Rin put up her arms and cowered a bit in instinct to protect herself, even while knowing the act itself was useless. After cautiously opening an eye, she saw that all the animals that were standing there mere minutes before had all vanished. A second later, the shirtless hunter went to a knee, panting hard. "To..Toriko! Are you alright?!" Though she really didn't need to ask, anyone with eyes could see that the man was in terrible shape, what with the way he was kneeling and using his hands to keep himself up.
"That..that was dangerous..without thinking, I was really almost at a point where I swooped down... As I thought, battlefre is dangerous.." Rin was in her own world she mused she wouldn't mind if the hunter swooped down on her. Kururu freed herself from Rin's hold and walked up to Toriko. Wondering if he was okay. To him, Rin said, "But that was amazing, Toriko! They all ran away in an instant!" The tired hunter replied back wearily, "Intimidation is...is a thorough means of threatening. It can be said it's an action used to avert meaningless fights. But this time...battle wasn't avoided. One animal still remains!"
Looking at the field to see a lone animal standing there. Obsaurus, level 28, stood out there growling. The beast was roughly large as a tank, 8 legs with a long serpentine tail. A monstrous-looking mammal with green leathery skin, sharp fangs, four horns, two heads connected at the skull and two blue eyes belonging to each face. It has a peculiar maw with a single large forked tongue which is shared by both its mouths. This never ends, does it?
"Eh.. Isn't that.." Rin started as Toriko finished, " The Obsaurus. It will give a ride to someone stronger as an owner. Furthermore, until a stronger person appears, it will faithfully carry out its owner's orders. Maybe if it's owner is a GT robo, it's orders are something like to co fine us. The idea to not run away from my intimidation could also have been told to it by the owner's merit. Interesting." The hunter smirked before he continued. "From here, I'll become the owner. The GT robo and me, we can find out which has higher merit. " Rin got an excited happy look on her face as she asked, "Then, do you want me to shoot the Battle Fragrance again? You'll fight without reserve?" That ain't happening any time soon. Giving her a slight look he replied, "No..that's ok."
~A while later~
The two huffed and puffed as the obsaurus rode them out of the white forest. Toriko was completely exhausted, having Battle Fragrance used on him again just to subdue the animal. "In the end you used Battle Fragrance.." The hunter told Rin, trying to recover his lost energy. "There really was no helping it since this guy didn't listen to anything we said at all." Rin replied cheerfully. Looking down at the beast Toriko continued. "That's the problem. This guy's owner was a GT robo! It corresponds with his true merit!"
'Shit..the battlefre is overdoing it, and what's more it's completely exhausting... My physical power at full throttle would be about 50-60%' The large man thought to himself as they neared the next stage of this place. As he was now, he doesn't think he can oppose the mammoth or robot. Another thing that was bugging him was the planned kidnapping of the blind woman when he was fighting that other robot.
What did they want with her? What did she take from them? Would they try it again? Chances were pretty good that there will be future attacks but the question was this: would Sunny help? Just look at what it took to get to cooperate for the Rock Drum. (Even though he kinda half assed it) Toriko looked over at Kururu and knew that he wasn't the only one worried. Kururu was adamant on getting back to her owner. He had sensed the close bond between from the start. He gently placed his hand on her head to try and comfort her. And surprisingly, Kururu rubbed against him. Guess, she needed it.
He ignored Rin as she compliented that he was strong. No...before he could worry about any of those things they had to get through this next obstacle. "Don't lose focus, Rin." Toriko told her as they neared a canyon with very tall pillars of rock. "Okay!" The girl said as he continued. "The evil spirits won't wait! Devil athletics...! First we have to cross over here!" He hoped Sarafina, Komatsu and Sunny would be alright...
~With Sarafina and boys~
Sarafina couldn't help but laugh at Sunny's enthusiasm at the chef's cooking. "'Liciouuuu-s! Uh oh, this mushroom has too much grease, doesn't it?! Eh, Komatsu!" The long haired man exclaimed as he ate more of the shroom. Komatsu and her collected some more mushrooms. "Its s..Sirloin Mushroom, so there's a ton of fat. With just a little broiling, I thought it would be just right." She watched as the two hovered over the food on their hands and knees, admiring it.
