X-Rank Hunter - Chapter 20: Clearing Doubts (1)

Barely after Bantay made a step to bring his new master and the other kid to their home, a hostile aura surfaced to the surroundings, pressuring every being in range.

Bantay couldn’t step forward as the aura prevented him from doing so. All of his subordinates fell weakly to the ground as they couldn’t stand the pressure.

Just as he was wondering what was happening, a loud bellow echoed to the surroundings as if thunder, inducing fear to the heart.

“Put down the kids and face your death or else I will skin you alive!”

Bantay turned his gaze upwards and a strong gust of wind greeted him. He took a step back from that wind as his eyes narrowed warily against the other party.

The attack was completely under control by the other party and only struck him, avoiding the two kids beside him. Seeing this, Bantay heaved a sigh of relief.

After which, a huge eagle landed from high above, staring at him as if he was an insignificant ant. Surprisingly, its size was so huge that it didn’t pale in comparison to his original appearance.

“Who are you, are you here to harm my master?” Bantay asked warily. Though fear was knocking in his heart, his will to protect his master chased away the knocking fear.

Besides, he was not the same person as before. He already gained a strength that made him able to fight stronger opponents. To what use was his overwhelming life energy if he would only cower in fear in the face of stronger opponents?

Killing intent emitted from his gaze as he readied himself for battle.

“What?”

Meanwhile, the person riding on the back of the eagle was taken aback, unsure if she was just hearing things.

She withdrew the pressuring aura and stared at the beast in front of her doubtfully. Though the beast had morphed into a human form, it didn’t fool her eyes, and was able to tell that it was a beast.

But what puzzled her so much was the beast was telling that the kids or perhaps one of the kids he was holding was actually his master!

Just what the hell is happening here?

Just who is your master?

Wanting to clear her doubts, she then elegantly jumped down from the back of the eagle as if an angel descending from the sky. As she slowly reached down to the ground, she asked with a cold glint in her eyes,

“You beast, why are you holding the kids? Don’t think that just because we are letting you all live in this forest, we are letting you cause harm to our family as well.”

That is my son you are holding you know!

If anything happened to my son, I will definitely slaughter each and every one of your kind.

The one who just arrived was of course no other than Jim’s mother, Charley Jabat!

When she went back home, the first thing she noticed was her son was nowhere to be found! She immediately tried to scan the presence of her son inside the village but to her frustration, Jim couldn’t be found anywhere in the village.

That time, she immediately realized that her unfilial son went deep inside the forest once again.

No wonder her son was so happy when she was going out to the market! It appeared that he really wanted to venture into the forest again!

If she knew that this would happen, she would definitely have locked up her son in his room before she left!

Well, that was already within her expectation though, it was just that she was giving her son a chance to change himself and learn how to follow his parents. But knowing that her son was really testing her patience, and disobeying her every now and then, she could feel frustrations boiling deep within.

Her first intention was to wait for her son to come back home and give him a good beating. But she suddenly felt a sudden outburst of energy deep inside the nearby forest.

It went without saying, she rushed to where the sudden outburst of energy came from but what she found was her son was taken hostage by a beast!

Rage immediately filled her heart and was ready to cause destruction in her wake.

But hearing that the beast was actually claiming that his master was the one he was holding, it immediately calmed her down.

Meanwhile, Bantay was taken aback as well. He didn’t think that the humans living in the nearby village would actually be so strong to immediately notice that he was actually a beast. Cold sweats dripped down from his forehead as he was starting to realize how foolish his thought was.

He thought that by entering the village, no one would be able to recognize his real identity and was able to enter and leave the village freely as he liked.

But seeing how this human saw through him at first glance, he wondered how he would die there.

My ability to judge things really has fallen!

I really need to become stronger and reclaim my former strength so that I can protect my master!

Knowing that the person before him had withdrawn the pressuring aura and didn’t bore any hostile intentions any longer, Bantay stared back to Charley with a cold glint on his eyes and asked,

“Who are you? This kid in my right that you are wanting me to put down is my master, you need first to walk over my dead body if you want to cause harm to my master!”

He knew that he was no match to this monster before him, but seeing that she was not here to cause harm to his master, he heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.

Even so, if the other party was here to cause trouble to his master, he was more than ready to give up his own life to protect his master.

He was the key for him to get stronger after all.

But instead of answering his doubt, the woman who just arrived stared at him intently for a while, seemingly trying to figure out if he was lying.

For a moment there, she then broke the silence as she asked doubtfully, “You said that the person you are holding right there is your master right? He is my son, why is it that I don’t know that he has a strong tamed beast like you?”

Are you kidding me?

I know my son full well, he cannot tame a beast ever since he was able to use the World Energy.

So why are you suddenly claiming that he is your master?

“I’m really his tamed beast. We just sealed a contract just now.” Noticing the doubtful gaze of the woman before him, Bantay replied confidently as if he was proud to become his tamed beast.

“Now that I answered your question, it’s only fair that you answer mine as well, right? Are you really the mother of my master?” Bantay queried, not fearing the powerful character before him.

“Yes, I am!” Knowing that the beast before her was not lying, Charley replied calmly.

“Then can we go back to the village and bring master home safely?” That was his mission in the first place! If the mother of his master was here to pick him up, then the safety of his master was assured.

If however, that was just a trap to lower his guard, he didn’t mind using all his means to counter-attack.

“Let’s go then.” Charley hesitated for a moment before she beckoned for the other party to climb on the back of her eagle together with his son and the other kid that she didn’t know who.

Bantay could just run to the village on his own in a minute’s time but knowing that that was to build up some trust with the other party, he didn’t refuse her offer and jumped to the back of the eagle together with the two kids.

Just like that, they went to the village and it didn’t take long for them to arrive there.

There was a stubby wooden fence surrounding the entire village, signifying that it was the boundary of where the barrier could reach.

Standing in front of the barrier of the village where the little gate was, Bantay could feel an invisible force that could keep away any hostility against the village and to the people living in it.

A person was guarding on the side, sitting quietly on the ground as if he was not in there at all. His face was covered under his straw hat, seemingly not caring about their presence. But Bantay could easily tell the unfathomable energy lurking from that person and how he was completely on guard.

“Is this really just a small village?” Bantay thought in disbelief, “Even the guard is really this powerful?”

Bantay knew that many powerful humans were living in this village but he didn’t know how powerful they really were. He only thought that he could still match them one-on-one with his strength from before. Only after he gained strength from the entity possessing his master did he realize how powerful the humans living in this village were.

Even with his current strength, he didn’t know if he could defeat the other party. Or was he even worthy to stand on the same ground against the other party?

Just the thought of it made him subconsciously swallow his saliva.

Are they trying to guard something? Why do they bother living in this remote village?