Chapter 3: Preparing to Hunt The Stag
The forest was silent as me and the stag stood at an impasse. I couldn’t just charge at it since Its guard wasn’t down, and based on what Walker-bro said, it damn sure isn’t weak.
Not only that, but I don’t know what it can do. Its abilities are completely unknown to me…
Mist, huh? I wonder, is it used for attack or defense? Although, it’s wearing it like a cloak, so perhaps it's for diversion…
Clearly the stag itself is quite powerful judging from its muscles. Its coat is blue, obviously signifying the water element… But why? Does that mean it’s more in tune with water than the other elements since it takes up more surface area?
Hm. That’s logical. Though, what if the mist is used for senses? Like in those xianxia novels, how some cultivators send out mists of qi everywhere in pulses to sense things…
Hm… It’s too hard to tell. Should I just charge in? I mean, the worst I’ll feel is pain, right? And the shapeshifting should at least give me somewhat of an edge… I think.
Actually, now that I think about it, I can only shift into things I’ve eaten. But what exactly did Walker-bro eat? Can I shift into any of those forms?
« No. Forms are stored in soul. Can’t use mine. »
What? But you're a part of me… Unless we’re merged but also separate, perhaps there’s just a thin line between our souls… That’d make sense…
Hm. Okay then it looks like I’m on my own. I need to think. What are all the actual abilities I can use…
Clearly, I have enhanced physical attributes and senses… I can shapeshift into a more agile form when hunting, giving me claws and fangs… I haven’t eaten anything yet, so I don’t have any forms to shift into…
Hm, there was something about Body and Essence Control earlier… Essence Control sounds too difficult, so I’ll stick with Body Control.
I’m assuming, as the name suggests, it allows me to control my body in any way I please. Which is what I was doing early, by subconsciously shifting the hardness and softness of the soles and bones of my feet to eliminate their sound…
But I wonder, can I go further than that? On earth it is said that X-Rays pass through everything, unlike light. And are made from electromagnetic radiation…
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Wait… what the hell? Why do I remember that? I literally only glanced at that article in sch- Ah, whatever, I need to focus.
Anyway, to be able to pick up X-Rays I need to be able to grasp the electromagnetic spectrum. X-Rays have a smaller wavelength but a higher frequency than normal light that we can see…
So that means I need to somehow tune my eyes to said frequencies, like a radio…
Normally, there would be no way to even try this. I mean, on earth, you could use mental imaging as much as you like to accomplish basic things… But for this, I can use it to accomplish… Pretty much anything as long as it’s within my body’s capabilities…
So, I’ve already understood the concept. Let’s just hope we can actually do it with body control.
I closed my eyes and focused. Imagine the electromagnetic spectrum, as I saw on the graph in that textbook…
Then, I tried to imagine where I currently was on that spectrum. I was a bit further than normal humans, on the upper end of 600 nm.
With that firmly grasped, I imagined it as a slider. Which was easy enough. However, the problem occured the moment I tried to move that slider forward…
BOOM!
Both of my eyes immediately shorted out and I was plunged into darkness as my senses all failed me. I would have fallen to the ground and alerted the stag, had I not instinctively grabbed the branch…
Fucking hell… I forgot that the wavelengths between UV, X-Ray, and Gamma Rays were so short…
To put it into perspective, the distance near the end of a spectrum is tens, if not hundreds of times smaller than a single grain of salt.
And I forgot to fortify my brain to be able to process the information that I would be receiving… Thus, it all immediately went to shit.
Ughhh, this is gonna be a pain in the ass. How the hell do skinwalkers automatically get infrared and x-ray vision? That’s just not fair!
« Blessing from Celestial Walker. Sometimes innate. Sometimes gifted. »
Tch. Fucking cheat-race. How in the hell did you get wiped to extinction? That’s literally overpowered.
« …Find out. On Own. You Smart. »
Fine, fine. Anyway, I’m gonna try this again!
• • •
I underestimated how long this would take. It took me four days. Four fucking days. Just to grasp X-Ray vision. And then to manipulate my brain to be able to process it.
And then! Even when I succeeded at that, it was like watching a 10fps movie! The quality was absolutely terrible!
So, it took me three more days to fix it! All-in all it took me a week to master it. Heh, but I bet you think that’s cool, don’t you? IT’S NOT.
Not only am I barely holding myself back from going to tear that stag limb from limb. But I learned that each time I regenerate, my hunger goes up.
It wasn’t noticeable at first, but after the third day I noticed it. It was getting harder and harder to keep chained up.
Oh but that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part is that the stag had wandered off. So now I have to track it AGAIN.
So the only good thing is that I can activate X-Ray vision in five seconds, and deactivate it in the same five seconds. Why do I even need it? So that I can see through the stag, find out how it works, and kill it.
Obviously creatures in this world have something inside them that makes them able to use magic. Like dantian or mana cores.
So, it would be beneficial if I could see that, and focus my efforts on crippling it, so that I can take down that giant blue beast without dying.
Now obviously there’s flaws with this. Can my claws even cut it? What if it uses powerful magic to whoop my ass before I can even get close to it?
Well, frankly I’m too hungry to care. This thinking is flawed, but refer to the above sentence, once more.
So now that I’m prepared. It’s time to hunt, because I’m seriously starving!