When I awoke, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting, but I for sure wasn’t ready for the wave of agony and pain that washed over me. The world around me was dark, so I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel that I was floating in a slimy acidic liquid. As I thrashed and struggled, I could feel a tough, fleshy membrane around me, constricting and crushing me and my bones. I opened my mouth to scream as I felt a new wave of mind numbing pain, but I just ended up inhaling more of the burning acid. I writhed and struggled to not breathe in any more, my lungs crying out for air as the acid burned inside and outside now, causing my Unending Vitality to go into overdrive.
I wildly clawed at my surroundings in a panic, my mind going into overdrive as it tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Where the hell was I!? What the fuck was happening!? The last thing I remembered was Grim knocking me out before they… sent me back… to the land of the living… where I was originally being eaten by a Dire Bear… Ah…
I stopped struggling for a moment and couldn’t help but feel a smile spread across my face. As annoying as my current situation was, I was back. I was alive! Haha… This was the start of my second chance… or well, my third chance if I was being honest. I winced as another wave of acid dissolved my just healed skin. Alright, it was about damn time that I got out of here.
I pushed on my surroundings, recognizing them as the stomach lining of the Dire Bear now. If I was inside… I should be able to tear my way out right? I should even be able to kill this damn Bear that way too… I growled and squirmed, struggling to claw my way closer to the stomach lining.
It took me only a moment until I found a spot that seemed a little tighter than the surrounding area, and got to work, ripping and tearing at it. There was a thick layer of mucus, so it was slow going, but I knew that there had to be an actual stomach lining beneath that. As long as I could pierce through that, this was going to be all worth it. I could feel my flesh burning, smoldering, and disintegrating, but I just ignored it, working on my task with a single minded focus. In a weird way, it was actually a good thing that my flesh was burning off. The bony tips of my fingers could tear and cut the stomach lining way better. Oddly enough as I went to work, I could even swear they weren’t even rounded…
At some point, I started feeling and hearing the rumbles and roars of the bear, and I could tell that I was moving now. The stomach lining squeezed and pressed on my body, crushing me more and more, but I just grinned and continued clawing. I couldn't stop now, I could finally feel some of the top layer getting torn off piece by piece. Good good, as long as I could rip through this goddamn mucus… fuck me as long as I could rip through it, how much mucus could something have! Ughhhhh…
I growled and kept at the work, digging in and clawing at the lining, humming happily to myself. I couldn’t help but feel happy, everything was just going so well! Oh today was going to be a great day! I was back in my body, I had a good standing with Grim, the literal god of Death, Verdant, the goddess of the Wild, and I was in the prime spot to kill this goddamn bear! I wouldn't have to deal with those shitty wolves either, because the bear had scared them off ages ago! Life was really starting to look up!
I tore and tore, and it wasn’t long until the bear’s roars increased in power and annoyance, and it started moving around and shaking itself even more. I grunted as I felt myself getting tossed around, and struggled to drag myself closer to the spot I was working on. I winced as some of the acid got in my eye, blinding me for a moment, and cursed to myself. The hell was this damn fucking bear doing? I groaned as I felt the bones of some other poor animal get jammed into my side and stab into my leg, piercing straight through. The pain from my dissolving skin and flesh renewed as the Unending Vitality focused on the new wound, and I roared in pain. Fuck me, I needed to get out of here, now.
I scrambled forward, wildly struggling to get back to the same spot I was at before as panic raced through me. The bear must have been doing acrobatics or something, because I was getting tossed up, down, to the side, and somehow even diagonally, but still I clawed my way forward. I clenched my teeth shut, but I could feel the stomach acid eating through my lips and the skin on my jaw, making its way into my throat where it burned. I couldn't even growl or scream anymore, but that didn’t matter. I had finally made my way back to where I was, and I wasn’t getting torn away again! I bit down on the side of the wound I had created, anchoring myself as I started on my grim task once more.
