[Hunting Grounds]

The tunnel the entrance opened up to was narrow. The dagger user had already gone deep into the winding paths. Where I didn't know. I made sure I kept track of the turns I made in the dull red glow. If food was scarce, I needed to be able to get back to the entrance. I hated the idea of having to lure silent maw into an enclosed space. Vicious even if they were savory compared to cliff huggers. Starvation, I remembered, was a killer.

The big guy had taken a different branch as the tunnels wrapped their way deeper into the cliff. It seemed while the truce lasted, we both knew it would be hard enough feeding ourselves. I could hear him push aside debris still, the sound getting fainter as our paths diverged.

As I got further from the opening, the air got stale and heavy. The moisture was uncomfortable after the dry sulfur of the open ledge. In some places the tunnel narrowed to slits only a few inches wide. I pressed on, my demon body suited to such narrow passages. Even so, the scraping of stone against my back and the thought of getting stuck and dying a slow death terrified me. Better to die torn apart.

I'd long stopped hearing the other cliff huggers when I came across the first opening. Not big enough to fit through, I could see the small tunnel give way to a large cavern full of thick mushrooms and fauna. The fruiting bodies of the mushrooms pulsed with unnatural heartbeats. Corded veins of fungus wove a dense net between them. The air from the vent smelled bad, the slits of my face instinctively closing. Poison? I couldn't tell.

I was sure that chambers like these would be where the hunting would begin. One of these would make a good place to try and defend. I hadn't felt the need to sleep yet, but as sure as I needed to eat I'd also need to rest.

Up ahead, I heard lumbering, low and heavy. Had the big guy looped all the way to the same tunnel?

Taking a page from the dagger users book, I moved to the ceiling. Trying hard to lay flat and avoid attention I was careful to disturb as little as possible. As I moved forward, the footsteps faded, as did my own. The familiar silence of the maw enveloped me.

[Your caution has rewards. Beginners Silent Hunt has increased in ability.]

So I did lose my own sense of hearing. Inconvenient. In a way, the silence would give me away too. My prey might notice the aura before I had the chance to strike. It would be difficult for me to understand my range.

Creeping forward, a new demon, form low and long crawled across the tunnel floor like a fat lizard. Two fat pustules throbbed over its shoulders. Bright yellow in contrast to its near black green skin. Poisonous for sure.

[Your intuition has rewards. Beginners Observation has increased in ability.]

I mentally hissed at myself. I could get the drop on it, but how could I protect myself. I thought back to the mushrooms. Eating one could grant me some sort of resistance. It was much more likely to kill me for no benefit. At least with this lizard, I had the chance to survive through a level up.

[New Skill Unlocked: Beginners Foresight]

Well that could be useful. Observation has saved my life countless times already, foresight must help me plan. I mentally waived off the unease of the System altering my mind. Being human seemed so temporary and long ago. Why could I remember dying but not my name?

Now wasn't the time.

I felt the hunger of greed. I wondered if that feeling was letting me know if new skills were available. It came up when I was considering the options and always pushed me to the more dangerous one. What secrets would this fat lizard hold.

How would it taste?

The lizard didn't seem to notice the muting of its own footsteps. I had no evidence it could even hear. The bright yellow and black contrasted with the red stone and light, an easy target. Like a trapeze artist in a silent performance, I twisted myself against the ceiling. Aiming, I arched my body so my maw was facing the demon. Waiting for it to pass the intersection, I leapt.

I did not expect for it to roll. As I landed and dug my teeth deep into it the lizard demon barrelled around and around. It was popping its own pustules and smearing them across the tunnel floor. My own flesh scoured against the ground. I tried to shriek as I felt the poison force its way into the wounds with every roll. My own aura kept me from drawing attention from other demons in the dungeon.

[Status Change: Poisoned]

[Your defenses begin to fall. Your Health begins to fall]

[Health -3]

[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Tough Carapace has increased in ability.]

[Health -3]

[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Pain Resistance has increased in ability]

[Health -3]

His skin was so tough. My arms were being battered as he rolled over and over again. Clenching my maw as hard as I could, I tucked my claws into the only place they could go. Right into the gaping holes left by the pustules. I gouged deep, using the leverage to pull my maw even tighter. My back was screaming even though the pain resistance. Just a little more...

The lizard's back collapsed as tough scales and ribs gave way to soft organs.

[Fatal Damage done to Lesser Common Acid Roller]

[Soul +5]

[Your will has rewards. Native Horrors Maw has increased in ability.]

[Your resolve has rewards. Beginners Gouging Claw has increased in ability.]

[You have gained a new level. Received 6 unspent ability points]

[New Skill Unlocked: Beginners Poison Resistance]

[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]

[Health -2]

[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]

[Health -1]

[Your endurance has rewards. Beginners Poison Resistance has increased in ability.]

[Status Changed: Exhausted]

[Defenses Returned to normal. Health regeneration returning to normal.]

With great effort, I forced the heavy creature off me and laid there. I had underestimated my opponent. The fight had been short but devastating. Without having leveled up, I was sure the poison would have finished me. Rolling off my back with some difficulty, I examined what I could do for the damage.

The single heavy scar on my thigh was now married to a vast mesh of silver flesh. New tissue from where leveling had knit it back together. Moving felt stiff. Was that permanent or a side effect of my exhaustion? I was too tired to tell.

If there were two of these, I wouldn't have survived. I expected the poison, but turning the very tunnel into a weapon was something I didn't expect. Foresight wasn't anything like I'd hope. A misleading check on my guesswork that told half truths at best. Even without the poison, I would have been in danger. In fact, the vulnerability of the sacks might have been the only leverage I had in the fight.

My claws had worn into sharper points. The skill changing the body or the body changing the skill? The scars on my back suggested both were true in their own time. Lowering myself onto the body, I crunched into its flesh, consuming it. It did nothing to relieve my exhaustion, but I felt a little restored.

[New Organ Available: Beginners Poison Sac]

[New Organ Available: Beginners Venom Sac]

[Status: Exhausted]

[Domain: None]

Domain? I was too tired to even question the new jargon the system threw at me. I needed to find someplace safe I could rest. Going back would take too long, and I'd be at risk of the Silent Maw. I also couldn't trust the other Cliff Huggers in the area. Not yet. It's one thing to acknowledge each other as allies in combat. I couldn't even say I would pass up a free meal.

I looked at the two unknown forks in the tunnel. Either I go to where the lizard was, or go where he was going. Thinking about it was causing my mind to ache. The demon had survived where he had been, so that was a big plus in that direction. But there could be more of his kind. I thought back to the Cliff Huggers. We had been more dangerous to each other than anything but the Silent Maw.

Dragging myself up, I pulled myself towards where the lizard had come from. Death was becoming preferable to thinking. The fork didn't go very far, two more bends, narrowing lower and lower each time. When I got to the end I had to lay flat to push through into a small open area. Something soft piled in the corner, and small bits of bone and horn littered the floor.

[You have entered the abandoned Domain of Unnamed Lesser Common Acid Roller. Will you claim victors rights to the domain?]

Not understanding what I read, I selected yes, and felt the tension in the air shift. Crawling over to the soft pile of skins I collapsed.