That Which Devours

“The circumstances are what they are. I mean, we crashed, and I needed another one of these.”

Noseen buzzed, but didn’t make a comment as I kept going forward.

I spotted the next carving when I remembered the bird in my inventory that Doc and Hawk had caught. “I guess we’re the ones having bird for dinner.” I hadn’t taken Hawk up on that shower offer, and needed to remember it when John and I arrived back with the shuttle.

My stomach growled in response and I wanted to grumble. “Though, if I stop now, I won't have the smell of dead bird around where I’m sleeping…” Despite that, I kept moving through the trees toward where I was certain the next carving was. Eventually, I spotted it, and headed toward it, one foot in front of the other. It’d been a hellishly long day, but the further I got, the more likely I’d make it back tomorrow.

Pulling the rope was both harder and easier than I’d expected. The weight wasn’t bad, but if the sled couldn’t get over or through something, I had to free it before continuing. I paused next to the base of the next marked tree, letting the rope fall. Time for a snack.

It didn’t take long for me to yank the bird out and slice through the center of it. No matter how careful I tried to be, though, feathers got everywhere.

Noseen chuckled at my antics, as I just focused on trying to cut to the heart. Finally, I found it and stuffed it into my mouth.

[You have devoured a Ground Pheasant. You have gained insight into Quickness.]

While swallowing, I opened my stat sheet to find an asterisk next to my stat listing for Quickness. It hadn’t increased, but the asterisk has to mean something. The rest of the bird was thin and I quickly grew impatient trying to skin a leg.

A growl escaped my throat, and Noseen chuckled again.

“It isn’t really worth much else. Too much work for you with the feathers… If only you were a blood devourer like me.”

“Feel free,” I said while motioning to the bird. Seconds later it crumbled in my hands, even the feathers that were still attached. Everything turned to dust, which caused me to start coughing. The blood that was on my hands vanished as well.

“How did you do that?”

“Skills.”

That was so freaking helpful. Not.

"You know, it'd be nice if you cleaned my clothes off once in a while."

Noseen chuckled. "Devourer blood isn't tasty."

Yet, they had cleaned off my pant leg before. I wondered what they did with it. Mosquitos weren’t very big, and though the bird had been small, it had been thousands of times bigger than Noseen.

Feathers still lingered about the area, and I grabbed the rope to get back on track. I took off in the direction I thought the next carving was. Unfortunately, they weren’t as close together as I’d thought when carving them, since I couldn’t see the next one from this one.

At least after traveling a bit the breeze took care of the feathers stuck to my cloak and I looked less like I’d barged through a chicken coop. The breeze almost felt cool against my face, which was strange. Normally, the breeze brought warm air. The canopy overhead grew thicker, and more shadows took over the underbrush. That meant fewer ferns and bushes to go around, which was nice. My speed slowly increased as I searched for the next carved tree.

Eventually, I paused when too long went by and I hadn’t found it yet. Looking up, I spotted a nearby tree that looked good for climbing. I left the sled at the base and started up, using the thick branches and vines. I had to climb high enough to spot the tall tree and go south, for the most part, from there.

It took longer to climb through the upper branches as they grew closer together. Finally, I poked my head up high enough. The tall tree that grew next to the fence of the compound was way too far to the left behind me. I’d traveled too far to the east and needed to backtrack a bit. I noticed how low the sun sat compared to the mountains, and needed to get a move on if I was going to make much more distance before nightfall. My frustration grew as I climbed back down the tree. I had to find one of the carvings before I camped out for the night, and given how much time had passed, I was nervous.

The sled sat right where I had left it, lightly humming from the time spent stopped. I picked up the rope and followed the trail I had left behind me back toward the last carving. The backtracking was, at least, faster, since I had made a partial trail with the sled. I couldn’t believe I'd gotten lost already, not even a few hours away from the compound. Then I spotted the last carving and let out a sigh.

Maybe I could find the next one quickly and still have plenty of time for camp. This time I made sure to head in a more southern direction. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to find the carving and mentally I kicked myself a few times. I headed towards the marked tree, keeping my eyes open. Since it was so close, maybe I could reach the next one and then camp there. Put a little more space between me and the flier.

