CHAPTER 237: YIELD OF THE NIGHT

Deciding to leave it unsubdued and sell it on the market later, he released an oppressive wave of Presence and Malice.

The Nightmaw instantly froze as the pure essence of death and fear washed over it. The creature’s bristling fur settled, bared fangs vanished, and its hissing ceased entirely. It collapsed where it stood, fully surrendering—not out of reason, but from the primal realization that the being before it wasn’t prey or rival, but predator. One, it could only beg for mercy from.

"Good. Just stay still," Adyr muttered as he pulled back his aura and stepped closer.

He pressed a hand to the Spark’s trembling body, channeling transparent energy to force-feed a taste of his energy signature and suppress its innate skills. Then, grabbing it by its long whiskers, he began to drag it out of the tunnel.

Outside, the villagers were waiting with a mix of anxiety and anticipation. When they finally saw Adyr emerge from the darkness, they exhaled in visible relief and quiet celebration.

That peace lasted only a moment.

As soon as they caught sight of the massive, rodent-like Spark being dragged behind him like a corpse, clutched by its whiskers, the tension returned. Most had never seen a Spark with their own eyes before, and the most striking detail was the way it was being handled.

"Do you have strong ropes?" Adyr asked calmly, locking eyes with the village chief.

"Y-Yes," the man said, clearing his throat as he tried to compose himself.

"Good. Tie its body securely. It won’t move, but just in case. I’ll come back later to collect it."

Since he hadn’t subdued it, he couldn’t send it to Twilight Land. And with several destinations still ahead of him, carrying it along would only slow him down. It made more sense to leave the creature under the villagers’ watch and retrieve it on his way back.

The village chief and the others didn’t know how to respond. This was a Spark—one of the nightmare creatures they used to scare children into behaving. Even if the request came from a practitioner, their instinctual fear made them hesitate.

But just as tension gripped the crowd, a strange shift washed over them. An inexplicable calm, a surge of courage they couldn’t quite name. Suddenly, the task didn’t seem so terrifying after all.

"Of course. You can be assured we will preserve it until the Lord returns," one of the villagers declared with unexpected boldness, even before the chief could speak. The others quickly echoed his words with growing confidence.

"Good. I count on you. You brave villagers are the real heroes—protectors of your land and your loved ones." With a few more encouraging words, Adyr didn’t wait for any reply. He simply opened his wings and launched skyward with a single leap.

Before vanishing into the darkness of night, the last thing the villagers saw was a pair of wings reflecting the monochrome sun hanging in the sky—its black-and-white radiance gleaming like divine weapons—followed by the earth-shaking roar of a Sonic Burst.

—

"I’m really starting to love these bloodline talents," Adyr thought as he tore through the night at high speed.

Just his Presence alone was enough to resolve many problems instantly, neutralizing the Spark and forcing the villagers to obey without resistance. It saved an incredible amount of time, and in his mind, time was everything.

To save even more of it, Adyr decided to allocate his 133 free stat points.

He assigned 45 to [Will], primarily to boost his overall speed, and dumped the rest into [Physique].

[Will] directly influenced his movement, but he had noticed something else—its effects became even more pronounced the more efficient and developed his muscles were. The stat wasn’t just about mental focus; it amplified the body’s ability to execute precise, high-speed actions. That’s why combining it with [Physique] gave him a sharper edge.

As for the other stats, he left them untouched for now. There were still unregistered talents waiting, and the stat points they’d provide could be distributed later, based on immediate needs.

He opened his character panel and reviewed the latest changes.

[Name]: Adyr

[Race]: Twilight Human

[Path]: Primora

[Evolution Step]: 2

[Physique]: 100 → 188

[Will]: 155 → 200

[Resilience]: 85

[Sense]: 105

[Energy]: 50 / 745 → 50 / 878

[Registered Talents]: 15/15

[Observer(Lv4)], [Tracking(Lv3)], [Throwing(Lv3)], [Cooking(Lv3)], [Linguistic(Lv3)], [Tactician(Lv3)], [Stealth(Lv3)], [Trapper(Lv3)], [Butchering(Lv3)], [Scouting(Lv3)], [Surgery(Lv3)], [Reader(Lv3)], [Masonry(Lv3)], [Sword Art of Existence(Lv1)], [Maleficent Architect (Lv1)]

[Sparks]: 10/10

[Sanctuary]: Twilight Land

[Free Stat Points]: 0

He was growing rapidly, and it wasn’t just visible as numbers on his character panel. He could feel every surge of power coursing through his body and spirit, an addictive sensation that honed his focus to a razor’s edge.

After his latest enhancement, he gained fine-tuned control over every muscle fiber, even adjusting to the subtle angle of the wind against his face as he flew. With his wings powered by this newfound muscular strength, he executed powerful strokes, making only minimal adjustments to optimize his flight speed.

His understanding of movement deepened, allowing him to calculate exactly how to fly faster and more efficiently. At the same time, he refined his use of the Sonic Burst skill—deploying it with sharper timing and at the most critical angles, resulting in a visibly and tangibly increased flight velocity.

He had grown faster now, and the night stretched ahead—still plenty of energy crystals left to harvest.

In just 10 minutes, he reached the next destination, where a Spark was rumored to reside.

According to the reports, there was a cave just ahead of a nearby village. At night, strange lights were said to shine from within, the interior was abnormally hot, and—most notably—a constant stench of decay lingered around the entrance.

But when Adyr arrived and inspected the cave himself, the truth was far less interesting. It turned out to be one of the dormant lava veins of a passive volcano. The light came from the occasional bursts of lava, and the stench was nothing more than built-up sulfur. There was no Spark.

A slight disappointment crept in. Still, he didn’t let it affect his focus. At the very least, he had learned that sulfur existed in this world—something never once mentioned in the books he’d read in the Velari Kingdom.

He simply moved on to check the remaining locations.

Hours passed. The sun began to shift from its cold black-and-white to a radiant golden hue. By the time the transformation was complete, he had already checked every lead and was on his way back to the village to retrieve Nightmaw.

The night hadn’t gone to waste after all.