He staggered backward, his foot unintentionally kicking up a large chunk of the soft turf.
Immediately after, his body seemed to move uncontrollably, retreating sharply backward.
The speed was so great that, to Hen, he was almost a blurry afterimage.
"Bang!" With a muffled thud, Karl El's back heavily struck the trunk of another large tree some thirty meters away, causing leaves to rustle down.
But Karl El felt no pain whatsoever, not even a speck of dust on his clothes.
Many grains of sand and soil lifted from the ground, imperceptibly swirling around his feet.
He knelt on the ground, breathing heavily, his hands clutching the earth tightly.
The energy uncontrollably overflowing from his eyes gradually scorched the ground in front of him, leaving a charred mark.
"Is it Super Senses… Heat Vision?"
He understood that this sudden, unaccustomed abnormality was definitely not a magical backlash, but rather the awakening of other superpowers.
It was just unexpected that the awakening was ill-timed, but Karl El didn't panic; instead, he forced himself to calm down.
He knelt on the scorched ground, eyes tightly closed, fighting with all his might against the tsunami of sensory information flooding in.
In his ears, there was the gurgling of the river a hundred meters away, the chirping of insects in the grass, and the faint rustle of air from birds flapping their wings high above.
Even Hen's heartbeat beside him, pounding like a drum, and the rustling sound of blood flowing through his veins.
All these sounds intertwined into a cacophony of noise that was enough to drive one mad.
"Separate them, lower them, block them…"
Karl El roared inwardly, concentrating all his mental power; his Super Brain instinctively began to operate at this moment.
Like the most precise supercomputer, it began to rapidly categorize, filter, and denoise this vast stream of information.
He forcibly suppressed the irrelevant, distant sounds, retaining only the closest sounds that might pose a threat.
As he exerted himself, the intense stimulation that had almost torn his consciousness apart gradually lessened and became bearable.
The vision in his eyes, which had been frantically switching between real and microscopic anatomical views, also stabilized, returning to normal sight.
The captivating red glow, uncontrollably emanating from his pupils, slowly receded like a tide.
Immediately after, Karl El silently recited, and a light blue, translucent system panel, visible only to him, unfolded before his eyes.
Name: [Karl El]
Energy Pool: [5634214]
Innate Abilities: [Bio-Force Field lv.1] [Steel Body lv.1] [Super Strength lv.1] [Super Speed lv.1]
[Super Senses lv.1] [Super Brain lv.1] [Heat Vision lv.1] [Cryokinesis lv.1]
His gaze quickly scanned, and sure enough, it was as he suspected.
Aside from the known awakening of Super Brain, though somewhat unexpected, it made sense upon closer thought.
Without this computer-like information processing capability, how could one handle the massive information brought by Super Senses?
And during this time, he deliberately did not rely on the system, precisely to verify his own growth potential.
The results confirmed that even without the system's aid, his inner potential would naturally awaken with his own training and encountered stimuli.
It seemed he would have to treat adding points as a trump card for critical moments, rather than adding them casually whenever he wished.
When he stood up again, aside from his slightly hurried breathing and somewhat unnatural complexion, he had mostly returned to normal.
Hen, who had been watching him closely, frowned, his eyes filled with confusion and worry.
He had witnessed the completely non-magical anomaly that had occurred to Karl El.
After several attempts to speak, he finally did, his voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity.
"Karl El… your pain just now, and that… abnormal manifestation, is it related to your special physique?"
Karl El hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded honestly: "Yes, Master. It is related to my physique."
He had already begun quickly weaving a narrative in his mind, considering how he would explain the origin of these superpowers if Hen pressed for details.
Should he attribute it to some unknown bloodline, or some ancient blessing?
However, Hen's reaction was completely beyond his expectation; upon receiving his affirmative answer.
The sorcerer, who had lived for nearly five hundred years, showed a look of understanding on his face, and then slowly breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.
He didn't press for a single word, instead, he smiled gently, a smile imbued with the wisdom and tolerance of one who had experienced much.
"Who doesn't have a secret or two? I'm not one of those curious youngsters anymore."
"The longer one lives, the more one understands a truth: excessive curiosity is often the fuse for trouble and death." Hen's tone lightened, carrying a hint of jest.
He looked at Karl El meaningfully: "I only need to know that the changes happening to you won't harm yourself, and that is enough."
"As for the rest… that is your own domain; I will not, and have no right to, delve deeper."
This unreserved trust and respect brought a warm current to Karl El's heart, and at the same time, increased his admiration for his master.
Hen then changed the subject: "So… tell me about that sorceress named Keira."
"When I came to pick you up, I noticed that the protective rune on the back of your hand had been triggered."
"Is there some bad blood between you two?"
At the mention of Keira, Karl El's expression darkened, and he no longer held back any information.
He recounted, in full detail, how Keira had tried to use telepathy to induce him to reveal Alzura's spell.
He described how he had seen through it and clashed with her, and how Triss had returned in time to intervene.
Only when he mentioned "Alzura's spell" did his tone pause slightly, as he observed Hen's reaction.
He had expected that upon hearing the names of these two lost, powerful spells.
Even someone like Hen would at least show some interest, perhaps even directly inquire about the incantations.
However, Hen's reaction once again surprised him.
Hen merely nodded with understanding, his tone as calm as if discussing tonight's dinner.
"So it was Alzura's spell; no wonder it aroused her covetousness." He even chuckled softly, with a hint of recollection.
"Alzur's Shield and Alzura's Lightning… Hmm, they are indeed very practical spells, but I had already mastered them more than three hundred years ago."
"What?" Karl El was genuinely stunned this time.
The incantations that Triss, despite her best efforts and even suffering backlash, couldn't fully recite, Hen had known and mastered three hundred years ago?
As if to prove his words, Hen casually raised a hand, pointing his fingertips at an ancient tree in the distance that required three people to embrace.
He didn't even aim deliberately, and from his mouth, quickly and clearly, came a string of ancient and majestic Elder Speech syllables—the complete incantation for Alzura's Lightning.
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