Chapter 55: Enhanced by "A Little" Strength

The blazing flames continued unabated. Hundreds of city guards hurried in with buckets of water, accompanied by large fire-fighting water wagons. These wagons carried enormous buckets, each two or three meters in diameter, filled to the brim with water. Steam engines hoisted them twenty meters into the air, then overturned them, sending torrents crashing down onto the blaze. The cold water instantly vaporized upon hitting the flames, billowing into dense clouds of mist that spread and further contained the inferno, quickly extinguishing it.

The city guards cordoned off the tavern, with some donning protective gear to rush inside and rescue those trapped. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

“In other words, I can only see the final outcome each time—someone is killed, a house destroyed, scenes of all manner of bloody tragedy. Yet I cannot see the process. I do not know why these things happen!”

Not far away, at the mouth of a narrow alley, Allen gazed up at the tavern still belching black smoke. A complex mixture of emotions played across his face, and there was a weariness and helplessness he could not disguise.

“You can’t imagine what it’s like to know that a disaster is coming, to be powerless to prevent it, and to watch it unfold before your very eyes… It is utterly despairing!”

“Is the future truly unchangeable?” Rody couldn’t help feeling a pang in his heart, pounding his fist against the city wall beside him.

If that were the case, what use was this ability at all?

“It can be changed. I once used it to save a pet dog. But the precondition is that you must understand how the event happens—you must know the process.”

Allen looked at him with hope lighting his face, and his words came in a rush. “In the visions I saw, you appeared, and with overwhelming strength you fought against the True God Cult.”

“I… Do I really have that kind of power?” Rody pointed at his own nose, his voice uncertain. Since childhood, he’d dreamed of being a hero who could save the world.

But reality was cruel. No matter how hard he struggled, he’d made no progress. He couldn’t even afford the most basic rune factory for a life spirit master, and gradually, his confidence had withered.

“Yes, you! I could find no one else but you. I need your help now!”

Memories of his past flickered through Rody’s mind, and he nodded. If he could avert a great crisis in the future, perhaps he would finally become the hero he always hoped to be.

After that, Rody followed Allen through the city.

Because Allen didn’t know exactly where things would occur, he needed first to determine the likely battleground, and from there deduce who would be involved. Just like with the fire at the tavern: the scene he’d witnessed was only of a burning building; he couldn’t even tell if it was a tavern. In Storm Harbor, there were hundreds of such tall buildings. By the time they’d found the right one, the flames had already roared skyward before their eyes.

They had searched as best they could, yet still arrived a step too late. This was what Allen meant by helplessness—the feeling was truly despairing.

“In the future I saw, there was a lavishly decorated manor, complete with artificial hills and a stream…” Allen tried his utmost to piece the fragmented images together in his mind.

Alas, the visions were all broken, like shards fitted clumsily together. Only something truly unique would stand out in such vivid, lifelike detail.

“There was a gigantic beast wreathed in flames, another colossal beast black as night, and a man clad in black armor. These three beings battled and destroyed the entire manor.”

“The black beast… Do you think that’s Little Black?” In a secluded corner, Rody couldn’t resist summoning his own totem to confirm it wasn’t a mistake.

Little Black’s form had grown several times larger after its evolution. No longer crawling on all fours, it now strode upright atop two thick hind legs, towering over three meters tall. Its jet-black scales gleamed even darker, the bone spines along its back more menacing than ever. Its forelimbs had transformed into deadly bone blades, the whole creature now a machine built for slaughter.

“That’s it—exactly! It was because I saw you and your totem beast that I went to such lengths to find you, hoping we could work together to minimize the number of innocent lives lost in the coming disaster.”

Allen nodded, then asked seriously, “Rody, since your evolution, have you gained any special abilities?”

“Special abilities?” Rody scratched his head, looking puzzled, then grinned sheepishly. “Does getting stronger count?”

“Ever since Little Black evolved, I’ve felt much stronger, and my appetite’s grown several times over. The money I made before is almost gone, and I’m still always hungry.”

Seeing Rody’s embarrassed look, Allen shook his head helplessly. “Greater strength alone isn’t enough. A first-level life spirit master with a main totem and a defensive auxiliary totem can layer their defensive spirit light to block ordinary attacks from a martial captain.”

“A second-level life spirit master can stand still and let a captain attack without budging an inch. Upon reaching the second level, you undergo your first qualitative leap—the defensive spirit light’s power multiplies several times, putting you on a level entirely apart from ordinary people.”

“A third-level life spirit master can even withstand the charge of a speeding train. In other words, no attack from an ordinary person can harm them.”

“Well, it seems my strength isn’t much use then.” Rody shrugged, resigned, his hopes dashed.

“A few prodigiously gifted life spirit masters possess terrifying unique abilities—rapid casting, double defense, double attack, and so on. These make them far stronger than the average. But don’t worry; only a handful of true geniuses ever have such talents. It’s perfectly normal not to.”

Allen offered a word of comfort, and the two continued searching for the site where the ultimate battle might erupt.

After they left, the section of city wall where they’d stood suddenly began to crumble in utter silence, the disintegration accelerating rapidly. In the blink of an eye, a ten-meter high, five-meter thick stretch of wall split open, leaving a gaping hole more than five meters across!

“Enemy invasion!”

A sharp-eyed city guard cried out, drawing hundreds more to encircle the yawning breach.

An officer exuding a powerful aura rushed over, eyes steely as he glared at the hole, then transformed into a furious lion and roared.

“A pack of blind fools! Idiots! Worthless trash! Such a massive breach and none of you noticed a thing! What use are you to me? If the whole wall collapses one day, and the barbarians sneak in, murder your families, ravage your wives—let’s see if you’d dare be so careless then…”

Not far away, Charles, robed in silver-grey, passed by and stared in astonishment at the gaping wound in the wall. A breach five meters wide was wide enough for the strongest warhorse to gallop through. Had the barbarians launched a surprise attack ahead of schedule?

But if so, why had there been no warning at all?