I opened my eyes, seeing the sun shining high in the sky. My entire body was feeling strange, sluggish and off, but I was still able to get back up. Icouldn't really remember where I was or what I was doing. But there were these strange rock formations all around me. Most were brown or gray, but a few had some spots with more color. But the strangest part was the transparent pieces that could be seen here and there. Revealing the insides of those formations.
Suddenly, a sharp pain hit the side of my body. It stung, but that was about it. I couldn't feel any blood dripping out of me. Turning in the direction that I was hurt, I saw nothing. Or so I thought. There was movement in the distance. Clear movement, but at the same time I couldn't understand what exactly that was. What exactly had hurt me?
Coming from the opposite side, more things hit my back. But as I shifted, the result was the same. I couldn't see whatever was attacking me. Just some strange greenish shapes moving from side to side.
A loud rumbling echoed through the area and I turned left only to see this square shaped metal thing approaching. Its sides were moving, rotating, while the center remained mostly still. But it wasn't all. From that center area of the box, there was a horn pointing in my direction. But before I could understand what that was, there was a flash, and I flew backwards, slamming against one of the strange rock formations, breaking parts of it and falling into a somewhat well lit cave.
And then my body started to burn. As if I had just jumped into fire. The heat spread everywhere, but I couldn't scream. Turning towards the strange metal cube, a voice rang in my head.
Destroy.
I froze hearing that. It wasn't a suggestion or an intrusive thought. That was an absolute command. Something I had to follow, no matter what. Going against it wasn't an option. It wasn't even a possibility that could be allowed to be considered.
I rushed towards the metal square, all my limbs on the ground moving at a speed that felt unnatural in a way that felt wrong. Yet, I moved. But before I could approach the metal square, a set of instructions appeared in my mind. Instructions on how to fight this creature that was in front of me. And before I could even think, my body followed the orders.
First, the moment there was another flash, I lowered myself as close to the ground as possible. Letting whatever was coming out of this thing's horn pass over me. Following that, I rushed at the strange object. Bobbing and weaving from left to right. All my limbs were touching the ground in quick succession. My arms, legs, and… more? Without being able to understand, I was just making sure that I would stay as close to the ground as possible. Never staying in front of the horn.
Once I was close enough, I shifted my entire body to the side, climbing over the rotating parts of the box on the left and seeing that it was more of a rectangle than a square. The top was also strange. It was smaller and had a circular disk on top of it. Not wasting any time, I reached out and grabbed the circle before ripping it out. Then, I reached inside the box and pulled something. A strange-looking creature with a mix of pink and green. It was somewhat familiar as its four appendages started to flail and try to grab my own. It also kept constantly making a strange high-pitched noise that didn't really bother me, but felt like a waste of effort.
Eat.
Another command.
Absolute.
I took the creature and held it towards my mouth, trying to understand why this felt so familiar, when suddenly the information entered my mind. Almost as if it was given by someone else. A single piece of information. The name of this type of creature.
Human.
Only then I was able to realize that my arm wasn't an arm at all. But a black tentacle covered in a metal plate. In addition, I realized there was noise working almost as a background music. The sound of metal grinding on metal. The telltale sign of an Eater.
And it was coming from me.
As if I was hearing my own voice but instead of words, all that came was that sound.
Worst of all, the man was still in my grasp and slowly being pulled towards my mouth. Which strangely was over my head. I did everything I could to stop it. To make sure that I wasn't going to eat another person. I didn't know if I could handle the memory. And worst of all, I doubted I could forget the taste.
And yet, there was no taste. At one point, the man simply stopped screaming while I could feel something passing through the middle of my body.
It was really strange to be feeling like this. I had more limbs than I could count and everything had a strange look to it. As if I wasn't really using my eyes to see but something else. Something I couldn't understand.
I saw more shapes inside the box which now I could understand was a tank. Yet, my body wasn't moving to reach for them. Instead it was just glancing in their direction. Almost as if I wasn't sure of what I was supposed to do. Or at least, this body was unsure what to do.
But then, the voice corrected and was more.
Eat.
This time, I tried holding it back. Tried fighting against the command but even if I was aware, this wasn't something I wanted to do, it didn't feel like I had a choice. Even if I could understand that my thoughts and the Eater's were different, the moment that command was said it didn't feel like it. It very much felt like I was also part of the creature and I was also required to follow those orders.
More than that, every time I did as I was told, there was a strange sense of bliss that washed over me. As if everything in the world was okay. For a brief moment once I or the Eater started eating the soldiers inside the tank, everything felt right with the world. There were no issues, no problems, no pain, no hurt, nothing. Everything was just as it was meant to be.
