User, the choice you have made is final and so are the consequences.

You have chosen Neophyte Wildling as your class.

ERROR…UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED… SCANNING FOR THREAT

CORRUPTED APTITUDE MODULE DETECTED.

INITIATING TERMINATION. ERROR. UNABLE TO ACCESS MODULE.

CORRUPTED DATA DETECTED. INITIATE TERMINATION. ERROR

UNABLE TO ACCESS DATA. INITIALIZE BACKUP. ERROR.

UNABLE TO ACCESS BACKUP DATA.

WARNING!! INTERFACE OVERIDE. INITIALIZING NEW CLASS DATA.

WARNING! Your aptitude has $#^*&%#$ class.

Your class has been $#^*&%#$ by [ glutton ].

Your class has been changed to Wildling of Hunger.

Adam felt it. His aptitude which had felt ephemeral ever since he unlocked it, started to emanate wildly with emotion. A feeling of anger, of hunger. A desire to consume and grow. As soon as he selected his class, he had received that warning notification informing him of something going wrong and at the same time he felt his aptitude rage inside of him, its emotions bleeding over into his. Before he could make heads or tails of what was happening, the feelings started getting stronger.

His aptitude wanted to, for a lack of better words, eat his class. At least that was the feeling he got from the way his aptitude acted. It wasn’t satisfied with the class even though they were compatible. It wanted more. It needed more and so it reached out from his core and consumed his class before it spat it back out. Changed. Lesser but more.

At that exact moment his aptitude devoured his class Adam felt it in his soul, like his whole being was going through a grinder. Billions of teeth, crushing and cutting into his being until finally he was swallowed into darkness. He was taken apart, piece by piece and then remade before being spat back out. That was how best he could describe what he felt and went through. The feeling last less than a second but it felt longer to him and it greatly disturbed him, enough that he refused to delve on the feeling longer, his gut was screaming at him to just forget what he imagined and to move on. The fear told him that he wouldn’t like what he found if he kept trying to delve deeper into what he felt. And so he put it out of his mind and focused on the notification instead.

His aptitude had rejected his class and had reached out from his core and devoured his class before spitting out something else. Adam didn’t know what to think of this This isn’t normal right? System?...damn. give me a sign dammit. Is the aptitude supposed to do that? Fuck!. He was sure that what happened wasn’t normal. His aptitude deemed the system granted class too weak and somehow managed to grab and devour it before releasing something else to take the place of his class.

Adam checked himself to figure out what had changed. He wasn’t in pain but there was a sense of relief. The type of relief that one feels after having escaped a horrible fate. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. And when he finally felt like he wasn’t going to heave out his guts, he checked his interface.

Wow! Adam was speechless when he saw his status. His base stats in body and mind had fully recovered and he had made impressive gains in his soul stats. The biggest gain was in his efficiencies. He wasn’t a 100% sure, since he didn’t have anyone else to compare with but he had a feeling there weren’t going to be many who had efficiencies that could match him at level 1.

That knowledge brought a small smile to his face.

Wildling of Hunger. That’s a mouth full and not ominous sounding at all. From the name it sounds powerful. I still can’t believe that my aptitude threw a hissy fit and ate the class I chose and then decided to throw this at me instead. Is that normal? Fuck me. Im on another planet, probably in another universe and fused with an AI thing. What part of this is normal? Adam laughed as he thought about how far from normal he had come.

Still though, up till the moment I selected my class, there weren’t any warning notifications in caps. So I’m just going to assume that my class selection had a small blip. Adam mused as he clicked his class.

Let’s get this over with, I just hope the class isn’t completely fucked up. Adam silently thought as he mentally clicked his class.

Wildling of Hunger: After Adam Clement’s aptitude devoured his class Neophyte Wildling, this was all that was left behind. The class, similar to Neophyte Wildling, centers around learning creature abilities and skills. Unlike the original, this version of the class does so through devouring the remaining essence of slain creatures. The abilities and skills learned this way are modified to suite the user.

