14 Discovering a Good Innate Talent

Madly, slowly strolled towards Arthur, dragging her sword on the ground. Arthur felt confident that he could win but there was slight doubt. Arthurs skin started to feel clammy as his fingers tingle. 

Arthurs shirt stuck to his skin as it was smothered in sticky blood. Weakly, Arthur shuffled towards Madly to meet her halfway as he struggled to pick up Edward's sword.

Arthur knew fighting Madly would be difficult because of her mind abilities. She was someone who could observe and learn, anticipate her enemies' moves. 

It would be hopeless to try and win a fight with people who had these abilities. However, Arthur has dealt with these people his entire life.

A clang could be heard as the two swords met halfway.Both individuals  tried to put more of their body weight and strength to weaken their opponent. 

Madly, stamped on Arthur's foot, trying to distract him, but it failed. Arthur used that to his advantage as when she tried again Arthur used his foot to trip her by the ankles. 

This opened Madly's stomach as she was no longer standing sideways. Arthur then stepped backwards as he used his other hand to punch her in the stomach which made her wince in pain.

As her grasp on her sword weakened, Arthur used the blunt handle of his sword to repeatedly hit Madly's wrist. In agony Madly dropped her sword as it plunged to the ground. 

Arthur didn't waste the opportunity as vanished behind her and spun her to the face by pulling her hair. Madly whimpered in pain. When Madly faced Arthur he quickly grabbed her throat with his hand. 

Madly, whacked him in the stomach , his grasp in his hand weakened, though he kept strangling her while he dropped his sword. Finally, she falls unconscious, still breathing, as Arthur gently puts her on the floor.

  Everyone that attacked Arthur passed out as they slept longer than he was expected.  The first time to discover innate talents was always the hardest. 

Some might lose their sanity in the process, just like they did, which was an indicator, a good one, for their high ranked innate talents.

"Two mind freaks and one irresistible talent, three good seedlings I got here," he muttered as he moved his eyes between them all, before finally resting over Ouly. "What surprising innate talent will you show me, kid?"

He knew, if anyone here had some rare innate talent, they wouldn't even be compared with what Ouly would show him. 

Assassins were very rare from the beginning, so their innate talents should be something unique, rare and beautiful.

"I guess it's time for me to know what innate talent I have in this world."

He knew his past innate talent, as a cultivator he could use many forms of weapons, learn many cultivation techniques. 

This was, back in the cultivation world, it gave him a godly talent, a talent for geniuses. 

Though, Arthur  wasn't sure if his innate talent would follow his soul or his body's will. 

In the battle from before, he just used his tricks, the skills and moves he had engraved deeply in his soul from his past life, but he refrained from using his innate talent, for fear of hurting them.

But now he had to test his talent, and to do that he needed to ditch his sword, and fetch a weapon suitable to his taste, which was the bow he took from grandpa Regil.

Once he touched the bow again, he felt a deep resonance with it. This was an indication of his innate talent, but he knew that he needed to fly some arrows to assess his innate talent. 

He took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and then took out one arrow and flung it into the bow. 

He targeted a nearby tree, just tens of meters away, then he released the arrow, to move at  a high speed towards the tree. The arrow hit straight into the tree, right where Arthur aimed.

"What the hell?!" Arthur  exclaimed in surprise, as he did feel some powers attaching himself with the arrow, but that was it. 

He didn't think he had  any talent at all, as he began to think, repicture the move just now, try to analyze the feeling he just had.

He didn't have enough data to reach a conclusion, so he put an arrow one after another without pause, trying to grasp this feeling that strangely felt somehow familiar.

"My god, I have the god killing talent!"

He finally recalled when and where he felt such a talent. It was a signature move of one of the strongest archers in his cultivation world. 

This one was somehow scary, even for him, as Arthur rarely admitted to be below someone in something, but in killing and assassination, this man was surly topping him.

"Wow, I really got all the luck of my past life here."

He was in a good mood, as discovering having this innate talent made him very glad and content. 

