The Hunt Begins

I spent the rest of the day getting used to my abilities. No sense in having powers I didn't know how to wield properly.

By the next morning, I'd already planned my approach. I made sure to wake up early—early enough that hardly anyone else would be awake. Those who were probably weren't the type to leave their homes anyway.

Dressed in a black t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and black shoes, I packed a bag with a change of clothes and a mask, ready to switch once I got to my destination. Just in case anyone saw what I was about to do.

With that, I set off toward the forest preserve nearest my building. Staying out of sight, I slipped into the forest, and once I was deep enough, I changed into camo. I made sure it covered as much skin as possible—[Improved Hardness: Steel] wasn't exactly subtle.

Activating that ability, I wandered further into the woods, toggling [Paper Light] to silence my movements.

Soon, I came across my first target—a grizzly bear, of all things, drinking from a lake. Fate had answered.

Perfect.

Hiding behind some bushes, I plotted my approach. The logical move would've been an ambush from behind, aiming for a quick kill.

But, being totally honest, that didn't appeal to me. There was no challenge in it, no thrill. And I've always hated anything dull.

Plus, the notation of overcoming the bear in a one on one just seemed more fun.

A one-on-one fight with the bear sounded way more entertaining.

So, with that in mind, I picked up a rock and chucked it at its head.

The bear whipped around, blood trickling down its temple. Its eyes locked onto mine.

I waved. "Hi."

It roared back.

We were going to be the best of friends.

And proving just that, the bear charged. I dropped [Paper Light] and braced myself. It hit me full force, but I barely moved. My combined mass, courtesy of [Copper Skin] and [Improved Hardness: Steel], made me heavy as hell.

It tried biting at my neck and clawing my skin, but I barely felt it. Giving it something to gnaw on, I shoved my right forearm into its mouth, then wrestled it to the ground and began pounding it with my free arm. It struggled, but with my arm in its jaws, it was pinned.

And, in an effort of transparency, I did get a tad carried away during the bite. So, I may or may not have taken a tiny nibble (read: large bite) of the bear's shoulder as it tried to fight me.

Ability: [Bear's Endurance] gained.

The power that filled me was intoxicating. I could feel my body restructure itself, muscles shuffling around, growing harder and sturdier. The abilities were a part of it, definitely, but I recalled Rou once mentioning that even if something didn't give him skills, every time he ate something, he'd receive a power boost.

This was it. The strength of the bear becoming mine.

And I wanted more.

Yanking my arm free, I grabbed the bear's head and twisted.

SNAP.

The bear went limp. Blood pooled as I tore its head off, licking the fluids like fine wine.

Ability: [Power] gained.

"Fuck, that's good!" I practically moaned as I licked it all up. I flipped the head over and dug into the skull. If I remembered right, eating organs—especially the brain and heart—yielded the best gains.

Ability: [Cold Resistance] gained.

Once I was done with the brain, I moved to the rest of the animal, a smile on my face, when I received a notification.

Job: [Hunter] gained.

Ability: [Tracking] gained.

Huh. So that's how you earn a job. Neat.

Opening my status, I saw that the job section had updated itself.

Job: Hunter (4/100)

My level had also risen to four after killing the bear, so I supposed job levels scaled to my overall level.

Wait. I was a human with the ability to obtain jobs. Did that mean I couldn't evolve? Wasn't that, like, half the appeal of Re:Monster? I mean, I wasn't mad, this shit was still overpowered, but I felt like I was being locked out of something valuable.

Oh well. Things were still going so well, so that was an upside.

After finishing the bear, I set off in search of my next target.

'Let the hunt begin.'

+

Days passed, and it was May 4th.

And in that time, I spent most of my time hunting and eating. Bears, wolves, elk, even fish and interesting plants.

I'd spent that time hunting and devouring everything in sight—bears, wolves, elk, even fish and unique plants. Whenever I spotted someone nearby, I laid low. Usually, I hunted at dawn and dusk, when the woods were empty. A few close calls, but I always escaped just in time.

My skill count soared, and so did my experience. My level jumped from 4 to 45. The raw power from levelling wasn't as substantial as what I gained from eating, but it was there. Now, with just my passive abilities alone, I could fell trees with a single punch and take on bears, no problem.

