Super Gene

Han Sen and Yi Dong Mu took a few steps back, watching the silver and metal egg with high alert. It was only an egg, but it discharged great torrents of electricity – it certainly wasn’t normal.

If a creature did reside inside the egg, even as a newborn, they suspected it might possess terrible, powerful abilities.

Crack! Crack!

More and more cracks began to run down the sides of the egg, until a plate of the shell was smacked open. Inside, a fluffy silver head was trying to poke its way out of its shell. The eyes of the creature were only half-open.

The creature was attempting to claw its way out of the eggshell.

”It’s not a snake?” Han Sen and Yi Dong Mu both froze, having believed it was going to be a baby of the silver-eye ice snake king. This was not what they had expected. The creature that was trying to pry its way out was coated in a silver fur, and it had long, sharp ears. It was a little fox, and its eyes burned with the passion of a phoenix.

The small animal finally managed to break free and leave the egg. Although it was freshly hatched, it was about the same size as an adult tanuki. Its fur was lush and full, and a majestic tail swept the shell behind it. It looked as if it had been built to thrive in the harsh, icy environment it had been born in.

Plop!

After exiting the eggshell, the creature was unable to stand steady. With unsteady limbs, it dropped to the ground. The fall must have hurt it, because it screamed twice.

”Oh hell! Why does something like this exist here, in the snake valley? And I’ve never heard of foxes hatching from eggs.” Han Sen gave it a perplexed look.

Yi Dong Mu then seemed to move, dagger in hand. Like a gust of wind, he started rushing towards the weakened animal that was still spread out on the ground in pain. He targeted one of its half-open eyes and attempted to kill it.

But Han Sen took a few steps back, instead; this scene was all-too familiar for him. When the golden roarer was born, he had played the role Yi Dong Mu was now fulfilling.

Ding!

Yi Dong Mu was a talented assassin, and although his attacks were unpredictable, they were lethal. The tip of his dagger had been driven directly into the silver fox’s eyelid. But the knife was stopped in its place, its bloodlust greeted by the sound of hammered steel. The eyelid was made of metal!

Howl!

The silver-fox cried out, but Yi Dong Mu was undeterred, and he tried to push the blade in with greater strength. But before he could do anything more, a lightning bolt arced to the dagger in his hands, and from the metal of his weapon, an incredible current of electricity surged through his body.

Pang!

The silver-fox fell onto the floor again, while Yi Dong Mu was flung away. So strong was the current that even his armor had been blackened. The white wings that he wore were now charred, with their plumage reduced to a few sparse, smoldering feathers.

This time the damage was even greater. When Yi Dong Mu hit the ground, he lay crumpled, unable to move, and had Han Sen not been able to detect his heartbeat, he would have thought him dead.

”Holy smokes... this thing is the child of a super creature!” Han Sen felt a chill run down his spine, as he confirmed that this creature was indeed not of the sacred-blood variety. Yi Dong Mu possessed great power, and with the force he had thrust into his dagger-strike, there should have been no way the creature could remain damaged, if was just a newborn sacred-blood creature.

When Han Sen fought against the golden roarer, the same thing had happened. But the First Shelter’s super creatures only dealt brute, raw damage. They lacked the skills and intricacies of other super creatures Han Sen had later come to know. And when he did go against the golden roarer, he hadn’t been as badly hurt as Yi Dong Mu was now.

The previously docile silver-fox was now angry. It pulled itself onto its paws and quickly followed his aggressor, running to where Yi Dong Mu now lay crumpled on the ground. It seemed like the silver-fox wanted to reverse what had just happened.

Han Sen ran over to the severely injured Yi Dong Mu and attempted to pull him away. Yi Dong Mu was one of his biggest clients, and one who never haggled for a bargain. If he was to die here in such a matter, that would be a bad break for his business!

Han Sen pulled Yi Dong Mu to the trail that led outside. The silver-fox attempted to pursue its intruders, but it had only just been born, and was still weak and unable to fully control its body. So when it went after them, it could barely walk straight, let alone maintain the pace it would have needed to keep up with them.

Han Sen did not dare do anything aggressive towards the silver fox; he only dragged Yi Dong Mu to the exit. He dreaded the thought of making himself the enemy of a super creature’s baby.

He knew that these infants could be strange, especially those that were born from a mother’s belly. From what he understood, those that came from an egg were quite different.

It was too early for Han Sen to assess the specific differences, but the little golden roarer’s flesh did not decompose like most super creatures. And when Angel ate its flesh, she gained an evolution of her abilities. As great as this was, it was a unique circumstance offered by a unique creature; it wasn’t something that could be replicated or relied upon to happen again.

Han Sen thought he could easily lose the tail of the silver-fox, at the speed it was giving chase. Upon exiting the ice cave, he dragged Yi Dong Mu for a distance of ten miles. Looking around to determine whether he was being followed, he thought it a good time to observe the severity of Yi Dong Mu’s wounds.

They was very bad. In several areas, his skin had frayed and torn open in response to the power of the electric shock. In many places, his skin had turned black and green. It was fortunate he was wearing armor, for if he hadn’t, he would have died the second he was shocked. Although he wasn’t dead, he was critically injured.

”I am such a nice guy, saving you from certain death. I’ll keep you to this, so that you can repay the debt sometime in the future.” Han Sen applied some medicine to the wounds of the incapacitated Yi Dong Mu. As he tended to his injuries, he said, ”It’s a shame that I’m being forced to use my pricier salves on you, as well. When you wake up, I won’t hesitate to give you the bill.”

”Argh!” Yi Dong Mu came to screaming, flinching from the pain. Although later effective, application of the medicine Han Sen was using stung terribly.

”Stop screaming! Aren’t you a man of some bravery? If you can’t suffer this, how can you expect to be a person of great deeds in the future?” Han Sen’s bedside manner left a little to be desired.

”You didn’t even give me some anesthetic before you poured that hellfire on my wounds! Why don’t you give it a go, eh? We’ll see whether you scream, asshole.” Yi Dong Mu’s face was pale with the pain, and his lips trembled. With little regard for civility under the current circumstances, he couldn’t help but swear.

”I’m sorry, but I didn’t bring anesthetic with me. This is all I have, so what else do you expect me to do? Just bludgeon your way through the pain; at least you aren’t in risk of dying.” Han Sen cleared his throat and got to applying more of the salve on the wounds he hadn’t attended to yet.

”Aargh!” Yi Dong Mu screamed again. He grabbed Han Sen’s leg and bit down on it.

”Aaargh!” When Han Sen was in the ice cave, he had put his armor away when he heard Yi Dong Mu first enter. He felt a savage pain from every tooth that now dug into his calf, and he couldn’t help but accompany Yi Dong Mu in writhing in agony.

”Let go of me! Are you a goddamn shark!? You just bite and don’t let go!” Han Sen pushed his biter’s head, but the pain Yi Dong Mu was suffering from was too much, and every aspect of him rattled. Afraid he might end up biting his own tongue off, he tried biting into the nearest item he could – which just happened to be Han Sen’s leg.

Han Sen continued crying in pain, so he slapped Yi Dong Mu’s head numerous times. When Yi Dong Mu finally let go, he rolled over on the icy ground. It was as if his entire body had been drained of energy, and he was left gasping and wheezing on the floor for recovery.

When Han Sen looked at his leg, he saw blood seep from two teeth marks. Just as he was about to shout at the man beside him, he witnessed a silver shadow heading his way. It was the silver fox.