My Last Hunt

Chapter 177: Quest For Three Stones (28)

Quest For Three Stones (28)

Zunal; 

A bunch of memories against a youthful life

What to choose 

It was part of past and not the current him. The shopkeeper died a pitiful death at the hands of his son. His son came to know that his father saved much money from the shop and when he demanded the shopkeeper denied abusing him; to vent out the anger and rob the money he kicked the old man away and his head smashed against the wooden table and he died years ago. This was how the shopkeeper met his death and Qiao remembered his blood pooled dead body. 

All that was past; currently he was working two jobs and earning along with study before coming to this world. He overcame whatever problem he met in these years. "I never gave up despite the circumstance." He uttered with utmost difficulty similar to someone roaring like a monster. "Those memories are mere memories just like you mere stone." "And I can smash my memories as well as you the coward hidden mere* stone." Qiao roared those words; he was aware that this certain word hit the ego of the stone so he wanted to repeat it. 

Qiao was always stubborn and his nature was counterattacking and struggling until he met the aim. Presently his stubbornness was against a stone; a powerful stone which was dreaming to reach the Requiem stage. After reaching that level; the aim of this stone was to collaborate with some monsters or the traitor hunter kings. It wanted to collaborate with all traitors no matter if they were beasts or hunters to plan a fall of human footing in the seven continents. According to the available information; none of the stone reached this stage yet which was advantage for the Stone of Artifices. 

"You are no one to claim this." The deadly voice echoed in his head and Qiao felt that his head would explode. The unbearable voice belong to the stone and through this communication; the stone was waiting for a loose strand of consciousness to break apart which will let a smooth path for the stone to capture the stratums of consciousness. The hunter king could hear the words of the young hunter and he does not need much time to decipher what was happening. He cannot help the young hunter in this situation; also he has not learned much as to how to temper the consciousness of others. 

He was standing near and thinking all the possible ways. The struggle was still going between the brain of the hunter and the ego of the stone. "You are no one to question my ability." Qiao roared at the words of the stone. A powerful bragging to hurt a weak and claiming that he can do it; it was ridiculous if not crazy. Qiao brought out the level six stone and then gestured the hunter king to hold his hand. Currently he cannot bother his brain to study the aura of a stone but the hunter king can without coming into the attention of the stone. 

He did match the two different auras and signed it on the stone before he started to go against the stone in the previous illusions. When he was confirmed that the cottage and the aura belong to the illusions then he remembered it and bonded the specific aura for later purpose. As soon as he came to know that the stone has set him as target; he was preparing to tackle it. The only difference was his acting. He was acting that his attention was fixed in his surrounding but actually he was looking for a chance to dig out the root of all evils. 

The hunter king saw his gesture and extended his hand. The hunter king can only decipher through gesture and he started to study the two different auras emitting from the stone. After learning the first level of illusions; he could tell the difference of lingering aura. "Follow toward where it goes denser." Qiao scratched the ground to point the gesture. The hunter king was more powerful so he could trail the aura efficiently. The hunter king looked at the young man and his heart almost jumped in his throat. 

He was actually planning to reach where the stone was hidden? Impossible; Qiao could witness the conflict pasted all over his face. It was type of conflict where he was deciding what to do. Walking toward the denser aura meant they were closing in the distance and trying to reach the stone. It was insane decision but he has to think rationally before deciding or there was no harm in going irrational some times? His level was impasse at a certain point and there was not much changes happening in his present abilities. 

In his view; it was all due to him being cautious to not fatally get wounded in the critical stage of level eight. But to pass the test for the hunter king he was yet to learn one of the two skills and clear five requirements. His ongoing missions were deliberately decided by the Hightown to check his capability. By present scenario if he follows this young hunter and smashes the stone in smithereens then he was bound to pass the test as well as get the appreciation of the elders. 

Whereas if he feared the unseen or back down to leave this then he cannot predict how far he could maintain his peak appearance; also he would loss a golden chance to qualify for the hunter king test. Getting a hunter king badge was necessary to further maintain his peak level three hundred years. The badges were carved by the ancient hunters and saved after generations; the badges as well as the hunting level help the hunters maintain their peak years according to the set limit. The last hunter monarch added few laws in these badges to force the hunters to learn advance levels and invent some theories to help the low level hunters in their hunting years. 

When the hunter king was thinking what to decide; Qiao fell on the ground and his head started bleeding. The forceful control of the stone was hurting and the memories refreshed with the new one. He saw the flashes of his younger sibling crying and facing the same events which he confronted years ago. Few drops of tears slipped through his eyes and he was reasoning himself that his younger sibling was not actually in the bad situation this illusion was trying to create. "You are retarded stone and I can imagine your pitiful state sooner or later." Qiao yelled his lungs out. 

The hunter king hurriedly decided and held his hand where the signature aura was marked. He closed his eyes to feel the direction and also layered his consciousness with the strong control. At these moments; even if the whole world crumbles at his feet he would not act irrational or mad; no more emotions can affect his advancement. Though he took little time to make a choice but once done he would not go back on it. 

"The humans are the retarded and their seven generations are retarded you puny hunter." The stone was now speaking the words from the memories of the hunter. It was having hard time and actually distracted while fetching the terms. The terms were pretty interesting for a stone which only bear the normal language with no particular terms. It seemed the present world was unsuccessful about the language so the stone has a notion that it would spread the new knowledge learned from the brain of this young hunter when it would rule over the seven continents. It was highly likely that everyone would appreciate the intellect of the stone rather than the present retarded hunters. 

Though the stone was actually impressed how the brain of a hunter who was from another world work; the findings were enticing. The stone entirely neglected the other hunter who was beside the young hunter because the stone was completely aware about the choices of the weak hunters. They always think about the safety first and run away from the danger as far as they could. The stone was focused on the stolen memories and how to control the consciousness of the hunter. Qiao and the hunter were walking toward unknown direction after Qiao held the hand of the senior and his illusion of the mountains disappeared. 

They were now at the plain ground which has some occasional rocky hills; the ground was dry to the point of naming as the barren land due to the stone sucking dry the life energy of the ground and surrounding. The hunter king moved toward a hill at some thousand miles. He could feel the denser amount of aura toward the direction. Qiao heard the words of the stone and fell speechless for brief time. The way this stone learned was faster than the brain level of Einstein.