I continued in my way towards to the stream, pretending I was none the wiser to the two little furballs stalking me.

Putting down the hides, I started to check the river bank looking to dig up some mud to use as substitute for soap. The hides had an awful stench and were quite oily. I hoped that I could at least make them relatively cleaner by scrubbing them. The task took me nearly an hour during which my little stalkers got tired of hiding and gained some confidence to show themselves. 

I glanced at them and for the very first time since meeting me, they didn’t scurry off at my gaze. While still maintaining distance, they merely raised their little heads and ears as they looked back at me. While smiling, I took my eyes off of them in order not to make them uncomfortable and proceeded to finish the last step in my task, laying the now clean hides on several boulders to dry out.

After I was done, I took off my skirt hide and jumped into the stream. I scrubbed my hair and my skin to the best of my abilities without the luxury of soap and then, walked out to put back on my only piece of ‘clothing’. I shook my head vigorously like some dog, hoping to shake off some of the water still clinging to my short hair. After all, I had no towels to properly dry it. It was at such moments that I realized how convenient basic life necessities were and how much, I, as a modern human, took them for granted. Things like soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, combs, shampoo, shaving kit and towels. I would gladly trade a thousand Wailing Hound carcasses for any of these items.

Sometimes, I felt like I had time-slipped back to the pre-historic age instead of being transported into a fantasy novel. Although the novel was supposedly set in a vaguely medieval era, I didn’t have much sense of it. I ate what I hunted, I crafted what I needed and I fought to grow stronger.

If you take out the fantastical elements of levels, skills, an AI companion and a reward system, I was no different from a Stone Age man who just happened to have a non-human form. I was even following in the steps of my early ancestors, trying to domesticate wild ‘cats’. I supposed I should be thankful that there were no dinosaurs around, except I already knew there were worse things than dinosaurs in this alternative world.

Rubbing a hand against my wet face, I smacked myself to stop my mind from wandering into useless mental rabbit holes. I took a seat on the ground, next to the stream and decided to take a short break. From the corner of my eye, I threw a glance at the kittens and saw them laying down next to each other, few meters away from me. The shy one was licking its sibling’s paw while the other closed its eyes, enjoying the grooming. 

As I peeked at them, I realized I had no idea what gender or species they were and if they had names. The Wailing Hounds and the Crimson Hares I had met had the generic name of their species as well as their race class displayed on the screen-box. They didn’t have unique names and I wasn’t informed what specific gender they were.

Curious, I asked Dolores while keeping the kittens within my line of sight. “Dolores, can you tell me what species, class and gender those two are?”

Instantly, two identical black screens with white font appeared above the frolicking kittens. Both screens displayed the same information.

Wait, what?! Mythical bloodline? What does that mean? Don’t monsters and humans follow the same rank and leveling system?

I had never paid much attention to the ranking of monsters when I read the novel. All I knew was that monsters were generally far stronger than humans which why adventurers and subjugation raids were a thing. My knowledge pretty much stopped right there. Seeking further explanation, I turned to Dolores. “How does the rank system work for monsters? And how does it differ from humans?”

Oh, wow!

Even though I had read the entire novel, this was new information to me. During the hero’s whole ‘training arc’, the author had pretty much glossed over the whole monster-slaying thing. They didn’t care to go into depths concerning this part of the worldbuilding and all I got, as a reader, was a convenient time-skip after a chapter or two. So this was my first time realizing that not all creatures of this world evolved the same way.

I was suddenly curious as to why I followed the same rank system as humans even though my character’s race wasn’t actually human. Since Dolores was generous to me with her knowledge, I decided to ask her. “My race is Voidling and yet I follow the same rank system as humans. Why is that? And what about the four ancient races? Do they also follow the same system as well?”

Talk about being special! Turned out I actually was. So far, I had thought everyone else had some sort of system similar to Dolores which was built into their heads as soon as they ‘awakened’ their potential. I thought being able to personally allocate stat points and receive rewards was something normal that happened with every level-up or rank-up. I mean the hero of the story also had a guide in the form of a Spirit companion and she had helped him achieve Legend rank by teaching him how to train and where to acquire rare skills, weapons and crafting ingredients.

