My Last Hunt

Quest For Three Stones (34)

Bagel;

Adding into enemies

With the certain time passed; the attack increased and the numbers of rocks added. The hunter king stopped moving and picked the front place then brought out two stones. He activated both stones for attack and then flipped his hand one to guard the front and the second to secure the rear. The stone flew in the air and leapt like a trained weapon and a glow shimmered along with smashing the rocks next instant. It was a wonderful sight however deadly in case of sliver of mistake. The falling rocks were part of second level defense which means these could give fatal injuries to a lower level hunter. 

Qiao was following behind but as soon as the difficulty level increased; he could see the number of rocks which was more similar to the raindrops, now no more gapes could be seen through because of the amount increasing; same goes at his rear side where a stone was protecting by attacking the rocks. It was directly taking orders from the hunter king at this moment. There was strong reason for this. If few rocks skipped and crashed against him; he could bear the attack on his body. 

However if the rocks reached the young hunter then it would bring chaos; the present stone which was giving assistance was busy in protecting the damaged stratum while the kid was only level five. It was taking enough of the conscious concentration and the spawned control should not lose attention that means he was currently under lot of pressure. Fortunately he was leader in his team and happened to face several hundred tense situations where he was supposed to bring out his utmost strength at the peak to fight the enemy. As long as he kept his four skills active; there was no need to worry no matter if the difficulty further increased. 

It was for his advantage to go through this tough situation for the class test of Hunter King which was pending from a decade. It was one of a kind opportunity and by chance he was here to face it head on with the help of a kid. Mostly the team members decide to not get involved in risky missions; they coward to leave the challenge too. He was seriously considering taking this kid in his team and then teaching him about the higher level hunting. He would be glad to teach such a fearless young hunter who has strong grit to face the challenges life brings suddenly up. 

He was completely impressed from Qiao; just that there was doubt that the kid might not be willing to follow him. According to his observation the young hunter has not reached the peak of level five and it was highly likely that he would go back to his guild to take permission for the Hightown. All those hunters living anywhere in the seven continents must reach to the Hightown to register themselves for the hunting classes of higher level. 

And only a guild can provide a rough direction to reach the Hightown else the hunter would lose path for forever or get killed by the sudden dangers appearing the veteran paths. The Hightown has built a rough path for the all the hunters coming from various parts of the world to reach the place. It was not that someone was there to protect every traveler. Only some places existed in the intervals to look for help or report any big issue. Those intervals were built so that if the hunter happened to spot some dangerous monster of higher level; they could report it the nearest Nest. 

Nest was the team of hunters which were sent to occupy certain place in case someone wanted to report about the rare or dangerous monsters. It was called Nest because the team does not live in the open but by making a nest on the bigger and old trees for protection in the night in the open forest. They were named as Nest and their mission was to inform the Hightown as well as immediately react on the report. If they can hunt then it was all fine; otherwise they would ask Hightown to send the Hunter kings. 

Qiao on the other hand was in a different situation; the assisting stone was about to explode after the attacks of the enemy stone, as long as it was guarding the stratum the stone was unable to break apart the consciousness. So the first mark was to tear up the guarding stone and it would significantly damage the control of the young hunter. Two forces were against each other and the third was young hunter Qiao. Both forces were reluctant to accept defeat; one was under command the second was the egoistic. 

Qiao was thrown on the ground at some distance when the first clash happened between the forces. This was final attempt of the enemy; to kill the young hunter or occupy over his consciousness. His sudden fall alarmed the hunter who was focused until now. His heart jumped in his mouth and several horrible thoughts passed through his head. Qiao struggled to stand up and firmly pressed the stone in his hand. The stone emitted thick golden glow to support him. When the hunter king saw him struggling to stand up; he took deep breath with ease and returned back to his priority job. 

He was currently confined with all work and bleak commands. Few drops of sweat trickled down his forehead with utmost fear and leapt to cover the young hunter. The death of the young hunter would bring immediate demise for him as well and he would be killed for sure. The stone would get the higher level and he would not be able to single handedly tackle the enemy especially when he was already exhausted with the constricted efforts. Now it was nearly blurred because he was using his peak level agility along with attack commands; controlling all four stones for attack at the same time. 

It was rare phenomena where a near hunter king happened to control four attack type stones at once against any enemy. The never ending attacks of the rocks were going on from all sides and the stones were moving at the will of the hunter king, faster than the wind according to the control level. The rocks were scattering everywhere with the same pace and Qiao was fighting against the inner devil. It was tense situation where a tiny mistake would upside down the consequences. Their lives were at the stake. 

At the same time; there were minor changes unnoticeable for anyone but hunter king. He felt that someone stepped in the first level defense of the stone and there was someone attacking in a different way not to defeat but to capture something. It was not a problem before but now it could bring trouble. If he was able to sense the presence of others then it was bound to happen that the new intruder must have sensed their presence as well and he was intentionally here. He happened to see some diggers and the attack sense resembled to them. 

He gulped the breath with worry. He was not supposed to relate it to the kid but if the intruders were able to reach them earlier then he has to face them too depending on their reaction. 

…

"According to my experience; this first level defense expand through few hundred feet so it would not take us long to reach the second level." Rucha was now excited to dig out the stone. From the energy and the aura he felt; the stone was at infinity level, a perfect target for his remedy. 

"Sure enough; the hunters at the second stage are not strong to attack the strength of the stone. I can sense their attacks which are pitiful in my eyes. It is good sign for you; you can easily shook them away with your present anger." The hunter named Rumble chuckled. 

"Stop you bastard already." Rucha warned him to not mock his angry mood. "Alright; I fear your anger man." He rose up his hands to show that he surrendered while the third hunter was enjoying their bickering.

They were at the first stage of the defense and estimated the time to reach the second stage. It was shorter than the time Qiao and the hunter king took to reach second stage. The difference was there because the present team was called diggers and they were feared by the ordinary hunter kings. Diggers use most accurate ways and the most brutal ways according to the demand of the situation. 

Since this team was led by Rucha who was desperate to get this specific stone so he would show the most cruel side of the diggers if needed. His eyes were showering fire at this moment when leaping through the lava. "I am coming to get you." He clenched his teeth.