Zarek continued to move through the night, his expression not having changed much.
'No Mutants have appeared. Odd…'
In the future, finding a Mutant would be incredibly difficult. They learned how to protect themselves, and though they were exceptionally powerful, they were also intelligent enough to know that they were the top priority targets of the strongest elites of the human race as well.
Mutants didn't have Godsfall Droplets, but instead had true Godsfall Cores or Crystals. The highly concentrated Godsfall would be of pinnacle importance to high-level breakthroughs.
By the time you got to C Warrior, even one step forward was a nightmare, and without a strong push or a powerful Circulation Method, you would never cross through certain bottlenecks.
However, in the present, Mutants were ironically far easier to find. They spawned randomly but didn't have enough intelligence to protect themselves.
In fact, all things considered, even if they did have the intelligence, they probably wouldn't bother.
Why should they when they were the apex predators of Earth right now?
Either way, for a densely populated region like this one, Zarek had been almost certain that he would run into at least one Mutant, especially with the draw of himself and Priya both circulating [Godsfall Eclipse Resonance] on top of the amplification of [Limit Break].
'Something is definitely fishy…'
This was the first time that Zarek had remained by the school for so long. But it was odd…
First, he found out that Malik's trump card was likely near here somewhere, and now this.
Two things weren't enough for a pattern, especially since the night was pretty young, but Zarek had gotten used to trusting his gut.
'I can't investigate. If I leave too far from the house, Pri will be in danger.'
Not only did Zarek not continue forward, but he retreated, getting closer to his home again.
By this point, he had already fought against three Mature Turned, which were essentially just Turned that had shed their rotting exterior, taking on their true form.
Though, calling them mature at this point was ridiculous. They still hadn't gotten used to their new bodies and were lumbering around a lot like newborns on wobbling legs.
At least to Zarek it was like that. To an inexperienced fighter, they would probably lose their lives in an instant.
Zarek got to the house again and took a peek through a window. He caught Priya's back view and she had sunk into a decent state of focus.
'Good. She's already managed to calm her nerves.'
She was probably smart enough to know that he was protecting her from the shadows. But pressing down that small hint of doubt in her heart was impressive nonetheless.
'I'm approaching the first phase… good…'
Zarek took the opportunity to check the state of his body and nodded. The night was still young, but he was already close to being able to withstand a Godsfall droplet. By the end of the night, he was confident that he would be able to withstand two from the [Godsfall Eclipse Resonance] circulation alone. If [Limit Break] was added, he should be able to withstand three.
Then he would be prepared for a perfect breakthrough.
What he was chasing after wasn't some race up the tiers. He needed something more.
Slipping out again, he continued his killing spree. The number of Turned corpses littering the ground only increased. Each one represented their own opportunity. But unfortunately, even the Mature Turned would suffer dissipation if Zarek didn't have the time.
Dissipation occurred when the Godsfall Droplet returned to nature. There would be special methods of storing them in the future, but unless he found a Hub, it wouldn't be any time soon.
…
The night continued to wane and soon the darkness had reached its absolute peak. Dawn was likely not far away at this point, and Zarek had successfully pushed his threshold to two droplets.
Still, not a single Mutant had appeared.
By this point, Zarek was even more certain of his assessment.
He looked up to the skies.
'It's about time.'
Even with how efficient he had been, fatigue was inevitable. He only had the body of an F Elite right now, and skipping out on sleep, even with Godsfall as a supplement, wasn't ideal for someone with affinity as low as himself.
He had already accounted for that, which was why he spent so long in the Godsfall Tear. They had been well-rested before they left.
But the human body was a finicky mistress, expecting a solid eight hours every twenty-four.
Even so, Zarek steeled himself, his eyes flashing.
All this time, [Limit Break] had been a slowly revving engine, building up momentum. The easiest way to use the technique was to trigger it at the very end, but the optimal way was almost like savoring a wine…
Smelling it, swirling it, letting it roll around on your tongue.
Then, and only then…
Should you swallow.
BANG!
Zarek coughed out a mouthful of blood, stumbling back a heavy step.
According to [Limit Break], your body wouldn't be left with any adverse effects… but that only referred to one's foundation. Injuries he suffered would be perfectly placed and more than manageable. But that didn't mean that there would be no injuries at all.
If anything, [Limit Break] was the most self-mutilating technique Zarek had ever seen, and he had once seen one that required disembowelment.
His body shivered from head to toe, all of his muscles tensing at once, so hard that even his nails began to peel away from his fingers.
'Now you want to come, huh? Good timing, indeed.'
Zarek had known that there was something wrong all the while. There should definitely be Mutants here, but none had appeared. He couldn't understand why, not when they didn't have the intelligence to hide.
While he had thought of several other possibilities, they would have obvious effects on the other Turned as well, so it didn't seem to fit the bill.
Now, he knew why.
This was a Mutant, but it was one of the Charisma Type. Their souls were naturally stronger than other Mutants, and as such…
They were the fastest to catch up to human ingenuity and intelligence.
Lurking in the thin line of forest in the not too far-off distance, a pair of violet eyes too beautiful for words slowly opened and looked at Zarek directly for the first time.