Chapter 589 - Gray kitten

I open my eyes back in the common area. After glancing over the notifications, I close them and move the rewards for the winner of the 4th event towards the final reward.

Only one event remains.

My body is restored to its previous state, and all the changes I made to it at the start of the 4th event are gone. Only a series of memories remains, along with many things I should improve on.

There is also a name of a person I will never forget, safely stored in my mind.

Sensing someone trying to get my attention, I turn to see Victoria standing at the edge of the common area.

With a single use of Wraith Dance, I reach her and meet her gaze. In front of her, I don't try to hide anything or pretend. Just like when we were much younger, she reaches out, pinches my nose, and ruffles the top of my hair.

To me, and coming from her, it’s an incredibly warm gesture.

"I will cook something for you, so come to the 4th zone later today," she says.

"Vic, you cannot cook properly and neither can I."

"You always liked the pancakes I made."

"And I would prefer eating them even if someone offers me Michelin-star food."

"So, as I said, come to the 4th round zone later."

"I will, Vic."

"Good. See you later, Natty," she says as she leaves.

I watch her figure disappear into the forest before she uses more strength and moves in a way a superhuman from comics would, something I would consider impossible on Earth. Then a thought comes: what superhero would someone from Hell difficulty be able to defeat?

Musing over that, I head towards where I sense Savant's signature. Seeing me coming closer, he waits for me. There I create a manabloc chair and sit near the bench he is sitting on, and look at him. He returns my gaze as well.

"What do you want to start with?" I ask him simply.

He simply answers, "We could start with kinetic energy. Your performance in the last event piqued my curiosity, and I think it will also help you understand what you experienced."

I look at him, thinking about all he knows, but decide not to dwell on it.

"What skill are you using to absorb kinetic energy?" I ask.

"Is it required for you to know in order to help me?"

"Not really, but I'm curious. And it's not like I don't have a general idea, do you agree? One of my skills' names in exchange for yours?"

"I could do that," he confirms.

"That's surprising."

"Why?"

"I thought you would be more tight-lipped, given how lone wolf-like you are."

"As you have said, it's something you likely already suspect. And you might think I consider you all enemies, but that's not the case. Everyone here is someone I'm neutral towards; I harbor neither ill nor good feelings for any of you. In the future, we might even cooperate in a limited capacity."

"So you are building up good relationships?"

"I wouldn't call it that. Things like that require time and effort; a hassle I’m not interested in. As for my skill, it's called [Absorption]. As you likely already guessed, it allows me to absorb attacks to release them later or to examine, if I'm capable of doing so. A few weeks ago, I was also able to absorb a tiny bit of kinetic energy, and since the 1st floor, I'm able to absorb body parts."

"As you said, our group guessed it all more or less. So you have lumoran Champion's hand, the forearm bone of some tough monster or guy, one of your legs also seems to be replaced, and possibly some inner organ? Grumpy also theorizes that one of your eyes or a piece of it has been absorbed."

"I won't answer that."

"That's understandable. Mine is [Redistribution]. As you probably have guessed, it allows me to absorb kinetic and thermal energy from the area around me. I cannot use it to turn that energy into mana yet, but I also have a way to transfer my mana into kinetic energy."

"And that second heart of yours."

"Just silly rumors."

"Want to hear more silly rumors?"

"Why not."

"Two hearts, kinetic and thermal, an eye trait connected to mana, likely a wavelength type, an Amplificator, a concentration type of skill, and self-made constructs etched into your body," he pauses for a moment, "a stupid thing to do if I have to say so. The mana stone I left with your healer should confirm how risky the body modifications are.”

"Very silly rumors indeed, and I know."

"Then there is that black mana of yours. Do you know that during our duel in the last tournament, I absorbed a tiny piece of it and examined it?"

That makes my curiosity spike, and I observe him more closely: his heartbeat and the tiniest movements of his body as I try to grasp what he is thinking.

He continues, "I suspect it's extremely dense mana and something you were able to create because of your high grade concentration skill, talent in [Mana Manipulation] or higher grade version of the skill, and ability to channel huge amounts of mana so quickly. But that probably isn't all; it would be too easy. At first, I thought it was primordial void energy, but since then I have met users of that primordial energy, and it's not that. Then I theorized it's a different primordial energy out of the common five, and it still seems to be the closest guess I have. It could also be just a rare variation of mana you were able to gain thanks to multiple things coalescing together."

"I bought it in a system shop sale."

