Why the hell is this monstrosity called a Crag Kitten? The moniker kitten makes it sound cute and cuddly. This thing isn’t fucking cute or cuddly. Ok. Mental note made find and read a monster encyclopedia! I need to learn if I want to survive. These are the thoughts that raced through my mind as the beast continued to soar toward me in its lunge. I barely escaped its path with a quick run and a jumping roll. We ended up several feet apart as it landed and skidded across the ground. Roaring in frustration, its tentacles whipping through the air in irritation, the beast quickly changed its direction. Without skipping a beat after the directional correction the Crag Kitten lunged at me yet again.
Now at this point, you might be wondering why my multitude of skeletal minions weren’t helping me. Or where the Brothers and my Golem were at during this intense conflict? Well to answer that I’ll keep it as short as possible. Sharing the same goal as me, through our connection with the mental link, they decided to save the paralyzed goblins while I distracted the beast! It all looks like they managed to finish without the Crag Kitten even noticing. Now I just have to stay alive long enough for them to come to help me. Hopefully, I don’t have to wait long, this thing is kind of terrifying and I don’t want to end up as kitty food.
Just as I had finished imagining myself as a kitty snack the Golem charged noisily out of the forest. As he neared the Crag Kitten he pulled his giant hand back, made a fist, and knocked that kitty out of the park. An unearthly yowl of pain erupted briefly from the creature when the fist connected. It also ended abruptly as the Golem's punch knocked the wind out of it. The Crag Kitten rocketed through the air smashing through several trees before crashing to the ground. The beast struggled to get up, clearly injured and fighting for air.
As the Crag Kitten was still attempting to get back up, several arrows emerged from the shadows piercing through the back legs. More whimpers escaped the now frightened beast as it realized it no longer had the advantage it thought it did. The creature was quite terrified of the giant Golem. The fear and pain it felt from the arrows were negligible when compared to the sheer terror the Golem instilled. The eyes of the Crag Kitten watched the Golem intensely, like the eyes of prey awaiting the doom a predator brought.
The Crag Kitten was so engrossed in watching the Golem that it didn’t notice Burwil silently closing in. Two long and narrow daggers appeared in Burwils hands in one quick motion he leaped at the beast. The two daggers penetrated deep into the eyes of the creature, piercing through the brain and embedding themselves into the beast's skull. Just as quickly Burwil landed smoothly and fled any possible retaliation from the beast's death throes. A prudent strategy that was proven unnecessary due to the beast dying nearly instantaneously.
As usual in this unusual world, once the beast was slain, loot showered out of the corpse and landed nearby. I walked around and collected the few things that were dropped. Once all the drops were collected I looked through them to see what I got. Interesting! Among the drops were a few shiny coins of various colors, an old robe that had seen better days, and a pair of gloves that seemed to be a type of leather. Upon closer examination of both the robe and gloves system messages were generated.
“Spatial Storage!” I said vehemently.
Again! Damnit! I need to find out how to identify items from Chooftoof! Disgruntled with my inability to identify my loot I angrily opened my spatial storage and tossed them in, trying not to think too much about what secrets I was missing. While I had been collecting the loot, Burwil had hastily skinned the beast with great skill. Burwil also carefully cut off the tentacles and set them aside. He tossed the pelt to Illeorv who rinsed the blood off and handed it to me.
“Pelt for you, meat for the goblins, and the bones for your army,” Illeorv said cheerily.
“Thank you! Just another impressive talent to add to the list of your skills!” I replied.
I gently deposited the pelt into my spatial storage I then walked over and carefully picked up the severed tentacles, gently depositing them into storage as well. I dragged the boar carcass out and set it down next to Burwil. He repeated the process of skinning and handing the pelt to Illeorv for cleaning. It was then handed to me and I put it in storage. Cutting off the energy to the storage portal with a wave of my hand I turned and watched as Burwil expertly removed the meat from bones. Once he had removed all the meat he could from both beasts he motioned for Illeorv. The Brothers then went about starting a large cooking fire and began roasting the meat for the goblins.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Meanwhile in the depths of the forest, hidden in the grass and shadows, the previously incapacitated goblins began to stir. As they sat up they began to catch an appetizing scent in the air. Mouths watering they hurriedly rose and ran toward the delicious smell. The Goblins charged haphazardly through the forest, knocking into each other. The Goblins comically skidded to a halt near the roasting meat, but the ones behind hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet. So they all ended up in a huge pile of flailing goblin limbs that brought a faint smile to my lips.
Laughing on the inside, I quickly let the smile vanish and shook my head with a snort. While the goblins stood drooling, intoxicated by the smell of fresh meat, my thoughts returned to the animals from which the meat was supplied. It would be a shame to let these beautiful bones go to waste! Now wouldn’t it? They would be a nice addition to my army of the dead. Also, the Brothers could even use them as mounts. Interesting indeed. Skeletal steeds for the Brothers to command from. That reminds me I should put them in the chain of command for this army of mine!
