Reawakening: I Can Absorb Infinite Skills

Morning came with a chill wind, and Arden's party moved with practiced ease as they prepared for the day's hunt. Armor checked, weapons ready, aether flowing steady in their veins.

"We're leaving the south," Arden said, tying his cloak loosely around his shoulders. "Nothing new there. Yesterday told us enough. North's no good either, we've been through that path before. West feels right."

"You mean you're guessing," Rael grinned as he flexed his gauntlets, faint sparks dancing across the metal.

Arden gave a half-smile. "Call it instinct. You trusted it yesterday, and it paid off."

Rael shrugged. "Fair. As long as there's something worth hitting, I don't care where we go."

Nyra leaned on her staff, the soft gleam of frost gathering faintly at its head. "Then west it is."

Zephyra rumbled low from her place beside them. "West. Strong prey waits."

They set off without hesitation. The Crimson Fang were already awake, their stares sharp and poisonous as Arden's party left the camp. Arden didn't bother to glance their way, though he could feel the heat of their glares prick against his life sense. He smirked faintly and muttered, just loud enough for his companions to hear, "If they stare any harder, their eyes will freeze over."

Rael barked a laugh, Nyra hid a smile, and even Zephyra's tail flicked with something close to amusement. They moved on, leaving the hostility behind.

The western path was untouched ground for them, rough terrain broken with jagged rocks and trees crackling faintly with static in the air.

Arden kept his life sense wide, reading every pulse in the distance.

It didn't take long. A presence loomed like thunder rolling before a storm. Arden felt the weight first, then the surge of unstable lightning snapping through the ground.

His system flared to life.

[Name: Stormhide Behemoth (Berserk)

Rank: A (Berserk Condition)

Affinity: Lightning

Condition – Berserk: Instincts override reasoning. Lightning unstable, damaging even itself. Strength, speed, aggression heightened. Tactical restraint lost…]

Arden skimmed the rest and let out a low chuckle. Starting the day with an A-rank berserk beast wasn't a bad omen—it was a gift.

"Well," he said, turning to his group. "Big one ahead. A-rank, berserk, lightning affinity. Careful of stray bursts. Nyra, Rael, I'll let you have it first. Consider it warm-up."

Rael's eyes lit up. "Finally."

Nyra sighed softly, but the smile tugging her lips betrayed her excitement. "You'll be reckless. But i'll keep you alive."

"Always do." Rael smirked, then the two of them surged forward together.

The ground shook as the Stormhide Behemoth broke through the tree line.

It was massive, hide crackling with jagged bolts of lightning that leapt wildly from scale to scale. Its roar split the air, a sound like a thunderclap breaking stone.

Rael slammed his gauntlets together. Crack! Lightning burst outward, his body wrapped in a faint storm as his vein bloom pulsed. "Come on then!"

He darted in, faster than most eyes could follow, fist crackling as it slammed against the beast's foreleg. The shock rippled like a thunderstrike.

Nyra followed, staff sweeping in an arc. A rush of wind spiraled upward, carrying with it a burst of ice shards that hammered into the beast's side. Shrrrk! Crack! Frost spread across its hide, slowing the twitch of its unstable lightning.

The Behemoth bellowed, stomping hard.

The ground quaked, shockwaves ripping through the earth.

"Move!" Rael shouted. He dove sideways, lightning trailing his path as the quake split the ground where he'd stood.

Nyra's staff slammed down, a dome of frost forming around her as rubble pelted against it. She stepped out clean, her eyes glinting. "Try to keep up."

Rael grinned. "Ladies first, then." He surged back in, his gauntlets sparking as he rained blows against the beast's chest.

Each strike lit the air with bursts of thunder, his vein bloom flooding outward in a haze of storm.

Nyra's magic laced around him, bursts of wind pushing his momentum, frost clinging to his strikes to slow the beast's counter. Their rhythm grew tighter with every step, Rael's raw aggression paired with Nyra's sharp control, the two moving like opposite halves of the same current.

Arden watched from a short distance, arms folded as his eyes tracked the fight.

His life sense stretched past the chaos, catching the wild threads of berserk energy. The pattern was there, buried under the madness.

Each surge came at a rhythm, bursts of unstable current spiking before the beast stumbled under its own power. If pressed right, it would collapse under itself.

But it wasn't the only thing he sensed.

At the edge of the battlefield, a cluster of faint signatures crept closer. The Crimson Fang. They were hiding their presence, but not well enough to escape Arden's notice. He gave a low chuckle and turned back to the fight.

The Behemoth roared again, wild arcs lashing outward.

Rael took a strike across the shoulder, gritting his teeth as sparks danced over his skin. "Damn thing's got no aim!"

"That's the point," Nyra called back, wind whirling around her as she launched another wave of frost, spears driving into the beast's joints. "It'll burn itself out before long."

Rael spat, then grinned fiercely. "Not if we put it down first."

The two pressed harder. Rael drove forward, fists striking in a relentless storm, each blow echoing like rolling thunder. Nyra circled, staff spinning, winds carrying ice to lash at every opening Rael forced. Their vein blooms flared brighter, the world around them bending faintly to their affinities, Rael a storm of crackling light, Nyra a veil of frost and rushing wind.

The Behemoth staggered under the onslaught, scales cracking, lightning flashing in uncontrolled bursts that seared its own flesh.

And just as the beast buckled, Arden finally moved.

He lifted his hand, fire surging around his arm like a coiled serpent. The ground hardened with frost beneath his feet as his own vein bloom flared, threads of fire lashing outward.

With one sharp motion, he cast his flame forward, a roaring torrent that slammed into the beast's chest.

The Behemoth let out a final thunderous roar before it collapsed, body cracking as fire and frost smothered its unstable lightning. The ground trembled with its fall.

Smoke curled upward. Arden lowered his arm and exhaled. "Show's over. Time to move."

Rael whirled on him, half-grinning, half-fuming. "You stole that kill!"

Nyra arched a brow. "We had it."

Arden smirked, already walking past the carcass. "Then next time, be faster. I don't wait forever."

Rael groaned loudly. "Unbelievable." But the grin on his face never faded.

Nyra shook her head, hiding a smile of her own.

Zephyra padded after Arden, her low voice rumbling. "Hunt never ends. New path, New beasts."

Arden didn't look back as he led them deeper west. "Exactly. We're wasting daylight."

Behind them, the Crimson Fang lingered in the shadows, having witnessed every moment.

Their silence was heavier than any roar the Behemoth could have made.

A/N:

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