Opening his eyes slowly, Cree was introduced to the place he had seen construct in his mind sometime ago. The only difference being that it was all real now. Standing on his feet he looked around the place in awe, as it was a marvel to behold.
He was in a place similar to a cave, however both sides of this place was filled with walls of transparent liquid similar to water. Far towards the end of the cave was a huge metal door that was shut close. This did not attract Cree's attention in the slightest though as he approached the liquid wall. Stretching his hand out to touch it, he was stopped by Claire who was behind him.
"Don't touch that, it's not what you think it is."
Picking up a rock from the ground, Cree tossed it into the liquid, only for it to break down into nothingness. After this he gave an audible sigh before sitting on the floor.
"So this must be the dungeon within the Rift cube."
"You are right about that", Claire said as she observed the place. "I am glad you woke up just in time. There is no telling what is going to happen."
Cree gave another sigh before turning to face Claire with an indifferent expression.
"Claire, tell me what happened when Maverick and I were facing off against the Leading undead."
"What? Why ask all of a sudden? What did you see in your visions, Cree?"
"That doesn't matter, just tell me what I need to know!", He lifted his voice in rage.
Claire kept quiet not wanting to say anything. Besides this was the worst place to do something like that.
All of a sudden the enormous door in the distance opened up, letting three dog like creatures emerge from it. Their teeths and claws looked razor sharp, with flames running down their spines. Cracks could be seen round their bodies, accompanied by what seemed like lava flowing through them. Their red glowing eyes had the same fury an animal going for the kill displayed.
"Fuck!", Cree cursed as he removed his knife from his backpack.
Seeing that the creatures were still some distance away from him, he stood in a defensive pose waiting for them.
"Don't worry, you got this. Those Hell hounds are all in...level 1?," Claire said as she looked at them with a confused expression.
One of the creature's broke out from the three, showing that it was the fastest among them. On reaching him finally, the Hell hound pounced into the air only for it to be stabbed in the eye with his knife. During this period, Cree had made contact with it's body resulting in a burn. The creature struggled as Cree let go of his knife, before it dropped to the ground lifeless.
[Level 1 Hell hound defeated]
"Arghh!"
Cree shook his hand quickly before looking at it dumbfounded.
"I got burnt!?"
The remaining two charged at him afterwards, getting hits on him with their sharp claws. Staring at the magmar flowing out of the dead Hell hound's body, Cree now knew killing them physically was risky.
Just then an idea entered his head before he sprinted towards the liquid wall. The Abstracts flowed from behind, catching up to him as they were faster. They leaped into the air eventually giving Cree the opportunity to push them into the wall, but not without getting a few burns on his body. Right before him, he could see the hounds break down into pieces until there was nothing left.
[Level 1 Hell hound defeated]
[Level 1 Hell hound defeated]
Cree dropped to the floor breathing uncontrollably. The fact that those were level 1 creatures caused him to wonder if there was really any hope for humanity. Even though he had almost died some seconds ago, Cree could not help but acknowledge that these creatures were superior to him when it came to speed, something that he needed in this world.
Claire was lost in thought as to why a Rift cube would give someone level 1 creatures to face. That changed though when she noticed Cree stand up and walk towards the dead Hell hound. She knew deep inside that what he was about to do was terrible idea, however she still was curious to know how it would turn out.
Cree bent down over the creature and took in it's blood into his system ignoring the burning sensation he felt. This went on until it was too much for him to bear. Falling flat on the ground with his mouth burnt, he rolled and screamed as he felt the heated liquid drive into his body.
[Anomaly in system detected]
[...]
[System adapting to drastic change in nature]
[...]
[Possibility of successful change out of 100%: 50%]
[Loading]
[Switching from Hollow bat mutation to Hell hound]
[Change successful]
[Displaying new status changes]
[Name: Cree
Level: 5
Race: ???
Class: None
Strength: 20 (15)
Stamina: 21 (15)
Agility: 34 (45)
Mana: 25
[New passives acquired]
[Instinct pump(1st generation): When facing an enemy higher in level, speed and physical abilities are boosted x1.5]
[Flame skin(1st generation): High resistance to fire based attacks and high temperatures
After the display, his skin became just as hard as that of the Hell hound. His claws became sharper than it was some seconds ago and the white streaks on his hair increased in number.
Cree's body went through this drastic change before the pain he felt disappeared. Sitting up on the floor, he was surprised to see that all of the injuries he had sustained earlier had healed miraculously.
Though he wasn't happy with the fact his strength and stamina stats had dropped as well. This gave him reason to believe that his Blood mutation skill gave him changes in stats based on the status of the creatures he obtains blood from.
"Claire, tell me what happened! How did Maverick die!?"
Silence filled the air as the Calamity being refused to speak. The ground began to shake unexpectedly, dragging Cree's attention to the large door. It was obvious that something big and powerful was coming through. That did not stop his curiosity however, as he spoke once again.
"Claire, I have to know.."