Physical And Mental Test II

Just as he read, this wolf-horned beast was a normal beast.

However, this beast seemed to have some kind of attack strategy. Anytime it attacked, it went for Dorian's weapon, it didn't attack blindly.

'Arg.'

Dorian growled lowly. He barely let out a sound after getting impaled by four horns. He simply clenched his jaw tight.

His gaze darted around the field. It stopped on the cage for a brief second, then shifted to where Aurora and Rose were.

He could tell Rose was worried, with how her hands gripped the railings tight and how her eyes didn't look calm anymore. He raised his other free hand and waved, to show he wasn't really hurt.

The beast slowly stepped back, its horns slowly pulling out of Dorian's flesh when it noticed its attack had barely done any damage.

Dorian dropped to the ground with a low thud, his knees scraping the floor till the fabric of his clothes tore.

The beast charged again, now its horns pointed at Dorian's head, which was in the perfect position. Assuming Dorian was too weak, it charged, moving faster than normal.

Bam!

It crashed into the wall hard with a force strong enough to crack a skull, Dorian's skull. Its horns dug so deep into the wall that it got stuck.

Dust rose from the impact, as well as from the beast's struggling, until it was hard to even see the beast.

Far behind it, on top of the cage, Dorian stood with his head lowered, soaked with blood, and his chest rising and falling.

"Heh..."

"Hehe..."

"Hehehe... hehe..."

"Hahahaha..."

Dorian's shoulders shook as he laughed softly, unbothered by his condition and more amused by how he had managed to escape.

Aurora's brow rose, her eyes gleaming with curiosity when she noticed he was actually laughing. She gently placed the file on the railing and crossed her arms.

"Benson, what did you say exactly happened to this boy?"

Benson shrugged, taking a sip from the bottle on the table behind them. He flipped the cap open, glanced at Dorian, who was still laughing uncontrollably, then smirked.

"Breanna messed his brain good."

Aurora shook her head gently. "Not mentally. His awakening and mana reserves, how are they like?"

Benson cast her a look. He wasn't sure why she was asking, and he wasn't particularly concerned either, because he was certain if he told her more, she'd want to use that knowledge.

She was that insane.

He quietly rose to his feet, getting a better view of the field.

Rose and Aurora watched in silence as Benson took off his glasses. The faint star in his iris glowed slightly before becoming very visible.

Rose held her breath, her grip on the railings and bottle tightening until her knuckles turned white.

"I really don't know why you're making me do this, but... whatever."

He looked at Dorian with a bored expression in his eyes. At first glance, it would seem like he was about to fall asleep, until the air around them suddenly dropped.

The heavy pulse of energy followed, hitting Rose, who could barely detect anything. She quickly stepped away from Benson, though her eyes remained on him.

From Benson's point of view, he could see the mana and energy moving with the tiny molecules of air. Only, it looked more like liquid, and the color changed as it flowed in and out of a person's body.

Mana physically looked blue, unless the person was of a different race or extremely powerful. Then the color would change.

Every breath Dorian took, every ripple in the air around his wounds, every faint current of energy trying to pull the flesh back together, he could see it.

The boy was healing. Slowly. And not through any obvious technique. It was different.

"Huh," Benson muttered.

His irises were now completely lit, pulsing like a heartbeat each time he picked what he wanted and moved on to the next detail.

That star was the general mark of his ability, the one he rarely used unless it was important, as it had consequences if used too much.

One of them was bleeding from the eyes and nose.

Perception Dive—that was what the old files called it, now it was called a Star Veil, and it still remains a mystery as to how he managed to gain such ability.

Since he was one of the unlucky ones who awakened physically, and his ability only helped with his combat, and definitely not perception.

However, one could only make assumptions and see what you showed them.

He didn't talk much about his sight, not because he was humble, but because it was annoying.

Most of the time, what he saw was ugly, and he had a weak stomach.

But now, as he watched Dorian standing there with blood trickling down his face and a grin plastered on his lips like a madman, Benson had to admit… it was more interesting than ugly.

There was something different about him.

His energy wasn't clean like a normal awakened. It was… jammed together. Like two extremely advanced beasts were fighting each other under the same skin, both trying to control the same body.

It was unstable, powerful, alternating between an abnormal black mana surrounding Dorian, and seeing further, he could only make out a white fog, and something like a pulsing dark red core at the center.

"Okay that's really scary," Benson whispered under his breath, smirking as he reached for the cap of his drink again.

Rose glanced sideways at Dorian but said nothing, she only listened in silence, that one would think she's invisible.

Aurora, still standing with her arms crossed, raised a brow and clicked her tongue. "Stop trying to undress the kid Ben, and tell me what you see.."

Benson laughed. "Oh, come on. You wanted to know."

"I wanted to see, not dissect his body like I'm performing an autopsy," Aurora muttered.

Benson put his glasses back on and the glow in his eyes faded instantly. "Relax. I didn't even scan that deep. I can't see past the black outer layer.."

He turned to look at her, "The kid has walls around his core, that or..... he's actually restricting access himself, which makes it even more strange."

Aurora's eyes narrowed, then she looked down at Dorian.

Dorian was no longer laughing, He stood still, blood drying on his skin, chest rising and falling slowly, yet his eyes remained alert.

His hand, which had tried to block one of the horns from impaling his lungs, was bleeding profusely and trembling gently.

He brushed his other hand along his body and realized the bleeding from his shoulder, arms, and abdomen had reduced.

'Shit,' he cursed, dragging in a deep breath.

The wounds covered up on their own, except for the one on his palm, he didn't have any more time to heal that up, which was an issue.

Rose from where she stood finally noticed the look in Dorian's eyes when he straightened up.She squinted, searching for the circle and symbols below him, but they were nowhere to be found.

The only thing she noticed was the blood pouring uncontrollably from his hands, then her eyes widened.

"No," she murmured, now drawing Aurora and Benson's attention to herself.

The duo stared at her worried expression for about a second, confused at her sudden outburst.

Aurora spoke first, "What's the matter?"

Rose didn't answer, she could hardly even hear Aurora, she just as Dorian gritted his teeth, standing loosely like he was weak.

The blood pouring from his hand pulsed, switching from a faint glow to normal, and back.

Once the beast freed itself and faced Dorian, the moment it locked eyes with him, the system suddenly appeared before him.

『External Body Summoning: Activate.』

『Caution: Do not exceed the limit of three active bodies.』