With renewed aggression I lunge forward and try to use my wings claws to slash at the grub digging deep grooves into the chitin plate on its face with each hit.
The difference between attacking the grubs' exposed flesh and the chitin is astounding. The plates look thin but still keep my claws from reaching its fleshy bits at all.
Seeing that my claws won't do the trick and there's no way this guy is going to face his back to me like the last one.
I'm forced to think outside the box for a solution, tackling and scratching are easy enough but I'm still getting used to this body. Anything fancy isn't going to happen.
I approach slowly not even trying to sneak past the creature's striking range, Instead I move directly toward him, lean back and give a little hop bringing my legs up to its head as it drives that accursed needle through my leg nearly skewering my knee.
I ignore the pain using my superior size and weight to force the beast head to the ground letting me reach over the armored section and to its back and reluctantly begin biting and tearing off chunks of its flesh.
Aside from it driving the needle in and out of my leg a few times its unable to resist as its regeneration is exhausted and its life ended ultimately draining another 6 of my vitae beforehand.
With my foe defeated I crawl off and target the injured grub which looks like it might already die without any help but I don't want to let it suffer so I quickly open a large tear in it killing the grub in moments.
With that done I scan my surroundings for anything that may have been attracted by the sound but seeing nothing I stop to catch my breath a moment before I approach what I expect to be the scariest part of this encounter, eating the grubs.
With my eyes narrowed I glare apprehensive at the gray flesh of the Needle Grubs while I struggle to control my disgust. I know I don't have a choice. I'm starving at this point the growling from my stomach eventually driving me to overcome my hesitation.
The first bites the worst while relatively flavorless. Its skin is thin and tough like rubber the flesh inside is actually a lot easier to get down. With my ravenous hunger I find myself consuming most of the 2 grubs though I'd given up on most of the skin and the armored spots on their head.
In the end I'm left happy and stuffed enjoying my first meal in this strange new world even if it wasn't exactly what I was used to. While feasting I had tuned out the notifications from the system that had started to pop up thankfully with a little focus, I can call up my system menu and find them.
[Lv.1 "Gray Grub" killed +1 anima +5xp]
{Core Task completed! "First kill" Awarded "+5xp"}
[Lv.3 "Gray Grub" killed +2 anima +6xp]
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[You have consumed material with compatible anima digesting (3) additional anima]
Alistair: "What's this about digestion here"
[While a small amount of anima is absorbed when you slay an enemy most of it remains within its being and must be consumed and absorbed over time at your current level you can absorb 1 Anima per hour of rest.]
Ahh so from the 2 kills I have 3 anima and I'll get 3 more over time. It's a bit annoying to wait but it makes sense.
[Task updated, "Predator" slay 2/5 creatures of your size category or larger.]
NICE! If theirs more of those around then it should be pretty easy to finish. I need to look for shelter Before I even consider anything else. In fact, I think I see a pretty damn nice looking spot right now.
In a particularly thick section of the briar is a massive "to me" tree stump with a small gap underneath, the perfect spot to let my wounds heal and plan my next move. Its surprisingly comfortable under the stump there's just enough room to crawl in and turn to face out of the opening.
Over the next few hours, I finish the last little chunks of both grubs washing away the all-consuming hunger, and it's a good thing to as not long after just as I consider going back out to look around the light starts to dim as night quickly approaches.
While its better than sleeping in the open, I'm still left a nervous wreck overnight as I constantly hear the noise of the many creatures prowling the night, from growls and screeches to something awfully similar to footsteps. Though I'm sure that the last one is just in my head….
I get a few hours of sleep before I give up and decide to just keep watch until dawn arrives. During my long watch I come to the conclusion that either the day cycle here is much longer or the daylight only reaches the chasm for a fairly short time, leaving me waiting in the near complete darkness for far longer than a normal night should, at least compared to my old world.
Despite the creepy atmosphere I make the best of it and to distract myself by reading over several new tabs that have been added to my system since earning my first anima.
At a glance, it looks a lot like your typical list of video game upgrades albeit it far more detailed offering everything from bodily modifications to abilities and more.
While the page itself had almost a dozen different tabs each with a different function. My attention is drawn to the only section that's not still locked out, one labeled as "Traits" which provides bodily alterations in exchange for Anima which seems to be the main currency as far as the system goes.
I can't help but wonder… If I change my form, am I changing who I am, maybe after enough changes I'd be a whole new person? Oh well who cares, I'll risk it as soon as I can if it gives me an edge in this world then I'm all for it.
Most of the choices I can't hope to afford any time soon, in fact only a few are even vaguely near my meager budget of Anima which had gone up to 6 sometime in my sleep as I digested my meal.
25/anima :(Predatory sense LV.1): You become more sensitive to the vitae of creatures who are significantly weaker than you, sometimes allowing you to detect their presence in close proximity as well as their general direction with concentration.
50/anima :(Thermal vision Lens LV.1): Briefly overlay a thin thermal lens over the user's eye providing a weak thermal vision in a short range. The strain on the lens limits its use to short burst of a few seconds before it must recover for a similar amount of time.
200/anima :(Enhanced claws LV.1): increases the size of users claws by a small amount to make them more practical for combat. The density of the claw also increases slightly to reduce the chance of breakage.
150/anima :(Reinforced Jaws LV.1): Boost the muscle density in the muscles used to bite down while also strengthening the jaw bones enough to withstand the extra force.
Honestly any of them sound really nice right about now but the cost… I'd have to kill dozens of those grubs for some of these.
Hoping for some better news I decide to put away the tab and check my status.
___
[Species: "Dingy" inferior Gray Wyvern "spawnling"]
[Name: Alistair]
[Level:0]
[XP:17/25]
[Condition: Fine]
[Arcana: 0/0]
[Vitae: 20/20]
[Traits: Inferior Draconic Blood, Wax Scales, Regenerative state.]
(Anima Bank: 6)
___
….. All this and I didn't even earn a level up once, well at least my vitae refilled overnight. Surely there must be better sources of anima and XP I just need to look for them. The thought of it is enough to gets me motivated to leave the relative security of the stump and explore.