Damon's eyes adjusted to the dim light filtering through cracks in the ceiling. He scanned the ground ahead, noting the scattered debris and disturbed stones.
Then he saw them.
Dozens of bones were scattered across the tunnel floor like forgotten trophies. A boar's tusk, cracked and yellowed with age. A deer's skull, its antlers shattered. Parts of a large rib cage, too massive to belong to anything ordinary, yet none of it could be called treasure.
"There's nothing really here..." Elizabeth muttered, her voice flat with disappointment. She kicked at a small bone, sending it skittering across the stone. "Just more remains."
"Well, we had assumed those wolves made the den here for something special, but it could have been something they chanced upon," Gerald offered.
Damon said nothing as he stood studying the large bones. He didn't really care what they found, since he wasn't looking for collectables to begin with.
Finally, Elizabeth sighed and turned. "Let's go. No point staying here."
Following behind, they retraced their steps in low spirits. The tunnel slowly brightened as they neared the entrance, and the cool air gave way to the warmth of the forest as they began their route to the next destination.
...
Cling!
Shing! Clink!
The echo of blades clashing carried through the bushes as the two boys traded blows.
"Roughly three hours, huh?" Damon muttered to himself. He watched Rudy breathing heavily before him and quietly reflected on the past hour and a half.
Eager to start, Rudy had suggested they begin training after a short tour of the camp. Along the way, though, Elizabeth had split off from the group, claiming she'd detected a beast with the head of a lion and a humanoid body.
Damon had been skeptical, since he hadn't sensed anything himself, but he chose not to call her out, figuring her spiritual perception might simply be sharper than his.
They hadn't seen her since, but Gerald stayed dismissive whenever Damon brought it up.
This left him confused enough that Rudy managed to land a hit on him within the last hour, after a steady back-and-forth of losses.
"Hehe, seems Mother was right; I am the greatest in the world." Rudy muttered, gripping his sword with one hand.
"Most mothers say embarrassing stuff like that. Doesn't mean it's true!" Damon scoffed. "Also, I have at least three brothers better than you are."
'Idiocy aside, he's improved a lot... I should probably end things here.'
As that thought crossed his mind, Damon charged at Rudy at increased speed before the boy had a chance to react.
Rudy saw Damon's form appear from the right side of his view.
Without hesitation, he swung his blade in a horizontal slash, but the form fractured, bursting into a gust of vapor. At the same moment, he felt a firm grip take hold of his other wrist.
Left completely stunned, Rudy had no time to breathe. His worldview flipped, and his legs were swept out from under him.
Bang!
He landed on the ground with a pained groan, then turned his eyes upward with blurry vision.
Damon stood over him now, leisurely, his lips forming a subtle smirk. "Still the greatest in the world?"
"That's cheating! I thought you said you wouldn't use body amplification!?" Rudy argued.
"He actually said he wouldn't use reinforcement on his weapon; he didn't say anything about not using it on his body," Gerald said, watching the whole sequence. His rough hand moved in a slow circular rhythm as he sat on a freshly felled log, stirring a wooden spoon.
He'd sparked together a low flame with cooking supplies and sticks gathered from the surroundings. The orange broth stewing in the medium-sized metal pot smelled appetizing, but it wasn't quite ready.
Damon and Rudy turned their gazes toward him as he continued, "And I'm fairly sure he just used an advanced combat art, but I've never seen it before."
"Oh, that's something I was taught recently, but that was my first time actually pulling it off," Damon replied as he helped Rudy up.
Just then, his other hand shot out. He caught a stray fist headed for his cheek, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Look who's cheating now, brat?"
"You started it first!" Rudy had, in fact, thrown the punch, but he wasn't the least bit ashamed about it.
"I demand a rematch! This time I'll use my terra spells to blow you away," he barked.
Hearing this, even the stoic Gerald began to laugh. He lowered the saucer-shaped lid onto the pot, covering his mouth slightly, and stood up. "You might want to give him an appraisal before doing anything hasty, kid."
Rudy was confused at first, but he quickly nodded. "Right, I forgot the Riod can give me his weakness!"
He started rummaging through his brown trench coat and pulled out a rectangular device with a metal shell and a black screen on one side. The smaller sides were layered with a thin mesh, and an array of buttons and dials sat beside the display, bordered by thin contour lines running from the top.
'That looks familiar...' Damon recalled Vincent holding something similar, though tinted chrome.
A moment later, six lights began to blink beside the screen. The sound of a record spinning reached his ears, and then a wave of green spiritual energy flashed past him. The blackened display lit up with words.
"Name: Subject not registered.
"Biological Record: Human.
"Rank: Subject not registered.
"Energy Quality: Special Grade??
"Energy Proficiency: Grade three.
"Stability: Low.
"Contingency Protocol: Avoid contact and avoid any and all provocation, as the subject will quickly become hostile and will risk harm to injure the user. If a confrontation is unavoidable, attempt to de-escalate to stall for backup or chances to escape."
