The shopping district was chaos incarnate. Players swarmed through broken storefronts, grabbing anything that might serve as a weapon or tool. Marcus watched a werewolf player arm himself with a metal pipe while a sorcerer hoarded bottles that probably contained crafting materials.
No one paid attention to Marcus. Good.
He slipped into a collapsed pharmacy, stepping over rubble and shattered glass. The apocalypse theme was comprehensive—torn packages, overturned shelves, that universal smell of decay and abandonment. Surprisingly detailed for a game world.
His minimap pulsed with nearby player markers. Twenty-three in the immediate vicinity. Too many.
Marcus moved deeper into the store, toward the back where shadows pooled thick and heavy. His [Night Stalker] ability activated automatically, and suddenly the darkness became almost translucent. He could see every detail, every texture.
[NIGHT STALKER ACTIVE: PERCEPTION +5 IN DARKNESS]
A doorway led to a back room—employee break area by the looks of it. Marcus ducked inside and closed the door. A metal shelving unit served as a makeshift barricade.
Finally, privacy to think.
He pulled up his character sheet again, studying the glitched abilities. [Blood Drinker] was self-explanatory, though the "effects may vary" warning was concerning. [Night Stalker] clearly worked. [Corrupted Evolution] was passive.
But that fourth ability, the one showing only question marks...
Marcus focused on it. The description flickered, fragments of text appearing and vanishing.
[????????] - DEVOUR... CONSUME... ABSORB... TAKE... ERROR... EVOLUTION... PREDATOR... ERROR...
"Helpful," Marcus muttered.
Outside, screams erupted. Not playful shouts—actual terror. Marcus moved to a crack in the wall and peered through.
The sky had darkened to full night faster than the timer indicated. Purple-black clouds roiled overhead, and from them descended creatures that definitely weren't other players.
They looked like wolves, if wolves were made of shadow and hunger. Easily the size of bears, with eyes that glowed sickly yellow. Their bodies seemed to blur at the edges, like reality couldn't quite contain them.
[SHADOW HOUND - LEVEL 5]
One pounced on a player trying to flee—a werewolf, ironically. The shadow hound's jaws closed on the player's shoulder, and the werewolf's health bar plummeted. Other players tried to fight back, magic and improvised weapons lashing out.
The hounds were faster. Stronger.
Marcus watched three players go down in less than a minute. Their bodies didn't disappear—instead, they lay motionless, red "DECEASED" markers appearing above them. Death in Eclipse Online meant respawning tomorrow night, but you lost all progress and items.
A shadow hound paused in the street, its massive head swinging toward the pharmacy. Toward Marcus's hiding spot.
It couldn't possibly see him through the wall. But it moved forward anyway, muscles bunching beneath its impossible fur.
Marcus's heart rate spiked. Level 1 versus Level 5. The math wasn't complicated.
The hound crashed through the pharmacy's front window. Glass exploded inward. Players scattered, some managing to escape, others not so lucky. The creature's growl was a sound that shouldn't exist in nature—too deep, with harmonics that hurt to hear.
It was heading for the back room. For Marcus.
His interface flashed: [HUNGER INCREASING. COMBAT IMMINENT. FEED OR WEAKEN.]
Feed on what? There was nothing here except—
The shadow hound burst through the door, splintering wood like paper. Yellow eyes locked onto Marcus. It lunged.
Instinct took over. Marcus's [Night Stalker] ability surged, and time seemed to slow. Not literally—his perception had simply accelerated. He could see the hound's trajectory, the way its weight shifted, the microsecond delay before its jaws snapped shut.
Marcus dove left. Claws raked across his shoulder instead of his throat.
[HP: 125/150]
Pain exploded through his arm, but something else exploded too—rage. Pure, animal fury that he'd never felt in his real life. Years of being mocked, beaten down, made to feel small crystallized into a single burning need.
To survive. To win. To tear this thing apart.
His hand shot out, grabbing the shadow hound's leg as it passed. His fingers—changed somehow, tipped with claws he didn't remember growing—dug into its flesh. The hound shrieked.
[BLOOD DRINKER ACTIVATED]
Marcus's mouth moved before his brain caught up. His teeth, sharp as razors, sank into the hound's leg. Hot blood flooded his mouth, tasting of copper and darkness and something electric.
[HP RESTORED: 150/150]
[STRENGTH +2 (TEMPORARY)]
[AGILITY +2 (TEMPORARY)]
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ABILITY ACTIVATING]
Power surged through Marcus's body. The shadow hound tried to shake him off, but he held on with impossible strength. His teeth ground deeper, and he drank, and drank, and—
[???????? ABILITY IDENTIFIED: DEVOUR]
[CONSUMING ENEMY ESSENCE. PROCESSING...]
The shadow hound's struggles weakened. Its body began to shrivel, collapsing inward as if something was being sucked out along with its blood. Marcus couldn't stop. Didn't want to stop. The hunger drove him, that vast emptiness inside demanding to be filled.
[SHADOW HOUND DEFEATED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 250 XP]
[LEVEL UP! NOW LEVEL 2]
[DEVOUR COMPLETE: ANALYZING CONSUMED ESSENCE...]
[ABILITY GAINED: SHADOW STEP (RANK F)]
The hound's corpse crumbled to ash. Marcus stumbled backward, blood on his lips, his entire body trembling. His hands were still clawed, his teeth still sharp.
A new ability glowed in his character sheet.
[SHADOW STEP (RANK F)] - Briefly phase through shadows to reposition. Cost: 20 Energy. Cooldown: 30 seconds. NOTE: Stolen from Shadow Hound. Ability may evolve with use.
Marcus stared at his hands. Then at the ash pile. Then at his status screen.
He'd just stolen an ability from a monster.
By eating it.
"What the hell am I?"
