Chapter 372: Repulsive Sight
Time seemed to freeze as Elaine’s breath lay caught, if this was a movie she was pretty sure here was where the music started playing.
She let out a shaky breath, her pupils quivering, as Brandon’s words seemed to repeat endlessly.
She really doubted this was real, but the hidden bruises marked on her wrist inflicted by herself proved otherwise.
Her heartbeat went erratic, as everything seemed to vanish around them, almost as if both sides were enamored with each other’s worlds.
And like planets, a gravitational force seemed to pull them closer, it was uncontrollable as both parties seemed to be in a daze.
Elaine’s mind was literally blank, she couldn’t just look away from Brandon’s eyes, such attractive eyes.
Who would have imagined that the class delinquent of her class would be the one to steal her heart.
Who knew she had a type.
Her eyes closed and her breath grew steady as they both leaned in closer, each practically feeling the other’s breath by this point.
When suddenly, the sky lit up with a blinding flare, causing both parties to recoil back on instinct.
Their heads whipping towards the direction, and their eyes sparkled with recognition.
This strange energy... there was only one person they had ever sensed wielding it and that was Seth.
Meaning their friend, whom they were worried about, seemed to have found his way to the zone’s core.
Last they saw the guy he was out of it, so it was only natural they felt worried about his condition.
And that burst of energy just now, it could only mean that he’s facing an extremely tough foe.
Elaine and Brandon glanced at one another’s eyes and they could instantly tell that they were thinking the same thing.
Leave whatever was currently happening between them for later, going to Seth’s aid would remain priority.
Both nodded and burst into blurs, zipping right to meet up at the temporary shelter the group had put up.
Everyone was visibly jostled, rowdy and noisy, it was safe to say they also saw the light.
Now while they might not be able to pinpoint the energy burst to Seth, they could still comprehend what it might indicate.
Jack walked up to the two...
"I wanted to take an overhead view before any movement, but if I do I’ll be too conspicuous."
Brandon nodded understanding the assignment, the soles of his feet suddenly lit up blue smoldering exhaust fuming from the sides.
As his fists and feet projected a jet-compact burst of flames, generating enough force in milliseconds to launch him into the three heavy, dense layers of tree canopies.
His flames coiled around his frame, forming a spinning barrier that made him look like a flaming missile.
His body bursting through all obstacles of branches and leaves, finally getting a direct look at the hazy grey sky.
The dark sun was setting over the horizon, Brandon merely registered the time indication, before his vision fixed below him, taking in the bird’s-eye view.
His eyes began to glow with a bright tint of orange, an effect of a new gene skill he had purchased from the inheritance store.
A gene skill that coated his eyes with flame receptors so fine-tuned they could see the outline of an opponent’s energy flow. "Thermal Scope" it was called.
He could do this by detecting the faint thermal spikes that happen during energy channeling.
And with this skill practically nothing could hide from him, it allowed him to see through light, see beyond obstacles, and hone in on distances that would make an eagle seem like a joke.
Everything was revealed to him, the charmed and defiled lurking within the dense dark forest concentrated on the core.
Brandon had a theory of why this abyssal zone seemed so distinct from every other corrupt zone they had cleared so far.
This was the first corrupt zone he was seeing that influenced its surrounding ecosystem, remodeling it to embrace corruption.
While every other zone just seemed to overwhelm the atmosphere with corruption.
From this perk alone one could see that this zone was an anomaly.
Brandon’s vision seemed to catch the glint of a streak...
"This energy..." he muttered, realization sharpening his voice, "Seth!"
Locking onto the streak, he caught sight of something formless hot on Seth’s tail.
No, not formless, Brandon couldn’t explain how but he was witnessing a construction of energy pathway flow.
But strangely enough the entity’s energy didn’t feel corrupt which made Brandon quite confused.
But he said nothing but instead shifted his sights towards the elephant in the room.
"What the freak is that?" Brandon cursed under his breath.
Never in his life could he imagine he’d witness an energy flow so vile and sickening.
Veins seemed to bulge on both sides of his head, his eyes holding focus, as the blistering sight of an abomination that wasn’t meant to be beheld scarred his eyes.
"Argh!" Brandon jerked back with a recoiling snap, a mouth full of blood welling out from his throat, and more blood droplets spraying from the side of his eyes.
A hand instinctively jerked to shield his vision as the pain stung hard, and like that of the four beams of jet-compact flames keeping him stably afloat, one was suddenly snuffed out of the equation.
Balance was lost, and a brief moment of panic later, two more flickered off.
"Shiiiiiiiit!" Brandon cursed, as he held his aching head, struggling to regain the mental capacity to reclaim stability.
This brief, disorienting moment caused his energy flow to go slow for a minute, and the gene skill Thermal Scope lost all energy supply and was deactivated, leaving Brandon blind for a second.
While his brain was constantly processing his situation, it couldn’t help but reflect on the sight he saw.
His heart shook, as he wondered lost, "Are we meant to face that?"
He stared blankly for a few seconds, the wind whipping down on his frame as he streaked down in descent.
Before snapping out of it, the veins on both sides of his head were squirming, as he pushed his mind to its limit.
Using will to patch up the damage, he obtained clarity just enough to regain energy control, reigniting his fists and soles.
Spinning down the thick branches of the clustered canopies of the hulking trees, his focus snapped back online as he took control of his movements, seamlessly evading an uncontrollable collision with a tree trunk.
Embers seemed to come alive around him like a suit woven from flames allowing him to streak down in a controlled descent, landing upon the earth with grace and silence barely stirring up the wind.
And the moment his weight dropped he fell to his knees, the blood finally leaking from the side of his lips, and bloody tears trickling down his eyes.
That’s the thing... was it the sleep guardian? Were they supposed to face that?
His heart almost lurched to his throat... "Not good, I have to warn or at least reinforce Seth."