Me and Lightning hadn't found much after walking along the beach. It’d been about 5 hours since we began our journey. The beach just continued as far as I could see, and so did the jungle inland.
On the upside, Lightning had finally stopped biting me. Each of his bites was small and barely took away one health each anyway. I wouldn't die as long as my head was fine which kept me at a permanent 1 health, but it was a welcomed change. Right now I'm at 74 health which comes to show how feisty he was earlier. The electric attack was only meant to stun smaller prey so it didn't affect me at all, much less with my inability to feel pain.
One thing I really liked about my new self was my infinite stamina. I could just keep going on and on without getting tired. Combining it with my strength bonus made running a breeze. I only stopped doing so because I had begun to blister my feet and without health regeneration they hadn't healed at all. Still, getting the runner skill was pretty good. After about an hour of travel I got it up to level 3.
One thing that's still the same is that I get hungry. My first thought was to eat a coconut. It didn't work out. The consumer of flesh skill has made me disgusted by the taste of anything other than meat. The worst part is that it made my taste numbed anyway so I can't enjoy food.
That doesn't change the fact that I'm hungry. Multiple times I've contemplated on whether to attempt to eat Lightning, but it felt wrong, after all who in their right mind eats their pets? I’m sure eventually we will come across an animal I can eat, or else I will have to make a hard decision. Gulp
Thinking about it, the skill never said what type of meat I had to eat. I'd been to busy thinking about beef, chicken and pork that I forgot about seafood. There is literally an ocean of food next to me.
Wisdom +1
This was so obvious, why didn't I think of it before? Oh no, it can't be? Has the wisdom debuff made me dumber? No, that's not how it works, intelligence makes you smart. So...It… it made me slower... FUUUCK!!! Just coming to this damn conclusion gave me wisdom! With my debuff this only gives me 0.5 more effective wisdom! I still have less wisdom than a normal person, even less than my past self! Damn you system!
Perception +1
Ah? At least understanding the idea behind it gave me a perception point. Still a bummer tho.
Stripping my clothes off, I bask in the sun before going for a swim. I tied the little noodle named Lightning into a knot around my wrist. Not sure if this counts as animal abuse, but he might escape if I don't. I hope he can hold his breath well, he'll need it.
It didn't take long until I found a coral reef off the coast. It also didn't take long for me to figure out that I'm too slow to catch fish in the water.
Without many slow moving options I grabbed a large crab, a sea star, and some sea snails. On my way back to shore I spotted a large dark figure. It was a solid black shark with 2 dorsal fins swimming ominously in the deeper waters. I could swear it was staring at me with it's dark beady eyes, but the waters I was in are too shallow for it to hunt me in. I don't think a shark like that ever existed on normal Earth. I guess even normal animals received boosts from the system.
Returning to the shore I looked at my catch of the day. I had unlocked the swim skill on my way back which was good. Before eating, I untied Lightning and let him warm up on the sand. After all, snakes are cold blooded and need external heat sources to stay alive. Aren't I such a great owner?
I crack open the sea snails and lay them in front of Lightning. He looks at me first, confused at the idea of me feeding him. He stayed like that for a while before turning around and swallowing the snails. Looking content with his meal he returns to basking in the sun.
As for myself, I am eyeing the crab that was trying to sneak it's way back into the sea while I hadn't been looking. My first thought was to start a fire, but then I remembered I had to eat it raw for it to heal me. I like sushi, but I had never eaten an animal alive or right after death. Most of it had been killed long before it reached my plate.
To start I tried to bite off it's head portion of the body, but the little bastard managed to clip off part of my ear.
That's another thing I noticed, I barely bled at all after the initial injury. It was a good ability to have and I wasn't complaining, it's just that it made me seem a bit inhuman.
Without a better idea I broke off the crabs legs. It snapped at the hinge and still twitched a bit as I crushed it. The shell crunched and I was able to access the small bit flesh inside. I threw out the shell fragments and went on to the next leg. God I wish I could cook this, it would have allowed me to easily separate the meat much more easily.
After legs I moved on to claws. These are harder to break, but they contained much more meat. I couldn't say much about taste, as the numbed nerves skill made my sense of taste almost non existent. Once all I was left with was the main body I examined it, looking for an opening in it's armor. From what I could see the gills at the rear we're it's weakness. I stuck my fingers in there and split the poor sucker in two.
At the moment it died I received a notification.
Congratulations on your first kill. You have received 2 xp points.
2? Only fucken 2!? I'll have to kill fifty of these things to level up once. Well I really can't complain, it was an extremely easy kill anyways.
Returning to my meal, I ate the meat in the shell. To my surprise even eating the guts gave me health, and without much taste I didn't mind. The crab had been fairly large and my body converted it into my missing health. I didn't feel full at all even after eating it.
