Chapter 3

I stepped forward, making sure to snap the twig, and my footfall sounded across the grove. A few strides away, a brown bear turned around and stopped on seeing me. It sized me up with its tiny button eyes, and I could hear it sniffing at the air with its wiggling nose. Scarred and massive, at least 300kg, I would dread fighting this dominant monster in a fair fight.

One moment, it showed little interest in me, near silent other than its snuffling. In the next, it bared its long, pointed canines through its gaping maw. Its bellow sent a shiver through my spine and would have shocked me to the spot if I hadn't been prepared. Just as it started towards me, I twisted around and frantically ran for my life.

I could hear it hurtling behind me, crushing twigs and snapping saplings. Leaping up, I clawed myself up onto an overhang of a higher platform. Glancing back, I saw the dominant bear was less than ten paces away, and I suddenly gained the motivation to clamber up the winding hill.

After ten minutes of chase, the bear finally caught up, huffing as it climbed up the last part. It stood with unsteady footing and was clearly exhausted, after all, it took considerable energy to push a hefty body up an incline for so long. My plan had never been elaborate or particularly thought-through, but I now hoped it would be effective.

Dashing forward, I rammed into the bear. I could smell its hot, acrid breath as it roared defiantly, maybe fearfully, and I felt its claws dig into my flesh as it attempted to hold on. Unluckily for it, my fur provided little purchase, and the bear fell, oh my did it fall.

Ignoring the smarting pain from my wounds, I rushed down the path and found the bear a minute later. It wobbled on its feet and stared at me venomously. The hard, unfeeling ground had smashed its shoulder into a gross mix of hair, gore, and flesh, its entire side reddened.

The sight roused my bloodlust and I charged forward, the injured bear lowering as it braced for impact. Coming into its reach, I leaned to the side as it swiped, its claws only ripping a smattering of muscle from my back. I exploded towards its face and swung. My paw hit and the nails tore through its eyes and facial tissues.

Now that it was blinded, I thought it would be an easy fight - I was wrong. Dead wrong. As it knew I was in range, it smashed my shoulder and bit into my neck. I squirmed and twisted it off, swiping its reaching arm paw away. I bolted off with blood trailing my wake, stopping at a safe distance to watch the blinded monster.

It righted itself and staggered, but all the while it sniffed the air for me. Snarling, it limped after me, or so it thought, but it a metre off target. Seeing the monster so close, I found my battle spirit roused again and I drove into its injured side, throwing it off its feet.

The rest of the fight was bloody and sadly not a one-sided affair. Still, it could barely access a fifth of its power and so I gained the upper hand, attacking with such savagery that the bear eventually collapsed.

Falling onto my stomach, I rested on the ground, head rolling around dizzily as I tried to escape my delirium. I needed to flee before any other predators came and yet my body refused to listen. Soon, the curtains closed and the darkness reigned supreme.

****

Waking with a start, I glanced around in confusion, heart thundering. I recalled the events that had taken place and promptly tried to stand. Although I managed it, my legs burned, my wounds stung, and my stomach pleaded, nay, begged for food. Just a small morsel, it said, and I gave in. There was an issue though: there were no small morsels in the area, and I couldn't walk to find any given the state of my legs.

But then I spotted the bear corpse and did something I'm not proud off, a secret that I'll take to my grave. Despite the shame and odd excitement I felt, I learnt that bear meat is tender and filling. Once I felt good enough to walk, I hobbled over to the bear's den and took it over as my own.

****

Shifting into consciousness, I looked around in the darkness and remembered myself. It took a while for me to warm up to the idea of leaving the den, and as I did I felt my stomach rumbling again. God, I was so hungry although I had just eaten a day… Days? Week? I had no idea how long I had rested. Spotting the fruit trees in front of me, I forgot about that matter and had myself the feast I had always wanted.

[Level 12 (1435/2000)

Race: Brown Bear (tier 2) - 202 kg

Class: unlocks at level 20

Strength: 23

Agility: 18

Constitution: 31

Endurance: 15

Perception: 10

Luck: 6

Perks: Great sense of smell, Bear's regeneration]

It had at least been a week since I had become a brown bear, and my weight had ballooned with my constant meals. Curious, I checked my evolution conditions and found a few new entries, none of which I could say I was pleased with.

[Evolution tier 3 condition: level 25

Further conditions

Savage Bear: kill and eat a fellow bear

Demonic Bear: kill and eat 10 fellow bears

Giant Bear: Strength is greater than 25, Constitution is greater than 30

Ravenous Brown Bear: eat 50kg of brown bear meat

Vampiric Brown Bear: kill 50 enemies and suck their blood

Shadow Brown Bear: Agility is greater than 25

Golden Brown Bear: Luck is greater than 15

Arcane Brown Bear: be conscious

???

???

…]

It was also then I realised they all had race descriptions I could read through. So I read through the details of all my evolutions and found myself tempted by what should not be.