The next moment a rat’s head came out of the bush and looked directly at Ashton. He prepped a stone in his slingshot but the rat started charging him. He did not realize how big the rat was until it was charging him, the fear of the rat made him miss his shot. The rat was the size of a household dog, it was mostly brown with some green spots and green eyes. He froze as the rat kept charging on. Before the rat rammed him he had somehow moved out of the way. Now was not the time to figure out what happened, he looked back at the rat but it was already charging him again. This time the rat was successful, it rammed into his left leg causing immense pain from his knee to his foot. He grit his teeth to fight through the pain, but due to the remaining unfamiliarity of his body he fell over on his ass. He looked up and the rat was already coming closer. He prepped a stone out of instinct but the rat was already making his attack, he swiped at Ashton with his claws but again without knowing how his head moved out of the way, the claws swiped right where his neck was. Ashton fired the stone towards the rat, but closed his eyes until he heard the gurgling sounds.
When he opened his eyes he saw the rat’s neck gushing blood and could hear it trying to breathe but only resulted in choking on its own blood. He froze, until the familiar screen reappeared.
Ashton stood up and centered himself, his heart was still beating rapidly but he managed to calm himself down enough to look at the screen in front of him.
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Creature Defeated: Forest Rat - Level 4
Absorption Activated:
Absorbable Traits:
- Scavenger - (Awareness 1)
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Scavenger? What could that be? Did it help him to collect loot? Did it help him create treasure out of trash? Either way he liked it.
“Absorb Scavenger.”
This time the gold mist delivered onto his right wrist a picture of a trash can with a partially buried treasure chest.
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Level Criteria Met
- +1 to all stats
- +2 free points
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Choosing new skills made him realize he didn’t even know what skills he had. He started focusing on his skills and a new screen appeared.
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Skills:
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- Absorption
- Ranged Proficiency - Low
- Herbivore Knowledge
- Quick Reflexes
- Keen Hearing
- Scavenger
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He wasn’t certain due to when he obtained the skill there was no description, but he thinks the reason he survived the fight with the rat was due to Quick Reflexes. He focused on it and just what he was hoping for happened.
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- Quick Reflexes - Able to attempt to move away quickly from danger that is known.
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As he expected, the skill made him dodge without him thinking about it. He went over the other skills that he did not know what they did. Especially his Unique skill the system designated for him.
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- Absorption - Defeating an opponent allows for the opponent's skills to be absorbed at the cost of skill points.
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- Ranged Proficiency - Low - Increases efficiency and knowledge of using ranged weapons.
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- Herbivore Knowledge - Innate knowledge of berries and nature. Can tell if something is edible or dangerous to eat.
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- Keen Hearing - enhanced hearing.
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- Scavenger - Can make use of or locate things that are You gain the ability to search the environment for overlooked resources. Allows detection of scraps, remains, and low-grade materials within a short radius.
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Ashton got frustrated that he had not checked his skills until now. If he was going to continue adapting to this world he needed to understand everything going on, most importantly what was going on within him.
He sat down leaning on a tree, resting and thinking about everything that had been thrown on him in the past few hours.
Just when he was about to get moving again he felt something nearby, he couldn’t hear it but he felt a bone-chilling aura nearby. Not just nearby but headed right for him as it got stronger and stronger.
He looked around and found a low hanging branch, limping over to it. He jumped on his good leg but wasn’t able to get all of the height he needed. So bracing himself he jumped using both his legs, getting the height he needed while sending sharp pain to his injured leg. He stilled his breath and watched to see whatever was coming towards him.
What appeared in front of him was unlike anything he had ever seen. The only familiarity he could distinguish was of the cryptid known as a wendigo. But only partially. The beast was massive, larger than a horse but it did not make a sound as it moved steadily.
It had the face of a bear but all of its skin was tight. As if it was a rotting corpse, its skin was tightly wrapped along its bones. It had large antlers upon its head which continued down its spine as protrusions came from the spinal cord. All four legs had claws upon each toe that seemed razor sharp and each was at least 6 inches long.
It walked over to the rat and started to maul and devour it. It was the first time it actually made a sound, but the sound was of the muscles and flesh being ripped apart and bones being broken by just the strength of its jaw. Savagely, blood being shot all around as if trying to consume the rat’s soul.
Fear shot through Ashton like a bullet. He remained still not making a single sound worried that the most minor sounds would bring the attention of the giant monstrosity. More than his body or mind wanted to be away from the creature, his instincts screamed to not be seen. His leg was screaming from the pain and Ashton was doing all he could to keep his leg from moving.
When he could not bear the pain any longer he slowly positioned his leg on a nearby branch so it was no longer hanging. Even though he was being careful the branch still shook.
The beast looked back in its vacant white eyes, but it must have not seen him in the tree as it looked around a bit more and went back to eating the rat.
As the time went on he pictured trying to fight this thing and he could not imagine a scenario where he would win. Each one ended with him either badly injured and running or dead within just a few seconds even if he was not injured. He was coming to terms with just how weak he truly was in this forest, well in this new world.
This was not the place to be the hero, this was about survival. He wanted the strength to defeat the creature, but he knew now was not the time. In the scope of survival, it is not a weakness to know when you are the prey. And in the eyes of this creature, Ashton, would be prey.
Just a little amount had passed since the monster arrived but it had devoured nearly all of the rat. It started to head back through the forest just as silently as it appeared, but stopped at a nearby tree and left a slash on it. With just a few steps it disappeared into the forest leaving just piles of broken bones and an excessively bloody crime scene.