In the middle of the beautiful golden garden, the gigantic four-meter-tall wolf leaned slightly in an attack position. Its ferocious fangs were revealed in a demonic grimace.
Drool fell from its mouth, stopping forever just a few centimeters from the ground.
Behind it, the pack followed each one watching the tree that until then was thought to be safe.
As he peeked through the crack, Matt's heart stopped completely.
His face went in an instant from calm to desperation.
Then the desperation turned to confusion upon realizing that the beasts were petrified.
But for how long?
He didn't want to be there to find out.
He did not doubt that, if the moment came, his life would end, even with the help of his companion.
If he wanted to survive, he had to run, as far as he could and escape the terrifying dome.
And that's what he was about to do until a wave of fear and determination invaded him.
His eyes opened, looking for his companion, because those feelings were not his, but his.
"Stop!" He let out a desperate cry, his hands stretched out.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The dark liquid had already detached from the ground making it impossible to reach, and it stuck to the snout of the gigantic wolf.
Then the sound of a cracking rock reached his ears.
He shut his eyes tightly.
Then, one second passed.
Then two.
Three.
And nothing had changed until suddenly the melodious voice hit his ears.
[5% De material genético recolectado]
He slowly opened his eyes.
He let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the creatures were still there like simple and terrifying statues.
The mutagen stuck to the gigantic nose of the wolf while it stretched in different directions, clinging like tentacles to the creature.
There didn't seem to be any change in the sculpture beyond his companion clinging to it.
Taking advantage of that moment, Matt glanced at the creatures.
Discovering that they lacked the typical golden color that seemed to be a law in this place.
Not only that, their rocky bodies were smooth and spotless without any sign of crack or stain. As if they had been recently sculpted by the best craftsman.
But the most shocking thing was the total absence of life in the creatures.
There was no crushing pressure, no fear, nor terrifying pupils following every movement with murderous hunger.
Suddenly, the sound of rock echoed again accompanied by the system's voice.
"[10% Of genetic material collected]"
Then, the liquid sank slightly into the rock.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Come here!" He ordered his companion, fearful of provoking the awakening of the creatures, but carefully, as he understood that he had attacked to defend him.
Following his order, the mutagen slid over the rock slowly and crawled to his side.
Once outside, the rock to which it had clung revealed itself with a dull black color just before turning to ashes and falling lifeless onto the grass.
He remained silent observing the deep crack his companion had left in the sculpture's face.
'Is this to degenerate?' Although it hadn't done much damage, he got a small idea of his companion's offensive ability.
He found similarity with corrosion-type abilities like poisons.
Which surprised him quite a bit, as it was a truly terrifying ability.
Corrosion was not only painful for your enemies, but unlike poison, it could practically destroy anything in its path.
This type of ability was extremely rare, not only because of its strangeness but also because it came with other kinds of drawbacks that normally caused the user to fail or even be labeled as Hopelessness depending on the cultivation level at which they awaken.
After all, abilities of this style required time to corrode the skin of their enemies and were not useful in direct combat.
Despite being much more powerful than poison, they lacked its subtlety and versatility, making it a difficult ability to use for most.
Of course, that didn't mean it was useless.
Matt could find a thousand ways to use it, its similarity didn't mean it was the same, otherwise, the system would have said "corrosion" instead of "degenerate".
"[Your gift is capable of degenerating, analyzing and modifying cells at will]"
Matt could deduce that the secret behind this ability lay behind those cells the system mentioned.
But once again, he had no idea what that was.
He sighed softly, 'I'll have to run several tests with him.'
Back to reality, his attention focused once again on the crack formed by his companion in the face of the great wolf.
His head tilted slightly to the side as he looked on in confusion.
He had expected that he would have some sign of the yellow lights that the river creatures displayed. However, there was nothing.
Not only that, there was also no blood or visible organs. Only a rock with a star-shaped hole in its nose and a crack that extended across the wolf's right eye like a fierce scar giving it a much wilder and more terrifying appearance.
Were they really just sculptures?
No, Matt had passed this very road escaping the creatures and they were not here.
The only explanation is that they had transported them here while he slept.
But if they had been freed from petrification, how is it that they became petrified again?
Matt felt curious to know what would happen if he had his mutagen completely destroy the sculpture.
Would he receive an increase in "Blood Enhancement" if the beast was essentially made of rock?
With this, another doubt arose.
Did he really need to consume the blood of his enemies or had the system used these words as symbolism toward revenge?
He shuddered at the idea of walking the streets at night drinking the blood of his enemies.
The curiosity only grew stronger as he observed the creature's static body.
But he held back, not because he couldn't but because doing so would take too much time. Time during which he would be surrounded by creatures that could crush him with a single movement.
It was too risky.
Then, Matt turned and delved deeper into the forest, moving away from the wolves. If they had returned to petrification, the others must have as well.
So, he would have to find much weaker creatures to test it.
On his path, countless beasts were found in the same way, each one as terrifying as the last, petrified in time.
As he walked under an unsettling calm, the flame of curiosity and excitement had grown within him.
Of course, that calm was a mere illusion produced by whatever caused the petrification, however, Matt was used to that constant tension and had found it relaxing in some way.
It was like running through the old alleys of Gloria City escaping from Garren and his group, or from some adult who simply sought to beat him for no apparent reason.
'Damn greedy old man, all I did was take a bit of bread.'
Even though the beasts were much more powerful and could kill him in an instant, for him it was like being at home.
Much better in fact, unlike Gloria in this place every corner, every place where his eyes landed was a beautiful sight worthy of being observed for hours.
The more he did, the greater his curiosity toward the beautiful forest.
It was at that moment when he noticed it.
A gigantic snake was coiled around the body of a colossal bird, with red feathers, a long neck, and powerful legs that ended in three sharp claws.
Both creatures, of titanic proportions, seemed to have been locked in a fierce battle when the petrification caught them.
Their bodies remained intertwined, motionless, turned into a sculpture as majestic as it was terrifying.
The snake was identical to the one in the river, though much larger. Matt doubted his strength level was much higher than it, at best it was a mundane 5-fruit beast.
He doubted his gift couldn't handle it.
The best part was that the area was completely free of any nearby creatures.
So, he had found a creature with which to verify whether his ability "Blood Power" really allows him to absorb attributes from the petrified beasts.