Wait, doesn’t this still make Dolores far superior than this legendary ancient Spirit? Did I actually get a better deal than the actual protagonist of the novel? 

Different thoughts raced across my mind. Although I had an inkling that my circumstances were somewhat special, still I had no idea how special they actually were. Now, I found myself growing apprehensive about the final quest, wondering how difficult it must be for me to be gifted such an advantage from the get-go.

Can it be that this unknown final quest is something beyond even the capacities of the novel’s protagonist?

Damn it, I knew it. There is no such a thing as a free, easy meal in the world, not even this fantasy world.

Redirecting my attention to the kittens, more thoughts started to brew within my mind. Seeing how their parent was able to stand up to that terrifyingly strong white wolf, I felt that the kittens would naturally belong to a strong and superior species of beast monsters. But I still had no idea that they were considered mythical in this world’s settings.

It seemed I had unwittingly hit the jackpot once again. However my cautious nature didn’t allow me to celebrate just yet. Dolores and now two monsters with mythical bloodline I could tame, how much of it was coincidence and how much of it was orchestrated by a third party I couldn’t see?

Sighing, I rubbed my fingers against my temples hoping to alleviate the headache that was already developing from too much thinking. Rolling my shoulders, I took a deep breath and carefully let it out.

Okay, no more thinking. Let’s just take things as they are for now, no need to over-analyze everything.

I knew the best way to deal with my wandering mind was to keep busy. And that was what I would do. Standing up, I decided to look for some sturdy vine to use instead of thread once the hides dried up. I also thought about going back to where I had seen the Crimson Hares and letting the little ones practice their hunting instincts. I needed to take an in-depth look into their skills but I thought I could always do it later.

However before I could act on any of these ideas, the warm wind carried an unnatural rustle to my ears from the opposite bank. I instinctively turned in the direction of the questionable sound and every muscle in my body froze.

I had never encountered a moose face to face in my life before. But for now, let’s say I did and this said moose I saw had long grey fur instead of brown, spikes coming out of its head au lieu of antlers and twin tusks protruding over its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Also one more thing, it was as high as a horse and as bulky as a bison. Now, if that was in front of me, should I freak out or not?

Regardless of what you might answer, I did freak out, very much so in fact. It was just that I did it internally of course. In reality, I had yet to more a single inch.

A familiar screen-box conveniently materialized before my eyes, hammering it in to me just how fucked I was.

 Oh yes, thank you Dolores for convincing me I have no way to win against this thing.

As I kept my eyes on the monster, I noticed it didn’t seem very interested in me. Instead, its big, black eyes were honed on the twin kittens as if they owed it money. Its gaze, which had been stoic as it checked me out, was now brimming with hostility and murderous intent.

Suddenly, an image of adult African buffalos cornering and killing off lion cubs from some video I had watched years ago came to my mind, almost like an omen. My Perception stat had gone wild ages ago screaming to me that I must pick the little ones and get the fuck away from that thing, and do it as soon as possible.   

With little to no conscious thought, I activate my Voidling form, scooped up the struggling kittens in my claws and jumped up into the closest tree I found.

Before I could even jump off to the next tree, the ground started to shake almost like an incoming earthquake. The moment I leapt to the next tree, the one I was previously on tumbled down as if it was made of butter. I had no idea how such a huge and bulky thing could be so fucking fast as to cross a stream and catch up to me in seconds. The realization of it terrified me because I knew my Vitality stat couldn’t save me against this monster if I had to face it.

I forced myself not to look behind me and just kept jumping off from one tree to another. The kittens, which were struggling and making a huge fuzz against my chest a second ago, had become strangely docile. They started to shake like leaves in my claws and their little hearts were thumbing as wildly as they possibly could without giving out.

I realized they were afraid. The little ones were scared out of their minds of that monster. Seeing them so weak and fragile simulated my protective instincts and my grip on them subconsciously tightened.

I can’t allow them to be hurt. I promised to take care of them so I have to do just that.

