After pondering for a moment, Alex sprang into action. He brought his hands together, and a radiant white energy erupted from his palms, forming a sphere in the center. After infusing it with energy for three minutes, he suddenly began to feel a tightness in his chest.
"It seems this is my limit now. I can't push my soul any further."
Having used twenty percent of his spiritual energy, it appeared that the first contract had begun to activate, compensating for the lost essence.
"Alright, now it's the moment of truth."
Based on his knowledge of his target, its abilities, and behavioral patterns, he could create a predator. The more accurate the information, the stronger the predator would be, along with the amount of spirit used. As a well-informed human, Alex had extensive knowledge about people, which could be described as nearly perfect.
After focusing for a few minutes, a large cocoon began to take shape. As the sphere of spirit entered the cocoon, it suddenly exploded, revealing a young man standing six and a half feet tall, with a muscular build and pale skin that made him look almost like a corpse, his long white hair cascading down to his shoulders.
"The ultimate predator of humanity... a vampire."
He smiled as he looked at the figure before him, realizing it was the key to his survival against what was to come. The vampire wore a long, closed black cloak that covered his body, giving him an aura reminiscent of a character from a medieval tale.
"Alright, it's time to examine his abilities."
He was filled with excitement; even though he was the one creating the predator and would control it, he had no control over the types of abilities it possessed.
"This is incredible!" he exclaimed loudly, hardly able to believe his eyes. Regeneration, super strength, super speed, enhanced reflexes, hypnotism, blood control, and shapeshifting—all of these powers were astounding.
He couldn't believe how powerful each of these abilities was, especially the blood control and shapeshifting. The blood control allowed him to create weapons and forms from his own blood and that of others, while shapeshifting enabled him to become anything, although currently, it only granted him the ability to form bat-like wings.
"Good heavens, this is a bit over the top, isn't it?"
Now he was overwhelmed with joy; his contract could create six predators simultaneously, though he could only summon one at a time. However, he could utilize the abilities of any of the predators he had summoned.
He felt that this ability couldn't reach such a level without the souls involved.
Suddenly, a loud explosion shattered his thoughts, drawing his attention outside. He rushed to the balcony and saw various monsters marching through the streets, attacking people. It seemed many individuals had used one of the basic contracts and were fighting back, but there were a few who hadn't, and they were being slaughtered and devoured.
"It seems things have begun."
As he thought this, he dismissed the vampire. Despite its power, he felt he could survive using the abilities he possessed from the predator.
"I'll conceal him for now so I can obtain a card that will enable me to tip the scales in dangerous situations."
He contemplated his next move.
Upon dismissing the predator, a blood-red bat tattoo appeared on his right arm. The tattoo was somewhat pale.
"Possession."
He felt an immense power coursing through him. He realized he was now a machine designed for killing. Thousands of methods for eliminating foes flooded his mind, along with the information on how to utilize his new abilities.
"It seems I can use these powers as if I were born with them. This is quite convenient; if I had to learn from scratch, I'd be in trouble."
After grasping his new capability, he devised a plan to head to the university. Larsen University was the largest and most advanced in the country, and it was also where his childhood friend studied.
Alex leaped from the balcony. The height would have killed anyone else, but now, possessing abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans, he could easily survive.
He felt the wind rushing past him as he fell. Looking around, he saw various monsters attacking humans. There were three types of monsters. The first resembled an orc, standing two and a half meters tall, with yellow skin, goat-like horns, and a muscular body adorned with fat. These creatures wielded various primitive weapons, such as swords and axes. The second type had four arms and a frail body, with claws that extended half a meter long; it appeared to be a killing machine straight out of a horror movie. The third type was a creature with the head of a snake and the body of a tiger, covered in scales from head to toe.
Upon landing, one of the orc-like creatures charged straight at him. Its massive frame radiated a sense of oppression as it swung its serrated sword with all its might.
Alex leaped out of the way, easily dodging the attack; the orc's movements were painfully slow in his eyes.
"Alright, it seems our speed and reaction times differ drastically."
After evading the orc's strike, Alex assessed the opponent before him. The orc, furious at his evasion, lunged at him with surprising speed for such a large creature, raising its sword to cleave the little target in half.
Seeing the incoming attack in slow motion, Alex curled his hand, reshaping it into a knife-like form. He moved with such speed that the orc could only see a blur. He darted towards the orc, and when he was right in front of it, he swiped his hand across its neck. The orc only realized something was wrong when the world around it started to spin, and it caught a glimpse of its headless body falling to the ground.
He stared at the corpse before him.
"Great strength, but its speed is slow, so it poses no threat to me at the moment."
A loud explosion caught his attention. A hundred meters away, a girl in a slightly tattered white dress and with long black hair cascading over her shoulders was fighting off two of the four-armed creatures. The creatures, black as ink, were attacking the girl with claws that tore apart everything in their path.