Luckily, the Kysansha were humanoid below the neck. Mixing and matching the armor scraps he scavenged, for the first time Keith wore protective attire. It was simple and crude, but perhaps the thin armor would mean the difference between life and death.

Layered over his original clothing was a type of light armor made from a beast’s carapace. It was probably made from one of the desert scorpions he’d killed in the past. The multiple carapaces were layered one on top of another, and in between each layer was a small amount of padding. Like a vest, he strapped it on over his shirt. It was a tad small but it was good enough.

As for his arms and legs, it was quite similar. Instead of an insect’s carapace, however, it seemed to be tanned beast hides. They were studded with metal, almost like metal banding that would be attached to the rim of a wooden shield. From his forearm moving up to the middle knuckle of his fingers was a square shaped attachment, probably used for deflecting blades. Attached to it were straps which wrapped around the arm and connected to gloves. But since he didn’t have any gloves, the straps wrapped around his arms. Where his knuckles were, small spikes made from fangs protruded.

The same type of attachment wrapped around his boots. The only difference was that on his calves were claws. If he were to use a reverse kick, they would rip into the muscles of his opponent. These attachments were interesting; however, Keith wasn’t sure if he’d use them. They would probably be a last resort if he had no weapons, of which he now had quite a few basic weapons, even if they weren’t exactly top quality.

Donning his cloak once again, it hid is newly equipped protective gear. Lightly jumping, he tested its weight. As expected of light armor, it wasn’t too encumbering. Although he could feel its weight it wasn’t so heavy that it would hamper his movement and endurance.

During the time Keith focused on picking out the armor he’d use after scavenging from corpses, the War Beast simply stared at him. From time to time it would glance towards the ground where its spiked collar lay. It was cut cleanly in half.

Those spikes were its worst nightmare. Even though it prided itself on its strong physical abilities, If it dared disobey all the Kysansha had to do was pull on the chain attached to it and they would drive deep into its neck severing the major arteries. It never thought that one day it would be freed of its symbol of slavery. Sadly, it felt no joy. While the corpses surrounding it were only a fraction of their species, they were all dead. Even though it was freed, the rest of its species was still enslaved. There were probably next to none of its kind still free in this world.

Keith simply ignored the War Beast. He didn’t particularly feel any kinship to it. It had only momentarily reminded him of his past. Rather, he was surprised it didn’t go berserk and try to kill him the moment it was free. It wouldn’t have been able to kill him while he was unconscious because its chains were connected to another War Beast corpse. Had he not set it free, it probably would have never escaped.

Without a second thought, Keith once again set off for the Vahar’Gal Mountains. He hadn’t even walked for a few feet before he heard disproportionate steps behind him. The War Beast had leaped and then trailed behind him. Its steps were awkward because its hind legs were shorter than the front legs… or hands. It was ape-like after all. It didn’t matter if it used the legs or arms, each were powerfully built. When it moved, it seemingly hopped with its hind legs, and landed on its knuckles, swinging itself forward, before repeating the hopping motion.

“What are you following me for?” Keith said bewilderedly. He was especially confused as to why the War Beast was seemingly unafraid of the aura emitted from Unholy Incarnation.

He didn’t think that he would suddenly be followed. He killed others of this War Beasts species right in front of it, over a hundred of them. It shouldn’t have any good will towards him even if he set it free. At the most, they should have gone their separate ways. He would have never thought that he suddenly gained a companion.

The War Beast sat on its hind legs and stared at him. Keith could have sworn he saw a weird light flash through its eyes. Was it a mutation? Was it more intelligent than others of its kind? It was different than its kin, being only half the size of the others and differently colored. Their also wasn’t such a vast difference in size between the legs and arms of the others unlike this one so a mutation wasn’t out of the question.

“Alright, fine… You can come with me. But if you are coming with me you need a name.”

Keith thought for a moment. He didn’t particularly care for names. Whether good or bad, he would usually just use the one that popped into his head first, just like in Elena’s case.

“Alright, from now on your name is Storm. Your fur reminds me of the red explosive sand I encountered in a sandstorm. Who knows, despite your small size, I bet your raw physical strength is quite explosive as well.”

When Keith came up with the name and called it out, Storm nodded his head vigorously as if trying to assert that he understood his name. It grunted, seemingly in approval.

“Alright, then let’s go. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Keith once again resumed a steady pace. This time, with Storm in tow, he didn’t grunt or make many noises. There was only the delayed noise of his disproportional swinging motions he used to move.

“Status,” Keith said. He had not checked The System yet since his fight with the Kysansha and their War Beasts. There should be a decent change.

…

Name: Keith

Hp: 3471 Mp: 1683

Hp Regeneration: 362/min Mp Regeneration: 65/min

Strength: 326 Agility: 349 Spirituality: 405

Vitality: 293 Intellect: 365 Resilience: 215

Current Weapon(s): Curved Iron Sword

Equipment: Ring of Mara’s Faithful

Currency: 361 Low Grade Mana Gems

250 Middle Grade Mana Gems

1259 Soul Points

Skills: Passive

[The System: Lv. Max] [Soul Eater: Lv. 1] [Unholy Incarnation: Lv. 2]

[Yin Eyes: Lv. 1] [Reaper’s Touch Lv. 1]

Skills: Active

[Vessel of the Damned: Lv. Max]

[Soul Blade: Lv. 1] [Soul Manipulation: Lv. 1]

…

“Hmm, there was a decent increase. But resilience and vitality seem to increase rather slowly. Is there a limit to my status? Even more importantly, why can I move so easily despite my strength growing so quickly?”

Keith observed his status. Nothing was out of the ordinary for the most part. But regardless of how fast his strength increased, he should be able to notice it. Normally, if someone suddenly had a rapid increase in their physical strength, they would accidentally break things.

He hadn’t experienced this, or at least he didn’t think he did. But then again there hadn’t been any situation’s that required him to control this physical strength. He simply smashed his way through anything that obstructed his path.

Rather, the more pressing question was why his vitality and resilience hardly increased at all. Even though most of the souls power went to healing his internal injuries, that shouldn’t affect the stats he gained, it should only affect the amount of soul points acquired.

“Oh well, whether or not my body has a limit to the amount of status points it absorbs is not relevant. I’ll deal with any problems as they come. Now, it’s time to figure out what you are.” Keith said as his gaze turned to Storm who was quietly following him.

Activating his appraise function of The System, Keith looked at Storms status. His brows slightly knit together upon what he saw. It had to be a mutation…. Or evolution, or something, there had to be something to explain this.

“You, do you take pride in your fists so much you think they can smash through anything?” Keith said exasperatedly.

Apparently, Storm was a variant of the Stone-Fist Ape. That was all he knew. If he still didn’t have any information even after buying it from the soul shop, then this race must be quite reclusive.

From what he could gather by observing Storm’s Status, he was indeed a variant of the Stone-Fist Ape race. That was a given considering he looked nothing like his kin. Supposedly, according to the status of Storm he was quite sturdy.

Storm was half the size of his kind. He was not able to use magic instinctively. He couldn’t use it at all. But in return his body was extremely resistant against both physical and magic attacks. He was essentially a walking tank. His physical abilities were compressed into his small body. It was concentrated mostly into his fists.

When he looked up to this point, Keith nearly felt a cold sweat drip down his back. He was only making a casual remark. But if Storm were capable of growing in strength rapidly, he would not want to be on the receiving end of those fists which would without a doubt crush him into a mere puddle of flesh and sinew. With the ability to shrug off most attacks, if Storm ever grew stronger, he would be able to waltz right into a fight and come out unscathed.

The lifeforms of a mutated realm were indeed terrifying…