Chương 15: The Beast

A suitable opportunity to further test my abilities presented itself in the form of an unfortunate tarantula crawling along a nearby tree. The creature was entirely unaware that it had just been selected for the noble purpose of advancing my understanding of psionics. Fixing my gaze upon it, I focused my mind and attempted to use Psy-Crush. Immediately, I noticed the difference. Manipulating inanimate objects had been easy. This, however, felt entirely different.

It was as if I had encountered resistance, an invisible barrier standing between my will and the creature itself. The tarantula suddenly froze, its legs twitching erratically as I increased the pressure. Slowly, painfully slowly, its body began to buckle. One of its legs bent at an unnatural angle before snapping. Another followed shortly afterward. I narrowed my focus further, pouring more of my concentration into the task.

The sensation became increasingly peculiar, almost as though I were attempting to crush something hidden beneath several layers of cloth. My power reached the tarantula, certainly, but much of its force seemed to be blunted. The tarantula convulsed violently. Its body compressed little by little, legs curling inward as the invisible pressure steadily increased. Eventually, a wet crunch reached my ears, and dark fluids exploded from its ruined body. Only then did the spider finally cease moving.

[You have killed: Tarantula (Level 11)] [Experience Awarded] By my rough estimate, it had taken approximately only a second or two to kill the creature. That was not a terrible result, but I had initially hoped that I would be able to crush insects in less than a second. True, tarantulas were larger than ordinary spiders, but they were still small creatures in the grand scheme of things. This particular specimen had not even been magical.

If it took me several seconds to crush an ordinary arachnid, then my abilities would be even more ineffective on stronger and larger targets. I could feel that something was protecting the creature, an invisible layer that my psionic power had to push through before it could inflict any damage. Since I was quite certain that this tarantula possessed no magical abilities, there was only one plausible explanation: ambient mana.

Every living thing contained traces of it within their bodies, whether animals, insects, mortals, or magical beasts. Those without mana cores possessed only the faintest amounts, nowhere near enough to wield magic, yet apparently even such insignificant traces were sufficient to interfere with my psionics. How exceedingly troublesome. If a mere tarantula could resist me to this extent, then attempting to use these abilities against genuinely magical creatures would undoubtedly prove far more difficult.

Monsters possessing mana cores, powerful mages, and perhaps even skilled warriors might all possess significantly greater resistance. Regardless, I wanted to conduct a few more experiments before resuming my search for the magical beast. After crawling through foliage for a short while, I eventually spotted another caterpillar leisurely feeding upon a leaf. It was a thoroughly unremarkable specimen, plain in coloration and entirely lacking the elegance and beauty that I naturally possessed.

Though I felt some degree of pity at what I was about to do to a creature that was, by technicality, a distant relative of mine, I still regarded myself as human first and foremost. Fixing my gaze upon the creature, I used Psy-Push. The leaf trembled, swaying back and forth as though caught in a sudden gust of wind, yet the caterpillar itself remained firmly attached.

I waited patiently for the movement to subside before trying again, this time concentrating more carefully upon the caterpillar itself rather than the leaf beneath it. The second attempt proved more successful. The unfortunate creature was abruptly flung from the leaf and tumbled toward the forest floor. The caterpillar did not appear particularly injured.

It remained still for a few moments, seemingly confused by its sudden and entirely undeserved misfortune, before crawling away as though nothing of significance had happened. However, the experiment had yielded useful information. It was clear that my finesse with psionics left much to be desired. Larger objects were easier to affect because they provided a broader target for my concentration, while manipulating smaller objects required greater precision.

Conversely, larger objects demanded more force to move effectively. It was an acceptable tradeoff, all things considered. The next experiment I wished to conduct was about whether I could use Psy-Push to move myself. I saw little reason why such a feat would prove impossible. My current body was exceptionally light, and if I could exert force upon branches, leaves, and other creatures, then applying that same force to myself seemed like the natural next step.

But, I had no intention of allowing myself to fall victim to carelessness. So, I looked downward and focused my mind. I imagined an invisible force pressing against the ground, by extension, propelling my own body upward. Then I used Psy-Push. I was soon launched into the air with more force than I had anticipated. For one moment, I felt a surge of panic as my vision spun. It seemed I had somewhat underestimated the amount of force I was capable of generating. But after a second, I managed to gather myself.

