At least, he had to try them out to even come to understand what these peculiar abilities of his actually were.

The information was there in his head, but it was like the case where, even if you know something, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will understand it.

That was the feeling he had right now. Which was indeed rather frustrating, considering the predicament he was in currently, where his death could come any second.

"Guess, that’s enough rest for now. I should focus and hurry up, and find a safe place to spend the night." The words escaped his lips like a desperate plea for time.

He muttered, realizing in his current state, he didn’t have any ability to help him see in the night. ’And I feel as though the night is far more dangerous than the day!’ He thought, while squinting his deep crimson eyes at the bright blue sky visible above the trees’ dark canopy.

His face was solemn; it was already some time past midday, and not much time was left before the night came. Moreover, his instinctual feeling of the ever-increasing danger as the time went by, minute by minute and hour by hour, only made his mood much worse.

He felt like a major calamity was looming above his head. With each passing second, this feeling just got stronger and stronger, as if something was wrong, terribly wrong! The dread coiled around his heart like a tightening serpent.

That he was moving towards a danger that he should not, towards his doom, towards his death. Even more, the screeches, the howls, and the roars of the faraway calamities in this silence also weren’t helping in culling down his rising anxiety!

The question of why he was moving towards a direction which his senses were so blatantly warning him about, screaming at him that a crisis lay ahead, was there.

The answer to it, even he did not have. Frankly, even he himself was pretty confused too. On one side, there were his high senses as a calamity which had helped him thus far in remaining alive, as he stealthily moved around in this dense forest teeming with strong calamities because of them—senses that always warned him of the danger ahead, senses that gave him a detailed understanding of his immediate surroundings; pretty simple, correct.

No, indeed it wasn’t that simple, as on the other side, he felt like he must move forward no matter how dangerous it was. And this gnawing sensation was more like an instinctual feeling that directly came from his heart and soul.

Henceforth, compelling him to move forward while disregarding everything else: this was the reason behind his confusion and restlessness. It was a contradicting feeling! It was like being a puppet pulled by two opposing masters.

As a few more hours passed, he finally stepped out of the forest.

In the horizon, he was calmly watching the setting sun. It was dusk presently, meaning in an hour or less, the embrace of night would come, and he did not know where his supposed instinctual feelings had led him!

At which place had he come to, while following the guide of his ability! Was he out of danger?! No, he was not.

In fact, he had goosebumps the second he stepped out of the forest.

Ahh... correction, the place he had stepped into wasn’t out of the forest; rather it was inside. He could see it, though faintly; it was still discernible: the blurry image of the 30 to 40 meters tall trees in the far distance.

This place...

It was a massive clearing in the middle of the forest. How it came to be did not matter, because currently he was quite angry actually.

The reason: in the time he used to get here, he was able to discover that the inexplicable attraction that pulled him here had neither come from his heart nor his soul, but rather from one of his abilities, which he did not even know the name of yet, let alone which one.

Furthermore, in this time, he also realized that the sense of danger he felt from his own senses was very much unnatural. It was almost as if someone or maybe something was preventing him from getting here. What it was or why it was doing so, he had no answers. He was ignorant.

However certainly, he was boiling with anger beyond compare because of this failed act of manipulation. His fury burned within him like a hidden fire.

Moreover, this wrath only intensified when, even now, his own senses were betraying him and constantly telling him to get out of this place as soon, as quickly, and as fast as possible. It felt like as if something was trying to control him.

Unquestionably, it became the first sensation that he had come to abhor from the very bottom of his heart.

Nonetheless, in a few seconds he quickly collected himself. Closing his eyes and taking deep calming breaths to compose himself further while putting the wrong sensations controlled by the ’unknown something’ to the back of his mind.

Opening his eyes and focusing his mind on the subject of why one of his abilities brought him here.

Certainly, he was curious to know the answer, as this might help him to learn more about himself or at the very least one of his abilities or maybe more than one.

With rapt attention, he focused on his current surroundings!

And to say the least, he trembled: shuddering. Quickly, his legs went weak but he miraculously managed to keep his footing and not fall on his rear. What he saw before him were the skeletal remains of three different beings.

And if his simple knowledge served him right, then these remains before him were the remains of actual dragons!

However, that wasn’t what made him swallow hard; rather it was the presence(aura) these dead bones exuded. It was far above anything he had ever felt in his entire hours-long life.

Despite being dead for who knows how many unknown years, these dragonic skeletons were simply lying there releasing a presence(aura) greater than most lifeforms. Their sheer presence, even in death, still echoed the symphony of pride, echoing with one word: strong, overbearingly strong!

The aura hit him with the force of a crashing wave.

For a few minutes, he just simply stood there at the edge of the clearing, admiring the already dead dragons, but then the thought came, more like a realization: he was only able to sense this overwhelming presence(aura) when he actually looked at the dead skeletons.

As prior to looking towards them, he didn’t even realize or sense that there were three dead dragon skeletons lying here, when he entered this clearing or even before entering it.

Which should’ve been the case normally, considering how dense and horrifying this presence(aura) was in spite of the owner being already dead a long time ago.

Nonetheless, why things were as they were, again, he had no answers.

He was blank, but still simply imagining how strong these dragons would’ve been when alive, again made him realize how weak he himself was! How small he was!

He felt like an ant standing before the throne of a fallen god.

After all, it was perfectly clear to him that these dead dragons were outsiders; even in death, their very presence announced it properly.

"And beings such as them would be coming for my head sooner or later. How entertaining...!" He smiled. Actually finding his situation quite darkly amusing. His laughter was a thin shield against the overwhelming weight of reality.

"Let’s find out why was I being obstructed from reaching this place, despite my sorry strength, shall we...!" His challenge rang out like a small bell in a vast, empty hall.