Hunt Race

The wind drifted quietly through the shattered forest.

Neither of them spoke.

Kael's eyes remained fixed on the mark on his hand.

An ability...

Was that really what it was?

He had always believed the strange mark was simply... there.

Something he couldn't explain.

Something that reacted during battle for reasons beyond his understanding.

But now...

Someone else had noticed it.

He slowly looked up.

"How did you figure it out?"

She folded her arms.

"I didn't."

Kael frowned.

"...What?"

"I made an observation."

"There's a difference."

She walked toward the crater where Full Moon had fallen.

"When we first fought him, his strength was overwhelming."

"I couldn't match him."

She crouched, picking up a broken fragment of his shattered dagger.

"But after you landed your first clean strike..."

She tossed the fragment aside.

"He became slower."

Kael listened silently.

"I thought it was because of the injury."

"But then you cut him again."

"And again."

"Each wound made him weaker."

Her eyes met his.

"Not just weaker physically."

"His aura changed."

Kael's brows furrowed.

"...Aura?"

She nodded.

"It became unstable."

"His attacks lost their sharpness."

"The pressure behind his techniques kept decreasing."

She paused.

"Normal injuries don't do that."

Kael looked down at his hand.

"So..."

"You think it was me."

"I think..."

She corrected herself.

"It was your ability."

Silence followed.

Kael slowly closed his fist.

"I don't know anything about it."

"I've had this mark for years..."

"But every time it reacts..."

"It's always during a fight."

"I've never been able to tell when it'll happen."

She wasn't surprised.

"Then it isn't something you control yet."

"It controls itself."

Kael frowned.

"Is that... normal?"

She gave a small shrug.

"I've heard of abilities that awaken under certain conditions."

"Some respond to danger."

"Some to killing intent."

"Some only reveal themselves after their owner reaches a certain level."

She looked at the mark on his hand.

"Yours seems to respond to combat."

"But until you understand its trigger..."

"It's impossible to say."

Kael let out a quiet breath.

"So I'm fighting with something I don't even understand."

"For now."

She smiled faintly.

"But you survived long enough to ask questions."

"That's a good start."

Kael couldn't help but laugh.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

She turned toward the path leading out of the forest.

"We should leave."

He followed her gaze.

"Because of the blood?"

"Because of the explosion."

She pointed toward the crater.

"A Silver Rank technique doesn't disappear quietly."

"It'll attract beasts."

"And if there are hunters nearby..."

"They'll come looking."

Kael rose to his feet.

His body still ached, but it was manageable.

He cast one last glance at the place where Full Moon had met his end.

The battle was over.

But the questions it left behind...

Had only just begun.

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