Kael stood in silence, staring at the place where the Void Rat's corpse had vanished. The cavern was once again eerily quiet, save for the occasional drip of water echoing through the darkness. His breathing had steadied, and although every muscle in his body still ached, the unbearable pain from moments ago had faded into a dull throb.
He slowly flexed his fingers.
The strength returning to his body wasn't an illusion.
The System had healed him.
Not completely, but enough to keep him alive.
A translucent screen appeared before him once more.
Host Status
Name: Kael Draven
Race: Human
Realm: Unawakened
Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Vitality: 4
Soul: 7
Void Energy: 1
Evolution Progress: 2%
Abilities:
Devour
Minor Regeneration (Passive)
"So that's everything..."
Kael studied the screen for another moment before it disappeared.
He had countless questions, but none of them mattered if he couldn't survive.
His stomach growled loudly.
He hadn't eaten since morning.
The battle, the betrayal, and the fall into the Abyss had drained what little strength he had left.
"If monsters are the only food down here..."
He looked toward the darkness.
"...then monsters it is."
Picking up a jagged piece of stone from the ground, Kael tested its weight. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was better than fighting barehanded.
He took a cautious step forward.
The cavern stretched far beyond what he had imagined. Massive black pillars rose toward a ceiling hidden in darkness, while glowing violet crystals embedded in the walls cast enough light to reveal winding tunnels leading in every direction.
Some passages were narrow.
Others were large enough for giants.
There were no footprints.
No signs that another human had ever walked here.
As Kael moved deeper into the cavern, he noticed strange plants growing between the cracks in the stone. Thick blue moss covered portions of the walls, while pale mushrooms clustered beneath the larger crystals.
He knelt beside one of them.
"They look edible..."
The System immediately responded.
Mooncap Fungus
Threat Level: None
Edibility: Safe
Nutrition: Low
Kael smiled faintly.
"So you can identify things."
He carefully gathered several mushrooms before eating one.
It tasted terrible.
Bitter enough to make him wince.
Still, it eased the hunger twisting in his stomach.
"I've definitely had worse."
He continued forward.
Several minutes later, the tunnel widened into another chamber.
This one was littered with bones.
Small bones.
Hundreds of them.
Kael immediately crouched behind a broken pillar.
His instincts screamed at him.
Something lived here.
A scratching sound echoed from somewhere ahead.
Then another.
Soon dozens of tiny red eyes began appearing throughout the darkness.
More Void Rats.
Kael counted silently.
One...
Three...
Five...
Eight.
Too many.
Even with the System, fighting all of them at once would be suicide.
He slowly retreated into the shadows, keeping his breathing as quiet as possible.
The rats hadn't noticed him yet.
His eyes scanned the chamber.
There.
Near the far wall.
A smaller rat had wandered away from the group, sniffing around a pile of broken bones.
Perfect.
Kael picked up a pebble and tossed it toward the opposite side of the chamber.
The stone clattered loudly against the wall.
Instantly, every rat turned toward the sound.
The lone rat hesitated before separating from the pack.
It cautiously approached the noise.
Kael waited.
Closer.
Closer.
The moment it passed behind a pillar, he moved.
His stone blade came down with all his strength.
The rat let out a sharp squeal as the jagged rock buried itself in its neck.
Before it could cry out again, Kael struck a second time.
Then a third.
The creature stopped moving.
A notification appeared.
Void Rat Eliminated.
Devour?
YES / NO
"Yes."
Black mist flowed from the corpse into his body.
Warmth spread through his limbs.
Vitality +1
Void Energy +1
Evolution Progress: 4%
Kael immediately dragged the body behind the pillar before the others noticed.
The healing wasn't dramatic this time, but he felt noticeably stronger.
"So that's how it works."
Each monster brought him one step closer to evolution.
Not levels.
Evolution.
There was a difference.
Levels could be lost.
Evolution became part of who he was.
A low growl interrupted his thoughts.
Kael slowly peeked around the pillar.
The remaining rats had discovered the blood.
Their noses twitched as they searched for the intruder.
One by one, they spread out across the chamber.
"They're hunting me."
His grip tightened around the stone weapon.
Running wasn't an option.
There was only one exit.
And the rats were between him and it.
Kael forced himself to stay calm.
He had survived betrayal.
He had survived the fall.
He had survived death itself.
He wasn't going to die to oversized rats.
He looked around one last time.
The chamber was filled with fallen rocks, narrow gaps, and towering pillars.
A battlefield.
One that favored intelligence over brute strength.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"If I can't beat all of you at once..."
He slipped silently into the shadows.
"...then I'll hunt you one by one."
Deep within the darkness, the rats let out piercing screeches as they searched for their unseen prey.
For the first time since entering the Abyss...
Kael was no longer the hunted.
He had become the hunter.