Chapter 25

Evolution

Given the Gelu Drake's sheer size, its heart was enormous as well. Even after eating nonstop for nearly five minutes, I hadn't finished half of it. Feeling full wasn't an issue, since I could burn off the calories with Nutrient Synthesis[C+], but...

'Ugh, I can barely breathe.'

Trapped inside its body all this time, I was running short of oxygen. And Nutrient Synthesis[C+] couldn't synthesize oxygen yet. In the end, I emerged carrying the remaining half of the Gelu Drake's heart.

When I came out of its body...

"Looks like he already left."

Kai was nowhere to be seen.

Judging by the footprints in the snow, he seemed to have headed down the mountain. Sure enough, I spotted his retreating back in the distance.

With his long blond hair streaming through the flurries against the snowy mountain landscape, he brought to mind a proud wolf. Yet for some reason, today he also looked like someone sulking.

Considering that his affinity had changed to [Loathing], that certainly seemed to be the case. I had no idea what had upset him, but whatever. At least it was [Loathing] rather than [Hatred], if that was any consolation...

CRUNCH.

Why the hell should I care? I had to kill the bastard anyway.

"Does he never get tired?"

On that note, I could have killed him this time. But doing so would have put me in danger too. Unfortunate as it was, the same went for both Kai and me. Without each other, we would have ended up prey to the Gelu Drake.

"Still, I am curious about what ability Kai has."

Predation[S+], the ability to absorb a living creature's abilities by eating its heart. It didn't discriminate between beasts, monsters, insects, bugs, or even humans.

As such, I'd devoured quite a few human hearts in my previous life. As the allied army's Predator, I'd used Predation[S+] on several of the imperial army's legion commanders. Their abilities had been downright absurd.

Unfortunately, though, I hadn't devoured many legion commanders' hearts. The reason was Madness, Predation's side effect. In my previous life, Madness had engulfed me every single time I used Predation, and I couldn't overcome it without Ian's help.

"Well, all he did was beat me up."

To within an inch of my life, at that.

Besides, unless I used Predation[S+] on a target's heart right away, I couldn't obtain any abilities. In the end, fear of succumbing to Madness had kept me from using Predation[S+] on most of the imperial legion commanders I killed on missions. I couldn't bring Ian, the allied army's Supreme Commander, along on every mission, after all.

In any case, I hadn't been able to use Predation[S+] on Kai, the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold, either. Not that I particularly wanted to. From what I remembered of my previous life, I'd likely end up with some bizarre ability like Lich Transformation.

More importantly...

"It wouldn't be easy."

Using Predation[S+] on Kai would be difficult right now.

I could tell just from how he was walking away perfectly fine immediately after fighting the Gelu Drake. Granted, I'd shielded him from the Ice Breath, but he was definitely a monster all the same.

CRUNCH.

"The legion commanders are out of the question too."

Likewise, the legion commanders would be too much for me in my current state. I'd have to regain at least the combat prowess I'd possessed in the allied army before that became feasible.

"It would have been nice if I could use aura too..."

Unfortunately, my body couldn't wield aura. More precisely, I had zero talent for mana. I'd been born that way. I couldn't sense or perceive mana at all.

I'd tried every conceivable way to cure it. Fortunately, I'd been born into a count's noble house—and as its eldest legitimate son, no less—so I'd been able to try countless treatments. But none of them had worked. I still couldn't sense or perceive mana.

And so, my family abandoned me.

Even after I became the allied army's Predator, the Saintess's miracles couldn't cure me.

After returning to the past and seeing Ian's ability, I Alone Level Up[EX], I'd wondered if there might be a chance. Perhaps raising my Mana stat would allow me to wield mana too. I'd held out that hope. Even so, nothing had changed.

"Raising my Mana stat didn't change anything."

What had changed was my mana capacity. Put simply, the maximum amount of mana I could hold had increased. But my ability to take in mana itself hadn't improved. My maximum mana had increased, but I lacked the ability and talent to fill it.

It wasn't even like pouring water into a bottomless jar. The jar kept getting bigger, but I had no water to pour into it in the first place. I still couldn't sense mana.

Unable to wield mana, I couldn't use aura or magical power either. Whether as a knight or a mage, I could achieve nothing.

So I'd never learned any formal swordsmanship, let alone magic. What I used now hardly deserved to be called swordsmanship; it was simply what I'd picked up while trying to survive on the battlefield.

Put kindly, it was practical swordsmanship. Put unkindly, it was crude.

That was why I'd once sought Ian out and asked him to teach me swordsmanship. Even if my body couldn't wield aura, there was a world of difference between learning a formal sword style and not learning one.

Of course, the continent's advanced sword styles were founded on the use of aura. But Ian could create a style I could use.

It didn't even have to be swordsmanship. Ian primarily used a sword, but that wasn't the only weapon he knew how to handle. Spears, sabers, staves, axes, bows, and more—he could wield anything that qualified as a weapon. The same went for unarmed combat.

Naturally, his proficiency was far from mediocre. Ian possessed top-tier skill with every weapon. He wasn't the Emperor's only rival for nothing.

So whether it was swordsmanship, spearmanship, or anything else, if I could learn it from Ian, it would be the Hero's swordsmanship, the Hero's spearmanship.

I'd asked him, and Ian had answered:

["Teaching you wouldn't be difficult."]

["But Adrian, I don't want to teach you."]

He didn't want to teach me. I'd been a little disappointed. No, to be honest, I'd been deeply disappointed at the time. Not in Ian, but in myself. His words were as good as saying that my talent was so abysmal even he couldn't teach me.

Perhaps that disappointment had shown on my face, because Ian gave a small smile.

["Adrian, why do you think people learn swordsmanship?"]

["To handle a sword better."]