Eager to increase my level I killed the sea star. Poor thing only gave me 1 xp. Not that I expected much, at least the crab had claws, but it had nothing. I ate it, then and there, in order to not be wasteful.
Afterwards, I continued on with my trek along the beach. With infinite stamina I no longer needed sleep. I walked through the night as Lightning slept in my shirt. The little guy had begun to trust me after 2 days. I'm not sure if that is fast or slow for a snake.
Being the only one awake was lonely and boring. By the time morning came I had given up on the beach, I wanted to go inland.
My level hadn't increased at all since yesterday, but I had gained 2 more skills. If I really want to become stronger I'm going to have to hunt larger and stronger creatures. The shark would have been interesting, but I don't think I can kill it in the water. Or could I? Hmmm… Fuck it I might as well try once before I head inland.
What I need is a plan. Now… how do I kill a shark? I can't fight it in the water because it will have the advantage and I have no real way to force it onto land. If I remember correctly, a shark’s weaknesses are the eyes, gills and snout. That could hurt it, but it won't kill it. With my extra strength I feel its possible grapple onto it and hold on. As for a weapon perhaps if I used a sharpened stick, no, I don't have a blade to sharpen it.
The system did say I was part zombie, so maybe I can use my teeth. I held myself back on the crab earlier because I didn't want to break my teeth, but if I tried my hardest I feel I can through shark skin. Actually, I could probably use a stone to grind my teeth into sharp points. Yeah, that sounds good.
For the next few hours I spent my time grinding away at my teeth, turning them into little triangles. Without a mirror to see, I had to guess what I was doing based on feel.
In order to test them out I bit into my arm. Sure enough I had rows of puncture marks across my forearm. My new teeth were sharp and I was ready to hunt.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Unlike last time I went swimming, this time I left Lightning on the beach with my clothes. Before going I talked to him, “Lightning I'm going to have to leave you for a bit. Don't worry lil guy I'll be back, it's just that I feel what I'm about to do is too dangerous for you. Just stay still and don't worry boy. I'll make sure to bring you some tasty shark meat.”
I felt kind of like an idiot talking to a snake, but hes the only company I have. Does he even understand a word I'm saying? He'll probably try to escape as soon as I'm gone anyways. Well, even if he does I'll just hunt him down and capture him again, or else I'd be a bad owner. Hehehe.
Returning to the water I swim towards the edge of the reef. From there I have a clear view of my prey. The black shark leisurely drifts in the deeper waters. It's the alpha predator here and has no fear of any other creature.
In order to lure it to me without leaving the safety of the reef I bite my arm again. After a few moments the shark’s speed and behavior changed. My blood had excited it, and it began to approach my direction. Once it was about 30 feet away I left the safety of the reef. The shark saw this as an opportunity and rushed towards me with a sudden burst of speed. The bastard was a lot faster than he looked, a lot faster than I expected. Faster than I was prepared for.
My initial plan to dodge and grapple him was broken in an instant. He bit me in the abdomen and began to thrash violently. My stomach was torn open and my organs dragged out. The water turned blood red quickly and I was unable to see anything. Checking my stats my health had fallen to 47 points. Damn
Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this to happen. So many thoughts ran through my head at that moment. The loudest was very simple. I DON’T WANT TO DIE. I had just been given a new opportunity at life 2 days ago. If I died right now it would have all been for nothing.
I ponder on whether this was really the real world, or if I was in some self created dream while in a coma on a hospital bed. Would dying just wake me up and take be back to my family? I love them, but I dont want to test it.
Even if it this was all a dream of lies, I didn't want it to end, I wanted to live. Yes! I WANT TO LIVE!! TO LIVE!!! LIVE!!!! AND I WON'T LET THIS FUCKEN SHARK GET IN THE WAY!!!!!
I roared in rage under the water. I wasn't going to die today! I was going to live, and if that shark was an obstacle I'd kill it!
In this moment of rage and clarity I refocused my mind. The sight of the bloody water and my organs floating around sickened me, but I had no time to complain. I pushed my perception to the max as I tried to locate the shark. I could sense danger to my right and sure enough, the bastard came from that side.
Instead of trying to escape him, I let him bite me again. Without my abdominal muscles my legs were pretty useless in this fight so I let him bite into them. Twisting myself as hard as possible I broke my spin and severed any connection to the lower half of my body. While he was busy swallowing my legs I clawed my hands into his gills.
I could tell it hurt him, because he stopped feeding and immediately began to move erratically in an attempt to throw me off. Bad for him, I was never going to let go. With both my hands anchored into his gills I brought my mouth closer and took a bite. My sharpened teeth easily tore into his tender gills. His movement increased even more in desperation.
Watching the pain in his movements and blood in the water woke up the undead part of me, my primal instincts took over. A dark sadistic feeling of joy overcame me. Without a second thought I bit again and again. Every bite filled me with energy and increased my health. At the same time my missing half began to regenerate. It was slow and barely visible to the naked eye.
