CHAPTER 119: BLIND SPOT

Blind Spot

’Well, that’s concerning.’ Osho thought as he peered through some bushes along with the others.

All of them did their best to stay stable as the ground shook, why? Because hundreds of Beasts were currently marching through the simulated forest in unison, the combined force of their steps shaking the surroundings.

They came in different shapes and sizes, with there being a few flying beasts here and there.

Right now, the group was more than a hundred meters away from the pack, but their combined auras were still quite intimidating. Gale was using Mana cloaking to the best of his ability with the sky domain, and he’d even shrunk it to only a few meters around them to increase the effects of the technique.

This isn’t what concerned Osho the most, though. What did, was the group of Adept rank beasts in the center of the pack. The fact that they were all together in the same place was already extremely strange. Beasts were very territorial, especially in higher grades, and 9/10 times, it was battle on sight if they saw each other. The only exceptions to this were if combat wasn’t viable for both parties, or something far stronger was forcing them to work together.

’But there doesn’t seem to be any leader or powerful beast controlling them.’ Osho mused.

’Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if the one responsible for this had a way to control the beasts remotely and force them to work together.’ He shook his head.

’But most of all, how are they thriving in this environment?’ He frowned. The corruption in the air was obvious, and it was affecting everything around them.

If one paid close attention, they’d notice that the trees that were set to exist for a brief period were starting to wilt faster than previously intended. The grass on the ground was starting to become lifeless as well.

Yet, not only did the beasts seem to move around just fine, they seemed to thrive on this corruption. It reminded Osho of how the beasts during the Beast Tide got stronger when they were exposed to the madness-inducing dust released by the Skyblight Harbinger.

However, it also caused madness, but these beasts still seemed to keep their sanity. In fact, more than that, they seemed smarter than ever. They moved in unison with what Osho could almost call a formation. It was totally foreign in the context of wild beasts that did not know much about order.

Osho motioned for the group to slowly retreat, and when they were a safe distance away from the tide, he turned to them and asked.

"What do you guys reckon?" They were silent for a moment before Kurt replied.

"Either there is a beast in there that excels in large-scale mind control or whatever caused all of this is somehow manipulating the beasts from a distance. Or both." He said while gesturing to the now dark dome.

"I had a similar thought. So the question now is, how do we deal with that?" Ellie asked and the group went silent.

"Getting to the other students is still a priority, but... wait a minute, I just had a thought." Irene’s train of thought git cut as she realized something, and everyone looked at her questioningly.

"Remember when Osho suggested that we can find the other students since we can assume that they’d know where they are? Well, maybe he wasn’t so incorrect in his assessment," She pointed at the dome. "Think about it. As long as we are in this place, we are passively being ground down by corrupt Mana. We’re fine because of Gale, but the same can’t be said about the others. They will try and shield themselves with their Mana, but they can only hold out for so long." She rubbed her chin.

"If whoever, or whatever, caused this truly wants us dead, wasting time won’t work in their favor. There are multiple Expert Rank Beast Tamers outside this dome, no doubt trying to get inside. If they weren’t an issue, we wouldn’t have been isolated. But it can’t exactly deal with us quickly if it doesn’t know where half of its targets are. So... what if it somehow has a way to track mana signatures? Specifically, the ones that actively resist the corrupt Mana? If we think of this dome as one big domain filled with corrupt Mana, then normal Mana resisting it would stick out like a sore thumb to the one that put it up, no?" Hearing this, everyone fell silent as they considered her words.

"That... makes some sense. But I’m a bit skeptical about something, specifically the part about the perpetrator needing to waste time. If they were in a rush, why go around and gather the other beasts instead of just ordering them to go crazy and attack everything that isn’t a beast? And if beasts from different groups happen to meet up then that’s fine, but otherwise just allow them to run wild? After all, they are no longer forced to avoid killing us because of the collars." Sam asked.

"Hm. Well, I’m pretty sure it’ll be faster to gather up beasts while waiting for the corrupt Mana to weaken us to the point of not being able to fight back. That way, we can be slaughtered easily, as opposed to attacking us outright when we can still resist at least a little bit, which would waste more time, especially if the more outstanding students can pick off beasts that try to attack one by one." Irene replied.

