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Shadow Agency
S2 - Chapter 44 – The Ultimate Hunter

S2 - Chapter 44 – The Ultimate Hunter

The colours of scent that made up my lair team were close. It didn’t take but two or three minutes of climbing over roots and ducking under branches and leaves to find their makeshift camp.

It looked like Coach Liv was on guard duty and was looking the wrong direction to see me coming. I cleared my throat and Coach spun around quickly, axe in hand and prepared to cut me down in an instant.

I put my hands up in surrender.

Coach Liv looked at me dumbfounded for a moment before a giant grin split his face. “Burion!” he cheered, “Everyone, Burion is back. He’s alive.”

That seemed to perk up the rest of my team, most of whom were dozing against trees despite it being the middle of the day.

Almost instantly, my Handler was up and moving. He appeared in front of me, holding a blade to my throat, and started inspecting me. Then his eyes glowed silver and I felt his compulsion magic try to enter me but fail. He looked over his shoulder and loudly warned, “Everyone stay back, this might be a trick. This might be the next hunter beast.”

That stopped everyone in their tracks.

“Mister Romano, ask him a question only he would know the answer to,” the professor insisted.

“Me?” Al questioned.

“Yes, you,” he replied.

“Uh, what was the first thing you ever talked to me about?” Al asked, sounding unsure if he was asking the right thing.

“Rychania. I talked to you about Rychania and how I thought you’d like it there,” I answered, careful not to jerk or move so as to not get my throat cut open.

“Is that true?” Signore Barducci asked.

“Yeah,” Al said.

“Ask him another?” my Handler insisted.

I saw Alphonse smirk a little, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, apparently he decided I was really me because his next question . . . well, it was a very Al kind of thing to ask, “Who do you like?”

That son of a- I glared at Al. How dare he?

My Handler smirked, “Answer the question.”

I shifted my glare to the wolfman and had the same thought about him as I did Al. Grinding my teeth, I answered, “Bella Brightwood.”

Al laughed merrily, “It’s him.”

My Handler’s blade vanished and his eyes stopped glowing as he took a step back.

“I hate you. Both of you,” I growled as Al laughed harder and my Handler chuckled.

There was a visible wave of relief from my team, followed inevitably by questions. So many questions. I told a tale of survival, using Torpor to heal, and then trudging through the jungle for days trying to find the place I fell into the water. It wasn’t a very exciting story. When I finished, I saw a look from my Handler that told me he didn’t believe the story and that I would be telling him the real story later.

“Well, you made it back just in time,” Coach Liv said at the end. “The last hunt is about to begin.”

“Have you been well rewarded?” I asked, looking over the group for any obvious rewards.

Coach Liv grimaced, “Nothing yet. It happens sometimes. A lair might choose to give out one large reward at the end to anyone who survives.”

I nodded. I had heard that before so it wasn’t too much of a surprise.

I was about to sit down and have a bite to eat when two new scents filled the air. I lifted my nose into the air and breathed in deeply. It reminded me of the first two beasts. Same colour scent but stronger . . . deadlier. “It’s begun.”

“Plvoer and Burion, you move forward together. We won’t be far behind. And for the love of the Gods, if you get ambushed again, don’t go jumping into the river to escape, we’ll be there quickly enough. You just need to survive,” Coach Liv instructed.

I had the good graces to blush. It was exactly as I thought. The beast let go of me because my team forced it to. Lesson learned.

Plvoer followed me closely, an arrow nocked on his bow as we moved. I followed the scent while Plvoer kept his eyes scanning through the jungle, though I wasn’t sure of how much he could see with as thick as the growth was. Just like the first hunt, one of the scents suddenly went up into the canopy of the trees. I smiled ruefully, Yum had a sick sense of humour.

“It went up the trees,” I said softly to Plvoer.

The eagleman nodded, casting his eyes to the canopy above. “I don’t see anything.”

“Just keep your eyes peeled. I get the feeling we’re facing the same beast as the first hunt, just . . . more dangerous,” I said.

“Got it,” Plvoer replied.

I continued tracking the beast that stayed on the ground, well aware that the other beast might be waiting to ambush us. I knew anyone else in my situation would, and should have been terrified, but I was angry. That damned beast almost killed me and now I wanted some payback.

I held my breath as I strained my ears, desperately searching for any sound beyond Plvoer's clumsy steps. My heartbeat raced faster with every passing second as I waited for the impending ambush from above. I heard a few branches snap, but it was barely enough to register in my mind. All that mattered was listening for the slightest hint of danger beyond Plvoer's presence.