- User gained ability [ devour ]

- User gains +2 to all attributes per level

- User cannot make use of weapons or equipment. User can wear equipment but the bonuses will not apply. User can hold weapons but bonuses will not apply and cannot use skills learned through devour

- Except for class skills user cannot learn skills in any other way other than through devouring.

- Essence requirement needed to reach saturation point has significantly increased.

- Cannot learn or use spells

The beast stirs, its hunger grows

[ devour ]: Wildling of Hunger’s unique feasting skill, which absorbs the remnant essence of foes slain by the user. Recovers a slight amount of health, stamina and mana when used each time. Can learn skills and abilities from foes when this ability is used. Learned abilities are modified to user’s physiology. Depending on level difference, user may earn permanent increases to attributes. Does not cost mana or stamina and has no cooldown.

The good news was the class was powerful, Adam was sure of it. It provided 2 points in all attributes per level along with one class skill, which was the only good news about his class. The rest of it was just restrictions. He couldn’t make use of weapons or equipment and his requirements to level up were probably doubled. He didn’t know what to feel about the class. A bit disappointed to say the least but he tried to think about what his class did and what he could do with it.

On one hand the class was created/given by his aptitude and judging from the lone skill provided, was focused entirely on eating and learning abilities from monsters. His aptitude was the same and he felt that his class was an extension of his aptitude. Which very well might be true. Adam mused. He had been disgusted by the idea of having to eat monsters to learn their abilities, not to mention the fact that there were going to be things he couldn’t eat and his aptitude had given him a class that negated the need to physically eat monsters and even provided incentives to “devour” monsters, in the form of resource regeneration, which he was definitely going to abuse.

His aptitude enabled him to learn abilities but the class allowed him to learn abilities and skills, which to Adam, felt redundant since he didn’t think there was much of a difference between skills and abilities. The restriction of not being able to use or learn spells stung but he felt it didn’t really matter much in his current situation seeing as he he didn’t have any way to learn spells.

But he had monsters. In fact, his surroundings were full of monsters which he could consume to learn their abilities. That’s right Adam. Don’t focus on what you can't do but on what you can do. Your aptitude and class are both well suited for this . You wanted to survive and get stronger right? You have 2 tools that will help achieve that. So instead of feeling disappointed about not being able to wear armor you don’t have or do things which you don’t have and don’t know how to, you should focus on making use of what you have and what you can do.

His spirits rallied Adam focused on what he needed to do next. The final objective was clearing the but to achieve that he needed to be find the and defeat the guardians. He was sure the guardians were going to be tougher than anything he saw in the forest. He needed to roam around and search the whole dimension and right now he didn’t know if it was just a small land mass or a whole damn world but from what he had observed he was sure he was in a copy of the Graemwald forest, before its destruction. He hoped that the trial only included the forest and wasn’t bigger than that, otherwise he would take years to find the , he was already having a headache thinking about how large the forest was and how long it would take to search for the banner. Fuck.

OK FOCUS Adam! Don’t over think and complicate simple things. I just need to get strong enough to search the forest and to do that I need to kill shit and get stronger. Simple right? I just need to hunt monsters, learn their skills and repeat till I get op. Right, easy enough. Let’s do this!

Although he was full of zeal and drive, Adam’s steps were cautious as he proceeded to walk outside. It was early morning now and the forest looked beautiful in the early morning light. Adam stepped out of the cave and walked into the clearing ahead and dug out dirt from the ground before he went back in to the cave to make mud. I swear I’m never going to get used to doing this, feeling mud against my skin. It’s still fucking disgusting.

He was slathered in mud from head to toes and now he was finally ready to venture out once more. He walked out and headed into the forest slowly and cautiously but unlike before his steps were more confident and he felt anticipation in his heart, he had a small grin on his face and a cold gleam in his eyes. He wasn’t hiding like last time. Unlike last time Adam was a predator in the forest and now he was on the prowl for prey. Yeah right! By prey I mean something I can actually kill without dying right after.

The early morning light shined through the forest canopy and gave the forest a magical feel. Cant be more magical than a forest being copied and recreated in a pocket dimension. Adam mused. But he still let himself enjoy the beauty of his surroundings and appreciate a sight he had never imagined he would see, huge alien trees with flora that was literally out of his world. The clean fresh air with an earthy smell, the sound leaves rustling in the light breeze and the sound of small forest animals sensing his approach and running to hide.