Sunny may have high maintenance but in the end, he really enjoys food. "The fat is really awesome but," the feminine man started before getting really close to Komatsu. This guy does not believe in personal space, does he? "There's an abundance of collagen, right?" He asked as the chef flushed slightly with nervousness as he replied with a small, "Y..yes, there's plenty."
Sarafina giggled slightly as Sunny's soul lit up bright as the sun as he continued to speak between bites of the shroom. "N'ce ingredients-this. This is n'ce..." The girl giggled as she told the small man who, was smiling sheepishly a bit, "I think he likes your cooking a lot."
"Y..yeah.." Komatsu replied back as he got his hair ruffled by her again. "Reward for doing a good job, dear!" Sarafina said, tilting her head to the side with a smile. Both men blushed a bit at that as Sunny continued on as if that didn't bother him at all. "Can we add shoyu butter to this, too?" Sunny asked. "Ah, for Sirloin Mushrooms, you add salt and pepper or wasabi." Komatsu said as she quickly turned away at that. Ugh! Wasabi! Last time she tried it she thought for sure her mouth was going to to stay on fire.
"And ponzu sauce is probably good." Komatsu finished as Sunny thought for a moment before commenting, "Hou, that sounds harmonious." Fun as this little camp out is, Sarafina wondered how Toriko, Rin and Kururu are doing. Hope Toriko was alright, though the man seemed like he could handle something like getting kicked by a beast. Wonder if he was looking for them. 'Probably stuffing his damn face as he looks for us.' The woman thought with slight amusement. For some reason it felt weird without him here... 'Kururu....I hope you're okay. Please be safe until I find you.'
"By the way, Sunny-san. Soon we should go looking for Toriko and the others..." Komatsu started before being brushed off by the long haired man. "'Ts alright, 'ts alright. We're all going to the same destination, there we'll probably meet. However, in the marshlands there're a lot more good ingredients! Beautiful!" Once he finished that sentence Komatsu got really excited, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the others were practically out the window. At least for the moment.
"Really?! Let's go, let's go right now!" He shouted in excitement, looking at her expectedly. Smiling brightly, "It's not like we're in that much of a hurry. Besides, I wouldn't mind trying new ingredients as long it's on the way. I might find something to add to my course menu."
"That reminds me," Sani said as he looked her over. "I know that you are blind, so now I'm curious. How is it that you managed to hunt down any Gourmet Beasts?" He asked her. Still smiling, she replied, "It often depends on what kind of beast I'm facing to how I do it. More often than not I use either my sword, needles or other when fighting against them thanks to my ability. However, I have been using my songs to place them into deep sleeps." That got his attention. "'ts that so? Once we get back, you'll have to sing for us. Hope you can meet my level of beauty."
"My idea of beauty and yours don't exactly match but we shall see what will happen." The man merely shrugged as he led the way further into the marsh.
~Later on~
The track getting here was...interesting to say the least. Komatsu was like a kid in a candy store; stopping and chasing everything and anything that caught his eye. He was a lot like Toriko...wonder if he realized that yet. The landscape at the moment was empty save for some sad looking trees that looked like weeping willows. What Sarafina wanted to know was where on earth did he get those containers. They sounded sturdy and, thanks to Komatsu interacting with them so much, were in different sizes and the best part was that they had a strap so that one found easily carry them.
Although Komatsu took that to the extreme by carrying at least three or four on each arm that equaled to be six or eight in total. (Not including the ones Sarafina offered to help carry which was like four so it really was like 12) The woman smiled as he happily named some of the ingredients they had or found so far. "I gathered a lot of souveners to bring back to the hotel. I'm looking forward to adding them to the restaurant's menu~." This place is a experimental playground right? Sarafina didn't think the people here would let the stuff he has out so easily. She wanted to tell him that, but Sunny beat her to it as he turned around and said off handily, "Matsu! By th'way I forgot to say, it's forbidden to take ingredients with you of your own accord! It's a serious crime."
