Free Web NovelChapter 3: The Raven Ability
The rest of the meeting was spent discussing the different academies and the next stage of their journey.
As part of the Elfine Kingdom, one of the Seven Safe Havens of humanity in Eldrune, there were dozens of prestigious academies that every Enhancer dreamed of joining, along with hundreds of lesser-known ones for those who failed to earn an invitation from the elite institutions.
Silas paid little attention. The moment Gaia Calling appeared on his profile, he knew he had a chance of entering one of the top academies. Right now, his mind was occupied by something far more important, the mysterious voice and the old Enhancer’s advice.
He wanted nothing more than to return to his room and try contacting it again. Just as the meeting was about to end, however, the hall lights dimmed. The old Enhancer had one final surprise prepared: a short video.
Silas barely cared. Then another surprise appeared.
"Hi there."
As several Enhancers cleared the stage, one of the youngsters turned toward Silas from the row below.
"I’m Darius. I’m a Hunter. I hope we end up in the same academy."
"Oh?" Silas glanced at him, sizing the youngster up and down.
At first look, he looked like someone easily approachable and quite dependable, especially with his wide amber eyes and easy smile. He had broad shoulders and an athletic build that looked natural and not enforced by rigorous gym exercises. His clothes and posture looked too refined, even his brown hair was neatly cut short as if he was applying for an important job.
"You’re not annoyed by what I got?"
"Me?" Darius laughed. "Not at all. That’s your gift and your luck. Most people just hate admitting their luck isn’t as good as others."
He shrugged.
"We’re already lucky enough to be Enhancers instead of ordinary people. For someone like myself who came from an ordinary family and background, I’m too blessed to be here, to be an Enhancer."
"That’s true."
Before Silas could continue the conversation, a giant screen descended from the ceiling, and the video began. The footage showed two teams of five Enhancers battling a group of terrifying monsters.
Silas had heard stories about monsters his entire life but had never seen one personally. Now he felt fortunate.
The monsters were terrifying, powerful, brutal, and relentless. Even with ten Enhancers working together, the battle was difficult. Several fighters suffered gruesome injuries before the final monster finally fell.
"Look at those two."
Darius suddenly spoke.
"The speed-type and the knife thrower Enhancers."
Silas looked where he pointed. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
"I bet if the speed-type could throw knives while moving, he could do both jobs himself. Hell, he can do a better job than both of them. That’s a serious lack of creativity."
The comment should have sounded ridiculous. Instead, something clicked. The world around Silas blurred. The recording no longer looked like a recording.
He watched a different scene playing out right in front of him, where the fast-moving Enhancer pulled knives from his belt and hurled them toward the monster. A strange sense of clarity washed over him, and his thoughts flowed effortlessly.
’Throwing the knives alone won’t make them deadlier.
But if they gained more momentum...
If wind accelerated them...’
The scene changed as if his thoughts held magical powers. Wind wrapped around the blades, turning the knives into streaks of light. They crossed the battlefield in an instant and slammed into the monster with devastating force.
’Still not enough.
What if time itself accelerated the knives?’
The vision shifted again. This time, the blades blurred beyond sight. The world seemed to slow while the knives sped up impossibly fast. Then the familiar voice echoed inside his mind.
[You experienced Enlightenment!]
[You added your Time Attribute to Wind Element, gaining Raven Ability!]
Silas nearly jumped from his seat. And with his reaction, the vision vanished. The battlefield returned to normal. When he looked again, the speed-type Enhancer wasn’t throwing knives.
Nothing unusual had happened; nothing of what he just experienced truly happened on the screen. Except it had, only inside his mind.
’Raven Ability? Time Attribute? Enlightenment?’
His heart raced.
’We need to have a long talk, Gaia.’
The meeting ended shortly afterwards. Ramus explained that the aircraft would continue travelling between academies while student profiles were distributed. Invitations would be sent directly to their AI assistants, and each Enhancer would then choose which academy to attend.
Until then, everyone was instructed to remain in their rooms, train, and rest. As Silas left, countless eyes followed him, Ramus, Darius, and many others. Silas ignored them all.
