By the time Soulless had detected Kieran's incoming Seethe Burst, it was already less than 5 meters away. Typically, Seethe Burst could close that distance within the blink of an eye, which wouldn't leave much time for Soulless to react.
However, the superior senses of an inhuman counteracted the certainty of situations. Within the fraction of a second that existed to dodge, Soulless did just that.
As he looked at Kieran while showing a subtle smug smirk, Soulless spoke lightly. "Are you aware that there's a large disparity in human might? Given that you can use Techniques, or rather that you're the godfather of using Techniques, you should know what mental power is."
"Of course I'm aware," Kieran replied with a nod, pulling back on his Tensile Blood Swath to recall Crimson Ashrune.
Yet, something unusual occurred.
At that moment, Soulless employed the power of Hulking Throgal and grabbed onto Kieran's Tensile Blood Swath, resulting in it being pulled taut without further movement.
This naturally resulted in Kieran arching his brow.
After all, although he didn't employ all of his STR, Soulless grabbing the ribbon was a sign that his current grip power was immense.
Nevertheless, Kieran entertained this farce for the time being because it seemed like Soulless had something to say. And judging by Soulless' body language, it was evident that he felt it was necessary.
"Good. With that being said, I'd like to ask you—are you aware of those exact disparities? Do you understand what the realm of these inhuman powers entails?" Soulless continued to grab on the Tensile Blood Swath as he raised this question.
Though, as he spoke, he looked at the bloody ribbon briefly and noticed that this power was truly abnormal.
If not for his current Dual Ghost Release enveloping his body in a dense blanket of ghastly energy, the power of the ribbon would have undoubtedly tried to sap his Health.
'A kind of vampiric ability? Is that how he remains so exuberant when he should be exhausted? If that's true, then that would also mean he killed those people behind me because he was perhaps growing tired and required some topping off to continue our bout,' Soulless thought.
Due to his position, Soulless' view naturally held his power in higher regard than Kieran's. It was a product of ego, but it wasn't necessarily wrong to have.
It would be quite difficult to find an expert without an ego.
After all, ego was simply the byproduct of excellence and accolades. When you could back up your statements with proof, it wasn't baseless—it was supported.
Of course, Soulless couldn't confirm that his ability was greater than Kieran's. In this fight thus far, he had barely succeeded in scratching Kieran's Health Bar.
But then again, Kieran had also yet to deal any damage to Soulless.
"Nope," Kieran answered truthfully.
When it came to the matters of these inhuman abilities, Kieran's knowledge was lacking. If he had learned about the importance and existence of X-hancers in the past, he would have also stumbled across this valuable and vital information.
Fortunately, it appeared as if Soulless was willing to give him a lesson. But considering that he was willing, Kieran began to question how long Soulless could maintain his Ghost Release ability.
If it could last much longer than Bastion, who similarly held a Legendary Class, Kieran also speculated that it wasn't as taxing as Bastion's Last Stand.
Then again, Kieran also felt like it had yet to reach the same level as Bastion's Last Stand.
'Could there be another facet of this ability that he has yet to release? Perhaps once he does… it'll become a skill that'll rival Deranged Spirit and Last Stand. Until then…'
Kieran shifted his gaze between Vielens and Xion who remained on standby, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
Due to Kieran's earlier actions, they understood that he was not something they should approach head-on. Their best bet was to let Soulless grasp Kieran's attention while they unleashed sudden attacks to seal the deal.
But that begged the question—could they attack with enough ferocity to penetrate Kieran's enhanced body?
This much was unknown.
"Ah… of course. Though you may be aware, without the proper channels, how could you be privy to such valuable information?" Soulless said, his tone laden with unconcealed mockery.
Kieran didn't respond, becoming sparse with his words.
Nevertheless, his cold gaze conveyed that he clearly wanted Soulless to stop prodding with his words.
After understanding the message hidden within the look Kieran gave, Soulless obliged. "You see. Officials have dubbed the stages of inhuman power we go through. The first? That is known as Hyper Intuition. The second? Hypersensitivity."
Hyper Intuition referred to an individual's heightened awareness—an awareness that stepped beyond the realm of the five natural senses. In Zenith Online, this Hyper Intuition existed as the Perception stat.
On Earth, however, such a thing wasn't a natural ability.
Humans had to awaken this, which could only be achieved with the help of X-hancers, which is why they were vital to all humans alike, not just to players.
Hyper Intuition could give an unexpected edge to anyone that operated in dangerous situations.
