High risk, high reward

After going through his abilities, Luke was quick to confirm the authenticity of the Abyssal resurgence. He finally understood why the wounds he sustained on his arm during his fight with the beast healed at an alarming rate. He also took note of something very shocking concerning the details on the panel.

Normal people had one ability, but he had two from the get-go... No, it was one ability that could give him more than two abilities.

Judging based on the details of the Devour ability, he concluded that the Abyssal Resurgence and Harmonic Empowerment were obtained from the Demon and Angel used in the experiment.

"Is the 2 out of 3 limits for this current level or permanently?" Luke muttered while silently hoping it was the former.

Anyway, Luke quickly brushed away the thought and accepted he was special regardless. He has never heard of an awakened with two abilities, talk more of the potential to have three. Even if his permanent limit was three abilities, he would still be considered special amongst awakened humans.

The only problem now was that he would have preferred a destructive ability that could be used in fights.

"On second thought, this might actually be the best." It didn't take long for Luke to rethink his initial opinion of his abilities.

The journey to the north, where the Arcanoria empire was located, was definitely going to be a dangerous one. Rather than getting a flashy ability that could not save him from the injuries that he would most likely sustain during his journey, it was best to have a crazy regenerative ability capable of healing even the deadliest injuries.

"Funny enough, even minor injuries could become deadly if they accumulate and get infected." Luke shuddered as he thought of how a cut from a blade of grass could lead to so many complications.

With this matter off his mind, Luke let out a helpless sigh. He knew the journey ahead would be dangerous, and what made things worse was that he still found it hard to believe all of this.

"If someone walked up to me a day ago and told me I would be outside the borders of the empire with plans of journeying through the wasteland, I would never believe it." Luke let out a wry chuckle as he pushed all that aside and shifted his attention to the zero progress bar. 

All beings have a soul and in the case where a beast dies, their soul would take the physical form of a crystal known as a soul core which in turn contains the soul essence. His count read zero, meaning he had yet to absorb any soul core.

"So to get stronger, I have to get soul cores?" Luke muttered, knowing fully well that getting stronger was one of the most important parts of his revenge.

Even with his strength, the forest was still dangerous. Only by getting stronger can he ensure his safety while improving his chances of carrying out his revenge plan against the Nexeria empire.

It was then that Luke realized he had been missing something important all this while. His gaze shifted to the direction of the clearing where the battle between beasts took place. 

What better place to find soul cores than where beasts were slaughtered?

The only problem was that whatever beast that managed to survive the slaughter would surely be the strongest of the bunch. On the bright side, the victor of the battle royal would most likely have sustained heavy injuries in the battle… Right?

"It's risky, but the rewards would be massive," Luke sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

"I just hope it isn't the one that passed under the tree," Luke couldn't help but remember the heavy beast.

Without wasting another second, he descended the tree and began walking towards the clearing. Luke was scared that the beast may have enhanced hearing like him, so he watched every step he took, practically tiptoed through the entire journey.

Upon arrival, he hid behind a tree surrounded by thick bushes and surveyed the area to make sure that there were no more beasts also eyeing the injured beast. 

After confirming that he was alone, Luke shifted his attention to the direction of the injured beast, and with his enhanced eyesight he could see it properly even though it was dark.

The beast had a round head and a broad snout, resembling a grizzly bear. It had dense fur once a mixture of brown and grey however, after the recent battle it was dyed red with blood with clumps of fur matted with mud and dried with blood. 

The beast stood over eight feet tall, with powerful limbs equipped with sharp claws. The beast's fur, usually dense and vibrant, was dishevelled and streaked with earthly hues. Littered across its thick fur were patches of darker stains, marking the areas that sustained injuries in the recent battle.

Luke shifted his attention to the small clearing once littered with body bags, but now it was also filled with corpses of beasts, making it difficult to see the body bags that were once there. Some corpses had limbs torn out, while some had their heads missing. Luke was able to see a few corpses riddled with claw-shaped wounds and other types of injuries. 

The stench of blood and rotting flesh filled the air, and Luke was forced to cover his mouth and nose with his palm. He felt the urge to throw up, but he held back this feeling as he shifted his attention back to the survivor of the battle.

Judging based on its size, Luke guessed it was the heavy four-legged beast that passed underneath the three on its way to the battleground. This was the beast he explicitly wished died in this battle, but somehow it was the one that survived. 

Luke let out a defeated sigh while silently cursing his luck, knowing fully well that harming such a heavy beast without a destructive ability would be extremely difficult.

"Surely, I can't leave all of this behind,"