novelraw Chapter 76: Evolving Ability
Chapter 76: Evolving Ability
Damon rested for around fifteen minutes, allowing his stamina to recover before attempting to evolve his broken ability.
During that time, he told Kitsune about everything that happened inside his Domain. She already had a pretty good idea through their connection, but she still wanted to hear specific details from him.
His group simply rested. The last week had been brutal, so they used every moment of respite to the fullest.
Finally, as the minutes passed, Damon felt rested enough to activate Absolute Comprehension once more.
Just as many times before, his consciousness slipped toward the Threads of Power, watching their intricate patterns with quiet understanding.
He focused on his broken ability, Bloodthirst, and moved his consciousness to the threads responsible for it.
The broken strands immediately became clear to him. What previously felt like a faint understanding of where they were damaged was now a precise map of every detail. He could easily spot every single fractured thread, and quickly, he began to manipulate them.
A sharp tug pulled at his abdomen. His mana was being drained from him at an extraordinary rate.
Unlike before, where he tried to use the slow and deliberate evolution path he observed from the Dark Evolution, he moved quicker this time, snapping the threads in place with almost audible clicks. But he didn’t just stop there. Once the last thread connected and a notification, which he ignored, echoed in his head, he began to weave more.
He expanded the threads, building upon what was already there. The threads responsible for creating the ability almost doubled in size, their patterns far more complex than they had been before.
Then, as he slowly began to feel a hard strain in his abdomen, the final thread he had imagined in his head connected right in place, creating a complete bundle of threads.
[Your ability *Bloodthirst* has evolved!]
[Bloodthirst → Ravenous Bloodlust]
Just as the notification rang in his head, Damon deactivated the Absolute Comprehension.
"You’re about to face mana backlash," Kitsune’s warning cut through his thoughts the moment his consciousness returned to the bus.
But he ignored it, and instead he summoned his status window once more, focusing now on the evolved ability.
[Ability: Ravenous Bloodlust]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: Every hit on an opponent which results in blood applies a stack of Bloodthirst (Max 5). Each stack grants +10% strength against that opponent.]
Damon’s eyes widened at the description.
What had previously been a two per cent increase per stack was now a whole ten per cent. Each stack was five times stronger than it had been previously.
But before he could bask in the exhilaration from his achievement, a final sharp tug pulled at his abdomen, and the status window before him disappeared.
"I told you."
Kitsune’s voice was the last thing he remembered hearing before his vision faded and he fell into a forced slumber.
***
"Ughh," Damon woke up with a painful groan.
Immediately, besides the lingering pain in his abdomen, he felt something soft and warm under his head. His hand moved before his eyes could open, and as he squeezed whatever it was—
"Mmm," a soft moan came from above him at his touch.
Damon’s eyes snapped open to realise instantly what it was.
Nyla’s upper thigh. Her cheeks were flushed red as she watched him lift his head away from her legs.
A moment of silence passed between them, while the rest of the group still hadn’t realised that he had woken up.
"I don’t mind if you..." Nyla whispered as she rubbed her legs together.
Damon blinked before a sudden cough escaped his mouth.
Cough!
He cleared his throat, then swiftly changed the subject.
"How long was I out?"
Suddenly, everyone turned to the back of the bus, where Damon and Nyla were, their eyes widening in surprise at seeing Damon fully awake.
"About an hour," Elias quickly replied.
Damon nodded. "We should get going. We’ve wasted enough time here already."
Everyone rose to their feet.
Damon’s core was far from full. In fact, it was still mostly depleted, but with his team all around level 30, he doubted they would come against anything he would need to deal with himself.
As they walked through the city streets, Damon’s thoughts went to Kitsune, who had been unusually quiet. Not just today, the whole last week, as she was refining mana, she had mostly kept to herself, and for some reason, Damon felt that it wasn’t just because she was busy.
’You okay?’ he asked through their connection.
He rarely started ordinary conversation. with her. Each time they interacted was either related to mana or simply the girl teasing him in one way or another.
"Yes. I should be done refining mana in a couple of hours."
Damon raised a brow.
That was good news.
Their mission to capture the citadel was now a day and a half away. Having Kitsune at her full strength, even without completely relying on her, was going to be a great help.
The next couple of hours stretched long. The group had been attacked by numerous Evolved Undead Humans and Hounds, but they disposed of them without needing any help from Damon, who was still recovering.
Everyone was in their usual position, a formation they naturally formed, except for Nyla, who now walked two steps further away from Damon than usual, her cheeks still carrying a hint of red since they left the school bus.
But Damon didn’t even notice it. His mind was occupied by all his new abilities. The recent evolution of his ability was only a beginning. Now, his next goal was to evolve the class as a whole.
Of course, he wasn’t going to gamble his class being broken before capturing the citadel, so all the ideas flowing in his head would have to wait until then.
Finally, as the sun began to ascend into the night sky, they arrived before the station’s entrance, which was unusually crowded.
"Let’s see how much has changed while we were gone," Damon murmured as he began to descend the stairs leading into the Central Station.