Chapter 743: Meeting Isabelle again

Isabelle didn’t have time to dwell on Moon’s sudden appearance.

The beast in front of her struck again before she could react, a powerful sweep of its horns catching her square in the stomach, punching a hole clean through and sending blood pouring down her front.

Watching her sorry state, Moon didn’t waste a second.

He lit up the forest with a flash of purple. Lightning crackled down his right arm, gathered, and leapt from his fingertips, streaking across the clearing to strike the boar dead center in its forehead. The bolt punched through its skull and killed it instantly, the beast dropping before it even understood what had happened. Its massive body hit the ground with a thud that shook the leaves underfoot and scattered a cloud of dust.

With the threat gone, Isabelle’s trembling legs finally gave out, and she dropped to one knee, clutching the wound in her stomach.

Moon move to her quickly, casting a healing skill as he came, shadowing it under the glow of a healing rune so his ability to heal stayed hidden.

"Are you okay?"

Minor Mend worked its magic, the wound in her stomach sealing closed, the immediate danger passing. Isabelle didn’t answer right away. She pulled a healing potion from her storage ring, chugged it down, and tossed the empty flask aside, still wincing despite the dual treatment.

"Thank you," she said finally.

Moon shook his head with a wry smile, summoning a cushion from his storage ring and helping her settle onto it. "Why do I always seem to run into you when you’re in some kind of terrible state?"

"I don’t know." She managed a weak smirk. "But thanks, base boss." The title came out sarcastic, mocking the way the rest of the base addressed him.

Moon rolled his eyes. "You’ve got time to joke around with a hole in your stomach?"

"Hiss!" She winced from a sudden pain.

He waited while she rested, letting the healing fully clear the danger, and once she could speak without pain tightening her voice, he asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a long time. Not since we met that spirit and came back to the base, back when Layla and Joseph were still running things around here."

"Work. And family problems back on Earth." Isabelle sighed, leaning back on the cushion. "I’ve barely had any time to come here. Today’s actually the first day I’ve set foot on the island since then. Figured I’d finally get some hunting in, and look how that went. Last I remembered, the strongest of beasts were three-stars... but this one was four-stars, took me by surprise."

"Yeah, a lot has changed since then. The world doesn’t wait for you to adapt, the weaker beasts die, and the stronger ones come out to hunt for more prey." He paused for a moment before saying, "Do you need help with anything? With whatever’s going on back home?"

Isabelle shook her head. "I’ll be fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle."

Moon noted the tension in her shoulders, and the quiver in her voice, but he didn’t push. If she didn’t want him involved, that was her choice to make. He’d offered because of their old acquaintance, and because helping where he easily could cost him nothing. But they weren’t close, not really, and he wasn’t going to pry into a life she clearly wanted to keep private.

"I’m fine," Isabelle said, shaking her head. "Your healing rune and the health potion did the job. Besides, I didn’t come all the way here just to turn around after one bad fight. I want to keep hunting. I’ll be more careful this time."

Moon studied her eyes for a moment, reading the stubborn resolve there, and decided not to argue.

"Alright. I won’t insist." He nodded. "But take care of yourself. This place has a lot of powerful beasts, and not all of them announce themselves the way that boar did. If you’re looking for Three-Stars or below, something manageable, head south. About three miles out, you’ll find plenty at a reasonable difficulty. Stay away from anything that feels too quiet, that usually means something higher up the food chain is nearby."

"Thanks." Isabelle pushed herself to her feet, testing her stomach where the wound had been, and found it well. "Take care of yourself too. Bye."

She waved once and walked off without looking back, heading toward the hunting grounds Moon had pointed her to.

Moon watched her go for a moment, a faint thread of curiosity lingering, about the family troubles she wouldn’t name, about why she’d pushed herself back into danger so quickly. But it wasn’t his business, and he let it drop.

He turned back to Mirage and Honeybun.

"Come on. We’ve still got work to do. Let’s find something that’ll actually make you or Honeybun break a sweat."

The three of them set off deeper into the island, Moon resuming his hunt for stronger prey, something that would push Honeybun’s new Surpasser strength and feed his own level, spiritual energy, and Life count all at once.

The afternoon light filtered through the canopy as they pressed on, and Moon kept his senses sharp, searching for the telltale signs of a predator worth the effort, another Shadow Panther, or whatever else this island was hiding in its depths.

On another part of the island, Rowan’s bowstring bounced repetitively, arrow after arrow leaving the string and finding their marks among the beasts before him.

After absorbing the Excellent-Grade Spirit Art Moon had given him, Rowan had thrown himself into the work with everything he had. Fifty acupoints now stretched before him where there had once been twenty-five, and he was determined not to waste a single day of the potential Moon had unlocked. That meant hunting. Harder targets, stronger beasts, pushing himself and his team to fill those acupoints as fast as his body could handle.

"Jack, wind spell, break their charge!" Rowan called out over the chaos of the battle. "Ryan, shield up, ward off the next wave. I’ll rain arrows down on them while they’re pinned."

His teammates complied without hesitation, moving the instant the orders left his mouth. Jack’s wind spell tore through the oncoming beasts, scattering their formation and staggering their advance. Ryan planted himself at the front, shield raised, absorbing the strikes that broke through and holding the line steady.

And Rowan let his bow loose from behind them, his arrows being the key to their victory, streaking into the disrupted pack, each shot finding a vital point that made it easier for his team to work with the beasts.

The beasts fell one by one.

Rowan’s leadership was decisive, and he had picked his teammates with care, knowing they were worthy of his trust and they proved him right with their performance.

Within ten minutes, a pack of more than fifteen Three-Star beasts lay dead across the ground, the entire engagement handled without a single serious injury to his team.

"Well done, everyone." Rowan lowered his bow, his eyes already sweeping the surroundings for any lingering threats. "Clean work. Let’s pack up quickly and move out, we’ll rest somewhere more defensible. Don’t want to linger in an open kill site, the blood will draw scavengers."

His teammates nodded and began gathering the corpses, storing them efficiently, while Rowan kept watch.

Boss gave me this chance, Rowan thought, nocking a fresh arrow out of habit as he scanned the treeline. An Excellent-Grade Art. He told me not to waste my potential, so I won’t. I’ll fill every one of them. I’ll get strong enough to actually stand beside him and help him once he needs me. His grip tightened with determination. And one day, I’ll repay everything he’s done for me.

The team finished packing, and Rowan led them off toward safer ground, his journey toward strength well underway, driven by the opportunity his boss had placed in his hands.