28 Power Absorption
[Access denied.]
Jerouch's eyes twitched and he cursed, gnashing his teeth.
This was his tenth time trying to store the orb in the system storage space, but he got the same message over and over again.
This led him to the situation where he now wrapped the orb in a thick black rag and then kept it inside his robe pouch.
The orb was about the size of an adult fist, so it created a little bulge on his robe.
Jerouch turned his head towards the far entrance of the canyon with a conflicted look, but he soon turned and walked away.
Gudra was not with him as he left the large bird inside the hall.
After treating it for a few days, a cocoon formed and encapsulated the bird, which was why he couldn't come outside with him.
' Cocoons are signs of evolution if this world also follows the same rule,' he mumbled. ' I wonder what he would look like when I'm back. '
Since the beast was going to rank up, he knew it would take time, so he didn't bother to wait.
Instead, he would find a way out of this forest and return afterwards.
He was currently in a region with giant silver trees and grasses. The shortest tree reached a height of a hundred meters with dangling yellow fruits.
The shrubs were also thick and tall, which made Jerouch look like a dwarf.
He had to use a wind blade and even fire arrows to create a path for himself.
Fortunately for him, the black robe which he bought not long ago was doing a wonderful job as it kept him cool despite the scorching sun.
As he advanced, he eventually found a low rank monster.
It resembled the bear that got him into the deeper parts of the forest. However, this bear was eight meters tall and it had grey metal-coated paws.
' E rank.' Jerouch muttered with zero interest.
He ignored the bear, having more important things to think about and turned to his left. However, it seemed the bear wasn't ready to let go.
Growl!
Jerouch heard a growl which made him snort.
He watched as the bear jumped more than twenty meters forward in his six o'clock direction with his forelimbs stretched forward, ready to smash him.
Bam!
Jerouch straight away turned and swung his left hand in a clockwise direction.
His left backhand clashed with the left shoulder of the bear, and what followed next was a krack sound and then…
Boom.
The bear was flung backwards until it collided with the stem of a tree, which again followed with a krack sound as its backbone fractured.
'' Think twice before you act. '' Jerouch furrowed his eyebrows.
He was fuming with the system's main quest and also his earlier mistake which almost killed him. Hence, the bear ran out of luck as he vented his exasperation on it.
' Sprint. '
Jerouch activated the skill and dashed forward in a blur. All the thin branches underneath him snapped, and then he appeared before the bear.
Raising his right leg, he brought it down with full force, smashing the bear's skull.
[+45 exp]
Jerouch ignored the notification, seeing how pitiful the exp was.
He looked at the disfigured corpse with a dead expression, and then he muttered in a hushed tone…
' Grimoire. '
A thick dark book cloaked with dark and purple miasma appeared in thin air with its pages opened.
This was the new look of the grimoire since its advancement to the epic rank.
Jerouch carried the grimoire with his right hand and placed it on the corpse.
[Target confirmed. ]
[Absorption in progress. ]
Seeing the notifications, he nodded in satisfaction and sat under the tree.
Five minutes later, he got a new notification.
[Absorption complete. ]
[Host has absorbed a trace amount of the bloodline of an ancient race.]
[Host is advised to absorb more ancient bloodlines to complete the process. ]
[Host can now morph into a common bear.]
Jerouch grinned on seeing the notifications.
' Who would've thought that a measly bear would carry the bloodline of an ancient race? ' He took the grimoire and unsummoned it.
As for the corpse, there was nothing left of it except for the blood stains on the ground.
Checking the system, he could now see a new panel under the grimoire.
[Bloodlines]
Earth titan- 2%
' Um. ' Jerouch nodded again and continued advancing.
He wasn't completely sure of his destination. The forest was way more enormous than he could imagine.
All he could hope for was that his intuition would be correct.
Several hours later, night arrived, encompassing the forest with its cold darkness, and he had to stop his journey.
He found a big tree which he lay under half awake with occasional cold chills due to his wild imagination.
The night, however, was uneventful apart from the birds and insects that kept chirping throughout the late hours.
' Again, I must say this robe is quite handy.' Jerouch yawned as he stretched his hands then his body.
Krack
Krack
He popped his fingers and tried so much to open his eyes fully.
' I hope I find my way out of this damn place today. ' He rose from his sleeping position.
' I've wasted too much time already. '
Heading forward again, throwing all his bets on his intuition, Jerouch still found the mouth of the forest to be farther than he thought.
He couldn't even help but wonder if he was really following the right route.
' Argh! '
Jerouch was still circling the forest cluelessly when he heard a cry in the distance, which brought him to a stop.
' Isn't that the cry of a human? ' He furrowed his eyes as he looked in the direction of where the sound came from.
Shrugging his shoulder, he decided to peep.
' Well, a peep won't kill me this time around either, no? ' He smiled wryly while biting his lower lips as he thought of a dead, slithery figure.
As he moved closer to the place, the sound of battles began to reach him, which deepened his frown, but he soon relaxed, albeit as he sensed the mana fluctuation that was being released from afar.
' Mostly F ranks and some E ranks.' He analysed in his head. ' And I think some ordinary humans too. '
After a short while, he finally saw the battle in the distance. It was a total mess.
He could see a group of guards protecting two carriages and some men, who he assumed to be bandits, encircled these guards.
The bandits also had a group of F rank wolves which accompanied them.
' A beast tamer or what? ' He squinted his eyes while still hiding behind a tree, confused as to why beasts would work with humans.
' This is a lost battle. ' He laughed, not feeling an ounce of compassion.
He watched as another guard got his chest pierced by a spear wielded by one of the bandits, and before he could even cry in agony, a wolf was already shredding his pelvic region apart.
Jerouch kept watching, knowing that the time to intervene wasn't now.
They needed to feel despair at closed doors to understand better what hope was.
And who was the demon that would bring them hope…