X-Rank Hunter

"Her clone?" Chad was struck by a realization.

Indeed, the other party was currently imprisoned in the Black Cave. It was rumored that five years ago, to save her trash son from being killed, she begged their family leader (her husband) and the elders to spare her son in exchange for her life.

But since she was also an important figure in their family, they only decided to imprison her inside the Black Cave and let her son be banished from the family instead.

That news then spread far and wide but most people only treated it as rumors. No one actually knew, except the Cosa family, about what really happened.

But Chad knew that the rumors were true. It was just that it was already five years ago that he forgot about the matter.

So hearing that Elissa was here, he really was startled. But upon learning that she was just a clone, Chad had calmed down a bit.

"Wait..." However, Chad seemed to realize that something was amiss. "Did you say that she was just a clone?"

"Yes," Charley replied.

What the heck! Chad began to sweat. It was a known fact that the other party's ability was the ability to create a clone. And among all the clone user ability in the Maharlika kingdom, no matter if it was a Hunter, Assassin, or whatever it was, she was the strongest!

She was the only one in the Kingdom who could create a clone stronger than herself. And never in her assassination attempts did she come personally. Every time she assassinated someone, she was just sending her clone as she would have a very high success rate.

So in fact, it wasn't that strange that the clone of Elissa came here instead of her personally. There was nothing to be happy about or to be relieved with that!

So then again, Chad became restless. He frenziedly looked around to prepare himself for all the incoming attacks possible.

"Sigh. I already told you that Elissa is in the Black Cave." Seeing the reaction of her younger brother, she could only sigh deeply, "It only means that she cannot create a clone stronger than her. She may not be able to create a clone with the same strength as her. So there's really no need to worry about it too much."

"I-is that so?" Chad came to a realization as he smiled bitterly. But his worries still hadn't faded completely.

In any case, Chad was also wondering why was his elder sister becoming happy. Was his sister wanted to have a good fight as she finally found someone to spar with? That was probably the case! Knowing about her personality, Chad knew that his elder sister was looking for someone to beat up from time to time.

Still, that was only his wild guesses. Chad was still not sure why was his elder sister becoming happy. With that said, Chad couldn't hold himself any longer as he asked Charley, "Then why are you happy?"

In the first place, Chad thought that Charley was happy because her son Jasper was going to succeed using the skill: Possession with four Spirits. But from the looks of it now, it appeared that it wasn't the case.

"Because I know that she would come." Charley responded, still smiling.

"You already expected it?" Chad was rather surprised. If his elder sister knew that Elissa was coming, then surely, the other party knew as well about Elissa's purpose, right? "Why is she here?"

Charley stared at Chad for a good while before she sighed deeply. "I don't know exactly. Maybe she just wants to chat?"

"C-chat?" Chad was unsure if the other party was just joking. For all the possible reasons, why would the other party come here just to chat? His elder sister must be joking!

"I will go greet her, stay here Chad." Charley said. She then shifted her gaze to Laude as she added, "Father please stay here as well."

Laude only nodded. He wanted to say "take care" but he knew as well that the other party didn't need any reminder.

"Take care, A-te[1] Charley!" So instead of Laude, Chad was the one who reminded the other party full of concern. No matter what, the one who was coming at them was a dangerous figure.

"Yes." Charley replied before she vanished in the thin air.

****

"Just why can't we do it?!!" Meanwhile, just after Charley had left, Jasper from the other side was now making a fuss.

While Chad and the others had their own business on the other side, Jasper was having trouble trying out the skill Possession. He already tried many times but he just couldn't start at all.

Every time he used the skill, nothing was happening. Everything he did was all for naught. Just what was the problem with him?

Jasper checked his condition but he was still fine. He had received no injury since his big brother was still not making any move against them and was only receiving their attack. His World Energy wasn't depleted as well and the same went for his Spirits, they were all in a good condition and their World Energy was still more than three fourth.

So, just what really was the problem? Even the Spirits was bewildered as well. They tried using Possession with only three Spirits and they were able to. It was just that, Jasper didn't finish the skill process and halted it midway. He was afraid that once he completed using the skill, his World Energy would be used up as he would have no other choice but to fight his big brother with only that.

Jasper still wanted to fight his big brother using Possession with his four Spirits. So, he would definitely not complete the process of using Possession with only his three Spirits.

But what else could he do? After trying multiple times already, he just couldn't start using Possession with four Spirits.

Jim near Jasper who was watching the other party failing multiple times was frowning. He also didn't know what was going on.

"Maybe one of your Spirits is not cooperating properly?" Jim suggested as his attention was on something else. He'd just found out that his mother had left the area.

"Impossible!" Except for Nymph, the other three Spirits refuted. They glared at Jim in fierceness as if they were going to eat him at any moment. Nymph only smiled bitterly from the actions of her comrades. Did they just forget that the other party had healed them earlier?

Jim on the other hand, smiled bitterly. He was just spouting nonsense there, he never thought that the other party would take it seriously.

Nonetheless, Jim didn't pursue the matter any longer as he didn't say any more words and put his attention to his mother who had just left the area instead. From what he had heard, it appeared that his mother was going to meet someone.

"Elissa?" Jim pondered inwardly. He heard this name from their conversation but he couldn't make sense of whoever was this name.

Nevertheless, upon learning the surname Cosa, Jim realized that this person was an Assassin. Jim became cautious. He commanded his Blood Minions around to search for this person and for the whereabouts of his mother.

No matter what, that person was a member of the strongest Assassin family. The other party must have a target among them! Even if their grandfather was here to protect them, an Assassin was still an Assassin. They were great at sneak attack and they could kill a person with a level higher than them.

If that Assassin was a High Ranker, of course, the other party would still not be able to harm their grandfather. But what about them? Even with their grandfather here, their safety was not assured.

Jim realized the incoming threat. He shifted his gaze to his grandfather to see what reaction would he be only to find the other party expressionless. Jim couldn't tell what his grandfather was thinking. He couldn't hear anything from his grandfather as well. If he could just hear the other party's heartbeat, he might be able to tell what his grandfather was currently feeling and thinking.

But unfortunately for him, the level of his grandfather was the same if not above his mother. They could erase their presence for as long as they want. And Jim really was helpless even with his incredible hearing ability.

With that said, Jim could only sigh deeply as he shifted his gaze to his younger brother to see what the other party was currently doing.

"Just why?" And the moment he shifted his gaze, Jim heard Jasper complaining about his current predicament.

As both of them were perplexed, they heard a voice saying, "You're lacking Spiritual Energy!"

The voice was old and cold. As if mocking them for not realizing it on their own. Both Jim and Jasper together with the four Spirits shifted their gazes from where the voice had come from as they all see Laude coming in their direction.

"L-Lolo?" Jasper became restless. He was afraid to disappoint his grandfather. But seeing the other party coming onto them, he could tell that his grandfather was unsatisfied with his performance. 

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[1] We changed 'Ate' to 'A-te'. But it still has the same meaning, 'Elder Sister'. It just sounds awkward when 'Ate' is used in a name.