An eye for talent

After two nights of exploration, Lumian discovered that there weren't as many Monster in the outer area of Dream Ruins as he had imagined.

After eliminating the Skinless Monster, the Shotgun Monster, and the Monster with Black Mark, he circled around but found no further Hunting targets, only a few pieces of flesh that were still wriggling to some extent.

Their only function is probably as food.

Lumian had already discovered that he didn't need to eat in his Dream.

Each time he enters, he is full of energy and does not feel hungry. After exploring or fighting for a while, as his spiritual energy is depleted and his fatigue deepens, he will experience a state similar to hunger, but it is quite mild and does not require additional energy replenishment.

When this hunger becomes unbearable, Lumian's spirituality and physical strength are often exhausted, leaving him extremely tired and needing to escape the Dream.

After a proper meal and "rest," he returned to the place the next time, undoubtedly full of energy and without any hunger.

During his exploration, Lumian observed his surroundings and searched the collapsed buildings, finding some coins, but not many, totaling less than a Gold Louis.

Only a few Little Blue Book contained text.

Left with no other choice, Lumian attempted to venture deeper into the Ruins.

He slowly ventured deeper into the Gray Fog, dimly lit environment, amidst the collapsed or remaining walls.

Suddenly, he noticed a set of shallow and strange footprints.

It's hard to even call these footprints, because the one on the left is normal, while the one on the right is the mark left by a hand pressing down.

Another Monster? Lumian followed the footprints quietly, not forgetting to examine his surroundings along the way and imagine the most suitable battle scenarios for different environments.

Finally, he heard a sound, so he stopped going forward, circled around a bit, climbed onto the top of a collapsed building, and used the messy, heavy stones to cover his body.

Immediately afterwards, Lumian cautiously peeked out and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

It was a very clean wasteland without any debris, and in the center stood a creature that could hardly be called human.

At first glance, "he" looks human, but upon closer inspection, he is full of incongruities:

Two eyes are located where the nose is, above which is the mouth, and below which are a pair of ears. The nose is embedded on the edge of the temple. A leg and an arm appear in the area corresponding to the shoulder. Below the waist, there is also a leg and an arm. The whole thing looks like a random patchwork of different human parts.

This made Lumian instantly understand why the footprints he was tracking looked the way they did.

At this moment, the Monster, dressed in a brown short-sleeved shirt and dark blue trousers commonly worn by the lower classes of Intis, without shoes or a hat, was walking back and forth on the wasteland.

Lumian didn't rush into Hunting; instead, he patiently began to observe.

Before long, the Monster raised its arm and assumed a posture with its body bent backward and its head touching the ground.

Excellent flexibility, perfect for dancing... Lumian scoffed inwardly.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the Monster actually started dancing.

Its movements are sometimes powerful and resounding, sometimes graceful and gentle, and sometimes bizarre and outrageous, but they are all very rhythmic.

More importantly, this guy seems to have no bones; his arms can bend backwards, and his legs and arms can even Entanglement.

As the prankster king of Cordou Village, Lumian instantly thought of a nickname the other party could have:

Noodle Man!

Based on his findings, he developed a contingency plan for the upcoming battle:

"Don't assume that you can dodge an attack by flashing behind the target; the Noodle Man can move in perfect unison..."

Beware of snake entanglement...

"I'm not sure if it's a vital organ, but since it has a head, let's cut it off first..."

As his thoughts raced, the Monster's dance grew more and more intense, occasionally spreading out an arm and a leg, leaping upwards as if to embrace the sky.

Lumian was somewhat infected by the fun and wanted to twist his body and jump around with it.

He couldn't help but recall a melody his Older Sister often played:

Boom boom boom, boom boom boom...

Suddenly, Lumian felt a burning sensation in his left chest, and faint, almost nonexistent, words echoed in his ears.

This sent a slight chill down his spine and made his body tremble slightly, as if he would hear that mysterious voice that was pushing him to the brink of Loss of Control at any moment.

Uh... Lumian hurriedly used his free left hand to pull open his leather jacket, unbutton the inner Gray-White cotton shirt, and looked down at his chest.

He saw the Black Thorn Symbol that had locked his heart reappear, while a bluish-black symbol, seemingly composed of eyes and insects, slowly emerged and pressed down on the former.

Lumian was taken aback at first, then a series of thoughts began to surface:

"I didn't Meditation, let alone maintain that state for several seconds..."

"Inspired by the ' Noodle Man ' dance?"

His dances involve mystical realms and contain extraordinary power?

"Fortunately, when the Thorn Symbol is activated in this way, the terrifying sound is almost inaudible, preventing me from being on the verge of death and completely Loss of Control. My head just throbs intermittently, my body trembles slightly uncontrollably, and my mind is a bit confused..."

