The egg on the interface didn't just hatch; it disintegrated into a swirl of light and ink. Armen stared at the screen, his breath held tight in his chest. He expected a rating to pop up, something like "Common" or "SSR" but the system was strangely silent on the matter of rarity. Instead, it simply laid out the cold, hard data of the creature he had pulled from the void.
Luminous Abyss-Crawler (Juvenile)
Potential Growth: Rank C
Attribute: Dual-Element (Life-Light / Death-Dark)
The description scrolled beneath the image of the beast. It was a small, low-bodied salamander like creature, its skin a patchwork of jagged obsidian scales that seemed to absorb the meager light of the alley. Faint bioluminescent veins flickered weakly beneath those scales, looking like dying embers. Short, underdeveloped Light Spikes lined its spine, pulsing with a dim, rhythmic light whenever the image moved. Its wide head bore incomplete, cracked horns made of solidified shadow energy that leaked a thin, wispy black vapor.
Armen's eyes widened as he read the first ability.
[Voidlit Ravage]
Element: Dark
Effect: When activated, the Abyss-Crawler's claws, teeth, and Light-Spikes turn pitch-black, edged with a faint molten glow. Its movements taint the ground it crosses, briefly killing plant life. Any successful strike bypasses physical armor and directly damages the target's life force, making even shallow wounds lethal over time.
"A dual element?" Armen whispered, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Light and dark. Life and death. That's insane. Practically speaking, it has no elemental weakness. If something resists the dark, the light spikes catch them. If they are holy, the abyssal shadow drowns them."
The system chimed, and the creature was immediately pulled into his inventory. Armen didn't hesitate. He moved the Luminous Abyss-Crawler into his equipped beast slot. As he did, he noticed something that made him pause and tilt his head in confusion.
"Wait, it still takes up a slot in my inventory even if it's my equipped beast?" He sighed, rubbing his temples. "That's a bit of a rip-off. I thought the equipped beast slot would be an extra space, not just a shortcut."
He took a moment to study the updated UI, familiarizing himself with the costs of this new world.
Armen Cross
Points: 0
Equipped Beast Slot: 1/1
* Luminous Abyss-Crawler
Monster Inventory: 1/3
* Luminous Abyss-Crawler
Current Holder: (None)
Costs:
* Draw: 50 points
* Evolution: 50 (Must reached the maximum growth potential)
* Fusion: 50 (Both beasts must be same rank and adult)
* Humanoid Form: 250 (Must be an adult beast)
* Equipped Beast Slot Upgrade: 50
* Beast Inventory Slot Upgrade: 50
"Fifty points for a draw, fifty for an upgrade," Armen muttered, calculating the numbers. "It doesn't look that expensive on paper, but I have no idea how many points I'll get from killing monsters. If a giant wolf like beast only gives me one point, I'm in for a very long grind."
He looked at the empty space in the alley. The hunger in his stomach was still there, but it was overshadowed by an intense, burning curiosity. He wanted to see his prize. He wanted to know if it was as terrifying in person as it looked on the screen.
"Come on out," Armen said, focusing his will. "I want to see you first in person."
With a soft, sizzling sound, a patch of shadow on the ground began to boil. A thick, black liquid bubbled up between the cobblestones, and from that pool of darkness, the Abyss-Crawler emerged. It was small, roughly the size of a large dog, but it carried an aura of ancient, predatory weight. The Light Spikes on its back flickered with a pale, sickly yellow glow, casting long, dancing shadows against the alley walls.
Armen marveled at it. The gore of its birth was still visible; bits of the shadow liquid dripped from its scales, sizzling as they touched a stray patch of moss near the wall, turning the green plant into a blackened, shriveled husk instantly.
"Wow," Armen breathed. He reached out a trembling hand. The beast hissed, a sound like steam escaping a pipe, but it didn't pull away. Armen stroked the top of its flat, wide head. The scales felt like cold, polished stone, and the shadow energy leaking from its cracked horns felt like freezing wind against his skin. "Ain't you a marvelous beast? You're going to get me through this, aren't you?"
The creature nudged his palm, its pale glowing eyes fixed on him with a strange, alien intelligence.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps and loud, drunken laughter echoed from the mouth of the alley.
"I'm telling you, the captain is skimming off the top! No way that haul was only ten silvers!" a gravelly voice shouted.
Armen's heart spiked. Instinct took over. Without even thinking about the mechanics, he willed the creature back. The Abyss-Crawler dissolved into a cloud of black vapor and light particles, vanishing into his shadow. The feeling was bizarre; it felt like a part of his own weight had been lifted and tucked into a pocket of his soul.
"This feeling sure feels weird but also natural," Armen whispered, leaning back into the shadows.
Three men stumbled past the opening of the alley. They were dressed in stained leather jerkins and carried short swords at their belts. They looked like low-level mercenaries or thugs for hire. One of them stopped, looking into the darkness where Armen stood. Armen held his breath, his hand instinctively reaching for where the Abyss-Crawler was stored.
The man squinted, saw Armen's tattered, filthy clothes and his gaunt, pale face, and then spat on the ground.
"Keep moving, Boros," another man urged, slapping the first on the shoulder. "It's just another beggar. You want to waste your breath on a corpse that hasn't realized it's dead yet?"
"Smells like rot in there," Boros grumbled, but he turned and followed his companions.
Armen waited until their footsteps died away before stepping out toward the road. He let out a long, shaky sigh of relief.
"I thought they'll rob me or something," he muttered to himself, looking down at his tattered sleeves. "Or I look like someone who is a lot more poor than them... which I definitely do."
He looked out at the street. The town was a chaotic mess of mud, stone, and desperate people. He was a resurrected boy in a dying body with a shadow salamander hiding in his soul. He had no money, no food, and his only clothes were the ones he had been "buried" in.
"I need a job or something," Armen muttered, heading toward the center of the town. "Before I end up back on that wagon."