X-Rank Hunter

Meanwhile...

Somewhere deep inside the woods.

Jim was watching his younger brother worriedly. The other party was trying to use Possession with three of his Spirits, how could Jim not worry about that?

Besides, the effort of his younger brother would only be wasted if this continued. After all, the beast that he was eyeing on was Jim's.

Should he really show himself up? Jim really didn't know what to do. He wasn't planning to reveal his new strength to his younger brother and hide it for as long as possible. The fewer who knew about his real strength, the better.

But it seemed like his younger brother was about to find out his newfound strength. If his younger brother learned that this wolf had already a master and its master was actually his big brother, Jim thought about how would his younger brother would possibly react.

What even more was that if his younger brother learned that the many Tree-Merger Apes he was currently having trouble with were actually Jim's tamed beast, Jim had a wild guess that his younger brother might really die in jealousy.

How much more if his younger brother learned that he had an S-rank beast as his tamed beast. Bantay!

And the most terrifying thing that Jim really wished to not be revealed was the 'egg' given by one of the Four Greatest Hunters. The egg contained a beast inside and that was certainly stronger than Bantay. Though he still did not see it, there was no denying its existence. And that beast was certainly his tamed beast as well!

If his younger brother learned about it, thinking that his younger brother would be happy for him was much better. But what if the other party felt discouraged? It might really affect his growth and Jim would surely take the blame.

After all, his younger brother was just still a 7 years old kid. Being discouraged or losing confidence because of someone he couldn't surpass was a common thing even though he said that his younger brother had already had a firm mental resoluteness.

Jim knew well that his younger brother was prideful and always thinking to be the strongest. If he learned that there was someone he couldn't ever surpass, he might really lose his will to move forward.

Forget it!

Jim gave up thinking about showing himself up. He just let his younger brother do his way and then be a little disappointed after that. After which, his younger brother would be astonished at his big brother's great strength and then respect him to the highest. Or at least that was what Jim's wildest imagination could go so far into.

No matter what, the egg shouldn't be revealed. If possible, he would at least make the master-tamed beast relationship between him and Bantay kept secret as well.

With that said, his younger brother finally finished the Possession process. It only seemed like it took long because of the many nonsense written by the author but in all actuality, it only took less than a minute.

The three Spirits: Sylph, Nymph, and Gnome were now one with their master. On the other hand, except for the incredible aura exuding out from him, and his white eyes without pupils, nothing really changed to their master physically.

Jim was then again astonished from the sight. He could tell that the aura released by his younger brother was equal to the strength of B-ranks.

In other words, at that moment, his younger brother had just leaped up a single rank!

That really was incredible!

For most Hunters, reaching Middle Rank was really difficult to do so. It was as if there was a wall blocking them that needed not only with luck and talent but effort filled with hard work as well.

Reaching Middle Rank or B-rank to be precise, took few years to accomplish. Some unlucky, lazy, or untalented Awakeners were even stuck in C-rank in their whole life.

How much more if Hunters were going to break through the High Rank. Talent, hard work and luck were all very essential to do so.

But now, his younger brother had just leaped up a rank. Though Jim was certain that it was just a short time, it was really an incredible feat. Jim could also tell that reaching a Middle Rank was only a matter of time for his younger brother to reach.

And of course, Jim could say that the future of his younger brother wouldn't just stay in Middle Rank. He would definitely become a High Ranker in the future!

Or even better, an Advance Ranker, a Vessel by those from above!

Screeeeech!

In the midst of his deep thought, Jim saw his Tree-Merger Apes starting to make a move with a screech. There were only more than ten of them since the other apes were trapped in the burning pit. Of course, Jim could still tell that those apes in the pit were still alive and kicking since their connection with each other was still there.

Right now, the more than ten other apes had already surrounded his younger brother. His younger brother was just standing though.

But that only lasted for a moment!

