Given the Gelu Drake's size, the size of its heart was tremendous too.
Even eating without pause for some five minutes, I had not got through half of it.
Being full was not a problem, since the Nutrient Synthesis [C+] ability burns the calories away, but...
'Ugh, I can't breathe.'
Being shut inside a body this long, the oxygen was thin.
And I could not yet synthesise oxygen with the Nutrient Synthesis [C+] ability.
In the end I took the half-eaten Gelu Drake heart and came out.
And when I came out of the Gelu Drake's body.
"He's gone already, then."
Kai was nowhere to be seen.
From the footprints stamped in the snow of the Snowy Mountain, it seemed he had gone down.
Sure enough, far off, the sight of Kai's back as he turned and left came into view.
The landscape of the Snowy Mountain with snow scattering, and long golden hair streaming.
It called to mind a lone lofty wolf, but why was it.
Today of all days he also looked like someone sulking.
Seeing that his affinity had changed to the [Disgust] state, that certainly seemed to be it.
I don't know what part of it he took offence at, but well.
Still, that it was [Disgust] and not [Hatred] could be called fortunate, if anything......
Crunch.
As if that mattered a damn.
He's a man I have to kill anyway.
"He doesn't seem to tire either."
And in that sense, I could have killed him this time.
But had I done that, I would have been in danger too.
Unfortunately, for Kai and for me alike.
Without each other we would have become the Gelu Drake's prey.
"Though I am curious what Kai's ability is."
Predation [S+], the ability to absorb the powers a living creature possessed by eating its heart.
This ability does not discriminate its target — beasts, monsters, insects, vermin, even people.
And in that sense, in my previous life I devoured human hearts a fair number of times.
As the allied forces' Predator I devoured several of the 'Imperial Army's Legion Commanders' with Predation [S+]. They possessed abilities you could fairly call broken.
But unfortunately the cases where I devoured a Legion Commander's heart were not many.
Predation's side effect, madness.
In my previous life I was wrapped in madness without fail every time I devoured, and without Ian's help I could not overcome it.
"Well, being beaten up was the whole of it."
And right up to the edge of death, at that.
What's more, unless I used Predation [S+] on a target's heart immediately, I could gain no ability at all.
In the end, fearing I would fall into madness, I could not use Predation [S+] on most of the Imperial Army Legion Commanders I disposed of during missions.
Because I could not bring Ian, the allied forces' supreme commander, along on every mission.
At any rate, I could not use Predation [S+] on Kai either, when he was the Legion Commander of Frost.
But I did not particularly want to use Predation [S+] on him.
Judging from my previous life's memories, it seemed I would gain some grotesque ability along the lines of 'lich-ification.'
Above all.
"It's difficult."
Using Predation [S+] on Kai right now is difficult.
You could tell just from the way he walked out perfectly fine straight after fighting a Gelu Drake.
Granted, I had blocked the Ice Breath for him, but even so a monster is a monster.
Crunch.
"The Legion Commanders would be out of the question too."
Likewise, in my current state the Legion Commanders would be hard.
It is a level possible only after securing at least my combat power from my allied forces days.
"It would have been nice if I could handle Aura too, but..."
Unfortunately I am a body that cannot handle Aura.
Precisely, my talent for mana was 0.
I was born that way from birth.
I could neither feel nor perceive mana at all.
I sought every method to have it cured somehow.
Fortunately, being born into a noble house of Count rank and as its rightful heir at that, I was able to attempt a great many treatments.
But all of them were useless.
I still could neither feel nor perceive mana.
And so.
I was cast out by the house.
After becoming the allied forces' Predator, it could not be cured even by the Saintess's miracles.
Having come back to the past, seeing Ian's ability Solo Level Up [EX], I had wondered.
If I raised my Mana stat, might I be able to handle mana after all?
I held that expectation.
And even so nothing changed.
"Raising the Mana stat changed nothing."
What changed was mana capacity.
Put simply, the 'maximum mana' I can hold increased.
But the ability to take in mana itself did not rise.
