[hp: 60/100] 

[mp: 00/50] 

Taking another look at the status screen, my health remained at 60 out of 100, and my mana was completely depleted at 0 out of 50. With Shia's help, we began the task of moving the wolf corpses, gathering them into a pile as we contemplated how to make the most of these fallen creatures. 

As memories of the intense fight replayed in my mind, I couldn't shake the recollection of the cold jolts that had surged through my entire body. Realizing how close to death I had come wasn't as exhilarating as the tales my thrill-seeking friends often recounted from their radical sports adventures. The absence of any safety net in our current situation added another layer of dread, especially considering the likelihood of encountering more feral monsters. 

"So... can we use these bodies? You know, to make leather and clothes or something?" I inquired, looking to Shia as we completed the arrangement of the wolf corpses into a small pile. The alpha, being the heaviest, was left for last. 

Shia considered the question before responding, "Yes, I could use them for that, but it would take some time—probably 14 days or more. The meat, however, may rot if we don't find a quick way of preserving it," she explained, leaving me uncertain about the next course of action. 

"The time to make the leather is fine; it's not like we need to move fast. But do you know a way to preserve the meat?" I asked, to which Shia responded with a troubled expression, "No, sorry." 

"Well... We might as well eat the most of it then," I joked, starting to walk towards the alpha corpse. "Can you remove their leather?" I instructed Shia to prepare the smaller wolves as I considered how to transport all the bodies with us. However, as I approached the alpha, a familiar instinct took over. 

"Fuck," was all I could say before the control of my body was snatched away. A dense hunger surged, urging me to devour anything in front of me. In an instant, a familiar scene unfolded as I devoured the dead beast like an animal that hadn't eaten in years, a blissful sense of fulfillment washing over me as parts of the disappearing mass entered my stomach. 

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Predator Activated: 

Consumed: 1 Alpha Feral Ravager  

Abilities Taken: 

Passive: {Magic resistance},{Nature cover} 

Active: {Marking} 

____________________________________________________________________________________ 

A screen materialized, bringing my awareness back as I realized the wolf's corpse had completely vanished within my stomach. Groggily, I rose to my feet, observing the screen proudly displaying the aftermath of my feral frenzy. 

"Looks like I'll need to get used to that," I joked to myself, not anticipating a response. 

"Yep," Shia calmly said, startling me. "I didn't know your race had customs similar to some of our tribes," she added with a straight face, indicating that what I had just done wasn't considered abnormal in this world, or at least, not strange in her culture. 

"Customs?... No, it's... it's my class. It allows me to absorb corpses to gain their abilities and power," I explained, clarifying the nature of my actions and realizing that the 'eating a corpse' part of the conversation wasn't the issue. 

"Wow," she exclaimed with glowing eyes. "So that's why you're bigger," she said, her expression showing understanding. 

"Bigger?" I questioned, finally realizing the change in my size. It wasn't a drastic transformation, but enough to be noticeable. "But why didn't I grow when I ate the Flesh Bush?" I pondered aloud, noticing the discrepancy. 

A voice, unheard for a while, offered an explanation. "[Because he was an alpha, user. That turned him into a great energy deposit. When you consumed him, you acquired that energy, which was then transformed by your body and class into usable power for you]," the voice explained. 

"System? Why did you disappear?" I asked, realizing I hadn't actively sought him out. 

"[You never asked me anything, so I just waited...]" the monotone voice responded, and a subtle loneliness lingered between the gaps. "Sorry," I offered an apology. 

[No problem]he responded in a vaguely happy monotone voice. 

"is that the system you told me about?" Shia, noticing that I was talking to myself, asked the question while going back into skinning the leather off the bodies of the wolves. 

"Yes, by the way, I didn't actually appraised my new abilities" I responded while gathering some items in the wood to help us carrying the loot with the help of the system. 

"Interesting," I mused to myself while fashioning a makeshift rope from some long vines found near the river. With the rope completed, I assisted Shia in carrying the loot, our pace slowed by the weight of the meat and leather, though I felt a newfound strength in my body that made the burden manageable. 

As the sun began to set and clouds gathered, we retreated to our cave, where we arranged everything for the remainder of the day. Shia took charge of preparing the leather and meat, while I delved into testing my new abilities and occasionally lent her a hand. 

Magical Resistance proved challenging to assess without field testing, as I had no intention of becoming a target for magical projectiles. I moved on to Nature Cover, discovering it was simpler than I had anticipated. Activation caused most of my body to appear like a reflection of what lay behind me. While a close inspection might reveal irregularities, it still provided a measure of concealment. 

Marking, on the other hand, was a more complex concept and became the primary focus of my experimentation. Activating it with my restored mana, I selected the territorial mode and stepped outside. Immediately, a "make a marker" side screen prompted me, and using a stick, I drew a simple circle on the ground at the cave entrance. With that, some of my mana depleted, and an invisible aura enveloped the region around the cave entrance. The aura emitted a strangely comforting vibe, and I realized I couldn't create another mark without depleting my mana again. 

Returning inside, I finally brought up a peculiar tab that had appeared in my vision some time ago. 

"System, what is that {System} tab, and why do both of you have the same name?" I inquired, studying the main screen where the tab, colored purple like the text from the other system, appeared just below every other tab. 

[From my knowledge, it's a special tab exclusive to your race, but the use of it is beyond my understanding], he said, not offering much explanation. Faced with a lack of help, I decided to go the old-fashioned way and mentally opened the strange tab, revealing a new screen with a purple color that immediately drew my attention. 

"Oookay?" I muttered to myself, observing the screen. It looked like a tab straight out of a strategy game, but there were no interactable buttons or anything like that. 

Starting from the bottom and working my way up, I attempted to open the closed tabs like the {Nest tab} to see their purpose, but as it claimed, they were blocked for some reason. 

The Typhon race tab seemed somewhat straightforward, but it left me with bigger questions. "Brood Mothers? And what's with this black part?" Clicking on the only name, Shia, revealed a status screen similar to mine. It displayed her name, race, class, and sub-class, but strangely, no HP or MP. The only indicator of her state was the tag (Alive). 

That's all I could gather, as the rest of the tab refused to reveal anything. The blank name next to Shia remained empty on its status screen, and the tertiary beings tab, when opened, displayed a sea of blank names with the same (Alive) tag repeatedly. 

Slightly disappointed, I closed the tab and decided to spend the rest of the day training my transformation ability. 

Gustavofoxy1

 

 

This chapter was supposed to be bigger, but due to pacing reasons(and my own laziness), i decided to make two separated chapters instead, expect next chapter this friday.