Casual Child Murder

[Rank 2 - Slackjaw Spider (Adult) consumed]

[16 Essence gained]

Zulu's consciousness awoke in the white space at those words. His nonexistent ears perked up when he heard the amount of Essence he'd acquired.

"Are all Rank 2 creatures so valuable?" Zulu asked himself.

[Negative. Consuming a species a single rank higher than you gives 100 percent more Essence. Normally, Rank 2 slackjaw spiders have between 7 and 9 Essence; However, due to your lower rank, you received 16 Essence.]

The guide responded to his self-musing.

"I see. I'm guessing the converse is also true?"

[Affirmative. Consuming a species a single rank lower than you gives 50 percent less Essence.]

"And this rule keeps applying the higher or lower the rank of the species I'm eating, right?"

[Affirmative.]

'So if I were a Rank 2 creature and I ate a Rank 1 creature that gives 4 Essence, I would get 2 Essence. I would get 1 Essence if I were a Rank 3 creature. I understand.'

After comprehending that information, Zulu opened his status.

>—————————<

Name: Zulu [Rank 1]

Species: Spirit Fox (Newborn)

Essence Value: 18

Upgrades: [Rank 1 - Razor Teeth]

Skills: [Rank 1 - Bite]

Spells: None

>—————————<

Seeing his status, Zulu couldn't help but become excited.

'I'm rich! Oh, oh, what should I get?'

After that thought, Zulu hastily opened the upgrades panel.

>—————————<

>>Available Upgrades<<

-Rank 2: [Razor Teeth (10 E)]

-Rank 1: [Night Vision (3 E), Quick Feet (3 E)]

>>Available Skills<<

-Rank 2: [Bite (10 E)]

-Rank 1: [Creep (3 E)]

>>Available Spells<<

-Rank 1: [Olfactory Confusion (10 E)]

>—————————<

'Hmm, I can finally afford the [Olfactory Confusion] spell. It definitely sounds interesting, and it apparently aligns with my species, so why not?'

"I want to buy [Olfactory Confusion - Rank 1]."

[Confirmed. Learning sp-]

"No wait!"

[?]

"I have other stuff I wanna get."

[My apologies. Go ahead.]

'What else should I get? The Rank 2 options cost too much for now, so I can only get two more Rank 1 upgrades. Okay, as much as I love the almighty-torch, I can't rely on it forever; It limits my vision too much. Which means [Night Vision] is a must, and I'll get [Creep] so I can sneak up on enemies as well. [Quick Feet] sounds nice, but I'm content with my agility; It's my strongest trait after all.'

"Okay, I'll buy [Olfactory Confusion], [Night Vision], and [Creep]."

[Confirmed…]

Yet, nothing happened.

"Uh, guide?"

[It seems your body is in life-threatening condition. It is recommended that you use your remaining Essence to heal any injuries and eliminate any ailments.]

"I can do that?"

[Affirmative. All magical creatures can heal injuries and eliminate ailments through the expenditure of Essence. Of course, doing so would slow your progress toward evolution, so enduring unnecessary injury is unadvised.]

"I see. Alright, how do I do it?"

After posing that question, a new orange panel appeared in front of him.

>—————————<

>>Injury Report<<

-Broken ribs x4, lacerated deltoid muscle, mild concussion

>>Ailment Report<<

-Poisoned (Slackjaw Spider Venom)

>>Death ETA<<

-3 hours, 27 minutes

>>Heal all injuries and ailments?<<

-2 Essence

>—————————<

"Death ETA! I was going to die!" Zulu said, shocked by his imminent death.

[Affirmative. Slackjaw spider venom is almost always fatal to Rank 1 creatures.]

"Well, why in the hell didn't you say so sooner! Kind of important, don't you think?"

[My apologies.]

Zulu didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his guide's ineptitude.

"Okay, I'll buy the three things I mentioned and cure everything."

[Confirmed. Applying upgrade. Learning skill. Learning spell. Healing injuries. Eliminating ailment.]

Then, everything went dark.

