The massive hands holding the rift could only expand it to half a meter long and thirty centimeters wide, yet the sheer alien nature of it disoriented everyone around. People on the road screamed in terror, abandoning their cars and fleeing for their lives.
And then, suddenly, a figure emerged from the swirling blackness of the void.
It was small—no more than half a meter tall—but it looked fierce and dangerous. Its green, slimy skin was covered in dark spots and odd holes, as though it were a reptilian nightmare born from someone's darkest imagination. Its head was long and smooth, with no nose and deep, black eyes that stared coldly. Stretching across its face was an enormous mouth bristling with sharp, uneven teeth like a crocodile's. Horn-like spikes curved backward from its skull, twitching as if they possessed a life of their own. Though its legs were short, they appeared thickly muscled, ready to unleash a powerful leap at any moment. Everything about it screamed: This creature was built to hunt.
Falling from such a height should have injured it—or at least stunned it—but the beast landed on all fours without so much as a whimper. It rose, turning its grotesque head side to side, as if surveying the chaos and savoring the fear around it.
They were interdimensional man-eating creatures!
"It's a Greenscale Reaver!" someone in the crowd screamed in horror.
According to the Dimensional Codex Of Beasts, this particular lifeform was the lowest category of dimensional monsters. But it had a terrifying characteristic—it never hunted alone!
Sure enough, as soon as the first reptilian horror landed, another followed, then a third. The creatures' waddling, slimy crawl seemed comical at first, but whenever they locked eyes on a victim, they launched themselves forward with shocking speed, jaws gaping, ready to tear prey apart.
"Arghhh!!!" A man screamed. He swiftly drew the gun strapped to his waist and aimed at the reptilian abomination.
"Bang!"
The sound of gunfire rang out over the already-chaotic street. The place had become a living nightmare. Four or five of these diminutive monsters now roamed among fleeing citizens, killing and devouring their internal organs without leaning out a single internal organs—like wolves among sheep.
One of the creatures sprang at Chris.
Chris's eyes went wide, and his mind blanked in sheer panic. All those lessons from textbooks—grappling techniques, theoretical evacuation procedures—were meaningless against the beast's inhuman agility and chilling hunger. At only sixteen years old, with cells that were just starting to evolve, Chris felt utterly outmatched.
But at that very moment, a pair of skinny yet strong hands shoved Chris aside, knocking him away from the leaping creature.
Chris recognized that silhouette, even in the midst of this horror.
It was Miles!
...
"Bam!"
Miles kicked Chris aside forcefully with his left leg, using the momentum, he clenched his fist, twisted his waist and punched heavily with all his might at the Greenscale Reaver.
Although he was much slower than the monster as he had just become a Level one Super-soldier. However, the Greenscale Reaver had leapt to the air and was unable to dodge in mid-air.
In addition, Miles had caught it completely off guard, punching his fist directly to the skull of the monster.
"Bang!"
It was as though a huge, juicy watermelon had exploded. Red blood and grayish brain matter splattered across the air, staining Miles' cloth and arms as well as the ground. The rest of the body landing directly beneath his feet.
"Fuck!"
Miles cursed—not because of the gruesome scene but because of the terrible pain that attacked his arms!
He felt as though his wrist had dislocated and his finger bones had been rearranged to pieces. He even saw that the flesh on his knuckles had been peeled off, revealing white blood cells.
He was simply too weak at this moment.
Suddenly Miles narrowed his eyes, their tea-colored irises darkening until they were nearly black.
He felt his skin trembled and a suction force activated. The blood, brain matter and flesh on him were sucked dry of their nutrients. as they turned into useless fluid.
[1 unit genetic material absorbed.]
Without hesitation, Miles bent as he touched the corpse beneath his feet. Thousand of tendrils, escaped his palm as a suction force activated.
Instantly, the Greenscale Reaver body shriveld slightly. Even after draining every single bit of nutrients within, the body still remained intact and only seemed a bit malnourished.
Miles removed his palm and the tendrils retracted back into his palm.
[5 unit genetic nutrients absorbed.]
An unknown heat seeped into his skin like a fog as his cells absorbed the genetic nutrient from the dead monster's remains into his body.
His cells roared as they devoured the nutrient in a frenzy, like a group of old starving men suddenly seeing a naked young girl.
His muscles trembled and his bones crackled and popped as they became stronger. Even his veins seem to expand as blood pumped more easily through his entire body.
Miles looked at the torn skin on his knuckles and as he willed it, the would began healing and the skin regenerating. Although it was slow, the fast that it was healing at a rate visible to the naked eyes.
This was Miles's talent—Absorption!
His heart pounded in anticipation. In his past life, he was a soldier who had served his country for 2 decades but had been sent home due to an accident that affected his both legs. The government claimed it wasn't work related and hence, abandoned him on the streets to fend for himself.
No, retirement fund, no medical care, nothing.
However, this right here is a second chance. Moreover, he actually has the talent to reach the top of this world.
As he gazed upon the Greenscaled Reaver's lifeless body, Miles felt a surge of confidence. If ten more of these creatures fell to him, he could conceivably reach 20% in his nuclear pulse activation. The thought ignited a long-forgotten excitement within him.