The Kraglin warden stood at the cell door, a menacing figure illuminated by the dim torchlight.

It reached into its pocket, pulling out a key from a bunch that dangled with a metallic clink.

The creature's eyes were fixated on me, his presence oozing bloodlust.

It had decided I was more trouble than I was worth.

With a screech of metal, the warden unlocked the chain lock and stepped inside. Its claws gleamed menacingly under the feeble light, and I knew this would be a fight for survival.

Sasha and Jacob, my cellmates and former party members, were slumped against the wall, drained of mana and barely able to move.

It was up to me to buy us time.

Letting the warden get closer, I feigned struggling to get up. The Kraglin thought I was weak and injured, apparent by my blood caked face.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

'Now'

I lunged at the warden, aiming for its throat, but it was fast.

Faster than I had anticipated.

It dodged my strike and swiped at me with its claws, forcing me to leap back.

The restricted confines of the cell made movement difficult, and I narrowly avoided the deadly slash aimed at my chest.

The warden came at me again, its claws whistling through the air.

'Shit'

I ducked and rolled, feeling the sharp edges graze my arm. Pain flared, but I couldn't afford to slow down.

Capitalizing on the opening, I kicked at its knee, hoping to debilitate it.

The warden snarled in anger, but it barely stumbled, quickly regaining its balance and coming at me with even more ferocity.

Sasha and Jacob were trying to get to their feet, but their exhaustion was palpable.

Sasha muttered a prayer, trying to muster the strength for any kind of healing spell, while Jacob looked around for anything he could use as a weapon.

The warden's attention flickered to them, and I took advantage of the distraction to land a solid punch to its liver.

It barely flinched.

The creature howled in rage, throwing its claws around with renewed fury. One of its strikes caught Jacob across the head, slicing through his ear.

Blood sprayed, and Jacob screamed, collapsing to the ground.

Sasha crawled to him, pressing her hands to the wound in a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding.

The creature relaxed its arms, eyes filled with malevolent glee as it raised its claws up, to finish the job.

'NO!'

Fueled by anger and desperation, I launched myself at the warden again. We grappled, and I managed to get a hold of one of its horns.

Using all my strength, I twisted and pulled, forcing the creature's head down.

It roared, slashing wildly, striking back with its elbows, but I didn't let go.

Each blow it landed felt like a hammer, and I could feel my strength waning.

Jacob, despite his injury, crawled over and grabbed a jagged piece of rock from the cell floor. He struck the warden's leg, causing it to buckle slightly.

The creature snarled and kicked out, sending Jacob sprawling.

Sasha, fervently trying to heal Jacob with what little mana she had left, chanted an incantation that sent a weak but effective burst of light at the creature's eyes, momentarily blinding it.

With the warden disoriented, I saw my chance.

I drove my knee into its face, feeling the satisfying crunch of bone.

The creature staggered, but it shook its head, recovering far too quickly.

I didn't let up, raining blows on its head and body, but it felt like hitting a stone wall. The creature's thick hide absorbed most of the impact.

Desperation clawed at me.

I couldn't afford to lose. I spotted the chain used to secure the cell door and grabbed it, wrapping it around my fists.

As the warden lunged at me again, I swung the chain, striking its head. The force of the blow made it reel, but it wasn't enough.

"Jacob, Sasha, now!" I yelled, hoping they could muster some strength for a final effort.

Jacob, bearing through the pain, managed to crawl to his feet, holding the rock. Sasha, drained but determined, muttered a last prayer.

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Together, we attacked. Jacob struck at the warden's legs, Sasha threw herself at its back, and I kept hammering its head with the chain.

Finally, with a desperate, final effort, I managed to wrap the chain around its neck and pulled with all my remaining strength.

The creature thrashed, trying to break free, but with Sasha and Jacob's help, I managed to hold it down.

The warden's roars turned into yelps of pain, gradually breaking down into whimpers until its voice was heard no more.

Its grip on my hands grew weaker and weaker, until it finally dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Breathing heavily, I let go of the chain and collapsed to the ground, my body aching from the ordeal.

Sasha and Jacob were beside me, bloodied and battered.

Jacob's right ear was a ragged wound, and the healer's hands shook from

exhaustion.

"We did it." I heaved a sigh, a ragged smile on my lips.

"You're seriously crazy." Sasha mumbled, her face half hidden in the dark.

"You're right though. If your replacement was half as good as you, we wouldn't be here in the first place.", she continued in a lower voice.

"Definitely a win. With an ear gone, my head won't hurt so much being near Sasha."

Jacob chimed in, eliciting a laugh from the both of us.

We had survived, but just barely. For now, all we could do was catch our breath and prepare for whatever came next.

There was still some time before Sasha recovered her mana enough to heal Jacob's ear and our injuries.

But that wasn't the worst part.

Fighting the warden made me realize that our plan wasn't going to work.

There was a slim chance that we could escape, but there was no way we could save the people of Basil, much less Lana and Duncan, who were in the heart of Kraglin territory.

There was only one way forward, and I was still hesitant about it.

'Is eating another intelligent species considered cannibalism?'