Even with the maximum raised, I have neither the ability nor the talent to fill it.
It was not even pouring water into a jar with no bottom.
The jar keeps growing larger, and there is no water at all to pour in.
I still could not feel mana.
Unable to handle mana, I could use neither Aura nor Mana Force.
As a knight, and as a mage.
I could achieve nothing at all.
So I learned neither magic nor any systematic swordsmanship whatsoever.
The swordsmanship I use now cannot even be called swordsmanship; it amounts to no more than what I picked up naturally trying to survive on the battlefield.
Put kindly, practical swordsmanship.
Put unkindly, crude swordsmanship.
So once, I went to Ian and asked him.
Whether he could teach me swordsmanship.
Even for a body that cannot handle Aura, learning systematic swordsmanship or not was the difference between heaven and earth.
Of course the continent's high swordsmanship presupposes the use of Aura.
But if it were Ian, he could make me a swordsmanship I could use.
It did not have to be swordsmanship either.
Ian mainly used a sword, but it was not that he could handle only a sword.
Spear, blade, staff, axe, bow and so on.
He could handle everything that falls within the category of a weapon.
The same went for physical techniques that use the body.
Naturally, the level of those was by no means low either.
Ian possessed top-class skill in every weapon.
There was a reason he was the Emperor's sole opponent.
Therefore swordsmanship or spearmanship or whatever.
If only I could learn it from Ian, it would become the Hero's swordsmanship, the Hero's spearmanship.
I asked him, and.
—Teaching you isn't difficult.
Ian answered like this.
—But Adrian, I don't want to teach you.
He did not want to teach me.
I was a little disappointed.
No — honestly, the me of that time was greatly disappointed.
Not in Ian, but in myself.
Because those words meant that I was a talent so wretched that not even Ian could teach me.
Perhaps that disappointment showed on my face, because Ian smiled slightly.
—Adrian, why do you think people learn swordsmanship?
—To handle a sword better.
—Then why do you think people learn martial arts like swordsmanship?
—To get stronger.
—Right. To get stronger. Precisely, you could say it's to overcome 'weakness.'
—That's the same thing.
—It's a little different.
Ian smiled lightly and went on.
—There are two ways to get stronger.
The first is to maximise a strength.
The second is to minimise a weakness.
—We humans don't have strength like an Ogre, or sharp claws like a beast, or a hard skeleton.
Seen purely biologically, humans were the weaklings of the ecosystem.
A creature made of nothing but weaknesses.
—So humans used the strength called intelligence to try to overcome the weaknesses they had.
They made weapons to replace sharp claws.
They processed mana and discovered the power called Aura.
By that they overcame weak strength.
They made armour and obtained skin harder than tough hide.
—And it's the same with martial arts like swordsmanship.
They were things made to overcome the 'frailty' humans possess.
It was because of frailty that swordsmanship was learned.
Then what if one were not frail?
—Have you ever seen a dragon learn swordsmanship?
There was no need to learn such things.
Because a dragon's scales were harder than any metal, a dragon's claws sharper than any weapon, and a dragon's strength greater than any living creature's.
To a dragon, martial arts like swordsmanship amount to nothing of any use.
By which the dragon came to be called the continent's mightiest living creature, and—
In the end it fell at Ian's hands.
The dragon, called the continent's mightiest living creature.
Even a dragon like that had the element called 'frailty' in it.
—Then what if there were a flawless living creature in which the element called 'weakness' did not exist at all?
—A flawless living creature?
—Flawless in the literal sense. One that can survive in any environment, that acquires every natural adaptation, that is born instantly, reproduces instantly, whose lifespan is eternal, that has no natural enemy, with not a single biological weakness.
—Can such a creature exist?
—It can't.
Ian shook his head firmly.
And no wonder — how could such a thing be defined as a 'creature' at all?
If such a creature existed, it would be right to call it not a creature but a God.
—But there is a being that holds that possibility.
—Are you talking about the Emperor?
—No.
Ian answered.
—It's you, Adrian.
