My Bugged System Made Me Too OP!-Chapter 35: Black and white tail squirrel

He turned slightly to see an old woman, her back bent with age, leaning heavily on a wooden walking stick.

Her movements were slow, each step filled with care.

The face was wrinkled and weathered, her grey hair tangled and flecked with strands of white, but there was a spark of curiosity and concern in her eyes.

Noah instantly recognized her; she was one of the few residents in this deserted area he had seen on countless mornings, usually tending to her small garden patch or wandering the dirt paths near the village.

Noah offered a small, awkward smile.

"Just... going to join my mother in the farm," he said, keeping his tone casual, almost dismissive. "That’s all."

The old woman squinted, tilting her head as if something didn’t quite add up.

"But I thought her farm... was that way...?" She gestured vaguely toward a cluster of distant plots, her finger trembling slightly.

Before she could say anything further, a sudden, sharp gust of wind passed through the clearing.

When she turned, blinking against the sudden breeze, Noah was gone. The boy who had been just a few steps away had vanished as if swallowed by the air itself, leaving only faint footprints in the dirt.

The old woman let out a soft, confused sigh, scratching at the tangled grey strands of her hair.

"What a weird kid..." she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.

Her gaze lingered on the empty path for a moment longer before suddenly freezing, her face squeezing into a frown.

Her eyes narrowed in blank realization—or rather, blank confusion. "What am I even doing here... wait... who was I even talking to just now...?"

The old woman’s memory, clouded by a severe case of dementia, had already begun erasing the brief interaction.

Moments ago, she had worried and questioned, now she could barely recall the conversation itself.

After a long moment of standing in confusion, she finally let out a short, puzzled hum.

Her shoulders slumped slightly as she shifted her weight onto the walking stick.

With a careful, measured pace, she began turning back toward her modest home, muttering under her breath incoherently.

*

Noah appeared suddenly below a towering oak, crouched low as lightning crackled and danced across his body.

Sparks leapt from his fingers, arcing through the air in bright, jagged flashes.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at his sparking hand, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

’Electric Overcharge... how cool,’ he thought, his eyes shining with excitement.

The skill sent a jolt of energy surging through his veins, his muscles tightening and flexing with unnatural speed and strength.

Every nerve seemed alive, every motion sharper, faster, and more precise.

It was as if his body had become a battery, fully charged and ready to unleash raw power at a moment’s notice.

The sensation was addictive, thrilling, and he felt invincible for a few fleeting seconds.

But he knew better than to linger. Maintaining the skill too long risked frying his own body, the electricity burning him from the inside out.

With a careful exhale, he let the sparks die away, the light fading from his skin as his hands settled back to normal.

A low sigh escaped him.

’That was close,’ he thought, memories of the old woman flickering briefly in his mind.

He didn’t want anyone seeing him enter the forest.

If anyone reported it, his mother would worry herself sick, and the last thing he needed was concern on top of what he had planned.

He shook his head slightly, forcing himself to focus. The forest ahead loomed, shadows stretching long and thick across the ground.

The outer edges of the forest had seemed manageable, even familiar.

But the deeper part—this part—was something else entirely.

The trees were massive, their roots twisting like serpents through the undergrowth.

Canopies stretched high, blotting out the sun and throwing patches of darkness across the forest floor.

Foliage was thick, nearly impenetrable, and the air was heavier here, tinged with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves.

Noah’s lips curled slightly as he murmured under his breath, "It’s time."

He straightened his shoulders and took the first steps forward, pushing past the undergrowth.

The forest seemed to close around him, each step quieter than the last, muffled by moss, dirt, and fallen leaves.

His senses were alive, alert to the faintest shifts in the environment.

Every distant rustle, every snap of a twig, every whisper of wind against the trees registered in his mind.

For a while, the forest remained eerily still. No growls, no signs of mana beasts, no flash of movement in the shadows.

The rumors he had heard seemed almost too exaggerated. Perhaps the dangers had been overblown.

He had begun to wonder if the deeper forest was truly as menacing as the villagers claimed, if there were even mana beasts to be found at all.

Then, without warning, a rustle came from the undergrowth to his right.

The moment he heard the rustling, he quickly hid behind a tree, making sure not to drop his guard.

He carefully peeked out from the tree, staring at the direction he heard the rustling.

He found a squirrel on the ground a few meters away from him, munching on a huge nut.

The nut fell from the tree above, and scattered on the foot around the squirrel were similar nuts.

But then, the squirrel didn’t look like any normal squirrel.

It was fairly larger, with thick black fur and a large black and white tail.

The tail curled down towards the head, forming a kind of hood or shade over it.

’Black and white tailed squirrel...’ Noah thought as he watched from the side.

He easily recognised the mana beast, having read about it before.

It was a common-grade mana beast, and was mostly harmless, even if one provoked it.

It usually rested for the most part, and only came out when it was about to hunt for nuts, which were its favourite food.