Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 613

Chapter 613 136.3 - The Hunt

The idea of tracking a slippery bastard like Zharokath was a delicate game—one that required more than just skill. It was a test of precision, a dance between noise and signal, and a single misstep could mean losing Zharokath for good.

Zharokath had layered himself in defenses, protections that monitored every inch of the surrounding area for disturbances in mana. The filters that surrounded him were complex, weaving through the ambient mana to detect anything out of place. The problem was, I couldn't know exactly how they worked. Without seeing the specific enchantments and artifacts, there was no way to be absolutely sure what would trigger them.

I had to rely on what I knew, what I had studied. Tracking spells, detection methods—they all functioned on similar principles. They sifted through the background noise of mana emissions, separating out anything that didn't fit the expected patterns. But, as I had learned, no filter was perfect. freeweɓnovel.cøm

'It's all about the threshold,' I thought, my mind racing as I prepared to move again. 'Every filter has to be set to a certain level of sensitivity. If it's too sensitive, it picks up everything, overwhelming the system. If it's too strict, real threats slip through. There's always a middle ground.'

And that was where I could strike.

The transplant I had placed onto Zharokath—a tiny seed of mana that I had woven into his defenses—was barely detectable. It emitted just enough energy to be recognized by my own spell, but it was buried within the ambient noise of mana that surrounded him. To Zharokath's filters, it would seem like just another part of the environment, lost in the sea of mana emissions.

But there was always the risk. There was no way to know for certain what kind of filters Zharokath's devices were using. If they detected even a slight irregularity, the signal could be disrupted, and the whole plan would fall apart.

I clenched my fists, focusing on the intricate web of mana flowing around me. 'How can I be sure that what I've planted will remain undetected?'

The answer was simple: lowering it enough to make sure that it is on the same level as the natural emissions.

But then, that implied something else.

How would I myself be able to transmit the signal? If such a low-level signal could be transmitted, wouldn't it already be done?

The question weighed heavily on my mind: If the signal was so low that it blended perfectly with natural emissions, how could I transmit it without losing it entirely? By normal physical rules, such a weak signal shouldn't be able to cover the distance I needed.

But then again, this wasn't just a world bound by physical rules.

Mana was different—mana had properties that could be manipulated in ways that defied the natural laws of the world. A fire-attributed mana would carry heat, while ice-attributed mana would radiate cold. Even lightning-attributed mana could carry electrical impulses, mimicking signals in the physical world. And I had been studying these properties long enough to understand how they could be applied in unconventional ways.

'The answer lies in mana's ability to contain and change properties,' I thought. The world of mana was vast, far more flexible than any simple signal system. And that was when my method began to take shape, the plan I had crafted from the very start.

There existed a type of plant—rare––that emitted a peculiar kind of mana to reproduce.

[Hiveshine]

Its mana worked like pollen, spreading over vast distances, carried by the wind. But what made it fascinating was how it absorbed the raw mana from its surroundings as it traveled. This allowed it to not only maintain its strength but expand its reach, amplifying its own signal the farther it moved.

'Pollen mana,' I had called it during my research. Its natural ability to absorb and grow, much like how plants spread their seeds, was the perfect method for transmitting a low-level signal over long distances.

As it traveled, it would draw mana from the surrounding environment, subtly amplifying itself without raising suspicion. It blended with the ambient noise, growing stronger without ever crossing the threshold that would trigger Zharokath's filters.

And this was the essence of my plan.

When Maya had fallen and lost her balance thanks to the demonic energy at that time, I had greased a slight amount of such pollens right onto Zharokath's body.

And now the mana had such property.

It was a tiny seed, so faint it barely registered as a disturbance. But as it moved, as it traveled through the air with him, it would begin to absorb the raw mana around it, expanding its range and signal amplitude without ever drawing attention. To Zharokath's devices, it was just another part of the environment, harmless and indistinguishable from the background noise.

'And now I can see it.'

Thanks to the rigorous training I had undergone with Reina, my [Eyes] had become far more than just a tool for perception—they were a finely tuned instrument. Every type of mana had its own signature, and I had learned how to filter out the irrelevant, focusing only on what mattered. The moment I applied the pollen mana to Zharokath, I knew it would leave behind a trail—one that only I could see.

I closed my eyes for a moment, allowing my senses to adjust, focusing on the ambient mana around me. Then, as I opened them again, the world shifted. The familiar patterns of the city's mana flows faded into the background as I honed in on the specific signature of the pollen mana I had planted.

'There it is,' I thought, my gaze locking onto the faint but distinct trail.

It spread out across the city, like delicate threads of light that only I could see, winding through the streets and alleyways. The mana had already begun to spread, absorbing the raw energy from its surroundings, amplifying itself just as I had anticipated. It was subtle, nearly invisible to anyone without my training, but to me, it was as clear as day.

I stood on the rooftop, tracking the trail with precision, my eyes scanning the city below. The threads of mana converged, all pointing toward one location—a building in the distance. That was where Zharokath was hiding. The source of the pollen mana pulsed faintly, marking his exact position.