The hunger hadn't left him, but it wasn't the only thing gnawing at his gut anymore.
A scrape echoed in the distance, sharp against marble. Not books sliding. Not the creak of shelves. Deliberate.
William froze, breath caught in his throat.
Then it came again—claw against stone, dragging slow. And beneath it, a thin chittering sound, too high-pitched to be human, too quick to be accidental.
He exhaled carefully. "So much for peace and quiet."
This was a dungeon. Of course it wasn't empty.
Defense skills were good, but defense alone wasn't survival. He needed offense. Something to actually put between him and whatever was making that noise.
William swung his pack around and thought Inventory. The System obeyed.
[Inventory]
– Knife (Common, Durability 92%)
– Trail Mix (Mundane, 340g)
– Water Bottle (Common, 2/3 full, Durability 100%)
– Paracord (Common, 25 ft, Durability 100%)
– Firestarter (Common, Durability 87%)
– Poncho (Common, Durability 95%)
William scanned the list, stomach sinking.
That was it. His whole kit, quantified and rated like junk loot in an RPG. A knife marked Common. Food downgraded to Mundane. Nothing that would stop claws or teeth.
Still, it was something. He pulled the knife free, steel flashing in the dim. His grip felt surer than it had this morning—muscles steadied by the manuals he'd already scarfed—but the blade still looked pathetically small against the endless dark.
The scraping came again, closer now.
William snapped the inventory shut, pulse hammering. "Alright, Page," he muttered. "No sense dying without a swing."
He turned back to the shelves.
The manuals he'd eaten were snacks—calisthenics, breathing, stretching. Enough to make him feel sharper, faster. But against teeth? Claws? He needed more. He needed something that actually taught him how to fight.
His gaze locked onto a thick spine just a few rows up.
Knife Fighting Basics.
Larger than the pamphlets he'd started with. Heavy. His stomach clenched, hunger flaring sharp as a knife itself. He knew it would hit harder, fill him more, maybe overload him if he wasn't careful.
But the noises were getting closer.
The scrape. The chitter. Louder now, echoing down the aisle.
William grabbed the book, tore it open, and bit.
The taste burst copper and salt across his tongue—the iron tang of blood, the sweat of hard sparring, the grit of training mats. Colors snapped like sparks behind his eyes: silver streaks, red blurs, flashes of white. His grip on the knife shifted instinctively, blade angled low and ready. His feet planted, knees bent. His body knew moves he'd never learned.
The System chimed.
[Book Consumed: Knife Fighting Basics]
+1 Speed
Skill Gained: Knife Combat (Basic)
William's pulse steadied. Adrenaline sharpened every edge of him. He flexed his knife once, then let his stance drop into the new rhythm the System had burned into his nerves.
This was different. Not just exercise, not just balance. This was muscle memory without the years of bruises. He felt ready, wired, dangerous.
The noise stopped.
The silence was worse.
William swallowed, mouth dry, and edged forward, knife held steady. He felt his pulse echo in his fingertips. The shelves loomed. The shadows thickened.
Then it stepped into view.
Small—maybe four feet tall—but wrong in every proportion. Its limbs wiry, jointed too sharp. Its skin the mottled gray of wet stone. Its eyes glowed faintly, set too wide and too low, animal and alien all at once.
And its mouth—God. Its mouth split too wide across its face, a jagged wound full of teeth. Dozens, maybe hundreds, each one needle-sharp, each one slick with saliva.
It grinned when it saw him.
Not a goblin. Not the green caricature from anime or tabletop art. This was a predator, a devil distilled into something small and vicious, every inch of it designed to tear and chew.
William's stomach knotted. His blade felt tiny. His breath came fast.
But his stance held.
Because he wasn't unarmed anymore.
Status: William Page
Age: 18
System: Unbound Bookeater
Class: None
Strength: 9
Speed: 10
Durability: 9
Mental: 11
Social: 5
Luck: 4
Traits:
– Hunger for Knowledge
– Synesthetic Cognition
– Rational Mind
Skills:
– Survival (Basic)
– Mycology (Basic)
– Cooking (Basic)
– Knife Use (Basic)
– Herb Lore (Basic)
– Knife Combat (Basic)