Man and Beast
The man walked into the room, frowning at the wolf. "You mutt! You'll pay for what you did!"
He raised his shield up and slowly walked towards Niall.
'Not again...' thought Niall, knowing full well that his situation was grave.
Niall dashed towards the man, attempting to bite at his legs, but was met with a kick to the chest, sending him flying across the room.
[Health] 18/21
[Stamina] 15/18
'Ugh... I didn't even see that coming... Crap!'
Right as he was about to shake himself aware, the man sprinted towards Niall with his mace raised high in the air. Niall dodged this in the nick of time.
'The arm...!"
He leapt at the man's arm that was holding the mace, biting deep into it. The man did not expect the fangs to dig so deep into his leather gauntlets and through his flesh. In response, he used his shield to bash Niall's head, prompting him to let go.
Niall barely managed to get back on all fours after getting struck thrice by the shield.
'I can't get past his armor! Damn!'
He wasn't going to let Niall get away. Right as Niall was about to get struck, he fainted his attack and followed up with a shield bash, striking him to the side, causing Niall to slam against the wall. Niall no longer had the strength to stand up.
[Health] 7/21
[Stamina] 9/18
Noticing that the wolf was unable to continue fighting, he dropped his shield and furiously approached the wolf.
'I can't... breathe!'
The man grabbed the wolf and threw him against the wall, choking him with the handle of his weapon. There was almost no way he could get out of this situation.
[Health] 7/21
[Stamina] 6/18
In a desperate attempt to escape, he frantically jerked his claws back and forth. He somehow managed to claw the man's face, bringing forth more fury in the eyes of the warrior, who was pushing against the handle harder than ever.
[Health] 7/21
[Stamina] 4/18
Niall was barely able to keep conscious. He could only try one more thing before his ultimate demise.
He brandished his claws and went for the eyes.
"Gaaargh!"
Niall dropped to the ground along with the mace, gasping for air while the man was holding his face and screaming as blood was dripping below his eyelids.
[Health] 7/21
[Stamina] 3/18
Niall only had one choice. He knew he was on the verge of passing out, and that escape was not an option any longer. He mustered up his remaining strength and tackled the man, still trying to wipe away blood from his eyes, pushing him to the ground. He tried to put up a fight by attempting to shove Niall away, but Niall was already digging his fangs deep inside his throat, ripping it to shreds.
[Health] 7/21
[Stamina] 1/18
Niall, overly exerting his stamina and from the lack of oxygen, finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell unconscious beside the man's body.
Minutes passed. Then, hours.
He finally reawakened with the most brutal headache.
[SYSTEM REINITIALISING...]
[Vital Signs Monitor Active]
[Current Status - Skull (Fractured); Ribs (Shattered)]
[Expected Recovery Time - N/A]
[ENDURANCE] has been limited outside of combat to avoid further damage.
[STRENGTH] has been limited outside of combat to avoid further damage.
[Initiating Automatic Medical Systems...]
[Insufficient Sustenance]
[Skill List Updated, Vessel Filled]
'... Everything hurts. What... happened?'
He tried getting up, and a surge of pain shot through him.
[Health] 14/14
[Stamina] 11/11
He looked to the right only to notice the dead body lying on the ground, and then he remembered what he had done. The surge of adrenaline caused him to not feel the pain in the fray of battle. But that was then.
Now, he not only had to deal with the pain but his hunger too as it was growing more and more. It became just as painful as his injuries.
'I can't take it anymore. Damn this dungeon. I don't know what to do! If I have to fight someone again, I'll be dead for sure... Think!'
He took a few minutes to compose himself and to meditate on the pain. Alas, he came up with an idea.
"What about the rewards? There's gotta be something that can help!"
[System]
[Race] Grey Wolf
[Health] 14/14
[Stamina] 11/11
[Mana] 2/2
[STRENGTH] - (7)
[AGILITY] - (3)
[ENDURANCE] - (5)
[INTELLIGENCE] - (2)
[Available Points] - (0)
________________
[Passive Skills] - [Night Vision (Level 1)], [Ambusher], [Sharp Fangs]
[Available Points] - (0)
[Current Body Status - Skull (Fractured); Ribs (Shattered)]
'Is there anything here? Gah...'
