Catpurr 3: Eaten by a Duck.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" Adam yelled as he sprinted through the flaming forest, dragging his oversized robes as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Waddling quickly behind, and nearly catching up, was a massive scaly duck, the size of a two story house, swatting away trees and bushes as it gave chase and quacked hysterically after Adam.
Its giant bill opened, suddenly spewing red flames as it tried to run Adam down. Fortunately the now Catboy was a tiny target, the flames only managing to sear the top tuft of his head creating a clean bald spot on the catboy.
MY HAIR! Adam shrieked internally, rabidly patting his red head that was caked with smoldering flames.
It had come from nowhere. The moment Adam saw the quest timer, was the moment the oversized bird materialized, immediately giving chase with its loud webbed feet vibrating the earth.
This is a thousand times unfair! How am I supposed to kill a Duckysaur with no attack skills or minions to do my bidding!?! Adam panicked internally, before spotting a cliff nearby and changing his trajectory, rushing towards the perilous edge.
Gah if only I had a skeleton!
Reviewing his skills, all he had were Animate Bone, Irritating Touch, and Cat claws. The latter of which only made him produce tiny claws from his fingertips while Irritating touch just made its targets itchy. Nothing that would help against even the smallest cousin of the mighty dragons. At least when he started out as a necromancer, he had the animate minor skeleton skill and lots of bones to play with!
Now he had nothing and was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the expanse below. Adam spun, his eyes blinking rapidly as they unwillingly dilated at the white feathered drakonoid.
Alright! Time to put all my years of running away to the test! Adam intoned, crouching low as the beast quacked toward him, ready to dodge out the way.
Yet the monster did something strange. It slowed down, shifting its pace until it came to a brisk stroll and walked right up to Adam.
Adam’s new furry ears folded down as he gazed up at the giant creature, now hovering over his small body with menacing beady eyes. Adam had hoped to use the edge to make the dumb creature fall to its death, yet contrary to his expectations, the monster wasn’t dumb but intelligent! Seeing directly through Adam’s ploy.
It quacked, hitting the catboy with its hot breath before opening its yellow bill and brandishing a row of sharp teeth that made Adam wince from the stench.
[MINOR DRAKON FEAR DETECTED! CONSTITUTION SAVE FAILED! Paralyzation in Effect for 20secs]
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Dragon Fear. Adam knew this skill, and knew it well. Yet despite knowing the effects of such a skill, it did nothing to deter from the fact that he was de-powered, unable to resist its effects.
Ah. I’m in danger.
Adam closed his eyes, if he were his old self he’d have no trouble dealing with a measly Duckysaur, but now he had nothing. No skills, no passives, nothing that could help him stand up against the ten ton duck.
Now he was going to die, and Schrodinger’s fate would be left to the gods. A tear rolled down Adam’s cheek, wishing he’d never been so greedy for the artifact.
With a loud QUACK! Adam was snapped up, flames cooking his body entirely as the Duckysaur roasted him and ate him alive.
[YOU DIED!]
…….
-1 Life.
[Curse:Catification]
-Always Land on Feet. No matter what.
-Nine Lives(7/9)
-Weakness to Catnip/Irresistible
-Weakness to Milk
-Weakness to Chocolate
-Random Urge to knock items over
-Weakness to Cucumbers
-Weakness to Water
-Catsify skills.
[Reconstituting Body…]
Adam opened his eyes, sitting up with a scream while patting his naked fury body to put out the non-existent flames.
Huffing, Adam looked down, realizing that his body was no longer burned to a fine crisp, but rather healthy and intact, minus the clothes he’d been wearing earlier of course.
"Stupid flammable flesh! Stupid flammable fur! ArGh!" Adam screamed while standing up, reading the message that displayed on his system.
He had died.
And by the power of his curse he'd been revived, restored, and brought back to life, with his new default status restored to max.
However the timer above was still ticking down, but only minutes had passed since being turned into fried-catboy, meaning the resurrection skill had taken moments at best to fully revive him.
Truly, the power of this Eli was quite unfathomable. Even at his full power, it would take Adam days for Resurrection to take into effect, and even then there were drawbacks and penalties, not only to himself but to the resurrected.
Not that he ever got a chance to succeed, the last time he tried he ended up running out of mana and creating an eldritch undead that terrorized the countryside for weeks before Adam managed to bury it under twenty tons of earth. Still, to be able to resurrect someone in such a short time was nothing short but godlike in Adam's eyes, a testament that perhaps he didn't choose poorly.
"QUACK!"
“Wha-”
At the sound of the familiar squawk, Adam snapped out of his admiration for the Lich. Eyes wide, Adam tried to dodge but was immediately gobbled up and eaten by the oversized Duck.
"QUACK QUACK!"
[YOU DIED!]
…….
-1 Life
-Nine Lives [6/9]
Adam woke, screaming once more, the feeling of the ducks stomach acid burning him alive still fresh in his mind as he willed his body to stand and immediately move.
He took no chances, judging from how the duck had materialized from thin air upon the quest starting, and then it coming from nowhere and gobbling him up, Adam inferred that the beast had something to do with the quest, or, was at least a part of it.
And he was right, the moment he took off for the tree line was the moment the duckysaur appeared, materializing out of thin air to gobble Adam up once more.