Arriving in the world past the gate, Kenjaku found himself in a forest covered in a blanket of snow. An active snowstorm shrouded the entire area, decreasing the scope of vision one could achieve.
Not to mention, the immensely low temperature.
But as usual, these things meant nothing to Kenjaku. His body had already evolved past these natural factors.
"Now, where are they?"
Using his viral sonar, Kenjaku sent out a pulse across the entire field, locating every organic lifeform that still drew breath.
He found Ice Bears, Yetis, Ice Elves, and lastly...
"There they are. Only one, two, three...six are alive. And if I don't hurry...judging by this one's heart rate, he'll die soon."
WHOOSH!
With one incredible leap, Kenjaku flew through the air, using his biomass to air dash towards the battle.
In no time, he got in range to where his Six Eyes could accurately perceive everyone present.
That's when he saw something strange.
"Those shadow soldiers...my sonar didn't pick them up. And the mana coming from them...heh. That means the kid has awakened Ashborn's power. To think he's grown this much in such a short time...the kid is lucky Ashborn is not on my list of targets for now..."
Likewise, Jinwoo, who was engaged in a heated battle with the boss of the dungeon, sensed the powerful mana signature approaching the battlefield.
Breaking his stalemate with the boss, Jinwoo jumped back and glanced behind him, his eyes locking on to the figure approaching in the distance.
'Kenjaku! How did he get in? This is a red gate! Well, I guess I should be happy, huh? That means this fight is pretty much over.'
Within a few moments, Kenjaku landed in front of the rest of the hunters, the ones who stood back watching Jinwoo fight by himself.
"Who are you? How did you get in?! This is a red-"
"I forced my way in."
Park Heejin, a B-rank hunter from the White Tiger Guild was in disbelief as she heard this.
"But...that's impossible."
Ignoring her, Kenjaku walked up to Han Song-Yi and said, "I came to get you. Are you uninjured?"
Flustered by the sudden appearance of Kenjaku in this situation, the girl stuttered, "I-I'm fine! Mr. Jinwoo...made sure...that I was safe."
A small smirk appeared across Kenjaku's face as he heard this.
"Then, it seems that I owe Jinwoo a favor, eh?"
Turning his back to her to head to the battlefield, he continued, "Keep your eyes peeled. This is the power of the Tyrant Guild."
WHOOSH!
Kenjaku jumped up in the air over the battlefield, immediately using Longinus to deflect the arrows the Ice Elves shot at him.
"Your arrows are too slow."
BOOM!
In the same motion, Kenjaku threw Longinus at the Ice Elves, impaling two of them with it, while blowing away the rest from the impact of the spear hitting the ground.
As Jinwoo saw this, he noticed something strange going on with his shadows. They started moving away from the Elves they fought without his command. More accurately...they were avoiding the Longinus.
'My shadows...it must be from that spear. That weapon is giving me the chills. I can feel Igris getting agitated.'
Kenjaku, not even noticing what was going on, moved like a blur and grabbed the Longinus, spinning 360 degrees with the weapon, sending out a ring of light that eviscerated any Ice Elves within its radius.
"Are these two what hunters are supposed to be like? Sigh...this is breaking my confidence."
Park Heejin clutched her magic staff as she looked at this battle. She had never seen something like this before. Every time she could locate Kenjaku in the middle of the battle, he had the bodies of at least three Ice Elves hanging on his spear, while Jinwoo was fighting the boss by himself.
These two were on a whole other level.
In no time, every Ice Elf was eliminated, leaving only Jinwoo to finish off the boss by himself.
'Hm...the kid killed that half dead A-rank hunter who I sensed before. And...I'm guessing that shadow was created from his soul of the dead hunter. Heh, he reminds me of myself in my younger days. I don't believe he needs my help to finish the boss. Instead...'
Using the cover of the snowstorm, Kenjaku crouched down and laid one hand on the ground. Spreading his biomass across the snow, Kenjaku stealthily absorbed the corpses of the Ice Elves.
This only took a few moments. When he was done, Kenjaku felt as if the distance he could see increased massively, adding on to the already incredible sight the Six Eyes gave.
His hearing got better, his sense of smell increased once more, and he even felt lighter...stealthier. His movements were almost ghostlike. Not to mention, these monsters were A-rank. His mana experienced a drastic increase.
'I wonder, how much more I would get if I absorb the boss...well, Baruka too.'
Kenjaku stuck Longinus in the ground and folded his arms, watching Jinwoo finish off Baruka. Several seconds passed before this result was achieved. And just like that, the crisis of the Red Gate was solved.
Now that Baruka was dead, Kenjaku watched as Jinwoo tried to raise it's shadow only for him to fail. Jinwoo tried again, and failed.
Third times the charm, Jinwoo thought. And for the third time, he failed.
Kenjaku laughed. He could understand the frustration of having your own power work against you.
The man approached Jinwoo and extended his hand, saying, "I could barely recognize you, kid. You've grown up."
Ignoring Kenjaku's gesture, Jinwoo nonchalantly responded while walking past him, "Thanks for the help."
With Park Heejin and the two other hunters in tow, Jinwoo left the dungeon, leaving only Kenjaku with his hand outstretched standing there.
Han Song-Yi walked up, grabbed his hand, and smiled awkwardly, saying, "Sorry, Mr.Kenjaku. He's always like that...urm...thanks for coming to get me!"
Kenjaku shook his head.
'It seems the boy doesn't trust me huh? Heh, he's breaking my little heart. It doesn't matter, though.'
Smiling at Han-Song Yi, Kenjaku told her to leave, which she did, so he can look for any mana crystals.
What he really meant was that he just wanted space to absorb Baruka's body.
Crouching over Baruka while forcing his hand through the elves body, Kenjaku completely absorbed it, yet experiencing another large powerup.
Now, even Kenjaku couldn't tell how strong he was. His mana felt as if it was overflowing, but at the same time flowing peacefully.
Unbeknownst to him though, now that his body had reached a point where it could tolerate S-rank power without destroying itself, the true power of the Heart Of The Absolute started to awaken.