Hey, kid, show me my stats again.

…

...Well, what is it? Cat got your tongue?

Title Natural Deviant gained

Is that all you wanted to say?

Mossling(F-) Lv.7/10

Stage: Juvenile Health: 6/9 State: Myccorhiza, Murderous, Bloodfrenzy

Bloodfrenzy? What’s that supposed to be?

Status Condition Bloodfrenzy: Caused when a creature not usually predatory drinks blood or when a predatory creature gorges itself upon blood. Creates feelings of mania, restlessness and thirst.

Is that so? Say what you will, but I feel perfectly alright. If Mosslings were ill-suited for combat and murder, why would such encounters bring me strength?

Feeling perfectly giddy, I roll off the mouse and into the mice mush, where I roll around until I am covered. I can’t tell how I look, but I feel good. My hide - if it can be called that - is now about as black as the tunnel itself. Together with the smell of dead rodents clinging to me, I imagine I’ve got as good of a camouflage as is possible under these circumstances.

And with my health recovering at impressive speeds, I should be well and ready once Mr Mouse arrives. And then, I’ll have even more blood to drink.

Though, I must say, this mouse looks much smaller than it did before. Is it because I went from Juvenile to Adult? That has to be it.

...Considering that I only barely fit inside the tunnel at this point, there’s a fair chance I might be too large to leave should there be a stage beyond Adult. If that’s the case, then I should probably station myself in the mouth of the hole, not all the way down here. Yes, of course, that makes sense.

I spare a glance behind me at the bleeding and crushed bodies.

...But I don’t want to leave? Of course, these will still be here, but my health still hasn’t fully recovered, so…

-No. Even as I am now, with my health at only 6/9, it will still be more than I had when I faced her at the start. In that sense, it’s only obvious that 6 health will easily be enough to handle a simple mouse. He might return at any time, so I should actually hurry.

Making up my mind, I stumble out of the storage hold, my right leg, although mostly healed, still a little shorter than my left.

My movement is slow, but I can feel the blood and bodily fluids still clinging to my mossy hide, strengthening me, granting me vitality that a whole pot of coffee couldn’t.

At the mouth of the hole, I look up to find a mouse staring at me. Its nose twitches.

Forestmouse(F+)

Stage: Adult Health: 16/16

State: Horrified

I feel like grinning and singing a song. Here it comes. Here we go. Come! Let us dance the dance of death!

It blinks and freezes in place.

Is that how it is, Mr Mouse? Very well then, if you will not come to me, then I will come to you!

Dashing, I abuse all of my 2 Dexterity to enclose the distance between us, finally tackling the mouse in a mad lust for battle. It tumbles back, likely mostly in surprise and fear, since the mouse itself easily has enough strength to cast me off without the slightest effort. Well on its back with me on top, I waste no time shoving my legs into its tender belly, attempting to cut through the living leather.

With no such luck, the mouse quickly casts me off it, taking a bit of distance as a measure.

For a few seconds we stare at each other.

Forestmouse(F+)

Stage: Adult Health: 16/16

State: Horrified, Determined

No damage. But I’m sure that if I can just get in, if I can just pierce it someplace, then I can kill it.

Not giving it the chance to attack first, I again throw myself at it, only to be easily dodged. As expected, the mouse has much greater mobility than I do. In fact, it overshadows me in almost every single aspect. The only way in which I defeat it is that my body, as flimsy as it is, has no vital organs to be punctured. I do not bleed. My legs can be broken and my eyes can be blinded, but I have no heart to stop.

As long as I have health, I am alive.

A clawed hand scratches my back, tearing through the moss easily. I turn around to face the mouse, trying to ignore the pain. I take a few steps back, gaining distance.

Slowly, my thirst for battle is receding. I can already tell, but it’s too late to pull out of this battle. It has decided, and so have I. There is nothing to do here except win.

Stilling myself, I begin slowly circling the mouse, trying to catch it off-guard. But its eyes follow me all the way around, peering at me nervously, but not fearfully.

This goes on for what feels like eternity, until something causes the mouse to glance off into the heart of the glade. Taking the chance, I throw myself at its exposed back, stabbing my leg into its side. With the force of the jump included with the three levels of the Stab skill, my sharp leg easily sinks into it, though I can tell that it didn’t pierce any vital organs.

“SKREEE”

The mouse screams and flails wildly. With one of my legs stuck in its side, I have nothing to hold on with, leading me to fall off pretty much immediately. The mouse punches on me, pressing me down into the ground. Putting as much strength as I can given the angle, I stab my legs into its exposed abdomen. Combined with the efforts of before, I succeed in stabbing into its lower abdomen, allowing a spool of intestine to roll out, clattering on top of me. Assured of my victory, I continue stabbing into the exposed hole, only to be surprised when a pair of tiny hands grab a hold of my right leg and pull it out of my body.

Huh?

I blink strangely at the sight of my leg flying through the air before settling a few paces off. Then I look back to the mouse, panting heavily. A steady flow of blood sputters out of its exposed organs onto me.

Forestmouse(F+)

Stage: Adult Health: 7/16 State: Determined, Bloodshed

It’s almost dead, and it’s still determined?

Come on, just die already! What do you have left to live for?!

I continue stabbing my other foot into its stomach, eliciting further blood flow. It grabs a hold of my foot. I stare dumbly as it hoists me into the air, standing itself on its hind legs. Blood is pouring out of it. And yet it can somehow find the strength to hold me.

But then it staggers backwards, one step, two, until it finally falls on its back, letting me land atop it.

Seizing the chance, I press my remaining leg into its throat. Sure, I could just stab it a few times to kill it, but I want to increase my Choke level.

I press the full weight of my body onto its feeble neck, feeling it tremble and seize up. My body is covered in a thin layer of hot, pulsating blood. Soon it will be dead. Soon I’ll have won. Soon, I will-,

A shadow falls over the both of us.

I freeze in place.

Slowly, carefully, I glance behind me.

Red Fox(E+)

Stage: Juvenile Health: 50/50 State: Hungry, Interested

If I had a heart, it would surely stop.