“I’m going to try to draw it out,” I said. “Stay two metres behind me.”

Plvoer didn’t say anything but dropped back as I requested.

I knew it was risky. But I had a better idea of what to do. I was also stronger than the last time. I had yet to activate my Shadow Cloak as it would have prevented Plvoer and the beast from seeing me, the bait. As such, I kept the skill in the back of my mind, ready to activate at the first sound that wasn’t Plvoer.

I expected the attack to come with every step I took. With every pause to listen, I waited for its call and feared that it would come. But it never did, not until Plvoer screamed in pain.

I cursed my foolishness. The beast was here and Plvoer was paying the price.

Racing back to him, my heart pounded in my chest and adrenaline coursed through my veins. The beast was even bigger than I remembered, a nightmarish creature of black fur and powerful muscles. It stood over Plvoer and ripped into his stomach, bearing down with its claws and eliciting an agonising cry that ran chills down my spine.

I knew I had to get the beast away. Without a second thought, I barreled forward and threw my shoulder into the beast's flank. For a moment, all went silent and the beast stopped its attack in shock. I had not budged it an inch, but I had succeeded in gaining its attention.

The beast was upon me in a moment and I barely had time to react, my body moving on instinct alone. I thrust the shadowy blade up and between two of its ribs, stabbing deep into the thick hide. The mana coursing through me made the blade bite even deeper and I felt it slice through something vital inside with a sickening sensation. Before the monster could counterattack, I let go of the blade and it dispersed into shadows, triggering my Bleed skill as it vanished. I ran towards its tail, stabbing it three more times with increasing ferocity, each strike deeper than the last as the Bleed skill intensified. Blood spurted from the beast's wounds as it roared in agony.

It was well and truly angry with me now but I didn’t care. I wanted the beast to chase me.

I jumped a log and heard the beast crash through it just behind me, wood fragments stinging my back like tiny daggers. It growled in anger and frustration but I heard it coming closer, a relentless pursuit. I jumped over a root and darted behind a tree just in time as the beast flew wildly by, its claws desperately scraping against the scree of the jungle floor. I didn't dare to look back, I changed direction and sprinted ahead with everything I had. My Lair Team was only a dozen metres away now. I just needed to make it to them.

“It’s behind me!” I yelled in warning as I got close. “I’m running through, comrade Robin, comrade Rober, taunt the rotten beast. Comrade Alphonse, I need you to run with me, Plvoer is hurt.”

I heard Robin yell back first, “Bring it in, Burion, we got it!”

I adjusted my run toward her voice and barreled into a small clearing with several recently cut down branches and leaves. I was impressed by the clearing. It also made it easy to spot Al.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I ran between Robin and Rober and heard them shift behind me followed by a heavy thud as something made a meaty impact.

“Lead and I’ll follow,” Al said, already running just behind me.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I ran, leading Al quickly through the jungle, following the scent back to Plvoer.

We found him quickly and Al slid down next to him, his hands already glowing with golden light. I moved across from Al and started First Aid. I put pressure on any bleeding wound, adding tourniquets to limbs. Anything to keep him alive long enough for Al’s healing magic to save the eagleboy’s life.

“He’s losing too much blood,” I noted as I tried desperately to staunch the bleeding. I could see the cuts and rents in the flesh of the eagleman. The beast had attacked major arteries. It was a miracle he hadn’t bled out already. “Al, I don’t think we can save him.”

“Yes, we can,” Al ground out, his hand glowing brighter, the energy seeping from his hands to envelope Plvoer’s entire body. “I’m not losing anyone else because of me, not when I have the power to stop it.”

The amount of mana pouring out of the dogboy was dangerous. It was more than he should have even had. And yet . . . “If you’re that determined to save him then stop holding back!”

Al glanced up at me, a rictus of anger on his face as sparks of electricity danced across his eyes. Thunder suddenly rumbled overhead as the air became electrified. I felt a shock leap from Plvoer to my hand, numbing it slightly and making me jerk back.

“Stay back,” Al warned as more thunder rumbled overhead.

Without warning, lightning struck, electricity pouring into Al as the golden glow intensified to a blinding light that blotted out everything. Mana suffused the air all around me such that I could smell and taste . . . life in it. It was . . . incredible.

As the light faded, I saw Al slumped over Plvoer. I moved to check on him and felt relief to find Al was still breathing, just unconscious, if slightly charred from the lightning.

