Propagate: A survival litrpg

Day 55

Three days after our initial departure we finally reached the border city of…. What's the name again?

“The border city of Tarragon.” Explained our jovial carriage driver.

Said carriage driver then set off on a long and winding explanation about the city in question, detailing everything from its landmarks, booming industries, housing market, land value, and best inns/ restaurants, completely unprompted. I wouldn't mind the lore dump if it wasn't the fifth time he’d gone on this diatribe.

“...western colonialism…” I tuned in for just a moment before immediately tuning out again. The carriage driver, Mr.johanson, is a very upbeat man. Even in the face of danger, which came in the form of three separate bandit attacks and a pack of kobolds, he would go back to a happy go lucky attitude as soon as the danger had passed. It was almost uncanny.

For the last three days me and lily have been acting as mercenaries in turn for Mr. Johansson's services, which extended to more than just facilitating our method of travel. Food, sleepwear, even changes of clothes. Turns out our jolly coachman is only a supply driver on the side, and only took this job for sightseeing. He actually runs a luxury inn, and goes on adventures in his free time.

In the free time we had in between guardian duty and breaks for the horses, me and lily were mostly practicing mana shaping. Once I got both of the skills to level five, I held off from leveling them up for one core reason. I… don't really need magic. At least right now. While my fight with that bastard Gwako had certainly been eye opening, the things I gleaned from the fight were less combat focused and more personal.

For one, I need to be more aware of my surroundings. For two, I desperately need to get more resistance skills. For three, my main skill [Existential Empower] hasn't leveled up in forever. That is a huge problem. And the fact I have not noticed until now is very worrying.

Even though [Existential Empower] is a single skill, the fact that it's composed of three others is a core factor in how it levels up, at least that's my running theory. My insight seems to agree with me. That means focus, will, and clarity. Focus is easy enough, at least that was my first impression.

I realize I have to constantly focus, at least a little, while using [Lofty meditation]. Like pressing and holding a button. The fact [Existential Empower] hasn't leveled up at all despite how well used that skill is, is very concerning. Will is very esoteric. I certainly lacked it when I was first dislocated, I couldn't even bear the thought of harming a rabbit, let alone butchering it. Now? I barely feel anything anymore.

Clarity is also a bad avenue. I got the skill by almost dying, and it is not worth it trying to replicate that situation for a measly skill level. All and all, I just need to use [Existential Empower] more often. I've been treating it like my trump card, despite the fact I can abuse it at least three times more than I already am. Just erasing cooldown timers alone is busted.

I'm thrust out of my thoughts when the wagon slams into a rather large rock on the road. I sit still for a moment, trying my best to achieve clarity without delving into meditation. It's surprisingly hard, but it does bring benefits.

<[Lofty Meditation] Experience threshold Reached. Lv8 -> Lv9>

Well, benefits besides that. I can hear footsteps approaching, and heavy shifting I now know is armor rubbing against itself. “ Ugh. Bandits. AGAIN. “ I sigh reproachfully. What is wrong with this route? This is the fourth damn time!

I check my status as lily sighs in a similar manner and begins preparing. I don't know what she's actually doing, but ‘prepare’ seems like acute wording to her near silent shuffling.

Class - Thresher | lv 27/50 | 2188/5400 xp **

Party Composition: Max (Dealer lv3 | -16% Skill cooldowns) | Lily (Leader lv2 | Clarity Buff)

Name - Maximilian | Race - Modular Human m

Achievements- The Special | Self indulgent | Sure Kill | I’ll be watching you | (+6)

Hp- 4850/9700 (1/2) | St- 7500/7500 | Condition- Curse of Soul Fray

Legacy: Sky Wyrm ( Wind | Draconic )

Ability’s: Chaos Potential | Overload | Resonation | Mana Sense

SkP- 4 | Stp- 13 | Souls- 255 2 3

Assimilation Bonus:

Stats - (+26 phys)(+3A)

