2 2: Devouring System
A raving howl echoed throughout the forest, awakening me. The unexpected sound sent shivers down my spine. Camouflaged impeccably inside the decayed tree, squeezing through it, attempting to get a better look at what creature had caused it.
A full moon stood above our head, clearing the surroundings with its bright moonlight. Anxiety arose within, and the fear of death came inevitably. —I don't want to die again, what animal is making noises at dawn? A wolf? That car accident was still fresh inside my mind, the pain, everything, enhancing the fear of non-existence again.
Wolves appeared, staring relentlessly at a group of gazelles as if they were already savoring their next meal. Surprisingly, the gazelles were standing still, bearing brave faces, unfrightened, as if they were not the prey, but the hunter. Even though the wolves were irrational, their instincts provided a sensation of danger while looking at the gazelles, unconsciously making their bodies retreat.
Huge, an enormous gazelle came out of nowhere, giving the wolves a fierce look. Brownish skin followed closely by white dots, a domineering length of almost three meters tall and two horns that looked sharper than a knife. Something extraordinary happened after the brief staredown. —Magic!
The surrounding wind started to gather above the gazelle's horns, producing a whirlwind visible to the naked eye. Pression struck down upon all the wolves, causing them to tremble. —Fuck, how can the magic be so scary? And why a random animal is capable of doing it?
A wind blade flew towards the wolf pack, incredible fast, making it impossible for them to dodge. The spell cut the wolves like paper, dismembering their bodies. Blood soaked the grass, and the scent of it flew alongside the wind, entering my nostrils. —That's disgusting, but strangely I don't feel like puking; a monster sure has its perks.
The group of gazelles soon left, not taking a glance at the wolves' bodies. A curiosity grew bigger inside me while looking at the bodies scattered on the ground. —Can I eat them? I should try or else I'll starve to death. Without overthinking about what happened, I decided to make a bet, walking carefully towards the wolves' remainings. Fully attentive to every direction, making sure that no predator was lurking in the shadows.
—Whoa, this raw meat is quite tasty, totally different from what I expected.
The meat got crushed by my sharp teeth, chewing sound resonated, and the wolf's chunk got engulfed, falling through my throat, going straight to the stomach to get digested. A voice came out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of me.
New specie devoured, wolf gene added.
High Senses skill obtained.
Do you wish to devour the wolf's memories?
—What the fuck is this? Am I losing my sanity already? Come on, George, show the world some strength.
Not knowing anything about the occurrence, I decided to say yes, agreeing to the voice, devouring the wolf's memories.
A huddle of scenes appeared, and the bad feeling that came along was almost unbearable, turning my mind into a pile of shuffled thoughts. The headache was tremendously painful, making me fall into the ground, rolling nonstop, begging for it to stop.
Time passed like a turtle, and after what seemed like an eternity of suffering, it finally stopped. The pain was long gone, and the shuffled memories started to make sense as if they had always belonged to me.
—This is incredible; the wolf's memories now belong to me. Now I have a piece of elementary information about my environment. What was that skill again? High Senses? So I'm not that useless. The universe helped me in this life after all; this devouring skill gives me endless opportunities to grow stronger. I'm so excited!
This event showed that I had an innate ability, which gave me the chance to thrive in this unknown world. The remaining wolves were lying near, increasing my hunger and feeding my curiosity. —Will I learn something different if I eat them too?
Happily, gorging myself with the other bodies, hoping that another skill would pop up. It never did, my hunger got satiated, but that voice didn't enter my mind again.
—I think the reason I can't learn anything different is that all these wolves are the same; they don't seem magical like that gazelle.
An unknown world, filled with magic and uncomprehended creatures, all of this seemed impossible, like movies from modern Earth. But now, the impossible may become my reality—I'll not be the same useless George; in this world, I'll survive and flourish, and the title of strongest creature will belong to me.
The forest lost its noises for a time; birds stopped singing, the crickets and the squirrels kept their mouths shut as if they were attending a funeral.
Densely stacked bushes getting in the way, making it hard to walk through the woods. All the colors looked more vivid; the grass-touching feet sensation amplified, making me feel as one with nature. Different smells entering my nostrils, flowers fragrance, animals unique scent, and mud; mud reminded me about the times I used to play on the dirt, an innocent child.
—That High Senses skill sure is impressive; everything around me looks completely different from before; this will make my life easier.
A tree appeared far away; its log was so thick that it needed three adult men to embrace it. An animal was standing at the top of it, not at the tree crown, but the right side branch.
