The moment Sohan stepped outside the shelter gates, the atmosphere changed completely.
The air was heavier, filled with a strange energy that made his body instinctively tense. The land ahead stretched wide and barren, scattered with rocks and unfamiliar plants under a dim sky.
"Stay together!" the group leader shouted. "Don't act alone if you want to die!"
The group of twenty moved forward cautiously.
Sohan stayed in the middle—calm, observant, controlled.
"Movement!"
Several creatures rushed out from behind the rocks. Four-legged, grey-skinned, with sharp teeth—ordinary alien creatures.
"Attack!"
The group reacted in chaos. Some panicked, some rushed blindly.
Sohan didn't.
He watched.
Analyzed.
One creature lunged toward him.
He stepped aside at the last moment and struck with his metal rod.
Thud.
Not enough.
The creature turned instantly and attacked again.
Sohan adjusted his timing.
Watched its movement.
Predicted.
The next attack came—
He moved early.
Struck cleanly.
Crack.
The creature dropped.
"…First kill."
There was no pause. The fight continued until all creatures were dead.
The group breathed heavily, some laughing nervously.
Sohan looked at his kill.
Nothing.
No voice.
No beast soul.
"As expected."
Beast souls were rare.
This was only the beginning.
---
One Week Later
The group continued hunting every day.
Ordinary creatures. Again and again.
Some improved. Some got injured.
Some disappeared.
Twenty had become seventeen.
Sohan changed the most.
His movements became efficient.
His reactions sharper.
His control more stable.
Each hunt refined his technique.
Each absorption became cleaner.
Still—
No beast soul.
Until that day.
"Over there!"
A cluster of small creatures moved rapidly across the ground.
"Primary Ants!"
Dozens of them.
"We attack carefully!" the leader shouted.
The group engaged.
The ants swarmed fast, attacking in numbers.
Sohan moved with precision.
Step. Strike. Avoid.
No wasted motion.
An ant lunged—he crushed it.
Another came—he sidestepped and struck again.
His breathing stayed steady.
His focus absolute.
Then—
As one of the ants died under his strike—
A clear voice echoed in his mind:
"Primitive Beast Soul – Primary Ant Armor obtained."
Sohan paused for the briefest moment.
"…Primitive level."
Inside his Soul Sea, the beast soul formed instantly.
A dark armor appeared—layered like an insect shell, compact but solid, radiating defensive strength.
His first beast soul.
And it was Primitive.
Better than ordinary.
Stronger than most beginners would get this early.
Sohan resumed moving immediately, continuing the hunt as if nothing had happened.
No one noticed.
Good.
Inside, however, his thoughts sharpened.
"Primitive armor…"
A good start.
But not his goal.
He steadied his breathing.
"I won't use it."
Others would equip it instantly.
Depend on it.
But he had something else.
Control.
The Gene Stone stirred faintly in his Soul Sea, responding to his intent.
Sohan's eyes grew colder.
"I'll upgrade it."
Make it stronger.
Better.
Something beyond its current level.
The battle ended soon after. The group regrouped—some injured, some exhausted.
Sohan stood silently among them.
No excitement.
No pride.
Only focus.
Because this—
Was just the beginning.
"Luck gave me a beast soul…"
"…but I will decide what it becomes."