Strength 61

Speed 72 (+5A)

Stamina 75

Dexterity 97 (+71)

Intellect 65 (+14)

Insight 11.2

Sense 85.8 (x2.6)(+10)

Vitality 48.5 (1/2)

Charm 16 {locked}

Special Skills -

Existential Empower ||| lv15/20 Death Resistance \ lv3/99 Corruption Resistance ||| lv1/20

Class Skills -

Desperate endurance || lv3 Schematica (4/9) || lv4 High Hound || lv3 Defense Orientation || lv4

Passive Skills -

Complex Crafting ||| lv17/20 - Spectral Arrow ||| lv1/20 - Adv Dismantling ||| lv5/20 - Chisling ||| lv12/20 - Nimble Hands || lv9/20 - Toxicology || lv9/10 - Travel ||| lv12/20 - Strafe Lith || lv4/10 Greater Regen || lv8/10 - Terrain Memorization || - lv3/10 Knitting || - lv2/10 - Evasion || lv5/10 CQC || lv3/10 - Feather Foot | lv4/5 - Bark Runner || lv2/10 - Night Owl | lv4/5 - Storm Wise | lv3/5 - Brain Enhancement | lv4/5 - Mana Touch | lv5/5 - Mana Manipulation | lv5/5 - Conceal || lv3/10 - SOLU || lv7/10

Active Skills -

Brash Dash ||| lv12/20 Spring 4/4 || lv 7/10 Power Boost || lv5/10 Lofty Meditation || lv9/10 Penetrate || lv1/10 Wrecking Smash || lv1/10 Slash || lv9/10 Supplementation ||| lv13/20 Seeking ||| lv5/20 Sharp Shot ||| lv1/20

Resistances -

Greater Pain res || lv8/10 Shadow res | lv2/5 Greater Force Res || lv5/10 Paralysis Res | lv2/5

Stocks - +56 Str | +45 Spd | +43 Stm | +37 Int | +25 Vit | +18 Def | +7 Fer

Piercing chomp lv1-2 x5 Crushing Bite lv1-3 x13 Ripping Snap lv2-4 x9 Healing Rush x5 Feather Faint lv4 x1 Claw Strike lv3 x2 Snipe lv7 x1 Armor Up lv1-4 x7 Thread Spin lv7-12 x34 Scale shot lv2-9 x28 Flame Charge lv7 x1

Modularity- Special: Assimilation

Nervous 300% Immune 300% Integumentary 300% Ardent Muscular- 300% ||| Absorbing Skeletal- 300% | Circulatory 300% Reproductive 300% Primal Assimilating Digestive 300% ||

Brain 200% Heart 200% Lungs 200% Stomach 200% Intestines 200% Muscles 200% Bone marrow 200% Arteries 200% Veins 200%

Eyes 200% Ears 200% Jaw 200% Nose 200% Mouth 200% Tough Neck 200% | Supportive Shoulders 100% | Forked Tongue 200% | Arms 200% Stomach 200% Hard Hands 200% | Fingers 200% Condor Thumbs 200% | Demolishing Teeth 200% ||| Hard Hands 200% | Soft Feet 100% | Vigorous Legs 200% |||

Man, that modularity list is long. I will not stop mentioning it until it magically gets shorter. I have spare stat points too. Lets see, my strength is kinda lagging behind for some reason. Let's do five into strength, and then dump the rest into vitality. If I ever get this curse removed, I swear I'll be immortal.

Stat increases to vitality are usually hard to sense, but this time is much more noticeable. The only discernible reason being that it crossed the fifty stat mark. I wonder what kind of bonus I get?

< Vitality 50: All injuries can be healed. Can stay alive and conscious for short periods when major organs are destroyed or inoperable (including the heart and brain).

How the hell could I stay conscious without a brain? Magic is wack. But enough stalling, it looks like round four is moments from beginning.