It didn’t take long to reach the marked tree and I wandered around it until I knew the correct direction to go. Then, off I went, sweat trickling down my back and forehead. So far, nothing stirred within the jungle and I felt good about everything. This time I paused at the bottom of the marked tree, studying my surroundings. The ground was flat-ish, and dry, plus the trees were clustered together here.

I positioned the sled in a good spot so that it would be between me and any predators if I slept at the base of the tree. The large tree’s roots stretched out in a few directions, giving me a little more cover. The crystal slowly hummed and I needed to do something about the light. Already, it was getting darker as the sun moved behind the mountains, and the glow was easy to spot. I sat down and pulled out my pack, going through it. “Noseen, any ideas on hiding the light?”

“I hoped you’d be smart enough for that. The humming will keep most beasts away, but the light might bring ones that don’t care.”

Finally, I moved toward a bush and started cutting the long fronds off of it, draping them over the crystal. Eventually, the pile grew thick enough to block the light, even as the night grew darker.

A cool breeze blew through the trees, but it smelled wet.

Oh hell, I knew what that meant. Tonight was going to suck.

I moved closer under the tree, making sure I was as close to the trunk as possible under the branches. It didn’t take long for the air to grow even wetter, then, as the sky darkened, raindrops began to fall. I yanked my hood up over my head and wrapped myself tight with the cloak. This was not going to be an easy night for sleeping. Not at all.

***

What started as a few raindrops hitting the canopy above me slowly turned into a downpour. The only sound was the rain coming straight down from above.

“Well, this is cozy,” buzzed Noseen from somewhere near my ear. They must have climbed into the hood to keep dry.

“Maybe for you,” I whispered, but I doubted anything could hear me over the rain. The humming from the crystal had gotten louder, but even that I felt more than heard. At least I wasn’t in a gully, and next to the tree trunk I stayed a little dry. The cloak was waterproof, or I’d be a soaking wet mess. As things were, drying out tomorrow would suck.

I could handle sweat, it was a constant on this planet, but having my clothes wet was horrid, even worse than being hungry. Especially my socks. Wet socks were the bane of the universe.

I yanked the cloak tighter around me, careful to keep my boots covered. My ass was on a higher tree root so at least that was dry. “Noseen, talk to me. Why are you on vacation?” The question had been in the back of my mind since they had mentioned this being an expensive vacation. It just didn’t make sense to me, and we had time to kill. I wasn’t going to sleep in this.

Noseen buzzed without saying anything for a moment. “I don’t want to get booted from this area, so I can’t say much, but I will say I am here to experience what it is like to be low-level again.” For once, he sounded serious. “To see the wonder of the creatures on this planet.”

“Wonder?”

“Yes, wonder.”

I tried to picture the dinosaurs, well, not dinosaurs but beasts, as wondrous. The three that were cattle were adorable to watch in the mornings. They would chase one another, looking for the best plants to eat. If the Compys weren’t trying to eat me, they’d be cute. Sometimes, when the light was just coming through the leaves at a perfect angle, the jungle reminded me of hiking with my brothers back on earth. Dad had been big into camping, while Mom was more of a hotel type of person. Well, truly, she tried to never take a vacation; work was too important.

As she came to mind, I tried to hold onto what I could remember. The head trauma during the crash had messed with my memories from before cold sleep. I could only remember bits and pieces of her.

“I can kinda understand it, if I think about it.”

“It would be harder if I were in your place. Things could eat you here.”

I tilted my head to the side. “I mean, couldn’t you be eaten?”

Noseen buzzed, then buzzed some more. It almost sounded like laughter. “The difference between you and a fly is smaller than the difference between you and I.”

I just couldn’t believe it. They were so tiny I couldn’t see them, not to mention they were a bug. How could that be possible? The armored bug that crumbled to dust came to mind, along with that bird. Somehow, they had used a skill that crumbled a creature to nothing.

"So, how long is your vacation then?" I asked.

"As long as I want, as long as I don't break the rules." Noseen chuckled. "I need to stay small and not interfere with local wildlife, beyond eating small creatures."

My lips parted and I couldn't resist. "I fall under that, don't I?"

"I am still figuring that out."

So, they didn't know everything, which was a relief.

"Do you know what the system is? Or how I got my class?"

"The system is the system. I was born within it, as is most life in this part of the universe. Though it expands through galaxies slowly, relative to the size of the universe, it’s still expanding much faster than the speed of light. I never really studied it, it just is. Classes are easy, though. You get offers based on your Skill Categories, Stats, Achievements, Titles, and Traits."

