A silver arc flashed across the battlefield. Shawn intercepted instantly.

His sword collided against the beast’s forearm with explosive force, redirecting the attack sideways hard enough to carve a trench in the cracked pavement.

The difference between them looked absurd.

Shawn moved smoothly, his attacks controlled and measured. Every strike seems to be well thought out. He didn’t directly overpower the beast , he redirected the force intelligently.

"Stop panicking," Shawn barked sharply while deflecting another heavy strike," you’re fighting like fucking prey, you’ve got to fight to kill not survive or you’ll be the one dead next time."

Silver forced himself upright breathing heavily. The beast turned towards Shawn furiously now, attacking with all its might but nothing.

This gave Silver a moment to think and observe.

Shawn dodged another crushing blow before glaring towards Silver.

"Get this. Strength types are straightforward."

The beast roared again, its massive arms coming down again.

"Big body! Heavy force! Limited mobility!"

Shawn narrowly twisted sideways as the slam shattered the road.

"Keep that in mind and use that."

Silver steadied his breathing slowly.

’Right think...’

His gaze fixed on the creature. Its attack patterns were overwhelming but linear. Its recovery time after every swing was noticeable.

Silver’s gaze sharpened instantly.

The beast charged at Shawn again but at the last second, he stepped aside deliberately, opening the angle.

Silver understood immediately.

He sprinted forward, knife low. He recovered the gun from the ground in one motion. The beast turned too slowly. He could now see the openings he had missed the first time in his panic.

Silver slid beneath its massive arm before driving the combat knife directly into the wounded joint Shawn exposed earlier.

Then, he raised his gun.

[Phantom Draw LV2 Activated]

Bang!

The reinforced round fired directly through the opening. The bullet punched deep into the beast’s skull beneath the jaw.

The ape froze.

It took one step forward, two, then collapsed hard enough to shake the ruined street beneath them.

Silence followed.

Silver stood there, breathing heavily while blood dripped slowly from the combat knife in his hand.

Shawn looked at him quietly for several seconds, then sighed.

"... Impulsive idiot."

Silver laughed weakly despite himself.

"Constructive criticism appreciated."

"I don’t know what suicidal thoughts are passing through your head, but don’t do something this stupid when alone. And in the fight, you relied too much on instincts."

"I still survived."

He rolled his eyes." Barely."

That was fair on his part. Silver knew it would have taken a lot more to kill the monster if he were alone and adapting by himself without any help.

Shawn sheathed his sword slowly afterward before glancing down at the corpse.

"Still impressive for a first hunt."

Silver looked toward the massive beast’s body sprawled across the broken pavement.

Then the system appeared.

[Teir three beast core detected.]

Warning:

Beast essence degradation will begin after extraction delay.

Another screen unfolded immediately afterwards.

[Core storage function locked.]

Recommended action:

Unlock beginner core storage.

Silver blinked in confusion.

"... Core storage." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

[Shop Function activated.]

[Basic core storage module available.]

Capacity: 5 beast cores.

Function:

Preserve beast essence and prevent spiritual degradation.

Current Unlock cost: 50 Affection points.

Silver’s expression darkened slightly. Of course, nothing would come for free, but then another line appeared.

[First purchase discount applied.]

Final cost: 49 Affection.

"What the hell... two percent discount?"

[Please appreciate the system’s generosity.]

Silver stared at the message in disbelief.

Shawn glanced towards him suspiciously.

"Why do you look offended?"

Silver glanced at him briefly. Shawn had walked off to a rusted vehicle that seemed to have survived the onslaught.

"Nothing, just thinking about something. "

"Sure, let me just contact HQ about this," he pointed to the corpse," then we’ll think of what’s next."

"Sure."

Silver waved him off.

His attention went back to the screen in front of him. He stared at it for several seconds before finally exhaling quietly.

"Fine."

[49 Affection Points deducted.]

[Basic core storage unlocked.]

•Do you wish to store the beast core?

"Yes."

The screen flickered once then a pale blue spatial distortion unfolded above the beast’s chest.

Silver glanced at Shawn but found him oblivious. He seemed to be looking at something around the car.

The massive body trembled slightly, too little, enough to ignore, then a small stream of compressed round light flowed out of the body.

"What if they check? Won’t the beastcore be missing?"

[No. Only the beast soul has been extracted, the beast core is intact.]

Silver nodded, a small sigh of relief leaving him.

[Tier 3 beast essence stored successfully.]

Storage capacity: 1/5

Silver blinked. The convenience felt absurd. If ordinary contractors possessed something like this, entire divisions would collapse overnight.

A low pulse of pain spread through his ribs again as the adrenaline continued fading. The earlier hit from the beast had done damage.

The damage wasn’t crippling but enough that every deep breath felt unpleasant.

Shawn approached while removing a compact communicator from his belt.

"How are your injuries?"

"Painful enough."

Shawn ignored the reply before tossing him a small white capsule container.

"Take one."

Silver caught it automatically.

"Healing medication?"

"Military grade stabiliser," Shawn activated the communicator calmly afterwards," it suppresses pain, reduces internal swelling, and prevents soul instability after heavy physical shock."

"Is there a but?"

"It tastes terrible."

A reasonable trade-off for something that valuable, especially in an emergency.

Silver looked down briefly at the medicine before reopening the system shop interface silently.

This was technically his first real opportunity to explore it properly. He had selectively ignored it in the past.

The layout unfolded in organised categories.

[BEGINNER SHOP.]

Available Categories:

•Healing.

• Ammunition.

• Basic techniques.

• Nutritional recovery.

• Soul Stabilization.

There were hundreds of locked items further below. Silver cold only stare at them for a moment before selecting the Healing category.

Rows of low-level recovery items appeared immediately.

Basic regeneration capsule.

Minor stimulant.

Emergency clotting agents.

Primitive soul recovery medicine.

One item caught his eye.

[Minor regeneration capsule.]

Effect:

Accelerates healing of bruising, muscle strain, and impact-related internal injuries.

Cost: 5 Affection points.

It was the most affordable on the list for his current financial situation. Silver purchased it instantly.

[5 Affection points deducted.]

Current balance: 46 Affection points.