Without worry I lost myself in the sadistic pleasure of eating live prey. I didn't feel this way with the crab or starfish, but that was probably because I killed them first before eating. Right now I was lost in madness. It all felt amazing, it all felt right.
It didn't take long for me to eat a large hole into the gills of the shark. I shoved my face in, and began to burrow into the tender flesh like a carnivorous maggot. The shark itself had lost a lot of strength during it's struggle, and had tired out. He gave up fighting and began to sink to the sea bed. Since we were so close to the reef the seabed wasn't very deep and the water pressure caused me no problems.
Many hours later I came out of the carcass. Observing the remains, the once powerful and majestic predator now looked like an empty shark skin bag laying on the bottom of the sea. The insides had been picked clean by me and all that was left was it's jaws, and a handful of meat I kept for Lightning. Looking at my currently regenerating knees I estimated my time since the fight started to be about 6 hours. My stomach was bulging like a pregnant woman from all I ate and it would take me awhile to digest it all. That's a good thing considering I wasn't done regenerating.
I learned a lot of things from this experience. Firstly, I have a sadistic undead side of me that's pretty fucked up. Secondly, I don't need to have a full body to have full health. My health was maxed a long time ago, but I still had to keep eating to regenerate. Third, I got really fucken lucky. That shark was not something I should have fought at level 1, 2 or 3. The moment it died I had received a notification saying I earned 360 xp. It literally jumped me all the way to level 3. Excited to see my gains I checked up on my status.
Name
Azrael Mortem
Level
3(63/400)
Species
Deadman
Age
27
Classes
None
Main Stats
Health (146)
H.Regen (N/A)
Stamina (Infinite)
S.Regen (N/A)
Mana (130)
M.Regen (11 per hour)
Extra Stats:
Free:6
Strength 4x2[undead bonus] = (8)
Endurance 4x2[undead bonus] = (8)
Vitality = 4
Durability = 4
Agility = 4
Dexterity 4x0.5[undead debuff] = 2
Mentality = 2
Perception = 3
Intelligence = 2
Wisdom 3x0.5[undead debuff] = 1.5
Passive Skills
Numbed Nerves -lvl.N/A: Less feeling of touch.
Cost(0)
Pain Immunity -lvl.N/A: Cannot feel pain.
Cost(0)
Unaging -lvl.N/A: Cannot age.
Cost(0)
Consumer of Flesh -lvl.3(21/100): Eating live or recently deceased flesh heal injuries, regenerates body parts and refills health. Level increases efficiency and speed.
Current Boost: (1lbs meat= .1 lbs regen or 30 health)
Cost(0)
Ambient Sustenance -lvl.N/A: Like undeads all you need for sustenance is ambient mana.
Cost(0)
Running -lvl.3(34/100): Your ability to run over any terrain improves. Level increases improvement and decreases stamina cost of running.
Current Boost: (Running is now 15% easier and uses 6% less stamina)
Cost(0)
Swimming -lvl.5(72/100): Your ability at swimming improves. Level increases improvement and decreases stamina cost of swimming.
Current Boost: (Swimming is now 25% easier and uses 10% less stamina)
Cost(0)
Bite -lvl.4(53/100): Passively increases bite strength. Level increases strength.
Current Boost: (Bite strength increased by 12%)
Active Skills
Death Status -lvl.1(0/100): Stop all metabolic function and enter a dead like state. Movement during this state doubles mana cost. Level reduces cost.
Current Boost: (inactive)
M.Cost(10/min)
Swimming went up to level 5 and consumer of flesh had increased to level 3. I had also gained the new skill bite which was now at level 4.
The stat increases from my Deadman race was also amazing. The human bonus was +1 to all stats with 3 I could allocate myself per level, while the zombie bonus was +1 to all physical stats per level. That meant I received a total of 12 more points than a normal human being. There wasn't as many total points as humans got, but the passive skills I received from being undead are priceless. Instead of spending my free stat points right now, I will instead save them for later, once I know what i need them for.
What bothers me, is why haven't I earned a single active skill yet? Is there a specific way to acquire one? I know passive skills can be earned through repetative tasks, but what about the active ones. The only one I do have is death status and I haven't had a use for it yet. Once again, questions for another time.
Content with my hunt, I use my arms to drag myself to shore. On the way I grabbed 2 more crabs in case I needed to eat more to regenerate the rest of my legs.
To my surprise when I reached the shore my clothes and snake are nowhere to be seen. From under the sand I see Lightning slither out. I pick him up and ask him, “Hey buddy. What happened here? Where are my clothes?.”
To my astonishment he seems to understand me and points his neck to the side. In that direction I see footprints that are not my own. From the looks of it a group of at least 3 people had come by and took my clothes while I was gone.
Although I am a bit reluctant to track these people down in the nude, I have no clothes, and no other choice. God this is gonna be weird.