Since becoming a "Hunter," Lumian hasn't tried Meditation in Dream again to showcase his special abilities, because he feels the risks are much greater than before.

Previously, he was only Near-Death and recovered quickly, but now, in his Near-Death state, he is likely to Loss of Control, and that would be irreversible!

Moreover, he suspected that listening to that mysterious and terrifying voice too much, even if he was lucky enough not to die or go Loss of Control and become Monster, would leave him with an incurable mental illness.

It's not that there's no other way, he won't take any more risks.

Two or three seconds later, Lumian was no longer surprised or bewildered by the Thorn Symbol being triggered by the "Noodle Man's" dance; instead, an indescribable joy welled up inside him.

He can absolutely handle this unfavorable situation!

"So, is it possible that I learn this ' Noodle Man ' dance, and when Hunting powerful Monster, I can perform a section of it beforehand to activate, uh, not fully activate, the special abilities I have in the Dream, and then rush towards the Intimidation target and finish it off in a few moves?"

"Even if the 'special' can't be fully activated by dance, it should still have some effect. I don't expect the target to give up resistance like the Shotgun Monster. It would be enough to greatly weaken them..." Lumian's thoughts raced, and the more he looked at the dancing "Noodle Man," the more pleasing he became.

What's so special about eyes that are on the nose, a mouth that's high on the forehead, an arm that acts as a leg? None of these compare to the beauty of a magical dance.

In an instant, Lumian felt a strong "love for talent" and found a reason:

"Aurora said that talent cannot be selected using a uniform standard, so why must it be a human and not Monster?"

He decided not to Hunting the "Noodle Man" until he learned the dance, and instead came to observe them several times each night, hoping to master it as soon as possible.

Of course, he now plans to use the other party as an experiment first:

He wanted to test what effect the incompletely activated "special" ability would have on the Monster!

Lumian made a quick decision. Without buttoning his clothes, his left chest bare, he bypassed the obstruction and jumped from the collapsed house onto the wasteland.

The "Noodle Man's" dance came to an abrupt halt.

It began to tremble.

It turned to Lumian, crawled down, and lay prone on the ground.

Lumian stopped, no longer trying to get closer, maintaining a sufficiently safe distance.

The "Noodle Man" remained motionless.

Lumian nodded almost imperceptibly, muttering to himself, "Even when faced with a 'special' ability that hasn't been fully activated, these lower-level Monster will immediately give up resistance and submit..."

"What will happen to those at a higher level or with Beyonder Characteristic..."

"It's certain that the results weren't that good..."

Lumian looked at the "Noodle Man" and smiled.

"Come on, let's jump one more time."

The "Noodle Man" didn't dare to look up, and it was unclear whether he understood what Lumian was saying.

Seeing that kind words were ineffective, Lumian raised his voice:

"Quick, dance one more time for your grandpa!"

The "Noodle Man" trembled all over, yet remained prostrate.

The Monster doesn't understand human language? Then how do you communicate with it? Lumian was rather helpless.

He put his newly acquired Hermetic Vocabulary to use as he spoke, "I..."

"Need..."

Lumian didn't say anything more, but began to express the dance through physical movements.

The Monster didn't even glance at him, pressing its face firmly against the barren soil.

"Are you stupid?" Lumian couldn't help but yell.

He himself felt that his insults were unreasonable; after all, which of those Monster wasn't stupid?

Even the most intelligent Shotgun Monster were outmaneuvered by human intelligence!

Just then, Lumian felt the slight warmth in his chest disappear.

He instinctively lowered his head and saw that the Thorn Symbol and the bluish-black symbol had vanished at the same time.

Almost instantly, Lumian turned his gaze to the "Noodle Man".

The "Noodle Man" also raised his head and looked at him with his eyes, which were positioned where his nose was.

The two, one human and one Monster, stared at each other, both stunned for a second.

With a series of thuds, Lumian turned around and ran away.

The "Noodle Man" leaped up and gave chase menacingly.

Lumian was very familiar with the surrounding environment and ran faster than the uncoordinated Monster, easily shaking it off and circling back to the wasteland, hiding in its original spot.

He didn't run away out of fear of the other party, but because he was worried that if a fight really broke out, he wouldn't be able to stop, and he didn't know if he could find another dancing "Noodle Man" in the Dream Ruins.

He had no intention of hunting the strange Monster until he had mastered that mysterious dance.

After waiting for a while, Lumian saw the "Noodle Man" return to the area.

He nodded, muttering to himself, "Sure enough, Monster all have their own ' Territory,' and they're used to moving around in certain places or patrolling along certain routes..."

"It's very much like a wild beast..."

Next, Lumian patiently waited for the dance that might or might not take place.

Nearly two hours Past, and he had exhausted much of his spiritual energy and was starting to feel hungry.

After resting for a long time, the "Noodle Man" walked to the center of the wasteland again and raised his arms and legs.