Leo's body erupted with energy the instant his instru was reized by the System. The rush of power devoured his entire being while his skin developed an almost imperceptible golden sheen. It was odd, so very different from Limit Break's passive effect or even the boost provided by Reinfort. Hell, even Leo's almost empty reserves filed up ever so slightly.

  Not every ge ositive, though, as Leo could feel a phantom weight hanging over his soul. heless, it wasn't the time to worry about the sequences. Leo had prey to hunt.

  e on…

  As if guided by Leo's thoughts, the bushes in the distance almost parted as two figures charged through them on all fours. One was half as rge as Leo, and the other barely reached the top of its panion's legs.

  They possessed a boar's traditional build, yet their appearance was anything but natural. Dark as night was their fur, spikey like a hedgehog's spine, and Leo had no doubt in his mind that toug it would hurt like hell. Even worse were their snouts, where two sharp teeth stuck out of their mouths, ready to cut down anything in their way.

  Duskboar (Voidling) | Rank: F | LVL: 3

  Mutated boars, of course, Leo grimaced, the rifle's sight right in front of his right eye. Steady your breath, hold the gun tight, and never let the target leave yht. Leo's foster father's words rang in his head as his finger iowards the trigger.

  And shoot, son.

  The first bullet left the chamber with a bang, and the rger Duskboar squealed as the projectile hit it right beh its snout. Yet, the beast didn't stop, so Leo immediately flipped the bolt of his rifle; another bullet ready as he took aim.

  Again. The bullet shot fain, earning a growl from the monster as it finally neared Leo's position. Fuck! He shouted internally, throwing his body to the side as the two boars charged past him.

  Even with the newfound power from Limit Break, Leo hissed as the wounds on his back reminded him of their prese wasn't as bad as before the boost, and Leo uood perfectly what would happen once he disabled Limit Break.

  Focus!

  Leo scrambled to his feet aook aim, the boars only now managing to stop after kig up a cloud of dust. They dashed fain, and at that moment, a third shot left the rifle's barrel.

  The bulkier boar squealed loudly as the beast lost its footing, sending its body rolling on the ground. Leo fired again, never oo waste an opportunity, even if the sedary monster was just a few meters away.

  And now!

  Dropping the rifle, Leo snatched the dagger from his belt and dashed toward the monsters. He jumped a few steps away from the smaller one, sailing above the beast. Blood flowed freely down his back as he nded o the fallen boar. Leo paid the pain no mind as his ons of death desded on the boar.

  His cws instantly began to siphon Essence from the beast while Leo stabbed the monster's head over and ain. The Duskboar stood no ce against its assaint and stilled a moment ter, a notification popping up in the er of Leo's vision.

  Later! He growled, ripping his cws out of the monster and turning to face the remaining Voidling that gred at him with an iy Leo didn't expect from an almost mindless beast. o end this quickly; I 't have much time left on Limit Break. The golden sheen is practically go this point.

  Leo's eyes darted to the discarded rifle for a moment, a pn f within his mind. I still have one bullet left, just in case.

  Suddenly, the spikey fur on the boar's body stood up, straightening even more. The beast growled and charged again. Revenge seemed like a popur motivation for Voidlings that worked in groups.

  At least some of their instincts remain natural... Leo retreated a short distance, drawing closer te tree behind him as his eyes narrowed.

  The brew closer and closer, and when it was no farther than a meter, Leo rolled to the side, getting away without a scratch, or at least he should have. Instead, when Leo dodged, dozens of fur needles shot from the boar's body, pierg his skin in just as many pces.

  "Argh!" Leo screamed, colpsing to the ground along with the boar that hit the trunk of the tree head-on.

  Gritting his teeth, Leo crawled towards the fallen monster and stabbed it right in the eyes, his cws sinking into the soft flesh behind them. The beast's screech probably echoed through the entire forest, but Leo didn't care. He tightened his hold, almost ripping the top of the monster's skull off its body.

  And then, without warning, the golden sheen disappeared, cutting off the stant flow of power. Leo gasped, colpsio the almost-dead Voidling. White-hot bdes stabbed his muscles as the anguish ripped through his body, making everything around him hazy. Even his soul wasn't spared; the invisible weight vanished, repced with a void Leo had never experienced before.

  A, as he id there, squirming on the ground, Leo still somehow noticed a few lines in the er of his vision.

  Duskboar (LVL: 3) sin | Experience awarded | 2 Ether gained

  Passive Limit Break disabled. It will activate automatically once you recover enough.

  Duskboar (LVL: 2) sin | Experience awarded | 1 Ether gained

  Level 4 reached. Css attributes distributed. Please assign your 2 free attributes.

  Might and Soul, now! Leo screamed, ign the part about Limit Break.

  The System listened immediately. Every inch of Leo's being shuddered as the mysterious entity pleted its job. It didn't help much, but the strain on his body lessened ever so slightly. Even some of the hollowness inside his soul was eaten away by a small surge of Essence.

