Chapter 32: The Crimson Sorceress Figured Out How I Steal Skills

Blackthorn was different from the forests Raven had seen so far.

Quieter.

Not completely.

Insects.

Occasional birds.

Water somewhere in the distance.

But there were no small animals moving through the underbrush.

Raven noticed that first.

Valeria did too.

"There’s a predator nearby."

"Or several."

She looked at him.

"You know that because of your Skill?"

"No."

Raven pointed toward the ground.

"No fresh small tracks."

Then the trees.

"Not many birds staying low."

Valeria looked around.

"I thought your Instinct did all of that for you."

"Predator’s Instinct improves information."

"It doesn’t replace experience?"

"Nothing useful does."

She seemed to consider that answer.

They continued.

Twenty minutes later, they found remains.

A small creature.

It looked like a deer with six eyes.

Its abdomen had been torn open.

Partially eaten.

Raven crouched.

Fresh blood.

Valeria examined the wounds.

"Mirehorn."

"You sure?"

"Its fangs leave two lines here."

She pointed.

Raven examined them.

Learned.

"An hour. Maybe two."

"Less."

"Why?"

Valeria touched the blood.

A reddish circle appeared around her fingertip.

The droplet rose.

Raven watched.

Blood Magic.

The first time he’d actually seen her use it.

The blood floated like a tiny sphere in front of her eyes.

Valeria closed her fingers.

"Approximately thirty-seven minutes."

Raven looked at her.

"Specific."

"Blood remembers."

"That sounds dramatic."

"It’s blood magic."

"I suppose it’s mandatory."

Valeria smiled.

"I can say it less elegantly if you’d prefer."

"Try."

"It’s pretty fresh."

Raven nodded.

"Better."

She laughed.

The sphere fell.

Raven studied the tracks.

One direction.

Northeast.

Toward the quarry.

Exactly as the records indicated.

They moved on.

Then Raven noticed something else.

A mark across a tree trunk.

Not from the Mirehorn.

Three narrow slashes.

Shoulder height.

Deep.

Roland approached.

"Black Razorcat."

Raven looked at the marks.

Valeria already knew what was coming.

"No."

Raven looked at her.

"What?"

"You are not about to start interrogating us about its organs."

"I wasn’t going to."

"Lie."

"I already read about them."

Valeria went silent.

Raven continued.

"Reflexes. Claw Reinforcement. Minor Night Vision."

Valeria stared at him.

"Of course you know that."

"None are a priority."

"So we ignore it."

"Yes."

She continued watching him as he walked away.

"It’s really deliberate."

Raven glanced back slightly.

"What?"

"Your progression."

He didn’t answer.

Valeria walked beside him.

"Most Awakened get whatever their class allows them to have, then spend years figuring out how to use it."

"Sounds inefficient."

"They don’t have a choice."

"I do."

"That’s what worries me."

Raven looked at her.

"You don’t look worried."

"I have a very good expression."

"I noticed."

Valeria smiled.

"You decide what you’re missing, then search for the organism capable of giving it to you."

"More or less."

"Stonehide because you needed defense."

Raven didn’t confirm it.

"Burst Step for mobility."

Silence.

"Coagulation Control because you keep getting injured."

Raven kept walking.

Valeria stopped.

"You’re building yourself."

That made Raven stop.

Not because the statement was entirely correct.

Because it was more correct than he’d expected from her.

Valeria approached.

"You’re not simply making yourself stronger."

She looked at his hands.

His legs.

Then his eyes.

"You’re choosing what kind of creature you want to become."

The forest seemed to go quiet around them.

Raven thought about the Nightfang.

Cinderback.

Ravager.

Gloom Stalker.

The human Mana Heart.

Predation.

Consume.

Adapt.

Evolve.

"’Creature’ is a strong word."

Valeria raised an eyebrow.

"You ate a human heart yesterday."

"Part of one."

"That doesn’t improve the sentence."

Raven thought about it.

"Fair."

He started walking again.

Valeria followed.

"Doesn’t that worry you?"

"What?"

"Changing too much."

Raven looked at his hand.

For an instant, he activated Stonehide.

His skin darkened.

Mineralized.

Then returned to normal.

"I’ll worry when the change becomes worse than the alternative."

"That doesn’t really answer the question."

"Answers enough of it."

Valeria remained quiet.

Raven could feel her eyes on him.

It wasn’t fear.

Not yet.

Fascination.

That could become considerably more annoying.

They found the first sign of the Crimson Mirehorn shortly before sunset.

Not a track.

A corpse.

Large.

The dead creature resembled an armored feline, almost the size of a small horse.

Its chest had been torn open.

But not eaten.

Valeria moved forward first.

Raven raised a hand.

She stopped.

Predator’s Instinct was reacting.

Barely.

But it was reacting.

"Something’s wrong."

Roland drew his sword.

The other guards spread out.

Valeria watched the trees.

"Ambush?"

"I don’t know."

Raven crouched beside the corpse without touching it.

The wounds were strange.

Punctures.

Many of them.

Far too small to belong to the Mirehorn’s fangs.

Then he noticed the blood around it.

Not all of it belonged to the feline.

Very dark red.

Threaded with faintly glowing lines.

Valeria saw it too.

Her expression changed.

"Mirehorn."

"Injured."

"Yes."

Raven followed the droplets.

Toward the quarry.

Good news.

A wounded Level 18–22 creature was better than a healthy one.

Then Predator’s Instinct pulsed again.

This time from the opposite direction.

Raven turned.

Something moved between the trees.

Large.

Not the Mirehorn.

Roland raised his sword.

"Movement."

Another shadow appeared to the left.

Then a third.

Valeria slowly extended one hand.

Blood from the corpse began rising.

Not into a sphere.

Into threads.

Dozens of them.

They coiled around her fingers.

Raven watched.

Now that magic was interesting.

Valeria smiled without looking at him.

"Impressed?"

Raven drew his knife.

"Not yet."

The strands of blood hardened.

Formed three floating spears around her.

"You could pretend a little."

"Would you pay me?"

Valeria turned her head.

"How much?"

Raven thought.

"Two hundred crowns."

She laughed.

"Asshole."

The first creature stepped out from between the trees.

Raven saw four eyes.

Dark skin.

Narrow jaw.

Then another.

And another.

They weren’t the target.

But they’d been following the Mirehorn’s blood.

Scavengers.

Opportunistic predators.

Raven counted.

Five.

Maybe more.

Valeria raised one hand.

The crimson spears rotated around her.

"I suppose you’ll work with me now."

Raven activated Stonehide over his forearm.

"No."

"We’re surrounded."

"I noticed."

"We’re fighting the same thing."

"Yes."

"That’s called working together."

Raven felt Predator’s Instinct tighten as the first creature lowered its body.

"No."

Burst Step began gathering mana in his legs.

"That’s called having mutual enemies."

The creature leaped.

Valeria smiled.

"You’re exhausting."

Raven vanished forward.

"I’ve been told."