["Then why do you think people learn martial arts like swordsmanship?"]

["To get stronger."]

["Right. To get stronger. More precisely, you could say it's to overcome 'weakness.'"]

["That's the same thing."]

["There's a slight difference."]

Ian smiled lightly and continued.

["There are two ways to become stronger."]

The first was to maximize your strengths. The second was to minimize your weaknesses.

["We humans aren't as strong as ogres. We don't have sharp claws like wild beasts, or sturdy skeletons."]

From a purely biological standpoint, humans were among the weak in the ecosystem. Creatures full of shortcomings.

["So humans tried to use their strength—intelligence—to overcome their weaknesses."]

They created weapons to replace sharp claws. By refining mana, they discovered a power called aura, overcoming their lack of strength. They created armor, obtaining skin harder than any tough hide.

["The same goes for martial arts like swordsmanship."]

They had been created to overcome human frailty. Humans learned swordsmanship because they were weak. Then what if they weren't weak?

["Have you ever seen a dragon learn swordsmanship?"]

Dragons had no need to learn such things. Their scales were harder than any metal, their claws sharper than any weapon, and their strength greater than that of any other living creature. Martial arts like swordsmanship were utterly useless to them.

That was why dragons were called the continent's strongest life-forms—yet one had ultimately fallen at Ian's hands.

Dragons, the continent's strongest life-forms. Even they possessed an element of weakness.

["Then what if there were a perfect life-form, one with no element of weakness whatsoever?"]

["A perfect life-form?"]

["Perfect in the literal sense. A creature that could survive in any environment, acquire every adaptation found in nature, be born instantly and reproduce instantly, live forever, and have no natural predators. A life-form without a single biological weakness."]

["Could something like that even exist?"]

["No."]

Ian shook his head firmly.

And indeed, how could one define such a thing as an organism? If such a being existed, it would deserve to be called not a life-form, but a god.

["But there is someone who holds that potential."]

["You mean the Emperor?"]

["No," ] Ian answered.

["You, Adrian."]

Only I held the potential to become such a being.

["All the swordsmanship, spearmanship, saber techniques, and unarmed combat I know were devised with humans as their basis. They were created to overcome human weakness."]

["..."]

["In other words, they're ways of fighting as a human. And Adrian, that doesn't suit you."]

["..."]

["You mustn't fight like a human. Fighting like a human would only harm you. That doesn't mean I'm telling you to abandon your humanity. I literally mean you shouldn't fight the way humans do."]

["..."]

["Adrian, you have to develop your own way of fighting yourself. No one can teach you. No one should, either. Not even me, the Hero."]

After Ian's final words, silence fell between us for a while.

["Ian, does that mean I could become like you someday?"]

["Of course not."]

Ian shook his head as though wondering what I was talking about.

Really, that was only natural. Even to me, Ian's strength was absurd. Thinking I could stand on equal footing with him was nothing more than wishful thinking.

["Then does that mean I could become like a dragon?"]

["That's not it either."]

Ian shook his head firmly at that question as well.

Honestly, I was somewhat disappointed, but I wasn't discouraged. Despite everything he'd said, I was still only human.

But what Ian said next was nothing like I'd expected.

["It's the other way around, Adrian."]

It was the exact opposite of what I'd thought, too.

["I'm the one who can't become like you."]

Instead, Ian said he couldn't become like me. And beyond that, neither could a dragon.

["Adrian, you are the pinnacle of all life."]

Wasn't there a saying that there could be many geniuses, but only one at the pinnacle? Ian belonged among the geniuses. So did dragons.

But though both were geniuses, neither could stand at the pinnacle. Both had limits. The limits of being human. The limits of being a dragon.

Those limits were simply set impossibly far away. They still existed, clear and definite. That was why the dragon couldn't surpass Ian. And Ian couldn't surpass the Emperor.

Of course, I hadn't surpassed Ian or a dragon either, let alone the Emperor.

["You're different, Adrian."]

But I held the potential to surpass them.

["Only your Predation can reach that pinnacle."]

My ability, Predation[S+], could acquire the genetic material of every living thing in existence. Devouring a prey's heart allowed me to undergo dramatic evolution through its abilities. In that way, I could evolve endlessly, continually surpassing the limits of living creatures...

["How could mere humans or dragons compare to the Ultimate Lifeform?"]

The Ultimate Lifeform. That was what Ian called me. Ian, at least, never called me talentless.

But contrary to his expectations, I never reached that pinnacle. I met my end not as the ultimate life-form, but merely as an exceptional one.

Predation's fatal side effect, Madness, had kept me from surpassing the limits of a mere hunter.

But not anymore.

Ian's ability, Player's Will[EX]. As long as I had it, I no longer needed to fear the Madness brought on by Predation.

With it, I might be able to surpass those limits. I might finally reach that height. The pinnacle of all life. The ultimate predator, Predator.

The true instinct of the Predator, suppressed by Madness and unable to manifest until now.

◆You have devoured the genetic material of the entity 'Gelu Drake'!

◆You have acquired the skill 'Dragon's Claw[A]'!

That lethal instinct was beginning, ever so slowly, to open its eyes.

* * *

Kai strode down the snowy mountain without hesitation. His steps carried disgust and a touch of hurt. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but... those were certainly the emotions he felt.

He descended without looking back. After some time, a man appeared at the edge of his vision.

It was a face he didn't recognize. That meant the man wasn't from the county.

Soon, the man spotted Kai and his face lit up. He ran straight over to him.

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought I might freeze to death out here...!"

The man panted heavily, voicing his relief. Snow covered his hair. From the look of him, he'd been wandering the snowy mountains for quite some time.

Then, with a sheepish smile, he asked Kai a question.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me which way I should go to reach House Whitewolf?"