"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH. I WAS NOT READY!" Cassius screamed, running across rocky terrain. Behind him a fiery hellhound, roughly the size of a small car, bounded after him.
About 15 Minutes Before
Soon after Cassius had awoken from his stasis, he was greeted with the sight of a hellish landscape. Crackling magma, endless rocky ground, and a tall spire in the distance, piercing clouds of ash spewing from a nearby volcano. All in all, fuck this. Those were the first words to come to his mind. No weapon, basic clothing with little protection, and absolutely zero training. Yup, nothing could go wrong here.
Scanning around, he eventually found himself drawn to the spire. It was the only landmark of any actual value to his current situation. Hence, he took steady strides towards it. He was careful, making sure to look at his surroundings and make sure nothing could pounce on him and end his meager existence in a flash. However, that only goes so far until you round a corner and come face to face with a fiery mutt the size of a Honda Civic.
Looking down, Cassius spotted the remains of another adventurer. Looking back up, both he and the hellhound stared at each other. "Ahem, well, Mr. Fire Dog, I will leave you to your feast." Cassius coughed lightly as he took slow steps backwards. The hellhound huffed, and let out a low whine as it started taking slow steps forward.
"Well, I'm off. Cheers, mate." Cassius turned around and bolted. The hellhound howled and began to run after its new easy prey.
Cut to where we began
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH. I WAS NOT READY!" Cassius bellowed. His shoes offered little purchase on the gravelly soil beneath his feet, and he came close to slipping multiple times. The hound seemed to enjoy the chase, trotting behind Cassius at a leisurely pace.
Where do I go?!
He looked around for anything that could possibly help him. A large pile of bones captured his attention and he quickly turned and went towards them, hoping to find a place to hide. However, the hellhound wouldn't let him do whatever he wished and began to run faster after him.
Sweating bullets, he barely made it to the bone pile before the hound reached him. Climbing deftly, he reached the top and began to look down at the hellhound that was making its way up.
Shit shit shit, what do I do? There's nothing else for miles around here! Wait a minute... I'm so dumb. Looking into his core he saw his energy funneling slowly into his first Ability. He wasn't able to see it before due to his lack of an energy core, however, now he could. It was a bit different than he was taught in his lacking government lessons. A crimson aura surrounded the small orb and inside laid a small fiery lotus, spinning in place.
"Here goes!" He channeled much more energy into his Ability than what was currently being funneled into it passively. Heat rushed out of the orb and traveled up through his torso, down both of his arms, and gathered at his fingertips. His nails began to visibly change, growing longer, sharper, more refined. Energy veins began to emerge in the new claws, glowing red. Cassius' eyes widened as he felt a rush of bloodthirst. His gaze floated to the hellhound in front of him, nearly having reached him.
His eyes previous brown color began to turn blood red and he felt two slight pokes in his mouth. Licking his teeth, he felt two new protrusions, fangs. Smiling, Cassius felt a rush of power.
The hellhound, noticing a change in the atmosphere, looked around sensing for new dangers before it returned its gaze to the small human in front of it. A sense of primal fear began to creep up on it, shortly before being squashed by something else, another power within its subconscious. It yipped, flinging itself toward its prey, widening its maw.
Cassius took note of the strange reaction before giving in to his new power. His face grew flush as he rocketed off the top of the bone pile, scattering bones every which way.
Roaring, Cassius descended like a comet, claws gliding through the air toward their target. The hellhound snarled as it snapped its jaws around Cassius' left arm. Cassius screamed in pain, using his remaining sanity to drive his right hand into the left eye of the hellhound. Blood spurt from the hound's eye socket as Cassius used the entirety of the force he'd gained from the addition of gravity to delve as deep as he could go.
The hellhound thrashed violently, twisting and tearing off Cassius' arm from his body. Screaming as his blood blotted the hound's red fur, turning it into a darker and more menacing shade of burgundy.
"I'll fucking KILL YOU!" Cassius flew into a rage, seemingly numbing the pain he felt for a brief moment. The two tumbled down the bone pile, sending remains into every direction.
Both of them hit the ground, the hellhound causing a slight tremor to cascade even more bones down from the pile. Cassius felt a sharp pain in his ribs. Looking down, he noticed a bone from the pile jutting out of his torso. Gritting his teeth, he pulled it out. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he got up, determined to finish this fight.
Letting go of the bone he had just pulled from his torso, he saw the hellhound thrashing on the ground, a large spear-like bone pierced through its throat. Smiling at this chance, Cassius rushed toward the beast, ready to rip the rest of its throat out.
The hellhound whined, kicking up rocks and bones into the air as it slammed its body over and over onto the ground in an attempt to get the obstruction out of its throat. Its eyes focused on the being closing the distance fast and it felt fear for the second time this chase. This time, no power could help it as it gargled a light whimper. The eyes of the beast sharpened slightly, seeming to have come to a decision. Its throat bulged, the skin and fur beginning to glow. The bone lodged in its throat melted away, and splintered into two parts. The bones clattered to the ground as the beast directed its bleeding maw towards the approaching Cassius. With a low growl it spewed a breath of molten regurgitated adventurer and unidentified animal parts.
Cassius noticed the beast preparing this attack too late, and barely managed to dodge the vile spray that came from the hellhound. A searing pain came from his leg as he saw a large chunk of his thigh missing. Tears sprouted from Cassius' eyes as he directed a murderous gaze towards the beast.
The hellhound, noticing its final attack missed, flopped its head on the ground. Its tongue lolled out, the hound seemingly resigned to its fate.
"You... argh, you fucker. I'm turning you into a coat." Cassius grit his teeth and approached the hound, picking up another spear-like bone. Using the bone as a crutch he hobbled closer to the beast. "I know I'm not entirely human anymore, but you'd better pray this shit heals or I'm entering hell myself and beating the shit out of you again." Grunting, Cassius brought down his improvised spear, directly hitting the beast's brain.
The hellhound screeched for a fraction of a second before falling limp on the charred rocky ground below it. Sighing in pain, Cassius turned around and sat next to the beast. Leaning his head against its fur he panted. I've got to grow stronger. I don't ever want to feel this pain again.
Although the pain was a cake walk compared to the white lotus he absorbed, it still wasn't giving him peachy feelings. His mind stopped working when he felt a sudden influx of energy fill his core.
A sudden tug pulled in his mind. Heal, drink... its blood. His claws hadn't receded this entire time, drawing energy from his currently expanding core. Turning around, he used the last of his remaining strength to tear open the hellhound, his head shoving itself into the opening he made.
Drinking greedily, Cassius almost lost himself in how wonderful the taste of the blood was. His wounds began to itch as the blood in his stomach began to turn into a mist. It swirled violently around his core before moving to his left thigh. While he couldn't see due to his head being almost entirely inside the beast, Cassius could feel his skin tightening and regenerating. His skin grew extremely hot.
After a few minute of drinking the hellhound's blood, his leg was fully healed, and the bloody mist directed itself to his arm, beginning to heal it as well. Unfortunately, as soon as he reached his left elbow, the blood within the hound stopped flowing.
Ripping his head out of the hellhound, his now bloody hair swished back, coming to a gentle rest as Cassius panted. The corpse in front of him was now a husk. Looking at his half healed arm, he felt a slight pang of regret.
A sudden ringing filled his ear as his power deactivated itself. In front of his eyes, a string of text appeared, causing Cassius to tilt his head in slight confusion.
"What the fuc-" Cassius' eyes drooped as he dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.