As before, he doesn't seem amused, so we continue as per our deal and I show him some basics of kinetic energy. Some concepts I came up with on my own and some from Lioren.

I don't try to hide things from him, and I do not worry about "giving him a weapon that could be used against me."

Everything I show him, he understands quickly. I watch as he catches on, comes to his own conclusions, and attempts to apply it. Sometimes, he even seems to ignore what I'm saying and keeps failing as he tries to perform the movement or exercise. It never takes him too many attempts. With his sharp, near-clinical sense, he breaks down what I have shown him and demonstrates his talent.

I have heard people making fun of his Community alias, calling himself Savant and all. They said he is arrogant, edgy, and all that kind of stuff. But not once have I heard anyone say that he is wrong. Everyone who meets this guy, and sees his understanding and the speed at which he learns and absorbs the abilities shown to him finds it nothing less than impressive.

Of course, it won't stop me from calling him a coward. He might say he's playing a long game and being patient, but I disagree.

After the lesson, I leave so that we can continue later while he trains alone for a bit, and I enter the 7th round's zone. People recognize me as I enter their common area, and the barrier they set put a mark on me that a few people around can track.

Surprisingly, the first one to talk to me isn't human.

"Brother, over here," the childlike voice calls to me.

I stop and look down at my feet.

“Brother, may I have some food?" asks the little chubby kitten at my feet. It’s light gray and perfectly round, covered in soft, fuzzy fur. It looks like a fluffy ball with a chubby face and pale blue eyes that hardly seem to blink.

"What?"

"Have I said it wrong?" the kitten replies, its mouth moving a beat too late like it’s trying to remember that mouths are supposed to move when speaking.

"Why do you talk like that?" I ask.

The gray kitten tilts its head. "There was a young human who taught me these words, brother. He and others always laughed when I said them and always gave me food. Even now, people do that."

I squat down. It’s hard to tell how strong it is, just like with Noodle. But there’s a kind of weight to the kitten, like something heavy is hiding inside something small.

It keeps speaking, unprompted, still staring up with those emotionless eyes. "That boy died on the 4th floor. The Black Ant took his insides, brother."

Now I notice that no one tries to move closer. In fact, they seem to actively avoid the little kitten. I even sense a hint of fear in the people around me.

Wordlessly, I look into those eyes, and as they look into mine, I’m overcome with a disturbing feeling, as if they’re trying to pull me in.

"Brother, where is the one who marked you?" the kitten asks, and for the first time its expression changes. It looks eager but I can’t guess the intention behind it, it lacks the friendliness. Instead, tiny sharp teeth are visible for longer than they perhaps should be.

"Get away from him!" someone shouts, and I recognize the voice as Luna's.

The golden retriever stands nearby, currently in her form where she is bigger than a horse. She is growling, and her fur is raised as she threateningly stares at the little kitten.

Even then, she doesn't dare to come closer.

That gray kitten returns her gaze without even being taken aback and instead stands up to slowly walk away. It glances backward at me once and licks its lips before exiting into the forest.

Finally, Luna steps closer, "Avoid him, crazy human, that thing is no good."

She shrinks back to her normal size and nudges my side until I pet the top of her head.

"Is it really a little kitten?" I ask.

"No one knows for sure; it's the only one surviving in its Hell difficulty group. But enough of that creepy thing. What do you want here? Did you come to apologize? Did you know your avatar killed me during the last event? How will you pay me back for that?"

"You should have killed him before he could."

"I cannot fly like your cowardly avatar could. How should I bite him, then?"

"That's true." I pet her again to get another tail wag out of her. "I came to see Leticia."

Luna looks at me and squints her eyes before snorting and starting to walk away and I follow at her side.

"You know what they call you?" she asks out of nowhere as we enter the forest.

"Excuse me?"

"People in our zones and others, I mean. They call you Manahead, Flashbang, The Detonator, Mana Junkie, Glitch Mage, Mana Daddy..."

"Okay, okay, let's stop here."

"Sure. Simply put, there is a lot of talk, crazy human. I heard there is a small group declaring you as a messiah, another one collecting videos and photos of you, and some planning to kill you, saying you are too dangerous to be allowed on Earth."

Luna pauses and a dry laugh escapes her, "They all used to talk similarly about their own tournament winners, but during this tournament, you have attracted a lot of that negative attention. I even heard some rounds are connecting forces to take you down together during the last event."

"Is the 7th round one of them?" I ask.

She laughs again, "Who knows."

***

Next Chapter