The bushes rustled and strange chipping sounds rang through the air. Octavia took a step back, her eyes scanning everything around her as her nerves went on high alert. With a flourish of her wrist, she brought her chakram to bear. She wouldn’t run today. This was a chance to be stronger, and she would take it, no matter what.
The bush rustled once more, and an elongated snout peaked out. One that reminded Octavia of an old film that she watched with her parents. “It’s a fucking dinosaur.” The rogue whispered as she took a step back. She clenched her chakram so tight that her fingers turned white.
A strange creature chittered as a small head popped out and gazed at her. Its flesh was pale, and covered in a thin layer of colorless downy like feathers that were slicked back. The creature’s eyes were small with light orange sclera, and a black center that stared at the rogue with a glimmer of intelligence. It hissed as it pushed through the bushes, exposing a body that stood well over a meter tall. Even though it was different from what she imagined, her heart dropped as she saw those familiar curved talons on its muscular legs. It was a fucking velociraptor.
She adored watching them in Jurassic Park. The way they moved, and how sleek they looked on camera. Though that took into consideration Hollywood’s tendencies to exaggerate traits. Regardless, it was a beautiful animal. But in this moment, beauty meant nothing. It was here in the flesh, and it looked hungry. The creature hissed again as it burst through the foliage in an explosion of energy. Its jaw clicking as it jumped at the rogue.
Octavia wracked her mind as she watched the beat jump. It closed the distance between the two of them faster than she had hoped. Thankfully, her legs reacted faster than her brain could shed the fear that had her in its grasp.
The rogue stepped to the side and swung her chakram out. It sang out in exultation as it cut through the flank of the creature. Dark red blood poured from freshly split skin as it soared past the woman, slamming into a tree. Fear still gripped her heart, but she sank into the movements that had been ingrained in her muscles from the system.
Her red hair whipped around her as she drew the chakram back. The ichor of the velociraptor arced through the air as she spun. The blade sang as she locked onto her target, and a single thought came to her mind. [Wrathful Disc].
The ring left her hand, taking on a silver sheen as it whistled through the air. Not only that, something drained from her chest. A wave of exhaustion and sleepiness seeped into Octavia’s mind, causing her to stumble.
But the ring struck true, slamming into the back of the monster that was still trying to gather its wits. A shower of blood exploded from its back, as the chakram tore through flesh and muscle before it was yanked back as if it were controlled by strings.
The rogue stumbled as she reached out; the twine handle slamming home into her palm, sending a wave of vibration scintillating up her arms. Soft mewing reached the woman’s ears as she focused on the dinosaur. It had fallen with a sizable chunk of meat ripped from its back. The now familiar stench of blood filled with air as weakly tried to stand.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Octavia hissed through her teeth as she rushed over to the beast. She slammed the ring down onto the back of its neck, slicing through skin and muscle, eliciting another weak screech as the creature fell over.
Her breath heaved as she stood over it. Blood covered her hands and ring, soaking the forest floor below in a small puddle of red. She was angry at herself for feeling satisfaction at this. Wasn’t it wrong to kill? The thought strayed through her mind as she brought her weapon back down again, ending the poor creature’s life. If it was so wrong, why did it feel so right?
Congratulations! You have slain a level three juvenile velociraptor.
Bonus exp has been given for slaying a creature above your level.
Congratulations, you are now level two!
The notifications buzzed in her vision like an annoying gnat that should be batted away. So, she dismissed them and stared at the corpse below. Was this reality now? The strong survived, while the weak died? Was that the core of this new world? That line of thought felt hollow, like there was something more than just fighting. Something that existed on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t quite put it into words.
She sighed as she reached down to the neck of the velociraptor and paused. The forest had returned to perfect silence, causing her to halt and look around. Silence reigned supreme once again, setting her on edge. This was apparently a juvenile velociraptor, which meant that there was a family. So why didn’t she see more than one?
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Suddenly Octavia didn’t feel as safe as she had, and decided it was time to head back to camp while there was still time. It wouldn’t do anybody any favors to look a gift horse in the mouth, or in this case, velociraptor.
