Chapter 301: Song of Wrath

Leon hadn’t noticed any normal creature ever since they arrived. However, he didn’t think the existence of the cat was strange. After all, there were beasts of several kinds on the planet. Why would a cat be odd?

Taking his mind off it, he focused on finishing his meal quickly. Once they were done eating, he walked back to the door and locked it. Sitting with his back to the wall, he said to Selene, "Looks like your idea of digging really benefited us."

She hummed, still holding the poleaxe and examining it. Leon didn’t mind her lack of proper response. Instead, he turned to the cat that was curled up beside him.

’Could it be a parasite?’

The question came again, but he easily dismissed it. The cat always showed hostility towards parasites even though it couldn’t fight, so it obviously wasn’t one.

His reasoning might have been crude, but he had confidence in his judgement.

"This..." Selene muttered, drawing his attention. "... It keeps making me want to fight."

Leon blinked. "What?"

Selene shook her head and put down the weapon. "I feel that the weapon is cursed or something. My bloodlust was rising while I held it."

Hearing that, Leon frowned slightly. "That could be a good thing... or a really bad one if not careful."

He raised his hand and showed her his storage ring. "Maybe you should keep it in yours. Don’t use it unless necessary."

She nodded and transferred it onto the ring she was wearing.

Cautious, Leon reached for the armor and placed a hand on it. He wanted to know if it increased bloodlust too.

Selene shook her head and assured him. "I already did that. They’re perfectly normal."

The young man nodded and pulled away, trusting her judgement. "Well, I guess we should call it a night, then."

Closing his eyes, he let himself relax while leaving the lights on. He didn’t know how long the torch could last, but it should still be working by morning.

Selene stared at him for a few seconds, then closed her eyes too. Around the same time, they fell asleep.

Leon had a strange dream. He dreamt of mountains covered in lava as red as blood. High above them in the dark skies, unimaginably huge figures moved, their shadows stretching vastly over the land.

He could hear claps of thunder, roars of fury and agony, and the sound of something shattering repeatedly, leaving behind a faint sound resembling a wail.

’Ah... the world is wailing...!’

At first, he was confused and terrified by the things he saw, all of which were beyond his understanding. Soon, however, the confusion was erased and replaced by another feeling—anger.

It started as a small flicker of annoyance. He didn’t know why, but the mountains annoyed him. The blood-like lava flowing down them seemed to irritate him, and he felt like lashing out to destroy them.

However, this was only a dream, and he doubted he could actually destroy a mountain.

Still, common sense didn’t apply to what he was feeling. Frustration at his powerlessness gnawed at him, mixing with his annoyance and turning it into anger.

The anger felt hot in his chest, and it brought him pain. However, the pain couldn’t be compared to the anger, so it was quickly forgotten and ignored.

The anger kept rising along with the suffocating pressure of his inability to lash out and unleash his anger. It peaked, then twisted into something cold and sinister—wrath.

He felt his lips curl into a cold sneer, and his wrath churned like a storm beneath the surface.

Suddenly, his body suddenly felt freezing, as though he’d been doused with ice-cold water. Shivering, his eyes snapped open.

He felt a hand pressed against his chest, and he saw the ice coating his body.

’What...?’

Raising his head, he saw Selene kneeling before him, her expression hardened. When she realized he was awake, her brows furrowed, and she asked, "Why are you overheating?"

Leon blinked and checked himself. Underneath the ice, his skin was burning red, and he could even feel the ice slowly melting.

"What the...?"

As his mind cleared and the phantom wrath faded, the burning heat radiating from his body lessened, then disappeared.

Selene pulled away, her hand still warm. She stared at her palm for a few seconds, then stood up.

"You’re weird."

Leon paid no attention to her words as he shattered the brittle ice covering him. Instead, he immediately pulled up his system panel and checked his traits.

[Traits - [Martial Mastery] [Eyes of Discernment] [Silverback Hide] [Tier One Adaptation] [Fire Resistance] [Overdrive] [Song of Sorrow] [Song of Wrath] ]

’As I thought...’

Seeing the newest addition, his brows furrowed. What were these songs supposed to mean? He had never heard any song, and he wasn’t sure he was going to hear anything. Curious, he checked the trait details.

[Trait: Song of Wrath - Calmness is beautiful, but so is Wrath. When your mind is clouded by rage, your Strength and Agility stats increase by 10%. The hotter the rage, the greater the boost.]

The boosts once again stunned him, but he wasn’t sure what to feel.

Getting angry for a boost, getting sad for another, it all felt unreal and inexplicable.

However, one thing was sure. These two traits had come from his weird dreams.

’Thank goodness I didn’t lash out or do something out of anger...’

Selene stared at his thoughtful expression, then asked, "Why were you overheating?"

Shaking his head, Leon stood up and rolled his shoulders. "It was a bad dream."

Selene stared at him in genuine surprise. "That bad? You kept gritting your teeth like you wanted to kill someone."

Gazing at the cat sitting by his feet, he sighed. "Yeah. I wanted to kill a few mountains."

.........

A while later, they finally climbed out of the hole they had dug, leaving behind the empty bunker filled with damaged armor and weapons. After browsing through the whole place, the only things they could retrieve were the poleaxe and the dagger, along with the armor they were wearing.

Finally back on the surface again, Leon shielded his eyes from the sun.

"Looks like I can see something in the distance. Let’s move in that direction."