Name: Armament Hardening
Rank: C
Level: 0 (0/500 Points)
Description: Use energy to reinforce any part of the body or any weapon.
After reading the description, along with the fragment of knowledge about the new talent appearing in his mind, Negut immediately understood how to use it.
He raised his fist, and a faint green light wrapped around it.
"Not only does it make the fist harder, the destructive power also increases." Negut grinned excitedly. "This is kind of similar to Armament Haki. If I had this talent earlier, those dogs wouldn't have been able to injure me."
He shook his head and commanded, "Display my personal status window."
A status panel appeared, floating in front of Negut.
…
Name: Vann Negut
Remaining lifespan: 6 days 22 hours 42 minutes.
Status: Injured, poisoned | Repaired, can endure for 3 days.
Talents:
(1) Perfect Creation – Rank B (0/2,000 Points)
(2) Armament Hardening – Rank C (0/500 Points)
Repair Points: 0
Unused items: Free Repair Card x1
…
Negut looked into the distance and thought, *I need to find a concealed place, or somewhere above this fog layer.*
Yes, according to government reports, those monsters only operated inside the fog.
Enclosed places where the fog couldn't enter, or areas higher than the fog layer, were still considered safe.
Suddenly…
"What the hell?!" Negut froze, his eyes widening at what stood before him.
Not far ahead, a tall black silhouette stood there, nearly two meters high, with a thin frame and a severely hunched back, its posture bent like a giant question mark.
Its head was abnormally large, and its eyes were enormous, taking up two-thirds of its face. They glowed with an eerie green light like a pair of car headlights.
It stood still, staring directly at Negut, and he felt an overwhelming sense of dread crushing his entire mind.
Negut swallowed hard. The smile on his face vanished. His entire body trembled, yes, trembled instinctively, as if his very life was being threatened.
TOOOO!!!
Suddenly, a deafening siren echoed through the entire city. The monster turned toward the source of the sound and then left.
"Ha…" Negut collapsed onto the snow, terrified. Even after the creature had completely vanished, his body continued to shake.
*So terrifying… what the hell was that thing?* he thought.
He didn't know what it was, but he understood one thing clearly: if he continued lingering in the fog, he would die.
He would absolutely die.
Negut got up and began moving again.
But he couldn't afford to slack off. His remaining lifespan was limited. He had to find more Repair Points by any means necessary if he wanted to keep living.
Negut activated Armament Hardening, coating his legs with energy. Just as he expected, the talent not only strengthened them but also kept them warm.
Because of that, even without shoes, he didn't feel cold. However, he couldn't reinforce his entire body since the energy consumption would be immense.
CRASH!!!
"What the hell?!"
Suddenly, a loud noise echoed from afar, startling him. It sounded as if something had fallen from a great height.
Negut frowned. He originally intended to turn in another direction to avoid the source of the sound, but in the end, he still headed toward it.
After walking about 100 meters, Negut saw a car crushed flat, snow scattered everywhere like a macabre work of art.
He approached and saw a woman about twenty-eight to thirty years old lying on top of the roof. She was incredibly beautiful, her platinum hair blending seamlessly with the frozen world around her.
She lay motionless. Several bones in her body were broken, and she was severely injured. If not for the freezing weather slowing the blood loss, she would have already died.
Yet… this was its own form of torture, because she was still conscious. The pain contorted her once-beautiful face.
When she saw Negut, her lips trembled as if she wanted to speak. Even though she couldn't utter a word, her eyes, filled with hatred, already told him everything… she was just like him.
[Ding! Severely damaged living being detected with extremely high potential to become your companion. Proceed with repair.]
Hearing the System notification, Negut glanced at the woman before him and thought, *If I repair her, will she become loyal to me?*
[Ding! Loyalty is inversely proportional to the strength of the repaired being. The greater the power gap between you and the repaired being, the lower their loyalty.]
Negut asked softly, *Then what if I want to repair her?*
At that moment, a repair menu appeared before him.
…
Basic Repair: Restore her to her original perfect state. Lifespan: 10 days; Loyalty: 100. (Free)
Advanced Repair: Activate hidden talent, high chance of obtaining a Rank C talent. Lifespan: 7 days; Loyalty: 100. (Free)
High-grade Repair: Activate hidden talent, high chance of obtaining a Rank B talent. Lifespan: 5 days; Loyalty: 85. (Free)
Perfect Repair: Activate hidden talent, high chance of obtaining a Rank A talent. Lifespan: 3 days; Loyalty: 75. (Free)
Legendary Repair: (Locked)
Mythic Repair: (Locked)
…
Seeing the options, Negut frowned slightly. *Why is everything marked free?*
[Ding! You currently possess one Free Repair Card, so you do not need to pay any repair cost.]
Negut continued asking, *What does 75 loyalty mean?*
[Ding! 75 points: The individual is fairly loyal to you and will follow most of your commands. However, if faced with life-threatening danger or commands that may harm them, there remains a chance they will betray you.]
