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
16 It was a mural. There were three people, and two heads were missing. Neo stared at it in bewilderment, straining his eyes to make out its shape under the light bioluminescent insect lantern placed in the center of the room. After studying it for a while, Neo discovered the mural was only quite familiar with the portrait in Neo's house, but it was definitely not the same. Neo and his elder brother's head was intact in the portrait, but their parent's head was faceless, for a reason Neo would kill to find out. And strangely enough, as far as Neo knew, that was the only portrait that survived the fire. But the mural in front of Neo contained only three figures: two headless tall people, and a relatively short person with his/her head intact. It was just a bogus cave wall painting made with makeshift colors after all. So Neo couldn't quite figure out the gender or the facial features of the short person. Neo studied the mural for a while, but he couldn't figure out anything s
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
18 "Welcome, kid, to the valley of endless battle," Seeker said to the still discombobulated Neo. Neo was still reeling in shock when he suddenly felt a strong push from behind, and he lost his footing, falling from the cliff. His voice echoed, accompanied by a series of loud curses, but his voice was quickly drowned by the sound of battles below. He really wanted to arrange his thoughts, but the sight of the ground that kept growing bigger and bigger made his eyes twitch violently."What to do... What to do..." Neo thought as he tried to swim in the air. He only ended up looking stupid.Suddenly, a large arm grabbed his waist and glided over the battle below to a relatively safe place. It turned out it was Seeker after all. His feather mantle wasn't for show; it was actually a makeshift wing suit. "Never gets old," Seeker said, putting Neo down after the landing, almost laughing out loud. Neo, still exasperated, walked up to Seeker's towering figure. His voice was stifled amids
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
20 Neo sat down beside the fire. It was night again, and the blood-red moon towered above the sky, inviting the deadly creatures that dwelled at the mountain peaks to a feast. The world quaked as they battled for their stomachs' fill, making Neo remember what happened earlier that day. He had lost his first battle, and if it wasn't for Seeker's timely intervention, it could have been his last. Neo didn't know if to be grateful because it was Seeker who sent him to fight in the first place. Eventually, Neo spoke, his voice faint."Thank you..."Seeker paused, his teeth biting down on an especially large chunk of meat, with his makeshift helmet raised."...for the other time," Neo added.Then the confusion on Seeker's mind finally cleared."It's nothing, just eat up, it thickens when it gets cold," he replied.Neo stared at the black soup in front of him in disgust. It was a slurpy soup made from the gargoyle's blood. Seeker said the skin of the mangled fox was not edible the day it wa
21 An ocean of fang and claws lashed out, aiming at a youth with bushy, inky black hair. His straight, but bruised face, curved into a vicious grin. His pale skin was framed by a furry mantle, covering all of his body save for the head. Red bolts of lightning flickered in the depths of his eyes, as he evaded a swift claw strike that would have ripped the better part of his leg off. Still trying to keep his panic at bay, just as he had been taught, he quickly made a swift turn, generating just enough tension on his second leg to leap out of the way—all in one swift, fluid motion. The cage of fangs clashed together, releasing a reverberated metallic sound in the air that was quickly swallowed by the sound of the horde of creatures perishing in the distance.Suddenly, a blurry silhouette lashed out, piercing the eyes of the creature straight into its brain. The creature vibrated and fell to the ground with a loud thud. As blood cascaded from the injury, the sword dissipated into a clou
22 Neo stared into Seeker's bestial eyes, noticing a sense of wrongness in them. And then it was suddenly gone, replaced by his carefree and insouciant attitude."Why are you here spacing out?" Seeker questioned."Don't pretend you don't see the creature on the ground, weirdo," Neo retorted."Of course I do. What's up with it? Is it pregnant? Ohh, or does it have a birthmark? Those ones are very delicious." Seeker replied, pretending to scope it out."Ohh curses, Seeker! This is my first slain demon. All the signs are there: jagged tooth, vermillion eyes… You taught me all these things, damn it!" Neo replied, facepalming with a frustrated groan."Ohh, I see. Good. Remember for the last three weeks you haven't been holding up to your end of the deal, but now that you can slay demons, that changes.""Remember, two heads per day," Seeker said, walking up to the cayherd corpse. He chopped its head off in one swift motion and then added, "One more for today."He then turned to leave, but a