The combination of water and lightning resulted in a greater than normal effect against the monsters and half a dozen of them died instantly when met with the attack. Those that survived were badly injured with burn marks all over their bodies. Some of them lay limp on the ground, twitching and letting out whimpers of pain.
"Great going!" Dorian exclaimed and sent Dylan a thumbs up and a grin. The monsters that had diverted to attack them were not too many, and with how many they had taken out, only a couple more remained, which were soon dealt with quickly by Bolt.
Bzzt!
Lightning sparked around Bolt and he let out a deep growl. His fur stood on end and his shoulder blades bent as he hunched over.
"Bolt?" Dorian immediately noticed the change in Bolt and hurriedly came over to his companion's side. He tried touching Bolt, but that soon proved to be an unwise choice, as the lightning crackling through the Lightning Hound's fur crackled and shocked Dorian, causing him to fall down.
However, apart from the slight stinging sensation, Dorian was not hurt at all. His Lightning Manipulation Gift was not for show, after all. He got back up to his feet as Dylan stopped beside him, staring at Bolt warily.
"Are you alright?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, just a little shock is all." Dorian nodded his head and flexed his fingers.
'What's going on, Psyker?'
[Bolt is undergoing Evolution. It is just to rank 2, so it is not too serious. It should be done in a few minutes at most. In the mean time, gather the bodies of the monsters and I will begin extracting their Innate Abilities to grant you more Gifts.] Psyker shed some like on the issue.
While Dorian was taking this in, Dylan looked around and suddenly realized that he had intended to scold Dorian for randomly running off in the middle of everything. If he had not tagged along, then Dorian might have been in a lot more trouble right now!
Bam!
Dylan knocked the back of Dorian's head, causing the latter to let out a pained cry.
"What was that for?!" Dorian yelled and glared at Dylan.
"That was for suddenly running off in the middle of everything! If I didn't tag along, then you could be hurt!" Dylan scolded.
"I had it under control!" Dorian protested.
The two of them went back and forth for a couple of minutes until a loud howl cut through the air, cutting both their sentences short at the same time. They turned around to find that the lightning around Bolt had calmed down considerably. His thick brown fur looked even more luscious with faint spark traveling between the strands. But what was most eye catching was the jagged trail of lighter fur that ran down from just above his right eye all the way back to the center of his back. His body also seemed to have grown slightly bigger, but Dorian could not be too sure. However, he felt he was right.
"RUFF!" Bolt's bark carried a charge of power and it sounded like a clap of thunder had gone off close-by.
"Whoa! You've gotten stronger!" Dorian came closer to Bolt and held his hands out. Bolt also came close and thrust his head into Dorian's waiting hands, eager for some pets.
"Ruff!"
"Wait, he grew stronger?" Dylan was only just beginning to understand what Dorian had said. He had long since heard of monsters growing stronger over time and forcing human settlements to move in order to survive, but this was the first time he was witnessing it with his own eyes.
"Yup. Now, we can go after stronger monsters." Dorian grinned. But before he chose to hunt stronger monsters, he went and did as Psyker had told him earlier. He did not need to gather the bodies and act suspiciously. Only a single touch was enough for Psyker to absorb their essence through some mystical means. It was only after analyzing the essence of these beasts that he would be able to piece together a new Gift for Dorian.
Dylan looked weirdly at Dorian as he moved from corpse to corpse, but Dorian ignored him and after going around all of them, he returned to Dylan. Bolt had dutifully remained beside him as he went around.
"Alright, let's get back to the main fight." Dorian told Dylan and the both of them climbed onto Bolt's back. The Lightning Hound had indeed grown slightly larger, and as it was not something sudden like last time, he was able to cope better with their weights.
When the two boys and Lightning Hound returned to the main battlefield, the battlefield had already evolved into a much more complicated situation than when they had left it. The Wanderers no longer peppered the horde with ranged attacks, but had instead rushed forward to engage them in close combat.
People with Gifts that were much better utilized in close combat situations had begun to excel. Some people with Gifts that were related to boosting their physical strength were most at home.
Dorian spotted a man whose muscles swelled like balloons under the effect of his Gift. He exchanged blows with a large, bull like creature that tried to ram into the man with its horns. The man grasped the pointed horns and dug his feet into the ground. The bull monster let out an angry grunt and tried to push forward, causing the man to dig out two small trails behind him as he was pushed back, but eventually, the bull's momentum was extinguished and they came to a stop.
"Haaaa!" The man cried out and his muscles tightened as his hands tightened around the horns of the bull monster. He dug deeper into the ground before utilizing the explosive strength in his muscles to lift up the monster. The bull looked confused and panicked for a moment before it was slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
The ground shook as the man lifted the bull monster up again and slammed it down again. This repeated itself multiple times before he let it go. At this time, the monster was dead.