With a piercing squeal, the mouse throws itself at me, its little claws and teeth bared. Predicting such a simple form of attack, I dodge it, though with the tunnel being so small, my back quickly meets the wall. The mouse turns back on me, readying itself for another attack. But just as it opens its mouth to squeal threateningly at me, I shove my Stab-empowered leg into its jaws. I can feel the way my foot shaves off part of its upper mouth, but not enough to break through its skull.

With my foot in its mouth, it instinctually bites down, cleanly severing my foot by the ankle.

I stumble back, my back once again hitting the wall. Shit. I let her cripple me. If it wasn’t for Cap, my balance would have been weak enough for this to make me fall, which would have been my end.

But my resistance has made the mouse more careful. It won’t attack as wildly anymore.

Though, going by how her teeth grit together in anger, I can only assume the death of her kids has certainly had an effect on it.

...This gives me an idea.

Leaning on the wall, I one-legged hop towards the moss and dead mice. The mouse, fiercely protective, attempts to jump between me and my goal, putting her side against me in an attempt to protect the kids. With such an opening presented before me, I jump into the air and use my one leg to Stomp her side, giving enough pressure for her to fall over and tumble onto the moss and the mush of dead mice.

As might be expected, I fall ass-over-kettle, but the mouse is worse off.

“SKRI! SKRI! SKRI!”

Once I’ve gotten to my foot again, supporting myself on the wall, I bear good witness to how she writhes around in the soup, her grey fur coat stained with blood-red and intestine purple. Better put her out of her misery.

Before she has time to pull herself together, I approach from behind, finally getting the jump on her by throwing myself on her back, twisting my legs around her neck in a choke-grip.

“SKREE”

Noticing my efforts, she scratches at my legs furiously, but I only press harder. My right leg, already half-bitten off, begins splintering even further. In order to pull attention from the choke, I stab it into her right eye. She screams in pain and begins rolling in the mice-mush in a mad attempt to remove me. But I’m too used to being crushed to allow it to loosen my grip.

Normal skill Stab has reached Level 3

Normal skill Choke Lv.1 gained

Good timing, kid.

With newfound strength, I tighten my grip around her throat, feeling how her rolling begins to weaken. Some of my body is falling off and my right leg is almost fully gone, but I can already tell that I’ve won this battle.

When she finally buckles over and gives one last, trembling sigh of frustration, I know it’s the end.

65 Exp gained

Level up!

You have reached Level 5

Level up!

You have reached Level 6

Level up!

You have reached Level 7

Normal skill Choke has reached Level 2

...Good. Good. Great. Perfect.

Even after I know it’s dead, I don’t let go until the warmth has all but left its stale, lifeless body. But even after all that, I can’t help but feel how adrenaline continues coursing through my body, showering me in a strange and complete sense of thrill and victory.

I did it. I won. It’s dead, and I have my justice. Heh. Hehehe. Hehehehehe!

This feels-, that’s… This is thrilling. I feel alive. How strange! How curious!

I haven’t felt this way since I realized the inevitability of death all those years ago! It’s fantastic, it’s electrifying, it’s-,

It almost killed me. Kid, how do my stats look?

Mossling(F-) Lv 7/10 Stage: Adult Health: 2/9

State: Mycorrhiza, Murderous, Unhinged

Strength: 2 Dexterity: 2(+1) Grit: 1 Racial Skills: Absorb, Photosynthesize Normal Skills: Stab Lv.3, Stomp Lv.2, Choke Lv.2 Titles: Oknytt

Real nice there with the state, kid. Ha-ha, very funny. As if you aren’t the one granting me skills pretty much designed for killing.

On that note, it seems my health took quite the hit.

My best move right now would really be to retreat outside and lay low until my health has recovered, but with my right leg almost completely destroyed, that would be next to impossible.

But with no sun, no photosynthesis, no health.

Unless…

I’ve actually considered this before, but I think I might know how to recover in this situation. Possibly. I really can’t be sure until I try it.

I bring up my intact left leg and stab it into the tender neck of the dead mouse. I don’t pierce the skin at first, but after a few times, I’m able to get through and into the dead flesh. It hasn’t gotten to the stage of Rigour Mortis yet, so it remains soft, though it would be unsuitable for eating since it died under great stress.

For a few seconds, I dig around in the flesh of the neck until I hit the jugular vein, which bursts after a light prod.

The blood that flows from it neither gushes nor sprays, merely pouring out apathetically. With no mouth to drink with, I roll my body in the blood, hoping I’m not making a huge fool out of myself.

And then I just sit for a moment. Much like with the morning dew, I feel a great sense of rejuvenation and thirst-quenching, though it’s tinged with a strange flavour of metal.

Title Bloodthirsty gained

-Hey, just because I drink blood and it quenches my thirst doesn’t make me bloodthirsty! You if anyone should understand that desperate times call for desperate measures, no?

Either way, this does explain that absorb does, indeed, work to recover health by absorbing fluids. Whether these fluids are morning dew or blood is, apparently, mostly unimportant.