His enhanced senses felt so much more than he ever had thought possible. It was raw and overwhelming and it was glorious. Adam was a farm boy, born and raised on his mother’s farm but even though he had lived in a rural part of the state and his adult life, he had been deployed in areas with all manners of forests, it still couldn’t compare to the primal nature of the forest he was in. Humungous trees everywhere he looked and dense underbrush scattered through out the floor of the forest. He never really had the time or the focus to spare on admiring the forest before but now he was in absolute awe of the scenery before him.

As Adam took in the sights with wonder, his feet never stopped moving and continued their stealthy approach towards the pond. He still couldn’t face anything in the forest that was stronger than him in a direct confrontation and setting up traps like pitfalls and spike traps would give away his position with the noise and movement and leave him open to attack, and the exertion would make him sweat which could be carried by the breeze and into the nostrils of whatever predators were lurking nearby.

He didn’t want to take that risk and he didn’t have to. The pond was the perfect spot to hide and select prey as well as the perfect killing ground. He was going to set up an ambush just like last time. But hopefully this time I won’t end up near death. I hope. Adam mused. Last time I rushed and picked something that was too strong, this time I’m going to pick the right prey.

He reached the pond a few minutes later and he circled around and made his way back to the reeds he had used last time. He stayed hidden and observed the reeds before he decided it was safe to move. And then he entered the water, it was pleasantly warm in the morning, he thought to himself as he hid in the reeds. Now it’s just a waiting game.

From morning till late afternoon he stayed in his spot and carefully observed the creatures that came to slake their thirst. He saw Dire Foxes, Poison Badgers, Shadow Racoons, Steele antlered moose but luckily no Wargs or Savage bears showed up. He did see a few birds though, Brown sparrows, Spearbeak Kingfishers that dropped by to drink some water and a Sonic Hawk had dived bombed out of the sky so fast that Adam didn’t even see it before it attacked one of the Spearbeak kingfishers hovering over the pond, one minute the kingfisher was staring at Adam while drinking water and the next second it was getting attacked by a giant hawk, the kingfisher couldn’t even put up a fight before it died and the hawk just clutch the bird in its claws and with a flap of its wings, it flew off faster than Adam could catch with his eyes.

The whole incident with the hawk took less than 5 seconds and Adam was stunned by what had transpired. The speed with which the hawk attacked terrified Adam, he hadn’t been able to see or sense it before it attacked the kingfisher and the struggle lasted 2-3 seconds before the kingfisher died. Fucking hell! What the hell kind of hawk was that? How am I supposed to defend against something like that? I couldn’t even see it or react to it! Once more Adam felt acute fear for his life, Fuck, calm down Adam. Those birds out there obviously spotted you since they were all staring at you when they were drinking. None of them attacked you. Why? They weren’t monsters and they weren’t predators. Adam reasoned. The hawk should have seen you as well from high up in the sky but instead of attacking weak ass Adam it decided to catch that kingfisher. Why?

Adam mused over the question and compared the information he had, which only amounted to their names and levels. The kingfisher was small but level 12 and the Sonic hawk had question marks for it levels, which I’m going to assume means that its too high level for me analyze. The kingfisher that was attacked was the highest level bird to visit the pond, well except for the hawk, so maybe it has something to do with the levels. Adam wondered.

Adam felt he was on the correct track with his line of reasoning. I’m going to need to see more examples to be 100% sure but the logic is sound. The hawk was high level and it wasn’t going to waste its energy on prey that didn’t provide a net gain in essence. I’m only level 1 and probably not worth eating. I’m too weak to even bother hunting. Fuck. That’s relieving and insulting at the same time.

The thought of the hawk not attacking and killing Adam because he wasn’t worth the tiny amount of essence it could gain, pissed him off and relieved him at the same time.