I hop out the back of the wagon and begin briskly walking towards the direction the bandits are coming from, about sixty degrees right from the road. I keep my eyes on them as I feel Lily begin preparing her spells.

After less than a minute, an imposing figure steps out of the bushes, followed by a dozen shady men. Interestingly, this bandit leader is female. How original. She's absolutely sculpted though, and covered in scars. This might be a hard fight.

“ Alright alright alright. I'm sure you gentlemen know how this goes. You lay down your arms, give us your cargo, and we all walk away scott free.” The bandit leader speaks, her voice as gravely as a caved in mountain. If there are cigarettes in this world, she must be the number one buyer.

Seeing as how I've done this exact thing three times before, I'm pretty mellowed out. Even though situations like this always escalate to violence, I still try to talk it out each and every time. Well except for the second encounter. Lily scolded me, saying I shouldn't just kill people out right, ‘if only to keep my humanity’.

“ Yeah, that's not happening.” I blankly rehearsed. “ Listen buddy. This is like the fourth time I've had to deal with you guys. We win, every, single, time. I'm getting pretty burnt out on killing people. Like, looting your corpses isn’t even fun anymore. Just make this easter for both of us and retreat. No one has to die today.”

Not a bad speech if I do say so myself. I tried to go a bit heavy on the fear factor, without trying to demean the leader at all. If I try to pressure her into retreating, she might do the opposite out of spite. I'm trying to be neutral, saying that if we fight we will both lose.

Her face was shocked halfway through, but then turned into a predatory smile at the second sentence. Yep, violence it is. But, maybe her words will differ from her expression?

“ You've seen three other groups of thieves huh? What did their crest look like?” She pointed to a threaded badge lazily patched to the right side of her hip. Upon inspection, all of the thieves had the same patch on varying locations.

Is she testing me?

I smiled wryly. A bandit engaging in conversation? How rare. “ The first group had a blue shield covered in streaks of yellow, the second had an orange x with red blotches, and the third had a wolf shaped rip in all of their clothes. Ring any bells?” My voice radiated mock confidence, lightly riddled with amusement.

“ Why yes, they do. The shield company wanders around that way, while the mottle crew stalk the elopian highway off to the north. The wolfenstein attacking you is perfectly in character for them, and quite a pain for us. I hope you cleaned them up nicely.” Her face sharpened into a wicked sneer.

All the while she was talking, she was not only inspecting me, but the wagon and driver. She must be plotting something, but rather than resorting to straight violence, we’re going down the mind game route. I take out my knife and begin flipping it into the air as I talk to her, never looking away from my eyes.

“ Oh yes, they won't be bothering you again, you can be sure of that. But enough chatter, what'll it be? Fight or flight?” For emphasis, I threw the blade up higher than before, letting it absorb the sun's radiance before catching it and letting it rest at my side after cutting a line through the air, making sure the light hit the edge in just the right way to show off its sharpness.

It seems my little display worked, as she held up her hands and backed away. “ Oh of course, please be on your way. You did us a favor, so I'll pay it forward. You can be sure you won't be seeing us again.” She whirled around and stalked back into the bushes, some invisible gesture forcing the others to follow.

Once determined they were out of ear shot, they began whispering. I assured Lily and Mr.johanson of the passing danger, and urged him to continue onward as I listened to my latest source of entertainment.

“ Boss! Are we really just going to leave empty handed?” Whined a squeaky man. A chorus of quiet agreement broke out before being silenced by the red headed leader. “..Do you all know the reason we've survived this long? Because it's not strength! It's because I have an eye for people. And that guy… He was dangerous.” Her voice was harsh and static, as if she were barking every word.

“ I don't know boss, he just looked like some snarky kid to me.” The same guy spoke again, with the same chorus of affirmations afterward. “ Looks can be deceiving.” She snapped. “That kid.. His every movement was sharp and defined, purposeful. And his eyes… it's like he was looking straight through me.” She sounded almost.. Fearful. The slightest trace of a whimper in her tone.