He didn't delay to test out his talent, as he took another arrow and then targeted it towards the tree. 

Just as the arrow left the string, he manipulated his innate talent, to affect the path this arrow was heading in.

Instead of flying straight forward, Arthur controlled the arrow to deviate, creating an arc, as it bypassed the tree and hit the one behind it, in a magnificent way.

"Hooray, I really did it!"He jumped in the air, like a little kid, driven from his excitement. This talent was really a killer, as no one could even threaten him, near or far, even if they hid behind a tree or a rock, it didn't matter.

  All would be hit with his arrows, no matter where he or she was. 

What made this talent really scary was the fact it wasn't related only to bows, as any flying weapons could be manipulated with it, knives, darts, even needles. 

It was a killer move, best suited for a dark assassin. Arthur looked in apology towards the sleepy Ouly, as such a talent was best suited for him.

Arthur then started experimenting his new talent, thrilled with it, he tried to control two arrows, but he failed. 

He wasn't dejected, as he knew his talent was just being discovered, and he needed some time for it to grow stronger. Patience, that was what he needed right now.

Arthur waited for an hour for his friends to wake up distorted. The last to wake up was Ouly, who was now seeing things differently, like a newborn looking around him in curiosity.

"How are you all feeling?" Arthur said, as everyone was silent the moment they woke up. He knew they were conflicted right now, as the effects of opening their talents were just fading away, but they were still there.

"What happened to us?" Madly asked curiously.

"You just discovered your innate talents, congratulations," Arthur replied simply.

"No," Madly shook her head, "this isn't the innate talent  that we know about." She glanced at everyone else, as she was asking for their opinions. They all nodded, even Ron, who was now seeing his master in new lights, with more doubts inside him than ever.

"What is the innate talent system you have here in this world?" Arthur questioned confusingly. 

"Innate talents get  assessed by academy representatives," Madly spoke up, "I heard that the innate talents are divided into ranks, from zero to ten, each determining how many demons a person can hold in his body.

Ranks from one to three mean mediocre talent, ranks above three are considered good talent, and they will gain a chance to be taught at Dorgazire Academy. Though, we have not been assessed before as our families are too poor."

'So they are assessing talents based on the power to control demons, how naïve,' he muttered to himself, before saying loudly, "This system is flawed."

"How so?!" Ron was the one to ask, as he wanted to know what was really going on with his master. He wanted to privately ask him directly about that, he never thought such a disease would be life changing, not like this.

"Because it depends upon the utilization of your innate talent, its strength, not the nature of your talents," Arthur slowly said, trying to simplify things to them.

"What is the problem then? After all strength is what really matters," Ouly said, expressing his opinion.

"I admit you are true, but you have also to admit this is a very restricted way of seeing things," Arthur said, and before anyone else would interrupt him, he added, "Let's take you as an example.

If we did a test on you the moment I met you, then you might gain rank one or two. However, after gaining more energy into your bodies, opening the real realm of your talents, doing the test now would be surprising to you, as you will jump one rank at least."

His words were vague to most, but not to Ouly or Madly, as the two had some understanding of what he was saying.

"Do you mean we should build our bodies, train our innate talents, before we consider taking the test?" Ouly asked, trying to express what he understood.

"Yes," Arthur nodded, "that is the most logical and right approach. As doing that, you will  train your talent and make sure it will grow, even if you start in a low rank talent, your rank will keep rising non-stop," he added, before he motioned to the meat pieces reserved for Ouly.

"But, this also reminds me of something, gaining energy from sources like monsters and herbs is indeed good and easy, but with time your body won't benefit from it as it adapts.

Your body will need massive amounts of energy that would seem impossible for the meat to supply."

Ouly had his eyes  laid over his share, as he noticed the envious eyes of everyone else. ``What is this meat?" he asked, wryly, feeling awkward without a reason.

Madly took the chance to explain things to him, and Arthur didn't stop her.

He just watched what she said, as he wanted to know what she and others had learnt from him, and after she finished he was satisfied, as she learnt everything he needed her to know.