The Fallen Death Dog

"What the!?".

The man's feet jolted in agony, a trail of fresh blood flowing to its heels; he jerked his leg and stepped away from Cain, whose entire body was glowing in the shade of eerie Darkness. The man saw Cain straighten his body, looking down in the process. He knew better what that was.

Darkness follows; it engulfed everyone's vision in a brief moment, invoking a sense of fear trapped inside an endless darkness that wrecked their mind, the moment when Cain awoke his power. Beneath him, the shadows expanded and connected to each other, creating a massive network that temporarily halted the world.

An intimidating howl shook the ground. The howl was soul-piercing; it made the hyenas cower in fright, and the man lowered his guard, prompting the kid to escape and stand behind Cain.

The boy stood on guard, clutching his chest while staring at the figure of Cain, who was still in a daze. From the bottom of his heart, joy sprouted, feeling happy that someone who helped him met his fate and awoke the power as a Resonator.

As someone who was born within a renowned family, the boy knew well what the status is if awake as a resonator. Even in his family tree, many of them possessed a tremendous strength that could make the world envy them.

Except for him, deemed with weak physicality, the boy desperately trained to be wounded and exhausted for a few days; he could only attempt to spread his mind, opening the window to the finite knowledge his family had.

He was arbitrarily involved in this situation because of his reckless attempt to act foolishly as a Hero beyond his reach without finding out the risk—truly out of his character.

'Big brother, you are amazing!?'. The moment he said those words, all shadows within the surroundings swayed. An eerie thumping sign of birth echoed within their ears as the figure of a beast emerged from beneath Cain's shadow.

The body was clad in pitch-black fur reminiscent of endless night. Its four legs were firm and strong, leaking out black smoke that seemed blended with the shadow beneath him. A pair of fierce blue eyes glow in the Darkness, hinting at an unnatural intellect that goes beyond its mere animalistic instinct.

At the same time as the Dog appeared, Cain's gaze lifted and stared straight with a faint glint of a predator. The Dog responded, and with its triangle ears that perked up toward the sky like an antenna flinched, it lowered its stance, growling in wary.

"This!?".

Cain, who had regained consciousness, glanced at the change that had occurred to him. He felt a tremendous raw power seep from the endless Darkness beneath, nourishing his physique.

All five of his senses had been greatly enhanced, and he could smell the distinctive taste of the air, a faint whispering that grew distant each time passed. More importantly, he felt a confidence impulse, thinking that he could do anything right now.

However, all of that dangerous impulse that gnawed at his consciousness had to be blown away after his partner exerted its presence.

*Woff!

The Black Dog barked, alerting Cain's attention to the side and met its gaze head-on. In a short moment, he could feel a strong connection that bound them both for eternity. The Black Dog greeted him for the first time, to which Cain responded with a satisfying smile and slightly bent his torso to give the Dog a pat on its head.

"Pleased to meet you for the first time, partner!".

*Woff!

After giving his partner a satisfying greeting, Cain lifted his gaze in front and found himself engulfed within a silence. He knit his brows in wonder as to why this is all happening. Is it because of his sudden awakening that things turn out this way?

The four people before him face darkened, their bodies trembling as if holding back something deep within themselves.

"Pu…!".

Cain and the Black Dog lowered their stance as the four men gave a weird response; then, out of all the possibilities that could happen, the men favourably cracked a laugh that blew away the silence that hung between them.

"Puhahaha, a dog, hahaha…".

"Pfft, Huhu, man, that took us suprised".

"Ahahaha, I thought something fearsome would emerge but…".

"....Ahaha, ihihihi, turns out it was just a dog, damn what a good laugh I have".

While they were laughing, Cain, who was new to this situation, could only stand stiffened. He glanced at the Hyena, which, different from its master, kept his eyes fierce, ready to lunge at Cain at any moment but wary about the black Dog with the same physique.

Not understanding what had happened, he felt a slight tug on his sleeves and saw the boy also look at him with a resigned gaze that seemed helpless about the situation they were in.

