A smile played on Marcus's lips as he felt that his plan to create scholarly warriors was pretty much possible at this point.
How frightening were the people who created this art? How powerful did they become? Two successful breakthroughs in under a day were against the odds.
Although his title provided assistance, it still didn't take away from the fact that this Blood Bane Art was terrifying.
Anyone could be turned into a warrior under the right conditioning with this Art.
And then it crossed his mind: I don't cultivate Blood Force. Just Mana, and its subcategories– Aspects. With the inclusion of the Pulses.
Mana made him a Mage, while Aspects made an elemental specialist out of him; and at the same time, it made his body stronger. The Pulse points he opened that were related to the realm of the mind made him a Sage.
However, his Blood Force remained untouched despite all of this.
What if I also cultivate Blood Force… What type of effect would it have on me?
The thought remained fresh on his mind, and only by trying it himself would he know.
Marcus was open to doing anything that would make him stronger at this point without having to compromise much. He needed it for the upcoming battle.
"Is this even a normal feeling to have? I feel like if I truly put my back into it, I could wrestle a bull to death."
Bradley said, drawing Marcus's attention.
Astounded by his newfound strength, Bradley selectively chose to forget about the vile words he uttered just a while ago.
"Maybe, if you're skilled enough not to get stabbed by its horns first." Marcus started. "What you're feeling is just the tip of the iceberg compared to their level."
He pointed at the knights.
Though Bradley didn't truly understand what it meant to be powerful, at the moment he could somewhat grasp what the powerful felt.
The wonder of why they felt like they were untouchable.
Perhaps an inflation of ego due to the acquired strength, if not complete narcissism and arrogance.
"My lord, when are we going for the next hunt?" Lesley asked. His tone failed to hide his eagerness.
Everyone smiled when they heard this. They too wanted to return to the forest as soon as possible.
Despite the fear that the Tapirs instilled in them with their rampage, they had immediately gotten over it when the thought of getting stronger emerged.
"I… don't want to be involved in this anymore, sir." Bradley immediately spoke up. He had already faced enough danger for the day.
Marcus smirked and shook his head. "Don't be too much of a coward from now on, Bradley. But since you've successfully awakened your Blood Force, your goal has been met."
Your goal, sir, not mine! Bradley resisted the urge to say this out loud, only nodding his head lightly.
"I have another thing in mind for you to do."
Cultivating Aspect and Blood Force simultaneously should be possible. Why restrict the boys to just one path?
"You'll be returning to the mansion. Send half of the boys I chose to guard the estate here, and the other half should remain. The half coming here should come with a dozen bathtubs and many more buckets."
As soon as Bradley heard that he would be returning to the estate, his mood lightened.
"As you command, Milord!" He turned and almost ran to his horse.
"Also, don't forget what I told you about. Pick a few smart people to work under you. You should be very aware of the qualities they need to have."
"I am."
"Good. Chase, you'll be heading back with Bradley."
The knight felt a bit dejected when he heard this. He was about to voice his thoughts when Marcus continued.
"I'm not sending you off for no reason. You have just absorbed the energy within the blood of a Beast, and it has left its mark on you. You have to refine your Blood Force until you can restrain the beastly auras coming from you. Until then, there's no point in absorbing more nor hunting with us, as other Beasts will be able to sense your aura from afar."
"Oh," Chase mouthed. This was a sound reason.
"Don't forget about the mantra. Not only is it used to absorb the blood of Beasts, but it can also be used to cultivate your Blood Force. Use it well and teach no one without my permission. Is that understood?" He warned sternly.
"Yes, sir!"
At the moment, Marcus truly didn't fear anyone gaining knowledge of this art. Mainly because, as far as he knew, only he knew the more advanced mantras.
And without them, they were stuck.
So even if it did leak now, it would only serve a purpose of exposing the spy in his camp.
"Now off you go." Marcus dismissed them.
Two horses sped down the rocky path, and not even a minute had passed before Marcus said, "Let's go hunt another one."
"Yeah!" Some of his Knights echoed with excitement.
"This time, Mercidin, you and Caleb will lead us to where you found your Beast."
Previously, their fear towards Beasts had stemmed from the stories they had heard about them.
They were difficult to deal with and even more powerful when compared to humans.
However, since they realized that the weapons in their hands gave them a massive advantage, neither Marcus nor his men carried the same level of fear towards Beasts anymore.
At least not towards the lower-level ones.
In an excited hurry, twelve men rushed back into the forest. In a matter of minutes, they arrived in a bushy patch of the forest.
Stalks of grass that were almost half as tall as the trees around could be seen almost everywhere in this direction.
By the corner of the bush, an Elk, taller than the bushes, could be seen chewing on the grasses.
The Elk was more than 10 feet tall, with a wild antler formation on its head. The longest was up to 4 feet, and the smallest was a few inches long.
This further amplified the presence and height of the Beast, making it seem larger than its actual size.
Using his [Inspect] skill on the Elk, more information about it appeared before Marcus.
…
[Elk Beast (Young): A territorial herd animal. Dominant males are identified by the complexity of their antler formation. Highly sensitive to the loss of herd members. Highly aggressive during mating season.
Level: Low-rank Feral Beast.
Abilities: Resonant Bugle. Antler Dominion.
Weaknesses: Isolation. Terrain dependency.]
…
A young Elk?
Marcus's brows rose as he read this. This Elk was already huge and looked fully grown. But apparently, that wasn't the case.
Then his eyes fell upon the "territorial herd animal," and he immediately activated his Rippling World.
Within this formless world of water, Marcus couldn't sense any other Beasts that have off a similar aura to the Elk.
Though he could sense other Low-rank Feral Beasts, they weren't particularly entities to be too worried about.
Either they steer clear when the sound of battle reaches them, or they approach to see if they can poach anything. The former would be okay, and the latter would be met with death.
This was how Marcus thought.
He deactivated his Rippling World and looked at his knights before speaking soundlessly: "Same tactics as before. Deceive the monkey to steal its peach."
The knights nodded and quickly went into formation.
Soon, everyone was in position. A few of Marcus's knights snuck into the cover of the tall grasses, while others jumped from tree to tree.
They slowly closed in on the Elk, and the Beast remained none the wiser.
Just when everything seemed like it was going well, the Beast snapped its head in a direction.
Though still under the cover of the grass, Asad felt that he had been caught.
He remained still, not wanting to prove the Beast's instincts right. So did the rest of the knights.
Almost a minute passed before the Elk seemed to lose its suspicion.
And another minute for Marcus and the rest to move comfortably.
But the moment they did, they realized their mistakes.
They had been baited.
The Elk, despite its size, was surprisingly agile. It snapped its head towards one of the trees where a knight was hiding–Logail- and it opened its grass-filled mouth.
What came out of it wasn't a roar, but an attack that seemed to bypass sound and directly attack the senses.
Everyone around suddenly felt as though a hammer had struck their ears.
Ringing sounds clouded their senses for a second and even made them stumble.
Even Marcus wasn't safe from this attack.
Fortunately for them, it didn't last long.
Unfortunately for them, the Elk didn't need it to, as it had already picked a target.
It bent its antlers towards the direction where Logail and Marcus were, and the next second, almost twenty-four antlers shot off its head and traveled like arrows.
Logail and Marcus were still a bit disoriented and still hadn't noticed the projectiles heading for them.
Despite that, they were wary of an incoming sense of danger. And the whistling sounds of the incoming projectiles solidified this feeling.