"Eeeeeeeh, is that true?! That's a staggering shock! A serious crime?!" The chef shouted in surprise. Matsu...hmmm...That sounded adorable. Points for Sunny on coming up with that name for him. Taking one of the cases into his hands he looked at it disappointed. "Haaa~~ I went through carrying these gourmet cases, too." The long haired man walked over top peer at the container. "Hooooou, the takeout 1000 portable type. It's a lovely looking silhouette sort of beaut'ful. Yes..beaut'ful." The container is considered beautiful? This man keeps getting stranger and stranger.
"Eh...ah..is that so?" Komatsu asked as the two watched Sunny turn around putting a hand on his hip with the other hand out and said to them, "In that case, taking the ingredients with you is okay, isn't it?-Matsu." Eh? But didn't he just tell him no? "Eh?! It's okay? I'd its in a container it's okay?" The small man asked. Maybe he didn't think he has the food in containers? "Yeah. If it's beaut'ful it's ok. That is, if it has my ok then it's okay...ain't that right Matsu?"
That makes absolutely no sense at all but never mind that. "I..is that so..." Komatsu said in slight disbelief. " Oh, we're here, Matsu, Fina."
"Not that I'm complaining, far from it, but since when did I become Fina?" Sarafina asked as her companion next to her said, "My name's become Matsu."
"At least yours suits you." She said as the group stopped in front of the scariest looking swamp she's ever seen. "It's the Marshland of Antiquity! Gourmet ingredients from ancient times sleep here in large numbers, nickna'd the food museum!" The duo watched as an animal that kinda looked like an eel jump up from the water and ate a beast that was flying over head only to get attacked by the scariest snail ever that reminded her of a hydra with its eight heads.
Which the beast in turn got eaten by the largest shark that easily dwarfed the other animals in its jaws. "Talk about the food chain in four easy steps." She commented as once again Komatsu's eyes almost bugged out of his head as he shouted, "Gya- what is this, what's going on?! I don't understand what's happening!" The hunter merely crossed his arms as he answered, "The scramble for gourmet ingredients...even in the marshland of antiquity the food cycle is vigorous."
"Okay, then." The long haired man started as he turned to look at the two behind him. "Shall we participate too? In this battle!" "If you wish to. I see no problem." Sarafina said as the chef asked, "Pa..participate, Sunny-San? We're crossing this swamp..?"
"Of course." The taller man replied simply. Looking at him warily, Komatsu asked, "You...you couldn't mean swimming." The long haired man looked at him as he made a face "'ho'd swim in this sorta place!" He shouted at them as she put her hands up. "Now, now. Let's calm down. Just how do you propose we cross then?" To her amazement Sani just calmly stepped off and into the water but he didn't go down, just floated at least a foot off the water.
His feelers again! Both him and them were amazing! Though his hair moving as if it was alive was kinda unnerving but that doesn't matter. "Uwah..it's cold." The man said simply as Komatsu stood on the shore and watched him in disbelief. Just how the heck were they gonna get across? Sarafina sensed a few trees on the other side of the marsh, so she could easily get her and Komatsu across with ease. Turning to look at them Sani said, "Hey! Hurry up, come on! Matsu! Fina!" The woman was about to say something when something grabbed the front of hers and Komatsu's shirts. "Ehhhh?! What the?!" She cried out in shock as the two were suddenly yanked over to the hunter by some strong invisible force. Being held up in the air when nothing visible to the naked eye was quite discerning to say the least, even for her!
Before she could get a word out the long haired man explained, "It's the surface tension." Eh? Surface tension? The girl listened as he continued. "Touching a little dirty mud is unpleasant but still, compared to our bodies touching the water, it's better. Well, just know that it's a bottomless swamp. You have to be careful so you don't sink in..."
"Surface tension...wha...what is that? Like a water strider, Sunny-san?" Komatsu asked him.
"Inside the water is even colder...the water temperature is 5-6 C. 's you'd expect the food museum is really a refrigerator." Sunny said
"How can you know something like that?" Sarafina asked. "Yeah. According to my hair's color the sense point differs. For measuring the temperature in this swamp is the cold point possessing blue hair." So basically the different colors in his hair are different pressures for heat and such? That's neat.