The last thing he wanted was to waste time answering questions or listening to jealous remarks. He had more important things to do.
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The moment he entered his room, he turned toward the AI assistant.
"So, what exactly is Gaia Calling?"
The AI answered immediately.
"It is a mysterious phenomenon possessed by a very small number of powerful Enhancers throughout human history. One fact is known: every individual who possessed Gaia Calling reached at least B-Grade, while most eventually achieved A-Grade."
Silas frowned. That was hardly useful. No matter how he rephrased the question, the answer remained the same. Eventually, he gave up.
"So the old man’s advice is all I’ve got."
He sat at the desk and rubbed his temples.
’Trust Gaia.’
It was easy to say, yet much harder to do. How could he trust something he couldn’t grasp or fathom? Ramus had also warned him against asking endless questions. Instead, he had advised understanding the meaning behind Gaia’s words. To do that, Silas needed to calm down.
Unfortunately, his thoughts were racing, and his mind was in chaos. A dozen possibilities battled inside his head.
"A cold shower."
It was worth a try. The icy water washed away some of his stress, but once he stepped out, the answers still hadn’t come. Then a childhood memory surfaced.
Back at the orphanage, he often soaked in cold water during the hottest days. Somehow, those moments always brought him peace of mind. Silas filled the bathtub with cold water and climbed inside.
"Let’s see if this works."
He took a deep breath and submerged himself. Silence embraced him as the world vanished. He no longer felt like he was sitting in a bathtub. Instead, he drifted through a vast and tranquil lake.
The deeper he sank, the clearer his thoughts became. Then the voice returned.
[Time is eternal.]
[Nothing can stand against time.]
[Time is the universal law that unifies all things.]
[Time is absolute.]
[Time is your Attribute.]
The words resonated through his entire being, as if a god was saying them. For the first time, they made perfect sense. He felt like he knew all this for so long, since he was born.
The clarity gave more to him than just this: a realisation of things he never knew before.
’So I’m different. I possess a Mana Heart. A power no human has ever possessed before.’
Other Enhancers required monster cores to absorb Mana, yet Silas did not. He could absorb mana directly from the world itself.
The realisation felt natural, as though he had always known it. The Hollow Raven Core purification message he received in the hall earlier suddenly made sense as well. It had never granted him power. It was never meant to give someone like him power as the rest of humans did.
The core had merely awakened his Mana Heart. Its essence had been absorbed and broken down into its most fundamental components:
[Wind Element.]
[Fear Bonus Effect.]
That explained why his body hadn’t transformed like everyone else. He never needed such a mutation in the first place.
Then the water around him rippled as a dark silhouette emerged. It looked exactly like him. But this figure held a sword.
The moment Silas thought about Raven’s ability, the silhouette moved. The sword slashed. Yet it wasn’t the blade slash that attacked; the blade in itself became the attack.
Time bent, and the weapon accelerated to impossible speeds while the world slowed around it. The swords turned into a flash; it became an impact, a devastating strike.
It flew from the shadow’s grasp and seemed to cut the black water into two halves wherever it went. Silas immediately saw the flaw.
’What if I lose the weapon?’
The silhouette responded in action. It extended its hand, and the sword instantly returned, like magic. Silas stared with both eyes widened to full circles. The implications were enormous.
’Anything I understand...
Anything I comprehend through Enlightenment...
I can learn.’
Excitement surged through him at this realisation. He wanted to continue; he wanted to experiment more. He wanted to test more ideas. But the clarity slowly began fading.
His thoughts grew sluggish, the water world started to distort, and the silhouette dissolved. As the vision collapsed, one final realisation surfaced; other Enhancers gained abilities by consuming cores. Silas gained abilities through understanding, through Enlightenment.
Yet he already suspected there was a condition. Without inspiration, he never would have reached that breakthrough. Darius’s comment had sparked the entire chain of thought. Whether the Enlightenment required outside stimulation or could occur naturally remained unknown.
Before he could investigate further, the vision shattered. Silas burst from the water, gasping for air. His body felt drained, exhausted, and weak. He was barely able to stand; he stumbled toward the bed.
The moment he hit the mattress, darkness swallowed him. And he fell into a deep sleep.
