> Elemental Hounds are Wicked Hounds imbued with Elemental energy during the transfusion period when a creature moves through a Soul Rift. Because of the various restrictions and fortuities involved in elemental infusion, Elemental Hounds are a rare sight. These beasts are sought after by high level adventurers and should be kept away from inexperienced daredevils for their extreme power and instability. The most commonly seen Elemental Hounds are Firehounds, Earthhounds, Waterhounds, Bolthounds, Crystalhounds, and Icehounds. Lighthounds and Darkhounds are conceived through particular Soul binding and Soul responses, thus are even more rarely seen.

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> Defeating Elemental Hounds give approximately four times as much experience points as Wicked Hounds—from 120000 to 200000 EXP. Depending on the Elemental types, adventurers have a small to moderate chance of acquiring Rare to Epic loots, and a high chance of acquiring Common loots. Lighthounds and Darkhounds can drop Soulbinding Reactor, an essential accessory for forging Legendary rarity weapons, or can be used as a Reserves booster alternatively.

Excerpt from "The Ultimate Handbook to Soulbound Creature: Epics and Legendaries"

Azra Kolkov

"Speeding Bullet!" Eugene roars as he storms down from the air.

That adrenaline-packed knobhead has to pick this exact moment to screw it up. He shouldn't have screamed. Now the creature might spot him from above.

And spotting him is exactly what it did. It lowers its body and bares its teeth. Then it jumps.

I expected a clang from Eugene's Bloodweep clashing on the hound's claws, or even worse, a schlick followed by his body dropping to the dirt. But I heard none of that.

Instead, a thwack echoes, before a painful cry drowns that sound to oblivion. The bolthound plunges to the ground, and the already blackened grass underneaths it splurges into the air in the form of dust. The jewel on Eugene's weapon sparkles a brilliant pink, an indication that it's successfully activated Lifesteal on its adversary.

Eugene swiftly disappears behind the thickets. I was going to say 'excellent maneuvering', but holds back my words. No need to pump more complacency into that big head.

"Strap it down, Mr. Kolkov!" Okra yells. I've told him to not interfere in my fight, but he still can't help it sometimes. Whenever he yells, it means that I must wrap up the fight soon.

I activate Vinestrap Hawser. This time, I make sure that the vines crawl around its neck and underbelly, the places away from its source of electricity charges. The creature hurls and jerks itself away, but the hawser keeps on tightening. I place my hands in front of me and rotate my wrists until the reserves concentrate inside my palms. Then I deploy the Curse of Aokigahara.

The sea of mushroom engulfs the creature again, and soon the hound starts shrieking and howling. Electricity shoots out from its legs like gliding arrows, smashing into tree trunks. If the trees were anything but redwood, they would've started burning.

The beast parries the first few, but once I use the overhand flicks, it fumbles. I overwhelm it with unending wallops, giving it no breathing space. I hit on its muzzle, then on its neck, then on its lungs. The creature dodges to the left. I whack on its right. The creature ducks to the right. I swing on its left. His skin tores apart like a flesh mouth and yellow blood splashes out with each whip.

The creature steps backward, its front legs scrabbling the thorns away from its body. It lurches forward for a desperate Howling Berserk, but I make a simple sidestep before sending it into the air with my sprouting wooden trees. I fling my Whiplash upward, latches onto its belly, then smashes it to the ground for a critical hit.

The hound whimpers as it tries to get up. I whip on its shaky legs again, and it collapses on its belly, panting and heaving for air.

"Remaining HP: 70," informs Okra.

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It's over.

Eugene and Lek emerge from the woods. I give him a thumbs-up and gesture for him to get closer.

"Take the final hit," I point to the creature. Only 95% of the calculated gain from defeating a Soulbound creature is based on contribution. The remaining 5% is awarded to the person who delivers the finishing blow. That is why some parties even fight and race against each other that specific hit, and is one of the reasons why nobody wants to be a supporting partner in a group raid. The main reason is that nobody really likes supporting.

"Don't mind if I do!" Eugene grins.

He stomps on the head of the beast, raises his sword, then stabs on the top of its head. Red liquid flows upward, wrapping around the blade before veering into the jewel on the crossguard. The monster lets out its final grunt, its body convlusing as a golden glow shoots to the sky. Its skin and flesh dissolves into thin air, before the creature vanishes as if it was never there.

A faint glow wraps around Eugene as he looks at his hands. "Sweet." He clicks his tongue. "I've leveled up."

