Reawakening: I Can Absorb Infinite Skills

Arden didn't break stride as they pressed deeper.

The air grew heavier, the ground darker, and the sounds of beasts more frequent, but his life sense stretched far ahead, weaving patterns the others couldn't see. Every time his eyes narrowed, they knew another fight was coming.

The first was a pack of tusked maulers, low but vicious creatures with hides tough enough to shrug off most steel.

They lunged from the brush in snarls and thuds of earth.

Rael met them head-on, fists sparking with lightning. "Finally, something with teeth!" His punch cracked into the largest one's jaw. BOOM! The beast's tusk snapped clean off.

Nyra stepped forward, staff whirling. Frost spiraled from its tip, coating the ground in slick ice. "Keep them clustered."

Zephyra's stretched out once, a surge of wind pushing the pack inward. Her jaws opened and flame rushed out, a sweeping blast that singed their hides.

Arden didn't rush. He moved like water through their chaos, fire blooming at his palms only when needed.

Each strike was efficient, one beast down in an instant. The others noticed his calm rhythm, he only bothered to strike when it counted.

Rael groaned after flattening another mauler. "At least let me finish this one!"

Arden flicked a finger, a flame bolt piercing the beast Rael had pinned. It slumped before Rael's fist connected.

"You're too slow," Arden said flatly.

"Too—" Rael pointed at the corpse. "That was mine!"

Nyra's laugh was soft but cutting. "You should know better than to claim what Arden can already reach."

They kept fighting like that. Whenever Arden stepped back, Rael or Nyra or even Zephyra snatched the kill, proving themselves more than capable.

But whenever Arden moved, it was as though the battle tilted his way, beasts falling in rhythm to his control.

Hours passed, the fights blurring into one another. Stronger beasts, some with scales like iron or spines crackling with aether, but they still fell.

The ground they passed was littered with scorch marks, ice shards, and trails of lightning burns.

Between the chaos, Arden's eyes narrowed. His life sense was clearer now, sharper, as though the more he fought, the more the world peeled back its secrets.

"These things aren't just appearing," he muttered after another clash ended, his boots crunching over blackened grass. "The closer we move, the more frenzied they get."

Rael wiped a streak of blood from his cheek. "No kidding. That last one nearly took my arm off."

"It's not just strength," Nyra said. She knelt briefly, fingers brushing the soil. "The land is warmer, unstable. It feels like something's bleeding into it."

Zephyra's low growl came. "Air tastes wrong. Sharp. But wierd."

Arden nodded slowly. "Closer to the source then."

Rael raised a brow. "Source of what? Because right now it feels like we're walking into a beast nest."

"Maybe we are," Arden replied, but his smirk hinted otherwise. "Still, patterns don't lie. They're frenzied, but not everywhere. Only in one direction."

Nyra caught his tone. "You've noticed it too."

"I always notice." Arden's answer was calm, matter-of-fact. "What I'm not sure of yet is why. But it doesn't matter. We'll know soon enough."

They pressed forward, piecing together clues fight after fight. The beasts that came at them were erratic, but not without order. Arden explained how the aura flared in bursts, and Nyra tested the ground where it lingered.

Even Rael began to point out shifts, though his way of phrasing it was less refined.

"All I'm saying is, every time we move west, something nastier jumps us. So maybe the universe hates us, or maybe you're right," Rael said between clashes.

Arden smirked faintly. "Took you long enough."

They fought again, a cluster of winged serpents that screamed shrill cries as they dove.

Rael leapt high, lightning fists shattering wings. Nyra pinned two at once with frost spikes, while Zephyra burst through the air with a cyclone of wind and fire, scattering the rest.

Arden only moved when one tried to flee, his flame bolt catching it midair, dropping it in a smolder.

"Not letting that one escape, huh?" Nyra teased.

"Stragglers are worse than packs," Arden replied.

His voice carried the same calm certainty that made the others trust his judgment, even when they didn't fully see the reason.

Behind them, unseen but not unnoticed, the Crimson Fang stalked.

Kaelen's voice was low and bitter. "They're not wandering."

Selira scowled, sparks twitching at her fingertips. "No. They're… following something."

"They shouldn't know more than us," Lysandra snapped. "We had the head start."

"They're cheating," Selira spat.

"No," Doran finally spoke, his tone edged with restraint. "They're not. They're reading things we can't. Look at them. Every fight, every step, it's like they already know what's next."

Their pride stung worse than any wound. First, Arden's party had shown strength that outmatched their expectations. Now it was something else— knowledge, insight. They weren't aimless. They moved like the path itself had been drawn for them.

"They'll outpace us," Kaelen admitted grudgingly.

"Not if we stop them." Selira's grin was sharp. "Strong or not, they're not untouchable. If we beat them down, take what they've figured out, the trial's ours."

The group was silent for a beat, then Lysandra chuckled, soft and wicked. "We take their knowledge and their glory. End it clean."

"Or messy," Selira added, her smirk widening.

Doran didn't argue this time. None of them did. The decision was made.

But in the distance, Arden tilted his head slightly, life sense brushing faint threads of their emotions. Their anger had shifted, their intent sharpening like a blade drawn too long.

"They've finally decided to act," he murmured.

Rael glanced at him. "Who?"

"The pests," Arden replied calmly. "They've stopped watching."

Nyra's eyes narrowed. "Then they'll strike."

Zephyra's growl rumbled, low and eager. "Prey turns hunter."

Arden's lips curved faintly. "Let them. It's about time."

He kept walking, unhurried, the weight of inevitability in his tone. "Showtime."

A/N:

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