BXBX NOVEL Chapter 37: Don't Be So Narcissistic
Chapter 37: Don't Be So Narcissistic
It was early morning, still dark outside, with stars clearly visible against the black sky. Sam, our protagonist, lay in bed in a fetal sleeping position. He was enveloped by a swirling of yellow and blue trains of energy, long lines of mana and heroic energy swirling around him protectively. Sam's eyes were closed, unaware of what was happening to him. Then, a new energy began to emanate from Sam's body, particularly from his eyes.
This energy was dark blue, invisible to the naked eye, unlike mana and heroic energy.
This dark blue energy influenced both the mana and heroic energy, causing them to shift and make room for its presence. It began to guide the mana and heroic energy, aligning them into single, intertwined lines without mixing as it circulated throughout his body.
The dark blue energy then cloaked the mana and heroic energy lines, transforming them into multiple strands of dark blue energy. This was the result of Sam passively using the Soul Animation Concealment Art for an extended period.
The technique was initially developed to conceal the presence of mana and heroic energy within Sam's body, thereby hiding the fact that he was a magic-wielding hero.
To everyone's astonishment, including his sisters', the technique worked flawlessly. They had doubted its efficacy. Creating a presence-masking technique was challenging enough, but concealing both mana and heroic energy simultaneously was a feat previously thought impossible, especially considering Sam's unique case.
Sam was the second person ever to possess both mana and heroic energy, making the development of such a technique unprecedented. His family believed the world was not ready for an anomaly like him, particularly since the last person with both mana and heroic energy was a significant figure in the history of Arcane.
If people learned about him, they might think he was the second coming of that person or believe that Sam was the reincarnation of that legendary figure.
To conceal this fact, Sam's eldest sister, Grace, one of the greatest mages of her generation, developed a technique using unknown methods solely for Sam. Everything worked well, but even she didn't fully understand the technique's extent, as the method she used to create it was shrouded in mystery.
It was a passive ability, meaning Sam was constantly using it to prevent any energy leakage. Over the past three weeks, the technique had become second nature to him.
Unknown to anyone but Sam, the technique had another effect apart from masking his energy—it tempered his soul. This tempering strengthened his soul energy, which grew passively without his knowledge until it gave birth to a separate ability called Soul Power.
This dark blue energy that masked his mana and heroic energy was his Soul Power. Each time it circulated, entering and leaving his body, his Soul Power increased proportionally. This process had been occurring every second since he started using the technique, causing his Soul Power to grow slowly but steadily.
Right now his Soul Power was increasing rapidly.
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Perception Stat Increased: +1]
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Soul Power Increased: +1]
[Soul Animation Concealment Art Level Increased: +1]
Sam woke up feeling a cold sensation spreading throughout his being, greeted by the system panel. Before he could read the system messages, he became aware of multiple presences around him.
"What the hell are those things?" he wondered.
He sensed thousands of entities around him—not just people, but all sorts of living brings. This wasn't like mana sense or heroic sense; it was like a natural awareness of their existence.
He just knows that they were there from where he was sensing them.
Then, he looked at the system panel.
[Your Soul Power has reached the threshold]
[You have unlocked a additional effect of the Soul Power]
[Unlocked Effect: Soul Sense]
"Soul sense?"
[Soul Sense: Gives you the ability to sense the presence of souls, both alive and dead, within a certain radius. Your other senses can influence its effectiveness]
"So that's what these are? Souls, or more like beings with souls," he mused, looking around as he perceived hundreds of souls around him.
"Another interesting skill," Sam thought, as an idea sparked in his mind along with memories of being chased by something invisible in the Forbidden Forest.
"Maybe now I can figure out what chased me that day in the Forbidden Forest," he pondered. The fear of that pursuit during his return from making a contract with the Beast Ant Queen still lingered vividly in his memory.
Turning off his Soul Sense, he glanced out the window. "It's still pretty early. The training grounds should be empty."
Deciding to train, he arrived there to find someone sitting by the entrance, seemingly waiting for him.
"You're here every morning, the same time I come to train, yet I've never seen you train even once," Sam observed, looking at the girl in front of him with jet-black hair and dark eyes. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you intentionally come here to see me," "Don't be so narcissistic," Lucy retorted with a stoic face.
"Ah, alright then. You do your thing, and I'll do mine," Sam nodded, returning to his training.
Lucy watched him go, a faint frown on her face. As much as she disliked admitting it, she had come to meet him.
Sam was an early riser, almost crazily so. His solitary morning training sessions made this the ideal time for Lucy to approach him—quiet, secluded, with no prying eyes, especially not those two girls who always seemed to be around him.
For reasons Lucy couldn't quite explain, she avoided Yuki and Isabelle. Sam remained unaware of this preference.
Lucy watched him train, unable to tear her eyes away from his delicately carved, handsome face and perfectly sculpted physique.
"Why does it feel like he's become even more handsome?" Lucy gulped, her gaze following his every movement like a hawk tracking its prey.
Sam sighed and continued his training. Over the past two weeks, he had learned to ignore her constant staring.
[Your contracted beast, Anthra (Beast Ant Queen) has awoken from her slumber.]
He halted his training abruptly at the system notification, indicating that his contracted beast, the Beast Ant Queen, had finally awakened.
"It took her significantly longer than it usually does for an Beast Ant Queen to reach adulthood. I wonder if her growth is influenced by me," Sam mused as he sheathed his sword.
He closed his eyes, and his consciousness left his body, arriving in an anthill at the foot of a mountain.
Inside the cave, there was a colossal, ten-foot-tall egg-like structure, markedly different from the last time Sam was here. The substance forming the cocoon covered the entire cave, seemingly absorbing energy from everywhere around it.
The cocoon was constantly emitting pulses, accompanied by an intense purplish glow with red accents, making it appear as though the entire mountain had come alive. The pulses grew stronger, and the glow became more prominent until a crack appeared on the cocoon, spreading across the entire structure.
BOOM!
The cocoon exploded into thousands of pieces, releasing a tremendous burst of energy that swept debris into the air. Sam saw two compound, blood-red neon eyes emerging from the smoky debris, and then a queen ant walked out, her wings standing straight.
Anthra, standing on all six of her legs, was about eight feet tall, her body covered in purplish-red scales. "Is that...?" Sam squinted his closed eyes in surprise, sensing the dark power emanating from her.
It seemed Anthra noticed his presence as she screeched in the direction of his consciousness.
"Don't go outside until I tell you, okay? I will bring you all the food you want," he ordered. Anthra seemed to understand him as she screeched softly at his consciousness before she began to eat the beast's flesh and beast core that Sam had left there.
[Ability Activated: Eye Of Truth]
"It works?" Even with his separated consciousness, he could still use the Eyes Of Truth.
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[Name: Anthra]
[Race: Mutated Beast Ant]
[Rank: Queen Ant]
[Trait: Infinite Mutation]
[Racial Ability(s): Savage Consumption, Colony Enhancement, Colonial Evolution, Regeneration, Venomous Bite, Acid Spray, Winged Flight,Territorial Domination, Territorial Marking, Pheromone Emission, Tough Exoskeleton, Night Vision, Adaptability, Resource Conversion, Burrow Creation]
[Unique Ability(s): Colony Regeneration, Egg Laying, Hive Mind Control, Telepathic Awareness, Dark Flame Creation]
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