Chapter 43: Chapter 41 – The Red Plaza

The arcane bullet easily pierced the core of the creature, killing it instantly. I decided to call them Street Urchins, given their appearance, and moved my optic to the next target, upon which I noticed- All of the urchins froze in place, shuddering. None of them budged an inch in response to my previous shot, not even after many moments. Could they be stunned by the noise? Perhaps they're something like carnivorous plants, trap predators that can't do much in a real fight.

I waited some time, and deciding that they weren't going to charge at me, kept firing at the stationary monsters. 1, 2, 3... 5... 8... I kept killing and killing, at some point aiming to immobilize and incapacitate so that I can salvage more meat from the things. Soon I had killed or disabled more than half, and had walked further into the plaza to get better shots.

Then I felt something... Odd. Like something wasn't right. I felt like there was a sudden energy in the air, and I looked around at the dark surroundings.

...

Iris: "...Nothing? Is it really just me?" I muttered, turning my body to scan the area. The energy didn't fade from the air and I still felt that something was wrong. Why? I heightened the strengthening in my eyes to enhance my vision. The brickwork of the plaza was stained with the blood of monsters. The many ruined sculptures of the plaza remained unchanged, and there was nothing different about the street surrounding the plaza.

I turned my gaze upward, at the ceiling.... Nothing. Only stone and darkness. I leveled my vision and suddenly casted a powerful sphere of light, sending it high up to illuminate the surroundings. The only color to return to my world was red, while a new shape appeared, or rather, a lack of one.

I was barely able to dodge the nearly invisible slice by diving to the side. Something  had landed where I just stood. And as I scrambled to my feet to look at it, I saw its shimmering figure appearing. It was a feline creature about the size of a wolf, but completely hairless. It stood on 6 muscular legs, ending in vaguely humanoid hands, each with five sharp, shiny claws. At its rear were a series of three long, spiny tails, and its head was devoid of eyes and ears. Instead, on the middle of its head were a pair of smooth domes, much like the Reaper. Its mouth had a split lower jaw, forming a pair of toothy mandibles. And the back of the head had a pair of meter long tendrils ending in round pads. I could feel energy radiating intensely from this creature, with a faint purple glow pulsing through its albino skin. It was crouched into a low stance, ready to pounce at any moment. I, too, readied my stance.

It made the first move, pouncing at me with incredible speed and an intimidating yowl. I reacted swiftly and dove past it, evading its wild pounce as I spun towards it and fired off a quick shot. I only managed to pierce one of its legs, spilling blue blood. The creature let out a furious hiss as it turned towards me, seemingly unfazed by its injury

I shot once more, the crack of arcane energy reverberating through the plaza. Yet this time it dodges my shot, lurching to the side before rushing at me once more. I jumped back, attempting to keep a distance between us where I outrange its claws. Each exchange only earned me light wounds and grazes on the beast's body, while it became more and more adept at evading me.

Eventually we stood, facing each other at a stalemate, judging who had less stamina. I was breathing heavily from my taxing evasion, but I still had enough energy. It too seemed to not be struggling. I tossed my rifle to the side and assumed my self-taught melee stance, Leaning forward in a pouncing position, claws forward with my right arm by my side. Ranged combat was no longer viable, the only way I could score a killing blow was in melee.

A mana blade extended from my right hand, and we both lunged. Our bodies collided as I gripped the chest of the beast, digging my claws in as its weight forced me to the ground. We scuffled about as I felt claws close in on me from all sides, cutting into my waist armor and my legs, ripping into my armored dress. I swung my mana blade, severing one of its forward limbs while keeping my head away from the other one.

I used my own claws to rip away the flesh on its chest, its pained and furious yowls filling my ears as blood sprayed. All I saw was red as instinct took over, ripping apart flesh and bone as I desperately resisted its furious flailing, protecting my own vitals as safe as I could as I cut and ripped into its body, slicing open its insides until I grasped the creature's blue heart, ripping it out.

And as I did, its flailing slowly ceased and fell limp, life draining from its pale body. I clambered to my feet, breathing heavily and hotly with a large heart grasped in my mechanical hand, my glowing copper eyes standing out amidst the blue and red, merging into black. I raised up my hand and crushed the heart, azure essence spraying out everywhere along with energy being absorbed directly into me through the arm.

I stepped away from the monster to retrieve my rifle, slinging it over my shoulder before beginning to dismantle the creature, taking the claws first before its meat and parts of the hide. I wasn't sure if the hide was going to be any good, but perhaps It could be used to inherit the monster's invisibility trait, or it could be used for armor if it was durable enough.

The meat was necessary. I also wasn't sure how edible it was, but aside from the street urchins, it was my only source of food. Then there was the claws. I planned to use them the upgrade the gauntlet for another set of claws. After all, it seemed I had a natural talent for ripping things apart. I also collected some blood and muscle, just incase, before leaving the now-bloodied plaza with haste.

This turned out to be a good choice, as I soon heard multiple angry yowls coming from the plaza. Guess that beast had friends coming... I made the right call. That's what I told myself while taking a more roundabout route to the exit... Which involved a military sector I saw on the map. I needed more equipment if I was going to survive down here. Especially armor, since mine... Well, I wouldn't be walking around boldly in public like this.

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At the same time, Licht was using healing magic to restore my body's condition, stopping the bleeding and cleansing the wounds.

Licht: "From the heart you crushed... You felt it too right? The arm absorbed the monster's energy. What remained of its soul and mana. I took a look at our magic, and saw that not only did it restore a significant portion, It also increased our maximum. There's another effect too though..." He said, trailing off for a moment. He opened our status in the mental space, double checking himself before continuing.

Licht: "Absorbing that beast's energy... It increased how much Primal Enhancement we can use. In this case, by 5%. That goes for the maximum too."

Iris: "It increased the maximum amount we can use PE...? As in, the roof of enhancement got higher? 105%?" I asked, stunned as I looked at the bionic arm, stained in blue. Licht confirmed my thoughts as I began to ponder things. How far could I go down here...? Is there a point where I'll stop being human?

Iris: "...I wonder how long ago I even stopped being human." I muttered, looking ahead while walking down darkened halls and streets.

Licht: "Well you arent a monster, or a deep one. And we certainly look pretty human. Surely we aren't the only ones with a prosthetic limb amongst the mercenaries of this world."

I smiled a bit and scoffed as he comforted me. What licht said was right, I know what I am. Licht knows what he is. We're(We're) a(a) Person(Person). With renewed resolution, we continued onward, to the military sector.

~~×~~×~~

Iris: "...Im going to lose all of my attractiveness by the time I grow up, wont I? I'll just be covered in scars and muscles. A feral cat that rips things apart." I heaved a sigh while talking to Licht. My thoughts couldn't be stopped during the boring walk through boring grey ruins and boring dusty air. Soon I was thinking about the ripped dress, and the scars that were revealed underneath, as well as the new scars from my freshly healed wounds. It may be healing magic, but it seems to still leave scars.

Licht: "I wouldn't be so sure. There's people that love a wild lady with scars and muscle."

Iris: "But aren't those people just degenerates with a weird fetish? You can't fool me, I have some of your memories." I pouted.

Licht: "I feel like christy wouldn't mind. Wasn't she admiring them on the airship to the Mou District?"

Iris: "...I don't swing that way... And christy is just a friend, or teammate? Just a comrade in passing. She'll probably forget about me soon enough"

Licht: "So if it's a girl, they arent a degenerate huh?"

I groaned, having thoughts about whether I would survive a bullet to the brain or not. Those thoughts seemed to shut him up pretty quick, so the rest of the walk proceeded in silence.