Chapter 46: Chapter 46
"...we need to return soon."
Nobody disagreed with it.
The excitement from defeating a spirit beast had never even existed in the first place. Instead, only exhaustion, blood, and a grim silence remained as the group began retreating through the ruined city as fast as they could manage.
The injured awakener stumbled forward, supported by his companions.
His face was pale, breathing uneven and his remaining hand wouldn’t stop shaking as his fingers twitched occasionally.
Evelyn had already frozen the wound in an attempt to reduce the bleeding, but everyone clearly knew that wasn’t a real, permanent solution which could help him recover and live through this.
Not when an entire arm had been torn off from his body in one go.
"Just try to hold on for a moment, we’re almost there," one of his friends said.
But the injured awakener didn’t answer, his jaw clenched with a frown on his face as his eyes remained fixed on the space beside his shoulder.
Unable to hold on, a broken sound escaped his throat at last.
Before long, tears began streaming down his face and he broke down on the spot.
"Why..."
His voice cracked.
"Why did it have to be me?" None of them answered, the words stuck in their throat.
What could they even say? Maybe he was unlucky or should be grateful that he was still alive?
Neither of the sentences sounded comforting.
"We’ll figure something out." One of them replied meekly.
"How?" the awakener suddenly snapped with bloodshot eyes.
"How will you figure it out?"
The question lingered in the air, and once again, silence was the only answer.
Without strength, survival itself was difficult in the current times.
And without an arm... the future looked even bleaker than that.
Every distant noise from the nearby buildings caused them to instinctively tighten their guard. Fortunately, nothing else attacked them and they managed to reach the settlement.
When the mall finally came into view, several people standing watch immediately noticed something amiss.
A few rushed forward, while others opened the door at once.
"What happened!?"
"Is that blood?"
"Move!"
The injured awakener was rushed inside while people hurriedly made way, and his two friends followed closely behind all the time.
Only after confirming that his life was no longer in immediate danger from a seasoned doctor who was also one of the survivors did Damien heave a sigh of relief.
He let the old man treat him with care, while the atmosphere outside the room remained heavy.
Damien sat down and rubbed his forehead.
"Let’s talk."
The first person to speak was Lucien, for he and Evelyn were the only ones who weren’t worried as much as the others, probably because they weren’t close to the trio.
"That ability of yours, what exactly is it?"
Evelyn also looked over while Kaelan frowned at the timing of the question.
After a brief pause, Damien decided to answer.
"My class is called Influencer. It allows me to influence emotions, thoughts, and actions to a certain extent."
He continued.
"The stronger I mentally get, the stronger those effects become and if my opponent is mentally stronger than me, the effects would become weaker on them."
"And the range increases as well."
"So you can control people directly?" Lucien asked.
"No."
Damien shook his head.
"There’s a time limit too which also depends on the same criteria. So no, I can’t control even a single human for an infinite amount of time."
He tapped the table lightly.
"And my mental strength increases the more frequently I use my ability."
Even though heavily limited, the duo understood how terrifying such an ability could become, especially during battles.
And the last battle itself worked as a testament to that thought.
Damien’s gaze suddenly shifted toward Lucien.
"That final attack you used, the lightning trident. It must have consumed a massive amount of your reserves." He said with a faint smile and genuine gratitude.
"Thank you. If not for that attack, the crane would’ve escaped without paying any price considering what it did to my people."
Lucien nodded.
"It consumed nearly half of my spiritual energy."
That wasn’t entirely false, but also not correct.
Condensing lightning to such a degree was expensive but it only took around twenty percent of his reserves.
Yes, only twenty percent.
The SSS-grade talent was finally showing that it didn’t have that rank for no reason, his reserves were increasing and so was his familiarity with the element.
But I still haven’t advanced to C- rank.
And five times still wasn’t a lot, using it recklessly might leave him vulnerable to attacks afterwards.
The conversation was just about to continue if Evelyn hadn’t spoken all of a sudden.
"Something about that cat still bothers me." Her brows furrowed as she explained further.
"The timing was too precise to be a coincidence. It appeared exactly when the crane was about to die at our hands."
The memory resurfaced in everyone’s minds.
Of the tremors, the sudden ambush, and last but not least, the missing arm.
"Then it immediately left. It didn’t even stay or bother itself to engage in a fight." She folded her arms and finally revealed what was going on in her head.
"What if it’s related to those Three Tribes the crane mentioned or New Dawn if not that," she added.
As Damien fell into contemplation, Kaelan immediately shook his head and denied her idea.
"Maybe you’re overthinking it."
Everyone looked toward him.
"We encountered that thing before and it had chased us for quite a while. It probably smelled us, and sneaked an attack because it might have become bold after evolving."
Kaelan shrugged.
"But maybe it also understood it didn’t stand a chance against everyone, so it escaped."
His explanation sounded reasonable, yet Lucien couldn’t completely agree.
The image of the crane’s eyes flashing with relief when the cat appeared had been etched into his mind.
That reaction had been real, the spirit beast had looked happy.
And that wasn’t normal.
Unless...
His thoughts drifted back toward the warning, towards the Great Three Tribes.
For some reason, he felt that those words carried far more significance than anyone currently realized.
Are they one of the pillars of New Dawn itself?
But before he could think further —
BANG!
The door slammed open, making everyone turn instinctively.
A scout rushed inside while breathing heavily, his expression was filled with urgency.
"Leader! We spotted a large number of mutated creatures and spirit beasts near the western river."
The room instantly became silent.
Damien stood up, frowning in confusion.
"A battle?"
Creatures gathering in large numbers usually signaled a conflict for territory, at least that’s what they knew.
The scout hesitated before eventually shaking his head.
"...No. They weren’t fighting with each other. Not now at least."
Everyone felt a shiver run down their spines.
And suddenly, the crane’s warning no longer sounded like the ravings of a dying spiritual beast.
