“I’m very, very sorry.”, I whisper in response, as I could see the overwhelming sadness crashing down on her shoulders.

“What’s a Gyurig? If you don’t mind telling me.”, I mutter quietly, trying to avoid poking too many sore spots. I can feel the familiar curiosity in animals from my past life welling up. Lately I have been scouting around the caves for any and all animal life with my enhanced senses while I get used to them. Now I have something reminiscent of a radar, of senses, albeit not very powerful; however, it sets my mind at ease in terms of possible assailants.

“Well. They’re not common at all. The have low birth rates but are very powerful and live for a long time. Some of the unique variants full of magical power can live up to 300 years as the stories go... That’s why we never expected to see one around here. The animals don’t seem to like these caves for some reason…”, Eia explains.

“So what makes these beasts so powerful?”, I ask.

“They’re huge namely. Big lumbering brutes that rely solely on their weight and power… With a single swipe of their boulder sized paws they can completely destroy thick trees and… Well. Anything that tries to oppose them… The only reason I was able to escape without being absolutely devoured was because the one that attacked us was busy with my parents… My parents remains…”, she ends quietly, her brow creasing deeply.

“So. Do you think it followed you?”, I question with a morbid sense of interest, I need to know if I should be ready for it now.

“They are known to consider anything they initiate combat with as their prey. And I use the word prey loosely. It’s more like enemy. They have a pride in strength unlike that of many other beasts… It will be looking for me...”, she whispers grimly. “Just to be safe we should leave this place. It may follow my scent here.”

“No.”, I say with a voice of decisiveness.

“What? Are you insane?! You see what it did to me! YOU KNOW IT KILLED MY PARENTS!”, she cries out. “I-I’ll leave. I’m gonna leave. You can die here alo-”, she says, through the beginnings of sobs, before she was cut off.

“Go then. I understand that it’s probably taken everything you have to not get up and run just talking to me so far. But for some reason I can’t just let this go? This is my forest, on my doorstep.”, I say, then realize there is no way she should stay, she’d only be in needless danger, “It’s probably better that you leave anyways. In case I end up failing at taking it down when it comes.”, I finish with a nod.

“W-Wait… You plan to fight that monster!? Are you an absolute idiot!?”, suddenly a look of realization spreads across her face, like she is remembering something. “You can’t. Don’t do it. Let’s leave together and go to a town where we’ll be safer.”, her voice raises and echoes a bit in the cave like room.

“Nope. No can do. If I go anywhere I’m going to do it on my own will.”, I finish with pride welling up in my chest. I’ve already decided this life will be different. That I’ll use my intelligence along with my strength to become great.

“Alright. I see you’ve made up your mind… I guess I’ll stay then… Can’t let you die alone like a dog…”, a look of defeat following the words.

“Alright then. Get some sleep. There’s a little food in the cavern through the entrance. Just take what you want. We’re the only ones still here after all.”, I tell her.

It’s been a day since Eia came. She slept from the afternoon of the day I found her until now, a day later. It is becoming night and I decided to try out hunting. I thought about hunting during the day, but then realized that I’m a predator now, and predators often hunt during the night.

I’ve been sitting in a tree staring down into a clearing with my ‘Hard Study’ vision carefully scanning for any living things. I chose a clearing close to the caves so I can remain on high alert for the Gyurig Bear if it happens onto us.

It seems that it depends on what I focus on to relay information. The longer I “study” something the more I’m able to understand about it. It also doesn’t seem to have any sort of limitation on my prior knowledge.

As I am studying a foreign type of plant called the Diadelx on the clearing floor a black mass begins moving through some nearby bushes. I quickly shift my studying to this unknown beast and am swiftly met with a familiar female voice rattling off information.

Black Warg

A canine, wolf-like creature that usually travels in packs.

The Black variants are much more ferocious and are often

shunned from their packs because of it.

Right! This is my chance to push my way into the food chain. Every apex predator has to start somewhere after all.

With that it is decided, I will fight this Warg. Now all I need to do is wait for the right opportunity to pounce. The Warg is about 4 feet long. This means that it most likely has a higher weight than my current body. With this in mind I decide that if I’m going to take this thing down, it’s gonna have to be a sneak attack.

The Warg appears to be searching for something as it is swaying its head from left to right. Then it begins sniffing. Suddenly I realize that if it catches scent of me then my initiation will be ruined. So instead of being found out I decide to launch myself the 5 ft horizontally towards it instead of waiting for it to get closer to me.

Placing my feet beneath myself I focus my strength into my legs and suddenly I am in the air. Beneath me is the Warg looking slightly panicked. It is at this moment, right before I’m about to land on the beast, that I realize that I don’t have any weapons. My hands immediately shoot out in front of me to reach for the Warg’s neck. It suddenly realizes where I am and attempts to dodge out of the way.

Unfortunately for it, it isn’t fast enough thanks to my sneak attack. Landing, my hands are met by a thick pelt. I immediately wrap my legs around the Warg’s torso and, holding on with my left hand, I begin to punch it in the head with my right.

The Warg begins to let out a thumping growl from its throat and rolls around trying to free itself from my grasp. I’m not able to hold on any longer due to the beast’s powerful muscles and am thrown off of its back.

I slide along the ground and quickly stand up and to peer at the Warg, attempting to keep it constantly within sight. It still seems to be regaining its senses so I decide to attack.

Looking down at my hands I realize that my punches weren’t what was doing the damage. What really hurt the Warg was the hand I was gripping its pelt with that is now coated in blood. At this sudden realization I understand why my instincts pushed me into battle without a weapon. I am an animal now, a beast built to kill. And my fingers are now equipped with claws. It also seems as though my fingers were naturally stronger and more sturdy.

With a grin I feel an overwhelming sensation begin to flood my system. This is what I have been waiting for. I rush forward at the now crouching Warg who is waiting to receive my attack.

Just as I am about to clash with the beast it jumps to the side and lunges at me. With reflexes unknown to me in my previous life I rotate on the ball of my foot and lock my arm around its neck. With a sudden rush of adrenaline I yank at its bottom jaw with my free hand and am rewarded with a satisfying *CRACK*.

At that the beast is kicked into overdrive and begins trying to claw itself away from me. It is ripping its claws at my midsection as much as possible as I slowly wring the life out of it.

I feel a throbbing pain in my ribs and realize that I need to finish it quickly before receiving any more wounds.

I grip hard onto the now broken lower jaw and back skin of the Warg. Opening my mouth I rip into its neck and am met by a torrent of blood. My entire body feels warm, much like the feeling of talking to a crush in my past life.

My consciousness begins to fade as I stare at my own reflection in the now fading eyes of the massive beast before me. My eyes have turned from their usual orange-gold color, into a bright, primal red, starkly contrasted to the night sky. Finally the overwhelming sensations become to much for my mind, and I feel my consciousness slip away.