How did I have this ability?
In the game, there was no mention of Kael having any regeneration abilities.
And something at this level…
Even vampires, a race that feeds on the blood of other people, never had such insane regeneration.
At least not the majority of them.
The speed of their regeneration was dependent on several factors, bloodline being the most important.
The royal vampires indeed had crazy abilities that made them nearly immortal.
But even those abilities came at a cost.
They had to have sufficient blood reserves in order to recreate parts of their body in case of an injury.
But I was a human, not a vampire.
Though the stronger one grew, the faster their body healed, still this level of healing was unheard of.
Was it the ritual that granted me this ability?
Maybe my transmigration caused some variations.
Or—
I didn't have time to think.
The rabbits, who were initially surprised by my healed body, had again begun to attack me.
But this time, I wasn't panicked as before.
I stomped my right leg on the ground and, with an explosive force, jumped into the air.
The monsters tried to follow me, but they lacked the momentum to reach my height.
Taking advantage of their temporary inability, I threw my sword at the monster nearest to me.
The sword was launched forward with insane speed, piercing the chest of the monster.
Thud.
Its lifeless body fell to the ground.
My strength had increased from the previous kills.
In the panic of the battle, I forgot to stop the mana essence from entering my body, which resulted in my growth in power.
Now, with a calm mind, I closed off the entry points for the mana essence from the monster, trying to enter my body as I was suspended mid-air.
I was easily able to do it while also maintaining my concentration on the ongoing battle.
The remaining monsters were momentarily disoriented.
I landed on the ground and removed my sword, which was impaled in the dead corpse before me.
With a clean swing, the blood was cleared from the blade, and I resumed my battle stance.
Two steps right.
I appeared before the monster that was getting ready to jump at my throat.
Without giving it any chance for resistance, I swung the sword in a wide arc.
Splurt.
Blood spilled into the air as its head rolled before my feet.
Again, I willed my mana to stop the foreign mana essence from entering my body.
With some practice, it had now become as easy as breathing.
I scanned the creatures before me.
Three were still left.
Sigh.
Let's make some quick work...
***
Arthur observed as Kael practiced controlling the mana essence from the monsters he killed.
"Well done! Now try to stop the essence before it enters your body."
Kael's progress was phenomenal.
He was what you could call a once-in-a-generation talent.
Arthur didn't need to babysit him.
Kael was completely capable of learning on his own; just directing him was enough.
But—
Arthur knew Kael would soon stumble.
No matter how much talent one had, or even if they had intellect like Kael, it was a given that combat experience couldn't be bought.
It couldn't be analyzed and learned.
One had to experience combat to truly learn.
When the monster jumped into the air to attack Kael, instead of keeping awareness of his surroundings, Kael diverted his full attention toward a single monster.
That was a fatal mistake.
There was one rule in battle: everything and everyone is your enemy.
One should never get confident and focus on killing individuals.
Having awareness of your surroundings was equally important.
Maybe Kael knew it in theory.
But theory and practice are two totally different aspects.
Though Kael managed to fend off their attacks and mitigate the damage, a single monster managed to sink its fangs deep into Kael's back.
Still, Arthur was impressed by the calm expression that Kael wore despite being in a critical condition.
But he soon got overwhelmed.
Arthur debated whether to intervene, but decided against it.
Kael's life wasn't in mortal danger, yet…
So he decided to see how things turned out.
Even he was curious about what his 'Boss' would pull off.
But he wasn't ready for the events that transpired.
Arthur couldn't believe his eyes as Kael's body repaired itself before him.
Not only repaired—each and every muscle fibre was regenerated to its original state.
This…
Arthur didn't know what to be surprised by anymore.
Each second that he observed Kael, the kid pulled off some reality-shattering stunt out of nowhere.
Seeing Kael's progress, Arthur imagined how strong he would become after reaching the higher ranks.
Terrifying.
That was the only thought in his head.
After Kael healed—regenerated—his injured body parts, the fight continued.
This time, Kael's movements became even more fluid.
With each step, he seemed to have evolved his understanding of combat in general.
With every kill, Kael seemed to have gotten the hang of stopping the mana essence from entering his meridians.
It didn't take more than a minute for Kael to finish the rest of the monsters.
"You now seem to be more than ready for my training."
Arthur approached Kael, who was standing in the middle of the dead bodies of the monsters.
This time, Kael looked Arthur in the eyes, giving a faint smirk.
He was able to come out of the battle state even after such a brutal fight.
Impressive.
"Can't wait to test myself!"
Kael responded.
"Meeting our Alchemist will now surely be fun."
Arthur just gave a faint smile.
Alfred Symer.
We would meet soon.