Shawn burst out of the alleyway gasping for breath. A few people gave him an odd look, but they quickly turned away from him and went back to their business. Shawn’s jaw dropped as he saw this new world in its entirety for the first time.

Glass buildings reached into the sky, disappearing hundreds of feet in the air, their peaks hidden by the thick layers of black smog that hung above the city. Neon signs and holographic advertisements littered the exterior of the buildings, dyeing the streets and their occupants in a shade of technicolor. Shawn smiled as he watched a hologram of a giant dog run circles around a building. He had always liked dogs.

A metal prong bumped into Shawn’s leg, interrupting his observation. He stumbled backward in shock. Had he idled for too long? Had the man changed his mind about letting him live?

Shawn let out a sigh of relief as he realized his life wasn’t in danger. Instead, a robot in the shape of a small trash can vibrated its small metal arms as it wrangled with his pants, in an attempt to pluck a candy wrapper off of them. After a moment of struggle, the machine succeeded in its task.

“Thanks,” Shawn said, confusion clear in his voice. The machine made a beeping sound then sped away from him, eager to find its next morsel of trash. “You missed a spot.” He pointed to the garbage-infested alley he had just exited. The robot ignored him.

He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, casting his face in shadows. He had wasted enough time, he could admire the sights later. It was about time he put some distance between himself and that psycho who had almost murdered him. Shawn walked down the road at a sedate pace, trying his best to not attract attention to himself.

It became immediately obvious that he was doing a poor job of blending in. A stream of angry curses followed his path. It wasn’t his clothes that caused the commotion. Surprisingly, everyone here was dressed in a relatively modern fashion. Jeans and hoodies were common, he even saw someone wearing cheetah print pants.

No, what set him apart was his walking speed. The people here moved insanely fast, he would have to sprint to keep up with some of the faster walkers. It was like someone had hit the fast-forward button on everyone's actions. And apparently walking slowly was a sin that was unforgivable to the average pedestrian. An old lady carrying several large pots shot him a dirty look as she passed him.

He felt confident that he would be safe as long as he stuck to crowded places. Surely, no one would be unhinged enough to attack him in broad daylight just because he slightly inconvenienced their lives. He glanced up towards the black sky, well not daylight, but the point stands.

Although he didn’t think someone would attack him for walking too slowly, he couldn’t be sure. He was still on edge from almost getting murdered, so he decided to not push his luck and stop before he caused a commotion.

He decided it would be best if he took a break and waited for the foot traffic to clear up a bit. Shawn stopped outside of what appeared to be a supermarket. Holographic images of food danced on the outer windows of the store, causing his stomach to rumble. Ignoring his hunger, for now, he sat down on a bench and opened his [Skill List].

Deception Lvl 1 (17%): The ability to tell a convincing lie. At this level, you would be lucky to fool a child.

Just like last time [Deception] was on his skill list, though it had gained XP towards leveling up. He wasn’t sure how that had happened. However, it was the appearance of a second skill that surprised him.

Devourer Lvl N/A: Steal an aspect of a defeated enemy's power once a day. Charges: 1/1

Shawn laughed maniacally. With this skill, he would become the strongest in all the lands! He could see it already, a single of his punches destroying whole planets. No, a single flick of his finger destroying whole planets.

The logical part of Shawn’s mind took over, ending his teenage delusions of grandeur. The ability was vague on how it defined a defeated enemy, leaving him with many ethical questions. Did the enemy have to be a human? He wouldn’t become a serial killer just for a little power.

What constituted defeat, did simply beating someone in a fight count? Or would he have to go further and actually kill his opponent for the system to recognize them as defeated? If it was the former he wouldn’t mind. He wasn’t above friendly sparring, he had always enjoyed roughhousing with his brother. But any real fighting was off the table.

First of all, he doubted there was anyone he could beat in a fight in this city. Second and most importantly, he was afraid. He could vividly remember how he felt as the robed man chased him. He never wanted to be in a situation like that again. Life and death battles were a bit too scary for his taste.

Shawn suppressed a shiver of fear. Dwelling on the past would do him no good. The city was huge, he would likely never meet that man again.

He shifted his attention to a happier subject, namely the supernatural powers that had become available to him.

He wasn’t concerned even if his new skill proved too restrictive to use. A previous blue box has mentioned that he could unlock more skill slots by raising his cultivation level. This implied to him that cultivation was possible and it was a likely explanation for how everyone was moving so quickly.

Based on the sheer number of cultivation novels he had read, he liked to think he was an expert on the subject. All those sleepless nights of reading would finally pay off. Shawn could barely contain his excitement at the thought of cultivating, he had always wanted to try it.

His deep base of knowledge made him confident that he would be fine without his [Devourer] skill. He figured he could just copy the cultivation techniques of the powerful characters he read about. Odds are, one of the techniques would work. If I can find a safe place to meditate I should be the strongest guy here by the end of the week.

Shawn slumped deeper into the bench, he was tired and should probably find someplace safe to sleep. Sleeping in an alleyway wasn’t exactly an appealing option. He moved to get up, but his sore legs dissuaded him. He’d get up and search for a hotel later. It was fine to rest for a bit longer.

Shawn smiled dumbly as he poked and prodded the blue boxes. He found that if he pressed on them, he could drag them through the air with his finger. And if he concentrated really hard he could make the boxes bigger. Not that it was particularly a useful trick, he had good eyes, he didn’t need help reading small letters, but it was still fun to mess around with.

A large man wearing a cooking apron burst out of the front door of the building, his face red with anger.

“Get away from my store, you’re scaring off the customers,” the chef said.