“ Make no mistake, that ‘kid’ could have painted us against the landscape. We need to move. At the very least, we can't be caught hunting here again…”

It's only then that we move out of earshot. Her description of me was honestly flattering. Me? Scary? That's hilarious. I'm just happy that everything ended without a fight, and so is everyone else. Though Lily is a bit sad she didn’t get to try out her new spell.

—

I'm sitting on the hard floor, playing with mana strings, when Lily taps on my shoulder. I look up at her as I disable the meditation and tune into her excited rambling.

“ ohmygodwearefinallyatthecitylookatalltheprettylightsandbuildingsandmagicandandand-”

“Woah! Slow down!” I caution.

She takes a breath before pointing outside the wagon. “Look!”

I could already tell we were in the town from the myriad of new smells and sounds. What I did not see was the sheer magnitude of the city. I was expecting a moderate town, not a damn city!

High and thick stone walls, not unlike the garrisons but bigger and devoid of mana. We were in line behind another dozen wagons leading towards a gate. Soldiers seemed to be carrying out inspections, border police. No doubt inspecting for contraband and passports, maybe even collecting some kind of entrance fee.

Huh. You know I never did ask what the currency of this world is. Meh, I'm sure that'll present no major problems down the road. Until then, I just have to wait until we actually get in.

About an hour and a half passed before we finally made it into the city. Turns out, a lack of passports can be disregarded for a major entrance upcharge, which our transporter happily paid. I felt bad, but apparently fending off so many attacks had left an impression on the man.

“ I never meant to pry.” Started the coach driver. “But what's your plan now that you're here?”

A fair question.

“Well, we're probably going to have to sleep outside for a few days as we rake up some cash and find jobs. We’ll have to save up for a while, and then start city hopping.” I stated realistically. I know that the go-to for fantasy worlds is the adventurous guild, but this is real life. Actual guilds would be hella impractical in the real world.

But, I'll be honest and say that I'm also fishing for possible job openings. If he's really grateful, he’ll say something like ‘oh, that won't due!’ and give us a list of employers or something. Though, people in real life are hardly so nice.

“ Oh, that just won’t due!” The coachman shouted boisterously. Am I a psychic? “After all you’ve done for me, I can't just let you freeze out on the street!”

“ That's awfully nice of you, but mildly suspicious. Just getting us into the city was more than enough. What's your game?” I question with no real suspicion. I can guess what he's trying to do, I just want to hear him say it.

“ Well, if I must be honest.. You two are very impressive. Your power and survivability would make you a luxurious commodity among the wealthy. Simply put, I'm investing in you two.

“ I understand me, but what value does she have?” I gesture to Lily. She glares ruefully at me, but otherwise makes no attempt at making her opinions known.

“Well… I would be correct in assuming you're a package deal, yes?” He seems unsure, a little nervous to bring it up. “ You're correct.” I assure bluntly. “Then that's all there's to it. Plus if she's a mage like I suspect, her potential is even higher than yours!” I make no comment, and he seems to take my silence as the answer to his suspicions.

Silence overtakes the wagon as we head over to his storehouse. I help move around a few boxes in exchange for a bit of money. Despite being clueless of the value, I know it would be very suspicious if I didn't know, so I kept my mouth shut. When he handed me a small bag filled with four dull silver coins, I simply nodded wordlessly and attached it to my belt.

With the wagon stowed away, he questions our exhaustion before leading us onto a main road. The sun is falling into sunset, with the road traffic becoming a small trickle. We walk for about twenty minutes, while I stay alert and stare down any would-be pick pockets or thugs.

We soon arrived at a large two story building made almost entirely out of wood and glass. The building was mostly boxy, with a tall tower reminiscent of a clock tower rising from the middle, with curved wood supporting it from the roof. Words could hardly do it justice, the building was a work of art, very smooth and curvy.

