The howl had come from nowhere. There were no wolves or other howling animals nearby, nor had Cù Sith or any of his companions faked such a sound. The Howl had sounded across the desert, with no origin or explanation whatsoever, it spread through the air in an ethereal way that could not be explained.
Following it, a repentine surge of mana and aura filled the air. Ray's vision was covered by the blue light of mana and the green light of aura coalescing around Cù Sith. Without any shift of expression, Ray analyzed what was happening.
Cù Sith's mana and aura levels had doubled. Not only had they doubled, but their quality had definitely increased, and although quality could hardly be represented in number, there was no doubt that it had doubled as well.
His mana and aura were revolving around themselves, causing a strange phenomenon where they were both increasing their quantity and quality by using each other.
It was such a strange occurrence that it even managed to surprise even Ray. He just simply never had seen something like it. The use of mana and aura to strengthen each other was simply impossible, it was a well-established fact that the physical power present in aura was incompatible with the natural energy that was part of mana.
There was only one exception to that fact.
"A unique affinity."
Affinity was deeply tied to one's existence. Although it was not a pillar like the body, the mind and the soul, one's affinity was deeply tied to one's existence as a living creature, their personality and even their fate. It was because of that, that affinities were present not only on aura but also on mana, and in several cases even divine power.
A unique affinity was, as its name implies, unique. Unique to a person, unique to a bloodline, unique to a region, or even unique to a race. A unique affinity was an element that wasn't normally seen in nature.
It was mostly presented as a phenomenon and not an element. Like some creatures that could remain in the world after death, that was a unique affinity.
Cù Sith's affinity was most likely a unique affinity. One where after meeting certain conditions, a howl would be heard and the user's mana and aura would duplicate, both in amount and in quality.
As the sand picked up and scattered around, Cù's voice could be heard.
"Indeed. This is my unique affinity, Gatherer of Souls, unlike affinities like fire or wind, this affinity allows me to duplicate my power as well as give me extra abilities."
As soon as he said that, the rampaging energies started to be sucked into his body. His aura started shaping itself as claws while his mana focused on his eyes, which had turned similar to predator's.
He shot forward, much, much faster than before.
Doubling your mana and aura pool, did not mean doubling your strength, instead it doubled the amount of times you could multiply your own strength by. And that notion was completely disregarding the effect of quality.
Even so, Ray was not worried. His mana pool, although it had been surpassed, was not that far behind, and its quality was leagues beyond Cù's still. The problem was his aura, which had been his weak point ever since he received a new body, and it was now on even greater disadvantage.
However,
'His control is faltering.'
That was to be expected. After a sudden surge of power, it was normal to lose one's grip on it. It was akin to playing tug of war. The bigger the mana or aura pool, the more force one would need to use to keep themselves from falling forward. If the energies suddenly doubled, then the strength of your opponent would also double, and the strength of your grip on the rope would also have to double, otherwise you would lose your grip on it.
Cù Sith was losing his grip.
His claws cleaved the air, leaving a trail of green light. Ray dove below the strike and countered by delivering a gut punch powered not only by his mana and aura but also quite a bit of flames.
In a fast movement, Cù's other clawed hand caught his hand before it could reach him. He struggled to maintain his grip on Ray's wrist.
With their free hands, both of them tried to attack the other, however, seeing that both had thought of the same idea, they changed tactics and locked themselves.
They couldn't use their hands.
They were in a power struggle to free themselves. But, Ray was not having it. He suddenly breathed a large quantity of air in, before exhaling it, along with a torrent of flames.
The searing heat was the first thing that Cù sensed, the pain only reached once the flames had already covered him.
In pain, he let go of Ray, allowing him to step back. He grunted in pain, but as if realizing something, he smiled.
A second howl was heard.
'Another one?!'
And with it, a new surge of mana and aura scattered the flames consuming Cù's body. As his figure was revealed, new features could be seen.
In his head there were wolf ears that were green and seemed illusory, as if seen through. They were made of aura, and they seemed to twitch every time there was slight movement of anything, sand, wind, the remaining flames, their bodies and even mana.
'What about his mana? What change did it cause?'
Exactly when he was asking this, Cù suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue light.
He then appeared right beside Ray, swiping his claws at him violently.
'Did he become so fast that I couldn't keep up with my senses? Impossible!'
Blocking with great struggle, Ray was forced into the defensive, however, he remained calmly analyzing his surroundings.
'There were no trails on the sand even after he reappeared, in other words, he didn't travel faster than I could see, not only that there was a delay between disappearing and reappearing, he is concealing himself every time that blue light flashes.'
As soon as he figured that out, he switched tactics. Ducking below another swipe of his claws, he delivered a gut punch that was once again stopped. However, this time the flames on his hand kept shooting forward, blowing him out of his feet and sending him several meters back.
In another flash of light, Cù once again disappeared, and in response, Ray created several fireballs, above his head, that rotated on themselves to launch in several streams of flames around him, stopping Cù in his tracks and forcing him to step back.
With a wave of his hand, Ray created several similar flames and shot them in the direction of Cù and the surrounding area., filling the area in flames.
He was trying to make Cù incapable of approaching him by constantly bombarding the surrounding area, if Cù were to get close, he would be hit as well.
After the second howl, Cù Sith's mana and aura had once again doubled, yet he still was in a standstill against Ray.
'What kind of man is this guy? I doubled my mana and aura twice, making my mana and aura pool, four times higher than before, and yet, this difference still didn't make him fazed. How?'
It was actually quite easy to answer that. Although Cù was doubling his mana and aura pool, his control over them was descending, as for Ray, his control over his own mana and aura was impeccable, and his battle experience was more than Cù had lived for. Taking that into account, unless Cù multiplied his strength enough times to completely overwhelm the current Ray, there was no way to catch him.
As if on cue, a third howl was heard, and Cù grinned.
His unique affinity was called the Gathering of Souls, it was represented in a way that resembled an old story from his tribe. A giant beast would howl three times, at the third, he would appear behind you and reap your soul from you.
His affinity worked in the same way. Each howl would double his mana and aura reserves, as well as their quality. Each howl would shape his aura, changing his body. Giving him claws, ears to sense movement, and finally a furry tail that changed his balance and way of moving. Each howl would change his mana, giving him new abilities.
The first howl would give him the ability to physically see the blind spots of enemies, as well as other details on their movements. The way that Ray leaned slightly forward, as if he were trying to go into his fours, was a detail he picked, he sometimes did that too, after all.
The second howl allowed him to temporarily conceal himself in a flash of blue light.
And in the third howl, he gained the ability to teleport to a blind spot that he had already identified and use an ability that required both mana and aura to use.
In a murmur, Cù Sith called out its name,
"Soul Reaper Hound"