"I am alone."
Suddenly, something clicked inside of him. The fear of further isolation, the sudden oppressiveness of the forest, the loneliness, the fear of abandonment, the brain fog in his mind... It was all gone. For the past 9 months, he had suppressed himself. Suppressed his instincts and his powers all while merely training just for the sake of it—making no real progress. But right now, he felt clarity, undeniable and immense clarity... He finally let go.
He had told himself that he would do what he thought he should—what he wanted. Yet, there was this tightness in his chest that refused to go. A seed of doubt slowly bloomed. This power... is it controlling me? Or am I controlling it? He started fearing himself. Scared of losing himself. What if one day he lost himself in a battle like the battle against the Bear-like Rogue Beast?
And due to this fear, he suppressed himself. He stopped trying to actively get stronger. He only did the routine he developed. Waking up, fighting Rogue-horns, training, sleeping, and repeat. This was the solution he created. Trapping himself. Preventing himself from letting his instincts guide him.
And as he did this, he felt himself getting restless. Craving human touch. Forgetting mundane things like where he put his wooden bowl when dinner time came and more.
That is when he realized that what he thought 9 months ago was wrong. He possessed a power that needed him to get stronger. That required it. So... he let go. Because he had no other choice.
'It doesn't matter what I want... Wanting to resist it will only lead to me losing myself. And in cases where I can successfully do so without losing myself, only regret will remain. Not because I will remain weak—weakness matters little to me. But because I will disappoint them; my uncle, aunt, father, mother, stepmother, step siblings. Sure being born with something as enviable as the talent I have doesn't make me obligated to use it. But living for myself and only for myself is selfish. And selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live... so I will go with the flow, become strong and along the way, I will remain myself and decide for myself later.'
The elf cohort froze as they saw the attitude of the young man—Orion— shift. They could see him wipe his drool and take a deep breath. It was as if a completely different person had taken control of his body.
Meanwhile, inside Orion's mind, everything was calm. However, something made Orion frown. He felt as though multiple strings were attached to him. He calmly sat down and took a deep breath before diving into his sea of consciousness.
Inside, he could see the same black hole as well as the same 'wall'. What made him curious was the dozens of strings orbiting the black hole.
'Strings... Is it controlling me?' Orion extended his hand slowly and touched one of the strings. In an instant, he felt at ease, as if being comforted.
'I see, it's not controlling me. It's connected to me. My body is still my own. My soul is connected to it. The source— or rather— the essence of my power derives from it. I understand it now. Blindly following its guidance will make me a vessel of this power—or something similar. I need to absorb it. To make this power my own.'
As soon as Orion exited his sea of consciousness, he felt senses tingle. He promptly pivoted his body slightly to the right and lifted his head to stare at the four individuals spying on him.
After noticing their wide eyes and that their hands were on their weapons, Orion smiled. 'They should be around my level if they are not confident. My transition was creepy though... They still could be nervous whilst being stronger than me.'
Orion continued to stare at the four elves, smile unwavering.
"Who are you people? Hmm... elves, huh?" Orion deduced they were elves after noticing the upper part of their ears extended laterally—perpendicular to their face— and was pointy.
Orion paused before continuing, "Why are you gripping your weapons so tightly? Scared?"
Vael unsheathed his sword and dropped onto the grass on the clearing below.
"Surrender, human. This is the territory of Elendorm— Kingdom of Elves. Surrender peaceful and we will not harm you."
Aelar and Elara dropped near Vael while Caelynn remained on the tree, as she was a mage.
Orion's smile deepened to a grin. "This is my territory. If you take another step forward, I will kill you all."
Vael's gaze did not waver. "Don't make me repeat myself, human!"
Orion sighed, "As you wish..." Orion used his mana to tap into his dark red space ring. In the next second, dozens of mana shards fell to the ground. Orion wasted no time and immediately extended both hands forward and started breaking down the shards into pure mana and bringing them to his body.
Aelar could not believe his eyes, 'This human is breaking through in front of us!'
"Vael! Elara!"
"WE KNOW!" Vael and Elara were already dashing towards Orion, weapon in hard, ready to strike. While Aelar nocked an arrow.
Just as Vael and Elara were about to strike, dozens of lightning tendrils emerged from Orion's body and ran wild. Vael and Elara jumped back while Aelar's arrow zoomed between the two and approached Orion. However, the tendrils suddenly converged and obliterated the arrow before it could hit Orion. Seeing this, Aelar could only hiss as he witnessed something close to impossible.
"How... what is this level of mana control?! He is using magic while breaking through, how?"
Seeing the barrier of tendrils appear again, Vael signaled Elara to group up with Aelar. 'This level of mana control is outstanding. It is unlike anything he showed during his previous training.'