CHAPTER 157: AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY [1]

Gabriel froze, his brain moving on autopilot in that moment.

He hadn’t sensed her at all. Not when he was extracting. Not even now, until she had chosen to reveal herself. For someone like him, who prided himself on awareness, the realization was shocking.

And... embarrassing.

More than that... this person had seen him openly use his Talent.

Of course, Gabriel’s first instinct was to take her out—if she was even a person.

Because of her appearance, it was difficult to tell what she really was.

The woman’s eyes met his for a brief moment. Cold. Curious.

Gabriel didn’t speak, and neither did she.

Then, without a word, she turned.

Gabriel’s instincts kicked in at once and he moved immediately.

"Stop!"

He stomped the ground with his newly increased strength.

BOOM!

The earth cracked beneath his weight as he shot forward, weaving through broken branches and corpses.

At the same time, the woman slipped into the forest like a shadow, her figure weaving between the trees with inhuman speed.

’She’s fast!’ He gasped in shock. Even with his recent stat boost, she still surpassed him massively!

But Gabriel wasn’t the type to give up so easily.

He gritted his teeth and pushed harder, his body straining against the pace. With his bare fists, he smashed trees aside.

Moving at such speed required precision to slip between branches unhindered.

Gabriel was pure brute force. Every movement of his was filled with raw power.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Branches snapped against his arms, but he didn’t care. He needed answers.

Yet no matter how much he closed the distance, she always seemed just out of reach. Always a step ahead.

Minutes passed like seconds, and the forest grew darker.

And then—nothing.

She was gone.

Gabriel came to a stop, chest rising and falling steadily.

His electric-blue eyes scanned the area, but the trail had completely vanished. No footprints. No mana residue. Not even broken leaves.

It was as though she had disappeared into thin air.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue, frustrated.

Whoever she was, she wasn’t ordinary. To hide herself so perfectly... to move like that... she had to be from a race far beyond goblins.

Gabriel clenched his fist.

This world was vast. He already knew it, but encounters like this were proof. No matter how much he thought he was prepared, there were still things that slipped beyond his grasp.

’It’s the first time I’m coming across a race like this...’ he frowned. ’They’re definitely not Elves, so what are they?’

’Also, what are they doing in the human continent?’

He wouldn’t have been surprised to come across such an entity in the non-human continent, but out here... it was suspicious.

Gabriel stood there for a while, thinking, but nothing came to mind.

After pondering, he exhaled, promising himself he’d research it later, and turned back.

On his way, a familiar screen flickered across his vision.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Gabriel Reyes

Level: 50

Class: Berserker

Subclass: Demonic Exorcist

Title: Orc Slayer

HP: 100/100

MP: 2580 (1590 + 990)

BM: 90%

Talent: God-Tier Extraction!

Unlocked Perk: Rank Revelation

Unlocked Perk: Fusion

EP (Extraction Points): 400

[STATS]

Strength: 206 (166 + 40)

Agility: 196 (160 + 36)

Perception: 165 (105 + 60)

Intelligence: 258 (159 + 99)

Available SP: —

...

Pleased, Gabriel lowered the screen and kept walking. The image of the blue-skinned woman lingered in his mind.

She hadn’t spoken. She hadn’t attacked. Just appeared... and vanished.

That made it even worse.

For someone with speed that far surpassed his own, she should have had no reason to fear him.

And that alone was enough to make Gabriel wary.

Not long after, he arrived back at the makeshift camp, only to find Sophie stroking Grizzlenaught.

"You’re back." She smiled softly from behind her veil.

’So she was the one following me before.’ Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.

The main giveaway was that she was waiting for him right at the entrance.

He didn’t know if she was being careless or if she simply didn’t care.

He strongly suspected the latter.

"Grizzlenaught seemed bored, so I decided to keep him company," Sophie said, still stroking the crimson bear, who was clearly enjoying himself.

Gabriel’s gaze lingered on the beast for a moment before he nodded. "Thank you. I’ll take watch from here."

At his words, Sophie stuttered, "I-I can help stroke him—I mean, sorry, I didn’t mean that. I can keep you company... like keeping watch, so no monsters get close."

She took a deep breath, realizing she was fumbling. "Sigh, you know what I meant, right?"

"Yes, I do," Gabriel nodded calmly.

’Why does he look different... did he grow taller or something?’ Sophie suddenly thought, noticing the changes in his physique.

"Never mind, I’ll just go inside." She bowed her head and practically rushed into her tent with hot cheeks and ears.

Gabriel watched her go, shook his head, then returned Grizzlenaught to the system and took his place once more.

While keeping watch, he logged into the official forum again. The most trending topic was still the Church’s summon.

Clips were flying around, and hundreds of players were posting their own theories.

Player_Grind4Life: WATH WAS THAT??? I’m just seeing this clip. Did that shadow thing just eat like 50 goblins in 10 seconds?!

ChaosKnight_Fan: Cope harder. That’s just a rare hidden summon. Get good.

ForumClown: Nah bro, that thing looked like a bug. Literally growing every time it eats? Sounds busted AF.

SaltedGoblin: So the Church is cheating basically?

SmartKid: Not really cheating. There wasn’t any rule against using summons.

Gabriel scrolled further and found the clip everyone was talking about.

He replayed it, narrowing his eyes. The shadowy figure blurred across the battlefield, tearing through goblins like paper and devouring them whole. Each time it consumed one, its aura visibly swelled.

Zooming in and slowing the frame rate, he caught something very interesting.

***

Thanks to all those that support Extraction Talent with their valuable Golden tickets I really appreciate!