The Birth of the Predator
I blinked.
“What…?”
Leona was still staring straight through me, but her blue eyes were trembling.
It wasn’t her usual calm expression.
“This is…”
She paused for a moment.
“Definitely not Physical Enhancement.”
I asked back with a dumbfounded look.
“Wait, hold on.”
I lifted my hand and examined my arm. The muscles felt tightly contracted, dense as steel.
“I just manifested Physical Enhancement, didn’t I?”
Arin’s eyes were wide open beside me too.
“Huh…?”
She tilted her head, then spoke carefully.
“It doesn’t look like it…”
I clenched and unclenched my fist. Power surged through it unmistakably.
“It feels exactly like it, though?”
“My strength has gone through the roof?”
Leona shook her head very slowly.
“It is not.”
“My Physical Enhancement causes the muscles to explode with amplified volume. From there, it boosts every movement and reflex.”
She scanned me from head to toe.
“But you…”
That was when Arin suddenly cut in.
“Just a second.”
She reached out and lightly poked my arm.
“Huh…?”
Her fingertips froze, and her eyes grew even wider.
“Commander, this…”
When Leona stepped closer, Arin pressed down on my shoulder.
“It’s incredibly hard.”
I frowned.
“Hey. Don’t just go around touching a man’s body like that.”
Arin paid no attention.
She tilted her head again and stared at my arm.
“The muscles didn’t even get bigger…”
She tapped my muscle with her finger.
“Why is it so rock-solid?”
Leona’s gaze changed.
“Density…”
Arin turned her head.
“Pardon?”
Leona took one step closer.
“The muscle hasn’t expanded. It has been compressed.”
I asked back with a blank face.
“Compressed…?”
This time Arin outright started squeezing and prodding my arm again.
“Wow, it really feels like stone.”
Leona muttered.
“This is impossible.”
I blinked.
“Why?”
Leona kept her eyes fixed on me as she answered.
“Physical Enhancement is an ability that amplifies muscle mass. I have never seen this form before.”
Arin stared intently at my body and then spoke.
“Jun, why don’t you try jumping?”
I furrowed my brow.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I thought for a second, then crouched slightly.
“Well, it’s not hard.”
I put strength into my legs and jumped.
Boom—!!
The ground beneath my feet split apart as if exploding, and I shot straight into the air.
“Whoaaaaaaa?!”
The ceiling rushed toward my face before I plummeted back down.
Thud!!
The training hall floor rang again, cracks spiderwebbing across it.
I stood exactly where I had been.
“Wow…”
Arin’s mouth hung open.
Leona remained speechless for a long while before finally opening her mouth slowly.
“Jun.”
I turned my head.
“Yeah?”
Her gaze had grown even deeper.
“You are not absorbing mana.”
I blinked.
“Then?”
Leona’s eyes were still locked onto my body.
“You are eating it.”
“What?”
Leona’s pupils sank.
“You are devouring mana.”
I tried to speak immediately.
“Wait, what the hell does that—”
That was the moment.
Woooong—
A resonance spread from my body, shaking the air inside the training hall. Arin’s eyes flew wide open.
“Uh… Commander?”
When she looked around, she saw that even Leona’s expression had hardened.
“I can feel it.”
Arin blinked.
“Feel what?”
Leona spoke very slowly.
“The mana is being drawn away.”
I asked with a dazed face.
“Where to?”
Leona pointed at me.
“To you.”
A brief silence fell. Arin tilted her head, then her eyes suddenly widened.
“Wait… it really is?”
Arin raised her hand as if trying to sense the mana.
The mana that had been flowing through the magic runes engraved on the training hall floor was slowly, but unmistakably, being sucked toward me.
Arin’s mouth fell open.
“Commander, this…”
Leona said shortly.
“Mana absorption.”
“This… is Her Majesty the Queen’s ability.”
I was stunned.
“Absorption?”
Leona, who had been sensing the mana for a moment, shook her head quickly, her voice rising.
“No!”
“This is closer to predation than absorption.”
I frowned.
“Hey, don’t say it in such a scary way.”
Clack.
Something fell from my arm.
I absentmindedly picked up the piece of stone that had broken off the training hall floor.
When I slowly lifted my head, Leona’s voice grew urgent.
“Arin! Step back!”
Arin hurriedly retreated from me. Leona’s eyes had already turned deadly serious.
“Jun, stop the mana flow right now.”
I answered immediately.
“How?!”
Leona said shortly.
“Dispel.”
I copied her exactly.
“Dispel!”
Nothing changed.
Woooong—
The resonance from my body grew even stronger. The air in the training hall shook more violently.
Even Arin’s hair, standing far away, began to whip in the wind again.
“Whoa?!”
A panicked voice burst out.
“Wait, it’s sucking even faster!”
Leona’s eyes widened.
“This can’t be…”
I was practically on the verge of tears.
“Hey! It won’t stop!”
Leona suddenly stepped forward and grabbed my wrist.
At that instant.
Kwaaaaang—!!
An enormous mana wave exploded. The training hall’s air flipped upside down, and Arin was thrown backward.
“Whoa!”
Her eyes shot wide open.
Leona’s twin tails whipped wildly in the storm, but she refused to let go of my wrist.
“This… Commander?!”
Arin shouted.
Leona’s following voice trembled.
“Jun.”
I gasped for breath and barely managed to speak.
“What…”
“Right now, it is even devouring my mana.”
I was almost crying.
“Hey!! Isn’t there a way to stop this?!”
Leona’s expression had gone rigid.
Wooooong—
The resonance inside my body intensified. The training hall’s air churned violently.
The magic runes engraved on the floor began to glow faintly as mana from every direction rushed toward me at terrifying speed.
