That Which Devours

“You over-ate?” If they were the size of a mosquito, how the heck did they drink that much blood? Goosebumps raced along my arms despite the muggy heat. I felt a little wobbly, but forced myself to straighten my spine.

“Let it be a lesson to you, don’t over-eat, or lose control.”

I realized we were just standing in the middle of the jungle and not making any progress toward the compound. “Or I fall asleep?” I asked.

“You can become incapacitated. It’s a hassle for me, but at your level, it can be deadly.”

I nodded, but started walking again. The buzzing sound was close to my right ear, then it stopped near my shoulder. It took a great amount of willpower to not swing my hand at the sound. I’d always swatted at mosquitoes, and now I had one talking to me.

“So, what wisdom can you give me, oh Great Blood Devourer?”

“Not much, I’m on vacation. An expensive one, in fact, and I don’t want to get booted before my time is up.”

This time I stopped walking, and my head tilted. Words tumbled out of my mouth. “Vacation? This is a vacation?” I was so confused I couldn’t even walk for a moment. We were in a jungle filled with carnivorous predators and my people were fighting to survive, but this was a vacation? What was going on?

Three leaves moved on my left and I went on red alert. My knife was in my hand, then I extended it to a spear. Something else moved on my right side and I crouched down. Whatever it was, it was small, and there was more than one. It chirped, and my eyes narrowed. I knew that sound.

Two small Compys launched themselves at me from the right. I slashed with my spear, the tip glowing. I hit one and the other dodged, but I ignored it as I twisted to face the one that had launched itself at me from the other side.

I missed that one, too, but now I could see how many I was facing. One limped off, my strike having wounded its leg, leaving three. I didn’t know where the last one came from, but if this was all of the pack, I might be okay. The smallest one darted at me and I lunged at it. This had to have been unexpected, since the other two fled while I chopped into the unfortunate creature.

[You have gained experience from the Compy.]

[You have leveled up.]

The dead creature looked like a featherless chicken covered in dark green scales, with a long neck. It must have been young. That left two uninjured, and one I’d nicked. I’d have to keep an eye out.

I turned away from the carcass.

“You're not going to eat it?” asked Noseen.

I hesitated. “Eat it?”

“Devour it? Grow?” They paused. “Maybe you aren’t so smart after all.”

I turned back to the Compy and picked up the body. The head was somewhere in the bushes. I put it into my inventory. “Not right now, maybe later.” My stomach growled a little on cue. “You’re kidding me…”

“The sooner you eat it after a kill, the more you gain.”

I let out a sigh and pulled out the Compy. I used my knife, without the heated tip, to cut off a leg. Then I sat down to skin it, while trying to keep an eye out for any more. The meat didn’t smell as good as the Para had, but I took a small bite. A very different flavor washed over my mouth, and it didn’t take long for the leg to be picked clean. I then did the same to the other one. The center mass was mostly organs, and while I bet I could eat it, I didn’t want to.

“So you consume the meat.” Noseen paused. “You should eat the heart.”

My mouth opened to resist, but I stopped myself, and then cut into the chest. I cut the heart out, keeping the mess away from my clothing. It was small and only took one bite.

It reminded me of candy.

Sweet, somehow, and warm.

I wanted, no, needed more.

[You have devoured a Compy. You have gained major insight into Venomous Bite.]

The notification snatched the thought of more Compy hearts from my mind, leaving only a distant desire. It was the tastiest thing I’d eaten on the planet, and I would definitely eat more if I could, but it wasn’t a nearly mindless craving anymore. I’d definitely have to watch myself, it was easier than I could have imagined to lose myself when eating.

“So, what did you get?” asked Noseen.

“Major Insight into Venomous Bite…” I opened my stat sheet to see if anything had changed. Under skills, Venomous Bite was listed, but grayed out. “But I don’t think I have the skill yet. I also leveled.”

“Growth is good.”

My gaze landed on what was left of the creature, and I pulled out my canteen to wash my hands. Then I took several long drinks. “Let’s get out of here.” I stepped away from the area and I didn’t get far before I heard chirps behind me. “Eat or be eaten…” I whispered to myself.

“Nothing goes to waste in this place.”

This time as I moved through the bushes I kept my senses open, trying to spot trouble before it spotted me. I also moved slower, trying to keep my stealth in place as I traveled through the undergrowth.

I wanted to ask more questions of Noseen, but last time it had distracted me, and I still didn’t know how to respond to the vacation statement. That had to mean Noseen wasn’t from here. If not here, then where? Also, how could a bug talk? My next question had to be an important one, something that I needed to know right now, while traveling through this jungle.

I spotted a good climbing tree and headed up it. Once above the canopy, I discovered I was still on track, yet I didn’t move right away. “Noseen, how should I use my free stat points?”

“However you want, though you want to focus on your class.” A light buzzing sound came from my right shoulder. “I thought you were smart.”

