Cratt!
"Aaaghhhh!... "
Unconsciously, Rayne crossed his arms in front of his face right after he felt an unusual cold aura.
Just like that, both of his arms were torn apart when they blocked the claws that slashed through the air.
Rayne jumped quite far back, his expression turning serious. His two hands, endlessly pouring blood, gripped two identical swords.
However, he didn't move. The fox cub had returned to its small form. As if nothing had happened, it trotted lightly toward Rayne, its steps gentle, its tail swaying like a tame creature.
The boy froze. Inside his heart, a strange feeling mixed — between wariness and an indescribable warmth.
He knew that creature could be dangerous at any moment, yet at the same time, its tiny face and curious eyes made him want to believe completely that it was a friend.
His heart softened, his guard lowered.
Rayne crouched down after making both swords disappear, extending his hands, wet with red liquid, to welcome the little creature's approach.
Drops of blood dripped from his fingers, falling one by one onto the ground like the slow chime of time.
When they were only a step apart, the fox cub leapt, and Rayne raised his hands.
Slashhh!...
Thud...
Thud...
Two slightly heavy objects fell to the ground.
???
Rayne's pupils widened; he saw two wrists flying down to the ground, followed by a heavy gush of blood from both of his arms.
"Ghaaaaaggggghh!" he screamed hysterically.
As a human, there is one fear that never disappears, even if you are not afraid of death itself.
Losing—a limb. Even those who have made peace with death still carry the primal instinct to protect the wholeness of their body. Death is the end, but losing a limb is a ruined life.
And now, Rayne was in the state of experiencing that fear.
Tap...
The fox's body, now large again, landed on the ground. It stared at Rayne as if seeing a helpless prey — its expression calm, yet its eyes burning like emotionless embers.
{DING! Control yourself, master! You could die here for nothing.}
Rayne jolted. But not because of the system's voice — it was his wrists, reforming. Starting from golden bones, followed by nerve fibers spreading like roots, then flesh rapidly growing to cover them until his skin was whole again.
But before he could feel relieved, that cold aura gnawed at the back of his neck again.
In a split second, Rayne moved — his body seemed to blur through the air.
Slashh...
Dorr! Dorr! Dorr!
A sudden slash managed to wound his side, then three consecutive gunshots — one pierced his eye, two missed, hitting the trees behind.
Rayne's face darkened for a moment, his pupils showing the savage look he had whenever he fought to the death.
"Wooo-wooo-wooo!" the fox monster let out a shrill cry.
Rayne knew that sound well. A helmet suddenly wrapped around his head. The helmet served to block out sound, for that voice was the "Violet Voice" — a soundwave that could turn anyone who heard it into a puppet under control. Once hit by this attack, it meant death.
Luckily, the helmet Rayne designed focused on sound suppression, so the "Violet Voice" was completely neutralized.
(The helmet he used was part of his armor, thus also counted as a weapon.)
Taking advantage of the monster's shock after its failed attack, Rayne dashed forward again, firing bullets in rapid succession.
Dorr! Dorr! Dorr! Dorr! Dorr! Doorr!
Those bullets should have flown straight, but the fox monster panicked, moving along the bullet paths as if its body was being pulled toward the line of death. It was trapped within Rayne's own shooting pattern.
Two bullets pierced its hind legs, three tore its neck, and one hit its stomach. The creature's body was thrown aside, screaming painfully before collapsing to the ground, its blue blood spraying like blue rain.
Rayne walked closer slowly. The monster was still alive, half its face buried in the soil. It stared at Rayne with eyes glowing pink.
{DING! Passive skill resistant to low-level illusions has canceled the illusion.}
"Bastard!"
Slashhh!
The monster's head was severed in a single slash.
{DING! Killed a special level 1 monster. Gained 15 hunting points.}
He stood still where he was.
"Huhh," he exhaled heavily before saying,
"Trust, huh?"
For a moment, a thin smile appeared on his face — not a relieved one, but a cynical one.
"I know, something soft can be deadlier than a sharp blade."
"Why was I so stupid to trust?"
He looked at the monster's remains, its blood still slowly dripping onto the ground.
There was no guilt, and no satisfaction.
"Trust isn't a sign of hope... it's a gap to die from."
Rayne immediately walked away, not taking the usual spoils he would from other monsters.
Today, he learned one more thing:
Trust—hope is nothing but a deadly drug.
"System, since when did I have this ability?" he said while looking at his palms, which had completely returned to normal.
{DING! Every weapon you create carries Mora energy. Mora energy itself will continuously repair any damaged weapon. As long as the weapon's core still exists, the weapon will not lose Mora energy.
So, what does this have to do with the earlier regeneration? The bone weapon has fused with your nerves, flesh, and skin. Therefore, when the bone weapon is repaired by Mora energy, the body parts that have fused with the weapon — such as nerves, flesh, and skin — are also repaired.}
"Ah, it makes sense now.
I really didn't expect to gain such an indirect ability, one that even until now is considered nonsense by them."
Since ancient times, humans had always tried to study the regenerative abilities possessed by nearly every monster. They tried every possible way to learn such power, but it never bore fruit.
Humans came to believe that regeneration could only belong to monsters, turning it into nothing more than a myth for mankind.
After talking about many things with the system, he felt a thick killing intent rising, along with a warning from the system.
"Let's begin, damn monster!"
That was what Rayne did every day. Even though each day brought greater dangers, the boy could always handle them.
Until... day after day — month after month — year after year passed.