Ahh, my head!!! Anet thought. His ears are still ringing, barely able to stand.
He looks around and sees a big pack of Baowolf disintegrating. He keeps looking till he notices Tarzan, his teammate. He saw him stood up with no problem, so he prioritized finding the others.
"Help!" Cecilia's voice rang out, slightly muffled.
"Cecil!" Anat shouted. Tarzan, already running towards the general direction of the sound.
When Anet gets closer, Cecilia is on Bubbles' shoulder. Cecilia crashed into an Eternal Nightmare's nest.
Bubbles sweep her axe chopping multiple E-Class Peak-Rank Eternal Nightmares in half, but Anet noticed she had trouble exerting strength to her swings. Before Anet and Tarzan reach them. Bubbles made a mistake and got surrounded by Eternal Nightmares. She held Cecilia tighter, covered both of them with her remaining Aura, then aimed her axe to the ground.
Boom!
Bubbles' axe is also a hand cannon, but she did not fire it before because Cecilia broke her Aura and feared hurting her. Her cannonball has holes covered by iron pellets and contains Combustion Dust.
Bubbles used her cannon's recoil to break out of the Eternal Nightmares' encirclement. In the process, her Aura broke and got scratch by the Eternal Nightmares' mandibles.
Tarzan uses one of his Bullwhips to catch them mid-air.
"Get down!" Anet ordered.
Anet swung his staff without hitting the 10 Eternal Nightmares lounging towards Tarzan. Who was carrying the two on his shoulder, but the Eternal Nightmares halted mid-air. He holds his staff sidewards and puts his mouth to the staff's mouthpiece, then a low sound rang in the Emerald Forest, and it sends the 10 Eternal Nightmares, as well to those behind it flying.
"Tarzan, turn Left. These damn insects!"
Anet threw a Termite bomb at the nest.
They run away for a while.
"How are they?" Tarzan asked, worried.
"Both got bitten but not in mortal danger. Bubbles got bitten on her left ankle and some scratches from her cannonball's pellets. Cecile, although she did not sustain permanent injuries, she lost a lot of blood." Anet answered.
Tarzan stood up then punched the tree beside him collapsing it.
"Calm down, I already called for help. Now that Bubbles and Cecile both got tagged. Every Eternal Nightmare within a two-km radius will hunt them. We need to go back to Beacon. After dressing their wounds, we will go. You carry Bubbles—"
"I'll carry both. Carrying one will hinder you from fighting. My semblance will work better that way." Tarzan said he puts one on each shoulder.
5 minutes later.
"We can't keep running like this. I need to lure them away. I will not go too far." Anet said.
Anet punches one Eternal Nightmare to be tagged. All holes closed, both the crown and the foot of the staff opened. A gust of wind was ejected from both ends as he spins his staff. He was able to fling batches of Eternal Nightmare onto one another. Once they advance, he repeat⁵s the same moves. Before he could do it the third time, some Eternal Nightmare already encircled him, and some went past him.
Anet now decided to retreat towards his team. a hole near the crown of the staff opened. He covered it with his palms and used his staff to vault to the air. Another gust of wind in high tone ejected at the foot of the staff, which caused the Eternal Nightmares to be stunned.
Two tusks extended at the foot of his staff, turning it into a bident. He stabs his weapon on a nearby tree. He swings towards another tree in the general direction of his teammates. The tree has some Eternal Nightmares. He stabs his bident at one of the Eternal Nightmares. Using the additional weight at the tip of his weapon, he swings it to maneuver himself mid-air while hitting the other Grimm. Before Anet fall to the ground, he aims the foot of his staff at the tree, then fires a strong gust of wind propelling him and blowing away those Grimm who was chasing his team.
Anet caught up with Tarzan. Tarzan looked at him stoically.
"Don't worry. I still have more than 40% Aura." Tarzan nodded.
"We can't just run aimlessly."