He decided to open up his skill menu just to check, not expecting anything new.
[Vessel At Capacity. Refunding skill points...]
'Huh?'
And... he collapsed again.
Minutes later, he awakened in complete darkness, as if he were lucid dreaming.
'Where am I? Wait, it doesn't hurt anymore!'
...
'Am I dead?'
[New Vessel Acquired]
[All Stats Increased By 1]
[STRENGTH Increased By 2]
[Rematerialising...]
He was back where he collapsed, feeling healthier than ever.
'I'm okay?'
He opened his menu.
[System]
[Race] Grey Wolf
[Health] 30/30
[Stamina] 22/22
[Mana] 2/2
[STRENGTH] - (10)+
[AGILITY] - (4)+
[ENDURANCE] - (6)+
[INTELLIGENCE] - (3)+
[Available Points] - (8)
________________
[Passive Skills] - [Night Vision (Level 1)], [Ambusher]
[Available Points] - (4)
'I'm fine out of nowhere! What did that vessel thing mean, though? And why didn't my mana increase? Wait, my skill's missing!'
He walked out of the room as the body near him was starting to smell. Corpses decompose quickly in dungeons.
Niall opened his skill menu.
[Sharp Fangs] (Fangs puncture through armor and skin more efficiently.)
[Sharp Claws] (Claws tear through armor and skin more efficiently.)
[Thick Fur] (Fur dissipates some mana upon contact, reducing magic damage.)
[Adrenaline Surge] (Your Stamina is fully replenished when below 20% Health.)
[Serrated Teeth] (Your teeth are serrated, ensuring a strong grip and increased bleeding against targets.]
[Minor Health Regeneration] (Recover one point of Health every three minutes.) (Available in Skillforge)
[Skillforge Unlocked]
He was relieved to see that his skill was still there. More importantly, he unlocked a new function. He focused his attention on the newly unlocked Skillforge.
[Skillforge]
[INTRODUCTION]
[1/1]
[The Skillforge is a tool that you may utilise to create custom unnatural skills by using the Soul Power inside your Vessel. Any extra Soul Power gathered will be discarded.
Your Vessel is your current body. Once you have reached the maximum amount of Soul Power, your Vessel will be filled, requiring it to be upgraded in order to absorb the power of stronger enemies without wasting the excess Soul Power. There will be other skills available for purchase in the Skillforge that can also be viewed in the Skill List. New Skills can be unlocked in the Skill List by upgrading the Vessel. You may acquire Soul Power by slaying enemies. Upon upgrading, you will acquire some Ability and Statistic Poi-
He closed the introductory prompt and continued.
[Skillforge]
[Soul Power] - (88/250) (250 Required To Upgrade)
________________
[Minor Health Regeneration] (Recover one point of Health every three minutes.) (50 Soul Power)
[Not Enough Skills To Create Custom Skill]
This was too much to take in for Niall. He purchased the only skill available in the Skillforge and moved on to the other skills.
[Minor Health Regeneration] acquired.
[Sharp Fangs] acquired.
[Adrenaline Surge] acquired.
[Sharp Claws] acquired.
[Serrated Teeth] acquired.
[New Skills Available In Skillforge]
After purchasing so many skills, he felt like he could easily take on his previous enemy. Although, it might just be overconfidence. He decided to ignore the prompt about the new skills so that he could spend his ability points, as well. He spent three points in [ENDURANCE], two in [STRENGTH], one in [INTELLIGENCE], and two in [AGILITY].
[System]
[Race] Grey Wolf
[Health] 36/36
[Stamina] 31/31
[Mana] 3/3
[STRENGTH] - (11)
[AGILITY] - 6)
[ENDURANCE] - (9)
[INTELLIGENCE] - (4)
________________
[Passive Skills] - [Night Vision (Level 1)], [Ambusher], [Minor Health Regeneration], [Sharp Fangs], [Adrenaline Surge], [Sharp Claws], [Serrated Teeth]