Wait…that doesn’t make sense... when I got here, I was chased by a T-rex and got killed by a drake. Both of them were much higher level than me. So my theory about high level creatures cant be right… Unless there are special rules for the . Adam reasoned to himself.THIS is a system made space and its logical that the system would make the rules that govern this space, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to revive me if I die inside this place. I think.

Adam thought some more about his situation and the gauntlet. I wish I had more information but that’s the only thing that would make sense. According to the system, the gauntlet was meant to be a sort of tutorial/newbie zone for outworlders. It stands to reason that there would be allowances made for outworlders to acclimatize and adapt since most would have ended up the same as I did. The ability to respawn inside the gauntlet is just one of those allowances made for outworlders. And some other safety mechanism must have been put in place to prevent high level predators from wiping out the lowest level creatures. Otherwise, those Wargs would have killed everything in the forest that was weaker than them and would have left the forest with only high-level creatures that the Wargs couldn’t hunt. Not exactly a newbie friendly scenario. The more I think about it, the more THAT actually makes sense. WHY else would monsters tolerate other creatures in their territory.

After deeply thinking about the gauntlet and what it was meant for, Adam was reasonably sure he was safe from being preemptively hunted by high level creatures. He decided to ignore his inner urgings to go back and hide in his cave and instead decided to stay where he was and wait till, he found something he could kill. Well, if I’m wrong, at least ill respawn…right?

So preoccupied was Adam in his thoughts that he almost didn’t spot the creature that had appeared at the pond. It was a Hare. A hare a horn growing out of its forehead. It was small compared to the rest of the animals that showed up but it was still bigger than any earth rabbit he had ever seen, about a meter long and it had a mean looking horn coming out of its forehead, which looked about 10 cm long, and was black as night. He quickly analyzed it.

Horned Hare (6): A cousin of the Forest Hare. Horned Hare are rare but can be found in forests and plains. Due to presence of predators Horned Hares have adapted and evolved to manipulate mana to enhance their speed and ability to dig through earth along with developing an extremely sensitive pair of ears. Their ears can hear the sound of a leaf falling on the forest floor from more than a hundred meters away. Once they spot a predator, they use their earth manipulation to dig into the earth and escape. They are notoriously difficult to spot or catch due to these qualities but their meat is delicious. Their horn is made up of minerals present inside the ground in the region they live in. Depending on the minerals the horns can be sharp and tough enough to pierce through enhanced armor. In the unlikely event that the Hare is unable to escape from a predator, it will use its ability to manipulate mana to bolster its speed physical ability to charge at their enemy and try to pierce through vital areas. They have low endurance and strength but their speed and reaction is high.

The rabbit or hare was alone and he didn’t need to even think about it. He was already moving underwater towards the hare as the thoughts went through his head. It’s small enough for me to manhandle and it won’t hear me underwater so it sense me until it’s too late. That ability to boost its speed sounds dangerous but it’s probably gunna need a second or two to activate. Usually, small animals freeze for a second when surprised but I’m sure once it starts to act, it’s not going to run. More than likely it’s going to charge towards me so I need to either catch it and drag it into the water before it can act. If I fail to do that than the next part is going to hurt like hell.

Adam went through the plan in his mind as he glided through the water, his increased stats made the journey through the water seem as if he was moving through air. The entire experience would have been extremely enjoyable if he wasn’t so focused on moving as fast as he could towards the direction he had seen the Horned Hare.

Adam glided towards where he thought the creature was going to be and pushed his head out of the water to see if he could spot the small creature. As luck would have it , the creature was overly cautious and was only just making its way towards the water and the creature hadn’t seen Adam as he pushed his head out of the water to look.

Adam reached the shallows of the bank and tried to see through the algae and water plants growing on the water surface. He managed to catch a glimpse of the creature as it reached the water. Adam decided to observe and wait for the right time before he struck.

Upon closer observation the creature had mottled brown fur with darker patches scattered in places and the hare was a bit larger than meter. Its ears were extraordinarily long and were swiveling about from left to right, sort of like a radar, very much listening to its surroundings and searching for the presence of danger. Once it was certain that there was no danger around it the creature dipped its muzzle into the water for a quick sip before taking it out. Its movements were fast, and Adam needed to time his actions just right to catch it and drag it into the water.