Unlike the famous tabletop game "Road to Azshara" that the kids used to play, leveling up doesn't give assignable attributes, but only a 100 health point and 1 attack gain. The biggest benefit of leveling up is that it raises the ceiling of Skill upgrades, which is occasionally broken anyway depending on a person's nature.

"Check this out too." Lek bounces to the front of Eugene and shows him a pop-up menu.

Skill Level Up

Skill Speeding Bullet Level 32 -> 33 Effect

+0.1% Movement Speed

+0.07% Agility

+0.02s Effect Duration

"Your Rare skill progression has been rather impressive," I tell Eugene. "Have you been doing targeted training like I told you to?"

"I have!" He replies, puffing his chest. "I use the skill as much as possible and even count the time it takes for me to dash from my place to the training field."

I nod. Eugene doesn't train on his own free will, but he likes to run. There's not much to do in the forest, so he just sprints a lot to kill time. It's good that he's learned to boost his skills while having fun at the same time. I think the problem with him is just that he hates controlled sparring exercises that he deems boring. That's why I thought bringing him along would be a good thing. Fighting high level monsters requires far more creativity.

Then, also from thin air, a pair of orange wooden boots pop up. Lek scans the footware and displays its stat.

Footware Klaiswood Boot Base Defense 8 Endurance Boost 1%

"What's this junk?" Eugene picks the boots up, rolls his eyes, then tosses them to the grass again. "We spent an entire hour risking our lives for a Common pair of boots? This is literally the pair I'm wearing, and it's sure as hell isn't fashionable." He then turns to Lek. "You know how hard it is to match my outfit with freaking orange boots? Who even wears orange?"

"You have three pairs of these already," Lek replies. "If you want, you can go to Lady Tanaka and have her merge them into a random pair of Rare boots. They're most likely still going to be ugly, though."

"Have some respect for the loots." I shake my head. "Even if you don't want it, somebody else will. Pick it up, or else I won't leave last hits for you anymore."

He shrugs. "I'll take it, but only because I've already gotten two pairs."

We walk away from the redwood, and a faint glow on the ground runs past our feet. The Soul circle has shrunk, and the Soul Rift is being mended.

***

"He came to training late, he took my kill, and he didn't even bother bringing health potions with him! Why am I the only one who gets punished?" Melodi Baggardo crosses her arms as she taps her feet on the ground, an accusing glare directed at Eugene. The General has tasked her with the job of plowing in the farm for three days, knowing how much she abhors doing fieldwork.

"You fighting big ass ogres were the only reason we needed health potions at all! Don't whine when you broke the rules too." Eugene, standing on the other side of the training ground, shrugs and snorts.

"I wouldn't have broken the rules if you hadn't been late!"

"Well, I wouldn't have been late if I've been earlier. And I would've been earlier if I found you in the training ground instead of having to look for you in god-knows-where."

The duo always get into little arguments whenever they're around each other; it's almost like they're always in a head-to-head contest to decide who can stay stubborn longer. It doesn't help when Lek and Alleria always fuel the arguments by chiming in and tease both of them on everything they do. I've kept them away with Distortion Orbs for now, but the bickering is far from over.

"Captain, do something!" Melodi throws her hand at my direction. "I can't stand this. . . this. . . injustice! Give him three-day labor too!'

I have more important businesses to do than mediating some petty fights. I'm being summoned by General Rizeni to a private meeting. And that's not a good sign. The last time we had a private meeting, it was because his daughter was almost murdered.

"Hmm. . ." I place my hand on my chin. "You pick the punishment."

"Wait, what?" Eugene shoots his glare at me. "Captain, you can't do this. You're leaving my life, my SAFETY in the hands of that evil witch! She will kill me, then raise me from the dead just to kill me again!"

Melodi's lips immediately curves into a wicked smile. "Can I pick anything?"

"Anything."

"No! Captain, you're just doing this for your own amusement, aren't you! You're the worst captain I've ever met!" Eugene protests.

"I'm the only captain you've ever met," I reply, trying to keep a straight face as I walk away. Now this should be interesting.

"You heard the Captain." Melodi walks past both of us, ties her hair into a ponytail, and pats on Eugene's butt with her nunchaku. "Come with me, little brat. I'll show you your punishment."

"I don't want to. . . Ow, ow, ow!" Eugene groans as the brown-haired girl pinches on his ear and drags him along. "Don't do this to me. Captain! General! Save me! No, no, no!"

Nobody knows what happened to the poor boy when the two were alone. But that day, Eugene's screams could be heard everywhere within the woods.