"You combine movement, firearms, and close combat reactions naturally."

Silver looked down briefly towards the sword in his hand. Honestly, it still felt strange. Every fight pulled more instincts from his old life into this body. He was starting to morph the reflexes, habits, and combat awareness like the soldier he used to be had not disappeared with his untimely death. And that made him more excited, although the former Silver’s body was a little slow from the lack of expertise, this felt like a cheat that came without conditions attached unlike the system.

Shawn continued calmly.

"A pure strength type would limit you."

Silver nodded. He had started to look forward to the times Shawn was generous enough to give genuine advice without a hidden jab sandwiched between it.

What he had said matched his thoughts. Fighting strength types beasts had made his choice even firmer. It didn’t fit as his foundation beast.

"You react quickly," Shawn added, " which means speed types or perception types fit naturally."

"Oh."

Shawn glanced at him.

"It would have been better if you had found a Mind type beast but..." he chuckled to himself. Silvers frowned while looking at his shaking shoulders,"... you’re too stupid for them."

Silver’s eyes widened. " Thats extremely insulting."

"It’s true."

Silver couldn’t even fight for his honour with the former Silver’s behaviour hanging over him.

He sighed in defeat.

"What about elementals?"

Shawn’s expression flattened.

"High risk."

"But they’re strong."

"Yes."

Silver watched the distant grasslands thoughtfully. The fragmented memory of a burning creature came but it disappeared before he could grasp it. It felt as though he was being teased with power that he may never get.

Shawn noticed him zoning out.

"You’ve been zoning out regularly, you keep thinking about something?"

"... Just trying to remember something. "

"Useful?"

"Potentially."

The answer seemed good enough for now.

After finishing the meal and basking in the midday sun, the two resumed moving afterwards, leaving the trench behind as the vehicles pushed deeper into the migratory plains.

Several more fights happened throughout the afternoon. They were all different beasts with different fighting patterns.

A horned charging, moose-like creature that relied entirely on momentum had attacked them the moment they entered its grazing territory. Shawn had informed him that it was one of the many edible beasts.

A pack of winged scavengers had attacked from above.

Another massive burrowing insect had erupted beneath the vehicle suddenly before Shawn crushed its skull using telekinetic force strong enough to visibly distort the air while still inside the car.

They never stopped to fight it. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Silver was slowly learning. He fought more confidently now. His sword movements had stopped looking awkward and the system eventually acknowledged it.

[Beginner Swordsmanship proficiency increased.]

A small pulse of information settled into his brain. It was as though the previously forced information was slowly being digested with each fight and improvement then getting fully absorbed into the body.

Silver swung the sword once experimentally afterwards while walking back to the car.

Shawn glanced towards him briefly.

"You’re improving weirdly fast."

Silver smiled faintly.

"I’m naturally talented, I just never tried."

"Wow your ego is just getting more inflated, " Shawn said incredulously," I preferred you quieter."

Silver chuckled.

The sun gradually began to lower again by evening. Long shadows stretched across the plains while the temperature dropped noticeably beneath the wind.

The atmosphere felt calmer, almost peaceful which should have been reassuring.

Instead, it made Silver more uneasy. His hand tightened subconsciously around his gun. Something about the silence bothered. He knew it was probably trauma left from many of his overseas dispatches.

Whenever they thought the rebel groups had finally stopped their attacks, a bomb would suddenly go off and hundreds of people would die. Dealing with that had made him genuinely paranoid whenever things went too smoothly or became too quiet.

It was always the sign of a storm brewing.

The migrations plains earlier carried distant movement. A scavenger flying above, grass moving, the ground lifting in different places but now nothing. No beast movements, no cries.

Even the wind seemed quieter now.

Shawn noticed too.

His posture sharpened slightly while driving.

"... That’s not good."

Silver immediately looked around.

"What?"

No answer came immediately.

Then the armoured vehicle jerked violently.

BOOM!

Something massive slammed into the side hard enough to send the entire transport skidding sideways across the plans.

Silver nearly lost his balance instantly.

"What the..."

Another impact followed. The armoured plating dented inward violently.

Shawn’s eyes widened slightly for the first time since entering the yellow zones.

"... Impossible."

The third strike came from outside Silver’s field of view. Metal crunched, while glass shattered as the vehicle rolled.

Silver crashed hard against the interior wall before the transport flipped entirely onto its side.

Pain exploded through his shoulder. The world spun violently as he tried to hold on to his seat belt.

Then silence followed the moment the car stopped, just for half a second before a roar shattered the plains. It was deep, primal, and absolutely furious.

Silver’s blood froze instantly. He knew that roar, not specifically but the pressure behind it. It was almost the same as the young Teir 3 ape but it was far worse, deeper, and stronger.

Shawn kicked the damaged vehicle door outward violently before stepping into the open plains.

Silver followed seconds later. He stopped cold the moment he saw what was in front of him.

’No way’

The creature standing beyond the wrecked transport looked horrifyingly familiar. Same black bone armoured, same massive arms, same oversized red eyes, except it was larger.

Nearly twice the size.

Its body radiated monstrous spiritual pressure powerful enough to be felt almost soul-deep by the two of them.

Silver’s expression changed instantly. It was then that he noticed it, the beast wasn’t looking at Shawn, it was staring directly at him.

Its nose flared once, then twice. Its gaze moved to the dagger on his waist, still stained with a little blood after a careless wipe.

Shawn’s voice lowered.

"... Silver."

For the first time, there was actual tension in his tone.

"That thing is not supposed to be here."