Even as my vision blurred and darkness consumed my line of sight, I hurriedly sat on the ground, drawing forth
the corrupted mana from the atmosphere.
Considering the fact that I wasn’t sure if those three True Awakened were the only Awakened that had been sent by the tribal factions, or more precisely, their patrons, it was of utmost importance that I recovered my soul-essence. The faster I recovered, the better it was for me, regardless of if my fears came true or not.
Even if I would very much like for it to be the latter.
Groaning from the pain, I pushed away all distracting thoughts from my mind and attempted to continue absorbing the mana permeating the atmosphere. However, it was at that moment that my eyes widened.
My soul core was absorbing some sort of energy from the body of the three Awakened, or rather, whatever remained of them.
My brows narrowed in thought.
I always had this ability, however, it hadn’t taken effect after I killed the illusionist and the speedstar earlier on. I was only able to do so after the battle had ended.
The thought only deepened the confusion. Along with the confusion, came many unsettling questions.
Why was I only able to do so after the battle had ended? Did it have anything to do with my Soul Core? If so... how?
The thought, for reasons unknown to me, deeply unsettled me.
But then again, thinking about it right now won’t help me answer the questions I had. I would have to experiment on that later on, and see if I could actively absorb the mysterious energy from those I had killed. But to do that, I would’ve to engage in a group battle of sorts.
The frown on my face deepened.
I could only hope I would have such a battle in the colosseum before the Elite Romans’ Trial began.
I just had to survive one more month, and I would be one step closer to my goal. My hands clenched at the thought, eyes turning red as memories of the beautiful days I had once known resurfaced.
Taking a deep breath, I eventually managed to calm my unstable emotions. I closed my eyes and activated the photon absorption field before resuming my absorption of the tainted mana.
My soul core ravenously devoured the incoming mana and mixed my soul essence with it, releasing a strange stream of energy throughout my body. The energy was surprisingly as effective as an Atium shard, strengthening my body even as it increased my soul-essence reserve.
After what felt like an eternity, due to the immense strain and inconceivable pressure on my soul core, I was forced to stop.
Absorbing the corrupted mana was indeed a great means of growing stronger, however, the cost — the cost I feared — was far greater than I could imagine.
...However, on the bright side of things, not only had I recovered to a somewhat bearable extent and healed my wounds, my soul-essence reserve had also increased. Probably because completely depleting it had resulted in a thorough refinement, deepening its holding capacity.
I was stronger than I had been a few moments earlier. However, I could also feel that I was still a long way from becoming a True Awakened. Though that was possibly the only disadvantage that came with having a higher-ranked soul core.
Exhaling lightly, I assessed my surroundings and deactivated the photon absorption field, realizing then that the guards stationed outside the cave room were all dead.
It was just as I suspected. Those assailants wouldn’t have been able to walk in otherwise. If they did, and those guards stationed outside were still alive, they would all be killed without exception. That was how ruthless the Romans could be when it came to military rules.
Perhaps from a certain perspective, the Romans were ruthless and cruel, however, from a gladiator’s perspective, in regards to their safety, the Romans were... a necessary evil.
Shaking my head, I rose to my feet. With disheveled hair and a pale face, I walked toward the corpses. I bent down and moved through the bloodied room, assessing each of the assailants, or whatever remained of their body parts, in greater detail.
Eventually, after a long while, with a dark look marring my features, I left the corpses alone and sat on the ground.
I had attempted to — through glimpsing the kingdom or nation the assailants came from — know the tribal faction or noble family that had sent them, even at the risk of offending the Great Family behind the scene.
However, I was left disappointed.
The little clues I found on the corpses weren’t clear enough to lead me to any valid conclusions. But... I did find a few things.
For example, although two of the assailants weren’t part of any tribal factions within the pits, the other was a Ghaul — whoever had sent the assailants clearly intending for me to be misleaded should I somehow survive the precarious ordeal. And what better victims than the Ghauls who were known for their boldness.
From this, I could eliminate the Ghauls and their possible patrons. The Ghauls might be bold, but smart or resourceful enough to plan this assassination attempt? I honestly doubted it.
The other clue was that two of the assailants, the swordsman and the speedstar, had weapons of a distinctive forging technique, and were both made of an alloy commonly produced in Taerys Empire- even if they were mixed with other alloys to keep it hidden. However, I was quite familiar with Duralumin, so such attempts were rather silly.
And considering the fact that they knew so much about my abilities, chances were they were sent by a higher-class noble family within Racpurnia City.
Or I could be wrong, and all these were things they had already considered. Even if I very much doubted it.
After all, even if they somehow had a fail safe plan in case things didn’t go as planned, considering how the odds of the battle was stacked so ridiculously against me, any such thought would have been a mere, fleeting one.
Which meant, this was more or less the case. So that narrowed things down.
Some sort of high-class noble family that had a connection with the Taerys Empire.
That left me with fewer suspects.
And I had three possible families in mind that had the power to pull off such a stunt, and do so, regardless of the consequences.
...Even at the cost of pissing off the great family in the background, and risking possible annihilation.