Chapter 4- Mistakes were Made

  Everything was so loud.

  The wind whipped past Null’s Face, the scent of yesterday's meal scraps assaulted his nostrils, the remnants of the setting sun were blinding. The whole world was an overexposed mess of sensations.

  Deeper. Must get deeper into darkness. A primal part of his mind urged.

  His body obeyed. A panting followed him as his body pushed beyond any limit he'd even begun to approach as a man.

  There.

  He somehow spotted in the far distance a copse of trees signaling the beginning vestiges of a treeline. He pushed forward with an urge akin to the will to survive. The rational part of his mind, now relegated to a backseat driver, knew those trees were miles off. To this new driver, this distance was but a brisk evening jaunt. The panting continued, the urge for darkness, for quiet, intensified as the trees grew and eventually engulfed his form.

  As the first needles of the pine-like trees brushed his form, he slowed. The scent, completely alien to this body, but familiar to his mind mercifully overtook the stench of the village. His breathing settled into a staccatoed huff and soon new, delicious scents wafted to greet him. A rabbit, 30 yards to the left. He stilled. He could hear the creature’s heartbeat- he could almost hear the muscles of its legs tensing preparing to bolt. As the scent overrode any returning sense of rationality, his form again instinctively crouched, padding silently on all four, but not toward the rabbit.

  As the scene played out, Null helplessly watched from the confines of his own mind, the cruel demise of the creature. The monstrosity he’d become crept at a vector tangent to the rabbit, collecting stones as it went. It came to a stop about 20 yards from the rabbit, deeper into the forest and soundlessly climbed a tree. There, it waited, listening. As the rabbit began to think it was safe, heart rate returning to normal, the first stone flew, landing on the side of the rabbit furthest from the monster- him? Then the second, then the third, and so-on emulating the pattern of a clumsy predator stalking the rabbit. As the false steps approached with reckless urgency, the rabbit bound from its hiding place and sprinted away from the steps, deeper into the woods. It zigged and zagged attempting to create distance between its pursuer. The monster released its grip on the tree as the rabbit cut a path, right by the tree. Like an owl swooping down upon an unsuspecting rodent, the monster descended- both creatures captive only to physics on an inevitable collision course.

  Crunch. The dry pine needles yielded to the mass of the monster, one clawed hand sunken into the loam, filling the space between the head of the rabbit and its body. Another moment passed and another monstrous hand gripped the spasming body, and in one fluid motion flicked out the innards, scattering them over the underbrush and then tossed the remaining carcass whole into the mouth of the beast to be consumed in a few savage chomps. A gaze full of contempt met the incoherent but not quite lifeless stare of the rabbit’s head.

  [Level 3 Forest Hare has been defeated. 0 Essence awarded, 200 essence retained. Warning you have not yet unlocked the system and this message should not be available to you, but it obviously is. Essence gained will be rewarded upon system unlock]

  If Null could wretch, he would. Not that the rabbit wasn’t delicious, but the hunt was… unnecessarily cruel. That, and he doesn't usually eat fur and bones. The feeling of being trapped was beginning to become unbearable. Wait, did he just get experience points or whatever the system called it for killing that rabbit? A sense of self satisfaction vied for space with disgust. Null had always been competitive, but he liked a clean win. Maybe one more, but not like the last hunt. As he turned, he realized it was him turning. Was he in control? Maybe as he accepted this new beastly driver, it accepted him? A rustling to his rear caused him to involuntarily whirl around, in the process he stumbled.

  Maybe not. He thought.

  Before he could regain his footing, a massive blur of… something bowled him over. Instinct kicked his rational self back down that deep well. His head swiveled as he looked for what hit him. Warmth ran down his chest. He looked down to see a chunk of his chest missing. Rage filled him at the sight of this. A slow heartbeat approached from behind. A predator. Before he could reposition, the creature launched itself at him. In a panic, Null reached for his extremely limited set of skills and activated[ Walking hibernation] and [Wireframe] Time slowed and he surveyed the first floor for improvised tools. Available to him was: one medium sized stone, countless pine needles, a rabbit head, a large branch, and a few twigs.

  Great. He thought, as he pitched his body to the left letting the creature brush past him. It was a- a sabertooth tiger. Out of the corner of its mouth, a scrap of bronze flesh hung from its mouth.

  Is that my… my nipple? He examined the scrap of flesh as the tiger began to circle, abandoning its ambush tactics. It was indeed that specific part of his chest. That familiar indignant rage bubbled up and both parts of his mind let it out- synchronizing in the outrage of such an insulting blow. He began to circle, too. Taking the circle a bit wider. Looking down, he could see the bleeding begin to stop. An additional 10 to vitality on top of the boost from [walking hibernate] worked wonders on his healing. As if sensing his outrage, the tiger opened its mouth to reveal a finely scaled tongue that reached for the flesh, bringing it into the big cat’s mouth. It made seemingly intentional eye contact as it swallowed the chunk of Null.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  As the tension built, Null ignored the taunt, he was almost there. This other side of him had a plan and it was brilliant. A few more steps and Null tripped, rolling to his side. The cat, ever the creature of opportunity, sprung. Null reached out, hand grasping the large branch. [wireframe] had calculated the density to be on par with a club. He continued his roll over the branch, utilizing the momentum to get back to his feet and spinning, converting all that momentum into one lethal swing. Crack! The branch connected with the tiger’s mouth- staggering it. It shook its head and the tip of one of its oversized tusks dropped to the ground. He took a step back and reversed the spin direction. Unfortunately, the branch also broke and he came up short. The tiger, still sluggish from the first blow, lunged at his exposed side. Instead of biting into another chunk of Null, its wide open mouth clamped down on a hard, vertical object. The beast furiously shook its head, attempting to dislodge the branch. Null dove to the back of the cat, slashing at the tendons of its hind legs, hobbling the cat. He reached back, fingers closing around the head of the rabbit. He dove back toward the front and pitched the head into the throat of the tiger right as the branch began to bow. The tiger bucked, redoubling its efforts to break the branch. Null backed up. The tiger grunted, the branch finally giving way to its powerful jaws. It lurched forward, then grunted again. Its eyes widened- bulged as it struggled uselessly to take in a breath. It lurched forward, attempting to slash at Null. each attempt making its eyes widen even more. Soon, it crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

