I'd been walking around for a couple of hours in the desolate cave. Surprisingly, it was dreary and boring for the most part. You'd expect a bunch of monsters to come running at you as a warm welcome into a new world, but there was pretty much nothing where I came to be. My excitement died down quite quickly, but I still remained cautious of my surroundings.
Only the sound of my footsteps echoed about.
'Maybe I spawned in some kind of dead zone? Like an area where I won't get killed immediately?'
The walls were lined with the occasional strange, shining crystal. They illuminated the cave, although it seemingly hurt my eyes more than it helped me see, but I could handle it. It seems this little fiend preferred the darkness.
Another notable detail was the pools of conveniently placed blood everywhere. Considering I needed to absorb 100L of it, this seemed like a miracle at first. Well, upon sticking my hand into one of the pools, nothing happened. I quickly came up with the brilliant idea to shout 'BLOOD ABSORB' in my head, after which the unthinkable occurred - nothing.
Already wanting to hang myself, I decided to take a sip of the blood puddle. The metallic taste was surprisingly good, but still nothing. I asked the system if the absorbed amount had gone up.
[0/100L of blood absorbed]
Still no. This blood was somehow different and didn't qualify for me to absorb it.
I realized this might be harder than I first expected.
Putting the thought of my blood experiments to the back of my mind, I continued moving through the desolate, blood-filled halls. Soon, I saw the monotone grey halls shift into an open room. It seemed quite large from my little perspective.
Luminescent crystals and pools of scarlet were strewn about the area. There were other passages leading further into the darkness lining the walls. Most notably, there was a glowing flower in the middle of the room. A light emerald colour emanated from the flower, illuminating its surroundings more than the nearby crystals.
It reeked of suspicion.
'Yes, a flower in a cave filled with blood isn't ominous at all.'
I tensed my body and mentally prepared myself for a fight. I'd fought plenty before, but never with the stakes this high. I could actually die, and then there'd be no going back. Naturally, I was somewhat nervous.
Not to mention, although I felt comfortable in this body, I wasn't fully used to it. I still felt like I would be fine, though.
I took a deep breath and picked up a nearby rock. I tossed it in the air twice before pulling my arm back, tensing my muscles and then swinging it forward at full force, sending the rock flying towards the flower.
The rock whistled through the air for a couple of seconds before crashing right into the emerald flower, raising a cloud of dirt.
There was no delay. Before the cloud of dirt could fully form, a wide maw burst through the ground with teeth the size of my entire body. Its body was brown and stretchy, shaped like a small ball. The maw took up most of its body. It had two tiny eyes, and on top of its head sat a small green flower with its stem stretching downwards.
Seeing it had only caught a rock, the giant maw scanned its surroundings before noticing a small red fiend flying towards it with its claws stretched out. It didn't have much time to react.
I lashed out at the giant flower monster's brown body, but my claws only sliced air. The monster had quickly bounced back using its stretchy body. I couldn't let it regain its bearings. I dashed after it using my nimble body, only to be met with the same result. I jumped after it a third time, with no luck.
Something was off after missing the third attack. I prepared to rush forward again, but I couldn't see the monster.
Fear shot through me. I had a split second to react.
I instinctively dodged forward, and not a second later, a loud crash sounded behind me. I spun on my heel and shot out my claws without looking. I felt my tough claws pierce through soft flesh. I'd left five long gashes oozing with a murky liquid on the flower monster's back.
The monster let out a piercing screech, immediately flinging itself backwards.
'Poor defences. Good. I need to be a bit more careful, though.'
It had jumped to the cave's ceiling and bounced back down, trying to quickly finish the fight. It was a sneaky bastard!
The monster had put a fair bit of distance between us this time, so I couldn't keep it from regaining its bearings.
The flower monster stabilized itself before swiftly compressing its body and shooting forward. It flew right at me with its maw open, and I narrowly stepped out of the way. I could barely turn around before the monster came flying at me once again. Once again, I dodged, feeling the monster's breath against my skin.
BANG!
I heard a loud crash from behind me before spinning around to look at it. A large cloud of dust had risen. It seemed the flower monster had crashed against the wall. This was my chance!
I began to rush towards the crashed enemy when suddenly I sensed a trembling beneath my feet. Before I could react, a heavy impact sent me flying into the air. I felt light for a moment before I felt my back crash into the ceiling.
I didn't even have time to form a thought before I crashed back down onto the flower monster's head. I somewhat regained my bearings and shot out one of my claws into the monster's eye. At the same time, a wave of pain shot through one of my thin legs. The flower monster and I screeched at the same time. I couldn't move my left leg properly. I used my able leg and shot off the monster's head, crashing into a puddle of blood near the wall.
