Bloodsense
Adam woke up with a startled scream. He just had had the worst nightmare of his entire life. The cruel eyes of the beast he had dreamt about stalked him even after he woke up. They were right above his face and they stared at him intently.
As his brain processed the obtained stimuli, Adam realized that the events of the night were not a dream. He stared at the bird standing proudly on his chest and then at the bright sky visible through the canopy of the trees.
Adam shook his head, sit up, and checked the watch. The bird cooed aggrievedly when Adam chased it from its spot on his chest and landed on a low-hanging branch. It was already late in the morning. Adam rummaged through his backpack and wolfed down everything edible. Afterward, he looked at the pigeon again. Still hungry, he wondered if it would be any good.
As if sensing his thoughts, the bird protested loudly.
"You are right," Adam replied. "I am grateful for your help yesterday. I would be dog food without you."
The pigeon cooed with pride but its good mood vanished as soon as it looked at the empty perch it was sitting on. Adam saw human-like pain and a sense of loss in its otherworldly eyes.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he tried to console the bird. "I wish there was something I could do."
The bird perked up at his words and pointed its head to the west, then flew off the branch in this direction and returned to it in the next moment.
"You want me to go with you?" Adam asked. "You wanted me to do it from the very beginning, didn't you? This is why you followed me."
The pigeon skewed its head and cooed uncertainly as if showing Adam that it didn't know what he was talking about.
"I guess I can follow you. I don't know exactly where I am and I need to go west either way." Adam replied with a smirk. "Let's do it your way then. But I need to check some things first."
Adam took off his clothes and looked at his shoulder. The wound was largely healed and wasn't life-threatening anymore. Despite this, Adam tore off a sleeve from his hoodie and dressed the wound carefully.
The last thing to do before moving out was to check the Status Window. Adam recalled the prompts he received during the fight and wondered what his attributes looked like now. As he thought about this the screen immediately popped up in front of his eyes.
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[STATUS WINDOW]
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[RACE - HUMAN (AWAKENED)
[CLASS - NONE]
[LEVEL - 4]
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[ATTRIBUTES]----------[AFFINITIES]
[Strength: 14]----------[Strength: B]
[Dexterity: 13]----------[Dexterity: B]
[Constitution: 15]------[Constitution: A]
[Perception: 14]--------[Perception: S]
[Mind: 22]--------------[Mana: SSS]
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[LEGACIES]
[Blood (Greater)]
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[SKILL]
[Blood Manipulation - Novice]
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Adam looked at the panel with surprise. His attributes definetallly increased, even Strength and Dexterity. He could feel it too. His body was stronger and more durable. This increase also explained how he had managed to run for half of the night in the difficult terrain.
Having checked his status, Adam finally got up and gestured at the bird to lead the way. In his heart he hoped that he wouldn't regret this decision and that this strange guide of his would enable him to reach his destination.
Adam walked through the forest, his new friend circling above his head and chirping happily. It seemed glad and somewhat relieved that Adam was finally following him.
As the time passed, the pair delved in the deepest parts of the forest, untouched by the human hand.
The tranquility of the place managed to calm Adam down and made him forget his dire situation, even if for a little while.
The bird flew around, vanishing at times from Adam's view.
Slow rustling of the leaves ruffeld by a delicate breeze guided his thoughts and allowed him to enter into a deep contemplation.
Surrounded by the old trees, Adam fully immersed himself in the untamed nature that dominated this place.
In this state, he slowly opened his senses. He felt the arcane current flowing slowly through his body once again. It was stronger than before and Adam could actually concentrate on it and study it this time.
Adam could perceive how this strange energy entered his body and circled through it before vanishing into the outside world. His arcane sense slowly tried to expand outside his body and as it did, the cachophony of new stimuli nearly fried his brain.
He caught his head, hissing in pain, his concentration broken and his sixth sense immediately returning to his body.
Nevertheless, this voyage wasn't entire futile. Even though the world outside his body was a jumbled mess and Adam couldn't make sense off it, one feeling was crystal clear.
The rhytmic beating of hearts. Not only of his own, but of every creature that was present in the vicinity. Adam not only heard it, but he also saw it.
Little shining bundles of blood, some hidden in the foliage, some high in the canopy of the trees and some underground. Considering the possible outcomes of the awakening process, Adam assumed that all of living creatures he detected managed to succesfuly awaken.
They weren't agressive though, as they left him on his own and didn't make their presence known. As Adam marveled at the number of animals surrounding him, a new message flashed before his eyes.
[New Skill aquired: Bloodsense. Status Window ajdusted accordingly.]
The message broke Adam's meditative state and caused him to sober up.
Adam relaxed and then concentrated again exitedly, trying to find an extent of his newfound ability. Bloodsense reacted much like every other limb, coming to life with every thought. Its presence opened a whole neew world of possibilites before him.
When his guide returned again, Adam focused his Bloodsense on it. The bird's figure became slightly translucent, enabling Adam to observe the blood flowing through its veins.
It shone stronger then any other animal and Adam's intuition was telling him that he shouldn't try to control it under any circumstances. As he observed the bird and pondered how powerfull it was, something else cought Adam's attention.
His new skill exposed a large group of creatures slightly ahead of him, moving in the same direction as he. Their blood looked different. It was dark and did't shone in his eyes like all the rest. On the contrary, it seemed to devour all the light in its surroundings.
This peculiar blood flowed very slowly and created the outlines of humanoid creatures.
"Tainted," Adam whispered. He slowed to a crawl and counted the number of presences he felt. There were at least twenty of them. Adam waded his way through the thicket cautiously and finally saw the the creatures with his own eyes.
They formed a loose group that moved slowly but steadily. Similar to the horde he encountered at the tunnel, the Tainted here were calm and focused, their eyes, burning with green fire, directed at some unknown goal.
The pigeon cooed cheerfully and landed atop the head of the Tainted at the front of the group. It chirped to its ear like they were old friends.
Adam circled the group, watching for any sign of trouble. The Tainted ignored him though and marched onward. Adam signalled the bird and sped up, not wanting to be stuck with the dangerous beasts.
"Are they going to the same place?" He asked the bird when the group vanished from his sight. It cooed in the answer, looking at Adam innocently and flew off, once again pointing the way. Adam checked the sun and confirmed that they were still due west.
As the day passed, Adam's mood turned to the worse. What caused the change was the clouds of smoke coming from the direction they were going to, and a faint red glow he could spot in the distance.
It seemed that the bird was leading him to one of the sites of the Impact and to the fire that must have been raging there. Adam didn't like it one bit, but decided to follow the bird anyway for now.
He wasn't sure if he could find the highway again, and if the fire hadn't cut it off. If it were to be true, he would have to cross it all the same to get to Cracow, and he would have only wasted more time finding the road.
Thinking about that, Adam entrusted his fate to the sharp talons of a pigeon.
The duo finally aproached the bird's target. Adam was standing on a ledge, with the pigeon on his shoulder, and looking at the inferno raging in the distance. The fire covered an immense part of the forest and it stretched for as long as Adam could see.
As he turned to the left, he saw that the highway was not far away from his current position. It led straight into the fire and vanished under the cover of heavy black smoke.
"I hope you know what you are doing, pal," Adam considered his next words carefully. "Lead the way."