--------------------------------

When Zulu finally awoke some time later, he felt amazingly rejuvenated like he'd soaked in a much-needed warm bath.

'I feel so fuzzy, and that's not referring to my fur; Though it's pretty fuzzy too.'

All the new information associated with [Olfactory Confusion] and [Creep] was now stored inside his mind.

Looking around, Zulu immediately noticed the affects of his [Night Vision].

'It's not perfect. I can only see twenty meters or so, and it's a little grainy, but that's to be expected; It's only a Rank 1 skill at this point. Still a step up from the torch, though. Speaking of which.'

Zulu turned his head toward the steadily burning torch.

'What do I do with the almighty-torch? It was useful for seeing, but now I don't need it thanks to [Night Vision]. Also, constantly carrying it around in my mouth is a hassle. As useful as the flame is, I'd rather move about in stealth now, especially now that I've unlocked [Creep]. Can't exactly do that with a flaming beacon giving away my position, now can I?'

Having made up his mind, Zulu looked away from the torch and walked off into the darkness alone.

'Goodbye… almighty-torch…' *sniffle*

Zulu began his exploration of the remains of the slackjaw spider's home, or what was left of it anyway; Only a few scorched threads remained now.

After a few minutes, an interesting sight appeared in Zulu's [Night Vision] range.

'Are those… eggs?'

Something suddenly clicked in Zulu's mind.

'That's why it sounded so desperate, or I guess she. She was trying to live so she could continue protecting her eggs. Well, not that I care. All hell-spawn deserve to burn.'

In front of Zulu stood five egg sacks. The eggs were cream in color and enclosed in a web of silk for protection.

'Why so few? Don't spiders usually lay hundreds of eggs? Hmm, it must be some sort of natural balance or something. Usually, the larger the creature, the less children they're able to produce. So if you scale up a spider to the size of a table, the number of children it can create substantially decreases. That's good, I suppose. I can't imagine what it would be like if hundreds of these things were running around. They might really dominate the planet.'

Zulu shifted carefully through the webs in order to steal the eggs. He got snagged a few times by the sticky substance but managed to pull away without too much difficulty.

'Maybe I shouldn't have been too quick in discarding the torch.'

Zulu could only regret in his heart for not holding onto the torch for just a few more minutes.

'Actually, no. I wouldn't want to risk damaging the eggs anyway. Leaving it behind was for the best.'

Reaching that conclusion, Zulu began to unwrap the eggs from their silky cocoons.

After an hour of meticulous excavating, Zulu managed to retrieve all five eggs. He laid them in front of him before thinking of something.

'If I eat these, will I get any Essence? They haven't even hatched yet, so do they count as Rank 1? Guess there's only one way to find out.'

Zulu began to dig into the first egg in front of him.

'Mm, creamy… like pudding.'

After ten minutes, the deed was done. Zulu was an official child murderer.

'Hehehe, I'm the spawn killer now.'

After licking the egg goop from the sides of his mouth, Zulu continued further into the cave.

'You know, now that I think about it, I've not once had to use the restroom. Is this another quality of magical beasts? Huh, I haven't drank any water either. I should be damn thirsty by now, but I'm not. I'll just chalk it up to my amazingly efficient fox body.'

Zulu utilized his new [Creep] skill to stealthy advance through the cave; Coupled with [Night Vision], he was virtually impossible to ambush. On the contrary, he would be the one to ambush others; He was a sly fox after all.'

In this way, an hour passed. Abruptly, however, the cave began to sharply veer to the left.

'Don't tell me.'

Zulu followed the curving tunnel and his fears were quickly verified.

'Fuck. It's actually a loop. Finding another exit isn't an option. I'll have to get through that stone door somehow,' Zulu thought as he stared at the familiar fur spread across the ground.

Zulu was now on the opposite end of the cave formation, facing the exact same crossroads he came across before, except the sides were flipped.

