Chapter 80: A New Pathway
The barrier’s pale glow cast long shadows across the clearing.
Cael was about to try when his danger senses warned him.
His eyes widened as he activated Black Lightning Step to move away.
-SLASH
But Cael was step too late. A sharp claw grazed his hand, tearing through the skin. Blood welled up from the shallow wound.
Cael’s eyes turned cold as he saw the creature before him.
An earth tiger, its skin made of hard, cracked stone. It was not a beast.
He could sense it immediately. This was a Unification Art, maintained by [Platinum] rankers.
"Tch. It’s a [Perfect Platinum]."
Currently, Cael was weaponless. His sword had been lost when his space pouch broke.
He had nothing but his hands and his ranged elemental attacks.
He took a deep breath, calming his mind. He was extremely irritated.
They had interrupted him while he was studying the barrier. He wanted to deal with them as soon as possible.
After learning about the existence of innate abilities, a new pathway had opened before him, waiting to be explored.
One of those pathways involved Mana Sovereignty.
If someone asked Cael which was his most powerful skill or element, he would say Mana Sovereignty without hesitation.
The rocky tiger roared. Instantly, the mud around it rose and turned into sharp spikes, all of them moving toward Cael.
He raised his hand and simply waved. Wind answered his call.
It was a simple breeze, not strong enough to stop the earth spikes.
But as soon as the breeze touched the spikes, the mana around them nullified. They fell to the ground harmlessly, nothing more than dry clumps of dirt.
A grin formed on Cael’s face. He checked his hand. There was no visible backlash. Only a slight pain, which he could ignore.
Cael muttered with a smile,
"Never be confined by one identity or rule,"
What he had done was simple.
Back when he suffered backlash, it was because he had used a direct approach. Pure nullification.
Now, he used wind as a medium between himself and Mana Sovereignty.
If Mana Sovereignty was fire, touching it carelessly would burn his hand. Wind was like a layer of water. Even if he touched the fire through water, it would not harm him.
The only reason he could seamlessly use both wind and Mana Sovereignty was his class condition.
"Never be confined by one identity or rule."
So, yes. By learning the existence of innate abilities, Cael had indeed opened a new pathway.
’If I keep this up, it is only a matter of time before I achieve the State of Resonant.’
He set aside those thoughts and focused on the rocky tiger. His eyes hardened as he muttered,
"If only you were a genuine beast, I might have held back to save the meat... just die."
He moved. Black lightning flashed beneath his feet.
Before the tiger could react, Cael appeared beneath it. He simply waved his hand again.
The breeze touched the tiger’s skin.
Layer by layer, the Unification Art began to melt.
The stone cracked. The form wavered.
No matter what the [Platinum] rankers inside tried to do, it was futile.
Cael did not give them time to prepare. He would not underestimate them. After all, these people were two major realms above him.
’Calm Mind.’
’Death Reaper’s Focus.’
’Time Deceleration.’
The world around Cael slowed several times over.
He used Calm Mind and Death Reaper’s Focus to keep up with Time Deceleration, his thoughts sharp, his body ready.
The world around was frozen in shades of gray and blue. Droplets of water hung motionless in the air, each one catching the barrier’s light like tiny crystals.
A bird was suspended mid-flight between two trees, its wings spread wide.
He picked up a twisted stick from the ground.
Just as the Unification Art broke apart, three [Platinum] rankers were revealed.
The three [Platinum] rankers had not even begun to fall. They were like statues, trapped in the moment before their death.
Their expressions were bewildered, their eyes wide, their hands still raised from maintaining the construct.
Cael took a sword stance and used,
’Gale Weave Swordsmanship. Second Form, Dancing Gale Thrust.’
He thrust the stick six times, creating six wind needles.
But that was not all. He also used rotation, the technique he had learned when he sparred with Elowyn.
The rotation increased the speed and thrust power of the wind needles.
-PUSF -PUSF -PUSF
-PUSF -PUSF -PUSF
The needles struck true.
All three [Platinum] rankers fell. Their bodies hit the ground, and the light left their eyes.
The world returned to normal.
Cael felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the result of his actions. He turned his head away from the gruesome corpses.
The clearing was quiet now. The only sounds were the soft drip of water from the leaves and the low hum of the formation behind him.
The bodies lay where they had fallen, dark shapes against the wet soil.
Steam rose from the wounds where the wind needles had pierced through, mixing with the mist already rising from the ground. The smell of blood was sharp in the air.
’Tsk. If only I had a sword, I might have slashed at their necks.’
He lifted his hand and saw that the stick had broken into pieces.
’No. Why am I thinking that? They came to kill me. I killed them. That is all.’
’It does not matter how I killed them. What matters is that I killed them.’
He turned his head toward the other side of the forest. During the battle, he had sensed intense mana fluctuations.
’Were these people also targeting that girl as well?’
Then he turned his head back to the barrier.
’Now that the nuisance is gone, let me focus on this.’
...
Meanwhile, in the underground.
The old man sat in his chair, surrounded by multiple screens. Each one displayed a different angle of the forest above.
The cameras were hidden, placed years ago, and had never been discovered. Through them, he could see everything.
His communication device crackled.
"Sir, the six [Platinum] rankers are not responding. We believe they are dead."
The old man’s frown deepened. He had originally sent three rankers to kill the girl. Three should have been enough.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. The screens showed nothing now. Just an empty forest, waiting.
Meaning, the battles weren’t captured by the hidden cameras.
He had seen the girl through the cameras earlier. She had been sitting under a tree, a squirrel on her shoulder, a bird beside her.
Animals had gathered around her as if she were their leader. For some reason, the old man had known instantly.
She was the one targeting him.
His business was simple. Capture animals. Sell them. Sometimes alive, sometimes dead. It had been profitable for years.
The Rainfall Forest was rich with rare creatures, and no one had ever questioned where they came from.
But this girl. This girl with her amber eyes and her wild animals.
She was different. She was not here by accident. She was hunting him.
She was only a [Gold] ranker, no matter how strong her powers made her. After all, her opponents were [Platinum].
But then he had received another report. Someone was breaching the barrier.
A second intruder. So, he had sent three more.
But now... all six [Platinum] rankers were dead?
’How is this possible?’
Now six of his best rankers were dead. Two intruders, and his entire operation was falling apart.
-BOOM
The ceiling above him shook. Dust fell from the cracks in the stone.
-BANG
The old man stood up, his chair scraping against the floor as he shouted; his voice contained a hint of panic.
"What is happening?"
The guards in the room with him looked up, their hands on their weapons.
No one answered. No one knew.
Above, on the surface, the dark green-haired girl stood at the edge of a large clearing.
Her clothes were damp, her hair wet, but she was smiling.
She had been tracking these guys for days.
And now, through the scent of those three platinum rankers, she was finally able to find this hidden base beneath the forest.
She tightened her fist and punched the ground.
The impact did not crack the mud soil. It did not scatter the leaves or disturb the roots.
The power traveled downward, through the earth, through the stone, to the layers of protection these guys painstakingly had built.
The ceiling below shook again.
The girl’s grin widened.
Her amber eyes shone with battle intent, wild and fierce.
She had always hunted poachers, tracking them through forests and mountains, never letting them escape.
This one had been good. But not clever enough.
Above her, the clouds continued to drift. The barrier still glowed. The forest remained silent.
But underground, the old man’s heart pounded against his ribs.
The girl clenched her fist again and muttered, her tone contained a hint of wildness,
"I finally found you."