The inside was highly decorated with hanging tapestries, maps, pots, all manner of plants, and chandeliers composed of yellow crystals. To the left and middle was a long bar of desks, with three women sitting evenly apart. Behind them were hundreds of filing cabinets and drawers, bookshelves and chests stuffed to the brim with papers and files. Is this an accounting firm?

I stop, unwilling to go further without an explanation. “Mr.Johanson, what is this place?” He stops and smiles at me. It seems I called attention to us at the mention of his name, as the three receptionists quit gossiping and turned toward us. They smiled when they saw Mr.johanson, but had mixed reactions upon witnessing me.

The one to the right, and the closest, seemed entranced. The one in the middle had a deep scowl, while the other possessed thinly veiled curiosity.

“Ah, my apologies. It appears I got swept up in my own excitement and forgot the important part. This-” he gestured grandly to the entire complex. “ Is the Wanderers association. At least, the Terragon branch.

Oh, so it’s a guild-

“ Not to be confused with the mercenary guild. It gets mixed up all the time.” I eyed him calmly and spoke evenly. “ Huh, never heard of them before. What’s their purpose?”

“I'm not surprised. The wanderers association is a relatively new organization, only established about three decades ago. As I'm sure you already know, the mercenary guild is built upon a system of registration and questing. You apply, and get to do a job for money. However, everyone who signed up was there for combat experience and general fighting only, pushing the odd jobs off to the side, never to be touched again.”

“It's when those jobs started piling up that a team of young people knocked them all out within a month. They realized that odd jobs all over the world were getting ignored in favor of the good old slayer quests. With such an untapped market, the party felt they had struck gold. And thus, the wanderers association was born.”

“Cool story man, but like, what are we actually supposed to do?” Never leave anything up to interpretation, no matter how obvious. That's just a disaster waiting to happen. Always ask for clarification, even though other people might look down on you for it.

Despite cutting off his story, his spirit has not dampened in the slightest, and was in fact buoyed by my participation. “Essentially, hundreds of non combat requests and even temporary job offers flood into the association office every day. Doing these ‘quests’ can bring in a solid flow of cash, especially if multiple are done in a day. But the biggest benefit is that the quests are always short, relatively easy, and can be found everywhere. It's convenient, and requires little actual commitment. Since the association has branches in almost every city, wanderers can rake in coins wherever they go. While the mercenary guild requires high skill and prolonged dedication, we are by far the best option for those who hate to settle, which is most in these turbulent times.”

That last sentence is a bit concerning, but before I can ask about it the receptionists start fawning over the spherical man. It occurs to me that he never mentioned having a connection with the association, which makes the reactions of the receptionists and how he has so much knowledge come into question. Just who is this guy?

“And what's your relation?” The rotund man flinched, as if he didn’t expect the question. “ I'm… something of a major shareholder.”

“ Right..” It's at this time that Lily pokes her head from behind me and decides it's high time she interjects into the conversation. “How good is the pay? You keep saying it’ll ‘rake in cash’ but you haven't put out any numbers so far.”

He looks surprised at first by her sudden willingness to speak. After all, she was mostly silent on the trip, only ever conversing with me and exchanging quick greetings with him. Despite the mild surprise, and the accusatory undertone of the question, he was more than willing to answer.

“ Ah, well, most requests don’t pay that well. However! The jobs are usually quick, and easy. You could probably finish twenty in one day, and get a good amount of coins from it.”

He chuckles at Lily’s narrowed eyes. “If you want specifics, I'd say highly experienced and efficient wanders can rake in about seven to eight talon in one day. I should mention, taking temporary jobs are the best ways to earn money, though they actually require commitment and most commonly skilled labor and expertise of all kinds.”

“Like if a Dwarf needed a mana crystal specialist or a specific elemental mage, he could higher their help for a few weeks. Once the project is done, he would have no reason to keep them around right? Of course, such short term jobs pay very well but are also very labor intensive. With the mindset that every second of your time is money, they'll work you like a dog. I don't recommend it to new wanderers.”