  Leo inhaled deeply and climbed to all fours, his gaze fixed on the backpad rifle a few meters away.

  e on, body. Don't fail me now. Leo ched his teeth as he practically crawled towards his equipment and then dragged himself back towards the shack. The fur needles still pricked his skin, and his back burned, but Leo didn't stop until the door was shut and blocked by one of the chairs.

  How the fuck am I still alive? I probably spilled more blood than a donor could give during aire year. Leo chuckled, coughing out blood as he removed the st of the annoying needles. Now to cover my back. Hopefully, it won't take too long to heal. He winced as he mummified the upper part of his bad chest, the entire roll of bandage gone in one go.

  Dropping his head against the wall, Leo closed his eyes.

  Even ihe fight pyed out pretty well, primarily thanks to the rifle. Hell, Leo could have e without getting littered with holes if he had known about the Duskboar's ability to shoot its own fur.

  No matter. What happened, happened. I only learn from this experieo be more careful iure. Well, that and maybe stop fighting when I'm almost dead on my feet. Leo grunted; his eyes opened and nded on the rifle in his p.

  "If it weren't for you, I would probably be dead." He murmured and released the empty magazine. "Let's fill you up. I have to rest for a bit anyway..."

  An hour, maybe tassed since Leo locked himself ihe shack. He didn't move once from his p the fliving his body and soul a fair ce to recover. Passive Limit Break had also activated a while ago, bolstering the healing quite a bit.

  Not that Leo stopped bleeding altogether. The entirely soaked bahat covered his upper body proved that muoheless, the hollowness finally disappeared from his soul. And even though his body still ached everywhere, it didn't send him screaming after every move anymore.

  Overall, I should be ready to go, Leo groaned as he stretched his body and threw a simple bck shirt over his head. After taking the Essence from those damned boars and birds. He added as an afterthought.

  Leaving the shack, Leed towards the mutited bird first. The beast quickly lost its Essence, barely giving him another hour of satiated status. Leo looked around the forest floor, scowling, searg for the first Seeker he killed.

  "What the…" The scowl turned into a frown when Leo noticed Seeker's dead body. The head remained crushed with the insides spilling out, but now, the corpse gave out an almost unnoticeable ruby glow.

  Croug o the body, Leo sed it from head to tail, flipping it over with his cws. The glow it released didn't make sehe other Seekers didn't have it before or after death. So why are you so different? Eveify isn't saying anything...

  "Guess one way to find out," Leed a his cws do the dirty work.

  The frown on his face deepened as the body colpsed into dust when his cws pierced the skin. The small pile still glowed from within, and Leo quickly dug into the dust. His hand almost instantly touched something hard.

  "Huh?" Leo had no words as he uncovered a small ruby crystal. It pulsed with life, and Leo snapped his hand away, not sure what he had discovered.

  Alright, Identify, be helpful for once.

  Unattuned Crystalized Essence (on):

  When a creature dies in the Universe, their residual Essence try to withdraw bato the soul in a final desperate attempt to survive. This process never works; instead, the overflow of energy forms a sturdy crystal, st the st of Essenside. This particur Essence was tuo any specific affinity. It be used as a vital ingredient in a rge number of crafts.

  Warning: When filled with too much fn Essehe crystal will destabilize and, shortly after, create an explosion more promihan its size suggests.

  Leo frowned as he rolled the crystal between his fingers. That's… a lot of information. The surface didn't feel different from a typical rock lying on the ground; just as rough, unpolished, and cold to the touch.

  So it act as a small grenade and an ingredient... A lot of uses for a standard item. A useful, if a dangerous object from what Identify had just told Leo.

  Not that he knew how to el Esseo another object, and he didn't fancy trying it out on a crystal that could explode in his face. Maybe after I gain a bit more trol...

  Leo slipped the crystal into his pocket and moved to draiwo Duskboars. Although he didn't gain any more crystals, the bulkier boar left behind a part of its sharp tooth that Leo immediately pced within his backpack.

  Alright, ba the move. Leo sighed and used his right hand to heft his backpack. There is o aggravate the bajury any further.

  Time passed as Leo traversed along the same path he used before the events he shed. And even after all that had happened, Leo allowed a small smile to form on his face. He might have suffered, but in the end, he came out of it stronger, much stronger, and with some knowledge he didn't possess before.

  Leo hid behind one of the many bushes as he sed the long asphalt road and the empty farmnds in the distance. He might have made a slight miscalcution when he had chosen this path. In particur, Leot about all of the cars driving down this road whebreak happened.

  Every dozen or so meters, a car stood at the side of the road. Some mao drive into a tree, while others fell into a dit the other side.

  A few cars even had the misfortune of colliding head-on with vehicles approag from the other lihose always ended up half-crushed or bed from a fire that might have started after the crash.

  Even if this sight articurly hard on Leo's memory, it didn't make him hide behind a bush. No, this honor fell to the few Voidlings trapped ihe cars and the numerous other Cursed Humans that walked along the road. Their familiar screeches once again filled the silence as they went from car to car, probably hoping to find another meal.

  Leo gulped. This either end very well or in a total disaster.