Yokai of the Water I

Something assaulted Kai's mind, and he knelt down on the kappa blood-stained grass as his vision tilted with a blur. He did not feel any pain or nausea, but something else. Something much stranger.

He started to feel out of place in his own body, staring at his hands on the grass like they were someone else's.

[Utilizable bloodline consumed. Host survivability deemed sufficient enough to establish link into the collective.]

[Analyzing bloodline…]

"Wh-what the hell is going on?" asked Kai audibly as he started to breathe heavy. He started to see double, then triple. When he blinked, he saw the world turn tinted with yellow, then when he blinked, it was fine again, but blurrier. He could not move his body, no matter what he tried.

[Inquiry registered. To answer: the host is facing initial unforeseen difficulty processing the bloodline, primarily due to a lack of inherent power within the host himself. Please be patient as the system compensates and be reassured that this will be a one-time setback as the system analyzes the issue and patches it. This is all part of gaining greater compatibility with the host.]

"Then, then-," Kai took in a deep breath as he saw his skin shudder, like something was moving underneath it. His normally pale skin started to color a light green, scales forming on it, creating an odd and conflicting patchwork with his human body. "How long? Until this passes?'

[Calculating….]

[Approximately three minutes.]

"Three…fucking…minutes?" Kai tried his hardest to move, but he truly was a stranger in his own body. Whatever his brain told him to do, his body simply would not listen.

Three minutes on paper was not much time, but in this situation, it might as well have felt like an hour.

The whole point of rushing in here now was to get the bloodline samples before anything else came to get him. Whether it was that giant salamander or the crowd of kappas – both were bad news if they found him like this.

Thankfully, the three minutes passed, and he felt himself getting more and more control over his body. First, his limbs started to listen to his head, and then his fingers and toes until he could move again. Oddly, as he stood up, taking in more breaths, he felt even better than before.

Stronger.

[Bloodline assimilated and compatibility increased. Updated status:]

>>>

System Level: 1

Active Bloodlines (Max 2):

- Kappa

Storage:

-Blood of Zahhak

Collective Ability Charge: Active

Current Stock: 100/100

Essence Integrity: 100%

>>>

After the system updated his status, Kai could tell through pure instinct he could manifest the kappa's abilities.

He knew everything the creature could do and its strengths and weaknesses. He raised a hand to his eyes, watching with wonder as he transformed the human skin into slime coated green skin.

Webbing formed between his fingers, glowing slightly red as sunlight beamed through the thin membranous flesh.

And most importantly, he had claws now. They were about half the size of his fingers at full extension and seemed to be made more for grabbing rather than cutting. They were on the thicker, stubbier side with a slight curve meant for hooking and grabbing into material.

He felt stronger than before in a pure, physical way, too. A side effect of absorbing a bloodline.

All of this made him much more reassured in his ability to survive. At the least, he was not defenseless anymore.

As soon as he thought this, he swerved around when he heard the bushes surrounding the clearing rustle. The same kappas from before came out on their tiptoes, obviously still wary of the giant salamander.

But when they saw Kai, they snarled, hopping up and down as they pointed at him.

"Mage! Mage! Mage!" the kappas shouted, and this was when Kai realized he could understand them from having absorbed their bloodline.

And mage? As in, someone that used magic?

By now, he was not really surprised to hear new things considering all he had seen. It just became new information for him to consider. If there were mages, then there was magic, meaning yet another tool he could possibly use to strengthen himself.

He took a step back, looking for a way to retreat. He could dive into the water, but that was dangerous.

Certainly, he could swim through it much better now that he could manifest kappa traits, but he did not want to throw himself into a new environment which just minutes before had spat out a massive salamander thing easily capable of crushing him in half.

The nine kappas took a few steps forward to Kai, pointing at him, but they did not seem set on attacking him. No, by the way they moved and pointed, it was more like they were waiting for someone else.

"Mage?" came a deeper, growling voice that was infinitely more threatening, making Kai's blood chill.

From the bushes emerged another humanoid creature.

Distinctly different from the kappa.

Slightly taller than them, but still a head shorter than Kai. However, it looked far more dangerous.

Its body was noticeably covered in lean, densely packed musculature layered over with dark green scales that shone under the sun. With each of its steps, the scales clanked, indicating serious weight and density – the creature might as well have been wearing a full suit of armor.

Its hands and feet were webbed like those of the kappa, but the claws on it were meant for slicing and tearing. Long, bladed claws that looked like knives. The claws of a predator. A hunter. Its face reminded Kai of a tiger's head with yellow, feral feline eyes, one of which was lined over with a deep scar.

"Where is the hanzaki that killed one of you?" said the creature with a growl.

"I dunno!" One of the kappas shook its head and came up to the creature, pointing all the while at Kai. "But boss, you said mages bad. Look, a mage!"

The creature struck the kappa's face with an open palm, sending it reeling back. "Idiot," snarled the creature. "Because you wanted to play a silly little game pranking the hanzaki, you lower our numbers. We will never take back the spring like this."

"Sorry, boss," whimpered the kappa as it scrambled away. The other kappas shrank back as well, clearly afraid of the creature.