['Map' updated! Go to xxx, xxx, xxx. We need to lose those Eternal Nightmares first before we can escort you to the outpost. I mapped the best route for you guys.]
"Tch, 370 meters. Tarzan to the forest. Just follow the map. It's an order!"
Tarzan and Khaki entered the woods. Full of identical straight trees around 2 meters thick on average, thick vines crawling around the trees connecting all of them. Both move in caution, as there is a lot of blindspots, from vines to tall bushes.
A few minutes later. Nothing happened. Everything is calm. Too calm for their liking. The moment they walk at the heart of the forest. There is a clearance full of yellow grass with a giant beautiful Fig tree in the middle. On its translucent aerial roots have blue droplets like crystals. It creates an illusion that the tree is crying and an outcast in the forest. Some of its aerial roots are being strangled by the vines crawling on the trees. Preventing it to interacts with other trees.
"A Sobbing Fig Tree?" They looked around but found nothing until they noticed a presence in the bushes.
"You guys are finally here." A dark brown hair guy in a short sleeve hoodie, his right hand rested on his weapon's handle sheath behind him, while his left hand rested to his side. He opened his mouth then stepped forward. Tarzan steps closer to the Fig tree.
"How are they?" The guy asked.
"We need to hurry. My other teammates are already gathering the Bleeding Sunflower oil. One of you should come with me and get some Pepper shrooms. The other will go to the Ancient Watchtower just south of here with Neo and buy us time to gather the items needed to remove those tracking pheromones. The air is getting heavier already." The guy said.
Anet noticed the girl with half brown and half pink. Her Left eye is pink, while the other is brown. She is wearing a dirty white crop-top coat with a hood and pink lining holding an umbrella in front of her.
"Why should we follow you? Even if we do what you said and gather some pepper shroom. It's better to bring my team. A stronger scent of Eternal Nightmares' pheromone will make it easier. Besides, I have Disperse powder. As long as we wait for 10 minutes, harvesting some pepper shroom won't be dangerous, and what do you mean by the air is getting heavier?" Anet saw the guy smiled and raised his hand.
"Calm down, haven't you receive the emergency message? I guess you didn't notice. Try to examine the presence around you." He shows both of his hands.
Anet stands straight then beath slowly to calm his nerves. He tried to feel his surroundings. Anet drops on his knees a second after. He felt suppressed, stuck in endless darkness, and his chest started expanding and contracting quickly. His heartbeat speeds up to the point it feels like it stopped. A feeling of depression started overcoming him. Then his Aura quickly circulated then releasing some Aura and regenerate at the same pace. He starts to calm down, but his head still aches for a bit cause him to be unable to support his body. Before he fell face-first on the ground, he felt someone caught him.
"Anet, right? You ok there?" The brown hair guy helps him up.
Anet shooks his head for a bit and looked at the guy again. This time a name pops up in his head.
"Sora? What was that?" Anet shook his head again. He raises his hand, indicating to Sora that he can stand on his own.
"I'm not sure. I think the suppressive intent came from a powerful Grimm to the point it can affect Aura. That's why we need to hurry and get those insects from chasing you."
"I got it, thanks. Tarzan, are you ok?" He looks at Tarzan, and nothing seems to change. He is still firmly carrying Bubbles and Cecilia unless you look closely, that drenched in sweat. "You go with..." Anet paused for a bit, "Neo?" Neo nodded. Tarzan nodded.
"Ok, let's go," Sora said. Anet followed.
Neo walks closer to Tarzan to offer a hand. Tarzan shook his head.
"My semblance will help them." He walks past Neo.
...
Anet noticed Sora staring at Tarzan.
"Sorry about that," Anet said.
"No need, I heard what he said," I replied.
"About Tarzan, he does not mean bad. He just experienced something bad when he was young." Anet explained.
"Don't worry. I don't hate him." I smiled at Anet.
"Thank you then."
