The First sound was a large slashing sound, Like wind carving through space, followed by a great crashing sound.
My vision was a burning red, but I could see the King Dire lying injured at the far end of the cavern. I tensed up my arm gripping the fang that was shining the same dangerous red that came streaming from my eyes, and perched myself readily on my single leg, even in my injured state I was confident that this pose was optimal.
I was in the perfect position for hunting.
The Dire growled meekly, it's throat bore a large rough tear from the bottom of the neck through to it's shoulder blade, the air was silent, not even the usual sound of water and echoing that caves were known for was let into the tense arena we two wolves had built.
In my state of focus I paid no mind to the series of messages that were appearing in my vision faster than the ringing could sound, but I could tell they all read the same thing.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[WARNING! FOREIGN EXECUTABLE ACTIVE, CONTINUED USE WILL RESULT IN A MUTATION OF INFASTRCTURE]
I could feel it coursing through my body, a foreign power. Something separate from the system was invading the empty space, and therefore was invading me.
I could feel it in my brain, multiple errors and sections of mismatched information crashing into one another and resolving simultaneously. It was as if the empty shell left by an incomplete system was being filled by a pulsing living heart. Something far more physical and intuitive than the disconnected convenience of the System.
I could see the enemy gearing up for a strike, we would cross each other at the exact midpoint of the cave. It was faster, but it was disoriented, it's stance was basic and full of openings, the fight will end in a single strike, either I am killed or the Dire is.
An alien instinct blended with my rationality as I dropped my stance slightly. I took a deep breath, bringing in oxygen, and exhaling a dark steam. I would upgrade the Skill to it's second tier, this would probably destroy my weapon but it would ensure a swift and powerful strike to overwhelm the opponent and leave no room for a counterattack, as my brain raced my mouth instinctually uttered the words;
"[SKILL OVERLAP: FINAL FANG]"
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[Monster: ??? Has activated the skill "Final Fangx2"]
There was a slight surge of pain along with the increase in the Fang in my hands' potency. It was an oddly gentle feeling, like a shattering of a thin barrier.
[FATAL ERROR]
FATAL ERROR 01: Reference Impossible, consecutive error in entity identification. SYSTEM cannot find Entity referenced under "Player:???" Function:PlayerStatus failed to run.
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[SYSTEM REWRITE IN PROGRESS, FUNDIMENTAL MODIFICATION OF "WORLD RULES" ALLOWED UNDER CIRCUMSTANCE OF FATAL ERROR, INITIATING REASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE...]
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[REASSIGNMENT COMPLETE FOREIGN ENTITY 01233 WILL NOW BE CLASSIFIED UNDER ENTITY VARIANT "Monster:Generic" ACTIONS IMPARTED ONTO "Monster:???" WILL BE CONSIDERED VALID.]
[&""%&*"%*"%%£"*$%*$]
[DEFINING NEW SYSTEM UNDER CLASS "Monster" ASSIGNING ALL TEMPORARY DATA PERMANENT VALUES.]
It appeared I had long passed the point of return, by the end of this exchange I might be a completely different existence, or at least that's what my instinct was telling me.
The tension finally broke and the Monster lunged towards me, I matched it's speed immediately, launching towards it faster than a single leg should be able to carry a human. directly facing one another, the King Dire bared it's mouth of fangs, and I raised my own in a single swift motion.
In an instant there were 4 strikes, each fatal, all of them hit their mark, and executed the target.
The Wolf fell limp to the other side of the cave, catching my fang in my mouth I spun around grounding myself into a crouch with my 3 limbs.
Among the cacophony of small messages and errors, popped up a single large window in my vision.
[SYSTEM]
[INSTALLATION COMPLETE]
[SKILL]
[Monster "King Dire"
[SYSTEM]
[Stats Updated]
The Stone dagger in my mouth shattered and I fell on my chest in exhaustion. I knew that something within me had been fundamentally changed, I allowed myself to drift off to sleep, as when I awoke I knew I'd have to face this strange rebirth of mine.
Consciousness returned to me, I hadn't woken up, but rather I regained self awareness.
Red...
My hands, the ground, and the strange window in the corner of my vision, all of them were a deep sickening red. I was gripping something red in my hands, a lump of meat, and I was kneeling in front of the carcass of the King Dire, My mouth was filled with a similarly thick and red meat.
"Eh?"
A small attempt at confusion crossed my lips, as I tried to distance myself from what I was doing, but surprisingly my emotions didn't feel as strong as I thought they might, though my mind told me I should fall backwards and start vomiting, my body only impatiently grumbled and shifted, as though questioning why I had stopped eating. I felt no stress, and I felt no disgust, all I could muster was a rapidly growing desire to tear into the dead flesh I held in my hands.
I turned my attention to the small window in the corner, it was plain, red and minimalist in nature.
It was a small list, written in plain text.
