KAELEN'S POV
I pulled my foot back off the church doorstep and fell backward down the stone steps. The moment my boots cleared the ground the boiling heat vanished and my body cooled down instantly, leaving me shivering and gasping for air on the wet pavement.
"What is wrong with me?" I whispered, my teeth chattering as I stared up at the massive wooden doors. I didn't believe it, I forced myself to lean forward and reach my hand toward the bottom step again. The moment my fingers touched the stone line, that terrifying fire exploded inside my veins.
I yanked my hand back, my heart pounding against my ribs. I couldn't understand it. This was a holy place… it was supposed to be a safe shelter, but now, it felt like a giant stove waiting to burn me to ashes.
I couldn't stay out in the open, the cops were probably looking for me after what happened at the shelter, and the rain was getting heavier.
I dragged my exhausted body away from the church and stumbled down the dark alleys until I found an old, abandoned car garage.
The metal garage door was rusted and bent at the bottom, leaving a small gap and I managed to crawl underneath it, collapsing onto the cold, grease-stained concrete inside.
The air smelled like old oil and rust, but at least it was dry. I leaned my back against a broken workbench, trying to get some rest.
But before I could even close my eyes, a low, wet hiss echoed from the back of the garage.
Out of the deep shadows, a monster slowly crawled forward. It looked just like the creatures from the shelter but it was but it was huge… it's s gray skin was slimy and translucent showing dark, pulsing veins underneath. It had long, human-like arms with razor-sharp black claws, and its face was a nightmare, no nose, just two glowing red eyes and a wide jaw filled with rows of jagged, needle-like teeth. Black saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling as it hit the concrete.
The monster roared and lunged straight
for me… Once again that box glowed yellow and somehow I had a blast of energy. I rolled to the side, and its sharp claws slammed into the workbench, splintering the old wood. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed a heavy iron wrench from the floor and swung it with all my might. The metal tool smashed right into the creature's jaw with a loud crack.
The monster screeched in pain as black blood sprayed from its mouth. It whipped its long arm around, slashing my leg and throwing me to the ground.
The pain was sharp, but the anger and fear inside me were louder. As the creature jumped on top of me, its jaws snapping inches from my face, I jammed the iron wrench sideways into its open mouth, holding its teeth back with both hands.
We wrestled on the oily floor, kicking and tearing at each other. The monster's claws tore through my shirt, leaving burning scratches across my chest. My muscles were completely giving out, and I knew I couldn't hold its jaws back much longer.
With a desperate scream, I used all my remaining strength to kick the monster off my chest. It flew backward, crashing into a tall, rusted metal shelving unit.
Before the creature could scramble back to its feet, I lunged forward and slammed my weight against the side of the heavy shelves. The metal unit groaned and tipped over, crashing directly on top of the monster with a loud, ringing slam. The heavy iron bars pinned its lower body to the concrete floor.
The creature screeched in pure rage, thrashing wildly as it tried to crawl out from under the wreckage. Its red eyes glared at me.
I scrambled around the dark garage, my eyes searching for anything to finish it off. My hand hit a long, heavy piece of scrap metal lying near a broken engine. One end of the metal bar was jagged and snapped into a razor-sharp point.
I grabbed the metal bar with both hands, lifted it high above my head, and drove the sharp point straight down into the monster's chest.
The metal pierced deep into its flesh, pinning it completely to the floor. The creature let out a horrible, choking gasp. Its thrashing slowed down, and dark, steaming blood began to pool on the concrete.
I stood over it, panting heavily, my hands shaking on the metal bar. But as I watched the dark blood ooze from the wound, a violent, uncontrollable hunger suddenly exploded in my stomach. It wasn't a normal need for food. It was a dark, primal urge that completely took over my brain. I stared at the dying monster, and my mind didn't see a threat anymore.
It saw meat.
With a wild cry, I dropped to my knees. I grabbed the monster by its slimy head, pinning its neck against the floor, and bit down hard into its flesh.
The black blood tasted like copper and ash, but to my starving body, it felt like the greatest feast on earth. I completely lost control. I tore into the creature, swallowing the dark meat and the thick blood while it weakened and shivered beneath me, until it finally went completely still.
When I finally pulled away, gasping for air, the monster's body began to dissolve into a dark, purplish smoke, disappearing into nothing.
Instantly, the blurry scrambled purple box hoverwd over me was in perfect clear focus. Bright words and numbers flashed rapidly in front of my eyes.
[ SYSTEM STATUS WINDOW ]
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
> System Owner : Kaelen Dreàcardi
> Level:2
> Hunger: 50%
> HP (Health): 45 / 120
> MP (Mana): 60 / 60
> Strength: 14
> Agility:12
> Vitality:12
> ntelligence:11
> Sense: 13
> [NOTIFICATION]
> Congratulations you have absord a Level 1 Demon.
> You have unlocked a new power: All-Tongue Comprehension
> You have unlocked a new trait: Demon Tier 1 (Novice Devourer)
I stared at the floating screen, my mind spinning with utter confusion. "What... what is this?" I muttered, wiping the black blood from my mouth with my trembling hands.
"Was zum Fick?!" a sharp, female voice suddenly exclaimed from the darkness near the garage door.
I jumped, my eyes darting toward the sound. Standing by the bent metal door was a young woman. She was staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. My face and hands were completely covered in dark, blood, and I was crouching on the floor like an animal.
The strange thing was, she hadn't spoken English. She had spoken German, but inside my head, I understood her perfectly.
"Repeat what you just said," I rasped, my voice a little shaky as I stood up.
The girl stumbled backward, her face turning completely white. "What... what are you?" she stammered, switching to English now, her voice trembling violently.
She was holding a cardboard box, and in her panic, her hands shook so much that she dropped it. The box flipped over, spilling several imported items onto the floor.
I looked down and my eyes instantly read the foreign labels. There were packages of German food, hard bread rolls called Handbrötchen , canned meats, and dried rations. I could read every single piece of German text perfectly, even though I had never studied the language in my life.
The girl backed up against the rusted wall, looking at my bloody face. She closed her eyes and whispered a short, panicked prayer under her breath. "Lieber Gott, bitte beschütze mich vor diesem Monster..."
( Dear God please protect me from this monster.).
"Ich bin kein Monster," ( I'm not a monster.)
I responded automatically.
The words came out of my mouth completely naturally, fluent and perfect, in German.
The girl gasped, her eyes flying open even wider. Now, we were both completely terrified. She was scared of me, and I was completely horrified by my own voice.
"What is happening to me?" I muttered in English, pressing my hands against my head. I looked at her, trying to calm her down. "Look, I promise... I promise I won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone. I was just so hungry. I just need food…real food."
Seeing that I was starting to break down and cry, the girl's terror softened just a little bit. She looked at the spilled rations on the floor, picked up a small wrapper with some dried German bread, and slowly held it out toward me with a shaking hand. "Here... take it."
I stepped forward and snatched the food, my hands still covered in the monster's fading blood and ate like a wild dog. But the moment I took the third bite a bright red warning box exploded in front of my eyes.
[ WARNING: SYSTEM ALERT ]
> Unknown Toxin Detected in food Item.
> Status:Poisoning imminent.
> Time until collapse:30 seconds.
> Current Level (1) too low to counter toxin.
A sudden, massive wave of dizziness hit my brain like a physical blow. The room began to tilt violently, and the concrete floor rushed up to meet me. My muscles completely stopped working, and the bread slipped from my fingers…I couldn't fight it. My vision went totally black, and my body collapsed heavily onto the hard floor before I could even make a sound.