Then, while still airborne, I focused once more and attempted to use Psy-Push again. This second attempt did alter my trajectory, though the effect was noticeably weaker than when I had launched directly from a solid surface. Instead of being violently propelled upward, I merely shifted slightly through the air. That confirmed my suspicion that Psy-Push was considerably more effective when I had a solid surface to push against.

As I fell towards the forest floor, I focused my mind and used Psy-Push again just moments before impact. My body shot upward again, about as high as when I first launched myself from the ground. I repeated the process several more times, timing each use of the ability mere moments before impact. Down I fell, only to launch myself up again. I effectively bounced through the forest in a peculiar manner, alternating between moments of descent and bursts of acceleration.

Once satisfied with the experience, I allowed myself to return to the ground. It seemed that I could propel myself from solid surfaces and, while airborne, make smaller adjustments to my movement before using another powerful burst of force just prior to landing. By repeatedly employing this method, I could theoretically traverse across dangerous surfaces purely using Psionics, so long as I had the mana.

This little trick could prove useful if I needed to maneuver in locations where using String Shot wasn't possible for whatever reason. Now, I truly wished to resume my hunt for the magical beast. But, there remained one final experiment that I wanted to do. After resting for a time, I crawled until I eventually discovered a small pond hidden behind some bushes. More importantly, a nearby tree extended one of its branches directly above the water.

I climbed upward until I reached it, then attached a strand of silk and carefully lowered myself until I hung only a short distance above the pond's surface. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. This was precisely the scenario I wished to test. Would Psy-Push treat water as a surface from which I could propel myself, or would the force instead push me deeper beneath it? Perhaps both outcomes were possible depending upon how I envisioned the effect.

Psionics, after all, seemed to be heavily influenced by intent and mental imagery. To begin, I imagined an invisible hand pressing downward into the water. I then used Psy-Push. The pond's surface erupted outward, water splashing in every direction as though some unseen force had struck it from above. This result was expected, now comes the more important test. Rather than pushing into the water, I pictured a frog leaping from its surface.

I focused intensely upon the idea of using the pond itself as a platform, emphasizing the notion that I wished to push myself away from the water rather than into it. Then I activated my skill one more time. To my delight, an invisible force surged beneath me and propelled my body upward a good distance. And thanks to the silk attached to the branch, I did not simply fall back into the pond afterward. Instead, I remained dangling above the water's surface.

It appeared that water, despite its fluid nature, still provided enough resistance for my psionic abilities to interact with. Rivers, lakes, ponds, and perhaps even larger bodies of water might no longer represent meaningful obstacles to me. I attempted to repeat the experiment immediately to see what would happen. Unfortunately, I had apparently become somewhat overenthusiastic and slightly overestimated my remaining stamina.

I instead found myself hanging from my silk for several long moments while recovering my strength. When I did recover, I attempted the experiment again and successfully propelled myself from the water several more times. Each attempt became slightly easier than the last as I refined my understanding of the process. Once I finally began feeling tired again, I allowed myself another brief respite before attempting something new.

This time, I deliberately altered the direction of my psionics, using the force at an angle rather than directly upward. The result was immediate. My body began to swing. Back and forth I moved, gradually building momentum until I eventually released my silk and launched myself away from the pond entirely, landing on solid ground while feeling pleased with my results. After resting some more, and with my experiments concluded for now, it was time to return to hunting.

I fired a strand of silk toward a nearby tree branch and pulled myself up. Repeating the process several more times, I ascended into the upper canopy until I was satisfied I was high enough. Then, I extended my senses once more in the hope of locating the magical beast. Unfortunately, I detected nothing. It seemed the creature had either moved beyond my range once again or simply had not brushed against my Mana Sense this time.

Since I possessed no better alternatives, my only option was to continue toward the general direction where I had last felt its presence. With any luck, I would eventually find the beast itself. And if not, then perhaps I would at least stumble upon something else of interest. And so I resumed my preferred method of travel, firing strands of silk from branch to branch and swinging gracefully through the forest canopy.

By this point I had become remarkably proficient at it, to the extent that it was almost effortless. In fact, during one particularly ambitious leap, I even managed to use Psy-Push while airborne to correct my trajectory from time to time.

Bjorn was having the time of his life. Really, if someone had told him back in his old life that he'd one day become a giant magical bear, stomping around a forest and eating whatever he wanted, he would've laughed right in their face. But here he was, covered in blood happily chewing through the remains of his latest kill. He tore another chunk of flesh from the deer carcass, swallowed it in a few bites, and let out a satisfied little burp. Life was good. A damn sight better than before, anyway.