It took the rogue some time, but she finally dragged the corpse back to the home base. There wasn’t a single part of the woman’s body that didn’t hurt, and exhaustion had set in once again. It was even worse than earlier, since using that spell sapped both her stamina and her mana. A casual glance to her HUD showed her mana had sunk by a tenth, and her stamina bar was sitting just over a quarter. Apparently, not only does using skills cost stamina, but just casual movement.
She groaned in frustration as she arrived back at the communal rock. “Derrick, I brought food.” She yawned as she dug her fingers into the rock, easily climbing up the side.
“Jesus Christ, I thought you’d bring back a rabbit or two. Not a whole fucking dinosaur.” Derrick’s voice called out from somewhere behind her.
“Yeah, he just came out of nowhere, and so I killed it. Better than letting it just rot in the forest.” Another yawn punctuated her words as she got to the top of the rock. She carefully pulled her weapon off of her shoulder, placing it down gently before curling up on the ground.
“Fair enough. I’ll get this butchered then and make something with it. Jules and I made a small campfire if you want to come down and join us.” The mage’s voice traveled up the side of the rock, yet to Octavia’s wandering mind, it felt so far away.
”No, I’m good. I’m gonna stay up here and take a nap. Wake me up when the food is ready.” Already her eyelids were growing heavy. The chill that hung in the air didn’t seem so bad anymore. Carefully, her fingers pulled her cloak tight as sleep crept in, erasing all the stress from the day.
It was the blaring of an alarm clock that woke Octavia up. Not to mention the harsh light of the morning sun creeping through her windows. The woman yawned as she brought her hands to wipe away the sleepiness in her eyes. Her tired eyes wandered around the room, seeing her old childhood home. Pastel pink window curtains and soft red walls adorned the room. Not to mention all of her favorite bands like, In this moment, or Within Temptation. The genres stood in stark contrast to what was a relatively girly era of her life.
She glanced down at her bed with fondness as she saw the soft grey comforter and the needlessly high stack of pillows. A habit that she wasn’t ashamed to say left her at all in the years since this moment. But what was she doing here?
As she looked around, the bedroom door opened with a soft squeal, and the light from the hallway spilled in. “Good morning tiger.” Her father’s deep voice filled the air as he stepped into the room.
Enzo Rossi was always a man that seemed larger than life in Octavia’s eyes. He stood nearly two meters tall, dressed in a black open dress shirt with a white shirt underneath and simple black dress trousers. His skin tone was the closest to their family’s southern Italian heritage, with a softer brown that grew darker in the summer.
”Daddy.” The woman was on the verge of tears as she saw her father for the first time in what felt like centuries. She burst off the bed, easily crossing the small distance in the blink of an eye, throwing herself into his waiting arms.
“Look at you mia cara. All grown up.” His hands came down around her, pulling her into his chest. The scent of soft vanilla and oranges seeped into her nose as she sobbed like a child.
“It’s been rough since you died. My life was going fine until this strange system came and changed it.” She knew she was dreaming, that much was obvious. Her parents had been dead for years at this point. At least in her dreams, she could still see them.
“I know, but you got this. You took a hard path, but that’s where you strive best.” He reached under her chin, tilting it up. His dark brown eyes stared into his daughters as he wiped away the tears that flowed down her cheeks. “Your hair looks a lot like your mom’s.” A sad smile crossed his time-worn face.
Octavia sniffled as she pulled away from the taller man. “What if I made a mistake?” She wiped away the last of the tears and really studied him. Trying to store away his features, scared that they would slip from her mind.
"No, you went with your heart. Keep doing that, and you will never make the wrong choice. Follow your intuition, and it will take you far.” He reached out and rested his hand against her shoulder. “No matter where you take it, I will always be there watching over you.”
She nodded her head, sniffling once more. He had a point. Up to this point in her life she always followed her intuition. The system threw her off her cadence a bit, but he reminded her she needed to focus. Hesitating would only result in her or friends getting killed. This was a new world, and she needed to play by its rules now. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“I know you did. It’s why I came. But now, you need to wake up.” Her father touched her forehead with a single finger. “But don’t worry, your mom and I will always watch over you.” As soft as a spring breeze, he pushed her away. Her childhood bedroom fell away into darkness as Octavia fell into the void. At least now she felt relieved. She hadn’t made the wrong choice. The woman closed her eyes, as she fell into the darkness, resolving herself to do better when she woke up.