Hearing Auren's concern, Eren hesitates for a few seconds.
Finally, he nods. "I am okay... I'll do my best."
Moving on, it doesn't take long until the group runs into more beasts, apparently just as eager to eat them as the worm was.
Eternity just absorbed the Aura... and now more appears ready for the taking. I guess this is the opportunity I imagined. If I keep this up, Eternity will improve faster than I thought possible.
Exactly five oversized foxes appear, each about half the height of a man. Their red fur is glossy, almost beautiful at first glance, but their faces are openly hostile. Saliva drips from their mouths as they pace and watch for an opening.
"These foxes... are they sick?" Auren wonders. "They look way too aggressive for such a beautiful species."
"Heh, we've seen them on patrol," Vanessa explains. "They're not much on their own, but in a pack they can be dangerous. Also, yeah, that's their thing. We call them starving foxes, because they look like they're actually starving."
... That is stupid.
Neffi confidently steps forward. "Leave it to me. Living Poltergeist," she says in an excited tone.
Her armor and clothes, including her favorite scarves, suddenly come to life, her Aura infusing into them. Without any delay, they begin to move on their own as if possessed, reacting instantly to her will.
Within seconds, she dashes in and uses the scarves as blades, slicing apart two approaching foxes before they even understand what's happening. They are utterly helpless against a Nen attack of that calibre as their bodies offer no resistance to her sharp nanofibre blades.
The other three freeze for a moment, then immediately decide it's hopeless to continue and try to escape.
"Don't let them get away," Leira yells. "They'll return in larger numbers."
Right.
Neffi chases after two of them, using Aura to propel herself forward, her clothes dragging her forward, like a kite. She then jumps into the air, glides above them, and closes the distance until she's within range. Then she whirls her scarves hard, spinning with incredible speed.
The scarves detach and spin on their own, cutting through the air like saw blades. They cleanly kill both foxes, then soften again and float back to Neffi as if they were returning to their rightful place, controlled by an invisible entity.
Meanwhile, Auren chases after the last one. He throws a throwing knife with Aura applied via Shu, and it pierces straight through the fox's neck, killing it instantly.
Auren walks over, pulls out the throwing knife, and drags the corpse back to the group.
"Not bad!" Vanessa says, walking up to Neffi. "Your Hatsu is so nice and stable... not only can you fly, but you can turn your clothes into weapons and control them. You're good at Emission, too. Even your Enhancement seems pretty potent. I'm a little jealous... though I guess my Hatsu is a little more flashy."
"Hehe, I am your senior in terms of Nen. Of course I'm skilled," Neffi says, clearly pleased with herself and completely ignoring Vanessa's last bit.
Meanwhile, Auren and Leira drag the other corpses into a small pile. Afterwards, Auren pierces Eternity into each one of them, absorbing just a fraction of the Aura he absorbed earlier.
"These are not new species," Leira explains. "We've encountered them already, and the warehouse has quite a few corpses stored." She looks them over quickly. "Still, we should take the furs with us. I'm taking a few additional samples too."
"Go ahead," Auren agrees. "We'll help you."
Using the tools Leira hands over, Auren, Neffi, Vanessa, and Leira quickly get to work. When they finally finish, the group moves on right away, and Leira carries the furs easily in her giant backpack.
Eren watches the whole thing, looking torn. He stays quiet until they're done, then finally speaks up.
"Excuse me," he says. "Please give me a chance too. I want to take care of the next ones."
"Sure," Auren says, nodding along. "The next one is yours, but we'll back you up. Don't take stupid risks just to prove yourself or compete with others, okay?" He pauses, then adds bluntly, "Also, rushing—especially if a Hatsu is involved—can lead to devastatingly stupid consequences. I mean, some people might have created a Hatsu, and now they're stuck with a foolish ability that's clunky to use."
"... Why do I get the feeling you are talking about me, huh?" Vanessa asks, glaring at Auren.
"Some people..." Auren repeats slowly.
"I am doing this for me, not to prove anything to you," Eren admits. "I need to prove it to myself, and yes, I have thought things through, so there is no need to worry that I will end up like Vanessa."
"Hey!" Vanessa complains, crossing her arms and clearly trying to hold herself back from exploding.
"I... I am sorry, Vanessa. That came out wrong," Eren says, blushing a little. "I didn't mean to say that..."
"Move on," Auren orders.
Together, they move forward until they stumble across a single large bear. Not a beaver that resembles a bear, but an actual bear—twice the size of the beavers, a real monster that can probably destroy a house in just minutes.
"Have we also seen these things yet?" Auren asks.
"Yes... though they are rare and always appear on their own," Neffi clarifies. "It took around twenty people bombarding it with large-caliber rifles to finally take one down. It has deadly claws, and its pelt is so thick that small-calibre weapons can't even pierce it. They are highly aggressive and see humans as prey. Worst of all, once they see a human, they fight to the death. They are highly territorial as well. Since we stumbled across it, it will never back off until itself, or we are dead."
"I see," Auren says. "Eren, want to skip this one? We can take it down together."
"I'll deal with it," Eren says, carefully walking forward. He draws his gun and aims it at the bear.
Didn't he hear what Neffi just said? A gun won't cut it, especially not with his Aura output. He is also using a 9mm gun, which is nothing. His Emission abilities are also quite bad. No, he should be aware of that—he was on patrol as well. Let's see what he plans on doing.
He fires a single, aimed shot at the bear's head, actually managing to hit its eye. The wound is grievous, and the bear roars in rage, having lost one of his eyes just like that.