—What is that animal? A chameleon? Too bad its camouflage can't stand against my High Senses. I have a flashy crystal behind my back; I suppose this camouflage skill can be useful, assuming that I can learn it, of course.
Closely walking towards the chameleon, trying to avoid making any noises, afraid of scaring it way. Different from other animals, I had intelligence, a lizard that had gone to college—this could make a great movie don't you think? Grabbing a stone that was lying near, looking towards the chameleon, with a sad face—I'm sorry.
The stone flew quickly, hitting the chameleon head, making it fall off the branch towards the ground. A huge hole appeared in its head; the rock had smashed it, making brain fluids drip into the ground. Its death had been painless, giving me some comfort.
Razor-sharp teeth gave it no chance, grinding it entirely, turning into a chameleon paste that was easy to swallow.
New specie devoured, chameleon gene added.
Camouflage skill obtained.
Do you wish to devour the chameleon's memories?
—No. I don't know if I have an unlimited memory capacity, so its wise to only devour the important ones.
The following days proceeded smoothly; eating, drinking, sleeping at the decayed tree, and slowly exploring the forest. For days it seemed all the same, trees, bushes, random animals, no sign of humans at all. That magical gazelle never showed up again—like I wish to encounter it, the far the better, that wind blade can cut me into pieces.
Almost one hundred percent of the forest was flat, but after one week of pioneering, an immense mountain entered my sight, making me feel like an ant compared to it. Bright lights shined at the mountain's base, in what looked like a cave-like entrance.
—This looks like a mine, which means humans could be in there. I should stay inside this bush and watch; I don't think they can see through my camouflage.
"****************************!"
"****************?"
—What the fuck? Someone's talking inside the mine; why I can't understand shit? Oh, right, they are not speaking English. I wonder if it is possible to learn their language; devouring their memories should work. Wait, I'm thinking of eating other humans, how gross.
The chat continued for about five minutes, and then someone new entered my sight, heading towards the cave entrance. The youth was wearing a black robe that almost touched the ground; black hair above its head and a pretty face that looked more like a female. When he was at the front of the cave, he shifted his vision towards me.
—Did he noticed me?
Before I couldn't react, a magical circle appeared above the youth hand, a small fire started to gather, and soon it transformed into a fireball, similar to that of RPGs. The heat was so high that I burned even at 10 meters away. He made a hand movement, tossing the fireball towards me; the speed wasn't that quick, but it scared the shit out of me.
The fireball was steadily getting near, and without further ado, I used the strength of my four limbs, dodging sideways, averting danger.
"**************!!" He shouted something at me, bearing an angry face.
— Are you mad because I dodged your silly fireball? This shit is so small that I don't think it can light a campfire, how useless.
Without glancing at the youth, I started to run into the forest in hopes that the mage wouldn't hunt me down. Unluckily, I was mistaken. Chasing me, I looked behind me, seeing tremendous greediness in the youth's face.
—You bastard, I bet that you want this shiny crystal behind my back. You'll never get it; watch how I play with you, boy.
After five minutes of cat and mouse, I could sense that he was getting near me; having small limbs gave me a disadvantage, and sooner or later, I would get caught, and probably exterminated.
—I don't want to die again, I'm so young; I never did bad things to others, so why I am so fucking unlucky, this is unreal.
Fireballs flew towards me over and over again, leaving behind a trail of destruction, yet I managed to stay unharmed. The animals within the forest started to get agitated, some getting in the way, making the run even harder.
—A cliff? When I thought my luck couldn't get any worse, what a joke.
The chase took me into an unknown part of the forest; the information I gathered from the wolf didn't include this.
"***************** HAHAHA" A strange language came out of the youth's mouth, as he was staring me, fiercely, casting another spell.
—Did this fucker laughed? Now I'm pissed; I will hunt you down when I get the chance, loser.
Turning around to see how high was that cliff, and it was a lot. Luckily, a river was passing beneath, giving me at least a small hope of surviving. Before jumping, I stared angrily at the mage's eyes and somehow managed to show the middle finger to him.
—HAHA, your reaction is priceless, eat that, nerd.
The funny thoughts that appeared inside my mind after that scene improved my mood slightly.
Stay there was suicide, and jumping also seemed like it, but I had no chance. It took me 10 seconds after jumping to hit the ground, or should I say water. A high altitude made the water hard like a stone, and my mind went blank after hitting it, passing out immediately.
After an unknown time passed, I finally opened my eyes again, and it shocked me.
—Where am I? Oh right, I jumped out of that cliff, but shouldn't I be at the water? It seems like a cage.
A male entered the room, a small child following along. They looked at me, smiling.
