"Awwwooooooo~"
Silver noticed that the wolves stopped attacking him. His senses stopped alarming him as well as he no longer sense any wolves in the immediate vicinity.
Silver opened his eyes and saw Bear Grylls staring at him. "You know how to reign in your Aura?" Part of Grylls shirt have claw marks with little to no blood on them. There also also a straight cut on his arm which came from the pack leader whip tail.
"Reign my Aura?" Silver asked back in confusion. He knew reigning in his Aura and there is a technique for it, Zetsu, but he didn't know he entered the state while dodging the attacks.
"It was what you were doing to dodge those wolves. While lessening your 'presence' you were able to perceive the presence of the wolves better."
"I did that?" 'Didn't know Zetsu can be used like that. I was so focused on dodging and hiding my Nen capability that I accidentally learned another use of Zetsu.'
"Yup. Still you are a mess to behold. If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you died and resurrected. Hahaha"
Silver looked at his own clothes and realized that he really is a mess. 90% of his clothes are tattered and shredded. "Would you happen to bring any clothes with you?" Silver asked Grylls.
"Pffff... haahahaha. No! Come on, it should be time to head back. Can't wait to see what others might think after seeing you."
"What happened to you? You look like a cabbage who went through a slicer." -Nellie
"More like a rat who got caught by a cat and tossed away." -Bradford.
"...Pathetic. Weakness disgust me." -Slade.
"I though you were the blue wall or something, should be the destroyed wall. Hahaha." -Marco
"I know right!" Grylls laughed along the group.
"Now now. Be kind guys. He is just a kid after all." Lara comforted as she pat Silver's head a few times. "You should get changed. Dinner should be ready by the time you finish."
"How did the exploration go?" Marco asked no one in particular.
"Nothing of value. A few wild animals here and there but no signs of the Xians." Slade remarked.
"Same here. No signs of the Xians either. I looked and entered a few cave system but most of them are bear caves." Lara shook her head in dejection.
"Well it is to be expected. No one have seen there dwellings in millenium and I doub't we'll see it on our first day." Marco comforted them. He then looked at the pair who had a rough encounter. "What about you two, what did you encounter?"
"Well it started easy for us. Thought Silver the basics on how to survive while looking for the Xians. Similar to all of you we didn't find any clue. Encountered a war-bear which Silver worked on it easily. The later half however we encountered a pack of whip-wolves. Well you know what happened, silver got his ass whooped by three wolves while I engaged the pack leader and three more. Was able to beat the leader to retreat but Silver had all his clothes torn by then." Grylls finished by pointing to Silver.
"Hey, it wasn't fair. They ganged up on me! I only need to hit them once and they'd be down for the fight." Silver rebuted.
"Still you were defeated. You might be well versed in martial arts and fighting humans but you are inexperienced to the wild. Here it is killed or be killed. No one will fight you one on one. The earlier you accept that the better." Lara interjected.
"I know, but still." Silver then looked at Grylls. "You also fought them 4 to 1, how come there only few scratches on you?" Silver asked 'confusedly'.
Grylls don't know what to say and looked at Lara and Marco to bail him out. From his 5 years of experience with Nen-users he learned that Nen are generally hidden to the public to avoid potential chaos. One can only imagine if everyone learns it: criminals will run amok, life for those who have great ability will improve but the life of those who can't get a good ability will further spiral down. Without proper caution it can cause an economy breakdown.
Also it is frowned upon to teach them to children who has yet to know what they want to do in the future. Nen abilities are highly related to emotion and circumtances that teaching Silver Nen during this excursion might be detrimental for him.
Noticing the subtle signal from Grylls, Lara took it upon herself to answer Silver's curiosity. It would be her duty as a Nen user and double Hunter to not let Silver astray. "What is your dream Silver? What is it that you want to do once you grow up?" Lara asked seriously.
"I want to be strong. I want to be the strongest hunter in the world. To freely explore this world with my own strength. I want to be the Hunter king!" Silver declared.
"Pfffff! Hahaha!" Grylls and Bradford can't help but laugh on such a childish dream.
Nellie giggled on the side while Marco had no opinion at the moment.
Slade and Lara look at Silver serious declaration. They didn't laugh on it because they could feel the determination from those words. They knew those dream are not easy to achieve yet the kid in front of them declared them without hesitation.
"Those are very hard dream. You sure you are up for it? You might lose your short life" Replied Lara.
"Yes, I do want to explore this world. I have only been in a few places but it already offered so much. Breath taking fights in the Heaven's Arena. It's like they are not even human. Strange beasts and monsters, I have yet to see in this forest alone. Secret treasure hoards, undiscovered wealth and possible mystical places we are to encounter in this exploration of ours. 'The mysterious unknowns' ... it is captivating me like a spell." Silver answered wholeheartedly.
Moved by Silver's dedication, Lara couldn't help but comtemplate about teaching Silver. It's not like it is forbidden to teach Nen to non-hunters. There are even bonified Hunters who takes in non-Hunter apprentice. 'Let's see where your talent brings you kid.'
"If you want to be a bonified Hunter King, whatever that is, there is one thing you should learn. First you should pass the hunter exam. It is hosted every year on January. Finding the exam location is a quest on itself. Second there is a thing called Nen, it is not a knowledge open to anyone and even if you do know of it, it is not guaranteed you will be able to learn and control it. Interested in knowing it?" Lara asked in baiting manner.
"Yes!" Silver agreed readily.
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Work is picking up again after the new year. Now I am just able to write 1 chapter in two days. So there might be a time where I don't release a chapter in a day. And not as if I'm in a rush to complete it either, I'm just enjoying writing on the side. So I'll post when I am able. Still have 30 unedited chapters ahead. So there will be no slowing down for a month at the least. Enjoy!!