Aezaleon hummed, his veins turning white for a split second before rapidly returning to normal. The Energy overflowed inside his body, swiftly rushing into his Ascension core afterwards, but not before giving him bits and bits of Information about the concepts the Calamity: White Ibex had comprehended. The process lasted a whole minute, during which he stood silently on the destroyed and frozen forest ground.
He opened his eyes the next second, releasing a deep breath. "That was kind of... I would say appetizing," he voiced in a satisfied tone.
"Don't you have better words to describe it?" Clementine raised her brows, amused.
"I don't know..."
"In any case, tell me, did you get any concepts from the meal?"
Aezaleon smiled and nodded. "Indeed, I did. It's the inferior concepts of Movement Impairment and Lesser Frost," he responded in a proud voice. "The former lets me freeze the internal muscles, sensory nerves, organs, and bones of my targets. The latter gives me the ability to create elemental ice of moderate cold. However, since I'm an Ascension rank two Calamity, I can only use these concepts partially, and..."
Aezaleon raised his hand, summoning a crystal of ice onto his palm. "I feel a sort of resistance from my body that doesn't allow me to utilize the concept fully, despite having an innately stronger body than other lifeforms. Not to mention, the suppression from the world, which acts like an invisible force wrapped around me, preventing and suppressing me from increasing my proficiency in my concepts."
Clementine blinked upon hearing his words. "It's surprising that you can feel the resistance from the world. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised either, considering your absolute ability is one geared towards the power of Will; something as abstruse as these forces..." she commented in a thoughtful manner.
Afterwards, both Clementine and Aezaleon left the area, heading towards some weaker calamities for him to practice the concepts he had just acquired.
... ... ...
Even if Aezaleon cannot increase the proficiency of his concepts as he was now, it would still be better if he were to familiarize himself with this new power of his so he could know the extent to which he could utilize them currently. To that end, both the master and the companion moved through the forest at a speed of thirty meters per second for a full five minutes, thus covering a distance of nine thousand meters.
However, in a forest, their path was never straight or linear; it was more irregular than anything. So it was more like they had traveled a total distance of nine thousand meters rather than covering nine thousand meters from a direct point A to point B. When they stopped, it was because they had already entered the heart of the territory belonging to the calamities Clementine had spotted some time ago.
Indeed, in this ten-thousand-meters-wide circle existed a small colony of calamities, led by a strong rank three Calamity with a slightly better intelligence than the other savage lifeforms following it. In this small colony, there were twelve other calamities besides the rank three leader that ruled over them. All of these were landborn deer-type calamities known as Galescourge Bearers.
These deer were calamities with mastery over a powerful elemental force, Darkwind, and inferior concepts such as Festering, Lesser Decay, Paralysis, Infection, Energy Drain, and many more. These concepts were also quite damaging to the forest around them. The widespread rot left the area looking entirely stripped of life, as the decaying flora had far fewer trees, vegetation, and greenery compared to the lush sector from where Aezaleon and Clementine had originated.
Currently, both were standing concealed upon one of the few trees present in this area, something that Clementine was quite easily able to do with many of the concepts she had mastered. And yes, she was capable of using the power of concepts despite currently being at Ascension rank one. After sharing all the Information she got from observing the flaring auras of these lifeforms, Clementine looked towards him.
"About a thousand meters from here is the center of this colony, where the leader of these calamities has made its home," she commented in a briefing tone. "Also, amongst those twelve calamities here, four are rank three, just slightly weaker than the White Ibex you fought previously, and the rest are merely rank two. And all of them have made their nests in the four cardinal directions."
Clementine briefed him, afterwards questioning, "In other words, you don't have to fight all these thirteen calamities simultaneously. However, that also means you won't be getting any help from me either. So, how do you want to go about this hunt? Hmm?"
"Let's first finish off the weaker ones. I'll absorb them and raise my strength as much as I can. Afterwards, we will face the stronger calamities," he replied in a strategic voice.
Clementine nodded. "Understood."
Without further ado, both of them moved towards the south. They had come from the southwestern part of this territory, so it only took them a minute to traverse two thousand meters and draw near the calamities in the south.
After a few seconds, Aezaleon also sensed the presence of the Ascension rank two Calamity: Galescourge Bearer. He squinted his eyes. It was three meters tall with dark black fur and meter-long black antlers, with some eerie purple veins glowing within them in rhythm with the beat of the Calamity's heart. Currently, the Calamity was resting in the shade of one of the few trees present here.
The second Aezaleon spotted it, he rushed towards it with his claymore in hand. As he came out of concealment, his presence became immediately known to the Calamity, who sensed his unconcealed killing intent. It instantly sprang to its feet, becoming thoroughly alarmed. Alas, it was already too late as Aezaleon had already reached it.
SLASH!
He positioned his body before the Calamity, his feet digging into the ground, and with one hand, he swung the claymore in a horizontal upward arc. He separated the Calamity's head from its body in a single swing. The motion was smooth, precise, and so fast that in the Calamity's eyes, it was nothing short of instantaneous teleportation.
SPURT!
After flying through the air, its head rolled onto the ground with its body soon following it afterwards, falling with a loud thud. In seconds, the ground was filled with blood, painting the sparse grass a deep red.
"Decisive, huh?" Clementine remarked with a smirk.
"I did not want to alert the other calamities of our presence and wanted to finish off the battle as soon as possible, but it looks like I'm stronger than I thought. I was able to kill a Calamity of the same rank as me in one strike," he voiced in a confident tone.
"Ooh, really now!" Clementine smiled, neither denying nor accepting his words, simply observing him absorb the dead Calamity, a process which was completed in ten seconds this time.
Afterwards, without wasting a moment, both of them moved towards the next rank two Galescourge Bearer, and within fifteen minutes, they had killed all eight of them across every direction. Starting from the south, they moved to the west, north, and lastly to the eastern side, and they were now observing the rank three Galescourge Bearer on this side from a reasonable distance.
This one was quite different in appearance from the rank two variants Aezaleon had killed and absorbed up until now. It possessed not just a single pair but two pairs of antlers on its head, along with its black fur gaining a darker hue and a violet sheen. Its height had also increased from three meters to three and a half meters, and its eyes had gained a much deeper purple hue to them.
All in all, merely from its appearance, it was clear that this one was far stronger compared to the Galescourge Bearers Aezaleon had fought until now, a fact further proven by the dense aura it released wantonly.