Then I looked at Plvoer. He was alive but unconscious. He was also completely uninjured. Not a scratch or cut or rent in his flesh remained. There wasn’t even any blood on his skin or pooled on the ground beneath his body. It was as if he’d never been injured at all.

Naturally, that was when the pounding of feet running in our direction sounded through the forest. It seemed my team had succeeded in finishing the beast.

“How is he? Will he live? What happened to Al? I heard the thunder,” Coach Liv asked rapidly, sliding to his knees next to us and starting his own triage.

“They’re fine I think,” I answered. “You’ll probably want Yui to check them over first, just in case.”

“Yui, get over here,” Coach Liv bellowed as the foxgirl just came into sight.

She saw Al and cried his name, almost flying there, repairing the damage and ignoring Alphonse’s screams of pain. Her way of healing was unique - a blend of spirit magic, medical knowledge and sheer willpower. According to what Yui had told them during Al’s party, she had been practising this type of healing for years, thanks to her clan’s teachings.

Yui began to move in a slow and ritualistic dance, raised her hands and began the healing spell. A soft blue light glowed around Al, starting near his head and slowly surrounding his entire body as Yui spoke the ancient words of power - each syllable carefully pronounced like a hymn from a forgotten religion. With each word uttered, her breath seemed to become part of the incantation, and as it swirled around Al it seemed to enter his very being.

I watched in awe as Yui moved her hands deftly, blue light spread outward, enveloping Al’s burns in a warm embrace as it healed them, his blackened flesh mending itself as if nothing had ever happened to him. Yui moved her hands over Alphonse’s body in a graceful dance of healing energy until every inch of him was whole again.

Hearing Coach’s voice startled me back to reality, “Burion! Are you still able to track the other one? We need to end this and get them both back to the healers.” His face was stern, his jaw set in determination as he gazed down at me.

I nodded, my head swimming with awe at what I had just seen.

“Good, then get to it. The sooner we find the last beast, the better,” Coach said, sounding very eager to be done with this lair, not that I could blame him. Thinking he’d lost me must have weighed heavily on him.

I took in a deep breath. The scents from the jungle filled my nose and mouth, a cacophony of colours and flavours and smells. Through the press of warm scents, I found only one that mixed grass, fear, and stone into a yellow burst of colour. I had the scent. I let Shadow Cloak envelop me and moved through the jungle carefully, despite the predatory beast having been slain. I didn’t know what the prey looked like or how sensitive it was to noise.

I followed the scent through the trees for fifteen or twenty minutes when I caught the slightest hint of another scent. There was a magic in the air, intermingled with the new scent. The wet foliage and flowers, the normal scents of the forest, were replaced by the smell of sulphur and an almost sweet stench that thickened my tongue and throat.

I realised almost too late that there was a second predatory beast. I stepped quickly to my left. I felt something pass through the space I’d just occupied. I heard and saw large paw prints press into the dirt but there was nothing there. I carefully drew in the scent and a beast took shape to my synesthesia. It was wrapped in a halo of pink magic that stank of sulphur, making it slightly indistinct but still there.

It was smaller than the previous two beasts, but I knew this thing was far more dangerous. Magic made everything more dangerous. That it was also nearly invisible just made it more so. It lifted its head into the air and I heard a snuffling sound and felt magic move through the air toward it, suddenly it turned. It was looking right at me.

The beast leaped through the air and I dove under it, coming quickly back up to my feet and turned to face it, forming two long shadow knives. I wasn’t going to be able to hide from this beast.

It ran at me, keeping its feet on the ground this time. I stepped left then shot right, letting my Footwork and Wrestling skills help me avoid the charging beast while also putting me in a position to counter.

I leapt, landing onto the beast's back, driving both knives into either side of its neck, cutting into the jugular veins.

The beast roared beneath me as I drove my blades deeper into its neck. Blood gushed from the wound, the hot and metallic scent filling the air. I felt my knives slipping in my blood-drenched hands, struggling to maintain my grip as the creature bucked wildly, desperately trying to throw me off. But I used what I learned from Grappling and slipped my legs under the beast, pushing on its hindleg to help me keep my hold. I pushed my blades deeper and deeper until the monster’s struggles began to grow weaker and its roars turned to a desperate whimper. Finally, with one final convulsion, it collapsed onto the ground, dead.

I let the blades disperse and stood on shaky legs. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through me. I also felt a bit of joy at having been able to take out such a monster on my own. I was alive, and it was dead. Kill or be killed, that was the way of lairs.

“A second hunter beast?” Coach Liv asked, startling me slightly. I hadn’t heard him coming.

