Chapter 129: Resonance
BOOOOOOM!!
The valley continued to shake. Mountains cracked, trees collapsed, while shockwaves rolled endlessly across the plains as warriors, trolls, ogres, goblins, and beastmen threw themselves into battle.
At the very center, Silas ducked beneath a war hammer the size of a carriage. The weapon flattened an entire stretch of earth. Before the giant could lift it again...
Silas’s gauntlet smashed into the warrior’s jaw, lifting the fourteen-foot giant completely off the ground before sending him tumbling into three trolls.
"Next!"
"SKREEEEEEEEEE!!"
The Crimson Reaper Queen descended from above like a crimson meteor. This time, it wasn’t alone. Silas looked up just in time to see Alpha leap from its back. It had flashed to bring the others. And in all this, Gromda slept.
Alpha’s daggers flashed, and three goblin shamans collapsed before they even realized he had arrived. His movements had become eerily silent, and not even the grass bent beneath his feet.
One second, he existed; the next second, there was nothing. Only corpses remained. Yes. He was going for the kill.
A troll turned toward him.
"Where-"
SHING!!
Its head rolled across the ground. Silas grinned.
"Looking good, Brother."
Alpha appeared atop a boulder. "I hate you."
"I know."
"You dragged me into another world."
"You followed willingly."
"I regret everything."
Meanwhile, a freezing wind swept through the battlefield, causing every warrior to instinctively turn. The temperature dropped so rapidly that their breaths became visible.
Ice spread across the battlefield, and this was not ordinary ice. This was mana Ice. Deep blue crystals crawled over the earth like living organisms.
At their center, Chloe floated slightly above the ground, her white hair dancing wildly behind her, while her blue eyes glowed like frozen stars.
Unlike before, she wasn’t holding back. Not anymore. The Ice Empress had finally awakened.
"Absolute Frost."
She whispered, and the world answered.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
An entire battalion of charging ogres froze instantly. Every detail remained visible. Their expressions, their muscles, and even the dust around them had crystallized.
Silas whistled.
"That’s terrifying."
Chloe smiled sweetly.
"You asked me to go all out."
"Remind me never to annoy you."
"You already do."
"It is called love."
"..."
The battlefield suddenly shifted. Hundreds of orcs regrouped. Large shield-bearers advanced. Behind them marched shamans. Further back, the beast tribes began surrounding them. They had adapted.
Silas narrowed his eyes.
"They’re coordinating."
"They’re warriors," Alpha answered while wiping blood from one dagger. "What did you expect?"
Before Silas could answer, something happened.
Thump!
His heart skipped.
"...?"
Another beat followed.
THUMP.
A strange warmth spread through his chest. It wasn’t pain, nor was it mana. It felt... familiar. Then, the tattoo over his left chest suddenly erupted with blinding pink light.
"...?!"
The glowing mark stretched downward across his ribs before racing toward his left arm. New lines appeared, ancient and elegant.
They wrapped around his shoulder, his bicep, his forearm, until they stopped at his elbow. The entire tattoo pulsed, and a wave of invisible energy exploded outward. Everything stopped, and even the orcs froze.
"What..." Silas looked at his glowing arm. "System?"
For the first time, the system sounded shocked.
[...]
[...]
[...Impossible.]
"What?"
Before it answered, Gromda moved. The unconscious giantess lying several hundred meters away suddenly inhaled deeply, and her crimson runes ignited one after another like stars awakening.
The enormous markings covering her body glowed brilliantly while her eyelids trembled. Then, her green eyes opened.
"..."
They didn’t focus. They just stared blankly at the heavens. She remained unconscious, but the runes kept burning brighter.
At exactly the same moment...
"Ah..." Chloe gasped softly.
Silas turned to look at her and saw that her entire body had begun glowing. Her long white hair floated upward without wind while the air around her became absolute zero.
Snow began falling, not from clouds, but from her. Her blue eyes deepened. No. They weren’t blue anymore. They resembled glaciers, ancient, beautiful, and terrifying.
Alpha instinctively stepped backward.
"Chloe?"
She slowly looked at her own hands.
"I... feel strange."
Silas felt it too. Something invisible connected all three of them. A thread. No. Not a thread to be exact. This felt more like a bond, one that had always existed, one that had only just awakened.
The system finally recovered.
[Congratulations.]
"For what?"
A new screen unfolded.
<Innate Bloodline Ability Unlocked!:>
<Resonance>
Silas frowned as he dodged a combined attack from four goblins. "...Resonance?"
The explanation appeared.
[Resonance:]
[A unique ability inherited by descendants of the Primordial Cupid. Those acknowledged by your heart, those bound through Fate, and those carrying your Mark, may resonate with your existence.]
Silas kept reading. Then, his pupils contracted at the next line.
[Effects:]
- Temporarily borrow selected abilities, talents, racial traits, and combat instincts from Marked Partners.
- Marked Partners may likewise borrow compatible aspects of your own abilities.
- Strength scales with emotional synchronization.
- Higher affection.
- Higher trust.
- Stronger resonance.
Silas stared.
"What."
Alpha blinked. "...What is it?"
Silas slowly answered. "I... can apparently borrow abilities."
"From whom?"
"Them."
Chloe tilted her head.
"Me?"
"Yes. And Anna, and Gromda."
The battlefield became strangely quiet. A new notification appeared.
[Compatible Resonances Detected!]
< Anna Miles:>
- Healing Arts
- Regeneration
- Medical Analysis
< Chloe Montreal:>
- Ice Manipulation
- Ice Empress Combat Style
- Frost Resistance
< Runic Jotun Gromda:>
- Titanic Strength
- Rune Body
- Giant Constitution
Silas slowly looked at the three options.
"...No way."
[Yes way.]
"I don’t even have mana."
[Resonance does not consume standard mana.]
"It doesn’t?"
[It consumes Bonds.]
"Bonds?"
[Trust. Loyalty. Affection. Love.]
The battlefield became silent again for Silas. He rubbed his forehead.
"That’s the most ridiculous power I’ve ever heard."
Before anyone could continue...
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Gromda’s glowing runes erupted once more, the crimson light from them spreading across the valley. At the same instant, Silas felt something enter his body naturally.
His muscles expanded slightly, while the veins beneath his skin glowed crimson. His gauntlets cracked from pressure. He clenched one fist, and the air exploded.
Silas slowly looked at his hand.
"That...wasn’t my strength."
The system spoke immediately.
[Runic Jotun Resonance established.]
[Borrowed Trait: Titanic Strength.]
Silas’s eyes widened.
"Holy..."
Before he could finish, Chloe gasped. Snow exploded around her, and her eyes suddenly turned toward Silas. She smiled.
"I... I can see them."
"See what?"
"Threads."
Silas froze. "...Excuse me?"
She raised one finger.
"I can see... your threads."
The system immediately updated.
[Heartweaver Resonance established.]
[Marked Partner Chloe Montreal has temporarily acquired: Thread Perception.]
Silas looked between Chloe, his glowing arm, and the unconscious Gromda, and slowly smiled.
"Oh... I like this."
Far across the battlefield, thousands of orcs watched the strange phenomenon in stunned silence. An elder shaman slowly lowered his staff, his single crystal eye widening.
Every warrior dropped to one knee, and even the beast tribes bowed their heads for the first time since the battle began, not because of strength, but because they had witnessed an ancient miracle that hadn’t appeared in countless generations.
The Sacred Bond.
They couldn’t see the system, but they could tell, and Silas noticed. And this brought more questions about what path he was exactly moving on.