“Animate Skeleton!” I said casually.
The bones left behind after the meat was collected began to rattle. The rattling grew louder as the bones began to rise, imbued with life once again. The skeleton of the boar rose and stomped its hooves, the skeleton of the Crag Kitten on the other hand pounced around comically. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen the skeleton of a large cat have the zoomies! Wow! That sure is something. The newly raised beast minions finished their celebratory display and walked to my side, bowing their heads in reverence.
I reached out with both hands and lovingly stroked their heads, a sense of joy flowed into me through the mental link. I then instructed the undead beasts to partner with the Brothers. They acquiesced and trotted over and sat idly next to their new partners. The Brothers glanced at the creatures and then looked at me approvingly before turning back to tending the meat.
I ordered the skeletons to protect the goblins and patrol the surrounding area for trouble through the mental link. I also commanded my Golem to stand guard over my body as I began to make preparations to commune with Chooftoof. I picked a tree some distance away from the fire and sat down next to it. Leaning against the tree I let my body relax. I rested my head on the rough bark of the tree and let my eyes close. I focused inward slowly blocking out the noise of the goblin's revel. My breathing became steady and then slowed. My shoulders slumped as my consciousness exited my body and shifted into the In-Between.
Seconds turned to minutes and the minutes seemed to fade into eternity as I searched for the familiar essence of the realm I was traveling to. After what seemed like ages, but was mere moments, my consciousness locked onto the correct realm. Picking up speed as my spirit hurtled through the emptiness of the In-Between, the familiar yet shocking cold shot through me as I entered the domain of Chooftoof.
Gasping for breath, even with no lungs to breathe, I landed roughly in a chair. A chair that was less rotten than the last time I was here. The entire area seemed less worn out and it appeared to be brighter than on my previous visit. The room, while still pretty covered in various species of vegetation, had a greater sense of life. Most of the cobwebs had disappeared and it was almost completely free of dust. After quickly inspecting the room my eyes finally landed on Chooftoof.
Chooftoof no longer appeared as a decrepit desiccated corpse. The ember of vitality had been fanned with not only my belief but the belief of the recently resurrected Brothers. The life force within Chooftoof, while still dim, burned stronger than it had. Chooftoof eyes opened and he looked at me with admiration.
“Hello, again Karloc. It’s nice to see you again!” Chooftoof exclaimed.
“Chooftoof, we have so much to discuss!” I replied.
“Ah yes, this is true. Where would you like to begin?” Chooftoof inquired.
“For starters how do I identify these unknown items and what’s the deal with this evolution stuff?” I asked.
“Identifying items require a certain type of magic called Discerning Eye. I can grant you this ability but you are unable to at your current stage. But you will be able to rectify that soon. Now to answer your other question. Due to this world having certain rules, rules that are coincidentally similar to what you call video games from your world, you can achieve things that you couldn’t even dream of in your old life. You’ve been gaining experience this whole time. You’ve reached your first level cap which in turn unlocked your first evolution chance. Certain criteria have to be met to unlock different evolution paths. So don’t get ahead of yourself now. You can’t evolve into a dragon or anything you have to stay within your race-specific evolutionary path.” Chooftoof droned.
“Ok, that’s insane. Just how far does this evolution thing go? Also, I have a backlog of items to identify so yeah let’s get this evolution show on the road so I can learn Discerning Eye!” I said enthusiastically.
“Ok, that’s fine. I assume you are in a safe place and have someone or something watching over your body? The evolution process could take a while. While it’s in the process an interruption could prove disastrous. Now I can’t predict what path your evolution will take. That all depends on your deeds and choices. But that’s the fun of it, a little roll of the dice based on your actions. It throws a little excitement into the mix. Either way, evolution will make you stronger and the alterations to your genes will be passed down through procreation. So let’s get started!” Chooftoof exclaimed.
Before I could say anything a searing heat filled my spirit. A pain so intense I thought I would black out from it, unfortunately, it is quite impossible to black out when having an out-of-body experience. The pain amplified as it spread through my soul like wildfire. My skin felt like it was blistered and peeling, and I fruitlessly began to scratch all over with abandon. The unimaginable heat mixed with the maddening feeling of an itch that can not be scratched nearly drove me insane.
The light became blinding as I screamed in immeasurable agony. My spirit writhed in pain, trying to endure the unendurable. While my spirit struggled to withstand the intensity of evolution in the In-Between, tremors began shooting through my physical being. Light brighter than the Sun engulfed my body. The light also brought such an intense heat that my skin boiled and peeled off. The residual heat burned the flaking skin before it hit the ground. Within the light, my body, hidden from sight, began to change.