Back then, Bjorn had been nothing more than some useless bandit who couldn't even get banditry right. He'd fumbled a robbery so badly that it got his entire crew killed, himself included. But hey, he'd prayed like hell in his final moments, and somehow his faith paid off, because he got a second shot at life as one badass frost bear. But anyway, that was all behind him now. What mattered was that now he was strong. Bjorn glanced down at his large paws and couldn't help feel proud.

Lifting his head, he looked around the forest and wondered what he ought to kill next. He still wanted to keep leveling up and become even stronger, but if he was being honest, the forest had started feeling a bit... empty. There used to be more magical beasts around, but not so much now. Bjorn supposed he'd eaten, smashed, mauled, or accidentally sat on most of them already. Oops. But hey, there had to be something left. If not, maybe he'd just wander somewhere else.

With that in mind, Bjorn started making his way toward a nearby river. He figured he could catch a few fish for a snack, maybe some salmon if he was lucky. He wanted a fish snack not because he was hungry of course. Well... maybe just a little. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd truly felt full. Ever since becoming a bear, it felt like there was always room for more food. Maybe that was just how bears worked, but either way, he wasn't complaining.

As he lumbered through the forest on all fours, flattening patches of grass, he suddenly slowed. Bjorn suddenly stopped as he sensed powerful mana heading in his direction, something powerful. It was still pretty far away, but whatever this thing was, it was coming straight toward him, though thankfully it didn't seem to be moving all that quickly. Goodness though, he'd never felt anything quite as powerful as this presence before, the mana he sensed here felt… dangerous, somehow.

But, that didn't make him scared at all, quite the opposite really, he was actually excited. He had already been planning to leave the forest sooner or later in search of stronger prey, but maybe he could hunt down this new presence before moving on. If he managed to kill something this powerful, he had no doubt it would earn him a good amount of experience, bringing him one step closer to his next evolution. Sure, whatever this creature was, it was strong, but Bjorn wasn't weak either.

He was confident he could hold his own, and if things went his way, he'd be walking away with a lot of experience. With that settled, he resumed walking on all fours. He couldn't help wondering what exactly he was about to meet, since the mana that he sensed didn't feel quite right. He had sensed plenty of magical beasts before, and their mana all had a certain... animal-y feeling to it. That sounded really dumb when he thought about it. But he didn't really know how else to explain it.

This presence lacked that sort of quality, and it felt different somehow. Could it be an adventurer? As far as Bjorn remembered, the Adventurer's Guild had always paid people to hunt monsters and bring back parts. Monster cores, hides, claws, people loved that sort of thing. Though, now that he thought about it, he had absolutely no idea if the guild still existed. He hadn't exactly visited or so much as seen civilization since becoming a giant magical bear.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he did remember meeting this weird bird during his evolution. Bjorn wasn't entirely sure what that bird was, but it had seemed important enough that he had tried very hard not to say anything stupid in front of it. The bird had mentioned that there were people who were also reincarnated as monsters besides him. And apparently killing another reincarnator gave you more experience than normal, and maybe even extra rewards.

Bjorn wasn't entirely certain he remembered that correctly, but it had definitely sounded important. Anyway, while the forest was huge, he figured that meeting another reincarnated person shouldn't be impossible. And if he got really lucky… Maybe this reincarnator would be weak enough to not put up that much of a fight. As he continued forward, the presence grew stronger and stronger until eventually he was certain he had reached the spot where the mysterious presence should be.

Bjorn pushed aside several bushes and looked around, but there was nobody else here, not even some small animal like a squirrel. That was weird. His Mana Sense was pretty good most of the time. The presence should have been right here, and yet he couldn't see a thing. So, Bjorn guessed that maybe the mysterious creature could use some form of invisibility, in which case, he'd have to draw it out. Not wanting to overthink things, Bjorn raised one paw and swiped at the air.

His claws carved through empty space, leaving trails of pale blue frost hanging behind them. He swung again, then again, freezing leaves and coating nearby branches in frost, yet nothing happened. Frowning, he put more strength into his next strike, and a small tree exploded into splinters beneath his claws. But despite all his efforts, Bjorn didn't manage to find or draw out the mysterious creature.

Yet, before he could think of some other strategy, he suddenly felt something sticky attach itself to one of his eyes.