"By the way, you're an Elephant Faunus, correct? Umm, I don't mean to be racist."
"It's ok. Elephant Faunus tend to be heavy, even in a small frame. Although, I'm a bit heavier than people with the same frame as me. Aerial combat is still my forte."
"Ok. Let's speed up then?"
Anet noded.
A few minutes later,
We entered Sector 15's, Rock Forest. It's a canyon with multiple rock pillars in the center protruding like trees. It's nearly devoid of plants. The only fertile ground is on top of the rock pillars. The floor is full of cracks and releasing hot steam. This place is also called the Great Sauna or just Sauna. Only a tiny part of the Rock Forest is within Sector 15. It goes beyond multiple Sectors and enters the border of Vale, and it became a resort and tourist attraction.
Anet and I split up to look at which Rock pillar has Peppershroom. I noticed Anet absorbing the steam into his staff/bident weapon, then release it to maneuver mid-air. We found it within 10 minutes.
"So that's what Crimson Pepper looks like," I said.
On the exposed roots of the dead Crimson Pepper tree, there is a bundle of Crimson Pepper Mushrooms, commonly called Peppershroom.
We harvest some Peppershroom quickly. We can't split up because the Eternal Nightmare's pheromone might not be strong enough to restrain Crimson Aphids inside the dead Crimson Pepper tree that could lead to death.
"This should be enough as well as some extra just in case," I said.
Next is to meet up with others, but the problem is the Eternal Nightmares blocking our path. The Sauna in Sector 15 is one of the places that Eternal Nightmares can't go due to the steam ejected in this sector. It contains the Ice Dust fragments the slow them down and a Fire Dust fragments that can cause great damage to them.
A swarm of Eternal Nightmares, already waiting at the border of the Sauna. Some other Grimms that are alerted are going towards the Sauna.
"You can use the steam to spay instead of propelling you?" I asked. Anet nodded.
"This will make things easier. Follow me," I said.
After scaling the North East cliff, there's a valley between the Sobbing Forrest and a small hill a few meters away. The plan is simple that is to break through them.
Anet absorbs some steam from the Sauna and fires at the Eternal Nightmares, creating an opening. We rush forward close to Sobbing Forest, hopefully, to slow them down.
I equip Shooting Star and Star Cluster. The former use Fire and Heat Dust to coat the bullets, the latter use Water Dust Bullets. Firing the Water Dust bullets to flood the Grimms down the slope, and use the Fire dust to cause major damage or kill the Grimms, while using the Heat Dust to create more steam for Anet to use.
Heat Dust can create more steam than Fire Dust but, Heat Dust barely has Fire Dust fragments that can hurt the Eternal Nightmares, so I used both to create a cheap imitation of the Sauna's steam. Using the trees to boost ourselves, we made it to the rendezvous after 15 minutes.
When we arrive at the top of a stiff and narrow plateau, Bubbles is already awake but still can't move her body nor do anything other than talking. I created the crimson pepper spray to remove the Eternal Nightmare's tracking pheromones, while the others bombard the Grimms Climbing the plateau.
We already set up a zip line to cross to the other mountain. We created a landslide towards where the Grimms are climbing buy us some time. Aiden and Neo went first to secure the other side. Followed by Anet and Emerald stop the two injured softly. Next are Cecillia, Tarzan and Bubbles, and lastly me.
Halfway through the zip line, a flock of E Class Nevermore arrived, probably escaping the source of the suppressive intent grew heavier ever so slightly. Those notice Tarzan and others. The Nevermore dive straight to them. Although Grimms learned how to survive, it was never to stay alive but to be a better hunter. They prioritized hunting over surviving.
