Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 256: Siphon

Thank you to my beta reader and editor, GlassThreads!

Toren Daen

The Asclepius Clan touted themselves as the greatest hunters in all of Epheotus. While I had not met them yet, there was a way I could know them better.

I shifted on my root-branch, clenching and unclenching my fists as I called on my mana. My regalia burned with warmth as I focused on my newest technique.

When Seris and I had sparred, she'd asked me what I could do to address my lacking senses. Here, I had her answer.

Sound magic built over my heart as the resounding beat came slow and steady in my mind. I listened to that rhythm, attuned myself to it. And then I released my spell.

A subtle wave of sound magic—inaudible to normal ears and shivering at a frequency so as to be nearly undetectable—radiated outward from me in an omnidirectional wave. I could just barely hear it, even with my advanced hearing.

The sound mana traveled over everything around me, bouncing off the stone walls and rippling through the reddish roots. And as it did so, it rebounded back to me.

An image slowly formed in my mind. A shaky, blurry image, but an image nonetheless. The spell I'd just used—titled Sonar Pulse—was designed after the echolocation abilities of the Echo Vespertion I'd slain so long ago. It fed a model of the world around me in three dimensions directly into my brain.

I tilted my head, internally overlaying the model filtering through my brain with what I physically saw, the intent of the many mana beasts hiding amidst the brush, and the heartfire of every living thing.

The world is so much more alive than the eyes alone can see, I thought, giving myself a minute to hone the technique. For all that I envied Arthur his ability to see the mana in the world, I'd wager the image in my head is just as comprehensive.

Seventeen mana beasts in my immediate range, I thought, focusing on the mental image Sonar Pulse returned. Most are A-class. A few AA-class beasts. And one...

There was one I got a fuzzy outline of—and the quiet intent of all other beasts radiated quiet fear of it. From what I could sense, it was barely S class, and it was slowly moving closer and closer through the ravine. Every beast it swung by ducked and hid, even those that I suspected would be a worthy battle.

The first rule of a hunt, my son, Aurora's voice feathered across my ear. When all other monsters fear one, you must cultivate a controlled fear yourself. There is a reason.

I nodded slowly as I decided on my quarry. The approaching creature bounded along the roots in a strange, erratic manner, darting to and fro in no discernible pattern. I rolled my shoulders, mentally preparing myself for a battle.

Then I leapt, pulling in my presence as I bounded with casual ease from reddish branch to reddish branch, moving closer and closer to my quarry. I was hyper-aware of how many mana beasts there were around me, the trifold relay of Sonar Flow and my other senses telling me how everything else shied away from the approaching monster.

It didn't take long for me to close in on the creature. I could swing and maneuver through the tangled webs of roots with an ease that I suspected was greater than even the native beasts. I narrowed my eyes as I clung to the cliffside, my hand sinking deep into some sort of moss as my telekinetic pulls kept me anchored.

And I saw it: the creature all the other mana beasts were desperately avoiding. It stumbled along a far-away root, lurching this way and that as if something inside of its mind were broken. It was a pale, creamy color, and appeared to be made entirely out of some sort of plant matter. It had no discernable facial features that I could see, though it appeared vaguely bipedal.