The Fallen Death Dog

Using all of his body weight to swing the steel pole, the leader man in front, his eyes whitened, and slowly, his body dropped down. Once Cain landed, he checked the man's partner's condition, and with the wounds, it had started to fade into nothing.

"This kid!?".

"Where did he come from?".

"You bastard!".

The nearby man raised his fist and approached Cain with hostile intent; Cain glanced at his side, but before he could do anything, a shadow from beneath him emerged, revealing his partner with his maw wide open.

Its sudden appearance faltered the man for a moment, giving it a chance to bite off the man's arm, tearing his skin and flesh with its sharp fangs.

"Aakh, release it".

In a panic, the man raised his other fist in trying to smash the dog's head, but Cain was faster and diagonally from his right; he swung the steel pole and hit the man's left jaw, letting out an unnerving cracking sound that made the other men cower.

Not wanting to waste the momentum he had created, Cain rushed forward accompanied by his partner. He took the man on the right and his partner, the man in the back whose face paled.

Their morale had hit rock bottom, making the job easier for Cain to finish the man. He crouched down and smashed the man's knee until it bent, prompting him to let out a blood-curdling howl that shook his eardrum.

Then Cain hit the man's right temple, rendering him unconscious. Can resume forward in helping his partner, but because of the shock of his fallen comrade and being bitten by his partner, his consciousness slips out on his own.

[Experience up!]

[Progress 1%]

[Night Dog Experience up!]

[Progress 2%]

"Hm!?".

A translucent blue panel appeared in front of him, reporting the progress he had made. However, Cain knit his brows with the unfair judgment that gives him only one percent in progress while his partner is two.

He turned to his partner, who shook his head intensely to the side to wash away the blood that stuck to his mouth. A moment later, he shrugged his shoulders and patted his partner, making it squirm and shrunken its distance.

The black dog curled around Cain's feet before it settled on his right leg, placing its body near it. It looked up with those adorable purple pupils.

"Thanks, partner!".

*Woof!

Despite their language barrier, it seemed the black dog could understand the meaning behind what Cain told him. Realizing this, Cain is determined to deepen his relationship with his partner so that he can understand its meaning.

"Let's go!".

*Woof!

The two began to leave the dark alley and decided to visit the boy's place, just in case he was still there. This was not his plan; at first, Cain planned to get the four men to follow him and fight them.

Then, when the battle reached its peak, Cain asked his partner to howl as hard as he could to signal the boy to run to the patrol place.

However, he assumed the fight would take a while to finish. Instead, it ended instantly, which gave him a bit of leeway in his plan. He glanced at the steel pole in his left hand, and the tip was bent when he struck the first man.

Cain parted his lips and thanked the pole because, without it, the pursuers would overwhelm him. He felt a gaze, so he turned to the side and found his partner looking at him like he was asking for something.

'Right, he still hasn't got his name yet!'. Cain muttered.

Naming their own guardian beast was normal so that it wouldn't confuse the Resonator, and it also became a symbol of their own existence after being awoken from its dormant state and showing how close the relationship they had.

Several names popped out inside his brain, but after careful consideration of his partner's characteristics, Cain decided to give his partner names.

"Noir, that is your name from now on!".

*Woof! Woof!

Noir responded pleasantly after giving a name. Its body halted before being enveloped by darkness, further enhancing its appearance.

[Given a name to the Guardian Beast Night Dog: Noir]

[The bond between you and your Guardian Beast deepened]

[The understanding of the Attribute Darkness up!]

[Skill Silent step, learned!]

Cain involuntarily opened his eyes wide in surprise. Just giving a name to his partner had benefited him this much. His lips loosened, and he began imagining how strong he could get if his bond was strengthened further.

"Hehe, thanks partner, you are truly my blessing".

*Woff!

With the power and strength he had gained, Cain's dream of becoming a Resonator who fought on the front lines had opened its path. From here on, he only needs to take his first step there.

Even if the people, country, or world rejected the strength they had, Cain would prevail and breach through whatever trial stood in their way.