As I run away, I activated my 【Void Step】three times in a row hoping to cause the monster to lose my trail. I clang to my advantage of height like a lifeline, paying no mind to how many Stamina points I had to use as long as me and the kittens could reach safety.

But sometimes in life, the more you wished for something, the less likely it would happen. Just I had safely landed on yet another tree and was just about to jump into the next one, a pissed off snake-like monster I didn’t notice bounced on me from the branches. Its mouth was wide open and its hallow fangs dripped of what looked suspiciously like venom. It startled the shy twin and the kitten slipped out of my hand into the ground.

I didn’t think. I just went after it and with lightening speed, I pulled it back into my claws just before it could reach the ground and crack its small head open. While the kitten was safe, for a moment I was forced to come to the ground and abandon the safety of the high trees.

And that was a fatal mistake.                                                                                         

As soon as I landed on the forest floor, a huge blurry shape rammed right into my left side and threw me into the air before I could even react. I instinctively shielded the little ones with my arms as my body rolled on the hard ground and painfully crashed against an unyielding tree trunk.  

My ears rang so loudly against my head that for moment, I went deaf. Agony tore through my left arm and when I gingerly glanced down at it, I realized that it was bent the wrong way. I frantically looked around me for the kittens and I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw them clinging to my skirt hide with their little claws. Except for their trembling, they looked unharmed.

Dolores warned me.

The monster snorted at me, as if mocking how weak and pathetic I was. It then charged at me again. This time, I saw it coming which gave me a split second worth of time to make a decision. Ignoring the searing pain in my left arm, I threw my Voidling Strands like hooked ropes at the tree I had crashed into and did a back-flip, landing the sharp ends of my claw-like toes against the trunk. Using the surface of the trunk as a foothold, I activated 【Void Step】a fourth time and teleported to the highest branch I could glimpse. By the time the monster reached my spot, I was no longer there. Instead, it rammed into the trunk and split the tree in a half. At that point, I had already jumped off to another tree.

I activated 【Void Step】a fifth and a sixth time until my 30 points Stamina stat completely run out. Even then, I didn’t stop running. I continued to rely on my Voidling from and Agility stat to leap from one tree to another as fast as I possibly could. I lost sense of time as I kept running while squishing the little ones into my chest with my unbroken arm. Eventually, my Perception stat could no longer pick up the monster’s murderous aura.

I only stopped when I glimpsed a narrow little cave down on the forest floor. The opening was small and the cavity was burrowed deep into the ground. I run to it as soundlessly as I could while my heart continued to beat against my chest like a war drumbeat.   

I first slipped the kittens through the opening before following behind them. I was tall and broad-shouldered in both my human and my Voidling forms but I still wasn’t as absurdly huge as that monster. So, with some difficulty, I managed to squeeze myself inside. Although the place was far more spacious on the inside, it was dark and cold, smelling of rotting leaves and wet soil.

At that moment, it smelled heavenly to the exhausted, injured me. I laid on the ground on my back and rested my eyes. My breathing was slowly coming down back to normal and my heart no longer felt as it was going to burst through my ears. As soon as my adrenaline crashed down, the pain of my broken arm came back with a vengeance. I gritted my teeth until it hurt, swallowing down my desire to groan and scream. I had to remain as quiet as possible in case the monster was still out there, tracking me and the kittens down.

As I struggled with the agony and the desire to vomit my guts out, I suddenly felt something wet and rough against the skin of my broken arm. I glanced down and was momentarily taken aback at the sight of the two little kittens softly licking my injury. Their big, misty red eyes looked at me and a burst of warmth exploded within my chest, bringing tears to my eyes.

Chuckling, I sagged against the cold, damp soil.

At least, something came out of breaking my arm and nearly dying. I was mentally exhausted so without much thought, I gaze at the brave kitten first before muttering, "Konni, that will be your name."

Then I turned to its shy sibling, "And you, you will be Cinnamon. Cliche? I know sweet little one, but I guess you will have to put up with it for now."

I closed my eyes and a ding sounded in my ears before Dolores chimed in.

Okay, I could do that later but first, how the fuck do I heal?

LostinMovement

A little trivia, Baalham is the name of a black jaguar Mayan god :)