without our help. I have a plan - let them rush on ahead, and hopefully get lost in the forest, actually. That way, we can get all the XP to ourselves, so we can level up and eventually return home quicker," Hina-nee smirked evilly.

I blinked in surprise. "Wow, Hina-nee… didn't know you had that cruelty in you."

"E-Eh? Um… do you… not like me this way?" Hina-nee asked timidly, blushing. "S-Sorry! Pretend I never said that."

I smiled. "Nah. If anything… I like this you better. I was just a bit surprised, that's all."

"Mou, Kaze-kun, don't scare me like that," Hina-nee pouted angrily, on the verge of tears. "I was afraid you didn't want onee-san anymore…"

Woah, slow down there… how quick can you change emotions?!

"Relax, Hina-nee. I can abandon anyone and anything else, but not you," I said reassuringly. "Still… why did you suggest that idea? I like it, but…"

Hina-nee hugged me tightly. "Why else? Simply because they used to bully you. I still resent them deep down for that, you know. I'll never forgive them for hurting my Kaze-kun."

"Hm… I see. It would be a lie if I said I care about them all that much," I smiled wryly. "Let's do things your way. Where are the snowolves?"

Hina-nee snickered and grabbed my hand, pulling me behind her.

"Follow me."