This is what my status looked like:

[Felix Graves]

Level - 45/100

Race - Human

Job - Hunter (45/100)

- [Tracking] - 10/10

- [Marksmanship] - 2/10

- [Silent Step] - 8/10

- [Trap Mastery] - 5/10

- [Night Vision] - 4/10

- [Eagle Eye] - 9/10

- [Animal Whisperer] - 10/10

- [Camouflage] - 10/10

- [Vital Strike] - 7/10

- [Wind's Agility] - 1/10

Abilities - Absorption (NEW):

[Bear's Endurance] - 47/50

[Power] - 23/25

[Greater Cold Resistance] - 50/50

[Improved Metabolism] - 10/10

[Heightened Senses] - 21/25

[Superior Eyesight] - 22/25

[Fox's Cunning] - 50/50

[Elk's Swiftness] - 50/50

[Agility] - 21/25

[Vitality] - 23/25

[Reinforced Bite] - 16/25

[Claw Weapon] - 21/25

[Heat Sensing] - 22/25

[Minor Venom] - 10/10

[Minor Self Healing] - 10/10

[Leap] - 10/10

[Aquatic Breathing] - 10/10

[Swimming] - 25/25

[Shell Harden] - 10/10

Yep. I was busted. Like, stupidly so.

Ignoring my absorbed abilities, there were my class abilities, which, aside from the first one I received by unlocking the class, netted me a new one every five levels. All of them made killing in the woods so much easier.

My latest ability, [Wind's Agility] was an active one that I could use to momentarily boost my speed explosively.

And on to my absorbed skills, well… eating as much as I had, I managed to max out, or come close to anyway, a good deal of my repertoire. The highlights being [Bear's Endurance], [Elk's Swiftness], and [Fox's Cunning], which were all passives that made fighting stupidly easy. The latter of which, while not a physical ability, made my memory and mental processing better.

Still, that was not to say I wasn't appreciative of my minor skills. [Minor Self Healing], [Venom], and [Shell Harden] were good for keeping me on tip top shape while being an absolute challenge to the kill. I received them from a lizard, snake, and beetle respectively.

As an aside, I found it interesting that in spite of maxing out a bunch of abilities, my [Absorption] ability was only at 2.75% proficiency. Clearly maxing that out was going to be an utter chore.

Oh well. Gives me more of an excuse to eat.

Anyway, at the moment, I was waiting at a pizza parlour after a day's hunting. It's funny how despite eating so much regularly, I always had some room for more.

I was already on my third pie when I checked my watch. Anytime now, shit was gonna go down. The notion filled me with nothing but anticipation.

Finishing up my last slice, I burped and stood up from my seat. Might as well be outside when the invasion begins.

And I also snatched a soda from one of the coolers. Fanta, cause I'm not a peasant.

"Hey, you're supposed to pay for that," the owner called out, but I ignored him.

"Hey! I'm talking to you." He yelled again.

I was already outside, ready to take a sip of the can when he ran after me and grabbed my arm.

"What the fuck do you think you're—?"

Suddenly, a deafening sound cut him off. We both looked up to see a massive portal in the sky, spitting out giant metal death worms.

The Chitauri invasion had begun. Cool.

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!" The owner yelled, falling on his ass, before running off along with the crowd that had quickly formed.

I took a swig of my Fanta, finished it, and tossed the can to the ground.

Remember, kids, littering is only okay if you're me.

Grinning, I activated my abilities.

[Improved Hardness: Steel]

[Shell Harden]

[Power]

[Agility]

[Vitality]

[Paper Light]

A gleaming metallic shell coated me from head to toe.

I leapt onto a nearby building, scanning the chaos below. Some Chitauri soldiers were prowling around.

'Bitch, did I just catch you existing?'

I lunged at them, toggling [Paper Light] off mid-fall. My mass hit full force, and I crashed down fast. REALLY FAST.

Before the soldiers could react, I was on top of them and then - SPLAT.

They died on impact. Kinda happens when more than a ton of human mass falls on ya at high speeds.

Another chitauri nearby tried to run away, but I grabbed him and bit off his head.

Ability: [Basic Chitauri Combat Training] Gained.

I roared. 'LET'S FUCKING DO THIS!'

+

A/N: Shit's going down.

Also, if you can't tell, Felix is really bad at being serious and stupidly adjusted to violence… I wonder why?

Anyhow, what did y'all think? What parts did you like? Dislike? Don't be afraid to comment.

Have a nice day!