Shawn blushed and muttered an apology before scurrying away. From an outside perspective, he probably looked like a crazy person. Dragging your fingers through the air muttering to yourself wasn’t exactly normal behavior. Note to self, don’t use the system in front of others.

The ground shook and Shawn turned to see what had caused the disturbance. A car flew through the air, a mere ten feet over his head. A gust of wind so powerful that it knocked his hood down to his shoulders followed in the car's wake. The crowd grumbled in discontent.

“The Den is acting bolder. Is it already time for another Carnival,” an old man said with anticipation. A few people around him nodded in agreement before going back to their business.

Seconds later, a squadron of flying motorcycles followed the car's path, hot in pursuit, but at a more safe distance from the ground. Shawn’s eyes twinkled with desire. I want one of those.

Shawn walked down the road in the direction the flying vehicles went. For no other reason than he wanted to see the motorcycles again. What could he say, they appealed to his inner child.

He kept to the sides of the street as he walked, careful to not get in anyone's way. The buildings got smaller and increasingly worn down as he walked down the street. He feared that he had made the wrong decision and had accidentally entered a bad part of town. As if he had crossed an invisible line, the skyscrapers faded away and he entered a zone filled with small brick buildings.

Even though this part of town was less affluent it felt more comfortable to him. Small stands marked the edge of the streets, manned by merchants vigorously selling their wares. Most importantly, the people moved at a more sedate pace. They were still a great deal faster than him, but he felt that his abnormally slow walking speed wouldn’t draw too much attention here.

He kept walking down the road till he spotted a large group of people gathered outside a building. This was the first time he saw a large group of people in the city. From what he saw, people normally kept their heads down and rushed to their destination, eager to get out of the streets.

Here it was different. Men drank and laughed together, there was even a group of kids playing with a ball.

His curiosity got the better of him and he approached the building. It was made of the same aged brick that everything else here seemed to be made out of. Its only defining feature was a neon red scorpion insignia built into the wall. The scorpion let off a bright red glow, casting everyone in a sinister light. Even stranger, where the light touched his skin, the air became thick with pressure and made it hard to move.

Kids are playing outside, how bad of a place could it be? Shawn gripped his rusty fork in his pocket and opened the door.

Luckily for Shawn, he didn’t walk into something evil like a secret gang hideout, and instead, the door opened to reveal a crowded tavern.

A soft hand patted him on the back, causing Shawn to flinch. “Hi! Welcome, to the Scorpion’s Den. I’m Lin. What can I do for ya,” said a short brown-haired girl.

Shawn pulled the coin the man in the alley had given him out of his pocket. It was rectangular in shape and mostly gold in color, though there was a small bit of green sticking off of the bottom of it. On its surface, it depicted a man with long flowing hair and had the number ten on it. “What can I buy with this?”

“That would get you most of the items on our menu. One moment.” Lin disappeared for a moment then reappeared two seconds later with a small menu. Shawn flinched once again. He wasn’t used to the speed people moved around here.

The girl started guiding him through the menu, talking quickly, as if she had just drank seven cups of coffee. He didn’t recognize most of the names she was saying, but there were a few familiar foods such as pizza on the menu.

Shawn’s attention was torn away from the deluge of foreign words by a peculiar sight. On the opposite side of the room, a man had purchased a living scorpion from the bar. Slowly, the gears turned in Shawn’s mind and he concocted a plan.

He brought his hand up, motioning for her to stop talking. “Can I get what he’s having,” Shawn said as he pointed towards the bar?

She quirked an eyebrow and looked at his neck before shaking her head. “I’ve never heard of someone who’s not a member asking for a scorpion,” she said.

Shawn suddenly felt out of place as he looked around the tavern. Everyone inside wore a metal necklace depicting a scorpion. Maybe it was a membership-only place?

“What would you even use a scorpion for? It’s expensive, it will cost you most of your money.”

“I want to eat it of course. What else would you do with it.” Shawn really hoped he didn’t have to eat the scorpion, but the skill was named [Devourer], so his hopes weren’t high.

Lin laughed. “I’ll ask my boss, but don’t come crying to me for a refund,” Shawn noted that she hadn’t answered his question. If they weren’t eating the scorpions, what were they using them for?

She took his square of currency and brought him to the bar. Just as Shawn arrived, the man forced the scorpion into a silver cage and left the bar. What were they using these scorpions for? Were they keeping them as pets?

Lin hopped behind the bar and whispered to a man with a metal arm while occasionally pointing at him. After a short discussion, the man disappeared into a backroom. Lin hopped over the countertop and stood behind him. “Chule said he was okay with serving you one.”

Chule returned to the bar and put a plate in front of Shawn.

“Enjoy,” Chule said as he dropped two small coins in Shawn’s hand. Shawn winced, she wasn’t kidding when she said it would cost him most of his money.

“Well, what are you going to do? Are you actually going to eat it? You know they’re poisonous right?” Lin said in rapid-fire fashion, subtly jittering in excitement.

Shawn stared at the scorpion as it skittered around the plate. The message said he had to defeat it in combat before he could use [Devourer].

He would have never considered doing something so shameless before, but the skill had lit a fire in him, filling him with avarice. If he wanted to survive, he would have to change. Even still, he was nervous at how insane his actions would make him look.

Damming the consequences and pushing his anxiety to the back of his mind, Shawn cracked his knuckles. “Wish me luck,” he said with a smile.

Before anyone could think to stop him, he pulled out the rusty fork he found in the alley and repeatedly stabbed the scorpion. It was a tough task, requiring many strikes to break through its hard shell. By the time Shawn was done, he had worked up a light sheen of sweat, and he had attracted the attention of most of the customers in the tavern.

But it was all made worth it, as a blue box appeared in front of him.

Activate Devourer Y/N? Charges 1/1