CHAPTER 37

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After several hours of searching and gathering, the mushroomer was about to leave, and it was then that the lad decided to make his move, for it might be too late if he kept watching.

He had to act roughly, first doing his best to remain stealthy to the very last moment. Maybe it was a requirement for survival in the place where he had come from, or maybe it was just that he was overly vigilant, but the target kept looking around.

Isaia could not blame the stranger, as he had experienced firsthand the dangers of the region. He also seemed to have familiarity with the forest, for he avoided locations of extreme danger without going far enough into them.

Isaia's blood manipulation helped him avoid dangerous places. To tell the truth, there were few places that could pose a threat to him nowadays. He was aware of all the living things hanging around.

Admittedly it was hard for him to say for sure about the distance at which the skill worked when it came to sensing blood. The fifteen-meter distance was relative to the blood control, but he could feel it at farther distances.

There was no way he could measure it himself, as the forest was unpredictable, quite dangerous with the presence of wolves, especially when it came to the time before the skill improved.

The most difficult part of the measurements was the unpredictability of the beasts, which were constantly moving around, making the task challenging. And he didn't have any tools at hand to do the calculations.

The catching process of mushroom picker was excessively clumsy and shameful. Isaia was embarrassed by his stealth skills, so out of place was his image in the eyes of the average person.

The guy was carrying a knife, which Isaia became aware of as soon as he came within sight of his target. The man had taken it out and displayed it to the world, demonstrating the potential threat he posed.

Isaia decided not to cripple the target, as that action could set the target up to be more aggressive, which would only worsen the possibility of cooperation.

The knife that appeared out of nowhere took Isaia by surprise; he had not bothered to think through the target's resistance in every detail.

His self-confidence was due to the ease with which he dealt with the huge and dangerous beasts in the forest. It made him let his guard down. All the more so because he was overwhelmed by the hypocritical self-confidence that had failed the human race so many times before, bringing many plans to nothing.

To say nothing of individuals, overconfidence has been responsible for the collapse of entire armies, and even entire civilizations, much less an unsophisticated young man.

Isaia was not a simpleton, and he knew that the best way to deal with this was through blood manipulation. His own stupor indicated that he had no training and no way to disarm an armed person. He realized that it was foolish to try to find a way out based on his own life experience, it would only let him down.

Which meant that he could only hope to rely on the newly acquired magical skill which has helped him out many times before.

Blood manipulation could not be used impulsively, the skill was too dangerous for living creatures, but at least the lad could boast that he had developed a small but still skillful grasp of it in the last few weeks.

Isaia couldn't say with certainty that there was a one hundred percent chance of accomplishing what he intended with just disarming the target, but it was too late to turn back.

It was worth testing the human's reaction to the short-term application of blood manipulation on him. Isaia assumed it would be in the form of some pain.

If the blood in a person's body, or better yet, an individual limb, came under the lad's control for a brief moment, there should be a short, excruciating pain that would cause the target to drop his weapon. At least, that was the logic the young man assumed.

Isaia knew firsthand that pain in the limbs was one of the most intolerable. Choosing this area of the human body will also prevent it from causing critical damage because there are no vital organs in this part of the body.

The hand, in particular the palm of the hand, is overly sensitive and does not have arteries, which are second in the question of vulnerable areas of the living organism, right after the internal organs. It was worth a shot, even if there will be a failure and the idea will not succeed. It will always be possible to repeat the experience, taking as a note in advance that the target may have a weapon in possession.

Perhaps the experience gained now, regarding the infliction of unbearable pain, would come in handy for future plans, turning this whole encounter into a sort of experiment. He would have liked to do his research in less extreme conditions, but since chance had brought him here, there was no point in refusing.