Now! Adam sprang up through the water his hands reaching forward just as the creature’s muzzle dipped inside the water. He grabbed a hold of its muzzle and pulled with all his strength. For a second Adam was surprised when he felt no resistance from the creature as it was dragged into the water. It was light and he was stronger than before. He quickly snapped back to his situation and he released one hand from its snout and twisted his body to a side and to prevent the horn that was heading towards his chest from goring him. He then got behind the creature while still holding on to its snout and used his free hand to snake around its throat and put it in a choke hold. The creature was panicking through out all of this and the terror it was feeling was palpable, even underwater.

It was thrashing about trying to escape or bite the hand that was choking it and trying to get away. But Adam was relentless. The creature was prey and he was the predator. This was his only path to getting stronger and so he tightened his hold around the creature’s neck and after what felt like minutes, the creatures’ struggles started to slow until it finally stopped.

Adam received a notification a second later telling him that the creature was dead. He finally relaxed and went up for air dragging the hare with him. He took slow mouthfuls of air as he surveyed his surrounding hoping that the noise of the creature being dragged into the water hadn’t attracted any predators. He waited and listened and observed. He saw and heard nothing. He was safe for now. He went down into the water and dragged the creature behind him as he made his way towards the reeds on the far bank.

Upon reaching the far bank he quickly used mud to slather himself and the dead hare and made his way back to the cave. He needed a safe place for what he was about to do and he couldn’t do it out in the forest with predators roaming about. And so he made his way back slowly and cautiously with the hare draped on his shoulders.

Adam was feeling proud of himself, he had hunted a creature 5 levels above him and did so quite easily and managed to come out of it unscathed. It was a far sight better than how his encounter with the stone lizard had gone, even though he was much weaker at the time and the creature was several levels above him. Still he took joy where he could and his successful hunt of the Horned Hare was cause for joy.

As he crept through the foliage he marveled at how powerful and smooth his movements felt. He was only level 1 and yet he felt stronger, faster and sharper than he ever had. He felt like he was more and that feeling was intoxicating. He couldn’t even imagine just how much stronger he could be if he continued to hunt and kill, but he wanted to find out. He was going to do everything he could to get stronger even if it meant putting his life on the line.

So, nothing new! The thought brought a smile to his face. My life has been one jump from one danger to another ever since I got transported to this world. Yet I feel more alive than I’ve ever had. The thought of having to spend my days in this forest hunting and trying to survive excites me, I should be feeling worried or afraid but I feel so much more, I’m alone and without support and weapons, with odds stacked against me and yet instead of just feeling dismay, I feel excitement as well.

Has the system integration changed me? Did my arrival in this universe change me somehow or was I always like this and this situation I’m in is only serving to bring it out to the open? Adam went through his memories to try and find answer. He went through his time in the marines and the tours he had done, the conflicts he’d gotten involved in and the battles he had fought in. Each and every on of those times he had been in a team assigned a specific role and a goal. His team had never faced odds like he was facing now. They had weapons and support and they always had the option of falling back but out here in the forest he didn’t have any of those. A man’s personal power did not matter. It was insignificant. On his world that was the harshest truth.

But in this wilderness the only thing Adam could rely on was his own power. Power that was now quantified and power that could be increased without limit so long as he had the resolve to challenge himself. Whatever doubts he had about the system and the interface, the biggest benefit that he could not bring himself to doubt was the interface, the means to gaining power.

The interface provided him means to increase his attributes in an instant which was miraculous when compared to having to work out for months just to see a small increase in strength, he could see his increases in strength and speed and the gains in the rest of his attributes in real time. He could level and earn more points to distribute into his attributes and he would reach superhuman levels of power. A farcry from his earth, where there was a hard cap on how strong or how fast or how tough you could get. On his world humans were weak,

But in this new world, in this new universe, Adam felt that he could shed his weakness. He could grow powerful. All he had to do was have the resolve to follow through. This was a world where individual power mattered. A universe that allowed any sapient who wanted, who truly pushed themselves, to earn unimaginable levels of power. And Adam was going to push himself over and over again.