The shopping district was chaos incarnate. Players swarmed through broken storefronts, grabbing anything that might serve as a weapon or tool. Marcus watched a werewolf player arm himself with a metal pipe while a sorcerer hoarded bottles that probably contained crafting materials.
No one paid attention to Marcus. Good.
He slipped into a collapsed pharmacy, stepping over rubble and shattered glass. The apocalypse theme was comprehensive—torn packages, overturned shelves, that universal smell of decay and abandonment. Surprisingly detailed for a game world.
His minimap pulsed with nearby player markers. Twenty-three in the immediate vicinity. Too many.
Marcus moved deeper into the store, toward the back where shadows pooled thick and heavy. His [Night Stalker] ability activated automatically, and suddenly the darkness became almost translucent. He could see every detail, every texture.
[NIGHT STALKER ACTIVE: PERCEPTION +5 IN DARKNESS]
A doorway led to a back room—employee break area by the looks of it. Marcus ducked inside and closed the door. A metal shelving unit served as a makeshift barricade.
Finally, privacy to think.
He pulled up his character sheet again, studying the glitched abilities. [Blood Drinker] was self-explanatory, though the "effects may vary" warning was concerning. [Night Stalker] clearly worked. [Corrupted Evolution] was passive.
But that fourth ability, the one showing only question marks...
Marcus focused on it. The description flickered, fragments of text appearing and vanishing.
[????????] - DEVOUR... CONSUME... ABSORB... TAKE... ERROR... EVOLUTION... PREDATOR... ERROR...
"Helpful," Marcus muttered.
Outside, screams erupted. Not playful shouts—actual terror. Marcus moved to a crack in the wall and peered through.
The sky had darkened to full night faster than the timer indicated. Purple-black clouds roiled overhead, and from them descended creatures that definitely weren't other players.
They looked like wolves, if wolves were made of shadow and hunger. Easily the size of bears, with eyes that glowed sickly yellow. Their bodies seemed to blur at the edges, like reality couldn't quite contain them.
[SHADOW HOUND - LEVEL 5]
One pounced on a player trying to flee—a werewolf, ironically. The shadow hound's jaws closed on the player's shoulder, and the werewolf's health bar plummeted. Other players tried to fight back, magic and improvised weapons lashing out.
The hounds were faster. Stronger.
Marcus watched three players go down in less than a minute. Their bodies didn't disappear—instead, they lay motionless, red "DECEASED" markers appearing above them. Death in Eclipse Online meant respawning tomorrow night, but you lost all progress and items.
A shadow hound paused in the street, its massive head swinging toward the pharmacy. Toward Marcus's hiding spot.
It couldn't possibly see him through the wall. But it moved forward anyway, muscles bunching beneath its impossible fur.
Marcus's heart rate spiked. Level 1 versus Level 5. The math wasn't complicated.
The hound crashed through the pharmacy's front window. Glass exploded inward. Players scattered, some managing to escape, others not so lucky. The creature's growl was a sound that shouldn't exist in nature—too deep, with harmonics that hurt to hear.
It was heading for the back room. For Marcus.
His interface flashed: [HUNGER INCREASING. COMBAT IMMINENT. FEED OR WEAKEN.]
Feed on what? There was nothing here except—
The shadow hound burst through the door, splintering wood like paper. Yellow eyes locked onto Marcus. It lunged.
Instinct took over. Marcus's [Night Stalker] ability surged, and time seemed to slow. Not literally—his perception had simply accelerated. He could see the hound's trajectory, the way its weight shifted, the microsecond delay before its jaws snapped shut.
Marcus dove left. Claws raked across his shoulder instead of his throat.
[HP: 125/150]
Pain exploded through his arm, but something else exploded too—rage. Pure, animal fury that he'd never felt in his real life. Years of being mocked, beaten down, made to feel small crystallized into a single burning need.
To survive. To win. To tear this thing apart.
His hand shot out, grabbing the shadow hound's leg as it passed. His fingers—changed somehow, tipped with claws he didn't remember growing—dug into its flesh. The hound shrieked.
[BLOOD DRINKER ACTIVATED]
Marcus's mouth moved before his brain caught up. His teeth, sharp as razors, sank into the hound's leg. Hot blood flooded his mouth, tasting of copper and darkness and something electric.
[HP RESTORED: 150/150]
[STRENGTH +2 (TEMPORARY)]
[AGILITY +2 (TEMPORARY)]
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ABILITY ACTIVATING]
Power surged through Marcus's body. The shadow hound tried to shake him off, but he held on with impossible strength. His teeth ground deeper, and he drank, and drank, and—
[???????? ABILITY IDENTIFIED: DEVOUR]
[CONSUMING ENEMY ESSENCE. PROCESSING...]
The shadow hound's struggles weakened. Its body began to shrivel, collapsing inward as if something was being sucked out along with its blood. Marcus couldn't stop. Didn't want to stop. The hunger drove him, that vast emptiness inside demanding to be filled.
[SHADOW HOUND DEFEATED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 250 XP]
[LEVEL UP! NOW LEVEL 2]
[DEVOUR COMPLETE: ANALYZING CONSUMED ESSENCE...]
[ABILITY GAINED: SHADOW STEP (RANK F)]
The hound's corpse crumbled to ash. Marcus stumbled backward, blood on his lips, his entire body trembling. His hands were still clawed, his teeth still sharp.
A new ability glowed in his character sheet.
[SHADOW STEP (RANK F)] - Briefly phase through shadows to reposition. Cost: 20 Energy. Cooldown: 30 seconds. NOTE: Stolen from Shadow Hound. Ability may evolve with use.
Marcus stared at his hands. Then at the ash pile. Then at his status screen.
He'd just stolen an ability from a monster.
By eating it.
"What the hell am I?"