"As for the others," Sunny continued with a smug smirk. "Pink is heat point...green is pressure point...white is equipped with the most numerous pain point."
"D..depending on your hair's color the duties vary.." Komatsu said.
"Yeah! It's easy to understand, right?" The long haired man said as they moved along the water. The woman set her eye on the water and became tensed as his face took on a concerned look. "What is it?" Komatsu asked them as they both got really quiet. "There's something about the state of the swamp."
"Something strange?" The chef echoed. "I'm not sensing any life of the gourmet ingredients that should be sinking in the swamp. On the contrary, I sense there are few beasts in the swamp." Sarafina said, looking off to the distant shore line, she let out an audible gasp. Following her gaze, the two men quickly caught the sight of a badly decomposing corpse. There was no way another animal could have attacked it and left it alone. Unless.. "Uwaa, it's horrible. The beasts were all killed.." Komatsu said. "These are the remains of someone moving through this swamp. This kind of behavior must be the bishokukai! Probably the GT robo!" Sunny said.
Komatsu got a little nervous at that. Sarafina kept her eye on the corpse as her pounding heart rang in her ears. That man who killed the Battle Wolf and tried to get her meant business. And if she didn't know any better she'd say whoever was after her is definitely the Gourmet Corp. She had an idea on why they were after her, and the thought of them knowing terrified her. She clenched her fist so tightly, her hand was beginning to bleed. She had come this far in life...she can't allow herself to used anymore by anyone.
"Go..Gourmet Corp... The guys you said were after the mammoth besides us, this time. W..what are those guys? And just exactly who is after Sarafina?"
"Some idiots who want to control all the gourmet ingredients in the world. Good for nothin' lot." Sunny said before looking directly at her. "That's news ta me that there's people after you." He looked closer at her before saying, "I take it they attacked you earlier?"
She shook her. "No, not me. Well, it planned to. All I know is that it wanted to capture me and take me back to wherever they are." Sarafina replied. The long haired man frowned slightly. Attempting to attack and kidnap a woman was quite unseemly, and attacking a blind one, who can't even 'see' them even more unsightly. For some reason that bugged him a lot and he didn't know why. As for why the Gourmet Corp is after her, he'll have to look into.
As for Komatsu's question he continued. "They just collect and collect gourmet ingredients. It's like they raised the level of Gourmet Cells all at once.." Komatsu then gave a confused look and asked, "Gourmet cells?" The feminine man was silent for a moment before answering. "Yeah..from the phantom jellyfish that lives in the deep sea, there are all purpose cells that can be harvested. Equipped with excellent regeneration ability and life force, if these Gourmet Cells combine well with other cell structures, it's possible for those structures' strong points to be wonderfully extend!"
Judging from Komatsu's expression, he still was confused. So, Sarafina decided to explain it further. "A delicious apple becomes delicious. Delicious beef becomes more delicious. And if you combine this with the human body, what do you think would happen? The result, a successfully combined human obtains overwhelming life force power and becomes a superman. What's more, that true power, if they eat delicious things, by the degree they eat, it levels up. That is the Gourmet Cells's power."
Sunny turned to look at Komatsu with a cocky smirk. "By the way, Gourmet Cells exist in mine and Toriko's bodies as well! In chief and Rin, too. And I'm going to assume that you have Gourmet Cells as well?" Sunny asked Sarafina. Without saying a word, she gave a nod. "Of course, the risk is huge. If there's a case where it can't combine, the Gourmet Cells's lose their power and the worst case is you'll die." Sunny added.
"S..something like that..?" Komatsu asked with a nervous smile. "Toriko-san and Sunny-san's monster-like strength's secret, I feel like I know it.."
""monster", call it beaut'ful strength." The man said. Sarafina let out a small laugh, "Getting back to the Gourmet Corp," Komatsu said, "That they're searching for more delicious foods means.."
