Wind blew like normal, the sun shone at its zenith, but the forest remained deadly quiet against animal and insect.
Birds might be wiped out; as for insects, they went into shock. Beasts and others, as long as their eyes were not closed, probably couldn't see for now.
Elias also couldn't roam. He was tired, drained of energy, and his skin was healing. It turned out Internal Gravity did facilitate recovery, and so he went back.
He saw it again, a glimpse of its Majesty. A ripple like before came from deep inside—the swelling blisters, the leaking blisters, the boiling pain he was ignoring began to recover.
As wind caressed him, the burn wounds dried like wet jerky under the sun. The shift from pain to slight comfort lulled his overtaxed mind to relax, and that slowly invited dozing off.
Adding to that was the bird meat and fruit he had consumed, which also accelerated digestion and absorption in him.
Elias was in a floating state, the ripple in him still unified by intention.
The Rank 4 Calamity Leather book lay on the ground, supporting the hardened sand around him, masking his presence and sending Intimidation outward.
At its zenith, the sun was bright; its rays slammed down with heat and pressure. This was normally a moment of hyperactivity in the forest, but now it was silent. That forbidden talent had silenced everyone and everything. Only the wind remained, uncaring to all this.
The sun moved on its course, sliding down, shadows shifting from beneath their owners to elongating east. Noon was passing in that inactivity, until the sun basked the world in orange color. Then a low growl rose from the river.
The river that was once boiling red was now white, fresh, and drinkable. The abomination rising took ownership again, turning it red and boiling.
Other distant beasts rose but moved warily. The chirping of insects returned, and when the forest was cool and the moon was high above and full, everything came alive like it used to be.
The lively forest is a dangerous realm—and then it happened again: small, weak, but still with the same effect.
Bright lightning, too bright, snaking around with multiple branches, sending to all hard stone and sand grains a slithering currents from the reflection of the light of the lightning.
It was distant from Elias, but a girl's shouts and terrified crying could be heard, and each sound came with that lightning crackling in the ground and the sky.
A more abominable roar eclipsed her power, dousing her talent with an avalanche of force that outmatched her in every way.
When it came close, she was hopeless, crying with snot and anger. She had silenced the world at the sun's zenith when her Talent activated, and now she couldn't even tap 1 percent of that power. A mere 1 percent of that would have crushed this calamity before her.
Her body was freezing, she was dying a slow death even as she fought, her blood was thickening.
The beast was only 3 meters away; within one meter, she would turn to an ice sculpture, no doubt. She shot her strongest lightning she could muster, but it didn't even bypass its natural defence force, and it came toward her face to devour her.
Elias's slumber was deep, silent with no dream. Afloat all this time, consuming no energy or stamina, but giving Elias's body what it needed to have recovery.
He was red all around—dried, blistered skin, healed but that needed more time to become optimum. No pain, no fatigue, only serenity.
That came to an end as the stone cave developed a slithering current of lightning that went around like an aimless serpent, and the stone exploded.
Bubble!
A Gravity Force Barrier came on to protect him, which also woke him up.
Confusion greeted his eyes; the world was chaotic with two inviting forces. He was not seeing using his lens but the lens of the Talent in him.
First force invited him to go to the freedom he had been denied his whole life. All he needed to do was accept it, and he would be free.
Another force was a vast, hungry beast that did not devour but sought to make everything and everyone stayed clinging to it. It was also in pain, somewhat angry, for it had great injuries.
Elias would have flown away and left the earth, but this state was something he couldn't control with his consciousness.
He came down, the feeling of confinement returned to him, but also that feeling of embrace you get when your mother holds you from falling from an unknown height, reassuring you that you are not ready.
Elias had no luxury to dwell on that. He saw it: a beast covered in lightning, in pain and growling, but not much injury was being done to it.
Its gaze was elsewhere with anger, but when it turned toward him, Elias's heart almost jumped out of him like a frog out of water, and he froze.
The look of recognition, understanding, and also cruelty flashed in the eyes of the beast.
This was the first time he had seen a Calamity Beast—to be precise, to see them real, face to face, not in a sketch or picture.
The unawakened couldn't perceive them; they only saw a blur, swirlings of mist, snd energy condensed in place. Looking too hard risked damaging their eyes or brain.
They were that terrifying.
This Calamity Beast head was long and serpentine, its body was like a hyena with six limbs: two at the front like the ancient t-rex but better—they could hold things well. The two sets behind were for movement and jumping and standing like a bear.
It had no tail!
Its skin was smooth and camouflaging. If not for the lightning around its body, Elias might have had a hard time focusing on it.
Above its head was condensation of Calamity Force, It basked its surroundings with a chilling freeze.
These few moments were the longest Elias had been in his life. His thoughts, apart from observing the beast, failed to form anything coherent.