11 A monster stood gallantly, its back turned to an open gate a few meters away. It looked like it was playing "eeny meeny miny moe" to decide which of the two humans before it would taste better. One of the humans, Neo actually, was struck by an epiphany in the middle of impending danger.-How timely- He had finally realized the reason for their weakness and lethargy. Since the vaccine's effect was waning, the virus was trying to take over their consciousness. He already had quite a similar experience during his test for allegiance trial so he was quite sure of the feeling. But it was of no use anyway; they were a few seconds away from being monster dessert. Speaking of vaccines, Neo had one of them stashed away in his pocket at the moment. At that moment, Neo suddenly had a crazy idea. What if he took it to suppress the virus, making Beauty—the most virus-infected—between them? The caution only said he might die; it didn't say it wouldn't work, so it was a fifty percent chance,

13 Neo checked out the skin and phantoms, and they were unsurprisingly empty. They were supposed to be extremely scarce anyway, so he didn't bother himself too much about them. As far as being cool went, skins and phantoms were also considered top-notch, albeit not as cool as specters, but in Neo's own opinion, they were as cool as specters, even much more so. The usage of skins and phantoms was rather simple. A skin will provide the wielder the ability to transform into a creature for a specific period of time. The usage time and cool-down period is dependent on the level of the creature. Phantoms work in an almost similar manner except for the fact that the wielder summons the creature whole without having to transform into the said creature. As for the perks and quirks, Neo already had a probable explanation for that. "[Bone of contention]," "[ten lives per second]," and Neo's second ability "[soul stinger]" were all Reaper's gifts, and they all had perks and quirks, so that pr

15 "So uhm, a mutant beast would give me a beast soul, berserk two, and Amok three. The same logic should work for the monsters, devils, and the others I guess." Neo thought, finally alighting from his train of thoughts. Then he moved on. Innate ability— Crimson nebulae Remarks: You wield a tremendous power; its prowess can only be limited by your mortal body. Neo suddenly paused. The memory of him wreathed in crimson red lightning and the backlash to his body that followed flashed through his mind. "Now it all makes sense." Neo nodded weakly in understanding. He then continued. Reaper's gifts— soul stinger Reaper's remark: Energy is the foundation of all things. Perks: You gain great affinity to souls of the living. You can repair or destroy it. Quirks: During each attack, your souls become exposed. Progress— 2 Specter— Ten lives per second (soul tied), bone of contention (soul tied), cave mantle Skin-? Phantom-? Neo stared at "[soul stinger]" for a

17 Come night, Neo's bizarre host was back, with a scary creature that looked like an ape from head to torso, and then had the lower limb of a walrus. Neo was… definitely not going to eat that."Dinner here," he said, dropping the carcass with a loud thud. "Nice mantle by the way," he added, his voice as husky as ever.Neo nodded in reply. He then swallowed and summoned up courage. "So what can I call you?" Neo asked grinning."Seeker… call me Seeker," he replied, walking towards his boulder. Seeker shifted the boulder with one hand, making Neo's eyes widen in surprise. As he was about to enter, he suddenly halted. Throwing investigating glances around the room. Neo's blood froze.But his fears didn't come through. Seeker entered, oblivious to Neo's infiltrations. Neo breathed a sigh of relief.*The next morning, Seeker went out to hunt and Neo decided to tag along. He wanted to get familiar with the environment in case he needed to beat a hasty retreat. Walking along with him, Ne

19 Neo picked up the sword, but it was too big and clumsy for him. Suddenly, the sword disappeared into a rain of golden sparks. "[You have acquired a specter]," a magnificent voice boomed. Neo flinched, hearing Reaper's voice. "Surprise!" Seeker said. As soon as Neo got closer, Seeker explained, "So, I untethered the sword from my soul core, and since you picked it up, it quickly recognized you as its master."Neo grinned weakly as he summoned the sword. It was very thin and long, and from a distance, it looked like a dark spike with red markings. Neo also noticed that its look was almost completely different from when Seeker wielded it. "Cool, it's of the demon rank," Neo thought, waving the sword in the air. "Alright, go on now, and if you die, I will kill you," Seeker remarked, snapping Neo out of his daze. Neo muttered some words that sounded like curses as he proceeded towards the battle in the distance with mixed feelings. His mood looked forlorn, but he tried to encoura