"Of course, they too, have the Gourmet Cells. What's more, the originally inferior disgustin' group of scoundrels with the gourmet cells their wickedness becomes more prominent, increasing their disgustin'ness 100 fold." Sunny frowned as the grouped reached the shore and deposited them onto the ground. Now that they were closer to the dead animals the smell made her cough a bit. "Maa, I don't do anythin' about that sorta thing. I'm fine with whatever, but with the bishokukai...to fight and such.."
Sarafina walked towards the corpse and placed a hand on its head. Her body shook as tears fell from her face. "Just killing just for killing? How cruel." Sarafina said as she turned more away from the pitiful state of the animals. "It..it's terrible..looking at it up close. Not being used as food...not even knocking... They're just killed." Komatsu said as he looked at the sight. Looking at the longed haired man, the woman sensed that he wasn't throwing some sort of a fit. That would be disgusting or not beautiful at all for his liking. What Sarafina did sensed that his hands, which were at his sides, were clenched into fists and the posture the man was in, was one of rage. "Whatever is fine but...this kind of...to do this kind of beauty-less thing... I can't smile. It makes me so sick I can't smile! Gourmet Corp!"
After a while, the group decided to keep on moving at get to where they need to go. Not knowing that in the distance, a pair of green eyes was watching them. Getting angry, the figure quickly rushed over to them and pulled out their Fūma Shuriken and jumped high into the air. They tossed their weapon straight at them. The shuriken stopped right in front of the two men, causing Komatsu to scream out of fear while Sarafina remained unharmed. Just then the figure landed in front of the blind woman and pulled out ten Senbon Needles. "Alright, you filthy creeps! Stay away from Sarafina-sama!" The figure said.
"Filthy!?"
"Creeps?!"
Sarafina blinked as she recognised the voice. No way... It couldn't be...could it? The figure narrowed their eyes and said, "You heard me. I saw the look on Sarafina-sama's face; she was crying and I know that you two have something to do with it!! What the hell did you do to her!?" They demanded. "What?! No, no, no! You've got it all wrong, we-!" Komatsu tried to explain when Sarafina suddenly said, "Leticia? Is that you?"
The woman, Leticia, turned to her with a bright smile. "Yes, Sarafina-sama. It's me, and I'm right here to protect you against these disgusting filth."
"First filthy, and now disgusting?! How dare you?! Just who do you think you are?!" Sunny demanded of her. Sarafina immediately brought the whole thing to a halt when she quickly said, "Both of you, please stop! There's no need to fight! Sunny, Komatsu...this is my closest friend, Leticia." The two men gave her a bewildered expression. "Friend?" They asked as they looked at the other young woman.
She had long, light brown hair and green eyes. Her hair is split into two sections. The front part is short and the back part is long that reaches to her mid-thigh, which is in a ponytail and tied with a pink ribbon. Leticia wore a light blue cheongsam (Chinese dress) with high hip slits with an aqua green boarder, aqua green armbands, and light blue kung fu shoes. She then turned to Letica and told her, "These aren't enemies, they're my new friends. Sunny and Komatsu." Leticia took a glance at them before focusing her full attention on Sarafina. "I may not know them, but since if they were your friends I'll tolerate them. For you."
"That's something at least." Sarafina smiled. "Excuse me?!" Sunny shouted. "But what are you doing here!" Leticia glared at the long haired man and said, "I don't have to answer to you!"
"What are you doing here, Leticia?" Sarafina asked her, kindly.
"Oh, Chief Mansam didn't tell you? He and his men contacted me earlier and asked me to go on ahead to find the Regal Mammoth. So far, I haven't found it yet." Leticia happily explained to her. This only made Sunny even more irritated and yelled, "Why did you answer to her and not to me?!"
"Oh, it's because I care more for Sarafina-sama than you, you freakish girly man!" She shouted back. As they shouted at each other back and forth, Komatsu went over to Sarafina and asked her, "Is she...okay?"
Sarafina giggled. "Yes, she's going to be a big help for us in the long run. Leticia, is not only my best friend, but she's also my former student."
~With Toriko, Rin and Kururu~Devil athletics 5th surface~
Coming this way was a really REALLY bad choice but too late to worry about it now. Toriko coughed blood, already torn and beaten already only to be made worse by an opponent they weren't really thrilled to see. Panting heavily as he stood in battle stance mood as the hunter tried to think up of a plan that didn't involve completely using his strength.
