Bang!
Cale's blade collided with the lizard's bronze hand, causing a loud bang. While the two were still engaged in the fight, Fenrir was already closing the distance to the commotion.
Fenrir leaped onto his opponent's leg and bit down with all the power he could muster. The lizard was undoubtedly struggling in intense pain, but there was nothing he could do other than endure it, as even a second of distraction would result in his immediate death.
'Marvelous' Cale smiled inwardly, having noticed the clear desperation in the opponent's eyes. The fight immediately shifted in Cale's direction as the lizard's movement was disrupted by Fenrir, giving Cale plenty of opportunities to strike.
Slowly but surely, this lizard was pushed back as his expression became extremely irritated. Finally, the lizard's gaze locked onto Fenrir, who was still leisurely munching on his green flesh.
"Rawr!" the beast hurled a punch towards Fenrir, trying to get him away as quickly as possible. However, before he could even touch the tiny creature, a sharp pain shot through his wrist.
'It worked' Cale's focus grew even more serious as he unleashed more strikes on the distracted beast, leaving deep cuts in the most vital spots.
The lizard tried to fight back, but with more and more injuries appearing on his body, it didn't take long for his vision to blur. Of course, he tried to stop Cale's advances using his divine power, but unfortunately, his control wasn't precise enough and the skeleton's attacks were too fast to respond in time.
Thud!
No longer able to keep himself standing, lizard fell to the ground, his eyes slowly closing. Cale didn't mind the ceremony and quickly sliced off the opponent's head, dismissing the beast's struggle and his own worries.
"You have done well, Fenrir. We will surely have a feast later," Cale ran his hand through Fenrir's pale fur, celebrating the definite victory.
Hiss! Hiss!
As Cale originally foresaw, the bright orb rose from the dead lizard, spreading light across the entire abysmal forest. This time, this sphere was a few times larger than that of the guard, to the point that Cale even worried about other beasts getting attracted to the light.
"Fenrir, you see this too, right?" asked Cale, trying to reassure himself. However, Fenrir's response was completely different from his expectations, he didn't even look in the direction of the shimmering orb, but raised his ears slightly.
"Do you actually not see anything?" Cale pointed at the glowing light, slightly confused.
"Nnn?" Fenrir glanced around the proximity, unable to understand the current circumstances at all.
'If he doesn't see this sphere.. Does that mean no one is aware of it?' A sudden realization struck Cale as he smiled internally. This question had actually been bothering Cale quite a bit, but now he simply heaved a sigh of relevance. Since no one could see it, that basically meant no one would have the ability to absorb it.
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"Nevermind Fenrir, I was just testing something. Wait for me here" Cale promptly closed the distance to the glowing energy and touched it, no doubt in his steel heart.
"!!"
Although he was prepared for the pain to come, it was still an agonizing feeling. This time, discomfort seemed to be more severe than earlier, but Cale tried to suppress the pain deep within his soul.
After a few minutes of struggling, Cale finally absorbed the light as he fell to the ground, exhausted. Fenrir, who was silently watching the whole scene from the bush, immediately rushed towards the skeleton.
"Bark! Bark!" Fenrir leaped towards Cale, his eyes wandering in panic.
"Don't worry, Fenrir. It's all right," Cale said quietly as he rose from the grass. Though his head still felt a little dizzy, Cale could clearly feel Qi going through his bones.
"I've made a breakthrough," Cale declared happily before looking towards the numerous screens that appeared after absorbing the orb. From the looks of it, Fenrir didn't seem to be able to see those screens either, so Cale didn't even bother asking.
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[Divine Power has been found and absorbed!]
[Qi force has been successfully absorbed!]
[Congratulations!]
-
"This feeling..." Cale managed to perceive something residing within his own soul, some sort of unknown power that was constantly striving to come out.
"Is this what it feels like to have a divine power?" After allowing this unknown power to overwhelm him from inside, Cale immediately felt an increase in strength. Both of his arms got covered in unfamiliar bronze color, reinforcing the solidity of his bones.
'Cool!'
That was the only thought swirling in Cale's head at that moment. He was always envious of divine power users and wanted to have one himself, but unfortunately, fate had other plans for him. Even though he was a skeleton now, this feeling of power was more than enough to satisfy him.
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[Name: Cale]
[Current Condition: Satisfied]
[Divine Power: Absolute Defense]
[Qi: Peak-Rank Dispicle]
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After glancing at the other screen that displayed his stats, Cale became even more thrilled. Not only did he absorb a divine power, but he also broke through to the Peak-Rank disciple.
Cale clearly knew the struggle of advancing in Qi mastery, yet he skipped over it so easily.
"Absolute defense... Such a vague description," Cale couldn't help but mutter. To his surprise, after the words left his mouth, another screen appeared right in front of him, words forming on it.
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[Absolute Defense - power that allows user's skin to get covered with a thin layer of bronze. The density and amount of bronze fully depends on the Qi Rank and the amount of Qi inputted into the divine power]
-
"How convenient" Cale was once again impressed by the usefulness of this screen, but at the same time, he became cautious. The whole situation with the light spheres was already extremely bizarre since that's basically defining the laws of cultivation itself.
However, now that this screen appeared after Cale's words, it truly seemed like someone was spying on him.
'I'm too weak to even try to figure anything out...But I'm sure that these secrets will reveal themselves after I become stronger' Cale assured himself before taking one last look at his bronze hand.
This divine power was definitely not the most powerful, but it was not weak either. Under Cale's control and some practice, [Absolute Defense] would definitely turn valuable. Moreover, with the progress in Qi cultivation, divine powers became mightier as well, and Cale, as of now, was improving at a tremendous speed.
"It's a pity that it's only possible to have one divine power, otherwise I would have absorbed more of them," Cale sighed. Initially, he wanted to embody a more powerful divine power, but with the danger in the forest growing with each passing day, Cale had to have at least some sort of defense.
Of course, if he wanted to get out of here alive.
-
"?" Fenrir tilted his head in confusion after seeing Cale tapping steadily into the thin air while sometimes talking to himself. He had already suspected that this skeleton was not in his right mind...but now he was fully convinced.