In the abandoned town of Sliver...
"Damn it... this place is seriously abandoned. Doesn't anyone ever think to maintain this dump?" I muttered to myself. I'd never actually set foot in this town before. Sure, I'd heard the name thrown around, but I didn't think the condition would be... this bad. Ruins scattered everywhere, like it'd been abandoned for centuries.
I stared at my palm, clenching and unclenching my fist over and over. Trying to squeeze out whatever crazy power they said I was supposed to have. But it was still empty as always. Finally, I had to pull out my trusty pistol, check that the bullets were loaded properly, and start sneaking around looking for my target... my first Soul Either of the day.
"Where are you~? Come here, little monster~" I hummed quietly, acting casual but keeping all my senses on high alert.
*Sniff... sniff...*
Heavy breathing sounds came from behind me. I spun around immediately and came face to face with it... a Soul Either that looked like a massive wolf, but its skin was covered in hard black scales like sharp thorns. Its eyes were just hollow, empty sockets. It was lowering its head to sniff me, not far away.
Looks like it can't see me right now... good. Gotta stay quiet. I slowly raised my gun, aiming at its head... no wait... there! I can see it... the weak spot!
Soul Either weak spots glow as tiny dots hidden around their bodies. If you don't look really carefully, there's no way you'll spot them. It was a faint red light, flickering at its left ribcage area. Alright... right there!
*Bang!*
The gunshot echoed through the silence, but what happened next made me barely believe my eyes. That hellhound just casually turned and caught my bullet mid-air in its mouth! And now, those once-empty eye sockets had bright red sparks flashing in them. It was pissed!
It growled low in its throat before lunging at me with unbelievable speed. I desperately rolled to dodge, hearing a thunderous crash behind me. The big tree I'd been standing by just got snapped clean in half!
"Holy shit!" I cursed. If that had hit me, I'd definitely be torn in two. Gotta run... no wait, it can't see me, right? I need to find a way to mask my scent first!
A house! That's it! One of these ruined houses should work as cover. I didn't hesitate, sprinting as fast as I could toward the nearest house ruins. But I completely forgot... even though it's blind, its hearing is excellent, and its sense of smell is still top-notch!
But I really can't help wondering - why didn't it attack immediately when it first smelled me? And how did it turn into a dog anyway? In this crazy world, can animals become Soul Either too?
Damn it! These past two days have been nothing but headaches. Family drama, that bastard loan shark, this stupid power thing, and now I have to deal with this demon dog! Ugh!
*CRASH!*
Before I could reach the house, that hellhound charged at me with incredible speed. It smashed right through the wall of the house I was planning to hide in, bringing the whole thing crashing down. Lucky I was quick enough to duck and barely dodge it, making its attack miss by inches. But I didn't waste the golden opportunity - I immediately raised my gun and fired back at its weak spot!
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Three bullets in a row hit their mark! It howled in pain as black blood gushed from its wounds. "Got it!" I shouted in my head, immediately running to find new cover. If I can hit it with one or two more shots, it's definitely dead! But I need to hurry, or it'll recover!
I hid behind another big tree, grabbing rocks from around there and throwing them into the bushes on the opposite side to lure it.
It roared like crazy and charged toward the sound of the rocks. This is it! The real weakness of these mindless things. No wonder it's only worth a C-rank bounty. Compared to that Soul Either I met yesterday, this is completely different. Yesterday I almost didn't make it out alive - this one's probably just F-rank!
This is my chance! It's showing me its side!
*Bang!*
Shit! Missed! The bullet just grazed its scales. Now I only have five bullets left. Damn! Damn! This is seriously bad! It definitely knows where I am now! I need to find a new hiding spot fast, and keep looking for rocks along the way.
"After this job's done, maybe I should try mining," a thought popped into my head. "I heard Sliver town has nothing but valuable silver ore. If I could get some money, maybe I could buy better weapons than this piece of crap pistol."
But I better deal with the immediate problem first! Come on, you crazy dog! I threw another rock toward the thick bushes, but this time it didn't fall for it. It stopped still, perking up its ears to listen to where the rock came from.
Then it spun around and immediately charged at the tree I was using for cover! But I didn't even realize it... Ugh! The massive impact sent me flying along with the fallen tree!
Everything went dark... no wait... I couldn't see anything at all! Right, because this huge tree was lying on top of me! I might actually be dead already... Its heavy footsteps were getting closer... closer and closer... It's probably coming to finish me off.
Suddenly, just when despair was about to swallow me whole, I felt some familiar energy. It flowed through my entire body just like when I charged at that loan shark the other day! *Bzzt... crackle... crackle!* Sounds like electric current started sparking around me, and my hand... my hand automatically moved to touch the massive log that was pinning me down!
*BZZZAP!*
Blue-white energy exploded from my body! Lightning bolts shot into that log until it got blasted away with scorch marks! I coughed and slowly pushed myself up to stand, facing that demon dog again. Finally, I know! My Soul Type is Emitted and my element is lightning!
Lightning energy kept flowing through my body before rushing to my legs, letting me bounce away and barely dodge its next attack, successfully finding new cover. But what happened next shocked me even more! When I looked down at myself... my hand... and one of my legs... they were broken and twisted out of shape!
But before I could be shocked about my body condition for long, something even more terrifying happened right in front of me! Those once-empty eye sockets of that dog Soul Either... they were slowly opening! Revealing blazing red eyes that were absolutely terrifying! Its body started trembling, the thorn-like scales all over it stood up, and scorching heat radiated from it, like it was about to explode! It roared... and I could totally feel it... its power right now... was completely different from before! It was stronger... way stronger, like exponentially stronger!
"I'm so screwed..." I groaned in despair.