{Something inside you Resonating!}

In a moment, Cain halted his footsteps, feeling something resonated within him. However, it was not shown to his eyes, and the feeling was already gone. He tilted his head, wondering what that was.

'What was that feeling!? Well, no time for us to linger in this place. We must get to the boy's place. Cain hastened his steps, followed by Noir behind him.

Despite knowing that the threat has gone, Cain and Noir keep their vigilance intact, scanning their surroundings.

It was a quiet environment, with the fleeting light of the street lamp flickering under the passing of time. The whole situation unfolded in death silence, and instead of giving a tranquil feeling, it gave Cain and Noir goosebumps, as if something had lurked beneath the shadow depths, making even Noir have to put up its guard every time.

Each step they took was like ascending the steep longer and becoming heavier. The two finally arrived at the Abandoned Warehouse after an arduous vigilance they put in.

They circled the place, and Cain found himself in front of the rustic, old door with a broken lock. Slowly, with a creak, he pushed the door to look further inside. No souls had been seen inside.

He took a step inside, and a sharp glint of a shadow appeared. It swung a stick made of steel downward right in the middle of Cain's forehead. The time stretches far away, making the whole situation turn to a stop.

Cain's body reacted, and with his enhanced reflex after awakening as a Resonator, he put his leg firm on the ground before he backstepped. Noir began to respond in hostility, then lunged toward the shadow.

"Aah, wait help!".

Cain and Noir stopped in their tracks after hearing the familiar voice of the assailant. He peeked through the room and found Noir apprehending the boy while holding a steel stick in his hand.

"Ah!? Big brother. help, your guardian beast is assaulting me".

*Nnngh!

Noir tilted its head to the side, not understanding the boy's meaning. Cain facepalmed and asked his partner to get away from that position. Noir followed the instructions and sat beside the trembling boy.

"I'm sorry about that, kid. You okay?".

Cain extended his hand, grasped the boy's slender hand, and pulled the boy up to stand. He looked around the place and found nothing suspicious. Noir, too, didn't respond to anything except the earlier misunderstanding.

"Big brother, why are you back? I thought you were fighting the pursuers and being instructed to run from this place when I heard the signal, is it now?".

With a barrage of questions from the boy, Cain contemplated for a moment before nodding his head to simplify all of it.

"Let's go, I will take you to the patrol headquarters".

"...Hm, okay".

The boy's mood dropped, and he looked down into deep thoughts. Negative thoughts began to swirl inside his mind, interrupting his cognition of his surroundings.

'Going Home like this? Who will welcome a person like me? All of them never pay attention to me. What good for me to be there in that massive and cold place they called home. I think nothing of it at all. What should I do?'. The boy fell silent, drowning in his own pool of negativity.

Cain knew nothing about the boy's hardship, but after one look at the boy's expression—his bleak expression, gloom, and glittering eyes that almost spilled at any moment—he crouched down to meet the boy's eye level and lifted the boy's face straight to meet his gaze.

"Hey, look at me! Calm down, okay. I don't know what kind of situation you are in, but if you keep lamenting something out of your reach, it wouldn't help you resolve this dangerous situation we are in right now, right?".

"...".

"Have you called your house?".

"Hm, my big sister answered the call".

"Good. For now, focus on escaping this predicament first, and then look toward other problems that disturbed your mind one by one, and make sure that you didn't disturb others because of them, understood."

"...Hm, understood".

The boy's expression returned to normal, and Cain abruptly stood up and took the boy's hand. 'Well, I don't know if that was the correct thing to do, but at least we must get out of this situation first. No one knows what will happen next, that's why!'.

Cain moved, dragging the boys out from the place, followed by Noir behind, but out of nothing, something flew to their feet, and the instant it touched his leg, Cain's eyes bloated in shock.

"Grenade? No it was…".

With a click, the bomb opened up its mechanism and spewed a massive amount of white smoke that enveloped its surroundings. Cain's gaze starts to flicker, struggling to keep his eyelids open. He clenched his teeth, but without him knowing, his body had lay on the floor, and his consciousness slipped away.

The last thing Cain ever thought was to instruct Noir to hide in his shadow and then blacken out.