X-Rank Hunter

The night after Jim and Charley went back home...

They were still living together with a handful of neighbors in 'Biga village'. It was at least a hundred kilometers away from the nearest town they came from when Jim was brought to the hospital, Malaya Town.

Their village was situated deep inside the mountain range where countless beasts were running all around.

Their humble house was just simple and there was a little difference compared to any other stone houses in the village.

Though they could afford to have a much grander house in the nearby town or to any of the three main cities, they prefer to stay in a normal one in this village and try to live a normal life to the fullest.

Every time Jim went to the Town to study, he needed one of the tamed beasts of his mother for him to travel on time. It was much better for him if he could only have a tamed beast of his own as his mount but unfortunately for him, he couldn't tame a single beast at all.

Every time he went to the Academy, he always became the apple of the eye for the students there. Or probably, they were all looking to his mother's mount, wondering how a trash like him became so lucky enough to belong to one of the strongest families.

Jim really was so tired of it but he was helpless against it. Since that was the case, he was starting to become accustomed to turning a blind eye and acting deaf towards their impressions of him.

By the way, their village was just small with a few hundred of population. Though no towering stone walls were protecting it, there was an invisible barrier that kept the beasts away and prevented the sudden appearance of portals inside the village.

Well, almost all the villages and towns in the Kingdom had an invisible barrier like this for them to thwart the sudden onslaught of the Otherworldly Monster Beasts or sometimes, Demons.

Ever since the Otherworldly Monster Beasts first appeared on Encantadia, almost all the structures on Encantadia were damaged from all the war that just transpired. The countless and prosperous towering buildings that were built by mankind in many cities and different countries long ago were trampled down by the beasts making it as good as waste.

Because of the perpetual appearance of portals and the beasts coming out from them, Encantadia was inhabited by countless Monster Beasts, and humanities were forced to leave their everything and gathered together to build their own fortress to defend against those beasts.

Beast waves constantly occur everywhere and their village was without exception. But of course, it never became a threat to them. His mother was a former Advance Ranker after all, and a Royal Hunter at that!

Though she was said to be retired, it didn't mean that she would not use her power anymore to at least defend herself and her kin, it only meant that she was freed from any shackles and responsibilities.

Into the woods next to the village, the howl of the beasts could always be heard particularly at night, ready to massacre at any moment.

If not for the barrier that helped the village to repel the beasts, they might get attacked and would inevitably suffer slight casualties.

Inside the room where Jim was, he could hear the cry of the beasts outside. Not only that, Jim could clearly hear as well everything around him in the quiet night.

The snore of his neighbors, the croak of the frogs, the bark of the dogs, the sounds of someone making love, he was able to hear them all!

"Just what the hell is happening to me!" Jim felt bewildered hearing those things unreasonably.

If his guess was correct, he could hear a hundred meters away from him as clear as the day no matter how loud or low the sound was.

And if he focused his hearing in a certain direction, he could double the distance of the range of his hearing, however, the hearing range from the opposite side would also decrease up to zero distance, leaving him completely vulnerable and couldn't hear anything from the opposite side.

And that was a flaw for him, a huge blind spot if he used it in battle.

Still, though he could hear everything within his range, he didn't get distracted even though he could hear all of them at the same time.

He could also ignore the sounds that he didn't want to hear, making Jim feel relieved when he ignored the sounds of his neighbor that were making love.

I'm still underage you know!

Wait when I grow up a little and I am more than willing to hear your moan until how long you can last!

"Sigh, should I tell mom?" Jim thought, contemplating what was happening to him. "But she might get worried again even more. Of course, it is not because what I am going to say is true or not, but because she will surely get worried about me because she might think that I have gone insane."

Sigh.

Not only can I hear every sound within my range, but I can also insanely heal my wounds in a moment's time. But why the hell I feel that I can also create a life-form using my blood?!

As Jim was sitting on his bed, Jim raised his hand in front of his chest, staring at his palm for a moment before clenching it as hard as he could.

And why the hell I can wound myself just by doing this? And I only feel a little pain when my wounds are opening up. And my blood was actually returning to me?

Ugh, maybe I just felt tired right now that's why there're so many strange things happening to me.

Jim lied down on his bed trying to ignore what was happening to him and have a good sleep instead. As he closed his eyes, he could still hear everything in his range so he ignored them all, making his hearing to be as normal as what he used to be.

"Better that way!" Jim thought as he heaved a sigh of relief.

"!"

Kreeeeeek.

Just when he was barely falling into sleep, the door in his room suddenly opened. When he looked at it, he saw his mom coming in. Only that moment, he remembered that his mom was in their house. He sat down on his bed as he was greatly amazed staring at her with his slightly widened eyes.

He could definitely hear everything in a hundred meters radius but he didn't even notice his mother inside their house. It came to the point that he totally forgot about her when he was trying to hear everything in his range.

He then tried to use his hearing ability and focused everything on his mother but even the sounds of her moving muscles or even the beat of her heart were all completely erased as if she was not in there in the first place.

Only then he realized that his mother was really on a completely different level.

"Oh son, why are you not sleeping yet? Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story first?"

"No mom! I'm not a kid anymore!" Jim refused, not wanting to be treated as a child anymore. "Don't worry mom, I'm already going to sleep."

"But you are still a kid for me hehe..!"

"Ehhh?!"

"Hehe I'm just kidding, just don't sleep too late at night. I will leave now."

Charley smiled sweetly as she was teasing her son. It was only then when Jim saw again the blossom of her beautiful smile.

When his mom was about to reach the door she suddenly halted her step and spoke, "And also, the school gave you three days leave for you to rest. You can take your time here at home."

"Oh?. Is that so? Ok, mom!" Jim replied, but his thought was wandering somewhere else as his face revealed a frown that could easily be noticed.

"..."

"Ok, I will leave now, good night." Seeing her son like that, Charley tilted her head slightly nevertheless, she didn't take it as a serious matter.

"Good night mom!"

"Good night." His mother finally left the room as she closed the door. Jim then again lied down to his bed while thinking about his newfound abilities and the incredible feat of his mother.

"Just how is it that I could hear nothing from her except her voice?" Though he just got his incredible hearing ability from nowhere, he was sure in himself that it was real, but still, there was nothing he could hear from his mother except her voice that she intentionally revealed.

Tired of thinking, he then closed his eyes ready to sleep at any moment.