Assimilate All Talents

Amber glanced at him, her expression blank as she silently sheathed her dagger. Sol's eyes remained fixed on the ongoing battle between the Thunder Wolf King and the Blacksteel Bear. The two large beasts clashed with raw power, but it was clear that the wolf had the upper hand.

"Since no one's tried to stop us so far, it's time we took a more proactive approach to find whoever is behind this." Sol's voice was calm but firm.

He wasn't going to simply slay all the Thunder Wolf Kings and call it a day—if he didn't stop their source, it would only be a matter of time before more appeared.

Two floating hands materialized in the air beside him with his talent skill [Create Magic Hands]. The hands glowed faintly as he activated [Polychromatism], channeling the green and purple chromas simultaneously.

A vibrant aura of emerald and violet energy swirled around the floating hands. As the two chromas intertwined, the air around them grew heavy, thick with an unseen force.

"This should be enough to neutralize them."

With a flick of his wrist, the floating hands pressed downward. A powerful gravity barrier, created by the combined chromas, enveloped the battling beasts. The hazy green and purple barrier forced both creatures to instantly collapse onto the ground.

The Thunder Wolf King let out a strained snarl, its silver fur bristling with static as it struggled to resist. The Blacksteel Bear, on the other hand, roared in defiance, trying to use its immense strength to break through the gravity. Despite their fierce struggles, they could only move a few centimeters, their limbs trembling under the crushing weight.

Sol and Amber approached the trapped beasts, watching their futile attempts to break free. Sol glanced at the bear, considering it for a moment before adjusting the barrier's radius with a casual gesture.

The gravity field shrank, leaving only the Thunder Wolf King ensnared.

Freed, the Blacksteel Bear wasted no time. It scrambled to its feet and bolted into the depths of the forest, disappearing into the shadows. Even a wild beast knew when it had no hope of winning and recognized that it was being spared. With its entire family already deceased, it didn't hesitate to abandon its territory, forced to start anew elsewhere.

Sol chuckled as he watched it flee. He hadn't even needed to say or do anything for the bear to understand. He briefly considered killing it for its skills, but none were particularly useful or unique. The bear's abilities weren't anything special, and he could easily [Siphon] them from other Blacksteel Bears in the area.

Turning his attention back to the Thunder Wolf King, Sol stepped closer to the edge of the barrier, locking eyes with the beast. Its body twitched under the strain, muscles visibly straining to keep moving—but it was hopeless.

"The best way to find out who's behind all this..." Sol muttered, his fingers flexing as psychic energy slowly flowed from him. "...is to ask them."

Closing his eyes, Sol intended to use [Mental Scrying] to probe the Thunder Wolf King's memories. However, there was one problem—[Mental Scrying] was designed only to access his own memories. To circumvent this limitation, he connected their minds using [Telepathy].

This wasn't his first time searching another's mind. When he had helped clear Chill Haven of bandits, he had used psychic energy to probe a bandit's thoughts, but that attempt ended with the bandit's mind shattering and yielding no information. Back then, he had given up, finding psychic energy too difficult to control, and had opted for direct interrogation instead. However, that approach wouldn't work with these beasts.

Now, though, he had shattered the remnants of the barrier that once limited his psychic abilities and gained multiple psychic skills, making success much more feasible.

Psychic energy penetrated the Thunder Wolf King's mind as a connection between them formed. The beast sensed the intrusion instantly. Despite being suppressed by the intense gravity, it resisted fiercely.

The Thunder Wolf King let out a guttural snarl, lightning began to shoot out in random directions as its will clashing against the invading force, attempting to repel it. Sol frowned and after creating a stone wall to shield them from the stray lightning he applied even more psychic pressure, breaking through its mental defenses with sheer force.

The beast's growls turned to pained whimpers, and soon after, its mind crumbled under the overwhelming psychic assault. Its body went completely still, eyes glazing over as it slipped into a catatonic state.
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Sol sighed, releasing his hold and rubbing his temple. "Damn. I was hoping to avoid that."

Canceling the duochrome gravity barrier, he watched as Amber approached and poked the beast with her dagger. It was still breathing but showed no response to her actions.

Amber tilted her head. "Dead?"

Sol sighed again. "No. I pushed too hard. Its mind shattered under the pressure." He frowned slightly, nudging the now unresponsive Thunder Wolf King with his foot. "I tried to be careful, but messing with a resisting mind is tough. Can't brute force it."

Amber observed the lifeless beast. "Can you fix it?"

Sol scanned the Thunder Wolf King's mind once more with psychic energy and shook his head. "Too late. It's already gone." His tone, however, lacked any real disappointment. "There are still a few more left, so it's not a big deal if I messed up here."

Amber nodded, seemingly unbothered.

Sol looked ahead into the dense forest. "Yeah. We still have work to do."

With that, he dismissed the gravity barrier, allowing the lifeless body of the Thunder Wolf King to collapse onto the forest floor. Without wasting another moment, the two vanished once more into the darkness, hunting their next target.

One after another, the remaining Thunder Wolf Kings fell, unable to prevent Sol from breaching their minds. After six more attempts, he finally succeeded.

A massive Thunder Wolf King, bruised and bloodied, lay trapped under layers of stone covering most of its body, preventing any movement. Sol stood before it, his eyes glowing faintly as he searched its mind with psychic energy.

The beast, barely conscious, couldn't offer any resistance as his power invaded its thoughts. Psychic energy combed carefully through the creature's memories, and at last, Sol found what he was looking for.

Retracting his psychic energy, Sol turned his head west, a triumphant smirk playing on his lips.

"So that's where you're hiding."