Stray Soul

As I looked at the lynx from the relative safety of my root, and as it’s clearly predatory gaze swept over me, I started thinking of a way to quickly scare it off or hurt it a bit so it would, hopefully, see that I was no easy prey and fuck off… not that I am not an easy prey, but let’s leave small details like that for later.

I am not really an expert on forest animals and how they usually fight but I can think of 3 things ı can use to scare this lynx off.

First, my legs. Rabbits are good runners, and I was able to hop around while this oversized cat was on my throat, so if it ever gets behind me, and I am ready for it, I can give it a good kick.

Second, my teeth. I am not sure how sharp rabbits’ teeth are, but they ought to be sharp enough to draw some blood as I am pretty sure rabbits eat roots like carrots so their teeth should be pretty sharp too! … Or at least I hope they eat hard things like carrots and cartoons haven’t lied to me… which they probably did but I am going to ignore that and move on.

And third and last one is… my head.

I am not sure how hard I can jump, but, if I am able to direct myself in the direction of the lynx, I should be able to ram my head into it. And if I am lucky, I’ll be able to hit its stomach or something…

While I was thinking about how to fend of the lynx, I continued to watch the lynx, just to make sure it didn’t jump me one more time as while it wasn’t that heavy, or at least didn’t feel that heavy, I am not sure this body would fare well against an another attack like that from the cat… not that I am sure how my body is continuing to survive as my health is zero, I mean, how???

But quite rudely, the lynx decided to interrupt my thoughts by starting to move and taking a couple steps back and lowering its body to the ground, most likely preparing for another pounce, or at least ı think it is as I don’t really know how lynxes hunt, I mean it seems like they are ambush predators like normal cats, so they probably hunt by hiding and doing quick work of their prey, right? But then why is this one not retreating and trying its luck next time? Is it because I am inju-

And again, quite rudely if I might add, the lynx stopped my thought process by pouncing on me, not that I wasn’t ready for it but I was talking so it’s still bad for it to be so insensitive about my inner monologue.

So, I did what any self-respecting person would do in that situation and… bounced, quite literally.

I gave all the power I could and jumped sideways and was able to just barely get out of the way before the lynx reached where I was. But not a moment after I landed, I turned my head to the oversized cat and saw that it had turned its body towards me and started sprinting, and in the few moments I had before it reached me, I turned my body towards it and jumped forwards as hard as I could. Not expecting its prey to throw itself towards it, the lynx got surprised but was still able to veer itself off of my path but I was still able to hit its hind legs and make it tumble a few times.

“HA GET KNOCKED DOWN DUMBAS-“

But in my moment of celebration, I hit the ground like a dumbass myself and when I got up, there was a clear imprint of the face of a rabbit and a few splashes of blood in the ground, but not letting myself get distracted, I quickly turned towards the lynx, except, I couldn’t.

“Huh?” I muttered, because for some reason my body would only do what I wanted it to do a few moments after I tried to move it, it was as if I had real life ping.

“What’s happening?” I asked to no one in particular, but the ever ‘helpful’ system was kind enough to respond…

*ding*

Stray Soul William’s amount of mana has dropped to dangerous levels, if you do not gain more mana, or find a way to conserve more, your skill Bind (Z) will cancel itself.

Mana Points 1/15

“What! I am not evening using that skill, what the FUCK do you mean it will cancel itself!?”

But before I could question the system in any meaningful way, I saw that the lynx had gotten up, and was sending a dangerous glare towards my direction.

Fuck! I can’t scare this oversized cat away if I don’t have any mana! WAIT! I have free stat points! I can surely use them to increase my mana generation!

After I said that I quickly bringed the system window up with a mental command.

Name: William Race: Stray Soul (Rabbit)

Level: 4 Exp: 0/4 Rank: Z

Health Points: 0/10 Mana Points: 1/15

Strength: 0 (0)

Vitality: 0 (1)

Agility: 0 (3)

Intelligence: 1 (0)

Wisdom: 0 (0)

Charisma: 0 (1)

Free Stat Points: 6

Skills: Ethereal Body (S), Mana Sense (Z), Bind (Z)

Titles: Reincarnator (S), Otherworlder (A)

Quests: N/A

Uhh… Which one of the ones increase mana regen?! System! Help me out!

*ding*

The stat Wisdom increases mana regeneration rate, while the stat Intelligence increases the capacity of mana points.

System! Dump all my free stat points into wisdom!

As I said that… nothing really happened other than the 0 next to wisdom becoming a 6.

I-uh did that work?

…

…What was I fucking expecting anyways?...

But sadly, I couldn’t do my annual bitching against the system moment as the lynx was trying to get to my side instead of pouncing at me like the last time, probably trying to just sprint at me, or at least seemed like it was because… well, it was trying to make a half circle around me, and I really don’t think it was just being a bit playful.