"But, you don't earn Achievements and Titles until you unlock a class, right?" I asked, interrupting them.

"You do, you just don't unlock them. Even before you have a class, you are part of the system, and it is recording your journey."

It made sense the more I thought about it. People had figured out what skill categories were needed for certain classes, but I had different Traits. That had to be why I had the option for Devourer. Positive traits were based on your race, as far as we could tell, yet I had a different one. Slightly different, but apparently enough to make it harder. Class selection for me had offered more normal options, but Devourer was legendary, so I’d gone with it.

The rain continued to fall, but I didn’t have anything else to say. “What about the Sanctuary?” I finally asked.

“It’s a protected zone for creatures under level 25. A perfect place to vacation,” added Noseen. “It means something like me can’t just step on you for existing.”

“Does that happen outside of here?”

“Not usually.” Noseen didn’t say anything for a moment. “It isn’t worth it to kill something under your level. You don’t get much, if any, experience from it. It’s one of the reasons we have been feared in the past. We potentially can get something from killing something weaker, even much weaker, than we are. It doesn’t mean you should, though. It’s rude.”

It made sense that there were unwritten rules of the universe. It gave me something to think about.

There were plenty more questions, but my eyes finally grew heavy. While I hated being wet, the sound of rain always put me to sleep, and it was rain, now, not a storm. I crossed my arms over my bent knees and rested my head on them. I tried to steady my breath and focus on the sound of the rain, along with the feeling of the hum of the crystal.

Eventually, I drifted off.

***

A sharp buzz in my ear woke me up, but awareness only came back to me slowly. I felt very lethargic.

“Don’t move,” buzzed Noseen near my ear.

I froze, my head not even upright, but I could just see above my arms. The rain had stopped at some point, but it was still dark. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out, but a thick mist covered the jungle. The presence of the crystal hummed along, but I could feel something else as well. The hair on the back of my neck rose, and all that filled my thoughts was that something prowled in the darkness.

It was big. Close, but not too close. I couldn’t see it in the mist, not clearly, but the mist danced with its breath.

The creature breathed out slowly, sending the mist swirling. Whatever it was, it was tall enough that its head stood at twice my height. Yet, it wasn’t facing in my direction. Instead, it looked north.

A roar broke through the trees in that direction, but whatever it came from wasn’t the nearby monster.

“That’s a cat,” buzzed Noseen. “An Alpha.”

All that came to mind were the Armored Jungle cats. Though, I thought we, with the flier’s help, had killed off the pack?

My brain stopped working as the creature nearby roared back. The sound rocked through me, and I swore the ground shook. I hugged my knees closer, knowing that if it spotted me, I’d be dead, crystal or no crystal.

The giant creature moved, stomping toward the North and brushing aside trees like they were nothing.

I stayed still, even when I couldn’t feel the footsteps any longer. My hearing wasn’t back yet, and Noseen buzzed next to my skin. I very slowly shook my head, to try and explain why I couldn’t hear anything.

It took a little longer for the sounds of the jungle to come back to me.

“…seeing one of those made my vacation. They were on my bucket list, since they normally don’t make it over level 25 and out of this place. The claws are used in specialized crafting.”

“Huh…”

“You back with me?”

“I can hear again.”

“Good, we should get a move on. Dawn will be here soon, and you want to make more progress.”

I raised my head and tried to sense if anything was out of the ordinary, but it was still dark. Even so, I could see pretty well, my eyes having adjusted while my hearing came back, and I didn’t see anything to worry about. Slowly, I got to my feet and everything ached. My clothes were damp, though not soaked, and I tried to stretch out. The heat hadn’t increased yet, and the jungle felt almost too cool. The mist made it hard to see, but the rope for the sled was right there.

Finding the next marked tree would be harder, given the limited visibility, but Noseen was right, I needed to make progress.

The trail of the giant creature was easy to spot and, unfortunately, it looked like backtracking the beast would be the direction I needed to go for the moment. At least I wasn’t following it, and going the opposite direction instead. The giant cat’s large footprints were full of water, but the sled stayed above them. The same couldn’t be said of my boots.

I did my best with each step, but it was still slow going and the trail didn’t go in a straight line. “Noseen, can you keep an eye out for the next marker?” I whispered into the misty air.