'What is this? Why is everyone laughing at me? Even the boy is kind of upset? What is truly happening?'. Dozens of questions began to filter through his brain, but they halted in his throat before reaching the ears of everyone present.

Cain decides to hold in and glance at his growling Dog, who is glaring at the Hyena. The Black Dog's height reached above his knee, overflowing with a threatening attitude to protect its master. Momentarily after watching the reaction of people around him, Cain had a slight doubt, but soon shook his head to get rid of that disgusting thought he had.

'No, you stupid bastard! He was your partner, believe in him and believe in yourself that you can get away from all of this!'. After re-affirming his resolve, Cain scanned his surroundings, then sneakily summoned his Status system and deeply immersed himself within the abilities he had.

A translucent blue panel appeared before his sight. It was invincible to any eyes except him. Cain observed the stats and sadly found that there is no redeeming value with the current him. There is only an innate talent that seems to depict his personality well.

[Tenacious: A special trait you have. It grants you an indomitable will to face every trial that stands in your path, enhancing the mentality aspect and ignoring the consequences that will befall you. It is a truly double-edged talent that will lead you toward the road to victory or the despair to the abyss.

- Bonus effect: Granting you a boost of experience in your progress of growth]

Innate talent is a latent potential the resonator possesses; it varies for every person who has it. Resonators who receive an innate talent within their first awakening are always deemed special but not rare. There are many resonators out there who awaken their innate talent, but there are some who don't and will awaken it in their second phase, and so on.

Then, the other status before him, which belonged to his partner, also awoke his innate talent, which is Shadow Ruler—a relatively strong innate talent.

[Shadow Ruler: A rare talent that belongs to the chosen beast. It would give the beast the freedom to control shadow all around them, sinking, shaping, destroying, or absorbing it, etc. Depends on how the beast battle experiences]

Another one caught his interest: the Shared attributes they had: Darkness. Cain felt that it was not his own power, so it must have come from the Dog.

[Darkness: An attribute that tends to have a corrosive and ominous nature. It had a good affinity with curses, illusions and many other forms of magic, depending on how deep the mastery in it]

After finding out his capabilities, which still had many restrictions, unlike his partner, who seemed to have some mastery of them, he submerged himself in his own thoughts, unlocking his brain in an infinite potential of imagination, trying to use his Attributes. But, no results whatsoever.

"Hey kid, do you want to know why we are laughing earlier?".

The man abruptly starts a conversation, which greatly surprises him, but Cain internally pumps a fist, celebrating that he has another spare time. Seeing the frowned Cain, the leader takes Cain's silence as an agreement; the man's lips loosen, and he opens his mouth.

"You know those resonators who fought in the front lines? What kind of Guardian beast they have, do you happen to know?".

"...What is it?" Reluctantly, Cain shifted his attention and then thought the plan he had in mind to his partner's mind.

"None of them is a beast that comes from an inferior race like you have!".

"...Inferior!?".

"You probably read in some book's right, that a Guardian beast also has a rank on its own and they classified it after millennia of research, dividing which race and solving any breed then categorized them into two breeds. Those who were born predators and those who were born defected".

Cain's eyes opened wide in his new founding. To think that kind of knowledge exists within the environment he was living in. To ensure it was valid information, he turned to his side and saw the boy who had kept his mouth shut since earlier, tightly gripped his sleeves and bit his own lips. 'So he was right?'.

The only thing Cain knows is that, Long ago, when the Void creatures invaded the planet, they exhausted many of the planet's resources, and the first thing between the living things that disappeared was the beast and then the animal.

They were said to be almost extinct, but thankfully, after the constant struggle or never-ending war, some of the animals could survive despite the harsh conditions. To this day, they are hailed as lifesavers for their contribution to providing meat and some eggs for the lives of many.

"Resonators who fought in front lines, mostly all of them possessed a guardian beast with an inborn predator breed, which excelled in battle and hunt, unlike you an inferior creature from, that born from the mighty Wolf race!".

"I see, thanks for the information! Go!". Cain began his counterattack.