Hearing this, Negut's lips twisted into a slightly deranged smile. He looked at the girl and spoke mockingly, "Ah! How pitiful. I guess someone forced you so badly that you had no choice but to kill yourself, right?"
The woman's eyes dimmed as her life continued slipping away.
"You're about to die. Any last words?"
She tried to speak, but she could only tremble her lips. No sound came out.
Negut chuckled. "Don't worry. The ones who drove you to suicide will continue living. In fact, they'll live quite happily. Occasionally, they might even mention you as a pathetic, foolish woman."
"Did you have a boyfriend? A husband? Hm… probably not. If you did, they'd probably regret not keeping you as a plaything to entertain them even more."
Hearing this, the woman coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Pfff!"
Fresh blood spilled from her lips, dripping down her chin and onto her neck. Her face, once filled with despair, twisted with rage. Her eyes, burning with hatred, locked onto Negut.
"Don't look at me like that. I wasn't the one who forced you to kill yourself. Hahahaha…" Negut laughed. "Even if you stare at me longer, all you'll accomplish is admiring my handsomeness, not getting revenge."
The more she listened, the angrier she became. She could not believe that in the final moments of her life, she encountered a lunatic like him.
Her body convulsed violently, but after a few seconds, she went still again. Her face turned pale white, her lips darkened to a frosty purple.
The light in her eyes gradually faded. Two tears rolled down her beautiful face.
Negut reached out, wiped one tear with his finger, brought it to his mouth, and… placed it on his tongue.
"Uhm!" He closed his eyes in enjoyment, then spoke softly, "Tears are still water. In the apocalypse, water is precious. You can't waste it."
The girl narrowed her eyes, staring at Negut as if trying to memorize his face.
"About to die, aren't you?" Negut tilted his head, a teasing smile stretching across his lips. "So… do you want revenge?"
Hearing that, her fading eyes suddenly widened, filled with confusion and a faint trace of hope.
In the thick fog, beneath countless drifting snowflakes, Negut's mad smile made him look like a demon emerging from hell.
Her body trembled slightly, as if asking him how she could exact revenge.
Negut continued, "It's simple. I can give you a chance to live. I can even grant you the power of an Awakened."
"Of course, nothing in this world is free. The only things that fall from the sky for free are rainwater and bird shit."
"There is only one condition. Become loyal to me. Become my dog. Live for me, and even in death, your corpse belongs to me. Your soul will forever remain by my side."
His words made her feel like she was listening to the rambling of a madman.
But… so what if he was insane? She was dying anyway.
Now, as long as there was even the smallest chance to live… to take revenge… she would choose to believe in it.
Negut flicked his hand, and a glowing card like a miniature sun appeared, floating before her eyes.
He smiled. "So? Will you choose to become my loyal dog, or die with hatred and regret?"
She stared intensely at the card, her lips trembling, her body shaking violently as if screaming, *I want to live*, as if she desperately wanted to reach out and seize it.
Negut spoke in his mind, *System, I choose Perfect Repair. Activate the Free Repair Card.*
[Ding! Choice confirmed. Free Repair Card activated successfully. Beginning repair…]
The card transformed into a beam of light that wrapped her entire body like a cocoon.
Negut remained still, waiting patiently.
Suddenly, he frowned, sensing something approaching. He turned around.
A black silhouette slowly emerged from the dense fog.
"A dog?" Negut muttered.
Judging by its height, more than a meter tall, it seemed to be some kind of hunting dog.
"Tsk." Negut clicked his tongue. This place seemed overrun with dogs. Not just strays, but those once raised as pets.
When the apocalypse arrived, these once-abandoned creatures, once kept merely for entertainment, had turned into terrifying monsters.
Negut stood his ground, eyes fixed on the creature. He activated Armament Hardening, coating both fists and legs.
Earlier, he might have feared such a monster. But now? No. Not only was he unafraid, he was excited.
Gruuu!!
The dog approached him…
Ten meters…
Eight meters…
Five meters…
Now Negut could clearly see it, a mutated German Shepherd, about 120 cm tall, its entire body covered in gray crystalline growths like natural armor. Its eerie green eyes glowed as it stared at him.
GRAOO!!
The icehound didn't hesitate. It charged at Negut, its speed far surpassing that of an ordinary dog.
Yet to Negut's strengthened senses, its movements were still slow.
He frowned, his eyes filled with contempt.
"That's it? I thought you could shoot beams or blast icy lasers like something from a game." Negut mocked, clenching his fist. A green light enveloped it, making it look even more menacing.
Right then…
Whoosh!
"Hm?!" Negut stiffened when something shot past his head and streaked toward the charging dog.
SMASH!
GRAO!!!
"That's… a vine?!" Negut looked closely.
It was a thick vine, as wide as a thumb, covered in dense black thorns. It was so hard and sharp that it pierced straight through the icehound's head like stabbing into a soft cake.
[Ding! Repair successful. You have obtained a new companion: Selviera – Venomthorn Swordmaiden – Rank A.]