At this point, the Bear had definitely realized something was wrong in its stomach. It wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong, but it wanted it, and by ‘it’ I meant me, out. Unfortunately for it, I was not so easily unlodged, and as I felt my bones creak and crack, my skin screamed out as the acid ate through it again, renewing the agony once more. I clenched my jaw down even harder, focusing on letting the regeneration heal my jaw and arm muscles first. It was agony, and as the screams racked my body I felt my jaw lock down even harder, carving through some of the flesh around the wound. I clawed harder, feeling the not exactly rounded tips of my fingers slide down the side of the stomach lining. It pissed me off, and I wildly dragged my fingers down over and over again, a sudden realization occurring to me. I didn’t need them to slide… I needed them to cut, to slice and tear through this. That’s right… I didn’t need fingers, I needed claws.
I focused on the tips of my fingers, diverting the healing flow there specifically. I sacrificed the flow to some of my organs and my lower half, but that was fine… I needed this change much more seriously than any organ. I ground my teeth together and focused on the bones themselves. If I could heal back entire organs, limbs, and flesh, why couldn’t I change the shape of the tips of my fingers?
I strained and stretched them out, imagining the shape I wanted. Demanding that my Unending Vitality listen to my demands, and form into that same shape. My ability struggled and pushed back, but after a long moment, it grudgingly began to listen. My bones shifted and cracked, but ever so lightly, I could tell that they were changing. Granted, it wasn’t exactly a fast change, but slowly, ever so slowly I could feel them becoming what I needed.
It wasn’t so much that I was growing claws, but more so that every time the acid burned off the top layer of my bones, and I quickly regenerated each layer, a little bit at a time, they were becoming more angled. Slightly more pointed, and slightly more serrated. The Bears' roars became more ragged, more… panicked. If I still had my lips and face, I probably would have been smiling. As it was, I just felt a little pulse of contentment in the sea of pain. This was actually working… ha!
New Skill Learned!
Claw (Novice)
I continued digging, using my newfound sharp claws as much as I could. I pulled into the void and activated claw over and over again, and as that began to rip and tear the mucus away finally, another realization hit me. I grinned and stabbed my fingers into the stomach lining, reaching into the void once more and activating pierce. I activated it over and over, the growing success of the motion drowning out the unbearable pain caused by the acid. My skin melted, regrew, melted and regrew, and at the same time, I stabbed, clawed, pierced, and struggled. My mind went numb to it all, as time drug on, and I ignored the growing burn that I was feeling in my lungs. My Unending Vitality was brought to the limits as it attempted to keep me alive, but that all changed as I finally saw a status window appear, and the searing acid calmed down in its intensity.
New Skill Learned!
Acid Resistance (Initiate)
I had to stop myself from laughing as my Unending Vitality suddenly was able to catch up and heal some of the damage. Exhilaration flowed through me, and I struck again, activating pierce once more, but as my claws flew forth I suddenly felt a rip, and everything exploded into motion. I flew forward as all of the acid in the stomach poured into the bears surrounding innards, the immediate flesh and tissue being instantly dissolved.
I was yanked backwards since my jaw was still dug into the flesh of the bear's stomach, but hope sang in my heart as more of the stomach acid raced past me. The Bear roared in agony, for the first time that I could remember since the damn thing had first crashed into the wolves den. Funny, that I had to literally rip open its stomach in order to actually cause it some level of pain. Fucking ridiculous beast, no wonder it hadn’t even flinched when the rock wall had fallen on top of it.
Now that the stomach was ripped open, the rushing acid that had been burning past me quickly diluted with the rest of the bear's blood. I dug my teeth in and focused on allowing my Unending Vitality to get to work, now that I really had a chance to finally really regenerate. Though I was still getting thrown around from the bear's death throes, I could finally feel my missing limbs return.
It took quite a long time, even with the split stomach and corrosive acid eating through it entirely, but finally, the bear’s thrashing slowed and then stopped, a loud thump shaking the whole thing. The tensed and twitching muscles went lax, and I groaned as all of the weight of the creature collapsed on top of me, crushing me once more. I groaned and struggled to move, but a sudden rush of euphoria crashed through me. I struggled not to laugh with joy as what little of me that hadn't healed, was suddenly regrown. A message popped in front of me for the first time in what felt like ages, and I grinned as I read it.
LEVEL UP!!!
LEVEL UP!!!
LEVEL UP!!!
LEVEL UP!!!
LEVEL UP!!!
LEVEL UP!!!
Name: ???
Race: Chimera (NEW!)
Level: Fifteen (NEW!)
Title: Dire Slayer (NEW!)
Abilities:
Undying Will
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Unending Vitality (Incomplete
Death's Favoured (Incomplete)(NEW!)
