I watched as my body began to change.
Gaining seven levels at once had unleashed a flood of stats rushing through me all at once. My eyes stayed fixed on the "Law Comprehended" notification.
Just linking with space had advanced my comprehension to 20% of the Minor Law, and I could already feel the shift in my understanding of the skill.
I stretched a little and turned, ignoring the tiger's ruined corpse behind me.
My perception expanded outward, its range had grown even further. I locked onto Steve. He was surrounded by three abominations but holding his own.
I took a deep breath and activated the skill again.
[Absolute]
This time again, I halved the gravity acting on me.
"Deny," I whispered.
I felt my body grow lighter, not through brute force, but with ease. The comprehension was settling in now, like second nature.
Violet Essence burst from beneath my feet as I soared upward.
I kept the Essence Engine active, letting it absorb ambient energy and refine it into pure Essence. After checking the internal storage, I transferred half of it to Null Heart.
My perception swept the battlefield until I locked onto another abomination.
Steve was still doing fine.
With another burst of Essence, I changed direction and shot toward the target. I landed smoothly in front of it, the ground cracking slightly beneath me.
My eyes locked onto the creature as I scanned it.
[Silent Raven – Level 103]
It was completely black, nearly six feet tall, its body covered in rotting feathers. Scars ran all over it, from wings to talons. It perched silently on a massive tree, unmoving. Its head tilted slightly as it stared back at me with eerie red, beady eyes.
I slowly raised my hands, and Essence surged through my channels. A burning fireball started forming in front of me, spinning wildly with heat.
[Havoc Sfera]
The fireball grew larger, glowing bright and unstable. Still, the beast didn't move. It just sat there, quiet, watching.
I gave the command—and the fireball shot forward, roaring through the air as it headed straight for the raven.
But just before impact, the creature dissolved into a swirl of black smoke and darted away with shocking speed. The fireball slammed into the tree with a loud boom.
The tree exploded into flying splinters, fire and smoke bursting out in all directions.
The raven appeared again, now perched on another tree. But this time, I could tell it was on guard. Its wings spread wide—and then, like living smoke, it shot toward me.
I tracked its movement, trying to time my next attack. But before I could react, it opened its beak and fired a black beam straight at me. It was fast—blindingly fast—and in an instant, it was right in front of me.
I raised my palm and pushed Essence forward. A thick wall of ice formed in front of me just in time.
The dark beam crashed into the ice with a heavy bang, but it couldn't break through. Frost cracked along the surface, but the wall held firm.
I dissolved the ice as the raven soared silently overhead, its red eyes never leaving me.
Its wings flared out, and dark circles formed around them—six in total. Suddenly, beams of black energy shot out from the circles. They swirled and merged into one massive, spiraling beam headed right for me.
I narrowed my eyes, locking onto it.
"Time to try something new."
First, I activated [Psynapse Overdrive]. My perception sharpened, and my awareness stretched outward. I could feel every movement of Essence, every shift in energy.
My focus locked onto the beam. I could feel the Essence flowing inside it, wild, unstable, twisted and corrupted.
A tug-of-war began between the raven's control over the beam and my own will, powered by my Essence control. The beam wavered in the air, caught between two forces.
Just in case, I activated [Spatial Shield]. A thin, shimmering wall of compressed space formed in front of me, rippling like heat waves in the air.
Then I triggered the skill.
[Revert]
Immediately, I felt my Essence control take over. My will reached into the heart of the beam, spreading through the swirling, unstable energy that held it together.
And then, just like that, I shattered the raven's grip on it.
The beam unraveled at once. The dark energy dissolved into pure Essence and scattered into the air like mist blown away by the wind.
I looked up and grinned at the raven, baring my white teeth in the smoke-filled sky.
It blinked in surprise.
My knees bent, muscles coiling like springs.
Boom.
I launched myself forward in a burst of force, the ground cracking beneath me. The air tore past my ears as I rocketed toward the raven.
It flapped its wings wildly, trying to dodge and lift off. But I reached out and burst Essence from my palm, shifting my flight midair. My shoulder slammed into its chest, and we both spun through the sky, locked in a chaotic tumble.
The raven screeched and slashed at me with its claws, managing to dig into my side. But I grabbed both of its wings and pressed my palms against them as we spiraled downward.
[Absolute]
"Freeze," I commanded.
I felt space itself wrap around its wings and lock them in place like iron chains. The moment it realized it couldn't move them anymore, its red eyes widened in shock.
And then, we crashed through the trees and hit the ground together—hard.
Dust and dirt exploded around us as we crashed, a heavy thud shaking the trees nearby.
I rolled to the side and jumped back onto my feet the moment we hit the ground.
The raven tumbled across the dirt, dazed, but it wasn't down for long. As it started to spread its wings again, I leapt forward and landed on its back, wrapping my legs tightly around its neck.
With a shout, I clenched my fists and began slamming punch after punch into the back of its head.
Each hit echoed with a dull thud. Feathers flew. The beast screeched in anger and tried to shake me off, but I held on tight.
Its wings rose as it began flapping furiously, trying to lift off with me still on top of it.
"Not happening."
I focused and pushed my will through my Psynapse.
I increased the gravity acting on my body—by half.
"Allow," I commanded.
Instantly, I felt myself get heavier, like someone had dropped a boulder on my back. The raven's attempt to take off faltered. Its knees buckled under the extra weight pressing down on it.
It stumbled, losing balance.
Before it could try again, I gave another order.
"Freeze."
Space wrapped around its wings like invisible chains. They stopped mid-motion—frozen in place like a paused image.
The beast let out a confused, strangled cry, its body pinned under the crushing force of both gravity and frozen space.
I stood tall over its struggling form, then jumped into the air, raising my elbow high above my head.
With all my weight behind it, I brought it crashing down onto the raven's skull.
Crack.
Its head slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. The beast twitched once… then went still.
[Level Up!]
[Level 57 -> Level 62]
I exhaled and shot upward, heading toward Steve. I found him sitting on the ground, surrounded by the bodies of the abominations he had just killed.
I landed smoothly in front of him.
He looked up at me, his expression serious.
"What happened?" I asked.
He stared for a second, then said flatly, "This isn't fair. Why the hell can you fly?"
I chuckled. "Because I'm special."
He scoffed. "I hate you."
I nodded with a straight face. "Totally understandable. Oh, by the way, I just fought a giant raven. Thought about capturing it for you—maybe turn it into your personal ride. But since you hate me... I guess I won't bother."
He immediately waved his hands. "Come on, man! You're my only brother. There's literally no one I love more in this world!"
I burst out laughing.