In a secluded part of the forest, Reisou stood with his right hand raised, eyes fixed on a massive tree ahead.
A strange blue sphere hovered above his palm, warping the air around it with its spinning energy.
Reisou took a deep breath and charged forward, slamming the sphere into the tree trunk. The instant it made contact, a burst of blue light exploded outward, tearing a huge hole straight through the tree.
*Clap! *Clap!
From the side, 2B clapped twice, watching as her master finally pulled off the strange technique with much better control than before.
When Reisou first received the Rasengan as a bonus reward, it had taken him over ten tries just to get a feel for how it worked.
Summoning it using his energy points was the easy part. But actually landing a hit and keeping it under control?
That was a whole different story.
For some reason, the wind generated by the technique made his hand shake, which only made it easier to miss the target.
So he focused on keeping his hand steady while using the Rasegan, and his brief training showed some solid results.
Now, his chance of missing had dropped by at least 70%.
Another drawback of the technique was how much energy it consumed, requiring a full 30 points for a single use.
Even though Reisou could fire off a few Rasengans in a row without worrying about cooldowns, it was smarter to save it as a surprise attack to catch enemies off guard.
Satisfied with his progress, Reisou motioned for 2B to follow him toward the darker part of the forest.
He had heard strange noises coming from that direction earlier and figured that was where the Gate Boss or a semi-boss might be lurking.
To avoid running into other hunters scouting the area, Reisou and 2B decided to travel through the trees instead of staying on the ground.
It was more exhausting, but since the distance wasn't too great, it was still manageable.
When they reached a very dim section of the forest, lit only by a few faintly glowing mushrooms nearby, both of them instantly went on high alert, scanning the surroundings for any trace of danger.
As they moved cautiously through the eerie silence, 2B suddenly shoved Reisou to the side and leapt in the opposite direction.
Right where they had just been standing, a massive, sharp stinger shot up from the ground, tearing through the dirt.
The attacker slowly emerged. A giant scorpion, its translucent body glowing faintly blue in the dim forest light, rose fully from the ground. Several smaller scorpions followed, crawling out of the same hole.
"2B, handle on the smaller ones. I'll take care of the bigger one," Reisou said, gripping his spear tightly with both hands.
2B nodded briefly and rushed forward. The other scorpions, no bigger than dogs, lunged with their stings, but she dodged every attack effortlessly, striking back with deadly precision.
Reisou followed suit, leaping forward and aiming his spear straight for the head of the ice scorpion.
The monster sensed the threat and whipped its massive sting toward him.
Without hesitation, Reisou activated his Armament Haki and Enhancement, deflecting the strike with a sharp swing of his spear.
Still in midair, he swung his spear down with all his strength, driving it deep into the ice scorpion's head. The blow dealt heavy damage, however it wasn't enough to put the monster down.
The sting whipped back toward him. Reisou rolled to the side just in time, grabbed his spear, and jumped away from the scorpion's head.
He knew the ice scorpion was enraged. Its tail whipped upward, the stinger glowing a fierce blue before it unleashed a sharp beam of icy energy straight at him.
Reisou reacted quickly, sprinting to the side and diving to the ground. The icy beam shot past him, freezing several nearby scorpions solid in an instant.
A bead of sweat ran down his back. That thing was only a mid-tier beast, yet it could control elemental magic better than most Elemental Hunters.
One wrong move, and he'd become an ice sculpture.
Knowing he had to act fast, Reisou rushed in again. The Ice Scorpion likely couldn't fire that beam again so soon, and he wasn't about to let the opportunity slip by.
He closed the distance and leapt, this time aiming to slice off its tail.
✢| Fury |✢
Spinning midair as he activated his skill, Reisou swung his spear with full force, slicing clean through the scorpion's tail.
Though the tail was tough and resistant, he managed to sever it.
On the ground, the tail hit with a heavy thud, and the Ice Scorpion let out a shrill screech, clearly in pain.
Reisou didn't waste the opening. Still balanced on the creature's back, he tightened his grip on the spear, gathering power for a final blow aimed right between the scorpion's head.
He ran across its armored back, aiming for the spot where he had made a crack earlier.
With a sudden burst of speed, he closed the distance and lifted his spear high, preparing to drive it directly into the weak point.
His charged-up strike drove deep into the monster's head, sinking halfway in with a loud crunch. The blow sent a violent jolt rippling through the creature's massive body.
Staggering from the pain, the Ice Scorpion stumbled around disoriented before finally collapsing and stopping its movements.
Reisou let out a relieved breath, feeling certain the semi-boss was finally dead.
[Ding!]
[Your level has increased: 23 ⇾ 24]
[1 attribute points are available to allocate.]
Moments later, a system notification appeared, confirming his victory.
Sitting on the head of the fallen monster, Reisou glanced around and noticed 2B had wiped out all the smaller scorpions. From the pile of bodies, it looked like she'd taken down nearly a hundred of them.
'She's too strong,' he thought with a smile. Having her around made exploring the Gates feel a lot easier than doing it alone.
Just as Reisou was savoring his victory, the ground suddenly shook fiercely, making him jump off the Scorpion's head and rush toward 2B.
*BOOM! *BOOM! *BOOOM!
Explosions thundered all around, their echoes ripping through the air.
A path of shattered trees marked the approach of something massive hurtling straight toward them.
*HIIIIEEEKKK!
A deafening, distorted sound echoed through the darkness as a massive figure appeared, crushing everything in its way.
Reisou and 2B instantly spotted the monstrous red centipede, standing nearly twenty meters tall (65 feet tall).
The Gate Boss, the Centipede King, appeared on its own.
Reisou stared in awe at the massive creature. Its body was composed of dark red armored segments, and hundreds of sharp legs clicked and crawled as it moved with speed and fluidity, shaking the ground beneath it.
The Centipede King's face was shaped like a sharp triangular arrowhead, its four glowing red eyes glaring down at them with a menacing glare.
"Master, do we retreat?" 2B asked calmly, showing no sign of fear as she faced the towering monster.
"Do you think we can actually beat that thing?" Reisou replied, watching her closely before making his decision.
2B paused for a moment, then gave a nod.
Her calm confidence made Reisou smile. Without a second thought, he lifted his spear and activated his boosting abilities once more.
They charged together toward the Centipede King, eager to end the battle as quickly as possible. Reisou didn't want to risk getting caught by other hunter groups.
He figured the closest lookout was around five kilometers off, and even mid-ranked hunters would need at least fifteen minutes to reach them.
"2B, don't aim for the top. Try hitting it from below," Reisou instructed.
She gave a sharp nod and took the lead, activating her dash ability. In a blur, 2B surged forward and closed the distance, appearing right in front of the Centipede King.
With a clean, fluid swing, 2B slashed across the Centipede King's underside. But the beast sensed the strike and twisted violently, hurling its enormous body toward her like a falling wall.
The white-haired android jumped back just in time, skidding across the dirt as the ground behind her exploded under the monster's massive weight.
Dust and debris flew everywhere, but luckily, she remained unharmed.
Reisou knew this fight wouldn't be easy.
As the world around them faded to gray, marking the start of their battle with the Gate boss, he pushed himself forward, energy flaring as he charged in to attack.
Almost like it had been expecting him, the Centipede King lunged, ramming its massive armored head forward to block his strike.
Seeing the massive creature charge at him, Reisou reacted quickly. He jumped high into the air, then dropped low, sliding across the Centipede King's armored back.
Below, 2B followed swiftly. Within seconds, she was amidst the hundreds of the monster's sharp legs, slicing through about twenty of them with precise, deadly strikes.
The Centipede King swung its massive head to hit her, but she dodged easily and jumped onto its back.
From her position, she spotted Reisou sprinting toward her, signaling with his left hand to focus on the monster's head.
They reached the top together, prepared to strike at the monster's four glowing eyes, when suddenly it dove underground.
Both of them leapt off just in time, landing on the ground as the massive body of the Centipede King quickly disappeared beneath the earth.
Reisou and 2B stayed on high alert, eyes scanning the area. Then suddenly, the ground beneath their feet shook, throwing them slightly off balance as something massive stirred right below them.
"Tch, it's trying to pull a sneak attack," Reisou muttered, annoyed, as he quickly backed away from the spot, keeping his eyes locked on the shifting ground.
Although he called it a sneak attack, there wasn't anything subtle about it. Especially with the Centipede King's massive size shaking the entire area like an earthquake.
In an instant, it shot up from beneath the earth, smashing everything in its path.
Seeing Reisou and 2B below, the creature slammed its massive body straight at them.
They dodged just in time, and as it vanished back underground, they seized the chance to slice through some of its sharp legs.
"2B, how much time has passed?" Reisou asked.
As an android, that kind of info probably wouldn't be a problem for her to track.
"About six minutes and forty-seven seconds," she answered right away.
"I see... we need to finish this quickly, or we'll have to retreat," he muttered, weighing their options. "2B, before it dives underground, I noticed something pulsing near its head. Let's try hitting that and see what happens."
"Understood."
With their plan set, the duo watched as the ground trembled once more. The Centipede King charged up from beneath the earth, launching the same unstoppable attack as before.
As it shot into the air and hurled its massive body toward them, Reisou, with a little help from 2B, leapt up instantly.
Charging the Rasengan in his right hand, he readied himself while 2B's white blade darkened, pulsing with energy.
He didn't know exactly what technique 2B was about to use, but judging by how her blade was reacting, it definitely wasn't going to be weak.
*HIIIIEEEKKK!
The Gate boss screamed in anger at the two small figures' boldness, daring to face its attack head-on.
2B used the shadow beneath their feet to close the distance, and the moment the monster's head swung past them, they launched a synchronized attack, aiming straight for a purple, pulsing vein throbbing near its neck.
✫| Rasengan |✫
Reisou pushed his technique deeper, breaking through the thin layer protecting the vein.
✫| Volsk |✫
2B's powerful dark slash cut through the now-exposed vein like it was soft tofu, spraying purple blood all over them.
When they landed on the ground, drenched in purple liquid, they watched as the Centipede King thrashed in agony, crashing into trees and smashing everything around it in a wild frenzy.
A few minutes later, its huge body finally went still, half-submerged in the dirt. Reisou dropped to the ground, catching his breath, the adrenaline slowly wearing off.
[Ding!]
[Your level has increased: 24 ⇾ 27]
[3 attribute points are available to allocate.]
With the system notification ringing in his ear, Reisou let out a satisfied laugh and stood up from the ground.
After wiping the strange purple liquid from his forehead, he and 2B walked away from the area, putting distance between themselves and the fallen monster.
Losing another valuable monster core stung, but it was better than sticking around and getting caught by the incoming hunters.