The apes were just about to launch a barrage of attack simultaneously when suddenly, the young boy before them had vanished with a blur. All the apes frenziedly looked around them to seek the young boy's presence when suddenly, they felt a shudder running on their back.

They all then instinctively gazed upwards and to their horror, they see the young boy floating in the midair. His right arm was raised sidewards and beside it was a ball of fire! It was also noticeable that there was a power of the wind blended on it.

"Die monkeys!" The apes were still yet to recover from their horror when they heard the young boy speaking such words in coldness. After which, the young boy threw out to them the ball of fire while saying,

"Sphere Of Wind And Fire!"

In the midair, while descending, the ball of fire rotated wildly and all of a sudden, its size became so much bigger enough for the apes to not be able to escape. The heat increased greatly that even while it was yet to land, the apes could still tell the upcoming death before them.

Just how is that possible?! The apes thought in unison. They could tell that even after their Life Energy had increased greatly, they would still not be able to survive such an attack.

Kaboooom!

And then, this happened... The skill cast by the young boy before them finally landed on them. The apes didn't even have a chance to shriek in agony as they were all blown away or turned into cinders in the process.

They were all B-ranks! Just how was it possible for their strength gap to become so far apart?! Before their last breath, the apes could only think about this in regrets. They still yet to serve their master properly, why did they die in such a way?! Just who did they offend?

On the other hand, Jim saw the entire occurrence, and his eyes couldn't stop bulging out. Was this the real and current strength of his younger brother?

Jim clenched his hand into a fist as he could see that though he became so much stronger, his younger brother was not too far away or was even stronger than him.

Jim was only considered strong because of his tamed beast, Bantay. In terms of unleashing such destructive power personally, Jim was still yet to do so. He'd only managed to create three skills using his blood ability. The first was creating a little creature like birds and butterfly of which he already called it 'Blood Minion'.

This Blood Minion could use as a spy but it could also suck blood and life. This happened when the Demon Captain, Kristina, tried to crash his Blood Minion only to end up losing her hand.

The second skill Jim had was 'Exchange'. Using this skill, he could exchange positions with any of his Blood Minions no matter where they were. He could also feel that he could exchange position with his other tamed beasts. He still yet to try it out though.

And lastly, the third skill he created that he already deemed as useless since he found a much better one, was his 'Blood Bullet'. Similar to his Blood Minion that could absorb blood, this Blood Bullet had such an effect. Though it was pretty fast, it couldn't be considered very accurate and would likely to miss and be avoided. Unlike his Blood Minion, it could chase the enemy even if they try to run away. It could even use as a sneak attack.

The only thing that was good to his skill Blood Bullet was that when a certain beast got hit, a small ball of blood would float above the corpse of that certain beast. And Jim could absorb that small ball of blood to increase his Life Energy. But he had already plenty of Life Energy and incredible healing ability, though he didn't know exactly how great his Life Energy was, he didn't feel that there was a need to increase it as for now.

On the other hand, his Blood Minions could absorb the blood of its target but Jim wouldn't benefit from it to increase his Life Energy. But of course, his Blood Minions would benefit from it for they could restore their body once they got injured.

All of his self-created skills were powerful and useful but neither of them could create a destructive power.

Jim saw that all of his Tree-Merger Apes that were implicated on his younger brother's domineering skill were all undoubtedly killed. Neither one of them manage to survive. But why did he felt that his connection with them still remained intact?

This doubt answered him when suddenly, several beads of blood just appeared around him, floating in the midair. Jim was surprised at first but later on, he came to a realization.

He tried to gather all the beads of blood onto his body as he absorbed all of them and sure enough, his guess was correct!

He was still pitying the Tree-Merger Apes that died helplessly from his younger brother's hand but who would have thought that every time his tamed beast would be killed, it could just go back onto him in a form of a small bead of blood and could be summoned again using some of his World Energy.

This discovery made Jim grin in excitement as he could imagine an undead army under his wings.