Damon cupped his chin as he read the report out loud. He found the last section amusing, but his attention stayed mostly on the energy sections.
'Was it because I absorbed that weird spiritual energy...?'
If the results were accurate, his spiritual energy had risen to a level that far surpassed what he could currently wield properly.
Gerald walked over, his heavy boots treading on the ground. He rested a hand on the blond boy's head. "Why don't you cool off for a bit? I'll take this one on in your stead."
Rudy's face flushed red at that. He wanted to say something but couldn't manage a word after seeing the results.
The gadget, while originally designed for communication, doubled as a mobile frequency recorder and analyzer, running at the highest possible sensitivity. It worked on the same principle as the towers and service lines strung across the continent, converting different forms of energy into transmittable data and connecting every outpost, town, and city.
It was nearly impossible for this data to be faked.
"You better win." Rudy's shoulders shook slightly as he spoke. He lowered his head, disheartened, and walked off with his hands clenched tight.
Damon shook his head, watching the boy disappear into the cave. He then looked at the man before him, seemingly lost in thought.
"Is there something wrong?" he pressed.
Gerald stayed silent. Half a minute later, his lips finally parted. "Since you've already passed the first stage of awakening, let's start with Specter Affinities. There are six in total, but current studies show that humans can only be sorted into five of them, with grade two or higher beasts mainly falling into the sixth."
"Despite this, starting with a specific affinity doesn't mean a Specter can't learn another over time. It just determines how hard that process will be and what level of proficiency they'll eventually reach."
"The first is the amplifier. It governs the use of spiritual energy to amplify the physical properties of objects or the body. These are usually your close-quarters specialists and sharpshooters."
"Interesting... So the wolves and the tiger had this affinity?" Damon murmured.
"Yes. Since it's the most common affinity, a large portion of the beasts recorded throughout human history have come from it as well," Gerald continued. "The second is Resonator. It governs the use of spiritual energy to connect with the mental frequency of others, altering their perception or manipulating them directly. Since they're built for mental warfare, this type lacks the physicality for direct combat unless they're channeling through a soul-infused object."
"Wait, but I thought Liz had this affinity? She's a close-quarters specialist..." Damon asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gerald laughed bitterly. "She didn't always fight like that, but she's been taking more risks lately to build up her proficiency with the Amplifier affinity and keep our little Elementalist safe."
"Speaking of which, the third is his affinity. It governs altering your spiritual energy to mimic or manipulate elemental properties. It demands creativity and intense training just to withstand the effects of the element you're recreating. That was also the affinity I was born with, but by nineteen I'd studied enough martial arts to build proficiency in the Amplifier affinity too, making me a Dual Affinity user."
"And if Liz succeeds, she'll become one too..." Damon added, drawing the obvious conclusion.
Gerald nodded slightly. "In these cases, a Specter's affinity gets recorded with the secondary listed as a modifier. Her record would identify her as an amplified resonator, and mine as an amplified elementalist. Together, these three are also called the light triad, since even Forte users who haven't reached the first awakening can still be sorted based on them, with a large portion falling into Elementalist."
Damon's eyes lit up as he listened, and after a long moment, he spoke. "Does that mean the military academies use this system too?"
"No, the Church of the True Sun keeps a tight lid on this information so it doesn't reach the public, and every Specter registered with a church or guild is taught a resonator spell to wipe the minds of civilians in dire situations. The less people know about any of this, the better."
"But why?" Damon pressed. "I get that some people would use it to turn on humanity, but this power might also be the only way to rid the world of all beasts."
"I agree with you there, but the existence of the dark triad affinities complicates things," Gerald said, nodding. "Usually when a Specter dies, all their energy disperses into the world, and nothing happens. But with these last three, if we let their energy disperse unchecked, a couple of new beasts will appear with roughly the same strength as the original, but with lower stability."
"No matter what we do, killing these Specters always results in the creation of more dangerous Specters, and they're already a pain in the ass to deal with."
"To make matters worse, the first of the triad are spiritualists, and they're always spouting world-ending prophecies about stronger beasts coming from god knows where. It's also the weakest of the dark triad, which makes it the worst affinity to be born with despite its benefits: it gives an edge over the light triad, but it overloads your spiritual perception, and that often leads to madness."
'T-this...' Damon drew a sharp breath, unconsciously, his eyes widening.
That was troublesome; no, that word didn't even begin to cover how screwed they were. Damned if they fought, damned if they didn't. There was no way to get rid of every beast.
Gerald noticed Damon's crestfallen expression. "But it's not as hopeless as you think. Humanity never planned to fight every malicious Specter in the world, or beyond it. Instead, the goal is to pool our resources and study a concealment spell meant to hide the entire planet, and every soul on it, from the outer beasts."
"If we can pull that off, every Specter here in our world would essentially become irrelevant, since they'd slowly be brought under control."