Though minute compared to the other phases of the inhuman evolution process, heightened awareness could determine life and death in certain situations.
Whereas Hyper Intuition was the first phase, the second phase was Hypersensitivity. The naming of this reminded Kieran of Supersensitivity, which was a special state that could be entered once a player unlocked the Hidden Attribute: Focus.
Unlike the first phase, Hypersensitivity produced two changes in humans.
The first aspect was that the body underwent minute changes to improve its ability to perceive and absorb the energy embedded within X-hancers.
In short, the higher one's sensitivity, the greater the energy one could absorb.
The second aspect of Hypersensitivity was a further increased sensitivity to external situations. For example, the sense of danger that Kieran developed when being targeted.
He was sensitive to danger and only dangers.
Due to his predisposition, Kieran wasn't sensitive to things like optimistic emotions, so one could say that his Hypersensitivity was essentially incomplete.
Though, this incomplete state led to him excelling in a single department, which was all Kieran could ask for at this time.
"Mm," Kieran grunted, indicating that he had acknowledged the information. Of course, it also revealed that he was interested to learn more.
"In truth, the first two phases of our inhuman evolution process can be ignored. That's because everything begins to change after the third and fourth phases—especially the latter."
As he spoke, the air surrounding Soulless' body suddenly changed, adopting a feeling that wasn't too dissimilar from the presence Soulless exuded.
'Hm?' Kieran's eyebrow arched as he perked up with brimming intrigue.
This sudden change was something he had experienced many times in the past but failed to obtain information regarding the matter.
"This… this is beyond the third phase of Hypervigilance, where our ability to focus deepens. This is Omniscience, the ability to spread one's presence even further. Now… understand that while you are strong inside this game, your presence is meaningless."
Whoosh!
Soulless suddenly executed a Burst Step beyond what Vielens or Xion could muster. It was soundless at first, only for a sonic boom to erupt soon after, followed by a surge of ghastly energy.
Kieran panned his gaze to the side and witnessed Soulless in a lurching motion.
This so-called state of Omniscience resulted in a more conditioned exertion of momentum. What's more, Kieran found that Soulless was capable of using the same technique he wielded against Moribun on stream!
As Soulless' blade erupted from its sheath, Kieran moved his palm away from his body to meet the incoming attack.
The energy leaking from his palm quickly accumulated into a Blood Pulse aimed at Soulless' current position.
Unfortunately, Kieran underestimated the advantage of Soulless' Omniscience.
The purpose of extending one's senses in such a way was to increase the rate at which one received information, whether visual, auditory, or sensory.
When Soulless felt Kieran move, he changed his attack and seemingly slashed his blade in no particular direction. But when Kieran unleashed his Blood Pulse, it came in contact with nothing.
As he looked up, he witnessed Soulless' descent.
'This damned guy,' Kieran inwardly thought.
Retracting Crimson Ashrune would take too long to perform, so Kieran merely moved a part of the Tensile Blood Swath and held it over his head.
"Blood Strengthening!"
Before the impending collision, the Tensile Blood Swath brightened before deepening in color.
Bang!
In response, the ground fractured apart as Kieran bore the brunt of Soulless' attack.
Regrettably, it was far from done.
Not long after, Soulless retracted his blade and spun before kicking toward Kieran. Instinctively, Kieran raised his arm and blocked it without so much as moving an inch.
Surprised by the outcome, Soulless scrutinized Kieran further. 'What a monstrous body. I may not specialize in STR, but with Throgal active, my force is bolstered greatly.'
"Learning of these powers of humanity is great and all… but you're a true nuisance and quite frankly, I'm growing tired of you," Kieran voiced.
His aggravation was evident.
"Wild Crash!"
BOOM!
Kieran unleashed his strike, but he could only listlessly move his gaze to the side, squinting at Soulless. The effect of Volant Wynsol could be described as nothing other than headache-inducing.
Like his Spectral Tread, the Intangible Step also had a set number of charges before it fell into complete cooldown. As it stood, Soulless had only consumed one of them, two now that he avoided Kieran's Wild Crash.
"A Titled Ranker knows how to make the most of their class. Well, a true Titled Ranker at least. I am by no means comparable to Khaos or Ezra, who you associate yourself with," Soulless voiced confidently.
Despite the threat of death that each of Kieran's attacks produced, Soulless continued to prevail without dying.
Though, in response, all Kieran did was smirk.
After all, only he knew what was about to happen.
"...Wild Crash!"