Not bad. His accuracy is impressive. That should have killed the bear... If Vanessa or I had landed that shot, the bear would probably be dead or unable to keep fighting. A strong Nen bullet would have penetrated deeply into its head and into its brain.
The bear only enraged, charges forward, lifting its front paws to slash at Eren. Eren darts away and dodges in a smooth, circular motion, staying just out of reach.
Suddenly, Auren notices that two long Nen constructs form on Eren's back.
Looking closer, they are lengthy, tentacle-formed limbs, slightly thinner than Eren's real arms. Their current length is about one and a half times as long as their real arms. The tentacles themselves move with a steady rhythm, almost like living ropes. At the end, they thin a little and end in a single sharp tip, looking like a thicker needle.
Eren controls them skillfully. Taking a single step closer, both tentacles stab forward, their sharp tips making them appear almost like flexible spears.
They sink into the bear, but they don't penetrate deeply enough to cause real damage. However, they still draw blood each time and cause the bear to bleed.
At the same time, Eren fires his gun, apparently able to control his hands and the additional tentacles without any issue.
The fight continues. The bear grows desperate, but keeps getting dodged, its attacks becoming predictable.
Calmly reloading, Eren lands more shots. His tentacles stab into the bear's body again and again, now targeting weak points—its joints, its face. They suddenly grow longer and wrap around the bear's ankles and successfully trip it.
This is nice. It's as if he's grown additional hands, but he can shape and alter these hands... or more specifically, these tentacles. They are like a cross between ropes and spears, able to adjust to his needs. He clearly built them to fight and kill, but the result is lacking. Even that bear, huge and thick-skinned, isn't a Nen user, yet these tentacles still can't pierce deep enough to end it quickly. They are useful for utility, but are simply not strong enough to kill his enemies swiftly.
Still, this ability suits him just fine. He can use those limbs for almost anything; he could probably even use them to snatch things from pockets, or help with lockpicking. Maybe I can help him a little without interfering directly.
Auren takes out the only Ben's Knife he's currently carrying with him—his favourite, Number 223, the one he found together with Eren when he first met him in Yorknew.
"Catch!" Auren yells, throwing it towards Eren.
Surprised, but quick enough to react, Eren catches it with one of his additional limbs—his left Nen tentacle—wrapping it around the knife's handle with surprising finesse.
The bear, losing blood but gaining more and more rage, rushes forward again, attacking desperately.
This time, Eren dodges, but he stays relatively close. He uses his right tentacle to strike at the right side of the bear's head, forcing it to raise its paws in front of its face and turn slightly.
At the same time, his left tentacle—still holding the knife—twists and attacks from above, the blade angled straight down.
Auren sees Eren adjust his Aura, focusing most of it onto the knife. He treats the tentacle as part of his own body, allowing him to apply Shu as if he were holding the weapon with his real hand.
Finally, the knife stabs deep into the bear's remaining eye, this time causing lethal damage.
The bear struggles one last time, then can't keep standing. Its legs give out, and it slowly collapses.
"Not bad," Auren notes, as he walks up to the corpse, once again drawing Eternity and stabbing it into the corpse, feeling a large amount enter it.
"Hey, you did it!" Vanessa yells, clapping loudly.
"Stop! You'll attract more beasts!" Neffi yells in annoyance.
Huffing, Eren uses his left tentacle to retrieve Ben's Knife from the corpse and hands it to Auren. He then cancels his Hatsu, the two additional limbs disappearing.
Leira, without comment, walks up to the bear and immediately takes numerous samples. Oculus does its work too, scanning its body like it has been doing for the entire trip.
"Let's move on," Eren says, now breathing more calmly.
"Heh, don't try to act cool, little man," Vanessa teases him, ruffling his hair.
... This woman is evil.
A few minutes later, they indeed move on, the mountains now almost in front of them.
"Your Hatsu," Leira suddenly says, turning towards Eren. "It has a lot of potential. Its utility is incredible. I can already see a couple of weaknesses, but far more opportunities for improvement."
"Weaknesses?" Neffi asks. "I didn't see any. It seems like a stable and reliable way to use Transmutation. In fact, I'd say this ability is almost a little too safe, since it's merely manipulating the shape, density, and form of his Aura, without giving his Aura any special attributes—unlike Auren. This seems pretty basic, not that it's bad."
"This... came to mind when I thought of a Hatsu," Eren says, looking a little down. "More arms... more ways to do anything... even steal. Old habits die hard, I guess. I'm aware my Hatsu has weaknesses."
"Not too many," Auren points out. "Maybe just this: even if you sharpen your tentacles and focus most of your Aura into them, they still don't seem that deadly. Someone with a strong Aura, a defensive technique, or proper equipment could block most of your attacks." He looks Eren over briefly. "Also, you seem to have lost a lot of Aura. It looks like the more you extend your tentacles, the more Aura you use up."
"Exactly," Leira adds. "But both of these issues can be overcome. With more training, you can increase your Aura and reduce your Aura consumption. As for the lack of decisive attacks, you could simply use equipment. Much like the name of our organisation, a hollow weapon that you can insert a tentacle into would work wonders, especially since you can use Shu just fine, as you proved with Auren's knife."
"I... didn't think of that," Eren admits, his thoughts racing.
"Maybe some flexible steel tentacles?" Auren suggests. "We can think about that later. It isn't far until we reach our goal."
Finally, ten minutes later, they reach the edge of the mountains, everyone smiling, clearly impressed with their trip thus far.
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