Riva exited the golem dungeon in less than 20 minutes. She had rushed through it by shouting "haste" countless times in succession. She was feeling the drain and was now lying on the floor to recover her energy.
"I'm lucky that the dungeon is only populated by golems. They're not exactly famous for being nimble. Even the crystal one from the marble hall is slow on its feet. Its danger stems from the powerful spear attack."
"System, what will happen when I die?"
[User is already dead. When hurt, user will heal by using user's stored life energy. User will enter a dormant state when losing all life energy and can awaken when receiving life energy]
"So how much life energy do I have?"
[Enough to approximately last a few days or to cast 'haste' an estimated total of 10 times]
"Can't you quantify it properly? Just like a health pool or mana pool?
[Suggestion Noted]
"I take that as a no."
"My energy isn't recovering" Riva sighed to herself in resignation. She felt just as drained as she did upon her arrival and lying down."Looks like I will have to steal it by feeding"
She picked up her exhausted body from the floor and surveyed her surroundings.
She stood in front of the golem dungeon entrance, which was demarcated by a greek style portal made from white crystal and marble pillars. It stood in the center of a forest clearing.
The gate's frame held a thin energy field that showed the inside of the dungeon. If one circled around it, one would see that the other side looked just the same.
The energy membrane was a type of spacial fissure, held up and stabilized by the structure of the entrance. The dungeon's space itself was located inside a sub-dimension.
Dungeons were a magical phenomenon. They would appear in mana-rich areas and were renown for being equally rich with resources and dangers.
Riva had hunted before. It was one of the basic requirements to become an adventurer. As such, it didn't take her long to spot the tracks of a deer. Not long after she noiselessly approached the animal that had yet no notice her and was drinking from a small creek.
Seeing the animal caused the red light in the depths of her eyes to shine dangerously.
[Racial skill detected and unlocked: Craving for Life]
Riva ignored the system prompt and instead pounced towards the deer with inhuman speed and sunk her now pointy teeth into its neck before it had the chance to react.
The deer wanted to struggle against its assailant and jumped around in an attempt to shake her off. Riva's bite remained firm, she didn't relent and started ingesting that which she hungered for, a golden energy which flowed from the wound.
The deer's struggle ceased, its skin shriveled and when Riva consumed the last bit of energy, its body developed cracks as if brittle and then dissolved into a pile of white ashes.
"Delicious!"
She greedily licked the deer's blood from her lips and fingertips and dusted her clothes.
The red light in her eyes receded somewhat and left her with a confused look.
That new skill, maybe it will make catching my prey easier. Riva thought while she searched for new prey.
She understood why she had done what she did. It was instinct and only right. There was no hesitation. The deer's life force tasted amazing.
She sniffed the air in hopes of finding more prey. She didn't feel remotely satiated.
"System, please explain 'Craving for Life'!"
[Description: You hunger for the energy of the living. Your instincts awaken once you mark a living being as your prey. All your senses are enhanced, you have increased attack and reaction speed and will hunt your prey solely on instinct until your hunger has been satiated. This skill has a chance to activate at any time the user is both hungry and there is prey.]
Riva ignored the information she just requested. She had discovered a new track and was madly pursuing it.
Only several hours and countless forest denizen's deaths later did she return to her senses.
"My instinct overpowered me completely. I was aware of what I was doing. There was only one thing on my mind, feeding on that deli… Stop!!"
Riva shook her head to banish the thoughts from her mind.
"I can't stay like this. Is it the influence of the skill?"
She pinched herself, desperate to clear her head through the pain. It was useless. She couldn't perceive pain at all.
"I didn't feel hungry back in the dungeon, now I can barely contain myself."
"System, isn't there something I can do? I refuse to be a mindless killing machine. Not like this!" Riva forced out between clenched teeth.
…
The system didn't react to her pleas.
"System!"
No response.
"Come on, say something!"
…
"Fuck you! Giving me a skill like that and then leaving me hanging. What the hell is your problem?! Do you get off on seeing me suffer?!" Riva lost it and screamed.
"I will give you a zero-star review. I will use tons of fake accounts and give you so many bad reviews you will never ever even see a single digit from the IP* of another user!" Cursing helped her forget the hunger.
"You are a waste of data! That's right, you're malware*! A goddamn virus!" Riva no longer cared about the meaning behind her insults. They made no sense. So what?!
"I fucking hope you get deleted for good!"
[Reboot complete]
[Update to the TDH System version t01a00.3 successful]
Riva eyed the system message skeptically.
"You were down for maintenance or something?"
[Affirmative, System informed User at the time]
"And you heard nothing that I said in the past minutes?"
[Affirmative]
"What a waste of good insults." Riva replied with a sour frown.
[Pardon?]
"Nothing, it's nothing." Riva grumbled."
"By the way what does the version number stand for exactly?"
[Trial one, alpha* version three]
"Alpha, isn't that a version prior to the official release?"
Riva's eyes grew wide.
"YOU'RE UNFINISHED???"
[Affirmative]
"And trial one! Don't tell me... I'm the goddamn trial test subject, right?!!"
"You're live testing the system on me! Un-live testing! What the hell?! Why?!"
[User should feel honored for receiving this awesome system for free!]
"So you admit that I'm just your system guinea pig?"
[No comment]
"I knew it. Nothing is free. Ever! Free is the most expensive!"