"Nice..." Aiden slowly unclenched his fist, his gaze drifting toward the antelopes resting several dozen meters away.
They had been watching him ever since he entered the clearing. One raised its head.
Another flicked its ears, its dark eyes fixed warily on the strange human who had just crushed a beetle beneath his foot.
Aiden studied them for a moment.
An antelope... What would he gain from its soul essence? Speed was the obvious possibility.
Perhaps enhanced endurance. Better reflexes. Stronger cardiovascular efficiency. Maybe heightened awareness or improved balance. There was no telling what trait his Sovereign of Souls would extract.
The possibilities were interesting. But Aiden quickly dismissed the thought.
There was one obvious problem. He currently had no firearm.
His body was still that of an ordinary human. Even after obtaining Titan Strength, he hadn’t yet determined how much force his body could safely withstand. The trait could allow him to generate an abnormal amount of physical power, but it didn’t magically turn his bones and tendons into steel.
An adult antelope, meanwhile, was fast, agile, and surprisingly powerful.
More importantly, it was extremely alert.
There was almost no chance of Aiden simply walking up to one and killing it.
The moment he approached, it would run. And catching it would be another problem entirely.
Even if he somehow managed to close the distance, killing an adult antelope with a kitchen knife would be far more difficult than crushing a tiny insect.
He could perhaps construct a trap. But that would take time. And there was another problem.
This wasn’t a hunting ground. It was university property.
The forest existed primarily for ecological research and environmental conservation. The antelopes weren’t his to kill.
If he were caught slaughtering one, he could face disciplinary action, a fine, or potentially even legal consequences.
Aiden almost found the thought amusing. Getting punished by the university for killing an antelope...
His lips twitched.
Tomorrow, the university might not even exist. Still, that wasn’t enough reason to do something pointless.
He didn’t even know what trait he’d obtain. It could be useful. It could be mediocre.
It could even be something completely irrelevant to his immediate survival.
The potential reward simply wasn’t worth the time and risk.
Besides... He already had a better target.
Aiden glanced at the antelopes one final time, "Forget it."
He wasn’t interested. The animals continued watching him warily as he turned away.
A dung beetle was insignificant. A salamander was insignificant. Even if someone discovered that he had killed one, the consequences would be negligible.
An antelope was different. It was large enough to attract attention, difficult to kill discreetly, and valuable enough that the university would certainly notice its disappearance.
Most importantly, Aiden had more important things to do.
He needed a salamander. Aiden checked his personal terminal. Several hours remained before the animals he’d purchased were delivered.
He wasn’t going to waste them. According to the forestry researchers, salamanders favored cool, damp environments.
Streams, shaded ravines. Wet leaf litter. Rotting logs. Moss-covered rocks.
With that in mind, Aiden left the antelope clearing and headed deeper into the forest.
The environment gradually changed around him. The trees became denser. The canopy blocked more of the afternoon sunlight, casting long shadows across the forest floor.
The air grew noticeably more humid. Leaves softened beneath his shoes.
A faint breeze carried the earthy scent of wet soil and decaying vegetation.
Then he heard it. The quiet sound of running water.
Aiden followed the noise until he reached a narrow stream winding between the trees.
He stopped and his eyes swept across the surroundings.
Rocks, wet leaves, fallen branches, moss-covered logs, exposed roots.
’Perfect.’
With that, he began searching.
Minutes passed but he got nothing. He crouched beside a fallen log and carefully lifted one end, still nothing.
He checked beneath several large rocks, moved farther downstream.
But there was no salamander, he knew they’d be hard to find, but this was a bit too much and he had limited time...
Aiden exhaled. "Where are you hiding?"
He continued searching. Unlike the dung beetle, a salamander wasn’t something he could locate simply by looking for obvious signs.
They were small. They blended into their surroundings. And they were perfectly comfortable remaining hidden.
Aiden checked beneath another rotting log, he searched a patch of wet moss, he examined the space between several exposed roots. Still nothing.
At one point, he spotted something dark beneath a leaf. His eyes brightened.
He reached down and picked it up but it was only a piece of wet bark.
Aiden stared at it. Then sighed. "This is more troublesome than I expected."
He tossed the bark aside. As he continued searching, another thought crossed his mind.
Aiden’s brows furrowed. ’I don’t even know if I’ll get the regenerative trait.’
A salamander possessed several biological adaptations. Regeneration was the obvious one. But it wasn’t necessarily the only one.
Some species also possessed chemical defenses, producing irritating or toxic secretions through their skin.
His Sovereign of Souls might recognize regeneration as the most valuable trait.