'It doesn't matter'

Despite my ethical values, this was something I had to do.

'I have to see them again'

'Man up'

'This is the only way forward', I repeated in my mind as I inched closer to the Kraglin's corpse.

The body was in good condition, aside from a few scratches along the legs inflicted by jacob. The creature's eyes were rolled back, its tongue stuck out to the side.

It was in a pathetic state, as if pleading me to spare its dead body.

'Just do it'

Stifling my nausea, I turned the body over to the side, making me face to face with the monster's back.

I could feel two pairs of eyes drilling holes into my back, curious about what I was doing.

Bracing myself, I did what none of them expected me to do.

I bit into the monster's back.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!" Sasha screamed in half disbelief, half panic.

I barely registered her words before it all hit me at once.

Imagine a thick, rancid sludge sliding down your throat, its flavor a nauseating blend of rotting meat and sour, curdled milk. The bitterness overwhelms your senses, the coppery tang of blood mixed between. Your mouth feels coated with a slimy residue, and the acrid stench seems to invade your nostrils, making you gag with every breath.

The taste was like that, but worse.

I almost immediately regurgitated, the contents of my breakfast mixing in with the Kraglin flesh.

'Don't throw up'

'You can't throw up'

'Don't you want to see them again?'

I closed my mouth, swallowing my bile along with the Kraglin meat, forcing it to go down my throat.

It didn't work.

I immediately vomited, throwing up everything on the floor, making sure to face away from the Kraglin to prevent the rest of the meat from spoiling.

"What the hell man?!", Jacob came rushing to me, supporting me with one hand and patting me on the back to ease my condition.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Sasha inquired, her voice laced with a myriad of emotions.

Instead of replying, I retched even more violently, effectively emptying my stomach.

Facing away from the mess, I looked Sasha right in the eye.

"I have to eat a good chunk of that. I gained a skill. It will let me inherit its properties.", I proclaimed.

I didn't tell them about it actually being part of my bloodline, as bloodlines were extremely rare in this world.

Only a select few noble families were known to possess them. And even then, none of the ones that had public info on them came close to mine.

Staring at me in disbelief, Sasha opened her mouth to say something and closed it again.

"First of all, that's not how skills work dude. And second, Kraglin blood is poisonous." Jacob interjected, a worried look on his face.

Turning back towards the Kraglin corpse, I observed the wound I had inflicted on its back.

A chunk of flesh was missing from his upper back where I had bitten.

"Basic poisons don't work on me. I already picked up that skill from an ivy deer." I explained, eliciting a dubious look from Jacob.

"Alright man, suit yourself." Jacob relented, walking over to the door of the cell, presumably to keep a lookout.

And just like that, I sunk my teeth into the creature's back again.

I lost track of time, swallowing and retching the Kraglin meat.

My reverie of madness was disturbed only by the familiar jingle of runes inside my head, which indicated that I had successfully assimilated the Kraglin's properties.

Vomiting the flesh that I was in the process of devouring, I violently coughed before sitting against the stone wall of the cell to check my runes.

At this point, the corpse had become a mess of half eaten flesh and viscera.

Smiling at Sasha's pallid face, I closed my eyes and accessed the runes.

[Omni-Gene is in effect]

[You have assimilated an intermediate beast.]

[You don't possess the qualifications to assimilate intermediate beasts.]

[The Stat boosts will be readjusted according to your qualifications.]

[You will inherit two properties of a basic beast of the same Species.]

[Basic Beasts] : 3/7

1- [Ivy Deer]

2-3 - [Kraglin Elder]

[The inheritor has received a +5 boost to constitution.]

[The inheritor has received a +3 boost to Dexterity.]

[The inheritor has received the skill : [Night Vision] ]

[The inheritor has received the skill : [Sneak] ]

The Warden turned out to be an intermediate beast, as I had expected.

It was a mutated subspecies of the Kraglin and it had taken all three of us to take it down, and even then it had been a close fight.

Ignoring the peculiarities, I focused on what I understood.

I had received massive stat boosts although the runes made it apparent that I would have received more if I had the 'qualifications'.

The stat boost to constitution was incredible though I still didn't know what dexterity did.

Moving on to the skills, I focused on Night Vision.

[Skill Name] : Night Vision

[Skill Type] : Body Enhancement (Passive)

[Skill Rank] : Basic

You can see in the dark.

'Well, that was brief.'

Moving further, I focused on [Sneak].

[Skill Name] : [Sneak]

[Skill Type] : Illusion

[Skill Rank] : Intermediate

Bends the light around you, effectively making you invisible while the skill is active.

10 Mana is consumed per second while the skill is active.

This, this was exactly what I needed. It also explained how the warden was able to eavesdrop on us without us noticing.

I quickly turned invisible to show the skill to Sasha and Jacob, eliciting reactions of excitement and surprise.

It seemed that we needed to make some changes to our plan. Saving everyone didn't seem as impossible now.

We could do this.

We could save them.

What I didn't realize at the time was that I had used up all my luck at getting the [Sneak] skill from the Kraglin.

The curse of bad luck wasn't a kind one.