  [You have defeated a level 35 Sabertooth Puma! 2500 essence banked. Wireframe has reached 50%. Intelligence +1. Strength +1. New titles unlocked!]

  Titles? This was something new. His parents never mentioned titles. He willed the system to explain.

  [New title gained: Puma Checker. 5% stat boost advantage to predators and ambush beasts.]

  [New title unlocked: Prodigy. You have slain a monster at least 25 levels higher than you. You gain essence at a rate of 2% faster than normal]

  Null looked down at his chest. It was still raw, but the mussel had begun to grow back. He looked over at the cat. It would be a shame to let this meat go to waste.

  The night passed as Null tucked into the cat, gorging himself on the flesh of his foe. He ate himself into a stupor after finally giving over to the primal side of his new self. In the morning he awoke, covered in dried blood. Back to his human form. His stomach bulged.

  How am I going to get home? He thought. Assessing his surroundings, he saw the somewhat haphazardly folded pelt of the tiger, He waddled over to the bone bare remains and with some effort to bend over plucked the tip of the tooth from the ground, but not before tipping over, face planting awkwardly.

  “Null?” a familiar voice rang out. “Null!” the voice doubled as his father approached with rapid footsteps.

  Null struggled to turn his head, but managed to glimpse his father back in his humanoid form as well. As his father approached, he knelt down to take Null in his arms, oblivious to the bizarre scene.

  “Dad, I-”

  “Null, don’t move. We’ll get you help!” he shouted, eyes wide in horror as he beheld his bloodied son. “ He’s here!” He shouted, voices in the distance responded from all over. ”Stay with me, son!” He rushed to null’s side, turning him over cradling his head.

  “Dad, I just tripped.” he grunted, uselessly struggling against his father’s now full embrace.

  “I know son, I know. I’tll be okay, just stay with me.” his eyes developed a gloss to them as he assessed Null, his gave lingering over his distended belly.

  “ No, Dad, I-”

  “Shh! Save your energy son, it’ll be okay. I’m here.” he stroked Null’s head. “ You fought-” he surveyed the scene briefly. “You fought well, son. It’s okay. Daddy is here now.”

  At the mention of ‘daddy’ Null was fully over his would-be death vignette and rolled his eyes- causing his father’s breath to catch. He sighed.

  “No, Dad, I tripped trying to pick up a trophy. I’m fine, I think.”

  Silence. Confusion bloomed on his father’s face as he looked closer at Null, at the blood. The dried blood. Null struggled out of the man’s now awkward grasp. He looked up to see a crowd of others circling behind his father in various states of dispari and confusion.

  “Uh. I, maybe…” He looked at his mother’s blank expression, a pang of guilt lanced his gut.” I’m sorry. Mistakes were… Maybe, possibly, made?”

  Back at the village after the search party returned, Null stood sheepishly in front of his parents. “Mistakes were indeed made. Null.” His mother shot. She continued before he or his father could continue, “You may be a gift of the system, but you are flesh of our flesh, Null. You must learn to control your urges.” she softened the admonishment after a moment, “we are golems and entrusted to take on the most unique lives the great system dares to entrust us.” She said, “We love you. Let us help you. You’ve never told us your race as the system has blessed you to bear. What was that?” She rattled off.

  “Mom, I-” Null froze, contemplating whether or not he should tell her everything. Something in the dark reaches of his mind railed against the thought- sought darkness anonymity. “I'm complicated?” The statement came out as a question.

  “See, there it is again!” his father exclaimed. “That is not normal six year old-”

  “Fostin!” His mother shot a withering glare at his father.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you, Dad. I’m sorry I yelled at you mom.” He carefully chose simple language this time. His father glared at him suspiciously.

  “Null, you’ll tell us when you’re ready. It is obvious that whatever the system has blessed you as mature at a much faster rate than the human we assumed you to be. We will have to make changes to some aspects of your life as you go through this process.” his mother took on a curious tone, “Tell me. Can you…change like we do? Can you change when you want?” She asked.

  “I really don’t know. Maybe? If I try.”

  “No!” both parents blurted at the same time.

  “There are some techniques we use as golems to hone our shapeshifting skills. We will enroll you in these classes where you will learn the limits of your abilities. This will happen on your seventh birthday.”

  “I understand.”

  “Until then you will not leave this house without one of us accompanying you.”

  “I... understand.” Null repeated.

  “Go to your room and rest, Null. Your father and I have much to discuss.” She dismissed him.

  From his room, before he shut his door, he could hear his father whisper, “I swear he hates me!”