Chapter 296: 296

Alexander stared at Michelle as she gathered some spirit energy in her hand, a frown on her face. She had mastered what she wanted. She could move quickly and stealthily in the gem form, but she was still dissatisfied with something.

What could that be?

“What are you thinking about so much?” he finally asked.

Michelle retracted her spirit energy and let her hand drop. “Since I’ve absorbed two Life Stones and gained new abilities associated with them, it has changed my spirit energy in some parts. And my spirit energy is closely affiliated with my blood. Because my spirit energy courses along with my blood through my veins, I have Spirit Soul Blood. So, did absorbing the Life Stones change my Spirit Soul Blood?”

Alexander hadn’t thought that deeply about how the Life Stones had changed Michelle. He only knew that she was no longer exactly human.

But her thoughts made sense.

Spirit Blood and Spirit Soul Blood were characteristics specific only to humans. If Michelle was no longer human, what had become of those characteristics of hers?

“You could try seeing how beasts and monsters react to your blood now,” Alexander suggested.

The most prominent trait of Spirit Soul Blood was that beasts and monsters went crazy after smelling it, thinking only of devouring it. How would their reaction change after Michelle had basically lost her humanity?

It was hard to think of a possible theory. The best way was to just test it directly.

Michelle picked up a knife and stabbed it into her forearm.

She avoided large veins, so the bleeding wasn’t all that severe, but it was enough for a sweet scent to penetrate the forest.

The chirping of birds came to a standstill. A dreadful silence overtook the forest. Only the wind rushed around, like the last breath before jumping into a raging river.

That didn’t signal anything good. And it was also a different reaction compared to what usually happened when Michelle let the scent of her blood spread. In the past, nearly instantly, she would always hear the sound of something running toward her, or at least the roars of beasts.

But at the moment, she couldn’t hear anything. Only the wind was dancing around her.

“Nyx!” Michelle frowned.

As Nyxaroth came out of her body, she also summoned Snow, Mare, Cold Flame, and Tenether from her space. “Did the scent of my blood change?” she asked them all.

Snow wriggled her nose in discomfort. “Yes!” she frowned.

Because she and the others were in contract with Michelle, the smell of her blood had a completely different effect on them. While it stirred hunger in other creatures, it made them uncomfortable. The smell of their master’s blood meant their master was in danger, causing protective instincts to surge within them.

“How did it change?” Michelle tilted her head. She wanted to know. The silence of the forest was unsettling her.

But she didn’t get an answer. Before anyone could speak, Cold Flame took on his beast form and flew high into the air. Seeing that, Tenether transformed into a black raven and followed.

“What’s wrong?” Michelle raised a brow.

Mare took on her snake form and coiled around Michelle’s body. Snow summoned ice at her feet.

Even Nyxaroth took on his original form, turning into thick black mist.

Since her beasts weren’t going to answer her, Michelle glanced toward Alexander. By his side were two monsters, Noctis and Unlucien. They might know something.

“What is going on?” she asked with a frown.

Alexander was also curious, so he glanced at them, as if telling them to speak.

Unlucien was the one to answer. “Milady, your blood is a sweet poison to us. It has become so tempting that both beasts and monsters don’t dare approach it. Even those without much intelligence know that if they approach, they won’t be able to retain their sense of self. And that is the most important thing to all creatures.”

Michelle still didn’t quite understand everything. She had more questions.

But she didn’t get the chance for further explanation.

A deafening roar cut through the air, forcing Michelle to cover her ears.

It didn’t come from an ordinary creature. It was from one that could use infrasound to communicate with others of its species.

And to humans, infrasound was harmful. It could knock a person out.

With her body reinforced by spirit and soul energy and shadow essence, Michelle managed to stay on her feet, but her body swayed slightly. It felt like something had struck her head.

Alexander instantly moved behind her to steady her.

Michelle didn’t complain. She just frowned faintly, pinching the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes.

