Chapter 73: Innate Ability [2]
[A/N: Day 2 (1/3)]
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Unlike humans and intelligent races who harness the power of mana and miasma, beasts could not do the same.
Instead, they possessed special abilities they were born with, abilities that settled into their minds instinctively.
A gift of mana to the beasts. This was what the world called an Innate Ability.
The deer in the forest, the one with green diamond antlers, had used a wind beam.
That was its Innate Ability.
It did not learn the skill. It did not train for it. It was simply born with the power to gather and release compressed wind between its antlers.
That said, Innate Ability was not limited to beasts alone.
A few lucky individuals among humans, vampires, and wraiths could also gain Innate Abilities.
But the chances were vanishingly rare, tied to the quality of a human’s class, the purity of a vampire’s bloodline, or the strength of a wraith’s lineage.
Cael is naturally aware of this.
Morning came, but the sun was nowhere to be seen.
Thick clouds still covered the sky, heavy with unspent rain.
The forest remained dim, shrouded in a gray twilight that refused to lift. Water dripped from every leaf and branch, the only sound in the oppressive silence.
Cael sat against the cave wall, his stomach growling.
He had not eaten since yesterday.
He stretched his arms above his head, feeling the stiffness in his muscles from sleeping on cold stone, and decided to find something to eat.
Then the mark he left on the deer fluctuated.
It was faint, a subtle pulse at the edge of his awareness, but unmistakable.
The deer seems to be fighting something.
Cael set aside his hunger and stood up. His body protested to eat, but he ignored it.
He stepped out of the cave and into the rain-soaked forest, his eyes fixed on the invisible thread that connected him to the mark.
’Hopefully, this will lead me to a clue.’
He ran.
The trees blurred past him as he weaved between trunks and leaped over roots.
Black Lightning Steps masked his presence, his figure dissolving into shadows with each stride.
The rain muffled his footsteps, and the wind guided his movement, keeping him silent and swift.
As he neared the source of the mark, he began to sense something strange.
A large amount of mana was being discharged ahead, violent and chaotic, as if two forces were colliding.
The pulses were strong enough that Cael could feel them pressing against his skin, each one carrying a faint tremor through the wet ground.
But strangely, he could not sense the other party.
The only presence he could sense was the deer.
The other combatant, whoever or whatever it was, left no trace in Cael’s perception.
That was impossible. Every living being that used mana left a trace.
Even humans who suppressed their presence could be detected if you knew what to look for.
But this was different. It was as if the other fighter did not exist.
Cael slowed his approach as he climbed a large tree, using the thick branches for cover, and looked down at the clearing below.
The deer stood in the center, its green diamond antlers glowing faintly despite the dim light. Its fur was matted with rain and sweat, and its breathing was heavy.
Across from it stood a lizard, nearly three meters long, its scales a deep crimson that seemed to smolder even in the wet air. A salamander.
Steam rose from its body where raindrops touched its skin, evaporating on contact.
Its eyes were slit like burning coals, and its tail lashed back and forth, sending sprays of water into the air.
Cael could not sense it.
The salamander was right in front of him, no more than thirty meters away, and he could not sense it.
It was as if his perception simply refused to acknowledge the creature’s existence.
The deer stomped its hoof, and a wind beam shot from between its antlers.
The salamander lunged to the side, the beam grazing its flank and tearing a gash through its scales.
Dark blood mixed with rain, but the creature did not cry out. It simply turned and opened its mouth wide.
A stream of fire erupted from its throat, cutting through the rain and forcing the deer to retreat.
The flames hissed against the wet ground, sending clouds of steam into the air that obscured the clearing.
The deer had the advantage.
The rain weakened the salamander’s fire, and the wet terrain favored the deer’s mobility.
But the salamander was relentless, its attacks fueled by something deeper than hunger or territory.
Cael watched, his mind racing. He could not sense the salamander. He could not predict its movements. If he had to fight it, he would be fighting blind.
Then suddenly....
Out of nowhere....
An arrow arrived in front of Cael.
Cael’s eyes widened. There was no time to think, no time to dodge.
His body moved on pure instinct, twisting at the last possible moment.
The arrow, crackling with lightning, missed his guts by inches but tore through his space pouch, ripping it apart.
Potions, cards, and supplies scattered into the air, falling like rain through the branches.
Cael’s eyes sharpened as he gazed forward.
Standing on a nearby ridge, bow in hand, another arrow already notched, was a burly man.
His hair was dark and wild, his beard thick and unkempt, and his eyes burned with the same strange absence as the salamander.
Cael could not sense him either.
While looking at the man, with a low and cold voice, he said,
"You better not regret your fucking actions."
The man did not respond. He simply drew the arrow back further, his muscles coiling like springs, and aimed directly at Cael’s chest.
The deer and the salamander stopped fighting. Both turned their heads toward the tree where Cael was hiding.
The rain fell harder. And somewhere in the distance,
The dark green-haired girl with amber eyes watched and muttered,
"Was he the one who followed me?"