Sounds fun. I turn to Lily. “So, what do you think? For the record, I'm sold.” She places her hand on her chin contemplatively. “ I think it's exactly what we're looking for. How do we sign up?” One of the receptionists materializes a packet of papers and hands the stack to both of us.

I leaf through the packet liberally, before handing it back to her. “I'm not sure how to tell you this..” She sighs. “ You can't read, can you?” She looks saddened by the revelation. “I can read some of it, but I don't know how to write. If I tried I would definitely mess up somewhere. It would also take me forever.”

“ Well, that is not exactly uncommon, or anything to be ashamed of.” Mr.johanson added earnestly.

“Meh, I'll learn with time. And for the record, she's even worse than me.” I gesture at Lily.

“It's fine.” Says the black haired receptionist. The same one who was scowling at me earlier. She's quite a looker, very cool and collected, she has this unbreakable business mode vibe. She's also very thin, and short. Though not nearly as small as Lily, I'm still a solid head above her. Infact, I practically tower over everyone here, even in town.

The other two receptionists are also exceptionally attractive. The blond one who spotted me first with a salacious look in her eyes, was a bit shorter but much wider. Not that she was fat, far from it. She's… what's the word? Dummy thick. With some serious large ones desperately trying to snap her dress apart.

The last one was a redhead, who leaned between the two extremes. Her ‘large ones’ were not nearly as profound as the blond one, but were still quite noticeable. She was a fair bit taller than the other girls, though still far beneath me. Overall, the receptionists at this place are a real smoke show. I wonder if that played a part in their employment?

No, I doubt Mr.Johansson would be involved in that sort of thing. ‘But he's just a shareholder, he wouldn't be involved in staff hiring!’ yeah right, as if id believe that. The dude is clearly the owner, or one of them. Considering his age, he was definitely one of the original members who founded this place. But if he didn’t outright tell us, he must have a reason. That or a trust issue, he barely knows us after all. Either way, meeting him is going to be a very important connection in the future I'm sure. Interesting how fate works like that.. Unless every wagon driver is secretly a ceo. I always hated stuff like this. But now that I'm on the receiving end of plot related ass pulls, I don't have many complaints.

Lucky me, I think so fast all of that describing took place in less than a second. Though they aren't paying attention to me, as much as the black haired receptionist. I really need to ask for their names.

“ Alright, it's getting late, so why don't we finish this tomorrow.” Mr.johanson claps his hands together and shocks the room into silence. The black haired receptionists sighs ruefully and agrees, all conversation falling apart from there. “But wait, what are we actually going to do though?” Lily questions.

Surprisingly, red hair answers. “ We have protocols for things like these. As Mr.johansson said before, literacy is king of a problem right now, leading to situations like these happening all the time. We'll have to sit down individually with the both of you and translate the packet.”

“Manually?” I ask hopefully, there must be a magical solution right? A convenient plot device. She looks at me unamused. “What, did you think it would just magically get done? Throw some magic rock at you to file all the information into your head? God, I wish. Nope, we have to do it all manually, page by page, for. hours. The extra slow thinkers have to be done in multiple eight hour sessions. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it.”

With our questions answered, me and Lily file out of the building with the coach driver in tow. He points us towards an inn, supposedly well known for its comfortable lodgings. “I'm afraid I can't go with you, I was caught up in the conversation and am still terribly busy.” He walks away a few steps before stopping and turning around again. “ Say.. you mentioned you would be moving around, right? Where to?”

“That's what I'm going to find out. We're.. looking for something, and we have no clues. A bit of an aimless journey honestly, so ill be investigating the local library.” He nods before shaking his head furiously. “ Oh, the local library is no good! If you go up the road an hour or so you'll find a much fancier building. It'll cost a fair bit, but the coins I gave you will be plenty. Greylocks Keep I believe it's called. Ah..” He seems to lose his steam, energy draining from his face. Is if his social engine just puttered out.

