NOVPUB
Chapter 413 - Slim Beauty VS Muscular Giant
"Come on in..." Elaine hesitated for a moment before finally opening the wooden door wide.
They entered, turned a corner, and found themselves in the first-floor living room. The air still carried the lingering aroma of food, indicating lunch had just finished. In one corner by the wall, three figures were helping each other, pounding their waists, shoulders, necks, and knees with steady thumps. A closer look revealed them to be Jem, Kames, and Herb.
"Grandpa Herb...Uncle Jem..." Claire paused briefly before greeting them. The veteran hunters belonged to the neutral faction of the Hunters' Association, generally supporting the Chief Mechanist. As the niece of the Chief Mechanist, Claire naturally knew many of them.
"Uncle Jem, aren't you stationed at the Fort County branch? What brings you back to headquarters?" Among all the veteran hunters present, Claire was most familiar with Jem, as Iron Face Jem had once been a friend of her father and often visited before he was transferred to a branch.
"It's little Claire. Oh, recently the lot of us decided to gather at headquarters, so I came as well. I was planning to visit the Chief and your family tomorrow." Halfway through speaking, Jem suddenly cringed, pulling his neck in.
"Ah! Go easy..."
"That's as gentle as I can be. There's a big bruise right here." Kames shrugged helplessly.
Curious, Claire stepped closer and saw a thick, dark bruise on the back of Uncle Jem's neck. It looked as though someone had struck him forcefully with a hand chop, ending the fight in one decisive blow.
"Uncle Jem, you've been beaten up?!" Claire was astonished. "I have to report this to my uncle. Someone actually dared to attack a veteran hunter?"
"No, no, nothing like that. It was just us old fellows... just sparring, that's all. Mutual practice, you know? Minor injuries are normal..." Jem seemed like he wanted to say more but couldn't bring himself to. He mumbled vaguely, and one could guess his face beneath the mask looked rather embarrassed.
He scooped up some medicinal ointment in his palm and began applying it to Herb's back, where a distinct handprint marked the skin. It looked serious, but actually it wasn't too bad. Among the veteran hunters, Herb and Elaine had received the fewest and lightest beatings.
It wasn't that Cassius had shown them special favor, but that their weaker strength required a gentler approach. The trio on the sofa were of middling rank and had a moderate share of beatings. The worst off were upstairs: Rudy, who had arrived that morning, and Krog, who was the strongest and thus received the most "attention." Their bodies bore countless marks from "treatment," though thankfully only superficial wounds. It just looked a bit dramatic.
"Alright..." Claire inhaled the smell of medicinal herbs, then held back what she wanted to say. These old bones rarely met, yet when they did, they ended up knocking each other around.
"Ugh...aaahhhh..." Suddenly, a horrifying cry echoed from the second floor as if someone were slaughtering a pig. It instinctively made her look up.
"Wha—what's going on now?" Claire could not help herself as she headed upstairs to the second floor.
On the second-floor living room's sofa lay an elderly figure, his entire upper body plastered with medicinal patches like old-fashioned poultices, their pungent scent assaulting the senses. A closer look revealed it was Grandpa Rudy! They had just met at yesterday's meeting about Soss's attack.
"Grandpa Rudy, ah...what on earth..." Claire took a few steps into the living room and noticed a figure on the balcony. He was enormously built with dark skin that had an intensified bronze hue. A closer inspection made it clear it wasn't a natural color but one massive bruise. Yes, his entire back was bruised and bloodied beneath the skin.
As the figure slowly turned, Claire recognized him as Butcher Krog.
"Why have all the somewhat famous veteran hunters in the organization returned to headquarters, and why are they all injured?" Claire was bewildered.
"Oh, it's Claire. Am I hallucinating from being beaten?" Rudy opened his dim, old eyes and muttered.
"No, Grandpa Rudy, it's not a hallucination." Claire waved her hand in front of Rudy's face.
"No, it must be a hallucination!" Rudy's eyes gleamed oddly, as though delirious. "White Aster, you can't fool me! I'll keep fighting you, four hours is nothing! I'll fight you ten hours without tiring! If I were young, even forty hours wouldn't scare me... Hahaha, that brat thinks he can match me? Not even close!" He burst into laughter, rambling on to himself.
"Claire, ignore him. You know how he is..." Krog approached and massaged his temple with a finger.
Claire nodded silently. She knew Grandpa Rudy sometimes suffered agonizing headaches, but she never imagined it could get this bad. Hallucinations and a body battered like this...
"Sigh..." Thinking that one day she might end up like this, Claire could not help but sigh, silently praying that day would come late.
"White Aster is on the third floor. If you need something, just knock." Krog reminded her, and after Claire headed upstairs, he gazed at the still-babbling Rudy. Rudy was indeed hallucinating, but not from beast transformation. Instead, decades of accumulated calamity had been expelled at once, overloading his aged brain. A couple more purges, and he likely would not go mad again.
Krog glanced down the stairs. In Herb's home, six veteran hunters had gathered. They were practically all the old-timers left in the Dark Hunter Organization.
In their two days at headquarters, they had developed unprecedented unity. Not only were they delighted by the expulsion of calamity from their bodies, but also because of Cassius. They wanted to lift Cassius to the Shadow Hunter position, hoping this would bring positive change to the Dark Hunter Organization.
Krog looked again at the stairs leading up.
As for Cassius's hidden strength rivaling a Shadow Hunter and the wondrous effects of his Covert Martial Arts, what did it matter? They only needed to know that Cassius was here to help the Hunters' Association and could solve their beast transformation problem.
"Hopefully, the trial and evaluation will come sooner..."
On the third floor, Claire gently knocked on the door of a secluded room. Rudy's ravings downstairs had piqued her curiosity about Cassius. Fighting for four hours—what did that mean? Why continue fighting? Could that delicate, slender, handsome young man have a hidden side, perhaps a violent battle maniac?
