Having reached the end of the tunnel the scene before me is simply awe inspiring as I look out into a massive fissure in the earth.
The surface of the canyon is still countless meters above me, just close enough for a meager amount of sunlight to make its way hundreds of meters down to cast a soft daylight on a vast outcropping on the side of the canyon below me.
The walls are all pretty smooth and aside from the occasional tunnel entrance leaving no clear path down. Putting aside the height I would also have to be careful to avoid drawing any attention from potential predators.
In the end I found my solution in the rock itself, it's soft, at least the outer layer is in fact it's so soft I can dig my claws into it enough to grip the wall itself rather easily. Though I notice that every time I pull a claw free the dark rock rapidly fills in any blemishes as if the stone itself is repairing itself until its exactly like it was before I touched it, creepy…
Still, even if I'm pretty sure I could climb down that's a good 20 meters down If I slip, I'm probably dead, not to mention I've never been too good with heights. Ultimately, I decide to just go for it rather than risk going back and never getting out of those damn tunnels again. Its nerve racking going down as I effectively hug the wall never having more than one claw out of the stone at the time and for the most part it goes smoothly until about the halfway point. My limbs were all sore from the constant effort, it's because of this that I attempted to slow down and catch my breath. As it turns out the stone doesn't wait for my claws to leave before it tries to repair itself while forcing my claws out in the process….
Time almost seems to stop as I realize I'm starting to fall and start desperately trying to catch my claws on the stone as I fall only to have them make a few sparks failing to even slow my descent noticeably. This continues all the way until I hit the ground.
Ugghhhh…
[Host consciousness regained. Notice, 6 Vitae were consumed in order to repair injuries sustained in fall.]
I… I'M ALIVE! I can't believe that didn't kill me. A combination of me weighing very little and landing on a large bush seemed to have spared me the brunt of the pain but still I must have broken some bones, this vitae stuff really is amazing in fact I bet….
[Warning vitae has fallen low, metabolism will significantly increase. Find food SOON.]
Its right then that every thought in my head grinds to a halt as I'm suddenly overcome with an intense pain in my stomach which drives out everything else until there's only hunger.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Immediately my fall is forgotten as my instincts demand I focus all my efforts on satiating the gnawing pain in my stomach. My eyes dart back and forth searching around me for anything that might be edible, there's a vast variety of foliage as far as I can see with surprisingly large trees reaching up from the ground which is almost totally covered in the same roots from the tunnel, from these various bushes and strange alien plants sprouting from the roots themselves.
As I look around in my desperate search for food, I find I don't have to look far as their as not 10 ft from me from me a strange bug-like creature half my size is dead still looking at me in utter bewilderment, likely only seeing me suddenly bolt awake. The creature looks like a huge caterpillar with various chitinous plates covering the front of its body like the head of a triceratops.
As soon as it sees that I'm focused on it the creature immediately rears back like a snake in an aggressive posture. Likely due to my hunger fueled instincts I realize something, its backing away from me… sure enough it quickly turns to retreat further into the briar … bad choice.
I spring into action and make use of the best advantage I have at the moment both the hunger in my belly and the XP hungry gamer in me refuse to pass this chance up.
The armors mostly on the front with most of its now exposed back being a gray flesh. It's an amazing feeling leaping into action like this, it's like time slows down as I bare down on the creature. Nothing in normal life could compare to it, this nervous excitement… I wonder for the briefest second if this was what could have been missing in my old life?
That thought evaporates as I collide with the creature the forward momentum
carrying us a short distance forward rolling into briars ahead. Perfect! I feel both of my front claws dig into the thin layer of flesh with satisfying ease. As soon as we hit the ground, I shred the poor grubs' flesh, raking my claws though the skin leaving deep wounds only stopping when a sharp pain assaults my leg.
I roll away struggling not to impale myself on any thorns and check to see the cause of my pain, a small but deep puncture wound has crippled the back of my right hind legs knee.
The culprit is clear, a second grub had been hiding nearby and moved in to help its friend. Now its standing between me and its injured ally, its open mouth chattering with rage. I can see a thin needle emerge and return from its mouth dripping with what can only be my blood.
The pain snaps me out of my hunger fueled rage a bit. I take the chance to use my analysis ability Prompting a now familiar counter to appear in the corner of my vision though I tune it out and focus on the creature.
Tiamat: ["Basic System analysis" activated. For fastest completion maintain a direct unobstructed line of sight from as close as possible.]
Soon I hear a satisfying "Ding" as I see the same dark holographic screen as before appear.
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[Basic Scan Complete]
Species Profile: "Needle Grub" LV.2
Vitae: 10/10
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Well, that doesn't help much…
[At this level the ability can only show the Vitae,level, and information you have collected yourself from other creatures.]
At the same time, I can see its comrade struggling for life to hurt to join the fight. It's at this point though I notice that both of our injuries have already stopped any form of bleeding.
Alistair: [well that complicates things…. I'm sure that thing should have just bled to death.]
[Creatures possessing vitae will rapidly regenerate from most physical injuries. Most combat will require depleting an opponent's vitae before you can fatally wound them. If you focus you will be able to instinctually detect your current Vitae saturation.]
(Vitae 7/20)
While it's annoying to know how hard it may be to kill things, I can't help but think of the possibilities that being able to heal like that opens for me as well, that opens a lot of opportunities for me. Assuming the second grub is similar to the other they have more vitae than me at the moment still I think I can win now as long as I keep the needle away from my head and deal with this one before the other finishes recovering.