CHAPTER 118: RESULTS

Results

It took Mike pretty much the whole day before he finally decided that he had dome enough testing with his new skill, and throughout, he’d discovered quite a few things about it through continuous and varying usage.

The first thing he discovered was that the effectiveness of the skill was influenced heavily by his mental state. Which, in hindsight, shouldn’t be surprising seeing as its more potent effects only work when his target has a weaker mindset.

But yeah, as it turns out, the skill doesn’t just work through sheer power or output alone, but also belief. The stronger his conviction or belief in his superiority, the stronger the effect. The weaker it was, the weaker the effect.

In short, if Mike used the skill on weaker creatures while he was doubting himself, then there was a chance that even they could resist. But if his resolve was truly unshakable, he could make it work on even stronger opponents.

Then came the next discovery, which was scaling. The skill wasn’t truly constant as it scaled with his aura autput–unsurprised–and his emotional state/ferocity.

It was a bit odd, but essentially, the calmer and more focused he was, the wider the range of the skill as well as the higher its stability. If he had to describe it, it would be like the air suddenly becoming heavier and heavier, making it harder to breathe as time passed. Cold and quiet, yet inviolable.

Alternatively, if his emotions–or specifically–his ferocity started to spike or get wild, this pressure would become more chaotic, but also more localized, specifically targeting the individual or group that enraged him in violent bursts that could render them paralyzed.

As such, if his emotions were too agitated during a fight, he’d sacrifice pure control in return for making sure his enemy received a massive blow to their psyche.

Which came to the next discovery. When Mike said the skill had some traits of a mental attack, he underestimated just how true that was.

If he decided not to take control of his target’s being and make them do what he wanted, he discovered that if he managed to use Primal Authority at high output in a single or multiple bursts, the effects could range from severely discombobulating the target, making them lose control of their bodies and senses, to downright killing them mentally, turning them into vegetables.

It was... a disconcerting discovery, especially when he watched how some of his target would just slump over, their eyes glazed as drool dripped from their mouths. Despite not being technically dead, he found the notion a bit more nerve-wracking than actually killing them, which was probably very hypocritical, but that’s just how he felt.

But from a logical standpoint, it was a good use of the skill, especially if he wanted to stun his opponent long enough to deal a lethal blow. He made a point to train that specific aspect of the skill so that he would know how much to release if he simply wanted to stun his opponent or shatter their minds.

The next discovery was a bit interesting. Or scary, depending on how one looked at it, and it tied into his discovery about how his confidence influenced the skill.

He noted several times that if he wasn’t careful, he’d enter a sort of ’high’ when using the skill, as an innate sense of superiority started to take root in his mind.

At first, he thought it was simply a case of needing to be careful. However, as he tested the skill more and that soecific phenomenon kept occurring, he couldn’t help but notice something.

His body interpreted submission from others as validation of his dominance, creating a euphoric feeling that he dubbed the ’Predator’s High’. When this happened, two things happen.

His already sharp instincts become sharper, his reflexes become faster, and his aura output increases. It wasn’t a power boost per se, but it was certainly helpful in combat situations.

However, the downside was that it smothered his empathy.

To be clear, Mike never felt much when he hunted a target. To him, they were prey to be killed and eaten. However, this was a bit deeper than that.

It wasn’t that he would become a cold machine of logic. In fact, it was almost the opposite. As his empathy pulled, so did his reason. All he wanted to do was continue to feel that euphoric feeling of having creatures submit to him unconditionally. As such, he found himself having some... scary ideas that would make it more effective.

Moreover, his use of Primal Authority in that moment would become more cruel. Sometimes, if he managed to entrench his will deep enough into an opponent to leave them at his mercy, he wouldn’t kill them, but make them do something like eat their own limbs, devour their companions, or something equally shameful. Not as a strategy to scare them or mess with their minds.

No, it was because it was fun.

Addicting, even. The sensation and idea of the food chain.

He’d be lying if that didn’t scare him.

As such, it was a double-edged sword. If he leaned into that ’high’, his use over Primal Authority would increase dramatically. However, it would make him less... him.

Thankfully, this was where his instincts came in clutch once more. They seemed to react when he perceived something as dangerous or bad. And since he perceived the consequences of leaning into this Predator’s High too much as bad, they would warn him. A sort of internal regulation system, if you will.

Anyway, this tied into the discovery about his confidence affecting Primal Authority because while the Predator’s High made him more cruel, it also made him more sure of himself and his ability to the point of it becoming avarice. As such, the potency of the skill increased exponentially when this happened.

Mike didn’t know what would happen if he fully gave into this sensation. He knew it would make him a force to be reckoned with, but he had no clue if anything would be able to bring him down from it.

Food for thought.

Moving on, Primal Authority isn’t strictly a mental ability. The description says that it also affects external energies, and Mike also leaned into that aspect as well.

Needless to say, he quite liked those ones.

For starters, he noticed that any enemy attack used within the range of Primal Authority, even if he didnt necessarily enforce his will on them to suppress them, their attacks would falter in some way.

They’d move slower, like the air itself was pressing down on the attack. Moreover, everything about it would just be... less. The impact would be weaker, the explosion would be smaller, the light would be dimmer. Like the world itself was pressing down on the attack, smothering it entirely.

Primal Dread did something similar, but its effects weren’t as potent compared to this. Moreover, this was just the base effect.

Mike could also extend his will through Primal Authority to influence the attacks. For instance, if his mentality was at a high enough level, he could straight up negate an enemy attack. One example of this was when he fought against a cobra-like creature using Primal Authority. The thing had shot out a spray of acid from its fangs, and instead of dodging, Mike just willed the attack to lose its potency.

The result? It hit him, but it was no different from water.

Another time, an avian creature unleashed a barrage of wind shaped like blades, but they simply dispersed into gusts of wind before they hit him.

Granted, this wasn’t absolute. If the creature was strong enough, its attack would persist even if Mike tried to stop it. But the result of the attack losing its original potency still remained even if he wouldn’t completely negate it, but the effect varied.

He could also use this to affect his surroundings, and he found out that doing so was a lot easier than affecting an attack. His guess was that it was due to enemy attacks still carrying their will, which was harder to disperse.

Meanwhile, the environment had no inherent will. The wind, plants (not the Corpse Flower), earth, none of those possessed the will to resist being affected by one who did possess a strong enough will.

As such, Mike could influence these things with more ease. For instance, he could ’dominate’ the ground and make it soft, causing an enemy to lose their footing in the process of an attack. He could make increase the air resistance to make moving more difficult, and while he wasn’t sure as he hadn’t quite tested it yet due to not knowing how he had a feeling he could influence more obscure things like space.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, Mike began to make his way back to the cave. His smelled Kris and Theresa near it already, so he decided to head back. Moreover, he believed he’d figured out all he could for the day.

All in all, he was satisfied with everything he discovered as it simply reaffirmed his belief that Primal Authority was one of, if not his most potent skill that wasn’t an ability.

It did make him think about his teacher, though. Edward. A lot of what he was doing was what Edward said people with Aura-Type abilities could do at a high level. So it made him wonder if he would have eventually learned how to do what the skill did eventually.

’Meh, nothing wrong with having a good thing early, especially since I know I earned it.’ Mike just shrugged as his gaze shifted to the distance, and his eyes flashed.

The Titanic Corpse Flower.

’Yeah, that’s it.’ Mike simply nodded as he turned back to where he was going. However, he had already made a decision in his heart.

That thing was his hunting target.