"To..Toriko!" Rin called over to him. She's gotta figure out a way to help him! He's just getting wounded and beaten badly to the point where the blood is practically a river. The large bird-like animal gave a loud "Kaoooooo" sound as it stood in front of the two, drool freely running down from its jaws. "Fall back, Rin!" Toriko told her as he waited for the next move. "But..." Rin started but he ignored whatever she said as he concentrated on the opponent.
'Damn...we're still on the 5th surface and there's this strength...? I can't preserve my strength.. And I'm sure devil athletics had 10 stages...we chose a bad route. ' The hunter thought to himself when the tomboy suddenly shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts, "Toriko! Behind you!" He turned and saw the mystery bird about to pounce on him. Among the many numerous routes, one route can be picked but whichever one is picked the chooser must struggle to clear the 10 stages that is on it.
In order to proceed to the next stage, a boss must be defeated in order to do so. As a person moves through the stages the strength of the boss increases but if one is lucky, a person can chose the one route that is mostly dominated by low levels. Making a leap forward he bounced and landed away from the beast. The animal got behind him in an instant?! How?! Wait..that's not it! Looking behind him he noticed that there were more of the mystery bird but for some reason they seemed to blend in together.
Catching a quick glimpse of the animal, Toriko saw that the animal was expelling some kind of smoke from its jaws. 'Deluding breath. This guy..' The hunter thought to himself as the smoke became more obvious and thicken up around him till there was a haze of fog surrounding him. 'Without power or speed but with unique movements, its expelling this breath with a hallucination effect.' Which meant that the extra "birds" he was facing was caused by the breath, and since that was the case, which one was the real one?!
The beasts in the devil athletics all use mysterious illusion techniques and mimesis. These beasts find pleasure in slyly deceiving intruders and sap away at their strength bit by bit. That was why it was called the evil spirit's playground. The animal that Rin and he rode on already succumbed and the hunter watched as the beast fell off one of the pillars. "Damn, the obsaurus was easily perplexed and fell into the abyss... He didn't even give us one millimeter more fighting power.." The large man grumbled to himself as he turned his attention back to the bird.
Kururu leaped from Rin's arms and blew a miniature blizzard from her mouth. She intended to cool the air around them so it would be easier to catch the real one, but this beast wasn't allowing itself to get caught so easily. And it was infuriating her. She wanted to change into adult form, but that would be a huge risk for her and Sarafina. Just then she was hit by the bird's breath and her senses her all jumbled up now!
"Kururu!!" Toriko called out.
Even with the hallucinogenic effect the animal did have some amount of strength. Which is way the terrain was the way it was. The same kind of terrain repeats many times which induces intruders to fall into a light sensory blockade state. For example, like traffic lights on a highway, with so few stimuli on the same path a person keeps going on for a long time their senses become shortened. If in this state for a long period of time, the ability to think declines and it's said that the person can start to see hallucinations.
There's a further affect on the brain's central nerves and components of a volatile hallucination can come pouring in and because of this consciousness can become muddled all at once. Speaking of which.. "Rin! Can you neutralize his affect?" Toriko called over to the girl. She should have something that could do something about this breath! "Hang on!" Rin called back as she once again went through her belt before finally finding what she was looking for.
"There it is! Thunder peppermint!" The tomboy exclaimed as she held the bottle in her hands. Thunder peppermint fragrance was the strongest smelling fragrance with concentrated menthol extracted from dried thunder peppermint leaves. It was completely like lighting falling, it has the irritant oder of menthol and mint. It has the stimulating effect that if one took a sniff that person would be awake for five days. As Rin quickly loaded her glove up with it she told him, "If it gets in your eyes, you'll go blind. So I'd like you to close your eyes, Toriko!" She didn't need to tell him that but he obliged anyway.
"My nose being effective is plenty. Come on!" At that, Rin fired the frag at him, enveloping the hunter in a cloud of smoke. Rin then quickly took the little kitten back in her arms and took a few steps back.