Rivers of the Night

Theron knew what this answer meant. The Alpha should have unlocked the first three techniques of the lineage already: [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils], [Entangling Silence], and [Entangling Clouds].

This was good. Theron had been bracing himself for none, since he had forcefully helped the Alpha to accept the legacy when it clearly couldn't have done it on its own. Even if that was the case, he couldn't have been too angry either. After all, the basic strength boost alone would be excellent.

But this was beyond his expectations, and it likely meant that the Alpha was more compatible with this legacy than he had given it credit for.

The Alpha was more than an experimental test subject in this regard—it might actually be more suited to the legacy than Theron himself.

"Practice its use while you can." Theron nodded.

The Alpha nodded in return and began to jump around the vast underground space.

Theron watched this in silence.

[Entangling Clouds] was a great movement technique, but alone, it was a bit colorless. The foundation was the formation of the clouds, allowing one to mimic land movement in the air, but in a far more unpredictable way. One could form a platform of clouds anywhere, abruptly changing direction or accelerating and decelerating when enemies expected it least.

But what made this legacy so powerful was how the techniques layered onto one another. They weren't meant to be used alone in the first place.

If one had a stronger mastery of [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils], then it was possible to form the [Entangling Clouds] without utilizing any of one's own Mana.

Flight without Mana usage was something that Treading Cloud Realm experts across the world would literally kill for. Who didn't know how much focus and Mana flight expended?

And yet, this was just the simplest synergy available between these three lowest techniques.

If one could learn to use [Entangling Silence] with [Entangling Clouds], then [Entangling Clouds] would almost gain an illusion-like ability, making one's movements hard to track and predict. Or, one could use the [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] to entangle one's movement with large currents of Mana to increase one's speed.

That would just be a simple application, of course. Theron could even imagine that with enough control, one could even use an enemy's attack against them, entangling a powerful strike with one's Blood Vein Pupils and then using [Entangling Clouds] to ride out of the way using the momentum of an enemy's Spell against them.

The sheer flexibility of it all made Theron believe that whoever had crafted this legacy was exceptional. But he was still very intrigued as he watched the Alpha slowly figure out these synergistic effects on its own.

These weren't Spells. They felt far more like martial techniques in a way. But they carried some characteristics of Spells nonetheless.

He had just never seen this category of power before. How many more things like this were in this world…?

Theron took a breath and then exhaled. Flipping a palm, he took out the two gems that had formed the eyes of the Howling Shadow Blade.

He had thought about giving these to the Alpha, but he felt that that would be a foolish decision. Because the best one to use these…

Was undoubtedly him.

He didn't want the Alpha to just be an external source of power. The best way to use a companion like this—especially when he had no one else to rely on—was in a synergistic way.

But he was no beast master. He wasn't a Spirit Mancer and couldn't learn such techniques.

That said, he did have certain advantages.

The first was that the Alpha grew from him, sharing his blood and bloodline. The second was the Karmic String and Scissors. And now, the third was these [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils].

Like he had said, the [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] were basically the foundation of this entire legacy. It was the one technique that, under every circumstance, could seamlessly enhance the others without fail.

It was also the one that one needed to understand first to grasp the underlying principles that dictated the others.

If Theron gave these eyes to the Alpha, sure, it would grow more powerful. But it would become too independent from him, and there would always be a lag and disconnect in battle.

However… if Theron grasped the technique himself, then he could synergize with the Alpha in battle, directing the ways and methods it used to activate the other techniques.

At that point, they wouldn't just be man and wolf. They would be one unit—a killing machine formed of two souls.

Sure, Theron could just cultivate the [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] from scratch, but that would require using up the resources in the unknown cultivator's spatial ring, and time he didn't want to waste.

But, if he used these... he could probably leap to the Third Cycle of the [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils] instantly. And at that level, he could entangle all of the Gold Resonance Mana within his eyesight range, so long as he had the mental capacity to keep up.

Even without the Alpha, this would at least double his strength.

But with the Alpha… the synergy wouldn't be small.

Theron took a seat, balancing the two gems on his fingertips as though he was making a peace sign. Then, he ruthlessly stabbed them into his own eyes.

Blood spurted, but it was as though Theron didn't feel a single thing, not flinching for the slightest hint of a moment. Even as the world fell into darkness for him, he didn't waver.

According to the technique, there was actually a decent chance of blindness at every step, but Theron seemed to have completely forgotten this.

As dangerous as it was to cultivate the technique from scratch, it was even more so to try to take advantage of someone else's progress.

The Howling Shadow Blade had made it to the Fourth Cycle. He could easily wield Mana up to four times greater than his original limitations. And yet, Theron, a mere Silver Mancer, was trying to take it for himself.

While he wouldn't be able to make it to the Fourth Cycle, the Third was guaranteed. And…

Theron had no intention of failing.

His bloodied eyes stared ahead, unmoved and unblinking, his blood suddenly beginning to churn.