CHAPTER 13

Unfortunately, the lad had nothing on him, not even a simple knife that could help with killing animals without having to use his abilities. After all, if a boar was beyond the reach of killing it with a small pointed device, then with a hare the knife would definitely do its dark and unsophisticated work.

Speaking of abilities, Isaia decided to call this power blood manipulation. After spending a considerable amount of time starting his hunting session over again, he finally renewed his stamina spent on the overgrown boar.

Only after he had stopped hunting and gained enough energy did he have a chance to sit down and think about all the nuances and details of the new change.

For starters, this power was truly driven and centered on blood. Nothing else it was, at least from what the young man had been able to understand about it so far. The ability itself was quite costly and one had to choose their target wisely each time.

Hares died quickly, due to their small size and fragile bodies, which wasted too little energy when using blood manipulation, leaving Isaia with some dividends. Boars were large, and if one managed to kill them, they too would renew some of their energy.

Speaking of regenerated, it was worth noting that the lad had picked up on the correlation between his stamina and the blood he absorbed. The more vital energy he had in him, the less tired and hungry he felt, correspondingly less need for additional blood.

- Is there really that much wildlife in the world? - Isaia couldn't help but think that there were way too many animals in this forest. He couldn't know what the norm was for the number of beasts in a forest, because he'd never been interested in such statistics.

It was good that at least so far there had been no confrontation with the wolves, which the young man had heard more than once during the night. Most likely the sound of their howls came from many kilometers away, if none of the canines had been encountered so far.

With each new use of the skill, more and more mastery was gained. It could even be said that initially Isaia had a wrong sense of the skill itself, making many mistakes both in the use of the skill itself and in his conclusions about its characteristics and features.

There were cases when, from the very beginning, his feelings and understanding were led in the wrong direction.

Over time, however, came experience, when using the skill from time to time Isaia began to notice the algorithm and the order of behavior of the skill, thereby gaining more and more knowledge, finding out the truth behind truth about this strange and unique force.

- Now that I had finally regained my strength, I had to think about what to do next. - After taking a break and thinking for a while, Isaia came to the conclusion that he couldn't stay here for long. Out of loneliness and to concentrate his thoughts, he spoke aloud to himself, taking the first steps towards acquiring a bad habit.

Though, to tell the truth, due to the amount of adversity and disasters that had been heaped upon him, he could care less about something so insignificant. More important things needed to be thought about. For example, what would happen if someone suddenly came looking for him.

He wouldn't want to go to jail for something that had been committed involuntarily from his side. Not only would it be a pity for his newfound power, but there was no sense of guilt in the young man. It would have been fine if he had done it in a sane and conscious manner, but he had no idea what he was doing, and the circumstances of the case were clearly not in his favor, given the outrageous situation he was in, having to stomp around barefoot at night after someone had dumped him near the forest.

There was no way to explain himself, he would be thrown in jail, so Isaia decided to keep silent and never bring up what had happened yesterday again.

That was assuming, of course, that the event would be avoided and he would somehow manage to get out of this wilderness. From the signs around him, the lad could conclude that he was most likely not in the places he knew, and at the same time could be quite far from his native land.

Accordingly, if he managed to slip out of here, there would be a chance to avoid responsibility for what have been done. In the back corners of his subconsciousness Isaia of course admitted that he could be condemned, but strangely enough, he was so happy to receive the skill that he even admitted the profitability of exchanging the magic skill for a few years of his life.

He had no idea if his conscience would ever gnaw at him, driving him crazy with guilt and self-blame, but at least now he didn't want to get caught. It was a relief that after so much time had passed, no one had shown up with a warrant and other demands, which made the light at the end of the tunnel a little easier to see.

Isaia knew that the Criminal Investigation Department was working quickly and they should have been on the trail by now, though he supposed that the terrain and the lack of technological aids yesterday might have slowed the process down. The forest provided an ideal hiding place, but there were some pitfalls. In particular, the impossibility of proper orientation, because in the forest you can easily go in circles.