I nodded shakily. I could feel the adrenaline of the moment starting to fade quickly as my limbs became heavier. “I got lucky.”

“I’ll say you did,” Robin commented. “It took all of us to subdue the last one. Though I suppose this one is smaller.”

I glared weakly at the beargirl and was about to retort when my Handler cut in. “We can worry about the extra beast later. Right now, we need to finish the hunt. Mister Belov, are you good to continue?”

I nodded. I was tired, but tracking the last beast would be easy enough. I breathed in the scent again and started to follow, the rest of my team hot on my heels.

Thankfully, there was no third predator. We caught up to the prey beast about ten minutes later. It was a tall creature with four limbs, an abundance of brown fur and four antlers atop its head, each with eyes of its own. It stood almost as tall as I was and it was fast. As soon as it spotted me, the creature took off running. I growled, angry with myself for letting that happen. I should have tried to sneak up on it.

I caught up to it a couple hours later. It was panting heavily between lapping up water from a shallow pool of water. I stuck to the shadows this time, using my Cloak to hide me. With its fur as thick as it was, I wasn’t sure I could kill it in one hit. The odds of hitting something vital were just too low. However, the fur around its ankles looked much thinner, patchy even. I imagined it lost fur to underbrush as it ran. I could hamstring it. Keep it from being able to run away.

I stalked around the pool until I was behind the beast. I dashed forward, slicing into the back of the beast’s leg. I expected a retreat, but instead, the beast spun around on its hooves with a swiftness I wasn't prepared for. With a powerful kick, the beast struck me with both feet, one striking me hard in the gut, and the other landing with a sickening crack on my arm. I felt my arm snap from the strength of the attack and dropped to the ground in agony.

Even though it was wounded, the beast still hobbled away from me, leaving me lying helplessly on the ground. I waited for my team to catch up as I gasped in pain from my bruised gut and shattered arm.“You alright Burion?” Coach Liv asked, coming into view first.

“I’m fine, follow the blood trail and finish this mess,” I said, not bothering to get up.

Signore Barducci’s face came into view a minute later. He stared down at me, judging me for a moment before speaking, “I am starting to worry for your health, Mister Belov. This is the second time you have taken significant injury in this lair. Are you perhaps some kind of masochist?”

I gave my Handler a wry smile, but groaned, “Maybe.”

“Miss Nakamura, might you be willing to patch up young Mister Belov here?” my Handler asked, looking to his left.

“Maybe he should suffer for a while. Might teach him to be nicer to certain people. Maybe even encourage him to not get hurt so often,” the foxgirl offered.

I had a feeling Yui didn’t care for the way I talked to Alphonse. Either way, I didn’t appreciate the delay in healing. Thankfully, Signore Barduccci intervened on my behalf, though he seemed reluctant to do so, “No, you may as well heal him. I do not want to carry him out of the lair and it would be bad form to just leave him behind.”

“I suppose you have a point. Very well,” Yui said with a sigh, then she came over to me and started to work. She seemed to lack any bedside manner as she forcefully yanked at my broken arm, manually realigning the bones before her hands glowed with white healing magic.

I heard Coach Liv nearby, “Beau, take Rober with you and go get Al and Plvoer, a portal opened where we killed the last beast.”

“There, that should be good enough,” Yui declared, the whiteglow of her healing magic fading from her hands as she stood.

I moved my arm gingerly. It was working but still sore. It suggested I wasn’t fully healed and based on the smirk on the foxgirl’s face, she knew it. She also hadn’t healed the bruising on my stomach at all. I decided then, I didn’t like Yui and maybe I would help Al avoid her in the future.

Once Rober and Beau returned carrying the two unconscious youths, we moved as a group to the portal. It wasn’t an exit portal but a swirling blue mass that looked a lot like the portal Yum used to send me to my team.

We stepped through, one by one, reappearing in a clearing with several plinths, each holding a reward chest. And in the centre of the clearing was the familiar black portal that would take us out of the lair.

“Burion, think you can tell us which chest belongs to whom?” Coach Liv requested.

I nodded,breathed in deeply and quickly got everyone to their chests, even Plvoer and Alphonse, who’d both been forcefully awoken by Yui, much to her loud protests.

I opened my chest, hoping to find one or two skill stones, maybe one or two of those I hadn’t selected from Yum. Instead, I found a book. It was leather-bound and weathered with age. I used my Identify skill on it.

The Fearless Badger - Mana Cultivation Manual

Now, that was interesting. I would definitely be giving it a read. After a bath and some food . . . a lot of food.