[FEEDING IN PROGRESS]
[HP 116/120]
[SP 66/210]
[MP 12/12]
It seemed like eating was restoring my health and stamina, makes sense it was clear at this point I was in something similar to the world of a video game.
I swallowed the last of the meat that still sat in my mouth, and watched as my HP filled to it's current maximum of 120, the window suddenly disappeared.
I glanced down hopefully at my leg, but it remained as just a stump.
"[GUIDE]"
I called out.
There was a crackling noise, it shot up and down through my ears loudly before a window opened in my vision, it was an error window, a few more opened on top of it, before finally it seemed to redirect to a main status window.
[entitySYSTEM]
Name: ???
Level: 1
Race: monstertypebasic
[HP 116/120]
[SP 66/210]
[MP 12/12]
Skills:
>Gluttony
>Final Fang
>Beast's Divine Right
It was an extremely simple RPG menu, there were no specific categories, nor were there any EXP requirements, I was unsure as to how a game set up like this would even function, although indeed this wasn't really a game.
What's especially strange is the skills, It seems I gained one from the wolf, but the other two seemed to have simply occurred, bear in mind a short while ago I had no skills to speak of. Curious I reached out and hit the "Gluttony" Skill, sure enough a small informational window opened up.
[SKILL]
>Gluttony
Consuming food, drink and medicinal items will increase entities HP, SP and MP, this will heal all wounds other than directly severed limbs but will not heal ailments unless the substance consumes contains an "antidote" attribute.
It was strange wording, Referring to me as an "entity" felt pretty wrong honestly, but either way it was no doubt a valuable skill, I wondered if that wasn't just a base feature of a world like this. Honestly, I really don't know much of anything about this world.
The next skill wasn't something I had even heard of, I tapped on the icon curiously. At the very least it had the flashy name down.
[SKILL]
>Beast's Divine Right
Implementation of the "Dynamic Monster" feature, allows for unlimited natural growth and the seamless increase in strength regardless of Birth Level. growth rates depend on activity and Birth Level. Occasionally, when skill "Gluttony" is used, one skill will be unlocked.
Reading this solidified it, whatever this world was, I wasn't being treated as a human here, I wasn't able to get the same abilities as the people who were brought here with me, it appears that whatever system or logic is governing this world has deemed me to be a "Monster" rather than a Human.
My first day trying to live in the real world, and I ended up not even being human anymore, to say the least it's ironic. One leg, trapped at the bottom of a some kind of cave or Dungeon, Recognized as no different from the dead wolves that lay around me. All I can feel towards a situation like this is frustration.
But, at that time. Something that trumped my frustration washed over me. I felt my heart begin to pound and my hands begin to curl. Frustration is one thing, but despair is not an option. If this world wants to throw me down some dark filthy hole, then I'll just have to crawl my way back out. I won't allow my story to start and end shut away in the darkness, no matter how long it takes I will feel the sunlight on my face again. I will walk amongst the crowds of people again, No matter what kind of world is waiting for me out there, no Matter what kind of journey stands between me and that world... Because on that Day, I stood up, and overcame my fears, because on that day I finally decided to stop running from myself, because of that. I will Survive...
[At that time, in another place.]
Honestly, it's an easy thing to find romance in. The ornate beauty of a sword, the solid strength of armour, the glorious clashes of ideology that have existed in books for centuries. But right now, I can definitely say without exaggeration. I see absolutely no Beauty in my sword, no Strength in my armour, and I certainly don't feel anything close to glory.
I was surprised, at first, at the sheer violence of it, The brutality made my skin crawl and my body tremble. But now, honestly I just feel broken, I've run out of tears, of anger, of despair. The ground I was walking on, a thick layer of corpses, was about the only thing stopping me from just giving up on reality. Is this really how the weight of taking a life feels, or maybe it's just that I didn't even keep count of how many Lives I had just taken that was hitting me harder, that I couldn't distinguish their faces and equipment from the sea of corpses at my feet.
I raised my stained face up to the clouded sky, my eyes fixed onto the large window that hung over the Arena... I clenched my fist... Tears ran down my face once again, it was painful, I was so dehydrated, and had shed so many tears, that the feeling of crying hurt me physically just as much as it rattled my long broken spirit.
[QUEST COMPLETE]
Candidate #077 "Pendragon" is the Winner!
Objectives:
Remain the last man standing [COMPLETE]
Kill more than 30 candidates [COMPLETE]
Rewards:
Gold: 24,614
EXP: 8,459
Crest of the Chosen Hero: x1
Oath of 10 souls: x3
A window appeared in my vision.
Returning to Royal Hall: 59s
I hunched over, gripping the hilt of my sword, and let out a defeated, agonized cry. I shouted for the sake of all the Rage, Sorrow and Despair those who had died by my hand and by the hands of others had doubtless felt. I was naïve, I was so fucking naïve.