Skills:
Sprint (Veteran)
Sword Slash (Initiate)
Pierce (Initiate)(NEW!)
Acid Resistance (Initiate)
Claw (Novice)(NEW!)
Of course I couldn't really ‘see’ anything, but I could still feel what was there and what they each meant. I cracked my neck and winced as my lungs once again reminded me that I hadn’t had a breath of air in… well, I guess since I first woke up. I inwardly sighed and made my way to the side of the bear, flexing my new claws. I wasn't exactly sure what ‘Death's Favoured’ meant, but the fact that I had gained the claw skill and the acid resistance was nothing but good news really. With all the level ups I just got as well, I had the feeling that I was going to be able to get out of here no problem! Today really was going to be a good day!
Unfortunately, that was before I had attempted to make my way out of it. Even without the damn thing tossing and turning and moving about, it really took me longer than I wanted to admit to actually get out of the Dire Bear carcass. Even on the inside, its skin was so durable and tough that even with the claw skill, and my pierce skill, I couldn't even really piece it. Honestly, I had no clue how long it was going to take, but I was definitely going to have to carve myself something to wear once I could.
ped, though it meant I probably wasn’t going to be able to stay here for long. Even in the midst of winter, it would attract unwanted scavengers and make the cave possibly disease ridden.
The stomach acid even while it was diluted was constantly melting my skin off even with my new acid resistance skill. It was unbelievably annoying, causing me to have to divert a lot of my attention and focus on regenerating before I could really start to tear in. Figuring out how to use my new claws wasn't even that hard either, and frankly it was immensely satisfying as well feeling the skin tear and rip apart, bit by bit. Watching the tear in the Dire Bears side slowly light up red as it got deeper and deeper, and then feeling my claws finally puncture through… Ah, it was glorious.
In much the same way as earlier when I had torn open the stomach, when the skin ripped apart, I was sent flying along with the diluted blood and acid, and the innards of the Dire Bear. I laid there for a long time, laughing and choking on the sweet cool perfection of the air for the first time. Granted, I was still a bit melted and covered in the entrails and blood of the Dire Bear, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
My eyes wandered over the once den of the Dire wolves, and I couldn't help but whistle in appreciation when I saw the rampant destruction the Bear had caused during its death throes. Since it had taken it over, it looked like it had entirely taken over the wolves' old den, and its claw marks in the stone walls were everywhere, marring the once beautiful stone. The leftover bones and what I assume was the bedding where the Bear once slept was flung all over the den, the drifting dust and shards covering the walls and floor.
As for the bear itself… The bear's body was splayed out on the floor behind me, its face frozen in one last look of rage and pain. I frowned as I noticed that its body was actually rather slim. Definitely nowhere near as filled out when I had last seen and fought it. It was incredibly confusing, but when I glanced at the entrance to the den, I saw that there was glittering snow filtering in, painting the ground white. I sighed and laid back. It was winter… that damn bear must have been in the middle of hibernating, huh?
I frowned at that thought, and tapped my claws on the ground. I might have to adjust my plans to venture out into the world if it was winter. I wasn’t sure how much the snow would slow me down, but I didn’t want to have to trudge through that if I could help it.
I let out a sigh and turned towards the carcass once more, looking it up and down more intensely. As I had assumed earlier, it had obviously been hibernating based on how shriveled its body looked. Lucky me… no wonder it had taken so long for it to react when I had been carving up its stomach at first. I looked its side up and down, and shrugged. I guess I had some time if it really was winter. I doubted any predators were going to be doing any real foraging now, and none of them would really want to try and encroach on a damn Dire Bear’s territory. I groaned and rolled over and got to my feet, stretching out as I stood up. I could carve myself a pelt later, but for now I was going to do something I hadn’t done in much, much too long. I was going to eat!
I skipped around the cave, gleefully collecting sticks and fur and tossing them into a pile. It was winter sure, but the cave was somehow still dry, which was probably why the den had been so sought out in the first place. I laughed as I scooped up more wood, amazed at the fact that the bear had never gotten rid of all the teething wood the wolves had collected. That was going to be unbelievably useful for the fire. I hummed to myself and happily skipped over to the Bear and stopped by its side setting down the firewood.
