Standing beneath the shower of his room, Rio sighed as he thoroughly scrubbed his skin, washing the bits of flesh and dried blood that clung to it and from time to time looking up at the shower and letting it's water fall into his mouth and rinse of the bloody taste in it.
"I'm going to need a new toothbrush"
After scrubbing his body with as much soap as he could, while he let the water fall on his body and rinse it, Rio closed his eyes smiling as images of the numerous beast he had killed earlier flashed through his mind.
The ways he turned when he swung his axe, the different amount of strength he put into his side ward and downward swing, the strength he put in his legs when the direhogs got too close and he had to kick them away.
It wasn't the killing of the beasts that brought joy to Rio but rather the strength he could feel flowing through him as he did it.
It moved like water, sometimes as fast as a river, sometime as calm as a stream and then sometimes as overwhelming as the sea.
Though Rio felt he need to make the sea mightier.
Opening his eyes with a moan Rio looked to the side of the bathroom where he had placed his axe and picking it up, he made his exit from the shower.
Some minutes later, putting on a fresh new pair of black pants and a black shirt, while dropping a pair of sneaker to the side he collapsed on the couch of his living room, his laptop to his side and his eyes back on the writings on the tv.
"Hmm still nothing new" Rio muttered as he looked at Tv which broadcasted the same emergency news he had viewed before getting into the shower.
It read,
*This is an emergency broadcast from the government of the United States, all residents and non-residents of the US are to select the second option on their blue screen and stay indoors till further instructions.
Anyone found violating this order will be considered a threat to the US and the human Race and will be dealt with accordingly
For emergency contacts, call these numbers...…*
At first, the emergency writings on the Tv had shocked Rio, throwing him totally off guard as he had no idea what a system screen was to even begin, but then he had moved to a much more independent platform and there Rio got his answer on what a system screen was, what it looked like and also got to know that the earth wasn't as peaceful as it seemed on the surface.
[Name:
Specie:
Level:
Strength:
Speed:
profession:
]
That was what a system screen looked like according to someone's post and apparently everyone on earth had received it an hour and some minutes ago, everyone except him, though Rio couldn't be sure.
Apparently when the system appeared, everyone was given three mandatory options to choose from.
The second Option from the system transformed the user's location to a 30 meter's safe zone which was set to last for 3 days and as for the other two option, though information about it was being taken down from the net just as fast as it appeared, from the several chats he had read online, he pieced together that they centered around a weapon and magical ability.
With how much the government sought to control the flow information, one would think that they would have totally shut down the internet by now, and while they had indeed done that, unknown to the common populace, forces specifically private organizations and powerful families had brought it back.
From the appearance of a system screen just like the one in fantasy novels to the attempts by the government to control the people and the popping out of forces that defied the government, it all felt like a dream to Rio, and he couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the propaganda which was being spread by the other forces against the governments blasting them for trying to shut down the internet and control their citizens like sheep.
"They speak against the government, yet not even they tell us truth about what is trully happening, hypocrites."
Rio had tried finding out information about the beasts that he had encountered and slaughtered but with most social media platforms rapidly shutting down was only able to get limited information.
Apparently, they were called Direhogs and they had come out of portals which had temporarily appeared in different locations around the whole world following Earth's Catalyzation.
"Catalyzation"
That was what the Phenomenon that was happening on the planet was being called and other than learning that the system was the universes way to help them humans survive this catalyzation, Rio could find no other information.
As he scrolled through the web, Rio sighed as he noticed that several websites and suer had been banned and he could only curse his luck that he had been busy battling blood hungry direhogs when the Catalyzation had just commenced and information was still sprout online.
"I can't even communicate with anyone" Rio finally thought pushing his laptop to the side and picking up a notebook and after closing his eyes in thought for some seconds, he began writing.
[July 15 2042, the catalyzation happened (whatever that is)
I had just gotten back from work angry about not being promoted when I was attacked by a Direhog.
I underestimated its strength and though I suffered grave injuries while battling it, in my desperation to live, I ate through it throat and killed it.
I suffered two more attacks and then fought a horde of them and it is only after that I came to understand that within just those minutes, I had undergone a drastic change,
First, I had developed a taste for Direhog flesh and blood (not sure if this extends to other living things).
Also, I discovered that not only does consuming the flesh of this beast rejuvenate me, wiping away my fatigue, but it also strengthens me to inhuman levels, and accelerates my healing by several factors.
It's been an hour since my battle with Direhogs and right now all I can feel is dull ache from the cuts on my back, the gashes already healed up.
Also, no matter what I do, even following the instructions from online, I can't seem to activate my own system screen.
Oh, and before I forget, I'm seriously damn hungry at the moment raw bloody Direhog flesh being what I crave and as disgusted as I feel about that I can't help but be worried what happens if I lose a taste for it, while still being hungry.]