But because of some stupid fucking system bullshit, my body didn’t respond to my will. It was like playing a really laggy game, whenever I wanted it to do something, it would do it a second later, but unlike a game, this was actually gonna be the death of me!

But the lynx, didn’t plan on playing fairly, which was fair as it probably didn’t have any idea what I was going through but still, what a fucking bitch.

Like I was saying, not wanting to play fair, the lynx completed its half circle around me, around the same time I started gaining control over my body again, which wasn’t that much but I might actually be able to live through this if the lag keeps improving, which I hope it does otherwise… I’ll be going to kingdom come.

After completing its half circle, the lynx turned towards to me, who was just now starting to turn around to face it, and started sprinting, and I tried to jump to escape it again, thinking the reduced lag would allow me to do something, but alas, the moment I tried to jump, it was only a little hop which didn’t allow me to get even a little bit away, and the lynx once again pounced at my throat and started biting it, stopping me from breathing… not that I was breathing before but, yeah.

And as it bit down on my throat, I tried to struggle against its grip, trying to once again throw it off of me and make another come back, but sadly I couldn’t. And as I struggled more and more, the lag came back, and started getting worse and worse quicker.

*ding*

Stray Soul William’s amount of mana has dropped to dangerous levels, if you do not gain more mana, or find a way to conserve more, your skill Bind (Z) will cancel itself.

Mana Points 0/15

Oh, shut the fuck up system, I am having a hard time as is!

Trying to forget the systems rude interruption of my thought process, I continued trying to break free from the lynx’s grasp, but instead of me getting lucky, my vision started getting darker and darker and my senses started to dull ‘till everything was pitch black and I couldn’t see anything.

*ding*

Due to the lack of mana, skill Bind (Z) has stopped.

Mana points 0/15

“Well…fuck me I guess…”

As I looked around me, I saw an absolute darkness continuing ‘till infinity and beyond, completely covering my being.

“Now what? Did I die or did I just stop being able to see because of a lack of mana? Am I at square one?” I started asking myself and started thinking about it.

Firstly, I am pretty sure I am not dead, actually wait, let me ask the system. System am I dead?

*ding*

In a sense of the word.

… I meant dead, as in completely dead, cast into the eternal abyss, going to the golden city in the sky or something like that.

*ding*

Not in that sense.

C-Can you be clearer?

…

..

.

… Ahh... for fucks sake...

You know what? Fuck it, not gonna ask the system a question unless it is an absolute necessity.

…

..

.

Nuh-uh, not doing it.

…

..

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Nope.

…

..

.

As I looked around me and saw nothing, I willed the system window up once again to just see what was happening.

Name: William Race: Stray Soul (Rabbit)

Level: 4 Exp: 0/4 Rank: Z

Health Points: 0/10 Mana Points: 0/15

Strength: 0 (0)

Vitality: 0 (1)

Agility: 0 (3)

Intelligence: 1 (0)

Wisdom: 6 (0)

Charisma: 0 (1)

Free Stat Points: 0

Skills: Ethereal Body (S), Mana Sense (Z), Bind (Z)

Titles: Reincarnator (S), Otherworlder (A)

Quests: N/A

As I looked at the system, nothing really caught my interest, other than the fact that I still had the (Rabbit) next to my race and the other things in the parentheses.

So, I just continued waiting, because if my lack of any and all senses was caused by the lack of mana, I should be able to gain some and be able to tell what’s happening right? So I just gotta wait.

Maybe I should ask the sys- NO!

Nope! Not happening, I am NOT going down that rabbit hole of pain once again.

Nuh-uh.

…

..

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Fuck it! What’s the worst that can happen anyways? System, how long will it take until I have enough mana to see, hear, feel or use any other of my senses?

*ding*

Time is relative, so the system cannot give you a estimation on how long it will take until you absorb enough mana to restore your 5 senses.

…Are you fucking serious. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! I just asked for the time. NOT ABOUT FUCKING QUANTUM PHYSCICS OR WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

You could’ve said, I don’t know, a few moments and I would’ve been fine with that but NOOO, you had to be a little FUCKING BITCH and start talking about SPACE TIME RELATIVITY OR SOME SHIT!!!

Fuck me for ever thinking I could fucking trust you, for fuck’s sake…

…

..

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After a few more moments of being angry at the system, not sure how long it actually was as I am not a nerd that counts how many seconds I spent in darkness unlike a certain someone, I felt something like pinching in my lover half.

But after the pinching was gone, I would stop feeling anything in that area, just for the pinching to start in another area, it was as if I was…

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND I AM BEING EATEN!