Domison woke in his bedroom in the loft apartment in Old Town. The surroundings shocked him initially, as his mind was still stuck on the surprise gift Raze had given him. After a few moments of scrambling beneath his own bedsheets, he calmed and steadied his breathing, his brain finally catching up with the present. His thin form sank into the soft mattress laying on the floor and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling as pondered upon the information his newly acquired status screen had shown him. He couldn’t seem to drag his mind away from the biggest shock this newly acquired ability had given him. His race was not listed as human but as an Abyssal Beast kin. He had wanted to question Raze about this observation immediately, but shortly after the status screen appeared a white-hot pain began to string its way throughout his body. It almost felt like someone had been scribbling on the underside of his skin with a rusted fountain pen.
Snapping awake from the glaze-eyed daydream, Domison’s submerged his perception into his own body. Immediately he noticed a massive change. While his previous visualization had only shown him his inner core and the seemingly random pattern of veins branching off of it, now the veins of energy sprouting throughout his body looked almost like fractals. He didn’t recognize any meaning in the pattern, but he could feel primordial power in the design and ultimately the change just felt…. right. It reminded the man of the first day Sam got him his very own clothes after years of wearing nothing but rags, the fit was perfect.
The door to Domison’s room burst open and Craig shouldered his way into the room, a look of relief on his face. The man was confused by the way the Urketh obviously relaxed upon seeing his condition. Seeing the confusion on the smaller man’s face, Craig spoke aloud, “That thing you tried to face down alone was an Area Boss.” When Domison showed no sign of comprehension, large shoulders fell and a deep rumbly voice continued in explanation, “I am level twenty-eight at this point. This is important because, while you seem to be stronger than me in some ways, that area boss was level Fifty.” While Domison wasn’t an expert in the System’s levels and their direct correlation to power, he knew enough to realize the immensity of that gap.
“While I understand it was a fight that I would have been very hard-pressed to win, on a good day, that still doesn’t explain the relief.”
Craig’s eyes fell to the floor for a moment as he seemed to fall into a memory, “When you delivered the last blow upon the beast, which even I admit would have been a mortal blow and that is an impressive enough feat on its own… Even though I pulled you away at the last moment, that monster nearly split you in two.”
A sudden panic ran through the man’s chest and he removed the blanket laying across the top of his form. Craig hadn’t been lying, and while Domison’s body was still in one piece, five thick scars ran across his torso. The tissue was shiny and looked inflamed, but instead of red and irritated skin, the scars were a dark purplish hue, looking almost like tattered stripes running from shoulder to hip. Domison whistled before letting the blanket fall back down over his body, “Well then I guess I have you to thank for carrying me back here.”
Craig shook his head furiously before bowing it down, “You have accepted me as my kind did not. I know it has only been a few days since we made acquaintance, but I chose to stand by you Mister Wolfe and I intend to stand by that decision.” A small grin spread across Domison’s lips and as he went to respond a massive black-furred head made its way across his peripheral vision. A heartbeat later the huge head plopped down upon his chest, driving the air from his lungs.
Domison ran his fingers through the fur that flowed slightly, like wisps of a shadow, and buried his head into Pabu’s neck. “Was I not paying enough attention to you buddy?” Domison said with a light laugh as he pulled away and pushed Pabu’s head off of his chest. The large dog only huffed lightly and leaned into Domison a bit more, causing the bed to creak in protest.
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“The others will be very happy to hear that you are awake and doing well. They both left not long ago to see if they could find anything to help.” Craig motioned his large hand towards the scars covered now by a huge dog head, “You were pulling yourself together by the time we got back, and Mel did what she would with her power, but it didn’t seem to help much. Your body was already working overtime.”
“Well when they get back, I’ll need to talk to them. I am sure this shook their confidence a bit, but we need to do sweeps of the forest now more than ever. Who knows how long it will be before creatures decide they like buildings better than trees.” Domison pushed Pabu’s head completely off of him this time, eliciting a grumble of discontent from the large animal, before he swung his feet over the side of his bed.
“Keeping the area around us is good, yes. But rest is good too, Mister Wolfe.” Domison looked up and saw a hint of what he thought was worry in the Urketh’s eyes, “You astound me. I truly do not understand the level of strength you have for a person still in the tutorial of their world, but… I can’t help but worry.”
Domison stood and walked over to Craig, resting a boney hand on the brute's shoulder. “Don’t worry, my friend. I have a plan.”
The Urketh looked skeptical, but he humored the man, “And what would that be?”
“Kill the small stuff first, get stronger, then kill the big one.” This time, Craig only sighed in response.
Twenty minutes later Mel and Mike returned, bags stuffed with everything from random loot found in medicine cabinets to an assortment of different pillows. They were both ecstatic to see Domison not only alive and well, but up and moving around. That excitement was dulled, however, when they learned of his plans. The discussion was short and in the end, it was decided that they would all begin rotations with Domison in the forest. He and Pabu would be hunting and training consistently throughout the day and Domison would meditate and try to develop more of an understanding of his abilities during the night. It was also decided that they would fortify a portion of the street and a few surrounding buildings to better secure their home base.
After the food had been prepared in the kitchen and they all finished eating, Mike began to speculate on the system and the best ways to utilize stats and attribute points. After several minutes of conversation surrounding the system, Domison came to a decision. This group was becoming important to him and he didn’t want to keep hiding things. He was planning to make big waves in this new world either way, and he wanted a team he could grow with and trust fully. As he opened his mouth to speak, a presence surged in the back of his mind.
‘DON’T YOU DARE! I told you, you cannot-’
“I want to share something with you guys,” Domison spoke aloud, cutting off Raze’s booming voice in his mind. The group turned to face him fully, all regarding the man with different looks. Craig was curious but respectful, Mel looked anxious, and Mike was practically giddy with excitement. Domison gave him an odd look for a moment, before continuing, “I don’t actually have a class. I’m a cultivator, which is a tad bit more than slightly different I guess…” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly for a moment as he searched for the right words. “The thing is, I’ve come to learn that I am going to be very strong, monstrously so, and I don’t plan on hiding it. I am going to make changes to this world and I didn’t want you all to be curious and start to harbor resentment towards me because you thought I was hiding some secret way of improving or something. But yeah… Uhh, that’s pretty much it.”
They all stared at the man in confusion and for several moments the silence was deafening. Then Mel spoke up, a look of utter confusion painting her features, “Dom… What the fuck is a Cultivator?”