My Last Hunt

Quest For Three Stones (20)

Zunal;

Phantasm taking revenge;

When Qiao thought that he could go along with his serenity and make right decision to get out of the Phantasm was the time this Phantasm got offended. He was oblivious about the intellect level of this Phantasm and sure enough his self-assurance was the reason which triggered and challenged the Phantasm for the very first time. Qiao was the only one who had had courage to offend the Phantasm until now without him being knowing anything that he actually angered the delirium.

Since it was triggered so it would not go easy with this specific hunter who was quite confident earlier to think that he could leave it by himself soon. Whoever ends up in the Phantasm can only leave it at the will of the Phantasm rather than his own intellect; if he has intellect then the Phantasm would make sure to destroy it. This means the level of difficulty would increase hundred percent for anyone who was confident in anyway. And Qiao was unaware that this place can mind his confidence. So the present situation came into being; all the things going on here was a series of mistakes which resulted in another round of tough level.

The Phantasm has decided to break the confidence in pieces hence Qiao cannot do anything against it. After all it was the matter of the arrogance of the intellectual Phantasm; not a small matter indeed. As soon as the difficulty level increased; the things which were normal for hunter to see and understand turned realistic. It did not means that Qiao was transported to the real world instead the Phantasm accessed the hidden fears covered under the depths of his consciousness. This time his conscious was under the threat.

In normal times the Phantasm only play with the well-known weaknesses of a hunter; currently it has gone too far to access the consciousness and the things which were only illusion before turned concrete. This was the reason that Qiao felt pain when the broken part of the building fell on his feet. His consciousness was being stolen by the Phantasm and used against him. Also why this specific sight was presented in front of him because it was one of the sight which he witnessed with his own eyes and fortunately returned alive. Now the same sight was being presented in front of him for weakening his consciousness and serenity.

It was natural for him to get panic at such situation. The people were crying for help and when they started jumping from the broken windows; it got more tense. Qiao remembered that previously when he tried to go near the building; a huge part of the jam fell and blocked his path then he was almost near to death when he was rescued. Now he has two choices whether to commit the same mistake or stay away from this mess. Choice because he cannot render any help when the building was collapsing; he would be considered another person crying for help if he went near.

He has some agility in his movement but he has yet to reach its next level where the skill acutely can be considered helpful. He cannot just present his forte physique to endure the broken blocks of the building then get buried along with them rather than be of any help for the people. "Just close your eyes Qiao; you are not that strong keep in mind..." he reminded himself. The consciousness would definitely force him to got for help or give excuses blaming that he was heartless to stand aside so it was better to just close eyes and try to control the panic state which was not good sign for him as hunter.

"It is impossible for me to reach the real world and it is also questionable how on Earth the things changed this much. It is only a trap, a trap so powerful that I am taking it real. Those screams are not real even the people are illusion. Don't believe it." He kept repeating these words so that his consciousness could not blame him as heartless. He knew in this situation; a normal human thinks emotionally rather than serene.

Emotions were easy to jerk the consciousness and make believe that the decision was insane or inhumane. For all the ongoing things; Qiao has to keep a hard control on his emotions rather than going all out. It was not coward but his consciousness could blame that it was coward act to not do anything for the people in grave danger. But it was also unwise to act otherwise. He was under the pressure of the situation currently and trying best to get out of it.

The Phantasm can only increase the screams of the people or it could turn the situation more tense depending on the reaction of the hunter. Qiao was fighting with his consciousness.

...

The hunter Kings were still in the place and wandering to find the possible exit. This place was at the far end of the continent and divided in several hundred entry points or exits. Every time a hunter suddenly reach the other place means that an exit or entry point changed it location to transport the hunter. A monster which died at the hands of of few Hunter Kings shredded his stone before death and threw it in the depths of this place.

The Hunter Kings returned after killing the monster but the leftover stone which was at the infinity level of the intellect started to cover up the personal territory slowly and now it was at the highest possible grade to posses the real consciousness but still it was stone which brooded the intellect of a monster with the time and learned how to create personal territory. This way none of the diggers could find the stone and get it for their own sake or for the trading.

Diggers were the kind of hunters who like to collect stones shredded by the monsters in all types of places and all seven continents. It happened that few level seven or eight retired hunters make a team and venture the suspected places where they could get the stones. Since they happened to be senior hunter so they had had quite a knowledge about most of the places in all seven continents. They were called diggers and originally don't hunt unless the monster came looking for them.

Being in a team they could defeat a monster even if they don't kill it; they could at least get the stone for trade. These stones have much value and used as weapon by the stronger hunters. The way lower level hunters collect spoils to buy the best weapon; the same way higher level hunters trade with the mature stones when they wanted to go on a mission.

Diggers were real threat for a stone which was shredded by a monster. Normally a mature stone can live own separately but as soon as the diggers get it; they trade with powerful hunters and the powerful hunter temper them with their blood to get the loyalty of the stone. Most of the stones were unwilling but being stones they have fewer choices else the hunter might smash them into smithereens in anger. And this could be the end of a lifespan of the poor stone. So the specific stone was able to hide from the diggers and be able to create its own territory before the diggers were able to get to know about it; it built it's own Phantasm which was the characteristic of the dead monster.

Now this conscious and intellectual Phantasm cannot let the diggers find out the exact location of the stone no matter how much they have fully tempered their brains to fight back the power of the Phantasm. Qiao cannot bother about the hidden secrets of the Phantasm unless he was challenged. His path was simple and plain as long as the things remain simple and plain. If he was to trigger then he would walk to the end of the world to find the dragon ball.

It solely depends on his mood whether he was willing to let it go or ready to go along that far. He did not know that the Phantasm was trying to worsen his situation or playing with his consciousness even his hidden secrets were being accessed which can really trigger his anger once known.

Slowly the screams were dying and the collapsing building turned into mess on the ground. When Qiao opened his eyes to confirm that the crisis was over; he was met with another surprise. The people were who were crying for help were no more only the broken and destroyed parts of the building.

Now he understood that he was still under the influence of shadow delirium. He looked at his feet which was hit and injured. It no more looked affected by anything. "I am lenient until now." he gritted his teeth.