Or it might choose something else entirely.
’I could get regeneration... Or poison secretion.’
Aiden clicked his tongue. "Well..."
He crouched beside the stream and dipped his fingers briefly into the cool water.
"I can only hope." He stood and continued searching.
Another few minutes passed. After about an hour or two, Aiden lost count of how much time had passed...
But at some point something moved. Barely but Aiden, being ever attentive froze so it won’t notice him...
His eyes shifted toward a cluster of damp leaves beside the stream. ’There.’
Something dark had shifted beneath them. Taking a deep breath, Aiden lowered himself slowly.
His gaze sharpened as he looked at a small amphibian lay partially concealed beneath the foliage.
Its dark, glossy body blended almost perfectly with the wet earth and decaying leaves. It was a salamander, exactly what he was looking for...
Feeling relieved, Aiden’s lips curved faintly. ’Finally.’
Despite being relieved by the appearance of this salamander, he didn’t rush, he didn’t want to blow it after all.
Slowly, he moved his hand toward it, making sure his movement was out of the salamander’s line of sight.
Fortunately for him, the salamander remained motionless. Perhaps it hadn’t noticed him.
But then its body shifted. It attempted to crawl deeper beneath the leaves. Aiden’s hand moved instantly and pinned it before it could escape.
The creature struggled weakly beneath his fingers.
Aiden looked down at it. Without hesitation, He drew the kitchen knife.
One quick motion and the salamander went still.
For a moment, the forest became strangely quiet.
Then...
[Soul Essence Absorbed.]
Aiden’s eyes sharpened as another notification appeared.
[You’ve gained the Soul Trait, Regenerative Reconstruction.]
[Source: Salamander Soul Essence.]
[Type: Passive Biological Trait.]
Aiden’s expression changed as the next message appeared.
[Description: The user’s cells inherit the salamander’s extraordinary regenerative potential, dramatically accelerating the repair and reconstruction of damaged biological tissue.]
[Minor wounds heal rapidly.]
[More severe injuries, including damaged muscles, tendons, nerves, and organs, can gradually reconstruct themselves.]
[With sufficient mastery, the trait may eventually allow the regeneration of lost limbs and severely damaged body parts.]
Aiden’s eyes widened slightly. ’Regeneration...’
He read the description again. Another notification appeared.
[Drawback: Regeneration consumes enormous quantities of the user’s biological resources.]
[Severe injuries require massive amounts of energy from food and nutrients.]
[If the user’s reserves are insufficient, regeneration slows dramatically.]
[The trait cannot create matter from nothing.]
Aiden’s expression became thoughtful. ’That made sense.’
Regeneration wasn’t some miraculous ability that violated the laws of biology. His body still needed the raw materials required to rebuild itself.
If he lost a massive amount of tissue, something had to replace it. Food maybe even mana... Which was bound to be abundant once the apocalypse descends...
The more severe the injury, the greater the demand. Then another message appeared.
[Additional Limitation: Regeneration does not eliminate pain. The user can heal through an injury while still experiencing the full sensation of it.]
Aiden stared at the final line. For several seconds, he said nothing.
Regeneration was very important, thinking about something, Aiden instinctively touched his arm as memories surfaced; Broken bones, deep wounds, torn flesh and the screams of injured comrades.
People desperately searching for medicine while monsters closed in around them.
He remembered comrades who had lost arms or legs and had been forced to continue fighting anyway.
He remembered how precious medical supplies had become during the early apocalypse.
Aiden lowered his hand. ’This is worth far more than I expected. The trait has dramatically increased my survivability.’
But the drawback was just as important. He couldn’t afford to become reckless simply because he could heal. If he suffered a severe injury while starving, dehydrated, or severely malnourished, regeneration could consume the very resources his body needed to survive.
That was especially true in the absence of mana, like on Earth before the apocalypse. Under those conditions, regeneration was bound entirely by the body’s available resources. It could only repair what the body had enough nutrients and energy to rebuild.
But when mana was abundant, regeneration became something far more extraordinary, it became something almost magical.
To an observer, it would look as though wounds were healing from thin air. In reality, his body was simply converting the surrounding mana into the energy and materials required for regeneration.
The process was faster, more efficient, and far less dependent on his physical reserves.
But there was one thing mana could not take away.
The pain remained.
Aiden knew exactly what that meant. Regeneration didn’t make him invincible. That much was pretty obvious... It simply gave his body the ability to repair damage that should have permanently crippled or killed him.
That distinction mattered. Still... Aiden looked at the notification one final time.
A slow smile spread across his face. ’What’s a little pain that I can’t handle?’