[Quests available:

A good start: Like all living things you need food to survive and thrive. Hunt, kill and eat a beast type monster. Rewards; exp and 1 bio point.

What doesn’t kill you: After being forced to retreat from their first dungeon most would choose a new lifestyle but not you! Become stronger and return for vengeance against that foul place. Destroy the dungeon. Rewards; exp and (hidden reward) x2. Accept quests?]

… I… you know what? I’ll worry about it later. Accept.

[Quests added to ‘quests screen’]

And you couldn’t have told me that existed before?

...

Nothing to say for yourself eh? Whatever I guess. Best to look forward I always say! Although given my current situation it kinda sounds like a bad joke. From what I can tell I’ve found myself in the woods and, thank the heavens for small mercies, I seem to be on a path cutting through the undergrowth. Walking along it keeps my stumbling and tripping to a minimum and I only fall on my face once. After traveling what I feel should be a safe distance I sit down and crack open my stats screen to take a look.

Annnd… nothing changed. All my stats are the same! I flop backwards onto the path, trying not to scream in frustration. How am I supposed to hunt anything with these depressing stats? With a sigh I scroll down to the skills section. I never did ask what these do.

[Vibration detection level 2, detect movement through vibration in surfaces and the air]

When did that level up?

[Rend level 1, an attack used to tear and pull apart flesh]

Gross but useful.

[Grapple level 1, used to restrain and apply crushing force to targets]

Could definitely be helpful.

[Stealth level 1, your presence becomes more difficult to detect]

Simple but very useful! Awesome! Hmm, I have a skill selection but should I save it for now?

…Show me the skills!

[Skill selection, choose one: slam, dash, heightened instincts, mana manipulation]

There’s only four? Are there prerequisites I need to meet to unlock more skills? Do I unlock more as I level up? Questions for another time I guess.

[Slam, an attack using blunt force to batter and break]

[Dash, move 30% faster at the cost of increased stamina drain]

[Heightened instincts, refines natural instincts to help fight more effectively]

[Mana manipulation, gain knowledge about the basics of manipulating mana]

Dismissing ‘dash’ out of hand, I’d just end up falling on my face or running into a tree, I have the option of an active attack skill, a passive buff or a beginners guide to magic. ‘Slam’ would probably be useful for fighting those skeletons but it hardly matters if I can hit hard if I die before I can try.

As for mana manipulation, as much as I want to be slinging spells, would I even be able to use it with my mana so low? Not to mention it looks like I’m stuck with the sun for now so I won’t have any mana to work with regardless. I suppose that makes the decision pretty easy, I’ll grab the heightened instincts.

[Acquire heightened instincts?]

Yep.

Oh fruity… why does gaining a new skill come with a fruity taste? How does that make sense? Do different skills have different flavors? I have so many questions and no one to ask! Sigh, I need to find something to eat. The skill was tasty but just made me hungrier than I already was and I feel like I haven’t eaten in days. Technically I haven’t eaten anything since I was born so I guess it makes sense. So the all important question is… how the heck am I going to hunt anything?

I lay there pondering the issue for what feels like eternity, letting my feelers do their thing, extending out and poking, prodding and mapping the area immediately around me. I get the feeling it must be mid to late autumn, assuming this world has seasons similar to earth's. The cold bite to the air, the wind blowing without so much as a rustle of leaves and the smell of decaying plants are all very nostalgic of the calm days of my old life.

After probably half an hour of laying on the ground, kicking the problem around my head, the best I can come up with is setting up some kind of trap or ambush. But I’m not sure how I would manage it in the open space of the forest. Sighing quietly to myself I turn my attention to the tendrils winding through the underbrush.

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And it’s then that I realize, there’s something in the underbrush sniffing my right tendril. Twitching the end of the limb there’s a snort of surprise but after a moment the thing returns to its cautious sniffing. I move just a little and it follows the tendril, keeping close enough to investigate. I can work with that.

Ever so slowly, I begin retracting the tendril, drawing in the mystery meat– I mean creature little by little. At the same time I bring my other tendril around to the same side, trying to wrap around behind where I think it is. Then with all the strength and speed I can muster I whip both of them around the creature.

Rend!

As I activate the skill I can feel a change in my tendrils, small hooks forming out of the rubbery flesh and hardening just before impact. As the attack lands there’s a surprised yelp followed immediately by a pained whine, both sounding very dog-like. But I can’t back out now and it’s not dead yet!

Once more! Rend!

I can feel my tendrils dragging the tiny blades through the creature tearing away fur and flesh. Barely a few moments after the fight began the creature goes limp and the system chimes in.

