I've been following these two young adventurers for the better part of the day now, waiting patiently for them to setup camp and fall asleep. They were heading away from the fortified town and going dead east at a blistering pace. On a side note, my body had changed noticeably since my large cannibalistic feast, I've put on more muscle mass and feel stronger, and more cunning. Things which my status page was not reflecting, it makes sense, I do recall that the system was more of a modifier than anything else, not some exact scan of one's abilities.

Anyways, I could tell the adventurers were tiring, their pace was slowing even as I contemplated my bodily adaptations, I didn't realize how mentally checked out I was before I head eaten, I guess this was what being a ghoul was like, a rabid animal until your stomach was full. Much like a wild animal, I bid my time waiting for the perfect opportunity, which I knew would be when they slept given my superior intellect compared to a real wild animal.

I slunk into the shadows of a large oak as I observed the two set up their camp. I didn't particularly want to dry attention to myself by killing these two, but it was still more appealing than wandering deep into the forest and getting eaten by a Manticore or some equally dangerous creature. They laughed and joked as they placed their tent and prepared their campfire, it was then that one of them went off to go fetch some firewood.

Change of plans, the opportunity was now. I grinned a grim smile and my fingers tightened around my axe shaft, I stealthily followed behind the adventurer, waiting until he was bent over collecting wood and too far away to call for help. I leapt out from behind a tree, covering over a dozen feet in two great leaps, and brought my axe crashing down on the back of his neck.

His head tumbled off the rest of his body onto the damp leaf covered forest floor, the rest of his body crumpling like a puppet with it's strings cut. I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but it all seemed a little anticlimactic.

+2 Levels

+6 STR

+ 4 VIG

+2 AGI

I couldn't help but let out a smile of triumph, this class granted 6 attributes per level, my old barbarian class granted 4, and I know many classes that gain as low as 3, very rare was it to see a class granting 7 attributes or more.

I could feel the difference immediately, but now was not the time to savor my progress, I had a body to eat, and an adventurer to kill. I was never the cleanest eater, I remember that much, and I'm glad to know my skill of making a mess had not left me in my undeath. But where was I fitting all that flesh? Dozens of pounds easily, I even snacked on his femur when I was done, I felt a little full sure, but their was certainly something else going on.

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No time to concern myself with such trivial questions now, I knew it would not be long before the other adventurer starting to panic. I crept back to the camp, and watched carefully as he looked through a small pouch that appeared to be filled with rings, and an amulet. Looks like a good a time as any to strike, there were no nearby trees behind him to aid in my sneakiness, so I just crossed as much ground as possible before he would inevitably hear me.

The grass was cool to the touch, reminding me of my barefooted nature at the moment, I made it nearly 10 feet away from him when he finally glanced back. His face was a textbook expression of horror, I guess I painted quite the scary picture, out in the forest alone, as night was falling.

"Stay back you monster!" he shouted, scrambling backwards.

Now obviously I wasn't heeding his suggestion as I close the gap in a moment, my axe swinging for his head. The adventurer deftly dodged it, so I spun the axe back around keeping it''s momentum for a strike to the torso this time. There was no were to evade the blow and the axe sunk deep into his guts, he shouted angrily and a red mist started to seep from this skin.

Oh, this was a Barbarian. He punched me in the face with such force I was sent sprawling backwards getting tangled up in the tent. He ripped the axe out of his torso and started towards me. Now as a Barbarian myself, I knew just what do.

I jumped up and bolted in the opposite direction, running for my life. Or unlife, whatever.

I tripped over a thick root in my haste, sending me colliding into a tree, but I could hear the Barbarian stomping after me and took off once again, a bit more cautions of roots this time. I ran for the next 5 minutes, easily loosing him in the shadowy forest. I leaned against a tree, contemplating my tactical intelligence, it was never my strong point, being a Barbarian and all. I was far more logical and calculating now as a Ghoul, but I still probably should have approached that situation differently.

+ 1 Levels

+3 STR

+2 VIG

+1 AGI

Aaaand he's dead.

I returned to the camp where sure enough, I found the Barbarian lying on the ground lifelessly. I stooped down and picked up the pouch full of accessories he had been inspecting earlier, and randomly selected a ring. It was a dull metal band of a ring, certainly not a fashion statement of any sort. I apprehensively placed the ring on my finger, waiting for something to happen.

Rare Ring of Strength Equipped: +3 STR

Incredible, these were enchanted accessories, this would certainly be worth transporting in and of itself. If this was the kind of goods that these two were carrying, what exactly were they wearing themselves? That Barbarian certainly had some levels on him, maybe not quite level 22, but going off the power behind that punch, a dozen at least.

The general advice was no more than 3 rings, it was around here that they started to malfunction, and enchanted items had a bad tendency of exploding when they malfunctioned, violently. So I tried on the rest of them and settled with 2 that I liked.

Uncommon Ring of Awareness: Increased awareness of your surroundings, improved eyesight, smell, and hearing.

Rare Ring Of The Shadows: Become significantly less noticeable to others, resistance to scrying and inspections.

The amulet was the real prize however.

Unique Predator's Amulet: Slowly molds the wearer into a more predatory version of itself. This affects eyesight, reflexes, coordination, and base physical capabilities.

Forget killing monsters, hunting adventurers is where the real worth is at.