"Help out!"
The lionare's roar cut through the air, but it was quickly drowned out by the shardlings' warped techno screeches—metallic, pulsing, growing sharper and more frenzied with each beat.
Cain heard the cry for help. He simply tilted his head, squinting, one hand cupped behind his ear and shouted back.
"What was that? Speak clearly."
Cain didn't budge, pretending to not hear the call, he just stood their watching.
His grandpa had made it clear. Kindness was a luxury, a game for the rich and the strong.
'Never help without a contract or payment. And here they are, expecting me to lend a hand out of the goodness of my heart.'
Barely parrying the strike, the panting pygmy elephant spoke, a touch of politeness could be heard from his voice.
"Friend, his tongue struggles in man-language. Excuse him."
His tone nasally yet fluent, for a beastman.
'This one looks reasonable.'
"How much?"
[Recording…]
Cain knew the etiquette of war and loot distribution.
'Either they tell me to scram, or I get a part.'
Hoping for the former, he waited. His thoughts drifted to the man who recalled his crime without so much as a flinch.
'Maybe I should be a criminal and kill them?'
'Fool. A crime record's a shackle. If you'll be a criminal, make sure you transform into god or something greater! Make the crime worth it.'
"Old man, don't interrupt my thoughts."
Cain realized he'd been rambling. He glanced back at the small elephant, waiting for some kind of answer.
"So?"
The elephant's trunk curled into a spiral, a clear sign of anxiousness and hesitation.
Seeing him with that pondering expression, Cain decided to back down to a visible distance.
'They might die any moment, I'm better off securing the area.'
Dozens of bee-sized drones flew from his backpack, each equipped with hypersensitive sensors to detect the slightest disturbance.
After setting up the surveillance, Cain decided to browse his terminal for more details about the creatures.
'Let's look how much money we can make with these shardlings.'
Perusing the online shops amidst the clangs and roars, he immediately checked out what could be looted from these creatures.
[Shardling Core]
[Weight: 2 kilograms]
[Extremely Poor Quality – Abysmal] [50 Silver]
[Visual Appraisal: In pieces, dims from time to time, low magical flow]
'So, I need to preserve it then? Interesting.'
After some scrolling, he found various core grades. At the end, it showed him the highest commonly traded grade.
[Standard Quality – Uniform] [30 Gold]
[Visual Appraisal: No visible cracks, smooth cuboidal shape, stable luminosity.]
'So, this all comes down to how it's harvested, huh? I better watch some how-to guides about these.'
Cain alternated between watching the videos tutorials on Social and flashing a money sign with his fingers, but the duo still weren't responding at all.
Lacerations, lavender bruises, and fresh blood marked their bodies as the two struggled to make a choice.
'Men die for wealth, birds die for food. I guess beastmen might be in the middle?'
As the commotion grew, more and more shardlings came alive from the ground..
'One. Two. Fifteen, huh. Now this looks like a pretty haul.'
The lionaire looked at Cain with pleading eyes.
'This is already the umpteenth time! Do they still think I'm a child?'
His response, thumb and index finger forming a circle, the other three fingers raised.
On the verge of breaking down, the lionare roared.
"Split!"
The feline was hurled like a kite, but hit the ground feet-first, steady and unshaken.
"Contract?"
Cain displayed his unique signature, marked by unique DNA and power signatures.
'I need to protect myself before making money.'
He didn't care if they lived or died. Every angle was already captured — crisp, brutal, and in full 360-degree 8K clarity.
"Later!"
Both of the beastmen roared in unison.
No hesitation, no doubt.
Cain counted it as a deal.
His fingers sparked — magic surged instantly.
Blind. Noise beam. A snap of white disorientation.
Confused for a moment, tried shaking of the disturbance to their sensing crystals.
Seeing the human, the biggest shardling threw the smaller one midair.
Boom!
Holoprojection. The illusion snapped.
He was gone.
A small device could only be found in his place.
Wind Acceleration. Weight Reduction.
Cain burst forward, foot skimming the ground for a split second before launching skyward.
His body coiled like a spring — then uncoiled with precision.
He hit the wall-like arm mid-stride, momentum carrying him up the vertical surface.
Each step landed with calculated impact, as if gravity had agreed to a brief truce.
Muscles taut, breath controlled, he unsheathed his sword midflight.
The sword thrummed, magic was injected to the blade.
Rotation and Vibration — transforming the sword into a heavy duty drill.
The shardling looked up, trying to process how a man could fly.
Crack — Cain didn't let it process at all.
The sensing crystal splintered, shards flicking off like glass tears.
Blinded, the shardling, rolled around and writhe in agony.
Seeing their brother in pain, the tunes of the shardlings started to change.
The largest one took pummeled down, killing it the injured kin on the spot and gaining a new arm.
'Figures, I knew they'd prey on each other but I didn't expect it to be so decisive.'
Looking around, Cain saw the elephant and lion duo drinking water and eating fruits. He didn't appreciate their small break at all.
"Hey! Am I going to handle all these?"
After catching their breath, the lionare and pygmy looked noticeably recharged.
Without a word, they split off. Each claiming a side beside Cain, forming a loose formation.
But neither dared approach the largest shardling towering at eight meters.
Whether out of caution or instinct, they left that one — and most of the remaining threat to Cain.
'Six? Still manageable. Let's try the smaller one first then.'
His blade morphed from a short sword to an estoc.
Cain chipped them down. Chunk by chunk — one pebble at a time.
'Is that the core? I need to gain more visual.'
Cain stayed sharp, analyzing the scene, he was still wary of the two.
'Looks like their being careful not to break the core as well.'
Slowing down, he pierced with measured nicking.
The core started exposing itself more and more.
'Let's see what we got here.'
No flickering nor visible cracks, its light was like the shimmer of cash.
'Jackpot! Even these small ones also got the goodies!'
Cain watched the beastmen, each taking on two shardlings with steady, deliberate movements.
'Let me angle it where they wouldn't see it.'
Pulsing with energy, the fist of the lionare tore shardlings with precision.
On the other hand, the pygmy's staff was transfused with hues of sepia.
'Must be rage and defensive primal ki, maybe I can try it next time.'
Titan Sensors — Cain's own spell, designed to detect a wide range of energy movements.
'It's still limited to rudimentary elements, but it's a solid start.'
He deliberately slowed his pace, trying to learn something from their combat style.
Cain's eyes could see the flow of Ki, he tried to mimic it with a miniscule amount of success.
"So, it's infusing into the muscles… makes sense."
Thoughts flashed one after another through his mind.
Lost in his own calculations, the pygmy's staff glow intensified.
Suddenly.
The two-ton elephant barreled straight for the weakest target that Cain was trying to hide.
'Has this pygmy gone stupid!?'
"Hey! Wait —"
He saw the fissure bloom, a jagged scar across pure value.
Too late. A flash. Then a crunch.
Shatter!
'No. No. No!'
Fine dust suffused the air, the energy of the core was released.
"That was —"