He turned and looked at us with a grim face. “This town won’t last long. You should leave while you still can. Things are happening in the shadows, plans made years ago finally executed. Find what you need, and flee from this place as soon as possible. The time of peace is almost up.” A small mote of light returns to his face. “ I recommend the dwarven city of Destentia. It's a huge trade hub. Whatever you're looking for, person or object, it might be there.”

“And now, I must bid you adu. I pray for your safety.” He added the last bit in a sinister fashion, now walking off into the shadows. I'm honestly lost for words. I shepherd Lily towards the inn as I become consumed by my own thoughts. She looks up at me worriedly, overall deciding not to speak until in private.

I purchased a room from the innkeeper, costing two of my dull silver coins, with him handing me a few dozen small shiny copper coins in exchange. Though coins is the wrong word, as these were shaped like a rhombus.

He directs us to the room, filled with a small wooden table and two chairs. A modern bathroom, but only one bed. I was content to sleep on the floor but Lily insisted otherwise, with what I swear was a mischievous look in her eyes.

I walk down to the diner and collect our prepaid meals. With both trays in hand, I have to knock on the door to the room with my feet, slamming it a little too hard in the process and scaring Lily.

Our meals are somewhat complex. Lily got a sandwich with a salad and some cubed vegetables, while I got a hearty stew with some soft bread on the side and strings of cheese. I guess the cheese was for dipping? Either way, we both shared a bite of each others food and finished it all within minutes. It's way better than anything I've made.

Me and Lily talked as we wound down. She talked about her life before she was dislocated, while I spoke of some of my more cinematic fights. I'm.. not ready to talk about my old self. I like how I am right now the best.

We talked and joked even with the lights off. She seemed a bit nervous, either from some sort of internal conflict or my presence. Either way, I kept as far to my side of the bed as possible. Though, I had to use a bit of strength when she started hoarding all the blankets.

---

That night, I had a dream.

I saw a birds eye view of an awfully familiar mountain range, snow padding the forest's length. a bird cawed and I was forced to the ground. The forest was encased in deep shadow, and I heard a low growl from behind me.

A creeping presence pounced. I jerked to the right and watched as a looming shadow passed through me. A figure landed lightly in the snow, not even a whisper of displacement. the shadow grew and disconnected. branched stretched from its head, elongating like a snout. arms as thick and long as the trees extended from the shadow, as it stood up to its full height.

It radiated a malevolent energy. Hunger, such stomach churning hunger penetrated my soul, yet there was something more.

As the creature hunted, it cast its eyes to the tree line, glowing teal points floating in a black void. The creature began to move at great speeds, hunting prey with lethal grace, and looking for something. hours passed, its hunger never ceasing, yet that strange undertone only grew stronger.

I recognized it as pure malevolence. But still, I was missing something.

Night fell, and the screams came. I saw no source, but they were heart rending. Screams and wails of anguish in pain. The creature liked to be strong, I came to understand. That hidden feeling being.. Inadequacy. It left me stumped, so I simply continued my watch. I ran with it, climbed with it, breathed with it. Every passing moment heightened my understanding.

And then, it howled at the moon. Energy traced its silhouette as it touched a scar on its stomach. I hadn't even noticed, as it hunched naturally to hide the weakness.

I was wrong. It wasn't inadequacy, it felt. But hatred. For its own weakness.

"Perhaps... you and I are not so different."

it lunged forward, stabbing its claws into the ground. It sniffed the air, which vibrated from fear.

It smiled. and the hunt began. More blood, more screams, and a drop into the abyss.

But my mind was elsewhere. I looked to the sky, and the moon was fractured. The sky ate away as shadow consumed the fabric. Hands rose, and my mind which had little grasp, barely forming the memory, slipped away.