Although confused by the message and the erosion of his body, the gargoyle was mostly happy to be alive. It was his first time feeling emotions, so he lay there for a moment, ignoring the message and savoring the feelings of confusion and happiness tickling his head and chest.

Eventually, he refocused on the message in front of him, fearing that it would vanish if he didn’t address it soon. Choose a Name. The gargoyle thought about this. What is a name exactly? As he reflected, a memory invaded his mind. This was another first as he had never known that he possessed memories.

The memory was of a man who would come and chisel small details into the gargoyle, such as the lines in his face or making the points of his claws finer. He remembered the man would sit with him for hours, watching over the City of Branam.

Often, when the sun began to set, a voice would call out from behind them, “Malik, it’s getting dark. Come on in before you fall and break your neck. The last thing any of us want to do is scrape you off the ground after a long day’s work.”

Malik would nod and silently gather his tools, giving the gargoyle a small pat as he went inside for the night.

The gargoyle liked the name, “Malik”, so he projected that thought at the message prompt.

Name: Malik

Malik’s lips curled upwards, revealing gray, pointed teeth, content with his new name.

Race: Gargoyle

That one was easy. He just knew that he was a gargoyle. It was the next few lines of text that left Malik scratching his head. The space next to the word Class was empty, yet there was no indication of what it might mean later. Then, there were the terms Vitality, Strength, Dexterity, and Energy. Malik attempted to focus on the words to gather their meaning and could now understand their definitions, but he didn’t know how they directly applied to him and what the number “1” attached to it meant.

The next word, Camouflage, was a Skill that Malik instinctively understood how to use. It was like breathing or walking for him. He had done neither of those things before today, but his body just knew how to do them. Malik, held out his hands, still clutching the seed in one, and activated the Skill. His skin went from the new tan color to a mixture of green, brown, and a familiar gray.

Finally, he turned his attention to the last bit of text:

Traits: First Child - As the first of your kind, you have been granted building plans for a Level 1 Incubation Chamber

The first part, “As the first of your kind,” made him suddenly feel very alone. The odd feeling of loneliness was quickly replaced with hope as the knowledge of building a Level 1 Incubation Chamber flooded his mind. He knew exactly what materials to use, the correct tools, and even a few special ingredients, unique to Incubation Chambers. However, he had none of the materials or tools, which caused him to look around for the first time.

At his feet were smooth gray pebbles, with green blades of grass poking out between the gaps. To his right, he learned that the small blue sheet looked to be more translucent and made of liquid. The area leading up to the base of the mountain peaks was mostly grass, scattered with large boulders. Malik briefly wondered if he had ever looked like the round boulders before the artists got a hold of him.

Spinning his body around, he found that the entire area was surrounded by the snow-covered peaks of the great mountain range, except for one direction that had been behind him before. That way, the ground began to slope downward and tall trees emerged around a steady stream of the clear liquid.

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A black shape was crawling towards him from the area of trees. It looked to be about half of Malik’s size, which wasn’t large, but not quite small, either. There was a thudding in his chest as the black shape drew closer. He focused on it with narrowed eyes when a text materialized above it.

Race: Beetle Class: Soldier Level: 2 Vitality: 2 Strength: 5 Dexterity: 1 Energy: 1

Malik felt fear for the first time as he saw the beetle’s Strength. He closed his eyes to draw a deep breath but was met with yet another notification.

New Skill: Scout: Gather target information while observing undetected.

As the Soldier Beetle drew closer, he saw that it had two oversized mandibles that looked sharp enough to slice him in half. He considered his claws again and wondered if they would be able to pierce the beetle’s armored shell. Malik watched the beetle lift its mandibles and probe the air with its antennae. That’s when he saw the jagged edges of the beetle’s front legs.

Slowly bending his legs into a crouch to stay hidden, Malik began to feel an urge to tear into the beetle and consume it, regardless of the clear danger it presented. His stomach growled in agreement. He started to creep in a wide arc to flank the creature and remain undetected while avoiding its mandibles and barbed legs.

As he crept, Malik placed the seed on the ground to free his hand. He didn’t notice, but the seed began to burrow past the pebbles and grass as he went on.

The beetle slowed to a stop before reaching the clear liquid ahead and lifted its mandibles again, wiggling its antennae. Malik knew that he needed to act and burst forward as fast as he could, leaping onto the beetle’s back before it could turn its mandibles on him.

His claws couldn’t penetrate the beetle’s armor causing him to feel a wave of panic. Thankfully, there was a space between the armor on its back and its head, presumably for mobility purposes, exposing the soft body underneath.

Although the beetle was half as large as Malik, it was still much stronger than him. It began to try and buck him off, but he managed to sink his claws between the armor, finding the soft body below. He squeezed and heard the beetle hiss. The beetle started to thrash about harder but Malik’s claws were already sunk into the soft body, locked into place.

Malik squeezed with all of his might as the beetle’s hiss turned into a high-pitched whistle like a whining tea kettle. The soft body squished beneath his claws. Malik gritted his sharp teeth, waiting for the beetle to stop squirming. The beetle’s legs finally gave out, letting him relax his grip on the beetle.

His hunger took control as he shoved handfuls of the beetle into his mouth, devouring it. He closed his eyes to savor the feeling of being full, ignoring the update in his mind demanding his attention. Once Malik felt mostly full, his taste buds began to revolt and he couldn’t take another bite. His body urged him toward the clear liquid where he cupped his hands and washed everything down. A small line of text appeared in his hand as he cupped the liquid that simply said, “water”.

Now that he was satiated, he turned his attention to the text in his mind’s eye.

Level Up & Skill Upgrade Level: 2 Free Points: 5 Vitality: 1 Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Energy: 1 Camouflage II (Active): 15% chance to remain undetected.