First Battle

Slithering through the dense forest, Ana was unsure of what she was searching for.

The trees towered over her, casting an eerie atmosphere in this unfamiliar place.

She knew she had to hunt quickly and return to Little Raisin to construct a shelter before nightfall. Little did she know, she too was being stalked by a predator.

Suddenly, it pounced from above and landed on her worm body. It resembled a large, muscular squirrel with piercing red eyes.

Ana hissed as sharp claws tore into her pale, fleshy skin, causing blood to gush from the wound. In a burst of adrenaline, she flipped over and knocked her attacker into a nearby tree, eliciting a yelp from the creature.

While the creature was stunned, Ana instinctively sunk her fangs into it.

The blood was sweet and warm, feeding her strength as the creature's struggles slowed. At the same time, Ana's wounds stopped bleeding.

[Mutated Squirrel Killed. Exp gained.]

"Lifesteal is pretty good!" she thought and then winced at the image in her mind of the little wrinkled Saintess. "I'll find a way to make it up to her…"

Just then, the bushes rattled nearby.

Ana froze as two more of the creatures emerged from the underbrush, their beady red eyes fixed on her, eyes blazing with vengeance. Although her wound no longer bled, she was still injured.

She slithered away as fast as possible!

The two squirrel monsters snarled and chased after her, their tails bobbing behind them. They were faster than her!

She quickly burrowed into the dirt and the squirrels didn't hesitate to enter the pit. With the end of her worm tail, she collapsed the tunnel behind her.

[Mutated Squirrel Killed. Exp gained.]

"Great! Only eight more to go and then the quest will be complete."

Silently, she dug her way back to the surface and emerged with a soft thud. The surviving squirrel had also just finished digging its way out of the ground, panting from the effort.

She attempted to sneak up quietly, but her presence was immediately detected by the twitching of its ear. The creature took off in a panicked frenzy.

"No! I need your exp!" She hissed, chasing after the fleeing rodent.

As she chased after the squirrel, it quickly scampered up a nearby tree. But as much as she tried, she couldn't follow with her thick worm body. The squirrel looked down and let out a barking laughter at her futile attempt.

Ana looked away and headed towards the two dead squirrels. The squirrel perched in the nearby tree watched her, plotting its revenge. It seemed determined to avenge its fallen comrades.

[Consume 0/10 Monsters]

"So I have to…eat them?" she thought, looking at one carcass covered in dirt and the other shriveled like jerky. "Fuck it, a worm can eat dirt!"

In a grotesque and slimy vortex, the bodies were devoured by her gaping maw and disappeared into the dark abyss. The tree squirrel's cry echoed through the air and it scampered away, disappearing into the underbrush.

[Consume 2/10 Monsters]

She felt the residual taste in her mouth and decided it wasn't so unbearable. A bit like beef jerky.

At the same time, she felt a change within her. But she needed more!

"For Little Raisin!" Ana hissed, and the hunt continued.

Ana slithered further and further into the forest, her mind clouded with the need to complete the quest. The forest became darker and more sinister as she ventured deeper.

She soon came across a clearing and what she found froze her in her tracks.

There, in the center of a circle of mushrooms, danced naked sprites. Their bodies glowed a sickly green hue, their faces twisted in horrific joy.

Ana watched as one unknowingly tripped and fell to the ground, its head smacking onto the hard earth. Inky blood oozed onto the stone underneath and its frame twitched twice before falling still. There was a pause for only a second before the other sprites laughed and continued their dance.

Ana turned away decisively to run. Twelve versus one didn't seem feasible at this time.

Just then, a sharp pain coursed through her body.

She looked down to see a small dart stuck in her side and the world started to spin.

A sprite stood poised with a small tube, loading a second dart. The rest of the sprites began pulling out their own darts.

Anna cursed and burrowed underground, just in time as twelve darts hit the ground behind her.

As the effects of the drug seeped into her system, she began to see strange fractals floating before her.

She was suddenly in bed, with her dog, Lia. The moment before she transmigrated.

She sat up, sweating. Lia raised her droopy eyes at her in confusion.

"Oh. Thank god. It was just a dream…"

Ana burrowed her face in Lia's soft fur.

"I thought I turned into a worm and…"

Lia yawned and rolled over.

"Yeah, worms. That's a good one, Ana."

Ana sighed in relief.

Her stomach rumbled and she touched it.

"Ah? I'm so hungry…"

Nutmeg was a lesser warrior in her tribe, a squirrel of two winters. Many of her brothers and sister had been lost to predators or illness throughout this time. But she survived somehow. She was always the survivor.

And this time was no different.

She watched as the worm opened its gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth and consumed Clara and Polk. The last of her littermates. The horrid teeth rotating like saws and grinding down flesh and bone to nothing.

She ran away with tears in her beady eyes, the sound unforgettable and ringing in her ears.

When she was far away, she stopped and let the despair wash over her.

"No!" she thought. "I can't let it end like this!"

Her eyes hardened and the tears disappeared as she clenched her squirrel paws. A flame burned in her unwilling eyes.