Zing!
As expected, the golden spears Brandon conjured pierced right through the crimson tiger's fiery armor, slamming into its body.
"ROOAARRR!!"
The tiger's proud face instantly twisted in agony as the spears struck, its roar echoing through the forest. Brandon actually paused for a moment—he hadn't thought the beast would just stand there and take it, not even trying to dodge. It had simply coated itself in fire and waited for his attack, as if it was invincible. Gold was sharp by nature, but he'd also laced his spears with arcs of electricity, making them even more penetrative.
Honestly, the only reason the tiger was still alive was sheer luck—the spears hadn't hit any vital spots.
Now, the arrogance in the beast's eyes was gone, replaced by rage and a primal, wild fury, its bloodlust intensifying.
"Normally, wild animals have an almost instinctive sense of danger," Brandon mused aloud. "So why didn't you dodge? Are elemental attacks harder for your instincts to detect? Or were you just overconfident?"
Yue stood frozen, watching as Brandon strolled calmly up to the wounded tiger, completely ignoring the bestial rage burning in its eyes.
The tiger didn't hesitate. With a furious roar, it lunged, jaws wide, ready to tear him apart.
But right before its teeth could reach him, an invisible force locked the beast in place. It was frozen, mid-lunge.
Brandon didn't seem surprised. He examined the animal up close, running his fingers along its fur, even gently touching the flaming lotus on its forehead.
"Hm. That's a solid amount of fire energy inside you—stronger than Yue, that's for sure."
He studied the lotus, curious. "Is this a rune, formed from your internal fire energy? Or is it the mark of some special ability?"
He checked the muscle tone, nodding in approval. "You must have been pretty strong even before you mutated."
He grinned to himself. "A tiger with fire powers must be nearly immune to heat. I wonder if cooking your meat will take longer than normal? Should be interesting to test."
He filed the thought away for later—definitely worth having the research team look into.
With curiosity satisfied, Brandon got to business. He placed his hands around the tiger's thick neck.
Crack!
One sharp twist and the crimson tiger went limp. Life faded instantly.
"Sorry about this," Brandon said quietly, patting the beast's head. "Your power was just too strong. I couldn't risk handling you any other way."
Then, holding his right hand in a slicing gesture, golden light shimmered around his fingers. With a couple of swift, practiced cuts, he sliced off two muscular legs. A faint silver glow flickered from the ring on his finger—and in an instant, both the legs and the entire tiger carcass vanished, as if swallowed by thin air.
"A…spatial ring?!" Yue gasped, her eyes wide as she finally snapped out of her shock. She clapped her hand over her mouth, stunned. "Has the Bureau already developed spatial storage rings? Was this made by a spatial-type awakened?"
But… why don't I have one? And neither do Carl Stone, Hazel Yates, or even Firewing. Was this some new tech, just handed out for this mission?
Before she could get lost in her thoughts, Brandon casually shot her theory down.
"Nope. I made it myself."
Brandon had no clue whether the Bureau had a spatial-type awakened, or if they could even produce storage rings like this. He'd simply crafted it the night before—just in case he needed to store mutant animal corpses or any other loot found in the reserve.
How? Simple.
After all, isn't space just another aspect of nature?
Okay, maybe he was a bit influenced by all the novels he'd read—"space is king, time is supreme," that sort of thing. He'd never considered space and time as part of his natural powers before. The ring wasn't made using [Nature's Authority], but instead a unique ability: his Mangekyo Sharingan's power.
[Left Eye: Divine Edict]
"What I declare is divine law. My word becomes reality."
"God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God said, 'Let there be a vault between the waters, to separate water from water,' and it was so."
As long as he could bear the cost, anything he declared became reality.
With "Divine Edict" active, Brandon could create a spatial storage ring almost effortlessly.
And the price? He hadn't really noticed any cost—truthfully, even without using that power, he felt like he could have made the ring anyway.
Nature didn't demand a price.
But then again, his Divine Edict ability was itself derived from [Nature's Authority], so maybe it all fit.
Yue stared at him, totally lost. "So… you're a spatial-type awakened?"
Before Brandon could answer, she continued, "But you just used metal-element powers! Wait—are you a dual-ability awakened?"
But I've never heard of anyone with two powers…
Brandon just smiled. "Who knows?"
Suddenly, his expression changed. He turned on his heel, lashing out with a sharp kick.
BOOM!
A massive shockwave exploded outwards, scattering dust and leaves. In that instant, a blurred shape—something living—was blasted out of thin air, its body caving under the force, before slamming into a tree so hard the trunk snapped with a crack.
The battered creature slumped to the ground, covered in blood, its original form impossible to recognize.
The forest went eerily quiet.
Yue, who had only just recovered from the tiger fight, found herself stunned speechless.
Wait, what just happened?
Did Brandon just kick something straight out of the air?
No, not just kicked—he'd obliterated it. The tree itself couldn't even withstand the force.
So, not only could Brandon manipulate gold and space—his body was monstrously strong too.
Well, maybe that made sense. What kind of mage didn't have a tough body and combat experience?
A close-combat mage, apparently.
It's just a mutant beast, just a tree snapped in half…
But really, what the hell?!
This isn't human!
Even if spiritual energy enhanced people's bodies, and using abilities also made you tougher, there had to be a limit!
How long has the world even had spiritual energy? Even those awakened for strength couldn't do something like this!
(End of Chapter)
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