There was another impact on the side of my body as a cannon shell hit me once again. Sending me flying and crashing against another of the rock formations which now I could understand were buildings. My many limbs clamored together to force me to stand up, but this time I wasn't as injured as before. There were a few cracks in my shell, revealing some of the milky white blood inside the Eater that I was now inhabiting somehow.
From a different road was another tank. This one bigger, with more soldiers flanking it. They started firing at me, at this Eater, relentlessly attacking with everything they had. And slowly but surely, they were doing damage. Another cannon shell hit me, causing one of the tentacles to snap before I could feel particles covering the limb. It was a very familiar feeling as {Body Regeneration} was triggered. Not just that, but there was another familiar feeling. The same kind of knowledge that would enter my mind when I was using a skill through the System.
This version of the skill was different. It wasn't the same as the one I did. It wasn't just making sure the body grew back, but it followed something to recover what was lost.
The tentacle was quickly fixed, and the part of it that was broken had been recovered. And not just that, but all the small cracks in the Eater's shell, my shell, were closed, returning me to peak condition once more.
I jumped towards the tank, doing the same bobbing and weaving technique to evade the attacks I had used on the first one. And it worked. But this time, as I tried to pull the hatch open, fire started bursting from inside the tank, forcing me to rush away. I then changed my charge, aiming now at the soldiers in the surrounding area, but every time one of my tentacles tried to reach for them, the humans would start throwing fire in my direction, causing me to be pushed away.
For some reason the fire hurt too much. That wasn't something I ever imagined being the case for Eaters. I had seen them eat fire but maybe since this was the old world, they had yet to get to that point as strange as it sounded.
I jumped on top of one of the buildings and started moving above the soldiers before jumping down on the back line and trying to attack them. But even then, I wasn't able to do any damage. The fire hurt too much. Forced me to run away almost instinctively.
I started to retreat, more specifically the Eater. Afraid of the enemies it was facing. But another order rang in its mind.
Attack. Destroy.
There was an underlying sentiment inside of those words. A sentiment that stated Eater should win this battle no matter the cost.
I stopped in my tracks and turned towards the tank before another strange feeling washed over me. It was similar to when I triggered {Compression} but more profound. More tailor-made to affect one very specific thing, the Eater's own body. It started to grow more and more until it became the size of a building. Most of its skin starting to crack and collapse under the strain of the new skill. The Eater couldn't handle being this size. After all, {Compression} didn't change the fundamental properties of an object. It just changed its size. And it seemed like it had stretched its metal skin too much.
But there was still something it could do. The Eater triggered another skill. One that I didn't recognize. Its body started to turn into stone. While still being able to move. And to make matters worse for the soldiers, the Eater was still capable of moving at the same speed. I couldn't understand what kind of skill this was. Sounded like a defensive one, but also the body felt much stronger.
The Eater started its rampage, jumping over the buildings, crashing against the structures and causing them to topple while slapping the tanks and grabbing the soldiers before throwing them into its gigantic maw. But I barely was paying attention to all that. Instead, I was trying to see if I could do anything. If I could move or just understand where those orders were coming from.
But nothing I tried seemed to work. My body wasn't here. My conscious was barely there. Yet, once I called the System, I was able to see a bit of information. Although seeing it wasn't really the right way to put it. There were words, but they were in a language that I couldn't recognize. Not even the letters seemed to make any sense, as they were all strange scribbles. But still, I could somehow understand what they were saying.
This Eater was called just that, Eater. Even if it felt similar to the scavenger Eater I had fought. Then again, it did have some strange metal plates around its limbs that were not present on the ones I fought against. And it was a Tier 2 creature. Not even saturated. It had four attributes like I did, which I imagined were the same, just with different names and a few skills. The problem was that it took a lot of effort to translate each of those words so I started with the first skill. It was separated from the rest, which meant it was likely more important. But all I could understand the first word in the name.
Hive.
Before I was able to translate the next part, the Eater collapsed into one of the tallest buildings in the area. Crashing on top of it, its body too injured to continue. The stone that formed its shape already cracked and broken in several places. With a trickle of white blood flowing from it. Even if the Eater had grown in size, the amount of blood inside its body didn't change. This caused it to be only able to move for as long as its Energy allowed. Now it had burned through all its reserves, it was just dying.
But before the last spark of life left its body, the voice that was commanding it spoke once more. Yet this time it wasn't an order. Instead, it was a complaint.
Needs Improvement.
With those last words, everything went dark and my mind drifted into unconsciousness.