With his mind clouded by a feral need, he straightened, already turning to face the second ravager that had come in front of him.
The creature was fast, but not fast enough. Before it could react, he jumped onto it, his hands around its throat, claws digging into the soft vulnerable flesh under its neck.
He squeezed, and with a final, guttural roar, the creature fell, his life snuffed out in his grip.
Without stopping he jumped onto the next ravager taking the bone with him. But the creature jumped backward, making him fall on the ground, injuring himself, and having a bone pierced through his left hand.
The creature again came at the top of him leaving its underbelly uncovered, giving him a chance to strike. He stroked the bone on his hand with full force having its underbelly pierced, and all the dark ichir fell on his back.
He opened his mouth drinking the black ichir. The creature fell on the side screaming in pain. Slowly dying after a few seconds.
He stood over its crumpled body, breathing hard, his chest was heavy. Having a hard time breathing in. And a strange sense of satisfaction came after drinking it. But it didn't last very long.
The hunger was still there, growing more and more.
[Status: Survivor.]
The voice echoed through his mind, the same cold and impassive as if this were all part of some grand plan. But the questions came again in his mind. What was happening to him? What has he become?
He stumbled back, eyes darting around. His body felt stronger but different. His skin felt too tight, and when he brushed his hand against his face, he felt sharpness where soft flesh should have been. His teeth, where are they longer? His fingers, no they should be called claws.
And yet, none of them seemed to be wrong. Or are they wrong?
The voice came in his head again.
[Warning: Increased consumption may trigger further evolutionary acceleration.]
The taste of the ravager's flesh lingered on his tongue like ash. It wasn't that it was unpleasant or the blood that should have revolted him
It was something, a sense of emptiness, that was still gnawed at the core of his body. He felt alive, and yet too hungry, as if something inside his body was awake, and it's hunger couldn't be filled by any mere sustenance.
He staggered away from the fallen creatures, trying to distance himself from the grisly feast. But as he went far, his hunger was only growing.
He felt his appetite had increased and he couldn't control his own body.
His hands were shaking with an unsettling tremor, reaching up to wipe the thick ichor dripping from his mouth, but his hunger didn't subside.
No, it only intensified, flooding his senses, like a crashing wave, impossible to resist. It only made it harder for him to think normally.
He inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself, but it wasn't enough. His senses flared, and the scent of blood uh the air entered his nose, which felt pleasant to him. His vision was blurred, as he inhaled more air. His clarity returned, but it became sharp for a few seconds, he could see everything to little details, every grain in the stone beneath him, everything in the surroundings as if it was his domain. But he returned to normal soon.
[Consume.]
The voice spoke again in his mind. It is his only companion, his guide through this hellish abyss. For a brief moment, the command felt like it was something more than some mere suggestion.
He looked at his own hands. Now stained with dark blood, and without hesitation, he took a step towards the dead ravagers. The voice told him to consume, he wasn't sure if it was the voice that was pushing him or if he was on his own accord.
The hunger is increasing, blurring his thoughts. With trembling hands, he tore the body of the nearby ravager, not even sparing any second thought about his action. He bit the meat, his teeth sank into the flesh, and a warm, viscous blood flooded into his mouth, a sense of satisfaction came from inside of him. His insides are screaming in ecstasy. The pain, the hunger, the emptiness.. everything vanished in that moment.
He swallowed it, and then a sense of satisfaction was fleeting but powerful. As if his body, every part of him, was reborn with each bite.
But then…something else happened. As the creature's essence entered his body, a strange sensation suddenly overwhelmed him. His muscles spasmed, his limbs shaking uncontrollably as though they were being remade. His skin was slick with blood. It felt as if it was stretching and expanding in ways it shouldn't.
His vision twisted again, a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes blurring at the edge of his consciousness. He gasped falling on the ground, unable to draw breath, his chest constricting painfully. The sensation overwhelmed his senses, the energy of the creature pouring into him, mingling with his very soul. It wasn't just sustenance…it was evolution.
A sudden pain shot through him, sharper than anything he felt till now. It started from his chest, then rippled outwards, spreading like a wildfire through his limbs. His hands twisted into clawed shapes, the bones cracking and reforming under the pressure. His whole body was burned with an intensity that he couldn't explain, it was like a raw primal energy of the abyss itself surging through his veins.
Hunger wasn't just a physical need. It was a force, an unstoppable current of power that had taken deep root inside him, and now it has clawed into the surface. He could feel it, the changes that occurred, the change in his essence, body. It's evolving, and adapting to a new kind of existence.
His wind raced, trying to focus and make sense of what was happening to his body.
Then the voice came inside his mind, same as always calm, detached.
[Evolution detected. The host Body is adapting. New ability acquired.]