That I alone had the possibility of being reborn as such a being.
—The swordsmanship, spearmanship, blade arts, physical techniques I know were all devised on a human standard. They were made to overcome human weakness.
—......
—In other words, they're 'a way of fighting as a human.' And that, Adrian, doesn't suit you.
—......
—You mustn't fight like a human. Fighting like a human is poison for you, if anything. That doesn't mean throw away your humanity. It means, literally, don't fight like a human.
—......
—Adrian, you have to learn your own way of fighting for yourself. Nobody can teach it to you. Nobody should.
Even if it were me, the Hero.
With Ian's last words we fell into silence for a while.
—Ian, then could I ever become like you someday?
—As if.
Ian shook his head as though asking what I was talking about.
In fact it was natural enough.
Because even to my eyes Ian's strength made no sense.
Being able to measure against an Ian like that amounted to nothing but greed on my part.
—Then could I at least become like a dragon.
—That's not it either.
Ian shook his head firmly at that question too.
Honestly I was somewhat disappointed, but I was not disheartened by it.
For all he said, I was a human at the end of it.
But the words that came from Ian next.
They were entirely unlike what I expected.
—It's the opposite, Adrian.
And entirely opposite to my thinking, too.
—It's that I can't become like you.
Instead he said that Ian could not become like me.
Further, that a dragon could not become like me.
—Adrian, you're 'the summit of all living things.'
They say there can be many geniuses, but only one summit.
Ian belonged to the ranks of geniuses.
The dragon likewise belonged to the ranks of geniuses.
But those two, geniuses though they were, did not stand at the summit.
Because those two also had 'limits.'
The limit of being human.
The limit of being a dragon.
It was only that the threshold of that limit was unimaginably far off.
Those two also had clear limits.
By which the dragon could not surpass Ian.
Ian could not surpass the Emperor.
Of course I could not surpass Ian or the dragon, never mind the Emperor.
—You're different, Adrian.
Only, I possessed the 'possibility' of surpassing them.
—Only your Predation ability can reach that summit.
My ability, Predation [S+], which can obtain the genetic factors of every living thing that exists.
Devour the prey's heart and dramatic evolution is possible through the ability that prey possessed.
By which I could evolve ceaselessly and keep surpassing the limits of a creature, so...
—How could a mere human or dragon measure against an 'Ultimate Lifeform'?
Ultimate Lifeform.
That is what Ian called me.
Ian alone did not call me a dullard.
But contrary to Ian's expectations, I could not stand at that summit in the end.
I met my end not as an Ultimate Lifeform but simply as a 'superior living creature.'
The fatal side effect called Predation's madness.
Because of it I could not surpass the limit of being a mere 'hunter.'
But.
Now it is not so.
Ian's ability, Player's Will [EX].
As long as I have it, I no longer have to fear Predation's madness.
By which I might be able to surpass them.
And so I might be able to reach it.
The summit of all living things.
The ultimate predator, the Predator.
The Predator's true instinct, which until now had been pressed down by madness and never manifested.
◆You have devoured the genetic factors of the specimen 'Gelu Drake'!
◆You have acquired the skill 'Dragon's Claw [A]'!
That fatal instinct began, very slowly, to open its eyes.
***
Kai's steps descending the Snowy Mountain were unhesitating.
In the steps he took were revulsion and a little disappointment.
He could not pin down the reason exactly, but... Kai was unmistakably feeling those emotions.
Kai went down the Snowy Mountain without looking back.
How far had he come down like that?
At one edge of his vision the figure of a man came into view.
A face not in his memory.
Which meant he was not a person of the county.
Before long the man, having spotted Kai, showed a bright expression.
And then he came running up to Kai in one dash.
"Oh, thank goodness, I was starting to think I'd freeze to death out here...!"
The man breathed hard, saying it was a real relief.
Snow thick on his head.
From the look of it he seemed to have wandered the Snowy Mountain a long while.
Soon the man wore an awkward smile and asked Kai.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me which way I should go to reach House White Wolf?"