[ Cat Familiar
Strength 2
Agility 15
Charisma 10
Endurance 7
Health 5
Magic 0 ]
Abe watched the screen that had appeared out of thin air, uncomprehending. The trees around him, the animals, hell even the grass was an unfamiliar sight to him. The trees were so tall he couldn't see the top of even one of them, the grass ended somewhere at his thighs, and the animals…
They were so strange. Lizards with wings climbed the trees before letting themselves fall, their wings stretching out. Tiny human-like creatures covered in flower petals, leaves or mushrooms sauntered around.
Abe just took it all in with wide eyes. He tried walking closer to them, but stumbled. His body too was unfamiliar. Why was he on all four ? He looked down and jumped in surprise. His feet and hands weren't feet and hands at all, but small paws covered in black fur.
A sound escaped him, not a scream as it should have been, but a startled mewl.
He looked again at the screen, at one word in particular: Cat Familiar.
Was he a cat ? But how ?..
[ Loading… ]
What ?
[ Daily Quest :
Kill three animals ]
Sure, he thought. He didn't really remember what happened before he became… this, but he remembered everything else, including the numerous hunts he had gone on.
It was slightly different of course, his claws weren't quite as sharp as his knife, yet his senses were sharper.
It was easier to hide too, crawling among the tall grass. His sharp eyes focused on a particular prey : a walking mushroom. His tail swished back and forth behind him. His paws lefts the ground, he lunged. His jaw opened wide, closing in on the mushroom's head. A thick liquid that didn't quite taste like blood filled his mouth.
The mushroom thing maned a few times before dying, its agitated body going limp. Abe started digging in, the taste wasn't bad, it was almost like mushroom but… warmer. He liked it.
Did the mushroom count for an animal he thought. His head tilted, silently asking an answer from the screen.
[ 1/3 ]
Nice. His mouth made something akin to a smile. He killed a rabbit and a weird insect next.
[ + 5 stat points
+ 5 skill points ]
[ Skill shop has opened ]
Huh ? Abe hurriedly tried to open the skill shop, before he could however, a sharp pain erupted in his shoulder.
He hissed. He jumped away from the threat and turned to see what it was. There was the same weird insect, except much bigger. Its mandibles were covered in Abe's blood.
His fur bristled and he hissed at it. It was almost as big as Abe and clearly stronger.
[ New quest
Survive the enemy ]
Yes, yes, thanks for the information, he snapped, another hiss escaping him.
It lunged at him again. Abe scurried away, far faster than he ever was as a human. Its mandibles touched his fur more than once. Abe was a hair away from escaping it but he. Fucking. Stumbled. His paw caught on a branch.
One of its leg landed deep in his flesh. His claws tried catching something to stop it from dragging him. Its second leg caught his side.
He cursed in his mind, his claws couldn't get a good enough hold, and its hold wasn't getting any weaker. He opened the screen again.
The pain kept on getting stronger and he momentarily stopped struggling. The insect dragged him on the ground but Abe ignored the pain.
[ Cat Familiar
Level 1
Strength 2
Agility 15
Charisma 10
Endurance 7
Health 5
Magic 0
Stat points 5 ]
He added it all to strength in a panic. He immediately felt his body getting stronger and just a bit bigger.
He turned around, slamming it to the ground. He growled before launching himself toward it.
[ New quest
Kill the enemy ]
He hissed appreciatively. His claws dug into its exoskeleton. He bit into it again and again, searching for its flesh. Its organic armor finally cracked, letting in a foul taste.
He kept on digging and clawing. It slowly stopped moving. Abe didn't stop attacking, he ate until the last of its organs were gone. He gave a cry that Abe would call fierce.
[ + 5 Health ]
[ + 5 Magic ]
[ + 5 Skill points ]
He stopped. Damn, he had eaten both its lungs, and it only died now ?
He took out the magic core in its ribcage with his teeth, before cracking it and eating it.
[ + 1 Magic ]
He looked at the rewards. Now that he knew what plus five strength did, he could said these rewards were definitely incredible. Magic, huh. He had known of mages in stories, one of his friends had been scouted to become a mage. If the rumors were true, she had won a scholarship and gone to the capital.
He had only seen magic a few times in his life, it was a rare sight in the False World. It kind of made him want to put everything into his magic.
He shouldn't, it was better to be well rounded and…
He was like a man possessed, or well, a cat possessed. Before he knew it, he… didn't put anything into his magic. Oh. The points he gained were skill points.
He opened the skill shop.
[ Thievery 5 SP
Health Regeneration 8 SP
Appraise 5 SP
Sharp Claws 2 SP ]
Damn, this isn't cheap. He bought Health Regeneration and Sharp Claws as the compulsive buyer that he was, making a mental note of buying Thievery as soon as he could.
He waddled around, unsure of what to do. When he was human he was kept busy looking for food, shelter and water. Now the thick leaves of the tall trees didn't let much rain or sun in, small lakes were found easily enough, and preys weren't lacking at all.
He sighed, how things had changed, now he was worried about what he could do other than lazing around. He stretched, the way a cat would.
[ New Quest
Be alive ]
And he's even getting rewarded for existing ?..
[ + Familiar-Mage Contract ]
[ New Quest
Establish a Familiar-Mage Contract
Time Limit : 5 Days
Punishment : Death ]
Ah. Ah ?! He jumped up, hissing angrily, his fur bristling.
He was hallucinating. Right ? Right ?
He blinked again and again, but the screen didn't change, neither did the 'Death' right under the time limit.
He sighed, that gave him something to do at least. He was thankful he wasn't in his birth country, where finding a mage would have been an impossible mission.
Although a random forest didn't seem to hold much promise of a mage. Guess he had to go exploring.