04 - OM NOM NOM

David only stopped his improvised flying practice when the sun started to creep over the mountains in the distance and the light began to sting his eyes. He grinned hugely and felt his face scrunch into what was probably a horrific snarl but couldn’t force himself to care. He could fly and was getting better at it by the hour. What started as clumsy launches and painful crashes had become graceful leaps into the sky…and painful crashes. David was learning quickly that his new body sucked at landing on flat ground, and landing on branches or trees was hard. He’d been worried to death about a small tear in his left wing membrane that stung hideously but knitted itself back together in less than 20 minutes. That had been weird, but not unwelcome.

He’d also started to take the assorted readouts and screens he could will into existence more seriously, taking a long time to study everything while he waited for his Stamina to regenerate between flights. Some of the functions were invaluable, and with a bit of fiddling with his mental commands, he now had a fancy little display he could quickly reference if he needed it.

–Health: 24/24–

–Stamina: 76/125–

It was relatively unobtrusive and only popped up when he directed his attention at it, much like the Quest proclaiming he needed to find food. Which was becoming a pressing matter, honestly. All the flying around burned a lot of energy, and David was starting to feel like he could eat a cow, hooves included, without ketchup. He’d been ignoring his growling stomach but it was getting distracting, not to mention unpleasant and it seemed like the hungrier he got the stronger his sense of smell became. He squinted grumpily into the thin dawn light and began to realize that he’d been being a little bit of an idiot, even if he had been having fun.

“Okay, so, I’m probably totally insane but…crazies gotta eat too. Let's see… uh…” David trailed off lamely as he sniffed the air for anything that didn’t smell awful.

The forest was packed with different smells and it was a bit overwhelming, but he was slowly mastering the lofty skill of smelling things. David hopped along the ground like some sort of demonic bouncy ball following his nose aimlessly for a long time. Birdsong drifted through the towering pines, alien and disturbingly loud, but almost familiar. He’d vaguely remembered the ominous line about his place in the food chain from the strange message he’d received before hatching only after a huge shadow passed overhead above the trees. After that, he was a lot more careful and began to glide after every hop to cover more ground.

The sun was well into the sky and exhaustion was nibbling at the backs of his eyes before he finally caught the scent of something that made him drool. David wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it was fresh and juicy, with just a hint of sweetness. His head snapped around mid-hop, and he immediately stretched out his wings and caught a bit of the breeze, angling into it to rise into the air to save a bit of energy. He wasn’t even ashamed that he’d thought of it by remembering how he used to fly kites as a kid, it worked.

He wove between the trunks of the trees, alternating between flapping and gliding until the ground suddenly dropped away below him as he flew out over a small meadow nestled at the bottom of a hill. A few bushes were scattered about in the lush green grass that surrounded a huge gnarled tree in the exact middle of the clearing. It looked weird and unnatural to David, but the smell wafting off of the tree was literally mouth-watering and he couldn’t have resisted if he was trying, which he wasn’t. He carefully angled his wings and allowed himself to fall through the air and accelerate towards the tree, zipping out over the meadow as his wings cast large shadows over the grass with his passing.

He braked early on the side of caution, beating hard against the air as he slowed himself to a crawl. David allowed himself to drift close to the tall grass before folding in his wings and dropping, grunting a bit from the impact, and then quickly hopped towards the tree. David rapidly spotted the enormous fruits hanging from the highest branches and leaped up into the snarl of limbs. Before he even registered it he’d scampered up the tree and was face to face with succulent orange fruits. It wasn’t a cow, but it smelled about a thousand times better and he snatched it off the stem with a quick snap of his jaws.

–Quest Complete: Find Food–

–Reward: 35xp–

–Level up!–

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

–You have been rewarded 1 pt!–

–Bonus Reward: Random Skill Token: F–

–SysAutoGen_BonusLoot…–

–Received: Glare F–

David barely even registered the lines of text that began to roll down his periphery as he devoured the fruit, the dusky grey fur that covered his body soaking up the juices and leaving him looking a bit feral. He seized another fruit, then another, devouring all the food he could see until he began to feel a little ill, stomach bloated and protesting for an entirely different reason. David finally snapped out of his gluttonous frenzy and licked his chops, jumping slightly at the sight of his weirdly long tongue as it popped up into his vision briefly. He fought down an enormous yawn and allowed himself to flip down and hang under the branch before waddling to the side and away from the sticky section left by his hunger-induced savagery.

“Ooooooh yeah. I like you tree, you get me. You’re a good tree.” David chattered happily as he licked himself clean before pausing, “Why the hell am I licking myself? Pffthu! Ech! Why did I do that? Blech!”

After he finally got the taste out of his mouth it dawned on him that he’d missed a ton of notifications and quickly brought up his Status.

User: David Fisher

Species: Duskling

Rank: F

Health 30/30

Stam 130/130 (++)

Level: 2

Exp: 03/75

Special: Echolocation F

Traits: 4/4

Nocturnal: +8% Damage, Stam Regen, Exp Gain at night.

Next Upgrade: E

Echolocation: Manipulate high-frequency sound waves to see with more than just your eyes. Next unlock: E

Flight: Allows for short flights and gliding. Moderate Stamina drain. (stam+)

Next Upgrade: E

Small: Your form is small, weighing no more than 65lbs. (stam+)

Next Upgrade: D

Abilities: 2/4

Screech F (2pts): You emit a loud screech, damaging enemies around you. Low Stam consumption.

Next Upgrade: E

Glare F (2pts): You fix your target with a baleful gaze, inflicting Fear. Moderate Stam consumption.

Next Upgrade: E

Empty:

Empty:

Mutagens: 1/5

Unnerving Mutagen B: Your appearance is unnerving. May cause enemies to reconsider aggressing you.

Empty:

Empty:

Empty:

Empty:

Okay, cool cool, level two. Little more stam, guess I can fly longer? That hasn’t leveled up in a while, wonder what’s up with that. Glare…okay…make things fuck off with the evil eye, works for me…wait. Do I have Echolocation? How does that even work?

David closed the screen with a thought, feeling incredibly tired but satisfied. The sun was getting to be truly unbearable and the light burned his eyes, forcing him to squint out over the absolutely beautiful meadow. He peered up at the grass waving in the wind, tiny purple wildflowers scattered about wafting a pleasant floral scent that mixed nicely with the smell of the grass itself. With a mental shrug, he closed his eyes and tried to just do what came naturally.

A few seconds later something that felt a little like a hiccup slithered its way out of his mouth to his disgust and surprise. A few seconds after that he lost his grip on the branch entirely when the soundwaves came back and overloaded his brain with an entirely new sensation.

–Echolocation has leveled up!–

–Gained 3xp–

–You have taken 3 Impact Da–

“OH MY GOD SHUT UP I GET IT ALREADY!”