It had been hibernating, which meant it must have eaten a ton and saved up at least some fat reserves. Those would be great for the fire hopefully. I frowned down at the pooling blood, before tapping my chin thoughtfully. Well, I guess that couldn’t be helped, though it meant I probably wasn’t going to be able to stay here for long. Even in the midst of winter, it would attract unwanted scavengers and make the cave possibly disease ridden.
I glanced down at my blood red arms and sighed. I needed to wash up as well, I hadn’t been able to really be ‘clean’ in so long… The wolves were always ripping my skin and limbs off. I had been far too busy fighting and evading the Dire Bear to even look down at myself, let alone worry about being clean, and even in Grim’s realm, I had been covered in bone dust and black sand the whole time. I laughed and stretched out. It was about damn time that I took the time to wash up, eat something, and finally start moving forward.
Speaking of next steps and moving forward… I narrowed my eyes and started looking around. Where… hmm… not there… or there… I paced around, kicking piles of leaves and old bones aside until I came upon a massive boulder. I grinned, and cracked my neck. Oh yeah, I remember you, boulder. I foraged around the base until finally, I found what I had been looking for. I gripped the wooden handle and lifted it out from under the pile of leaves I'd found it in. I couldn’t help but whistle again as the gorgeous blade caught the glittering light that was reflecting off of nearby snow.
The axe was still somehow all in one piece, and to my surprise it still didn't even have a speck of rust or any wear and tear. I wasn't sure if it was going to be here or not when I first awoke, but I had the feeling that it would have been. I doubted that the bear would have purposefully flung it from the cave, though since it was jammed under the rock, I doubted that it had even known that it was even there.
I looked it over and cocked my head to the side. It obviously wasn't a normal axe, though that didn’t surprise me. Even from that one swing that I had gotten in before I died, I could tell that it possessed a power all its own. I still would need to go out into the world at some point… And I would need this when I did. I looked it over again, and noticed that there was something written on the handle. I looked closer, but the only thing I could really make out was just the word… Xian…?
I tapped my chin and considered it for a moment longer, but ended up just shrugging and hefting it casually. You know… if it was sharp enough to bite into the bear's shoulder, maybe it was sharp enough to cut through its fur and flesh? I made my way back to the bear after I found some rocks that I figured would be good enough to use to try and light a fire with. I got to work, smashing the rocks together in order to create a spark, and… failed each time. It was frustrating, but I had nothing but time right now, this cold was nothing compared to Grim's realm. Thankfully, it probably even kept the bear's flesh from spoiling.
It took me longer than I cared to mention to light the fire, but once I did the dry kindling caught fire quickly. I sighed as the heat pulsed through my body, and taking the axe I sauntered up to the bear's carcass again, eyeing it. I'd need to carve off a healthy chunk of its pelt to clean and cure so that I could wear it, and I'd need to make jerky out of most of the meat and set aside the fat for the fire. I could probably wrap the meat in the bear's fur and dig a hole to stash it outside, though I wasn't looking forward to digging through the cold ground. I laughed and casually swung the axe around. No time like night time to skin and cook a bear carcass the size of a shed!
I got to work, humming to myself as I carved and hacked away at the carcass. It would be an understatement to say that it was an easy time of course, but the axe definitely helped make it go easier. It wasn’t until the lights first rays started shining into the den that I had finally finished my bloody task. The pelts were scrubbed clean in the snow, the flesh was cut into strips for jerky, the fat was left in piles for the fire, the bear’s bones were set aside for later potential uses, and finally, oh so finally, I skewered some of the better cuts and carefully set them over the fire, carefully turning them. I let out a deep sigh as the scents of the cooked meat wafted through the air, and finally took a step back, staring at the dripping meat in front of me. When the wolves had been tearing me apart, I hadn’t even had the chance to feel hungry, and when I was running and fighting the Bear, I was much too stressed out. Even in Death’s realm I hadn’t taken a bite, though to be fair, I hadn’t ever seemed to feel hungry. Much like cleaning up, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had been, ‘hungry’. Now though, as I stared at the juicy skewer in my hands, I was content. This is what I had needed, some goddamn grub!
