Chapter 115 - 115- Zenith And Evolution (Part 1)
In the rain, Talon slowly took slow steps forward. His body was slumped forward, covered in blood from head to toe.
'... I'm… still standing…' His hazy eyes were staring ahead, trying to discern what was happening. At this point, everything was simply blending into an incomprehensible image in his retina. Nothing made sense and even things that made sense became but another white noise in the background.
The sounds around him turned into muffled noises that he couldn't understand. His arms felt completely numb and yet still carried the spear. Not for a second did he stumble or sway. It was as if even in his condition, he never considered falling to the ground.
Meanwhile, his enemy stared at him with a horrified look on her face, only hidden by her mask and bloody scar.
'8 shots… He took 8 shots… and he's still standing… How is that even possible?!' She asked herself.
She knew what kind of weapon she was carrying and she knew how strong the bullets inside this sniper rifle were. These bullets were called 'Ghost Bullets' and they were a very technologically advanced invention from her homeworld.
These bullets had the ability to pass the target's senses and pierce them before they could even realize where they were. They had the destructive power to kill any target under level 30 almost instantly.
A few bullets were always a guarantee that any target under level 40 was dead. Yet, Talon not only didn't die after getting hit by 8 bullets, he was still standing and walking toward her. This was something she would've never expected in her wildest imagination.
'Goddamit, why doesn't he want to die?!' Clenching her teeth, she looked behind her. The Azure Flames were closing on them at a very rapid pace.
Seeing that, the woman's face turned even darker. If those flames continued to eat away at the forest, one of her biggest advantages was going to be completely destroyed. Not only was she going to lose the forest which was akin to a layer of defense to the research center, but it was also going to potentially kill all the monsters she ordered to retreat.
There was simply no way she could let that happen, especially when she was wasting time dealing with this young man in front of her.
'I have to move before things get out of control!' Clenching her teeth, she turned around and aimed her gun at Talon before she slowly fixed the angle of the scope to aim at Talon's head.
This entire time, she had been aiming for his arms, torso, and chest. But, because of the one single problem the ghost bullets had, none of these bullets hit a a very vital organ of Talon's body.
The single flaw they had was that they were extremely hard to aim with. Even with her extremely advanced sniper rifle that can basically aim automatically and give the best possible shot, it's still almost impossible to get the exact spot she's looking for.
But, to put an end to all of this, she had to deliver a lethal blow… A single shot that he could definitely not recover from and she knew exactly where to aim for that shot.
'I need to hit him in the head…' She thought to herself.
Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to calm her raging thoughts and fixed her arms as she tried to adjust the angle to get a perfect hit.
At the same time, Talon's mind was in a plain of its own, loosely linked to this world by his ever-so-weak awareness.
'It hurts… It hurts like hell…' He thought to himself. Every part of his being, every cell, screamed at him to stop and just lie down. He hated this… He hated it so much that he wanted to yell at the top of his lungs how much he hated it.
But, his weak body couldn't really find the energy to even do that, so he just continued approaching his enemy, completely unable to even move his body as he wanted.
Acrypha flew next to him as she tried to catch his attention and even grabbed his shoulder to stop him. But, each time, he would slip from her grip and continue walking as if he were a soulless vessel.
'Why am I doing this? Uh… I can't remember…' For a second, his mind was unable to recall what reason he was even still standing for at that moment.
That moment, he felt like simply going on his knees and then letting his body off… let it free.
But, before that could happen, images suddenly flashed in his head. Images of people he knew very well and loved very much.
'Ah… Right…'
He was still standing for a reason and that reason was as vivid as ever in his head, even in such moments where he even lost the ability to talk.
Talon was completely in his own world now, everything was suddenly a lot clearer. He felt like this was the place he belonged in… His own realm where no one can bother him.
'So warm…' He thought to himself as he basked in the feeling.
It was such a blissful thing, a very beautiful time when he wasn't in need of lifting the spear and cutting down monsters.
