Spirit's Ascension-Chapter 40— Stalking Target
At this moment, Cole didn’t think further; his body, mind, and everything had already accepted this ability.
Cole knew the drill on how to record new abilities from his previous experience.
Because he knew the drill, he also knew what was at risk if he didn’t do it right.
Wasting no time, Cole activated his Eyes of Scrutiny, his eyes taking on the signature golden glow and the familiar dizziness also accompanying it.
With the Eyes of Scrutiny, the whole world changed before Cole’s eyes. Now he could see everything very clearly.
He focused on the scrutiny part of the ability and delved straight into the target’s body.
Cole could see it very clearly and detailed the flow of Life energy in the target’s body.
Their interaction, their movement, special amplifications, and all. All this information was quite overbearing and overwhelming for anyone to take in.
In this case it was much, much harder for Cole to get a grasp of things like he previously did.
Cole had to consciously attempt to activate the Eyes of Scrutiny to the max so he could take in the information better.
It wasn’t without results though, as Cole was able to slowly get and digest some of the information he was seeing.
With the Eyes of Scrutiny fully activated, something shifted in the air. The target Cole was currently observing sensed it too.
The student cautiously looked towards Cole’s location, but since he couldn’t find anything special about the spot. He could only take his mind off it.
Cole was still carefully hiding in the bush not far away from where he was observing, but he failed to notice.
Albeit slow, Cole was still happy with the progress he was making. His happiness soon faded, though.
The battle was slowly coming to an end, with the lone student actually coming out on top.
Cole was getting anxious; he knew for sure that after the battle ended, he would not completely understand the ability.
He might never have the chance to do that ever again, but Cole just couldn’t let it go.
"Should I reveal myself and study it while battling?" Cole reasoned.
His current physical state was nowhere close to being able to fight a battle. His endless sprint and the large strain from utilizing the Eyes of Scrutiny’s full power were telling heavily on him.
He looked down at his legs that were shaking violently.
"I can’t join a battle like this," He concluded.
There was only one choice left. Cole could only follow the student for as long as he could to fully record the ability.
Watching the students leave. Cole struggled to follow him as silently as possible.
Cole spent the rest of his day following the student all about, watching him during his battles.
After about 3 more battles, Cole finally felt confident enough to decide to record the ability.
****Somewhere Else****
A red-headed student was staring maliciously at a familiar face. It was Linda whom Cole previously met.
Linda looked extremely frustrated, even disgusted, while she stared at the student in front of her.
"Stop being such a hard-hearted young miss; lord Cain just wants to have a little chat," The red-headed student said.
"I have no business with Cain; tell him to leave me alone," Linda responded harshly.
The kid opposite her didn’t react, though, still maintaining an undeterred smile.
"I guess I have to use force then," Linda continued slyly.
Her sly smile hadn’t faded from her face when she sent an attack straight at the student.
It was a searing hot arc of fire that arose from her sword.
The kid remained in his position with a confident smile plastered on his face while he watched the attack approach.
As the attack grew closer, carrying along with it an indomitable force, the confident smile on the kid’s face was gradually fading.
"When did the young miss grow to this stage?" he thought with a slightly fearful expression. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Feeling the heat, he finally decided to evade the attack, as it wasn’t something he could block at the moment.
But he made the decision too late. The attack was already directly in front of him.
Having realized that point himself, he could only grit his teeth and brace for the attack.
Bam!
The attack hit him heavily, burning off some of his clothes and hair.
Though he was able to bear the attack, it left him in a very sorry state.
Looking down at himself, he lost all will to battle, only biting his lips tightly.
"That will be a message to both you and Cain," Linda said.
The kid was too embarrassed to speak, only turning around, ready to leave.
Just as he was about to leave, he turned back.
"I will be back," He said before sprinting away.
Watching the kids leaving back, Linda’s sly smile slowly morphed into that of worry.
"How do I get rid of Cain’s pressure? My status alone can’t work, and I am not strong enough yet," she thought.
Her worries weren’t unfounded; the Cain in question could actually be said to be one of the strongest students in Cole’s set.
He was just a step away from advancing to the next level, which is the awakened level.
Advancing to the Awakened level will place him at the absolute peak of the current freshmen.
Linda decided to forget the problem for now and actually focus on the current test. So she turned towards a random direction and sprinted there.
****Cole’s Location****
"I think I have a full grasp on how this ability actually works," Cole said to himself.
"I should be able to record it now."
"But first I need to find the right location; the previous recording caused a bit of a ruckus."
Cole knew how dangerous it actually was in the forest, all his past experiences serving as testimonies.
The danger made Cole careful, so he began searching for locations that were secretive enough for him to actually record.
It didn’t take him too long to actually find the perfect spot.
It was a hollowed-out section just beneath a tree trunk; it was large enough and provided a certain level of protection.
With a little difficulty, Cole squeezed into the spot.
"Time to record a new ability," Cole said with a resolute gaze.