[You have defeated a level 1 lesser beast, dire wolf pup, you’ve gained exp.]

I almost feel bad… almost. I’m sorry little one but you can only blame your own curiosity. Now all that’s left is to eat. I hesitate for a moment but my twisting stomach easily wins out. Having already dragged it free from the weeds I sink my fangs into the meat. It’s… not terrible? I was expecting to have to fight past an absolutely foul taste but it’s surprisingly good! I guess because my taste buds are different? All those reborn as a monster stories lied to me.

[You have consumed a new creature. You’ve gained 1 bio point]

[You have completed the quest ‘A good start’ you’ve gained exp and 1 bio point]

I pause to consider the notifications before continuing my meal. I can worry about that later.

Managing to ignore the general shape of the creature I just ate, I groan in satisfaction. By the end of my meal I gained another bio point for a total of three plus the one I started with. A good start indeed! Now what do I use them for?

…Um system? The bio points?

[Body improvements and alterations can be purchased with bio points. Improvements available for purchase:

Arms +1, improve strength and durability of your arms

Legs +1, improve strength, durability and agility of your legs

Ears +1, improve hearing range and sensitivity

Nose +1, improve sense of smell

Fangs +1, improve the sharpness and durability of your fangs

Claws +1, improve the sharpness and durability of your claws

Shadow tendrils +1, improve strength, durability and sensitivity of your shadow

tendrils

Skin +1, toughen the skin’s surface improving resistance to mundane damage

Bones +1, improve bone durability, reducing likelihood of breaks]

Alrighty then. Seems simple enough. So right now my biggest concern should probably be making my shadow tendrils the best they can be. After all, they are what I’m using both to see and fight.

Hmm, ok fiddling with the menu a bit it looks like the price starts at one bio point for a +1 upgrade then goes up by one for every upgrade to the same part. So a +1 upgrade costs one, a +2 costs two and so on, which means I’ll need huge amounts of bio points for a single upgrade later down the road. But for right now it means I have somewhat limited choices...

Okay, I think improving my senses should be my main priority, I can’t see so any way I can compensate for that would be good. It’s definitely got nothing to do with me wanting to improve my shadow tendrils. Definitely not. I’ll throw three into my tendrils and the last one into my ears, that should be good.

[Would you like to spend 4 bio points to bring shadow tendrils to +2 and ears to +1?]

Yes!

AHH! They’ve gone numb! I can’t feel anything! Or hear anything! It’s like I’ve gone blind all over again! Fortunately before I can totally freak out, feeling returns to my tendrils and sound rushes back in and I sigh in relief.

Giving my tendrils a stretch and prodding my surroundings they seem to be a bit longer, a bit stronger and are picking up more detail. The difference isn’t huge but I have a feeling every little bit will help.

My hearing is a bit more sensitive as well, which makes it all the easier to hear the bone rattling howl in the distance.

I’m an idiot. There was a pup… where’s the pack?

Jumping to my feet I start sprinting down the path, a second monstrous howl adding further incentive to increase my pace.

Don’t you think this is a bit unfair system lady?! I’m not even a day old!

Just as soon as that thought crosses my mind the path takes a turn and I sprint right off and fall on my face.

Ow, okay got it, less complaining, more running.

After a quick check of my surroundings I can’t immediately find the path and the howling is only getting louder so I turn and start sprinting again. Branches and weeds leave cuts and scratches on my exposed limbs and I stumble over roots and stones, the downward slope only making things worse.

I can already feel myself flagging, my constitution too low for this prolonged sprint. My lungs are burning, demanding a break but I don’t dare stop. I can almost feel more than hear the wolves gaining; their giant paws causing slight tremors with every impact. In desperation I begin wrapping my tendrils around trees to pull myself forward faster.

Come on guys, a girl needs to eat! Can’t you just call it bygones and make a new one? Somehow I don’t think they’ll go for it.

I push to the limits of my agility stat to go as fast as I can but I can hear them plowing after me like a pack of bulldozers. Feeling hot breath on my back and not finding any obstacles in my path I put all my waning energy into a desperate leap. Jaws snap shut where I was a moment before and I congratulate myself on the lucky dodge… then I start falling.

The expected short drop back into the weeds stretches into what feels like eternity. A scream rises unbidden from my throat as I fall the potentially fatal distance towards the ground below. I only have a moment of wild thrashing in the air before my back slams into a hard surface and I go limp as I continue to fall. I try to hold onto consciousness but another impact throws me into oblivion.