I opened my stat sheet, staring at the various stats. The additional level had brought things up to 15s and 16s. I was pretty even across all of them. What was going to save me out here? Being quick and flexible had been my biggest advantages, so toughness, and probably fortitude. Pretty much everything but charisma, actually. Then again, I didn’t want even that to lag too far behind. Before I could second guess myself, I allocated all 30 points I had.

Name: Alex

Level: 5

Race: Human

Traits: Survivability, Adaptation, Hangry

Class: Devourer

Stats:

STR: 13(18)

QUICK: 14(21)

FLEX:14(21)

TOUGH: 14(21)

INT: 13(17)

FORT:13(19)

WILL:13(20)

CHA: 13(17)

FREE:0

Monstrosity: 0

Titles & Achievements:

Jack-of-all-Trades

Lucky Stars

Skill:

Insight

Crystal Attunement

Iron Stomach

Heightened Senses

Stealth**

Blades and Polearms

Venomous Bite

Skills Categories: +

I closed my stat sheet as soon as I finished. My body felt a little weird as I climbed down. I had to pause halfway as I trembled. Everything ached, from my fingers to my toes, like I’d overworked myself. I wondered what other changes happened that I couldn’t see. A wave of tiredness washed over me, then vanished. Slowly, the pain went away.

“You hit a milestone,” whispered Noseen. “First stat over, what 20?”

I nodded, but said nothing. Instead, I held up four fingers.

In response, they buzzed but didn’t say anything. Once the trembling went away, I finished the climb down. I marked a ring around the tree and continued. I was so freaking close to the compound. The tree was nearby, toward my right, which was okay since the compound was to the west of it, and the tree wasn’t within the fence.

A strong acidic smell caused me to stop, and for a moment my eyes watered and I had to wipe away tears.

Noseen buzzed on my shoulder.

“What is that?” I whispered.

“Nothing good.”

I pulled my knife out and slowly moved forward. The smell blew in my face, but at least my eyes seemed to get used to it. Something in the distance looked wrong. The lines were too straight, not part of the jungle.

The fence.

Still, I stuck to the shadows, my shoulders hunched toward my ears, and I forced myself to relax and flow with each silent step.

[Stealth has improved.]

I muted notifications as soon as it flashed, keeping my eyes peeled. Though, the notification had been a potential indicator that something was out here. I crept toward the fence, a soft humming alive in the back of my mind. The fence was composed of narrow tree trunks lashed together to form diamonds, with thicker tree trunks as upright poles. Glittering crystals were lashed about midway up about every twenty feet. Yet, while the one in front of me sparkled, the next one over hung, dangling by a leather cord. The one after that looked shattered.

Instead of rushing forward, I watched. Inside the fence, I could see a broken section of a drop-ship with a wooden wall built onto it, with a large wooden door. Beside the ship was a large clearing, big enough for the shuttle to land. Farther to the right, there was an archway in the fence with what had to be wooden doors.

The damage was to the left. Part of the fence bent inward from a large tree leaning against the wooden structure. Glittering shards littered the ground; a broken crystal from where the tree had hit. Nothing moved inside the area, but two large whole crystals glittered near the opening to the dropship. They were the same size as the ones in the shuttle.

Bingo. That was what I needed.

There should be five guys still in the compound, but there wasn’t a sign of anything living. The only way I could see into the fence was through the arched doorway to the right. Maybe they were dead, and I could grab a crystal and go. But, then we’d need to head back to the colony with the shuttle, and that wouldn’t make anyone happy.

In the end, though, that was going to be John’s call. Either way, I needed one of those crystals. Hopefully, they weren’t as heavy as they looked. I wished I had one of the sleds that we used to transport goods through the jungle. I snuck along the edge of the fence line, the acidic smell still floating in the air toward the right side of the fence. In the distance, I could see the tall tree. Something moved in the highest branches, and I focused on it.

A crystal hung on the trunk right above a wooden platform that would fit a single person. The smell increased the closer I got to the archway. Something moved on the edge of the platform, and I froze.

Light reflected off two circles, and after a moment I realized they were binoculars. Someone was up there looking around at the forest. There had to be at least one survivor, and they were hiding in the tall tree. Now, I was torn; should I go talk to the person, or try to hike into the fenced area?

The sound of buzzing shot off my shoulder and vanished into the jungle before I could decide. I kept my slow pace up, heading in the direction of the fence, but keeping my body angled toward the tree. Better to not get shot in the back with an arrow.

There was a cleared area from the edge of the fence to the tree. It had to be fifty yards, and at one point small crystals had lined the path. Now, all that remained was another small crater.

Just how far had the meteor shower reached?

The buzzing returned to my shoulder.

“There are humans in the building within the fence. Not many, and a few are hurt. I could smell the blood.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, glad I had already decided to climb the tree and see what information I could get out of the person at the top. Stealing from the compound when there were survivors wouldn’t happen, so now I had to figure out if I could talk them into giving me what I needed. It was a good thing I hadn’t completely ignored Charisma, after all.