"But you did well to draw this mage here. I have been aching for human blood for much time," said the creature as it approached Kai with its dagger like claws extended and its tiger head warped in a black lipped snarl that showcased its many, bone breaking teeth. "And the blood of a mage? Oh, there is nothing sweeter. I will enjoy tearing into your throat, mage."

"I'm not a mage," said Kai. He felt stronger, but he did not like his odds here. Nine kappa and this thing they were all weaker than. Better to try and talk himself out of this if he could. "And I'm not here to make any trouble with you."

"You speak our tongue?" The creature did not stop moving towards Kai. "Good. Then you will die knowing I will drink your lifeblood deep from your throat."

Okay. So much for de-escalation. At the least, he could test out of his newfound strength, and it did not seem the nine kappa were going to interfere in this fight, wanting to see their boss fight one on one.

Kai got ready for a brawl, putting his arms up in some kind of guard. He had no idea how to properly fight, but at the least, he knew that a guard was important.

Even if he was doing it wrong, he knew that something was better than nothing, and considering his healing abilities, protecting his head was the most important thing he could do.

He manifested claws on both of his hands. He tried to cover his body with the kappa's turtle shell plating, but he found that as he was right now, he could not manifest much more than a limb or two worth of a foreign form.

He settled on covering his arms with a line of plating.

The creature glared at Kai before it stopped a dozen or so feet in front of him, crouching lower and tensing its compact muscles. "Not a mage? A lie. You take and desecrate the yokai of the water, wearing our skin as yours. But no matter. I will take it all back.

Your life. Your sins. I will judge them both."

With that, the creature snarled before leaping towards Kai. It pushed off from its low position with its legs, and it was far faster than he anticipated. It slammed into him in the same way a cat would pounce on its prey, sinking its arms into his chest and its legs into his stomach.

The claws stabbed deep into him, and the force of the pounce slammed him on the ground. The creature snarled savagely as it snapped its jaws towards Kai's throat, but through the rapid pumping of adrenaline and survival instinct, he still remembered the threat it had made: it would go for his throat.

So he put an arm in the way of his neck, and the creature bit into it, loosing loud, bloodcurdling growls as it violently shook its head, the thick muscles at its neck contracting as it chewed and tore apart at Kai's arm.

Kai felt his blood spatter on his face as he tumbled with the creature, struggling with all his might against it.

He felt the claws tear apart his stomach and sink into his chest, and he willed himself to heal as much as he could so that his guts stayed in his belly and the chest muscles supporting his arms did not shred apart.

>>>

Host restoration initiated. Biomass consumed.

Current stock: 90/100

Sensing continual physical trauma and persistent danger. Setting host restoration to auto-mode, limiting the appearance of system messages to mitigate distraction. However, host should still be aware that he must consciously will the host restoration process to continue in order for it to stay in effect.

>>>

Pain assaulted him in sharp spades, turning his vision white even through the adrenaline, but he fought through it. He used his free arm to swipe into the creature's side, but all he felt was his claws futilely clacking against its hardy scales.

There was a clear difference in speed and strength between this creature and the kappa. No, a clear difference in build. Nature, or whatever twisted but equally harsh entity it was that created these creatures in this world made them with different purposes.

The kappa was more prey than predator. This creature was the entire opposite - pure violence and hunting savagery.

He heard a gut wrenching crunch as he turtle shell plating on the arm in the creature's mouth shattered, letting its teeth tear unobstructed into the flesh. Each shake of its powerful head shook Kai's upper body from side to side, disorienting him as pieces of green flesh and blood showered around him.

But he could see an opening. Each time the creature shook its head to the left, it opened up its unarmored face. Kai scratched up at the head, aiming to try and slice through its eye. He did manage to surprise the thing, but its reactions were quick.

It let go of Kai and jumped back, loosing a low, threatening growl. Blood dripped from three red-lined wounds across its left cheek, but it had reacted quickly enough to save its eye.

Kai took the brief moment of respite to heal himself again, standing up in a puddle of his own mangled flesh and blood. His hoodie had been completely shredded into little pieces of dangling black cloth by now, and the skin underneath patched up rapidly as life threatening wounds closed up.

He panted as he stared down the creature. It circled him, looking to pounce again. He felt stupid to have ever felt even the slightest bit of confidence in his new strength. He was still at the bottom of the barrel in this world's food chain.

This creature in front of him was much faster than he was. Stronger. Much more used to fighting with its bestial body.

"Kill him, boss! Kill him!" chanted the kappa as they spectated the bloody fight in a ring around Kai and the creature.

Kai took in a breath to calm himself, to drown down the ringing in his ears from the adrenaline and to calm his rapidly beating hurt just a bit.

Beforehand, he fought with a combination of pure anger supported by copious amounts of adrenaline and survival instinct. He was grateful that even as an inexperienced fighter his instincts did not tell him to seize up and cower, that they chose fight rather than flight.

However, he could not beat this creature with strength and instinct alone like a wild animal. It had far more of either than he did. He needed to think. He needed to use his head.