The reptilian watched him closely, its slitted yellow eyes following his every move as he positioned himself a little further from the vehicle.

Silver glanced briefly at the car only to find Shawn grinning at him, the taunting kind.

Before he could say anything, the reptilian moved. It was faster than anything with its body size but he had already gotten over most of the beast’s shock value.

Silver’s body reacted instantly.

[Phantom draw LV2 Activated]

Bang! Bang!

The reinforced rounds struck across the creature’s shoulder scales but failed to slow it properly. The beast shifted mid-charge sharply before lunging sideways instead of directly forward. Its intelligence left Silver slightly shocked.

He barely avoided the huge jaws snapping towards his torso before drawing the sword instinctively. The movement felt awkward as he began then natural halfway through as he defended against the aggressive attempts at biting him in half.

The reptilian tail whipped towards him suddenly and Silver blocked on reflex. Pain exploded through both his arms. The force had been too heavy for only the sword to take the impact.

The beast pressed forward relentlessly afterwards, forcing Silver backwards through the tall grass while attacking from strange angles rather than pure overwhelming power.

This was way different from the ape’s fighting style, the crocodile fought as though it were hunting.

Silver steadied his breath slowly.

’Think dammit, try to adapt or you’re going to get dissed by that guy’

The beast lunged again. Silver took a deep breath and moved.

He fired once directly towards its eyes, them moved simultaneously instead of waiting for the results. With the soul awakening his body had become lighter and more agile.

The sword cut upwards across the creature’s exposed throat scales as he passed beside it. Blood sprayed everywhere.

The reptilian beast shrieked violently before spinning towards him again. The sight of something that large coming was terrifying.

Silver’s heartbeat accelerated but not from fear this time. He focused on the oncoming beast.

His body moved more smoothly now as he continued adapting to its fighting styles and learning its patterns.

Gunfire and sword strikes gradually synchronise together naturally.

The reptilian attacked low, and Silver sidestepped. He thrusted the blade downwards.

A precise slash opened the wounded throat further before a reinforced bullet followed directly through the exposed gap.

The beasts convulsed violently, rolling around the grass as blood spluttered everywhere. Silver jumped out of its way, his gaze vigilant. It then collapsed into the grass heavily a few minutes later.

The suffocating silence of the Yellow zone finally returned.

Silver stood breathing harder now while lowering the sword slowly.

Shawn had at some point gotten out of the car and was leaning against the vehicle nearby.

"You’re still clumsy but better than expected," he quietly complimented him.

Silver glanced towards him. " Thank you for the praise, I guess. "

"It wasn’t," he shut it down," get the beast core."

Silver nodded but still didn’t move." Where is it?"

A vein throbbed at Shawn’s forehead.

"Above its heart, just cut through the skin it should be easier with the sword," he said and leaned into the car through the window," here, clean your hands with this."

A bottle of water rolled to his feet. He didn’t pick it up immediately.

Silver knelt beside the still-warm carcass and cut through the hard flesh. The feeling of wriggling his hand through the still-warm flesh was absolutely disgusting but it ended when he touched the core.

He almost jumped up in joy since it was the Core he had personally taken. Shawn had told him Tier 2 and 1 cores didn’t have much value.

[Do you wish to store the beast core]

"No," he inwardly said.

He only had four slots remaining and he didn’t want to waste them.

"Can you hurry, i want us to be halfway across the yellow zone by evening, the migration paths have moved closer to the Red Zone this month," Shawn shouted from the vehicle, "Clean up and get in the car."

Silver stood up and nodded towards him.

"Give me a minute."

They continued quietly. Silver had expected constant attacks from beasts but nothing and that worried him even more.

Hours had passed with nothing except distant wind , migration cries, and the contact rumbling of the armoured vehicle moving across uneven terrain.

Silver gradually began to understand why the yellow zone frightened people. It was the fact that, unlike the green zones, where the attacks were constant and predictable. Moving through the Yellow zone meant that something could attack at any moment and anywhere. The openness created more tension.

There was no reliable cover, only the endless plains broken occasionally by stone ridges and now the dried river treches that were a bitch to pass through.

The vehicle slowly stopped near one of those trenches as Shawn scanned the horizon carefully.

"We should stop here," he said," I’m hungry."

"Yeah, me too."

Silver stepped out afterwards while stretching his still sore shoulders. The system medicine had helped significantly earlier but his body still carried lingering fatigue from now fighting the mutated crocodile. It was also a strength-type beast.

Noticing this annoyed him, he hated this feeling of weakness.

Shawn leaned against the armoured vehicle while opening a terrain map on his module screen. Silver moved closer to get a better look.

"Migration routes shifted to the Eastern side of the zone, around sectors 31 to 45."

"Is it bad?"

"Potentially, those are the nearest to the red zone and that means we have more competition. There is a chance no... We’ll definitely meet most of the other teams there."

Silver frowned slightly. In the novel, Cruella’s team was attacked by a stray beast and they were also on the eastern side of the zone.

When he left the Rookie base, Cruella’s team went east directly. It seems like the plot was moving with or without his appearance.

If it goes like this, nothing will change.

What mattered to him was pulling Ravenna out of the plot. He couldn’t care less about the protagonist.

Silver looked around quietly. The plains swayed endlessly beneath the wind. A beautiful sight in a dead sort of way.

He tore the nutritional solution open. His face cringed at the horrible taste.

’Did I really give this disgusting thing to Ravenna’

Shawn noticed his expression instantly." You’ll have to get used to it. It has all the nutrients you’ll need to keep healthy in the mission."

Silver hurriedly chugged it down without tasting it.

’And I used to think military food on earth was disgusting. This is a nuclear weapon’

Then Shawn suddenly spoke again.

"You still haven’t answered me properly."

Silver glanced towards him.

"About?"

"What kind of beast do you actually want?"

’Ah, that again’

Silver rested the sword lightly against one shoulder while thinking.

"... Something versatile."

"I know but it’s too vague now," Shawn flatly replied.

"Well excuse me for not having a five-year soul developmental plan prepared, " he deflected shamelessly.

Shawn ignored the sarcasm immediately.

"Your fighting style already leans towards adaptability."

Silver frowned slightly.

"My fighting style?"