The monster continued wailing as I slowly staggered onto my feet. I was badly injured. Didn't seem like I could easily do anything. It was too early to give up, but I didn't have many options.
The flower monster ceased its screeching and turned towards me, with fury in its remaining eye. Its maw shot up into a disturbing grin, seeing that it had disabled its foe. It began contracting its body more than ever before, seemingly set on finishing this with its next move.
At that moment, I felt an instinct overtake my body. Every cell in me knew what I had to do and demanded I do it immediately. I felt a grin forming on my lips. I had to hold on for a couple of moments before falling for the impulse.
'That's it, come at me, you overevolved pile of dirt!'
I lowered my stance and waited. The flower monster had contracted itself as much as it could. Its body was bursting with insane amounts of potential energy. After a moment of stillness, the monster released all its tension and flew towards me at blurring speeds.
The maw was only a couple of centimetres away from me as I let the instinct overtake my body. I felt my entire body falling for a moment into the puddle of crimson beneath me.
The outside world was covered in a stark crimson filter. I lost all sensations in my body as I seemingly merged with the crimson puddle, and movement became ethereal. A deep scarlet surrounded me from all sides, as if I were in the depths of an ocean of blood. I could somehow "see" and sense the world outside of the puddle. It was a very strange sensation.
This was [Blood Dive]!
I didn't have time to dwell on the Ability's effects as I heard a loud collision nearby. I followed my instincts once again and shot out of the puddle. An unmoving brown blob had pierced the wall.
I didn't hesitate. I used the momentum from shooting out of the puddle to crash into the back of the stuck flower monster, where the five claw marks greeted me.
I shot out my claws rapidly and didn't stop. I didn't even think. I felt the soft flesh of the creature tearing beneath my claws. Dark liquid stained my body and vision as the creature wailed and cried, stuck in the wall. It couldn't contract its body to bounce properly anymore.
It was unable to resist.
Soon, the wailing ceased, and an unsettling quiet dawned on the wrecked room. My tiny body was drenched in blood, and I could still hear the creature's wails echoing in my ears.
I did it.
I won.
I felt a mix of strange emotions well up inside me. They were powerful and ceaseless yet calm. Such was the feeling of triumph. I won, and it lost, because it was too weak. Those were the rules.
The rules...yeah.
The System echoed in my ears.
[You have vanquished a Gifted Lurker, Flower Angler]
'Gifted Lurker?'
I assumed that Flower Angler was the name of the giant blob I had just killed, but Gifted Lurker? It sounded like a... rank?
The System spoke up unprompted.
[Correct, Gifted is the second weakest rank above Ungifted. All monsters are born Gifted, however]
'Ah, so I'm quite weak.'
It dawned on me that I was at the bottom of the food chain here, if the weakest monster left me with one foot in the grave.
'Guess I can only go up from here, huh. Or down, since I can still die. What about the Lurker part?'
[Unable to answer]
I sighed to myself, 'Of course. You probably won't tell me about the rest of the ranks above Gifted either, right?'
The System remained silent.
I stared in silence before letting out a shrill cackling laugh and flinching. I felt like shit physically, since the fucker somehow managed to fling me into the roof of the cave and disabled one of my legs. Luckily, this little Bloodfiend is quite durable and fast, so I didn't die.
I didn't idle for long. I knew there could be other monsters heading here due to the commotion our fight caused.
'Now for the good part!'
Another wave of impulse overtook me as I shot my razor-sharp fangs into the soft back of the monster. Immediately, a sweet metallic taste laced my tongue. A continuous stream of blood flowed down my throat. It seemed [Blood Absorb] made all the blood in the monster move towards my mouth quicker and more efficiently.
As I consumed the blood, I felt myself regain a bit of my vitality and strength, and soon I could only feel the metallic aftertaste on my now empty tongue.
The System spoke up suddenly.
[3L/100L of blood absorbed]
'...'
I still had to do this 33 more times. 33 times of getting hit and cut, each time at risk of death. Maybe a bit less or more, depending on the monsters I face.
I was still weak.
I sighed, but I didn't let it ruin my mood, however. Good things take time and risk. I'd grow stronger eventually.
Before I could properly relax, something unexpected happened.
I heard a deep voice.
"I'm pretty sure it came from over here. Let's go."
My whole body tensed up, and my mind went blank. I currently look like a deranged painter obsessed with crimson, not to mention I was a damn monster. They wouldn't take too kindly to me now, would they?
I wasn't particularly eager to fight outnumbered in my weakened state, either. Not that I was likely to win in the first place.
No way I could meet these people!
'Fuck.'