Kyle gripped the sharp wire until it sliced through his palm, but he held fast, ignoring the pain.
Below, the beast plummeted, only to be impaled mid-fall on a jagged iron rod that jutted from the building's side.
The spike pierced deep into its flank, tearing through vital organs that its thick hide would normally shield from anything short of a Qi-infused weapon.
It let out a shrill, drawn-out cry before going still. Ashen blood trickled down the corroded metal, darkening the rust.
Kyle exhaled slowly, staring at the lifeless carcass.
For a fleeting moment, he entertained the absurd wish that he had awakened a manual, a dual cultivation one at that.
But clarity set in quickly.
To complete the cycle and unlock the bond's purifying power, he would need to perform the 'adult' rituals with his partners, intimate exchanges that aligned their energies and drew out the hidden depths of their combined potential.
The beast trait bond was simple enough to grasp, even if he had never heard of it before. By killing or forming a bond with a beast, he could absorb its trait and weave it into his attacks.
Blood dripped from his palm, pattering onto the ground below.
The pain gnawed at him, but instead of loosening his grip on the wire, he clenched harder and hauled himself upward.
At the top, he collapsed onto his back and stared up at the ash-choked sky, a sky that had never been pure for as long as he could remember, since the day he was born into this wretched world.
'I hate this! I hate this! Fuck!' His thoughts roared inside his skull. The frustration coiled tighter around his throat.
He might have a manual now, one that promised power in record time and pleasure along the way, but where in hell was he supposed to find a woman who would actually say:
"Oh, you want to get stronger? So do I. Let's purify our cores. Here's my pink hole, stick your Heavenly Dragon in…"
It was a draining thought, circling his mind like an angel's ring, while the time limit hanging over him lay dormant for now.
He bit down hard on his lip and hauled himself upward. If he failed to get the pill, death was certain.
Until then, he would have to keep living as if stuck on Tier 0, his foundation still far from stable.
***
After a while, Kyle was already on the road, moving with caution and keeping out of plain sight.
In his grip was a small shard of sharp iron, a constant reminder that he had likely stepped into a zone.
This was a green zone, still considered relatively safe for those who had stabilised and reached Tier 1, but for him, it was a death game. It was dominated by various Feral ranked beasts, such as the Spineback Boar.
In every zone, the Boss was typically one rank above its spawns. In a green zone ruled by Ferals, the Boss would be at the Enraged rank, and an Initial could never hope to challenge one.
The fight would be over in seconds, ending in blood.
Of course, Kyle was tempted to take the Essence Core from the creature he had brought down through wit, but the lingering pressure of fear kept him still.
He imagined other beasts of its kind swarming him before he could drag the body off the iron and harvest the core.
The risk outweighed the reward, especially when it was worth nothing unless he collected at least ten.
Only that amount could earn him a Qi condensation pill, and even then, his condition would remain.
Normally, if a beast's Essence Core was not harvested within an hour of death, it would turn bleak black and vanish into thin air.
Kyle quickly noticed that the manual had not acknowledged the kill, simply because he had not struck the final blow himself but only caused its death.
Such a thing counted as an invalid kill.
'Fucking suck-up manual… I have a time limit on my head, and still no way to get anything worth bartering for the pill.' His thoughts burned furiously.
Why did bad luck always have to be his personal skill, and an overpowered one at that?
He had received a manual, something that should have marked the happiest moment of his life, yet it had instead become the worst.
Now, time was his enemy.
***
Some while later, Kyle was deep in the ruined city, almost every step taken to avoid both Feral ranked creatures and raiders.
The only thing on his mind was reaching the underground market, a city away from here. It would take him up to nine hours on foot, with breaks in between.
There was no better way.
He could not simply flag down a car and beg for a ride to the market, built by hunters as a temporary hub for barter trade. He had been there a few times before.
Each time, he either scammed traders for better returns on his scrap items, got beaten half to death, and thrown out of the place. Now, he had to avoid everyone he had offended there.
And of course, the boss of this zone still lived. That was no surprise.
Defeating it was one thing; finding its chamber was another, and in doing so one would have to face hordes of the lesser creatures in the zone.
Not a safe bet for any cultivator.
Hours later, and only a few more from the next day, after multiple rests, narrow escapes, and silent hides, he finally reached the entrance to the second city.
It was still part of the Green Zone, though far fewer Feral creatures prowled here for reasons unknown.
Sweat clung to him in sheets, his strength ebbing with every half hour.
Each step grew more awkward, and even his thoughts dragged as if weighed down.
The sun had just begun its climb above the horizon, casting a dark ash glow across the land. It had never once shone bright in his lifetime.
No matter the hour it rose, it always seemed like night.
The moon, on the other hand, had long been nothing more than a dead speck in the sky.
The beauties of the world lived only in the minds of those with wide imagination. That was if they had anything left to imagine, for many were born into the ruins, perhaps their parents as well, just like Kyle and countless others...
***
[34 hours until death]
[Purification urgently required]
***
"...Well, thanks for the morning greetings. Good morning to you too," Kyle mused sarcastically, dragging his feet forward.
The slower he moved, the faster his death approached.
He began to funnel every scrap of strength into running, stumbling at each turn and injuring himself further. His injured palm struck the ground each time he pushed himself up, likely infected by now, each impact sending a sharp jolt of pain through him.
He clenched his teeth and pushed on. Eighty metres ahead, his leg buckled and he pitched forward into a large pit. He rolled to a stop, his back slamming into a hill of...
...Freshly killed beasts.
He stood up slowly with a deep scowl inside the dark hole. A sliver of light from above cut through the shadows, revealing over fifty bodies of Glassfang rats. The small creatures were each about the size of a grown man's fist.
'So many...?'
All their heads had been decapitated, though not by any raider. The cuts were jagged and rough, and the kills looked fresh, no more than a few minutes old.
His breath hitched. A spark of delight flickered in his eyes. The first thought that came to him was the sheer number of Essence Cores lying here. Enough to get him three pills comfortably without any condition. All he had to do was harvest them.
He set down his backpack and pulled out an iron picker he usually used to pry items from jammed cars.
Suddenly, a low but aggressive growl came from behind him, and a drop of liquid hit the ground. He froze at once, his eyes shifting slightly towards his back.
'Dammit!'
Only now did he remember to ask the question: who had killed so many Glassfang rats and eaten only their heads, as if keeping the rest in reserve?
It seemed he had stumbled into the boss chamber through the greatest stroke of bad luck.
Higher ranked creatures were known to eat both humans and their lower ranked kind to absorb their essence cores and advance to the next rank.
A breakthrough.
And with this many essence cores, if the boss was at the Enraged rank, then consuming them could push it into the next stage, a Dire.
Not to mention the extra prize: him. He was caught somewhere between the Foundation Purification Realm, though unstable.
Taking him in would grant a huge leap in power, especially since he was human. It might even push the creature dangerously close to reaching a Cursed rank.
It was at this moment he realised he had made a catastrophic mistake.
Badly.
'…Just why?'
He clenched his fists, blinking twice as the fear swelled in his chest.