*** 10 Days Later ***

Ace sat in a cross legged position on top of his tree branch. He closed his eyes and circulated Sever Energy throughout his body. He concentrated it in his chest first, then moved it down his legs, up to his arms and finally back into his heart.

He had done it, the Sever was his to freely control. Although that wasn't to say he was an expert in its manipulation. He was still a novice and there was much room for improvement, but he had come a long way. Smiling to himself, he opened his eyes.

The infant Raven that he had befriended was asleep in his lap. Its lustrous feathers had grown in and the bird was now the size of one of his legs. He looked down, eyes full of suspicion.

'Talos, Is this thing supposed to be growing this fast? I haven't even given it food yet.'

His floating friend took a moment to respond.

[Your blood carries something special that is most likely affecting the beast's growth rate. If you wish to learn this secret, you must increase your grade. Doing so will also increase your chances of making it back to the installation.]

He raised his arm up in protest.

'You've been saying that a lot, but you won't tell me how its done! All you tell me is to increase my capacity but I still don't know how that happened!'

[Then that mean you haven't been paying attention! Now that you are capable of physical enhancement, I suggest you check your capacity the next time you kill a grade 1 beast! Good luck!]

Ace contemplated the words. It was time to make a decision.

Even though he could boost his physical abilities, he wasn't invincible. No matter how fast he healed, he didn't think it would save him from being eaten alive. The beasts that roamed the forest floor at night could probably deal him more damage than he could sustain. He wasn't eager to find out.

As he considered his options, his thoughts turned to attacking the bird nest nearby. Even though he held some reservations since he was raising a Raven himself, he quelled his feelings. This was a matter of life and death. He didn't possess the strength to do anything but look out for himself.

Gently moving his avian friend into the makeshift bed, Ace grabbed his crowbar and ascended the tree into the canopy. Taking his time, he carefully made his way over to the nest, noting how strange it was that he hadn't seen a single bird enter or leave the nest.

Slowing down even more, Ace strained his ears, hoping to hear the sounds of baby birds squawking. Instead, there was nothing. There were no baby Ravens, no sounds of twigs snapping as the birds hopped around, and no sounds of wing flaps.

'Strange...' Ace thought.

With the utmost caution, he slowly climbed over the edge of the nest and peaked inside. It was painted completely red.

The body parts of the original occupants were strewn all over the nest along with whole corpses. Various organs dotted the floor, creating a foul stench that permeated his nostrils. The eggs of the Ravens were also scattered about the inside of their old home. Aside from them, there was nothing else in the nest aside from dents in the walls and craters in the floor.

Talos chimed in his head.

[This nest was likely overtaken by a rival nest or a predator. Proceed with caution! They may be lingering in the area!]

Heeding his friend's words, Ace jumped into the nest and ran around collecting eggs.

Talos once again spoke in his head, his voice booming louder than ever before.

[What are you doing?! I said proceed with cauti-]

He was cut off by a dark shadow flying overhead.

Sensing that his life was in peril, Ace dropped the eggs in his hand and ran towards a wall of the nest. He was cut short by a massive set of talons plunging into the nest in front of him. Looking up, he instantly understood what had happened to the original occupants of the nest.

The beast before him put the black birds to shame. Standing at least fifty feet tall, the creature possessed light brown feathers, sported yellow feet tipped by razor sharp black talons, had a sturdy looking golden beak, and possessed bright bronze colored eyes that were staring right at him.

It hopped around a circle, taking in every detail of his small existence. Ace did the same as he looked at the creature's guide entry.

---

Mutated Golden Eagle

Highest Grade on Earth : Grade 3

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Number Detected in Vicinity : 1x Grade 2

Typical Behavior

- Openly challenges other avian creatures and will steal their kills or engage them directly in combat

- Will play with its food before consumption

Special Abilities

- This beast can increase its dynamic visual acuity on demand, drastically increasing its reaction time and reducing the chance of prey escaping

---

Ace analyzed the information with wide eyes.

'This... This isn't good.'

As his legs quaked beneath him, he attempted to dash off towards the wall of the nest but was pinned to the ground by a stomp of the eagle's talons. He coughed up blood as his ribs broke, piercing his lungs.

Concentrating heavily, he tried to heal his damaged organs. Before he could however, the beast threw him towards the wall with a flick of its foot. More bones cracked at the impact.

Now immobile, Ace laid hopelessly on the floor as the beast picked him up with its talons and tossed him high into the air. It waited for him to fall with a wide open beak. Ace watched in terror as he rapidly descended towards his doom.

Having managed to heal his broken ribs, he pulled out his crowbar and fell foot first down the beast's gullet. It didn't take long for him to be sent to the stomach.

After a slippery ride, he was dumped into a small chamber filled with a glowing green liquid. As soon as he fell into it, every part of his body burned. Thrashing about in the liquid, he managed to ram his crowbar into the fleshy wall of the stomach and pull himself free.

