Chapter 379 — Talent
5 min read ·
Damian sat cross-legged on a thick branch, his back pressed against the ancient tree’s trunk.
His eyes were closed and his breathing had settled into a rhythm as Aura flowed through his body in controlled cycles.
The red sky phenomenon had done something to the world’s Aura density. What normally took hours of meditation to absorb now flooded into his core in minutes.
’If I’m going to be trapped here, I might as well use time to train as well.’
His Aura circulation accelerated, pulling more power, refining it and integrating it into his core.
The process was working exactly as it should.
But something was wrong.
He’d been cultivating for hours now, cycling Aura with perfect efficiency, absorbing the enhanced ambient energy with every breath.
His core should have been expanding, his rank progressing toward B+.
Instead, he’d hit a wall.
’My talent.’
The realization settled over him like a weight.
S rank talent was exceptional by any standard. Most awakeners would kill for it, but exceptional wasn’t infinite, and every talent had limits.
He was approaching his.
’I progressed this far because my Will was several ranks higher from the beginning... A rank Will in a C rank body gave me advantages others didn’t have.’
But now?
His Will had reached four hundred.
Peak A rank.
The absolute limit for that attribute tier.
And despite everything, despite the life-and-death battles, despite the stealth panther hunting him for days, despite the constant survival pressure, it wasn’t increasing anymore.
’Will and Perception don’t work like the physical stats.’
Physical attributes capped at one thousand below S rank for all races. Strength, Speed, Stamina, Vitality, they all followed the same progression, with eight hundred being the ideal human top limit without special circumstances.
But Will and Perception were different.
’I think they cap at 500... And 400 seems to be the natural human limit, just like 800 is for physical stats.’
The logic made sense.
Mental attributes couldn’t scale infinitely, there had to be a ceiling.
And he seemed to have reached it.
’So now what?’
His talent would keep him progressing for a while longer, S rank was still exceptional. He could reach A rank, maybe even A+ easily, before the bottleneck became a headache.
But beyond that?
’I need something... A treasure maybe... Something to compensate for what I’m lacking.’
He hadn’t found it yet.
The Devourer Body Art helped with physical stats but did nothing for talent itself.
His Domain was powerful but didn’t address the talent limitation.
’I’m still missing the answer.’
His Aura circulation slowed as he prepared to exit meditation.
Then his expression changed.
Through their bond, he’d felt it.
Pain, desperation and Injury so severe it was threatening to sever the mental connection entirely.
His companion was dying.
Damian’s eyes snapped open.
His hands clenched into fists as dark crimson flames flickered around him, slaughter intent leaking from his body in visible waves.
"Kuro!"
He forced himself still and scanned the forest with Macro Vision.
’There!’
CRASH
Something massive slammed through the canopy several hundred meters away, tearing through branches and leaves.
Kuro.
The raven’s body tumbled through the air, completely out of control, feathers torn away, blood spraying from dozens of wounds.
Sonic Blink.
Damian flickered forward, closing the distance in heartbeats, arriving just as Kuro’s broken body crashed into the ground.
His Telekinesis caught him mid-fall, cushioning the impact, lowering him gently.
He dropped beside him immediately.
His hands moved over Kuro’s body, fingers finding puncture wounds, feeling broken bones beneath torn feathers.
’Arrows... Puncture wounds from arrows... At least twenty entry points. Some went completely through.’
Kuro’s breathing came in shallow, pained gasps as his body convulsed.
The mental link flickered, unstable, fragments of thought and emotion bleeding through rather than coherent words.
"Kuro, what happened? Who did this?"
The raven’s beak opened but no sound emerged. Instead, broken images and sensations flooded through their bond.
’...treasure... found treasure... for stupid human...’
The mental voice that usually dripped with sarcasm and pride now barely held together.
’...shiny thing... growing from ground... Aura concentration... good for human...’
Damian’s jaw clenched as he pulled a high-grade healing potion from his spatial ring, forcing the liquid down Kuro’s throat.
"Save your strength... You can tell me after–"
’...was going to take... for you...’
More images appeared in his mind. A clearing bathed in concentrated Aura, something crystalline forming at the center, pulsing with power.
Kuro approaching and then arrows flying towards him.
So many arrows, appearing from nowhere, punching through his body before he could react.
’...humans... but not humans... long ears... pointed...’
The thought came with an image.
Dark-skinned figures with elegant features and elongated ears, dressed in beautiful uniforms the color of deep water.
Bows drawn and arrows nocked.
’...shot... kept shooting... tried to escape... they followed...wanted Kuro... wanted to capture...’
The mental voice grew fainter, consciousness slipping.
’...sorry... couldn’t bring treasure... failed...’
"You didn’t fail."
Damian’s voice came out flat and cold as his hand stroked Kuro’s blood-soaked feathers.
"Rest and heal... I’ll handle this."
Kuro’s form shimmered and he dissolved into shadow, retreating into Damian’s own darkness where the bond would accelerate his recovery.
Damian remained crouched where Kuro had fallen, one hand pressed against the blood-soaked earth.
His breathing was controlled and his expression had gone completely blank.
But his hands were shaking from rage so intense his fingers dug into the dirt, nails scraping against roots and stone.
’Humans with long ears.’
The description came in his mind and connected with old memories, information absorbed from conversations he’d barely paid attention to at the time.
The old beggar’s voice echoed in his thoughts, rough and amused, telling stories about the other races.
"Elves."
The word left his lips as barely a whisper.
’Elves are divided amongst themselves. Dark elves despise humanity with a hatred that goes back decades... Light elves maintain a complicated relationship, not quite allies, not quite enemies, bound by treaties and necessity rather than trust.’
He remembered more.
’But all elves share one thing in common. Regardless of faction, regardless of political alignment, they look down on humans. They see us as lesser beings, short-lived and crude, unworthy of the power we’ve somehow claimed.’
The old beggar had found that amusing, but Damian didn’t
"So... what are elves doing in the human world?"
The question hung in his mind as he stood slowly, his senses extending outward through his perception.
’There!’
Four distinct Aura signatures approaching fast from the direction Kuro had fled.