Nick shot out of bed without even considering whether he was in a state to do so.
Or at least — he tried to.
The second he moved too fast, the small but sharp intake of breath was enough for him to wince in pain.
A sharp pain pierced through his chest, forcing him back with a grunt.
His lungs were still not fully healed after all. From what he could see, the rest of his body was fine, but his lungs still needed time.
"Shit—!" He cursed, clutching at his ribs.
He stood there for a moment, panting and catching his breath, staring at the ceiling again.
"The Whiteclaw Snake King might not have killed me… But Luna's gonna kill me when she sees me…"
She was already on edge when he last saw her, but this would send her way past the edge and into hysteria. He wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't already frantically looking for him, or any information related to him.
He remembered the look she gave him before he dropped her off at school.
He never wanted to see such a look again.
And now, it was well past dawn.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and took a moment to breathe.
"Okay," He muttered to himself.
"Okay. You're alive. You've been paid. The psychopath's gone. Time to head back to Luna before she feeds someone their own tongue in frustration."
He glanced around the room for anything wearable besides the thin robe he currently had on.
'Wait, where have my old clothes gone!? Those cost me a fortune!'
It was only just that he remembered he wasn't wearing the same thing he was before he fell unconscious.
'That Radiant Snake swallowed me… then… Oh god, oh fuck! Of course my clothes dissolved in the stomach acid—!'
The image of his unconscious, naked body being on view for all the War Beasts to gaze at nearly made him puke.
Especially that psychopath Meylin!
No wonder the looks she were giving him when she entered the room were so… odd.
Eventually, after a few minutes passed, he got over the mental trauma of his most private areas being exposed to everyone on the scene.
Which gave him a clear mind to think while he walked at a slow enough pace, that his lungs could handle, towards the teleporter.
'If that snake's stomach acid dissolved my clothes, then it most definitely should have at least dissolved my skin down to a puddle. But why am I completely fine then?'
The answer was obvious, at least to him.
To everyone else, they just chalked it down to the snake's stomach acid not being that strong after all.
It wasn't like they were engulfed in it to experience it.
'Vitaldrain.'
There wasn't any other answer — there couldn't be one.
That was the only way Nick could be in his current state after overexerting his body to the extreme and being swallowed by a Radiant Beast.
'But for Vitaldrain to work, I need to have killed the beast…'
This was what confused him.
The whole Beast Domain worked on the basis of giving all the benefits to the person who landed the last hit.
There was nothing like distributing it equally, or based on contribution to the beast's death.
His Soul Ability worked the same.
He'd only benefit from receiving the life force of his victim if he landed the last hit.
Nick's breath quickened.
…And the pain returned.
But he was too excited to care about it.
He willed his string of data to appear in his mind.
[Name: Nick Balls.
Rank: Altered.
Soul Ability: Vitaldrain
Evolution Requirement: 500 Soul Seeds.
Soul Star: 146/500
Soul Seed Distribution: 67 Mundane, 79 Awakened
Beast Armament: Awakened White Ox, Sabertooth Wolf, Whiteclaw Snake King.]
'R-Radiant Beast Armament…'
Nick felt so overstimulated that he collapsed to the ground, gathering the curious gazes of passerby, who quickly disregarded him with a sneer when the realised who he was.
But his excitement was valid — in fact it was probably the most tame he could be when finding out he somehow managed to swipe himself a Radiant Beast Armament.
If his lungs wouldn't give out if he hyperventilated even further, he would probably running laps around the entire War Beast Sanctuary in glee.
'He… Hehe… I have a Radiant Beast Armament now—!'
He looked maddened to any passerby now, making people think he'd finally gone insane.
Cough… cough.
But Nick composed himself before he embarrassed himself any further.
And prepared himself for the most important thing to come out of this.
Finding out the type of Beast Armament he had gained.
Nick knew at least the names and type of Beast Armament you could earn from the beasts that occupied the surroundings of War Beast Sanctuary.
But that was up to Mutant rank at beast.
When it came to Radiant Beasts, he knew next to nothing since they were usually all unique in nature.
Meaning the type of Beast Armament he'd earned could be anything.
'God, please shine your divine luck down on me for once and grant me my wish… Please please please please please be a Weapon…'
He clasped his hands together in mock prayer, something that had long become ancient tradition, along with the religions of old.
But he'd do whatever it took for his hopes to come true.
Even praying to the god, if he existed, that caused him so much pain and torment ever since entering the Beast Domain!
A moment passed as the string of data in his mind was quickly replaced by the information of the Beast Armament itself.
He'd close his eyes in preparation, but considering it was all inside his head…
[Beast Armament: Whiteclaw Snake King.
Beast Armament type: Weapon.]
'Oh.'
'My.'
'Fucking.'
'God…'
Nick stopped in his tracks and immediately dropped to the ground, kowtowing towards the earth itself.
'Oh thank you, you big, beautiful generous god! I take back everything I said about you!'
But Nick's excitement was short lived.
"Who's that I see prostrating himself in the middle of the square? It's the fucking waste of space of all people! Haha, what luck I have encountering you here."
A voice he dreaded hearing entered his ears.
'Beast Slayer…' He gritted his teeth.
'Nevermind. Fuck you, god.' He performed a mental middle finger to the sky.