"Hm. Makes sense. However, if your conjecture is correct, then doesn’t that mean the skill Gale is using to hide us is actually just making us a beacon to those things? Because Osho said that it’s filled with Sky Mana which passively aids Gale, Sky Mana that is filtering the corrupt Mana to prevent us from being affected." Kurt questioned, and everyone looked at Osho who, thankfully, shook his head.

"I see why you’d think that, but that isn’t how the filtration works, not exactly." He paused before explaining.

"It’s true that Sky Mana is present in the domain. Actually, that’s the only thing that would be in there if Gale weren’t actively allowing other types in. And yes, it is actively purifying the Corrupt Mana in the space around us. How it’s doing that, though, is the key detail you’re missing. Gale isn’t forcefully pushing Sky Mana outwards to resist anything. That would draw attention."

He lingered, then he continued.

"What he’s doing is sort of like passive filtration. Think of it as a soft mesh spread across the air, woven so intricately into the environment around us that it doesn’t actually disturb anything. Corrupt Mana drifts into the space, and instead of being repelled or burned away, it’s gradually neutralized while the normal Mana particles get filtered through. Quiet, unnoticeable, and subtle."

"So like... Osmosis?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yeah," Osho nodded. "There’s no dramatic clash of energies to sense. The domain adjusts the frequency of Mana around us. Kinda like tuning the pitch of the air. Higher or lower, depending on the density of corrupt Mana. This means that nothing outside the domain notices a sudden imbalance. To any outside observer, this place is still soaked in corrupt Mana. As long as they aren’t sensitive enough to sense what’s happening under the domain, or walk into it, it appears the same as everything else."

"What about Mana cloaking?" Kurt pressed. "You said that Gale is using that too. I thought that only works with normal Mana but on different affinities. I don’t think light can emulate darkness."

"Yes. Think of Mana cloaking as a disguise," Osho said. "Instead of the Mana of the domain screaming ’I’m pure and resisting corruption!’ to everything around us, Gale is, in a sense altering its ’flavor’. Corrupt Mana and normal Mana are different, yes, but the basis of Mana cloaking is to make your Mana mimic the nature of another type of Mana Affinity. Normal mana can’t mimic corrupt Mana, however, it can still mimic the natural ebb and flow of the corrupt Mana outside. The domain provides the barrier and filtration, while the cloaking changes the ’scent’ of the trail entirely."

"So instead of a beacon, we’re all blind spot." Irene said with realization. "Something they’d pass over unless they were specifically looking for irregularities."

"Exactly," Osho nodded. "The moment Gake starts to actively repel or overpower the domestic corrupt Mana, we’d light up like fireworks to anything paying close attention to the dome’s interior, or anything watching for Mana signatures. But since he’s simply subverting it by working with the flow instead of against it, we are slipping under the radar."

There was a brief silence, then Kurt muttered.

"That’s brilliant."

"And also insanely risky," Sam sighed. "If Gale slips for even a second..."

"He won’t," Osho said calmly. "But the caution isn’t misplaced. This is a temporary veil, not a fortress. Our Mana is obscured, but it’s not like we’re invisible. If we’re seen, we’ll be caught, so we still need to be careful." He finished.

"That makes sense." Irene nodded.

"Good to know." Sam agreed.

"Guess we know what to do now." Kurt gave a thumbs-up.

"God you’re hot." Ellie’s words threw everyone in the group for a loop. They all looked at her with wide eyes.

The girl was staring at Osho in the same way a predator would stare at a perfectly delicious meal.

"Seeing you be assertive like that does things to me..."

"Eleanor, you’re being weird," Osho said with a sigh as he felt her intense gaze on him. Though he’d be lying if he said being stared at like that didn’t feel nice...

’Osho, what are these weird thoughts?’ Gale’s confused voice broke through his thoughts and he forced a cough.

"Anyway, now to actually find the others." Osho said quickly.