“Uwaaaaah! It hurts!!”
Arin shouted with a panicked face.
“Commander!”
“At this rate the entire training hall’s magic circle is going to get sucked in!”
Leona’s eyes gradually sank into despair.
“This is beyond my ability to stop!”
“Arin, quickly call a mage—!”
I screamed.
“Heyyyy!!”
“Somebody stop this!!”
At that moment, a calm voice rang out from the entrance of the training hall.
“Step aside, Leona.”
The instant both Leona and Arin turned their heads, a single figure stood at the entrance.
Tranquil eyes.
Long, flowing silver hair.
A presence that did not waver in the slightest.
It was Queen Seraphina.
Leona immediately released my wrist and dropped to one knee.
“Your Majesty!”
Arin belatedly bowed as well, but I had no leisure to do the same.
Just staying on my feet was taking everything I had.
“Your Majesty! Save me!!!”
Seraphina quietly looked at me. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“As expected…”
She murmured, then slowly raised her hand. With two fingers, she drew a small circle in the air.
“Mana Absorption.”
“Dispel.”
Her voice was low, yet it carried absolute power.
Kwaaaaa—
The mana vortex swirling inside my body stopped as if it had never existed.
Woooong—
The resonance vanished. The twisted air settled, and the training hall returned to its original state.
I collapsed onto the floor right where I stood.
“Hah…”
My breath came out in ragged gasps.
“Hah…”
With my head hanging, I muttered.
“I’m alive… I almost died…”
Arin stared at me with a blank face.
“Wow…”
Leona kept her head bowed.
“Your Majesty. I am deeply sorry.”
Seraphina slowly walked inside.
Each step was silent.
“I came because I heard you were training. It seems…”
She stopped in front of me, looking down. The corner of her mouth lifted by the tiniest fraction.
“My timing was excellent.”
I muttered while still sitting on the floor.
“I really almost died…”
Seraphina spoke quietly.
“No, Jun.”
Then she added, very slowly.
“This is only the beginning.”
My chest was still heaving violently.
Leona remained on one knee with her head lowered. Arin did the same.
“Your Majesty.”
Queen Seraphina looked down at the two for a moment.
“Rise.”
At her short command, Leona and Arin stood up at the same time. Seraphina’s eyes turned back to me.
I was still sitting on the floor.
“I really thought I was going to die just now.”
Seraphina did not answer. Instead, she examined me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes without missing a single detail.
“I see.”
The air grew strangely heavy.
“You are not absorbing mana.”
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed further.
“You devour any ability you come into contact with.”
At the queen’s murmur, Arin blinked.
“Devour?”
Leona’s eyes trembled again. While Arin still looked like she couldn’t fully grasp the situation, Seraphina continued without turning her head.
“Leona.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Have you ever witnessed this phenomenon before?”
Leona swallowed briefly.
“I have not.”
“It does not exist in any records, nor have I ever heard of it.”
Seraphina gave a small nod.
When she looked at me again, her gaze was slightly different from before.
It was no longer the eyes of a ruler judging a subject.
It was the eyes of someone confirming a fact.
“Jun.”
I lifted my head.
“Yes?”
Seraphina’s voice was utterly calm.
“What did you feel inside your body just now?”
I searched my memory.
“It felt like a storm. A completely insane storm.”
The training hall fell silent.
Leona’s expression remained stiff. Seraphina stared at me for a long time without blinking, then finally opened her mouth very slowly.
“You…”
Light poured in through the windows, making her red eyes glow deeply.
“Truly, you will become an existence that shakes all of Elcia to its core.”
The air in the training hall grew heavy. Arin’s mouth opened slightly.
“Eh?”
I asked back with a dazed face.
“Me?”
The corner of Seraphina’s mouth moved ever so subtly.
“Yes, Jun.”
She added in a low voice.
“Though you still have no idea what you truly are.”
Her gaze held me captive. Another short silence passed.
“Jun.”
I lifted my head again.
Seraphina’s eyes had grown even deeper.
“O great one…”
I froze.
“Pardon?”
What did she just say?
Leona briefly raised her eyes, and Arin’s eyes rounded as well, but Seraphina continued as if nothing had happened.
“Let us end today’s training here.”
She slowly turned around. Her long hair swayed gently.
“Follow me.”
I asked with a blank face.
“Where to?”
No answer came.
She simply continued walking toward the door. Then her steps paused for a moment, and her head turned ever so slightly.
Her gaze was directed at Leona and Arin.
“You two understand without needing to be told, yes?”
The atmosphere in the training hall grew solemn. Leona answered immediately.
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
“We shall keep it secret.”
She bowed deeply. Seeing that, Arin hurriedly bowed as well.
“Of course!”
“It’s a secret!”
Watching them, I muttered.
“Hey…”
“Am I the only one who has no idea what’s going on right now?”
Arin came a little closer and whispered.
“Jun, I don’t really know either.”
Leona remained with her head bowed. After glancing briefly at the two, Seraphina spoke.
“Good.”
She turned her gaze back to me.
“Jun, follow.”
Arin’s eyes were sparkling. Leona did not move.
I let out a long sigh.
“Hah…”
What the hell is going on…
I brushed off my clothes, stood up, and followed behind Seraphina.
Creeeak—
As the training hall door slowly closed, Arin spoke in a small voice.
“Commander.”
Leona stayed silent for a moment before answering.
“Yes…”
Arin asked carefully.
“Just now… that was a really big deal, wasn’t it?”
Leona answered shortly.
“It was.”
Her eyebrows twitched slightly as she stared at the closed door.
“Enough to shake the entire world.”
Arin sighed.
“I’m so jealous…”
“I want to awaken something too…”