'I could just return the way I came, but what's the point? I've seen all there is down there. If I want to gain Essence and grow stronger, I have to travel an unexplored path. Which means inevitably running into the chef rat den. Well, I'm more ready than I'll ever be. It's not like I have anything else to kill and eat anyway.'

Thus, exhausted resources forced Zulu to challenge the chef rat's den alone.

As Zulu walked, the density of gray fur on the floor increased, an all too familiar sight for him.

'I better get something good out of these rats. If not, I might really be trapped here forever. Even if I don't need water, I'm positive that I still need food. I'll never forget that insatiable hunger I first felt in this world.'

Zulu silently crept towards the rat den for another hour, the fur on the floor becoming denser every passing meter. Now it blanketed the floor like a carpet.

'I should be coming up on it soon. Alright, just how many rats will be in store for me?'

After thinking that, a long pale tale entered the edge of Zulu's [Night Vision].

'Target spotted. Let the rat feast begin!'

With that, Zulu began his assault on the chef rat's home.

Zulu used his [Creep] skill to sneak right up behind the back of the rat before jumping high into the air above it. His light body, in addition to the [Creep] skill, allowed him to make such a quick motion without emitting the slightest sound.

After reaching his peak in the air, Zulu began to be dragged down by gravity directly towards the chef rat's head. He spread his jaws wide and activated the [Bite] skill.

The rat didn't realize what was happening until a tremendous force crashed onto its neck from above. It was unable to screech for reinforcements before teeth latched around its neck and slammed it forward, snapping it. It died instantly, never having had the slightest chance to defend itself or call for assistance.

Zulu had used his weight and powerful [Bite] skill in combination to break the chef rat's neck in one swift motion. It worked exactly as he hoped it would.

After assassinating the rat, Zulu looked further into the den, but nothing appeared in his field of vision. His actions had gone unnoticed.

'This dude should be like the other rats I fought, a sentry meant to warn for intruders. By intruders, probably just that spider; It is the only other creature in here. I should be okay to eat this guy.'

Thinking that, Zulu ate the chef rat down to the bone before beginning his final push towards the heart of the den.

It only took a few minutes for more chef rats to appear in his line of sight.

'Three this time. Looks like they're guarding an entrance. That should be it.'

Zulu narrowed his gaze and steeled his resolve. He was going to war.

'For fox kind! OORAH!'

Zulu charged forward with incredible velocity. He was using his natural-born agility to its fullest; However, what he sacrificed for speed was his stealth.

The three chef rats quickly noticed the incoming intruder. They screeched to warn the others in the den before charging forward.

The first rat reached Zulu, its gross maws swinging open to greet him. Zulu leaped to the left before crushing the rat's throat with haste. His [Bite] skill and [Razor Teeth] fused together to cut through the rat's fur and muscles like butter.

The other two rats quickly arrived, moving to encircle him.

'I've been through this before. Boring. Absolutely unexciting.'

Zulu immediately broke their formation by dashing in front of one of the rats, dispatching its life with a single bite to the throat.

'I've got experience now, you know? You're gonna have to try harder than that,' Zulu thought as he pounced on the remaining guard, ending its life in a similarly swift fashion.

'Like riding a bike. I might just be an expert in killing you guys, hehe.'

Before Zulu could continue to inwardly gloat, an immense shriek interrupted him.

'Guess I won't have the time to eat these rats as well. All in good time.'

Zulu reached the main entrance to the heart of the den and peered in. His [Night Vision] allowed him to view the entirety of the massive room.

The den was ten meters in height and the size of a tennis pitch. It was made only of the same gray rock Zulu was long accustomed to. In the back of the chamber, there was a large pile of bones.

'Those look like chef rat skulls. It seems they've been practicing cannibalism for a long time. It's not surprising really, considering the lack of other species in this cave.'

As he gazed inside, Zulu discovered three figures looking in his direction. The one in the middle was twice the size of the ones beside it, standing at three and a half feet tall with numerous scars across its body.

'That's one big rat boy. And those are?'

Zulu's eyes fell on the two smaller rats on either side of it.

'Are those his concubines? Rat concubines… gross.'