As Cassius rested next to the husk of the Brazen Bloodhound, his mind was in overdrive, adapting to the changes it was currently undergoing. His body grew taller, stronger. His face shifted slightly, becoming more angular. His bloody hair shifting colors, going from blonde to a salt and pepper gray and black. Under his eyelids, his irises became a pale pink, reminiscent of a lotus. The fangs, which had receded with the deactivation of his Ability, grew back, sharper than before.
Cassius' body exuded an ethereal charm now. If he was a seven out of ten before this transformation, he was now an eleven out of ten.
However, within his mind, Cassius flit through dozens of memories. Recalling his past. A whisper spoke from the back of his mind. "Wake up, little lamb. You cannot afford to rest here." Cassius became lucid in that moment, turning his focus to the voice.
A figure appeared at the corner of his sight, before quickly dissipating. "Alice..." Cassius murmured. "It's not time. You've done well activating the panel. It is time to wake up, now. You're in enemy territory, little lamb." Her voice spoke softly.
Cassius nodded, turning his attention back to his memories. Several instances of bullying he had gone through. Many experiences with neglect. Watching as his parent's defensive line was utterly decimated under the Calamity Swarm. Hestia's training and countless sleepless nights. He hadn't seen her smile since their parents died. She was focused on becoming stronger to prevent such a tragedy. The bags under her eyes grew and grew as time went on until she entered that portal. That fucking portal.
The memories were all jumbled. Looking down, his eyes grew sharp as he shook in rage. "I'll come for you, Hestia. You too, Alice." Sighing, he spoke, "I'm ready to wake up now." Turning his eyes upward, Cassius was ripped from his mind.
Inside his mental plane, Alice's blurry figure smiled faintly. "I'll be waiting." She slowly disappeared, motes of energy flowing gently into a large crimson orb.
When Cassius returned to the hellish realm, he yelped in pain. The blood essence he had absorbed from the wolf had healed his thigh and half of his arm, but did nothing for the stab wound in his torso. It must be importance based for regeneration. He thought to himself.
Gritting his teeth, he sat up, groaning slightly. He looked around quickly, making sure no other beast's had come close while he was unconscious. Sighing at his momentary fortune, he took a look at himself. His skin had become noticeably clearer, his nails had damn near been sharpened to a point, and he could feel that his fangs were back. Looking at the rest of his body, he saw that his clothes had shrunk somewhat and his shoes felt tighter.
Shaking his head, Cassius swore to buy enchanted clothes once he escaped this nightmare world. Enchanted clothes with the right runic inscription could alter their size to fit their User. It was a necessary for Users who had body altering abilities.
Plus, having the self-mending inscription would also be good, too. His clothes were in tatters from his fight with the hellhound.
Ah, yeah, right, the panel. How does it appear? Cassius pondered.
"Appear... panel... status." At the mention of status, a red panel appeared before his eyes.
Cassius' head spun looking at all the information. The Aeterian Government had User watches, sold by a cosmic merchantry, but even those weren't as detailed as what he saw before him. Those watches usually only gave ranks and vital sign tracking.
<...>
"Wh-WHAT!" Cassius' mind reeled at this sudden revelation. He could gain skills and abilities!
"Akashic, what is prime essence, and why did I get a skill?" Cassius asked tentatively.
"I have a bloodline?" Cassius questioned.
"Shit, well, could be worse." Cassius sighed. Does beg the question, though. How come I have the bloodline of an allied clan to Alice? What are the clans? Did this bloodline come from the lotus? Ah, so many questions.
"Akashic, can you add a bloodline category to the panel?" Cassius asked, wondering if he could change a few things on the panel.
"Purity is awfully low..." Cassius rubbed his chin in thought.
"Understood, thanks Akashic." Cassius nodded, turning his eyes toward the bone spear stuck inside the corpse of the hound.
Reaching the spear, he pulled it out of the hound's skull. It make a schlorp sound as it exited, causing Cassius to gag slightly. "Blergh, fucking gross." Letting his disgust be known, he turned around, eyeing the spire in the distance.
"Maybe now that I have some experience with these hounds and my physique improvement, I can take another hound on. Got to heal my arm after all. It'd be best to set a trap, though. Hm hm, yeah, I'll do that." With a nascent plan formed in his mind, he began to get to work.
The rocky terrain was a bitch to dig out, but after many hours of work near the bone pile, Cassius finished a spike pit. Nodding in accomplishment, he set off to find another hound to lure.
He wasn't getting injured this time. He had made sure of that.
Nearly, eight hours had passed since he had started with his plan and Cassius finally managed to find another Brazen Hellhound. It was eating some other beast. That reminds me. There was that adventurer corpse that fido was feasting on before he chased my ass. I should go loot.
Bringing his focus back to the present, Cassius' gaze sharpened. "It's time." He whispered to himself. After orientating himself toward the bone pile, he screamed in faux pain.
The hellhound, dining luxuriously looked up at a seemingly injured human. Tilting its head, it boomed a bark before taking off towards the fresh meat in front of it.
"All according to plan. Come at me mutt." Cassius muttered as he took off into the distance.
The chase began, the hound running after an 'injured' Cassius. Sweat poured down Cassius' head as he ran with all his might. The hound was practically nipping at his heels right now.
"C'mon Cass, faster faster." His breathing grew hurried as he ran faster, slightly outpacing the hound now. The hellhound noticing the sudden increase in speed, doubled down forcing itself to run faster. This exchange continued for the next few minutes as each flung gravel and igneous rocks with each step they took.
The bone pile came into view and Cassius grew excited. Hiding it immediately, Cassius put on a solemn expression. This seemed to trick the hellhound's slight intelligence in thinking that its prey was growing tired. Unfortunately for the hound, the opposite was true. As the two got closer to the bone pile, and subsequently the spike pit, Cassius grew more and more excited.
In a final sprint, Cassius headed to the west of the bone pile, slowing down greatly. The hound noticing this opened its maw and jumped at the human in front of it. Smiling now, Cassius jumped with extreme force to the side, narrowly dodging the creatures massive canines. The hound tried skidding to a stop to turn and retry biting the puny ant in front of it in half. But, in an instant, the ground underneath its legs gave out, causing it to tumble down and fall onto a plethora of bone spikes.
One such spike, ramming immediately into its skull, killing it instantly.
"YES! IT WORKED!!!" Cassius celebrated for a few seconds before cautiously climbing down into the hole. Rubbing his hands together, he activated his claws for a brief moment to make an opening. This time slightly more elegantly instead of shoving his face inside the damn thing.
Let the feast begin!