He felt his consciousness expand and his senses flourish. It was as if the entire world was now within the grasp of his awareness, playing as he wished and doing what he wanted.
'I feel… A lot more… alive…
He didn't know why, when, or how this happened, but he didn't really care much as it felt really nice. He simply grasped that fleeting moment of enlightenment and left it to expand inside of him, taking over every part of him.
Meanwhile, out of his own mental world, Acrypha watched what was happening with an extremely shocked look on her face.
"What is he doing?"
A few seconds ago, Talon's consciousness was on the verge of dying which almost meant his demise. Acrypha was beyond terrified and tried to do everything within her ability to stop him. She even was about to simply give up trying to avoid the brutal soul damage she could sustain and was about to carry him to safety before he died.
She knew that he would probably never forgive her for it, but she didn't care, Talon must not die.
'I can't let him die… I can't… I simply can't. I'm sorry, Talon.' She clenched her teeth as she wanted to grab his shoulder again, only to notice a weird shift in her human.
Out of nowhere, his consciousness suddenly sparked up again and his fading aura started harmonizing again even though it was still terrifyingly weak.
His lack of awareness of the world also seemed to vanish and was replaced by a serene silence.
Acrypha didn't comprehend what was happening at first. But, it didn't take her long to realize what he just did. It was something that she had seen before a few times, but never even in her wildest dreams expected to see here, in this place.
'He entered a Zenith State?' She asked herself, seemingly unable to believe it. 'He isn't supposed to enter such a state yet… It's far too early… No, this isn't good! If he stays in that zone, he will die!'
Acrypha knew more than anyone else about the Zenith State. It was a moment where an individual would reach such a high level of concentration with their entire being that they would, for a very fleeting moment, merge with the Aetheris in their bodies.
Such a thing naturally brought along with it unprecedented evolution to that individual if done successfully and could be said to be the thing that differentiates between legends and mere weaklings. But, the huge risks that came with it were equally terrifying if not worse.
For instance, because of that brief fusion, there was a huge risk that the Aetheris would take over the host's body and completely destroy it from the inside out due to the chaotic nature of Aetheris itself.
Then, there was the possibility of the individual losing their connection with the real world and eventually completely losing their consciousness, becoming an empty vessel with no mind.
That was why, even the best of geniuses, refrained from trying to reach such a state at an early level because of the risks. Normally, even the strongest of beings would wait till they're level 100+ to even consider doing such a mad thing.
In Talon's case, from what Acrypha could see, he had entered the Zenith State without realizing it. Perhaps it was his near-death condition that pushed him to actually dive deeper into consciousness or simply it was his mysterious talent that keeps revealing more and more every single day.
Acrypha didn't know and frankly didn't care at that moment since her entire mind was focused on one thing.
'I need to get him out of it before he self-destructs…' Her mind raced as she frowned harder and harder.
From what she knew, when someone enters a Zenith State, the worst you could do is to wake them up since that meant almost 100% chance of them getting brutally punished. She also can't try to alter his Aetheris flow.
'What can I do? Think, think…'
Time ticked very slowly as the woman aimed her sniper at Talon, unaware of everything that was happening.
The same could be said for Talon who was indulging that feeling more and more. He felt like he was at the peak of everything. Far beyond anything he could ever comprehend.
Unbeknownst to him, outside, notifications were popping in front of him endlessly.
[Ding!]
[Your Enhanced Focus has improved.]
[Ding!]
[Your Enhanced Focus has improved.]
[Ding!]
[Your Enhanced Focus has leveled up!]
[Ding!]
[Your Enhanced Focus has improved.]
[Ding!]
[Your Enhanced Focus has leveled up!]
[Ding!]
[Your 'Enhanced Focus' skill has reached level 5.]
[The skill has evolved.]
[Ding!]
['Enhanced Focus' has evolved into 'Future Sight'.]
[Ding!]
['Dimension Harvester' has leveled up.]
[You have gained a new ability.]
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A//N: Don't forget the Golden Tickets to support your boy ?? Thanks for reading.