Tarzan uses his Bullwhips to redirect the Nevermore diving at them, but it grazes the zip line. The zip line got detached from my side, I use another tree as a pulley system, but I can't hold it long. I fired my grapple gun toward one of the Nevermore's wings and attached it towards my end of the zipline. Before it could fly away, I fired a volley of bullets, crippling its wings and legs. The Nevermore won't live long and disintegrate, but i's enough for Tarzan and others to cross. The other Nevermores are flying in circles shooting their giant sharp feathers towards Aiden's group. Anet created a huge wind dome redirecting the feathers away. Unfortunately, one of the feathers is heading towards the crippled Nevermore that stabilizes my end of the zipline, killing it earlier than I planned.
Tarzan aim his whip toward Anet. Aiden pushes him aside and catches it instead.
"Glave user? Leave this to me and protect them instead as I pull them up!" Aiden yelled.
Anet, with no hesitation, jumped down and thrust his bident at the cliff face, and he also cushioned Tarzan and others as they hit the cliff face.
Neo helped Aiden pull Tarzan and others up, Emerald as well, but Aiden stared at her, and they both nodded. Emerald jumps down and helps Anet fending the Nevermore.
Anet uses the cliff to climb and a platform to propel himself towards the Nevermore when it gets closer. Else he fires a gust of wind to protect all of them. Emerald uses her Forxsaken's Respite as a grapple to get closer to the Nevermore and deliver multiple slashes. She jumps back to the cliff face and stabs one of her weapons while shooting the other as she catches her breath.
I reload my Vambrace and Greaves with wind Dust to glide towards the other side. I fired my guns with Wind Dust Bullet to jump higher and to glide faster. I fire my remaining grapple gun towards a Grimm when it's within my range. My grapple hit the Nevermore's eye and exited the other, killing it instantly. I can still retract my grapple gun towards it before it disintegrates, but I need to stabilize myself to do it, and I was able to do so with perfectly timed Wind Dust bullet shots. At high speed, I am about to cash towards another Nevermore. I collide to it with my sharpen Oathkeeper, cutting it in half.
Killing two Nevermore from its flock makes me the target of the majority. I started evading the feathers as I glide. With me as the target, the others got a breathing room. They quickly dispatch the one targeting them, with Neo providing cover fire with her umbrella rifle when Aiden has enough length to create a pulley.
With me as a distraction, the others kill the remaining Nevermore before Tarzan reaches the top. The Nevermore came and attacked Tarzan was no longer three minutes ago.
Everybody keeps silent as we rush towards the outpost as fast as possible. We send Cecilia and Bubbles to the treatment facilities. After some check-up, we were asked for some basic report and gave us six a single room.
The next day, we went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. We noticed Anet and Tarzan with their food, and we invited them to sit with us,
"Good morning!" Aiden said as he hooked his arm to Tarzan.
5
"Keep your voice down," Emeral said to Aiden as she jabbed him at his abdomen.
"Sorry, sorry." Aiden raised his hands.
"Thank you," Anet said.
"How are they?" Aiden asked.
"They are fine. Bubbles can walk out later after some final check-up, While Cecilia still needs to rest for the day." Anet answered.
Aiden kept talking with Tarzan. Aiden planed to talked to Anet yesterday about Hunters because he was bored, and Emerald slept early. But end up hanging out with Tarzan instead.
"Tarzan, what's your Semblance?" I asked out of curiosity. I already have an idea, but I want to confirm it. "You don't need to answer if you want to," I continued, although I have a hunch that he will answer.
"It's Peak Performance. As long as I trust someone within 10 meters, they can perform no less than 80-90% of their capabilities, depending on how far they are from me. If they trust me back, they can do 100% of their capability, including me. For my Semblance to affect me, I need one person to return my trust." Tarzan explained.
Events from my dreams flash through my head. A sentence escapes out of my mouth.
"So your friend is your power," I said subconsciously, with a soft smile on my face.
"What's with that Onii-san?" Emerald asked.
I look at her and notice that they are all staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
They shook their head and continued eating. My team has a grin on their faces. Confused, I continue eating.
TO BE CONTINUED.