Becoming a Monster

Chapter 613: Chapter 612: Absolute Foresight

“About this human… Soren… are you certain about your information?”

Noah returned to the root of his concerns.

A human who was not even ranked high amongst the other S-rankers in strength.

Yet his unique ability allowed him to lead groups of S-rank adventurers against beings classified as SS-rank and emerge victorious.

The ability of absolute foresight.

The ability was every bit as domineering as its name suggested.

From what Noah gathered, if this human studied an opponent long enough in battle, he could gradually unravel the very foundation behind how they fought.

He learned more than their techniques or habits. He came to understand the reasoning behind every decision they made, uncovering their subconscious thoughts, instincts, fears, and priorities that guided each action.

Eventually, his understanding became so complete it appeared as though he were predicting the future.

And it didn’t stop there. If Soren continued observing a creature outside the battlefield, his understanding only deepened.

The longer he watched, the more every aspect of their existence became another piece of the puzzle. He gradually discerned the territories they favored, the places they returned to, the routines they unknowingly repeated, and the circumstances that most heavily influenced their decisions.

Those driven by instinct revealed the patterns governing their nature, while those capable of reason gradually exposed the beliefs, ambitions, relationships, fears, and desires that shaped every choice they made.

Whether confronting a beast or an intelligent race, Soren inevitably reached the same destination.

Given enough time, Soren would understand them so thoroughly that surprising him became nearly impossible.

Defeating him became even harder.

Although he knew Morvyr didn’t have a reason to lie, the ability sounded so surreal that it was hard to believe.

How long did he need to observe? How close did he need to see? And just how much would he be able to understand about him afterward?

If the human could uncover all of his secrets just from watching how he interacted in a discussion, that just sounded impossible.

Yet seeing Morvyr nod really made this person dangerous.

But at the same time, Noah found himself filled with expectancy. This was the skill he needed.

If his goal were to understand his companions more, and to also discover how to help them become involved, wasn’t this ability tailor-made for him?

“Morvyr, point him out for me the minute you see him.”

Morvyr’s expression immediately grew more serious.

“I will.”

He naturally assumed Noah intended to kill Soren before the human could learn enough to become a greater threat.

It was the correct decision, and it would also benefit him and his Queen greatly.

Soren had already encountered four of the Queen’s Six Arbors.

The first Arbor had faced Soren twice.

During their initial encounter, the human had seemed unimpressive compared to the other S-rank adventurers accompanying him. He remained behind the stronger fighters, rarely taking any risks of his own as he watched the battle.

The Arbor escaped without considering him worth remembering.

When they met again, Soren was waiting for everything.

Every attack the Arbor attempted was answered before it could accomplish anything. The humans moved away from dangers they shouldn’t have known were coming, pressed forward whenever the Arbor intended to retreat, and refused to react to feints that had deceived them during their previous battle.

It was as though the Arbor had already fought that exact battle and lost.

By the time they understood what Soren had learned from their first encounter, there was nowhere left for them to escape.

Their death forced the Queen to choose another to fill its place among the Six Arbors. And it was only because a few of the Arbors’ subordinates survived the battle that they were even able to learn how the Arbor died.

Only then had the remaining Arbors understood the true danger behind Absolute Foresight.

Soren did not need to overwhelm them during their first battle. He only needed to survive it.

Since then, he had encountered three more of the Six Arbors. No one had fallen, but they had been observed long enough that it wouldn’t be hard for them to lose their life just as easily as the first one.

What was frightening about the ability was that the information he gathered didn’t disappear just because the battle ended.

Who knew just how long he could retain that information?

With all of that in mind, his decision to leave the city and participate in the attack against Noah was therefore more valuable to Morvyr than the devil realized.

For as long as Soren remained here, he would not be a threat to the other Arbors who planned to attack the city.

Morvyr would never openly admit how greatly it would benefit them if Noah was able to kill him.

He would then be able to inform the Queen that the human responsible for killing one of her Arbors had been eliminated with his assistance.

The merit attached to such an accomplishment would speak for itself.

Morvyr quietly settled back into his chair, unaware that Noah’s interest in Soren had little to do with killing him.

And that was because Noah was slowly breaking down Soren’s ability in his mind.

His thoughts now worked wonders whenever something truly interested him, and an ability as unique as Absolute Foresight naturally left him with question after question.

No skill was perfect.

There had to be something Morvyr was overlooking.

The longer Noah thought about it, the more he realized that Soren might be a terrifying threat to others, but someone like him had far less to worry about.

What happened if the being Soren studied changed?

If the human had completely understood Bolas before his transformation and could predict every movement he made, would that knowledge still apply to him now?

Noah highly doubted that. Bolas’ body, mana, even his abilities and his instincts have changed after his mutation.

So what about Noah himself? Even if Soren were to understand him during the middle of a fight, what if he fused with one of his creatures?

Even if Soren somehow survived the battle and escaped with information concerning Noah and all of his companions, how useful would that information remain?

His companions could mutate and evolve. They could gain entirely new skills or have their existing abilities transformed into something completely different.

What made Noah and his creatures different from everyone else was that their growth never remained predictable for long.

That did not mean Noah intended to underestimate him either.

In this upcoming battle, he was still a threat to his companions.

—

With one of the threats addressed. Noah’s attention moved past those gathered around the clearing and settled upon the dense trees ahead.

Soren was undoubtedly the greatest unknown among the humans Morvyr had described.

Yet he wasn’t the only one Noah needed to worry about.

There was also the noble.

The man was considered powerful, but he apparently ranked below the more exceptional S-rank adventurers that would be in this fight. His importance did not come from overwhelming physical strength or an ability capable of changing the course of an entire battle.

It came from his affinity with fire.

By itself, that should not have made him particularly dangerous. Noah doubted that the nobles’ flames would even be stronger than Bolas before his change.

However, this situation was different.

The noble’s flames didn’t need to defeat Noah or any of his companions directly.

They only needed to spread.

It also happened that the man was related to one of the humans who had accompanied the A-rank group responsible for the deaths that led to this battle in the first place.

Noah stared past the surrounding trees, his gaze settling upon the massive barricade of roots enclosing the territory.

“That noble…” Noah suddenly said out of nowhere.

“Are his flames powerful enough to burn down my walls?”

A trace of confusion appeared upon the elf’s face.

But once he followed the direction of Noah’s gaze and noticed the giant barrier of intertwined roots, his brows gradually furrowed.

Only then did he understand what Noah was referring to.

There were two layers of walls. Both would work to contain the battle so Noah’s territory couldn’t be overwhelmed all at once.

If the noble burned through either wall, Noah’s advantage would disappear.

The humans would no longer be confined to the few places where Noah could prepare to meet them.

Once that happened, Noah would have no way to ensure that the fighting remained contained.

Morvyr remained silent as he reconsidered the threat.

“If he were an ordinary human, then no.”

His attention remained fixed upon the outer wall.

“But he is an S-rank adventurer whose entire strength revolves around fire. If left uninterrupted, he could burn through these walls on his own. And if he tried hard enough, he could burn all of this down.”

Noah’s body posture remained unchanged. Only the brightness in his eyes flickered.

Morvyr hesitated; his thoughts went back to the energy he felt emanating from the inner wall.

“Although I have to admit, the energy surrounding the inner wall is special enough that it may endure longer.”

“But even that would barely withstand the full strength of his flames. Unless you have a way to sustain it.”

In this case, Noah didn’t. And Pandora wasn’t at a point yet that she could do it either.

He at least needed to ensure that the inner wall stayed strong. Not just for this battle, but also for their home.

But that meant obtaining Pandora’s genes before he was ready.