I licked my lips, and took a massive bite of the meat, tearing off a huge chunk of it. It was still unbelievably hot, and my entire mouth protested in agony as I felt my tongue, gums, and the roof of my mouth sear. I didn’t care at all, and chewed and swallowed another piece, feeling my intestines rumble with the excess heat. It was just so fucking delicious, and even without my tastebuds, I was in euphoric heaven. My mouth healed soon, and I tasted the meat for the first real time now that it had cooled down some. It really was unbelievable. I chewed and swallowed, letting out a loud sigh after. I grinned at the skewer and dug in, searing my mouth again, but I just couldn’t stop smiling.
Finally, I was here. A deep part of me still screamed for vengeance, but I still couldn’t help but smile. I was alive, and I wasn’t done fighting either, I still had a chance to really see this world and live my life. I tore off the last piece of bear meat, and sighed, stretching out and eying the opening of the cave once more. I was full now, so all that was left was a good ol’ wash off, and a look around the surrounding area. I didn’t want to walk too far away, lest some beast try and sneak away some of my kill. Though, when I was racing away from the Bear, I feel like I did remember there being a river, somewhere nearby. If I was lucky, it might even be thawed out enough for me to wash off in it.
I cracked my neck and knuckles and made my way out of the cave for the first real time since coming back. I was instantly blinded by the glittering white of a sea of snow, but after a brief moment, I slowly opened my eyes to my surroundings. Everything was just as I remembered it from before, but now it was covered in a deep layer of snow. It was cold, and I could see my breath in the air, but it was nowhere near as cold as Grim’s realm had been. I glanced at the untouched snow and hummed to myself. Based on the lack of footprints or marks in the snow, I don’t think that any animal had left, or been near the cave all winter. Even after the Bear’s death throes and all my cleaning and cooking, nothing had dared to investigate the cave either…
I whistled to myself and made my way around to the other two dens, curiously checking out each of them. The one on the right still had the remnants of where the pack of wolves had slept and made their beds, though it looked like the bear had rummaged through them. The one on the left though… It was way more intriguing. It was absolutely full of piles and piles of items and things. I whistled again as I walked into the cave, slowly pacing around the massive hoard. There were glittering coins, rusted weapons, broken shields, vials filled with liquid, and weird metal pieces scattered all over the floor.
I nudged a couple of them, but couldn’t really see anything of interest, so I just shrugged and walked out. I had that axe anyways, I didn’t need or have the ability to drag all of that with me if I decided to leave. I made my way out and ran my hands along the markings that the Bear had left behind. There were so many, and I frowned as I wandered around the clearing and looked at each. So many… how long had I been there? How long was I in Grim’s realm of Death? I had originally thought it was only a couple seasons, but looking at all these… There was no way. Some of these were at least a few years old…
I groaned and smacked my head. I can’t believe I forgot, hadn’t Grim told me something about time not working normally there? I sighed and slammed my fist into the rock wall. Well, I guess I couldn’t really change that… but damn it! How much time had I spent dead, suffering, or on the edge of death since waking up in Verdant’s realm? I sighed and glanced back at the den. This wasn’t what I needed to do. I needed to fucking do something. I looked back out into the snow covered and narrowed my eyes. Out there… That was where I was going to find it. I glanced back at the den as the last of the smoke escaped the den. I could come back for the axe at a later date, and I didn’t really need the jerky. I hesitated for a second at the thought of leaving behind the Bear hide, but I shook my head. No, I didn’t even know what to do with all of that. Even if I tried to do something, I had no idea if it was actually going to work at all anyways.
I grinned and straightened up once more. Ah fuck this, who cares how long I was in Grim’s realm? Who cares how long I was in the wolves den? I was free now. I was fucking free now! I laughed loudly and spun around in the snow. I was finally fucking free!
I jogged back into the cave, and cleaned up all the rest of the bear's carcass. Pile by pile I brought it all out and set it next to the holes I intended to dig. I set the hides up in the den, where my head had landed that one time. After that I tied up and buried the meat and hides, slinging all of the items I had intended to bring with me over my shoulder.
I grabbed the axe and turned towards the wilderness again. It was about damn time I made my own way. I glanced back at the dens and smirked. Hell, I might even come back one day. I looked back at the glittering snow, and started humming again. One day, but for now, my journey was starting. I walked forward, each step through the deep snow freezing my bare skin. I was finally happy again, knowing that from here on out I was finally free, and the snow echoed with the sound of my joyous laughter.