Chương 83: Biscuit Krueger

A Double-Star Stone Hunter. She looked like a cute thirteen-year-old girl, but in reality, she would currently be forty-four years old. Most of the time, she appeared in that doll-like form. During combat, she occasionally returned to her true body. She was also the favorite teacher of countless transmigrators in Aren's memory. One had to admit that her teaching ability was genuinely terrifying.

Whether in structure or pacing, she could break down difficult concepts, chew them up, and stuff them directly into a student's head. Unlike many Nen users, Biscuit did not rely on her own ability to fight. She fought with pure Nen itself. The fact that a combat-oriented fighter like her had developed an ability with no direct offensive power said everything about her understanding of Nen.

If one only discussed understanding, not raw strength or talent, Biscuit might be second only to Netero in the entire Hunter world. And what Aren lacked most right now was precisely that understanding of Nen. He immediately understood why Neon's fortune had led him here.

"Not bad," Biscuit said, studying him with interest.

"You're young, but your ability is strong." Then aura gathered around her hands. With a sweeping motion, she cut through the black roots Aren had fixed in place. The severed roots released strange, animal-like screams.

"Hm-hm! Of course. Neon's master is the strongest." Seeing Biscuit praise Aren, Neon lifted her little head proudly, as if she had been the one complimented.

"Master?" Biscuit glanced at Aren's Ten, which was still far from steady, and immediately complained.

"With basics like that, you're teaching someone else? You only opened Nen recently, didn't you?" Because Aren's aura increased constantly, his Ten had never fully stabilized. Whether it was steady or not did not affect his ability to overpower enemies, so he had been too lazy to care. Biscuit's sharp tongue annoyed him, but before Aren could speak, Neon protested from his arms.

"What do you mean? Neon's master is very, very strong. A few days ago, he chased away a bad man called Zoldyck."

"Zoldyck?" Biscuit's expression shifted.

"A kid who just started taking jobs for the family?" A vein seemed to pulse near Aren's temple.

"Silva Zoldyck," he said flatly.

"Do you think he counts as a child who just entered the business?"

"Really?" Biscuit still looked as if she did not believe him. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Aren opened his mouth to say more, but movement came from below again. Dozens of black roots shot toward him. This time, with Biscuit standing nearby as a reference point, Aren was certain the attack was aimed at him. Hum. Using Limitless Technique's directional control, Aren twisted the force of the roots and made them rip themselves apart.

"Endless little things. Annoying." Aren opened En, preparing to search for the source. Biscuit felt the enormous radius of his En and finally began to believe that he might really have repelled Silva. Being able to release En on this scale already proved how frightening his aura reserve was.

"En won't help," Biscuit said.

"It has already fused with the whole mountain. You won't find anything that way."

"Unless you destroy its core, these roots will keep coming." As she spoke, Biscuit's eyes suddenly lit up. She looked Aren up and down.

"I don't know why it is so obsessed with you, but if it's you, we might be able to lure out its core."

"Let me ask you one thing first. Why did you come here? You're not after the Great Sky Stone too, are you?" She was right. Even after expanding En at full strength, Aren could not sense anything useful. There were roots underground, but this was a forested mountain. Roots beneath the soil were perfectly normal. He could not exactly pull up every tree. Speaking of which, Aren truly lacked a large-area ability. The direction of his next ability might need to address that.

After hearing Biscuit's words, he began to understand why the roots kept chasing him. If he guessed correctly, they were craving the absurd vitality overflowing from his body. They wanted to devour that life force. From the way they sucked people dry, this thing was clearly gathering human vitality. Biscuit's meaning was obvious. She wanted to cooperate. Her target was the Great Sky Stone. If Aren wanted the same thing, their goals would clash because there was only one gem.

So before working together, she needed to confirm what he wanted. Aren had little interest in something he could replicate after touching it once. He had come here because of the fortune, and the fortune had pointed him toward someone who could help him now. That person was clearly Biscuit. Besides, right now he only wanted to get rid of the disgusting thing trying to eat him. With the current situation, finding the core by himself might truly be difficult. He needed Biscuit's experience.

"My goal isn't the Great Sky Stone," Aren said.

"I came here to bring Neon on an adventure." Biscuit stared at him, half amused and half speechless.

"No wonder you brought a little girl in here. You're really fearless because you don't know enough. Against something like Resentment, strength alone isn't enough." Then she shook her head.

"Forget it. Do you want to cooperate? You look like you opened Nen recently, so I doubt anyone has taught you properly. If you help me draw out its core, I can teach you Nen for a while afterward. How does that sound?" Biscuit had just named Aren's true purpose. But after being hit by her sharp tongue for so long, Aren's personality would not let him accept quietly without striking back. He smiled.

"You? A little kid?" This time, it was Biscuit's fist that twitched.

"I am not a little kid. I am forty-four years old. I've been training Nen for twenty-seven years, longer than you've been alive." Aren raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. So you're an old lady." Another vein appeared on Biscuit's forehead. She almost wanted to punch Aren the way she would later punch Gon. But after glancing at the Limitless Technique still active around him and remembering the roots frozen in front of him, she forced the urge down.

"Are we cooperating or not?" Aren pretended to think.

"Cooperating is fine, but I decide how far the teaching goes. And you teach Neon too."

"Hey! You're adding way too many conditions."

"That is the Great Sky Stone," Aren said in his most irritating tone.

"The rarest of the Seven Great Beauties. Are you sure it isn't worth that price?" Biscuit wanted to flip the table several times. But when she thought of the Great Sky Stone's sky-clear color, she endured. One word squeezed out from between her teeth.

"Deal." Aren's lips curved in a victorious smile.

"Good. Then we have an agreement. Tell me what I need to do. But let me make one thing clear first. I absolutely refuse to let those disgusting things touch my body." Biscuit shot him a sharp look.

"Don't worry. You only need to move around the mountain. I'll analyze the root activity and narrow down the core's location."

"With how much it wants you, the closer you get to it, the harder it will be for it to resist trying to eat you. From that, I can estimate its position."

"Okay. Let's go." Aren held out his free right hand with a smile.

"Here's to working together." Biscuit was caught off guard by the sudden friendliness, and a faint blush touched her face. She reached out as well.

"Here's to working together." It was not that Biscuit had fallen for Aren. She simply liked looking at handsome men, and Aren's face suited her taste perfectly. In fact, aside from Neon, that was part of the reason she had secretly followed him earlier. Biscuit's hobbies were gemstones and beautiful men. Hunters were people who could throw themselves into anything that fascinated them. Sometimes, their obsession with what they loved was difficult for outsiders to understand.