However, White Aster relied on illusions. How would that lend itself to brute violence...
As Claire puzzled over these thoughts, the door clicked open. From behind, the balcony curtains flapped with a gust of wind. Facing the sunlight inside, she narrowed her eyes.
A towering, pale, rock-like wall blocked the corridor completely. Half a second later, the "wall" turned around.
Oh, it wasn't a wall—it was a man. A burly, shirtless muscular giant. His muscles were chiseled as if forged from steel. His two arms were like cement pillars, entwined with dark veins as sturdy as reinforced steel. His skin glistened faintly with a honeyed sheen of sweat, clearly from recent training. Golden hair spilled over his shoulders, exuding a wild, untamed aura.
Paired with black trousers and a belt below, it created a curious blend of civilization and savagery. In short, he gave off the aura of a mighty warrior. One glance sufficed to know he was no ordinary man.
"Uh...hello. Is White Aster here? I need to speak with him..." Claire spoke instinctively.
"Claire?" The burly man's deep voice rumbled as if his skull and chest cavity resonated, conveying raw power.
"Yes, that's me. And you are?" Claire nodded.
"I'm White Aster. Don't you recognize me after just one day?" The giant strode closer, each step thudding heavily.
"Wh-White Aster?!" Claire's eyes widened. Apart from a slight resemblance in facial structure, nothing matched the slender youth she remembered.
This hulking figure was nearly 1.9 meters tall, built like a tank, with arms like concrete pillars. He could not possibly be the same delicate 1.7-meter pretty boy! Claire simply couldn't accept it.
"You're White Aster? Impossible!" Claire instinctively stepped back. She hated to think ill of others, but this man's aura was truly intimidating. She had already braced herself for an attack.
"This is the badge you gave me. I'm returning it." The giant suddenly extended his hand, holding out a wooden badge.
Claire froze. It was indeed the badge she had forcibly given White Aster. If he ever faced danger, he could crush it, and Claire would sense it instantly. She hesitated, eyeing the massive palm large enough to crush her skull before finally taking the badge back.
"White Aster, how did you become like this?"
Ten minutes later, Claire reluctantly accepted the truth.
"He was secretly groomed by you veteran hunters from the start, even before joining the Dark Hunter Organization? After joining, he kept a low profile, never revealing his strength until he had decisive power. And now, he and you six mentors decided to drop the act... Goodness...just wow..." Claire was dumbfounded. She never expected events to unfold this way.
Just moments ago, she had sworn to protect Cassius. Now it seemed he didn't need protection. If anything, his enemies needed it more.
Claire could not gauge Cassius's strength. This indicated he at least matched her level, if not surpassed it, all while keeping it hidden. Had she now gained a formidable new rival?
Back in the first-floor living room, Claire sat across from Rudy, Jem, and Elaine on the sofa. Her expression shifted rapidly in a truly colorful display. Across from her, the three veteran hunters sipped tea slowly.
"Little Claire, we elders have our difficulties. The royal family and the council are watching. We couldn't let our carefully raised prodigy be exposed too early. If he were exposed, he'd face what Soss did, or worse. The assassinations would become even more brazen. After all, we're just some old folks. We can't exactly call the Chief Mechanist to back us..." Rudy leaned on his cane, speaking slowly.
"Yes, that's why we had to take it slow. White Aster remained low-key after joining the Association. It wasn't easy for him. He had to use a technique similar to bone compression every day to appear frail and delicate. He always hated that form. What you just saw was White Aster's true form..." Jem adjusted his mask upward and took a sip of tea.
"Uh..." Claire was speechless. She felt Cassius should stick to his bone-compressed form. That giant figure was far too intimidating.
"Hmm...little Claire. Your great aunt's advice is that you should avoid clashing with White Aster. That boy doesn't hold back at all. He shows no mercy, not even to old men and women..." Elaine clicked her tongue thrice and shook her head.
"Yes, Claire. In short, in the upcoming competition for the Shadow Hunter position, it's best not to face White Aster. Let him handle Solomon from the council and Soss from the royal family. You just watch from the sidelines." Rudy twirled his cane, thinking aloud.
Claire could barely maintain her composure. Yesterday, Grandpa Rudy had insisted she take advantage of this period and strive forward. Soss had lost an arm to assassination, weakening him significantly. Claire had a good chance to secure victory!
However, they were now advising her to avoid crossing White Aster. Claire was one of the top Dark Gold Hunters, a genius since childhood, and carried her own pride. Hearing these three elders who watched her grow up show so little faith in her stung her pride.
"I admit I can't read White Aster's aura right now, but that doesn't mean I can't even try to compete! I don't believe my siren abilities are inferior to his muscles." Claire pouted. "Because of Soss's assassination, the Shadow Hunter qualification fight moved up to a week from now, each of us given a dangerous mission. Then it'll all depend on our individual skill..."
"It's a fair competition," she added at the end.
"How is that fair..." Rudy shook his head. A contender who already possessed Shadow Hunter-level strength had a crushing advantage over other Dark Gold Hunter competitors.
For Claire to compete with Cassius, she would need to bathe in the sacred spring to her limit to greatly boost her power. She would then spend months mastering that surge in strength, and years honing it in battle. Only then would she stand a chance to win this competition.
Rudy sighed, reluctant to reveal Cassius's true strength. "Sigh, anyway, don't rush into action. Let Solomon and Soss go first. Then you can see the situation before deciding..." Rudy stood and patted Claire's shoulder. As she stared, still somewhat dazed, he left the living room and headed upstairs.
On the second-floor living room, Cassius had finished washing up and dressed neatly. He planned to head to the Hunters' Association to claim the resources that belonged to him.
