I awoke. In the dark. I couldn't see nor hear nor smell. I didn't even know what I was.
All I could do was feel my shape, as well as that I was on the ground, and I could feel the cool air around me. Am I.. A slab of meat? Then I recognized something in my mind. It was cold and eerie, but also very familiar. It intruded my thoughts, and it read:
- System Notification -
- You have awoken. Complete 4 quests and you shall be rewarded. -
What quests? I thought to myself.
And what is this system thing?
The System appeared again.
- You have 4 new quests. -
- 1: Move -
- Reward: 1 Agility -
- Status: Ongoing -
- 2: Kill -
- Reward: 1 Strength -
- Status :Ongoing -
- 3: Absorb -
- Reward: 1 Vitality -
- Status: Ongoing -
- 4: Do All -
- Reward: Evolution -
- Status: Ongoing -
What? How do I even move? I thought.
Then, suddenly without thinking I started crawling. Centimeters each minute. It was slow at first, but then after a few minutes of crawling the system appeared again.
- You have received 1 Agility -
What does this agility thing do?
I then started moving at twice the speed. While it was still a very slow pace, it was a substantial improvement, which I recognized to be the result of the agility increasing. 2 minutes of crawling later, and the system appeared once again.
- Quest Complete! -
- Quest: Move -
- You have received 1 Agility -
I had crawled for days. It was repetitive, but it was for a good reason.
I wanted to find something to hunt. It's not because I wanted to be obedient to the system or anything, I just wanted to see what would happen when I evolved.
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -l
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -l
I had also learned to open the system by focusing.
- Character Status -
- Title: None -
- Race: ??? -
- Class: None -
- Stats -
- Agility: 6 -
- Vitality: 1 -
- Strength: 1 -
- Magic: 1 -
- Skills -
- None -
I moved a lot, and it's nice to see my stats go up.
I felt something land on me, perhaps a small flying bug.
Finally I had a target to hunt! But.. How do I kill it?
The flying bug started eating my flesh.
I wriggled in discomfort.
- You have received 1 Vitality -
I see! So taking damage gives me vitality! I also thought that because my agility was improving by moving, doing stuff relative to the stat must mean I will get stats in that category!
The bug laid eggs in me and then flew away. I felt it lay the eggs, and it made me feel disgusted, but then I had an idea. How do I capitalize on the situation?
I focused, and slowly closed my flesh, consuming the eggs inside of me.
- You have learned the skill Lesser Regeneration: Level 1 -
Cool! So I learned a new skill, and it had a level to it..
- You have received 1 Strength -
- You have received 2 Vitality -
- Quest Complete! -
- Quest: Absorb -
- You have received 1 Vitality -
I opened the system to view my stats.
- Character Status -
- Title: None -
- Race: ??? -
- Class: None -
- Stats -
- Agility: 6 -
- Vitality: 5 -
- Strength: 2 -
- Magic: 1 -
- Skills -
- Lesser Regeneration -
- Level: 1 -
- Description -
- Allows the user to heal themselves by focusing on the wound. -
I'm close to finishing them all now, and this Lesser Regeneration skill seems useful. Maybe I can level it up in the future?
I had nothing else to do until I completed all the quests. The next quest was to kill.
So… I crawled.
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -
And crawled more.
Crawl.
- You have received 1 Agility -
I finally felt something under me. And suddenly the system appeared once again.
- Quest Complete! -
- Quest: Kill -
- You have received 1 Strength -
I guess it was a bug that I squished. It's my lucky day.
- System: You have completed all quests. Please prepare for evolution -
Wait- I don't even get a choice? Is it painful?
My question was quickly answered. Yes, it absolutely was painful.
My flesh was being stretched and ripped as I grew, making arms and legs in the process.
As eyes grew I could barely make out my surroundings. Besides, it was too dark to see anything anyways. Ears grew on my body, I felt my flesh opening on both sides. I tried to scream, but my mouth was forming and the sound I made was very distorted. Was I being punished? A chunk of my body condensed into an orb. I could feel it- that orb was my lifeline, my core, if it were destroyed, I would die.
After an hour of agonizing pain, it was over. I was a new being. Before I could take a look around with my new eyes, the system appeared once again.
- System: Congratulations on your evolution. -
- System: You have 3 new quests. -
- 1: Kill One of Your Own -
- Reward: 10 Random Stats -
- Status: Ongoing -
- 2: Absorb One of Your Own -
- Reward: 5 Unallocated Stats -
- Status: Ongoing -
- 3: Do Both -
- Reward: Title - Kin Eater, Memory Fragment, ??? -
- Status: Ongoing -
Absorb one of my own? Does it mean another piece of meat like myself? How many like me are there? And a Memory Fragment? So I'll recover part of a memory? And the one I'm most curious about, what is ???... I guess I'll find out when I do it.
Oh.. And I should probably check the system to see if my race changed..
Then I focused and opened the system.
- Character Status -
- Title: None -
- Race: Fragment of ????????? -
- Subrace: Flesh Golem -
- Class: None -
- Stats -
- Agility: 8 -
- Vitality: 5 -
- Strength: 3 -
- Magic: 1 -
- Skills -
- Lesser Regeneration -
- Level: 1 -
- Description -
- Allows the user to heal themselves by focusing on the wound. -
"Okay.. So I'm a fragment of… what? What exactly am I a fragment of? System? What is this?" I asked the system, not expecting any sort of response.
The system replied.
- System -
- I am not permitted to answer your question. -
"Woah, so you can speak? Then why didn't you answer my questions before?"
"And why aren't you permitted?"
- System -
- You didn't have a mouth to speak. -
- And there are things that I cannot answer for your safety. -
"For my safety? What do you mean?
- System -
- They know when certain words are spoken. They will come. -
"Who are they?"
- System -
- I am not permitted to answer your question. -
Okay. So some questions are better left unasked. Onto another question then.
"What are you exactly?"
- System -
- I am here to guide you, in particular. -
"That doesn't really answer my question.. But what do you mean in particular?"
- System -
- You are the only user of the system. -
"Where am I?"
- System -
- You are in the cave of the dead god -
"The dead god? Who is that?"