The Scope of His Ability

"Let's go." Su Wu turned and headed toward the caravan.

"What about that girl?" one of the three guards asked, sounding conflicted and reluctant.

"If she really needs help, she'll follow us even if it kills her." The white-haired boy kept walking and tossed the words over his shoulder without looking back.

The three adults glanced at the blonde girl, then followed the boy.

The girl, who went by Lu Qi but was really Biscuit, had no more tears left to cry. She stood where she was, head bowed, and took three deep breaths. Ignoring her lost hair, she raised her head again and put on a helpless, delicate expression before stumbling after the others.

"Wait for me... Don't leave me behind."

You little white-haired brat, just you wait.

I'll make sure you don't have an easy time in the rest of the exam!

She looked pitiful and helpless, but inside she was grinding her teeth and cursing him viciously.

The people in the caravan were surprised to see a girl following Su Wu and the others. After hearing the three men explain, talking over one another, why the little girl named Lu Qi had ended up in the desert, they fell silent.

"Then let her come with us. Once we reach a safe city, we'll see if we can find a family willing to take her in..." The caravan leader decided to let her stay.

Su Wu had reason to suspect that the leader actually knew this little girl—or rather, the blonde woman who looked young but was certainly much older.

"My leg's hurt. I want to go with him..." The blonde girl clutched her skirt and looked at Su Wu pitifully.

She made her intention perfectly clear: she wanted to ride the same camel as Su Wu.

The group of adult men all looked at Su Wu.

In their eyes, the two children were about the same age and would have more to talk about together.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy asked expressionlessly, "Do you want to lose the braid on your other side too?"

Biscuit: Aah—! You're bringing that up again?!

What an obnoxious little boy! No wonder boys this age are hated by cats and dogs!

In the end, she rode a different camel by herself. She stopped deliberately trying to attract attention and grew quiet instead.

That unnatural quiet made Su Wu even more suspicious.

If she was involved with the Hunter Exam, she ought to be doing everything she could to make things difficult for the examinees and increase the challenge.

If she was being this quiet, she must already be thinking about what kind of trouble to cause later.

Until dusk drew near and the sun was about to sink below the horizon, the girl calling herself Lu Qi didn't cause any more trouble.

The caravan picked a spot and set up camp, then lit a fire. The guards split into several groups to take turns keeping watch.

Because of his age, Su Wu was assigned to the second half of the night.

"There are quite a few magical beasts in the desert. During the day, the sand gets too hot, so they sleep buried underneath it. At night, when it cools down, they crawl out and start hunting..."

"Usually, there's no need to worry. There are a lot of us, and the beasts aren't stupid enough to target us directly."

"Unless we run into a beast that's gone berserk and lost its reason, but that's extremely unlikely."

Night had fallen, and the desert's temperature had changed drastically. The difference between day and night could reach dozens of degrees. Everyone gathered around several campfires, where large iron pots hung over the flames. Food simmered inside, sending up steaming heat and a delicious aroma that filled their noses.

The caravan leader was clearly an old hand who often traveled through the desert. He talked at length, sharing his experience with everyone.

After eating their fill, everyone returned to their tents to sleep. Those on watch sat outside, keeping an eye on each direction.

Su Wu didn't return to his tent. He didn't want to share one with the others, and he didn't think anyone would get a good night's sleep.

He sat alone some distance from the camp and continued exploring his Nen ability.

More than twenty-four hours had passed, so he could draw cards again.

And with so many people in the caravan, he had plenty of test subjects. Hmm...

He'd try the cards on the blonde woman whose braid he'd cut off first.

"Wheel of Law." He silently called out.

A moment later, a wheel surrounded by a pale blue glow appeared in midair before him.

The cards inside, their faces indistinct, spun around as they waited for him to choose.

He reached out and drew three without hesitation. The wheel vanished once more.

[Reverse Devil] Debuff card.

[Positive Moon] Buff card.

[Reverse Hanged Man] Debuff card.

This time, he first turned the cards over and checked their backs. There were no countdown numbers yet.

It seemed the countdown only began during the final three minutes.

He needed to find someone to test them on...

Su Wu looked toward the caravan's tents and tried to use his ability on someone inside from a distance.

His first attempt failed.

It didn't work from three hundred meters away.

He moved closer and tried again from two hundred meters away, but it failed again.

He tried once more from a hundred meters away, and still didn't succeed.

Su Wu tried releasing the Nen inside his body and creating an En about twenty meters in radius around himself, encompassing the tents within that range. That was the largest radius he could manage with his current Nen.

En was primarily used to sense danger within its range. The people in Meteor City's underground palace could only extend theirs a few meters.

But his life energy and physical abilities were already far beyond ordinary, so he'd started out with much stronger Nen than most people.

Biscuit, inside her tent, quickly sensed the En and opened her eyes. Gathering up her skirt, she pulled the tent flap aside.

She wanted to see which brat was keeping everyone awake by surrounding the tent with En.

As soon as she lifted the flap, she saw the white-haired, blue-eyed boy sitting outside, his mysterious facial markings visible and his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

He held two cards between his fingers, showing their faces to the two people keeping watch outside.

"Could you help me with a little magic trick? No matter what happens, don't make a sound," he asked with a smile.

But the two men didn't think this was merely a request, and they didn't dare refuse.

Su Wu then flung a card at each of them. The moment the cards touched their bodies, they seemed to merge with them, sinking into their bodies and disappearing.

"It worked," he murmured.

So the cards could only be used on targets inside his En.

Several thick chains suddenly appeared around one of the guards. One end wrapped around him, while the other disappeared into thin air.

The other man stayed frozen in the position he'd been in, completely motionless.

"What's going on?" The man wrapped in chains tried tugging at them, but couldn't break free. The more he struggled, the tighter they constricted around him.

"It's just a little game. It'll wear off tomorrow." Su Wu spoke casually as he watched the other man.

He didn't move at all, as if he'd been paralyzed or turned to stone.

[Reverse Devil] Effect 1: Binding Chains.

[Reverse Hanged Man] Effect 1: Causes the target to become motionless.

Both cards could be used on enemies in battle.

Biscuit watched the scene with keen interest and stepped forward to examine the chains that had appeared out of nowhere.