Almost instantly, he felt the sweet sensation of relief. Tightening his grip, he analyzed his surroundings. The entrance he had fallen through was no longer open, leaving him effectively trapped in the chamber until the beast ate something else. He wasn't sure if he could last that long.

As he continued to think, the odor rising from the green liquid burned the inside of his nose, throat, and lungs, making him wretch. His eyes became useless as they were filled with tears that he couldn't wipe away.

With three of his senses gone, Ace hung onto the crowbar, doing his best to calm himself from within.

'It's not over yet! I can still get out of here, I'll just have to carve my way out!'

Talos spoke up.

[Refrain from doing so! The beast is sitting still, indicated by its stomach acids not moving. If you manage to carve your way out, it will kill you in its rage and likely survive. You are too far from the beast's head to kill it by striking its brain! You should seek to damage it's internal organs.]

Ace retorted instantly.

'No! I won't last that long! There's no way I can find its organs either, I'm not an expert in bird anato-'

Just then, he heard something resonate in the chamber. Every few seconds the sound would boom twice rapidly. When it did, he could feel the vibration travel through the wall of flesh and into his crowbar.

He smiled to himself as he ripped his weapon out from the wall and fell into the pool of burning acid that rose to his knees. Bearing the pain, he walked towards the source of the sound, feeling the vibrations grow stronger as he approached the edge of the chamber.

Now feeling the vibration thump loudly against his feet, Ace smiled deviously.

'Go for an organ you say? Well, I think I'm standing near a pretty important one! I'm gonna make this thing regret not chewing on its food!'

Raising his crowbar high into the air, he filled his arm with Sever. Sparing no expense, he pooled energy into his arm until it felt like it was on fire. A low capacity alert flashed in the corner of his eye.

Unleashing his strength with a roar that made his throat bleed, Ace slammed the the crowbar near his feet and into the stomach floor. He drove deep, burying the crowbar to the hilt and burning his hand in the acid.

The impact shook the entirety of the stomach, sending stomach liquid flying onto all parts of his body. Withstanding the pain, he ripped out the crowbar along with a thick chunk of flesh. As he prepared to launch another attack, the beast began to thrash around, throwing Ace off his balance and splashing him with even more stomach acid.

Seeing that his strike was effective, Ace opened his burning eyes and stabbed his crowbar into the exact same spot, this time burying it all the way up to his shoulder. As he was now lying flat, he was forced to hold his breath as he was submerged in stomach acid at random intervals that coincided with the beast's rampage.

Concentrating even more energy into his wrist, Ace moved his crowbar around in the eagle's heart, hoping to deal as much damage as possible. He could feel the palpitations emanating from the organ gradually reducing in frequency.

It was a battle of time. He was running out oxygen in the chamber and had used all of his Sever. Unable to heal his burned lungs, skin, and eyes he grit his teeth and held on with all his strength. His own heart beats began to slow.

***

After a grueling couple of minutes, the first to stop was the beast's heart. As it contracted a final time, the eagle fell to the ground with a loud thump. At the same time, Talos spoke in his head.

[Congratulations Ace, you have slain a Grade 2 Golden Eagle.... you have accumulated....]

He wasn't able to hear the rest of the message as he fell asleep with his back against the wall.

He awoke only a few minutes later to a burning sensation on his skin. He looked down in horror to see was submerged in stomach acid.

Scrambling quickly, he was surprised to see that the orientation of the chamber had changed. With the creature now lying down, he was free to crawl through the opening back through the eagle's mouth. Making the treacherous journey back through the creatures gullet, Ace crawled out of the creature's mouth and was once again greeted by the afternoon Sun.

Gasping for air, he crumpled onto the ground. He couldn't describe it but he felt different for some reason, like something within him had permanently changed. Talos chimed in head once again.

[You fell unconscious before hearing my notification. You should check your assessment page when you get the chance! I will answer your questions then.]

Taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Ace felt around in his pockets. The eggs he had grabbed earlier had long since been smashed and washed away by the stomach acid. Looking around the nest, he found three and instantly devoured them. There was plenty around so he didn't feel like it was a waste.

Finding the energy to rise to his feet, Ace walked to the edge of the nest and went to retrieve his small avian friend.

As he brought the both of them back into the nest, he watched the large bird hop over to inspect the corpses of the other ravens. Despite never seeing any creature but Ace, the raven squawked in distress at the sight of dead members of its species. Giving him a pat on the head, Ace spoke solemnly.

"I'm sorry buddy... I avenged them for you."

Hearing a hearty squawk in response, he picked up the bird and brought it over to the corpse of the eagle.

"Eat as much as you can!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the bird dove at the carcass with ferocity and burrowed into its side, ripping out chunks of flesh.

Leaving the small creature to its meal, Ace sat against a wall of the nest and pulled up the green screen of his personal assessment.

"Huh?!"