Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Never be content with the world's surface, and be brave enough to seek out the unknown. However, every step into the unknown carries with it the possibility of fatal danger.

A breeze stirred from an unknown source, cool and faintly chilling, brushing gently across the sea of corpses. It moved like the delicate touch of a maiden's fingers, sweeping just past Law's chest.

There was something invisible lingering in front of Law, preventing him from moving forward.

The deep blue glow deepened the chilling atmosphere. In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of corpses stood up quietly and showed a kind and pure smile to the outsiders.

And in the next instant, there's nothing. The bodies lay where they had always been, unmoved, unchanged.

Advance… or retreat?

Law took a step back. He pushed his curiosity down, locking it away in the depths of his mind. After all, now wasn't the time to investigate this place.

He had unfinished business aboveground, so until that was dealt with, he couldn't afford the luxury, or the risk, of letting curiosity kill the cat.

Without hesitation, he turned and left, retracing his steps through the narrow tunnel he had carved, returning to the original passage.

Not sleeping all night didn't bother him too much, but if conditions allowed, some rest was always preferable.

Back in the vast underground cavern filled with stone pillars, Law sat against a rock wall, closed his eyes and rested. Before long, he fell into a light sleep.

A few hours passed and the sky was getting slightly brighter.

Law opened his eyes and looked toward the beam of sunlight piercing through the cavern from above.

At this time, below the cave opening, the trees that had been burning continuously had burned down to little more than embers and scattered sparks, while the trees around the cave opening were razed to the ground, and the early morning sun now spilled unobstructed into the cavern below.

Law stood up, holding his sword in one hand, and walked between the stone pillars as he headed toward the column of light.

When he came to the bottom of the cave opening, without walking into the light column, he could still sense ten Auras from monsters above the cave opening.

Law looked up at the cave opening above. With the help of the sunlight, he could just barely make out the structure. It was shaped like an overturned bowl, with the opening at the center of the base. Climbing up along the curved walls is actually not difficult, as it can easily be done with the help of Aura.

But there are ten artificial creatures guarding the opening, so it is obviously unrealistic to climb up directly, as he will be discovered by them when using his Aura.

It is also impossible to climb to the top of a cave with this structure without the help of Aura.

"This has to be close to a hundred meters high."

Law murmured to himself. He had never tested his maximum vertical jump from a standstill, but he was confident it could exceed fifty meters.

A running start might get him higher, but the structure of the cave ceiling makes it difficult for him to aim the jump accurately. Besides, a running jump wouldn't provide the needed lift.

He needed a fast, sharp ascent to break through the opening without giving the artificial creatures time to react.

The thickness of the rock formations in other places is unknown, and the lighting was too poor. Trying to carve a new exit with his Nen Ability would be time-consuming, exhausting, and not worth the effort.

The only viable option was to leave through the same path he had come in.

But the problem is, even with his best jump, he was still short by half the height. So what could he do to close that gap?

'If I just had a foothold, I could leap the rest of the way in a few bounds.'

Law thought about it and looked up at the opening again. After less than a few seconds, he silently withdrew his gaze.

There is not a single point of leverage.

There are so many stone pillars in the cavern, but right here, the floor was flat, and the opening was surrounded by the inverted bowl structure. Anywhere along the edge of the bowl, there are only exaggerated curves, without even a stone pillar.

Law sat down on the rubble, thinking about how to get out.

He didn't want to lure the creatures above down, for fear that the battle would cause further collapse of the cave. As long as there was such a possibility, he didn't want to try it.

In other words, those ten artificial creatures could only be dealt with on the surface.

'Since there's no foothold, I can try using Nen to create one in midair.' Law suddenly thought of this possibility, and immediately moved to test it out.

He stepped away from the area beneath the cave opening, retreating several dozen meters, and began putting his idea into action.

"Condense a Nen Sphere, compress the air, create a resistance point under my feet that I can push off of…"

Law jumped lightly on the spot, rising about three or four meters off the ground. As he began to descend, his focus snapped into place, and he condensed a Nen Sphere beneath his foot, compressing the air.

Then, he slightly lifted his foot and gave a strong push against the Nen Sphere. A soft 'pop' sound rang out. He instantly lost footing, his body briefly suspended midair, slightly tilting to the side before landing safely.

'I need a faster, more efficient method...'

Despite the failure on his first try, Law didn't react much. He rubbed his chin and thought about the experience just now.

'There really was a moment of solid footing when I stepped on the Nen Sphere, but it was far too brief. The compressed Nen clearly lacked the density needed to serve as a reliable foothold.'

'To become a proper stepping point, it needed to have a density similar to stone, and it couldn't collapse the moment I stepped on it.'

'When in the air, the condensation and compression has to be completed in an instant. With my current Aura Control, I should be able to do it if I train for a period of time… but I don't have that kind of time to waste right now.'

Law pondered for a moment, but he wasn't stuck on that method.

To instantly create a boost point, he could also try making use of the Emission-Type traits.

By emitting Aura to cover his body and push himself forward… something like a rocket boost.

'Emission, Enhancement System...?'

Law suddenly thought of Atomu's Nen Ability, 'The way he could burst out with explosive speed and strength… it seemed to be a power developed through a combination of Enhancement and Emission traits.'

'While compressing and condensing, I can use the characteristics of the Emission System to push in the opposite direction. That might be feasible.'

Snapping out of his thoughts, Law immediately put his idea into motion.

The key characteristic of the Emission-Type was the ability to turn static Aura into motion in an instant, causing a powerful form of propulsion.

Law jumped again from the spot, still about three or four meters above the ground.

Before his upward momentum faded, he had already begun to condense the Nen Sphere under his feet and compress the air.

Then, lifting his foot midair, he pushed off, and almost simultaneously, the sides of the Nen Sphere slightly caved in, pushing up against the sole of his foot.

Two opposing forces collided in an instant, creating a brief moment of suspension in midair… as if Law had stepped on solid ground for just that fleeting second.

Grasping that split-second opening, Law, who was in mid-air with no foothold, relied on his combined Nen application to launch himself another five to six meters upward.

However, his cool performance didn't last long. His next step met only air, and with his rhythm broken, his whole body fell like a bird with broken wings, plummeting straight toward the ground.

Although he only managed to take one step successfully, it proved the feasibility of the idea. After that, as long as he is used to the usage, jumping a hundred meters from a standstill wouldn't be a problem.

"I can do it!"

Law smiled faintly and began practicing the technique to make it second nature.

An hour later, the artificial creatures that had been standing motionless at the edge of the cave opening suddenly stirred.

They snapped their heads toward the cave, where a black silhouette shot straight up into the air, and their gazes immediately followed it upward.

It's their target!