That was a warning. The creature that roared had done so to make her leave. It didn’t want to lose itself to the scent.

Michelle glanced up. Were her beasts standing guard because they were expecting a creature to retaliate? Or was there something else to watch out for?

Considering they were still on guard, something more was probably coming.

Steadying herself, Michelle shook her head slightly. Looking down at her hand, the wound was already closing slowly. Her healing abilities hadn’t changed after absorbing the two Life Stones.

But she didn’t have time to think about that. Cold Flame and the others still hadn’t calmed down. She had to stay on guard too.

Still, nothing happened for a while. After the first roar of infrasound, nothing tried to harm Michelle, making her frown. “What’s going on?” She glanced at the two birds flying above her before looking at Mare, coiled around her body. “Why are you all so tense?”

Mare finally answered. “Michelle, have you ever heard about the Soundless Beasts?” Her voice was a suppressed hiss, making sure no one else heard it.

Michelle shook her head. “No, what are they?”

Mare frowned slightly. “Then what about Silent Bastards?” she finally asked.

That made Michelle’s eyes widen. She had heard about that. “Soundless Beasts and Silent Bastards are one and the same?”

When Mare nodded slightly, Michelle felt her stomach tighten.

If Silent Bastards were coming after her, she was in trouble.

Not much was known about Silent Bastards, or Soundless Beasts. They were called beasts, but people didn’t even know whether they were truly beasts or monsters.

All that was known was that they moved in perfectly coordinated groups, and if they didn’t want to be seen, no one could spot them. They could only ever be noticed a moment before striking, and by then, it would be too late.

Because of how perfectly coordinated they were, people assumed that they must have a single central beast controlling all the others. But no one knew how the central beast did it, or from where it acted.

Still, it gave hope that if the central beast was defeated, the rest would become helpless.

The name Soundless Beasts was written in books and taught in schools, but hunters and explorers, who deeply hated the creatures, came to call them Silent Bastards. Some went even further and called them Unknown Death. Because once the Silent Bastards targeted someone, they wouldn’t even know how or why they died. They would only see a shadow flash before their eyes before being knocked out for good.

Because of how perfectly coordinated the Soundless Beasts were, some people began to assume that aside from the leading creature, they had no sense of self, only mindlessly following the leader.

If that was truly the case, the leading creature could have its minions attack Michelle after smelling her blood. And there was no way of knowing, since they moved unseen.

After understanding all that, Michelle frowned. She could truly die if she wasn’t careful. But there was also something about a coordinated group that greatly intrigued her.

How were they able to remain unseen at all times?

Questions swirled in her mind, but no answers came.

That caused a discreet desire to rise within Michelle. Subconsciously, she wanted to encounter the Silent Bastards, to find out how they functioned as a group.

It could be of great help to her in the future if she understood the nature of the most stealthy known creature.

Especially since she planned to continue working with the information guild from the lower realm. They were most likely already in the middle realm, cultivating in Mavreth’s sect.

If Michelle found more ways for groups to remain stealthy, the guild’s power could become even more secretive.

Coiled around Michelle’s body, Mare had a perfect view of her face. Seeing her expression and how deeply lost in thought she was, it wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking. “Michelle, you won’t survive an encounter with them!” she warned.

Michelle snapped out of her thoughts. “I’m not planning to seek them out.” She was calm. “But if they seek me out, there’s no way for me to avoid the encounter.”

Mare let out an angry hiss.

Michelle was right. With how little was known about the Silent Bastards and how stealthy they were, there was no way to prevent an encounter if they came.

Unless…

Mare glanced toward Alexander, Noctis, and Unlucien.

Being from the heavenly realm, they might know more. And they were far more powerful than people of the middle realm.

So they might be able to do something.

I’ve corrected the grammar, spelling, and punctuation throughout the Chapter, kept all apostrophes and quotation marks straight (’ and “), and preserved the original wording and length as closely as possible while improving clarity and flow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep