They did not follow suit.
They circled.
Shaun felt it hours before Reina confirmed it, a subtle pressure on the air, a distortion in the mana flow that didn't belong to monsters or nature.
Hunters who knew how to move unseen.
"Five," Shaun said quietly as the sun dipped behind the mountain ridge. "No… six.
Reina hunched beside him, her eyes narrowing.
"Formation?"
"Two tracking anchors behind us. One's high. The rest are going wide."
Daichi let out a long, slow breath.
"So this isn't a retrieval."
"No," Reina said. "It's a hunt."
The Prepared Hunters
And yet, they made camp.
That was a mistake that the hunters did not expect.
Shaun sat beside the fire, quiet, almost tranquil. The heat inside him remained constant, reacting to intent rather than fear.
"They think I'll run," he whispered.
Daichi grinned.
"Most people would."
Reina's gaze didn't move away from the treeline.
"These aren't scouts. These are specialists."
Shaun nodded.
He could feel them now - not as threats, but as imbalances. Their mana was pressing outwards aggressively, seeking to dominate the space.
It felt… crude.
"They're scared," Shaun said. "That's why they're pushing so hard."
Reina glanced at him.
"You can read that?"
"I can feel how the world reacts to them," he replied. "And how it reacts to us."
The heat pulsed once.
We are focused, it whispered. They are not.
Spring the Trap
The first attack came without warning.
A detonation of suppression net above the clearing-mana threads snapping down like the bars of a cage. The ground flared with sigils as the hunters showed themselves.
"NOW!" someone hollered.
Shaun rose.
He didn't dodge.
The net froze-inches away from his skin-then unraveled, threads falling lifelessly to the ground.
Every hunter was frozen in his spot.
"What—?"
Reina took off running.
Moonlight cut through the left flank, sending two hunters backward. Daichi hit right, his metal fists hammering into their reinforced shields.
"Split them!" exclaimed Reina.
Shaun stepped forward.
The hunters saw him then-not glowing, not raging.
Cool.
That scared them more than any amount of power ever could have done.
Elite Squad
The leader stood up, an S-rank , aura heavy, sharp; eyes calculating.
"Shaun Verma," he said coolly. "Not quite the loose cannon the reports made you out to be.
Shaun let out a slight tilt of his head.
"They've already sent an S-rank?"
"You destabilize mana fields," the S-rank replied. "That makes you dangerous."
Shaun nodded.
"Then don't force me to defend myself."
The S-rank smiled grimly.
"That's not an option."
He attacked.
When Power Isn't Enough
It was quick, a lot quicker than Daichi was-a lot quicker than most hunters Shaun had ever seen. His blade crackled with compressed mana slicing straight toward Shaun's throat.
Shaun raised one hand.
Not to obstruct.
Settle.
The blade slowed.
Not stopped — slowed, as if cutting through deep water.
The eyes of S-rank widened.
"What are you—
Shaun stepped past him.
The blade fell from the hunter's grasp, clattering harmlessly to the ground.
The S-rank staggered, catching his breath.
"I didn't take your power," Shaun said softly behind him.
"I reminded it where it belongs."
The S-rank fell to one knee.
The other hunters were fumbling around them. Their spells misfiring, their enhancements flickering.
Two, in seconds, were disarmed by Reina.
Daichi knocked another one out cold with a single, brutal strike.
It was over.
The warning
Shaun knelt down in front of the S-rank.
"I don't want a war with hunters," he said. "But I won't be caged."
The S-rank looked up, his face shaking.
"You could have killed us."
Shaun nodded.
"I know."
He stood and addressed the remaining hunters.
"Go back," he said tranquilly. "Tell the Authority this."
The air was thick.
"Tell them I won't attack unless they force me to.
Tell them suppression doesn't work.
"Tell them hunting me will only teach me faster."
The hunters swallowed.
"And tell them one more thing," Shaun added.
He let out a fraction of presence.
The forest listened.
"If they just keep sending hunters," Shaun said quietly,
"the world will stop helping them."
The hunters ran away.
Aftermath
Silence resumed.
Daichi let out a sharp breath.
"…Okay. That was terrifying."
Reina watched Shaun intently.
"You didn't lose control,"she said.
Shaun shook his head.
"I did not need to do so."
The heat in him felt… congruent.
Finally, a small smile played on Reina's lips.
"They wanted to see what you'd do under pressure," she said. "Now they know."
Daichi laughed.
"Yeah. They just told the whole world not to mess with us." Shaun looked up at the stars.
That was just the beginning of the hunt.
Already, the rules were breaking.