His leg was unusable. He was on a time limit and couldn't have such a liability on him. Luckily, the system gave him an option to change his race. An option he dearly needed as of now.
He looked through the list. He needed regenerative abilities. That was crucial. The list was made to easily view the cons and pros for each race. He asked the system for aid.
"System. What races are best at regenerating?"
5 boxes appeared in his sight.
"Zombie.
Pros:
Quick regenerative abilities
Bodily functions loose necessity
Death can only be caused by blunt damage
Cons:
Rotting flesh
Human flesh is the only food source
Humans will try to slay you
"
"Vampire.
Pros:
Error!
Cons:
Weakness to sunlight
Sworn enemies
Must consume blood
"
"Error!
Pros:
Body parts regenerate slowly
Skin becomes tougher
Breathe in water
Cons:
Fire is especially harmful
Skin gets dry very quickly
Grow a tail
"Skeleton
Pros:
Death can only be caused by crushing core
Bones are easily regenerated
Pain doesn't exist
Skeletons become allies
Food and water are not needed.
Cons:
Error!
"
"ERROR!
Pros:
Error!
Cons:
Error!"
He could neither imagine eating flesh nor drinking blood, it made him flinch. Gulping down heavy luke-warm drowning blood. Arne thought it was revolting. No way Arne's choose zombie.
The skeleton option seemed strong. That being said, he didn't know the cons and he was pretty sure humans were no longer going to be his allies. At least if he became a vampire he could blend in as a human.
At the same time having sworn enemies sounded pretty awful. Arne didn't know if he could deal with sworn enemies, but it was better than having the entirety of humanity as
The option without a proper name felt really weak. A tail also felt like a dead give away of him not being human. Perhaps he could fake it as some sort of mutation.
The last option was a complete wild card. All he knew was that it would provide him a regenerative ability since the system had listed it. He didn't want to gamble his life
It was between becoming a skeleton and a vampire. He decided to become a skeleton, truth be told he'd always dreamed about becoming a skeleton. Something about being a pile of bones pulled him in. Beauty in simplicity.
He clicked the button and strange sparkles travelled all over his body. He felt ticklish all over. His fingers felt weak and distant. His skin turned darker, until black and then it fell off. His heart thumped louder than ever, and then stopped, silent as bone. The smell was awful, rot, shit and piss pouring out of his body. His eyes pierced, his ears bleed. His skin fell off. His muscles let go of his bone. A strange current swept through his body.
Shadow was gnawing at his left leg, drool ran out of his mouth. He looked at his arm. He looked at his leg. Bone. All of it was bone. His bones were attached to each other in a strange way. He could see, he could hear, he could breathe, smell and taste. He could taste! He had no tongue but he could taste. His fingers tasted bone! Questions roared in his mind as he tried figuring out how everything worked.
He scratched behind Shadow's ear and he let go. His eyes were like hearts. Drool continued dripping out of his mouth. The second Arne stopped scratching behind Shadow's ear, Shadow jumped at his bone and bit into it.
He realized that he couldn't feel. There was no pain. There was a small sensation that he touched something, but it wasn't akin to feeling. There was no sensation of heat, or of cold, or of anything similar.
Small cracks appeared on the bone. They regenerated quick enough for the naked eye to see. He was still very fragile, but now he could regenerate quicker. He still had his tattoos, they floated above his arms, a liquid coarsed through them.
Arne started walking. He tripped on his clothes. They soon fell off him. He was too skinny for them. Being naked didn't feel like usual. Being naked for a skeleton was like being dressed well as a human. It felt good.
He continued walking. "Shadow." He said. He could speak. No tongue but he could speak. How was this possible?
"Yes?" He heard the squeaky voice in his mind say.
"Let go of my leg." He got no response. He couldn't speak such complicated language with a wolf.
"Rat!" He said.
"Where?" Shadow barked. He had let go off his leg and looked around, growling.
Arne had fooled Shadow, he started running knowing that Shadow would catch on soon. Shadow followed after, drool dripping out of his mouth. They continued running through the tunnel until they found another group of rats.
Shadow began growling. He wasn't as scared, he didn't back away but he didn't go closer. Arne took out an arrow. "Rapid shot," he said.
Instinctively, he realised the arrow, then he drew an arrow, and then released it again, once again he did it, quicker than he'd ever done it before. A single rat was loaded with three arrows, it dropped dead.
"+4 Xp"
Rat 1 & 2 charged at him. He felt panic, fear swelling up in his mind. Shadow growled and leaped at the rat once it had gotten close enough. Rat 1 was caught beneath Shadows paws, whilst Rat 2 leaped at Shadow striking him from behind.
Arne pulled an arrow. He had to be careful not to shoot Shadow. As he drew the arrow, he focused on his fingertips and realized that he didn't get the same perception he'd usually get. The previous arrows he shot out of instinct but when he focused on it, the arrow felt weird.
His mind was messing with him. He no longer felt confident about shooting the arrow. He could shoot shadows if he wasn't careful. His hand started shaking.