The Beast Within

I put my pat on one of the lifeless legs that hung on the brutally truncated hip of the mage and started sucking all the mana out of the body before I drank some of the blood. It was the moment that concluded the fact that I wasn't a human anymore, but a cat, and that I would even drink the blood of a human if it meant that I could get stronger.

The life elixir of the mage was surprisingly tasty and even filled with potent mana, and I drank and licked all the blood I could find. Well, I ignore the shredded part to avoid getting nightmares but used my claws to cut the smooth skin of the legs open in order to get more of the precious dark-red liquid.

"Quite refreshing," I purred with satisfaction.

I wasn't sure if human blood really tasted all that better than the blood of beasts, but the stuff from I got from the mage was pretty high-quality shit. It made me feel relaxed, and the taste was not bad at all, a bit salty, but also sweet.

My eyes grew suddenly wide.

"Fuck… I am slowly turning into a bloodsucking vampire cat!" I miaowed in shock.

My eating habits aside, I had no time to ponder too much because I had to see where the troll disappeared with the three other humans. The huge brute proved to be a magnet for endless carnage, and I decided to follow it along for a while, to explore the world and enjoy free meals.

'This way!'

Following the tracks of the troll was luckily pretty easy, and I speed up to catch up with my big angry buddy.

…

I rushed across fields of crops, following the path of destruction until I saw a couple of smaller individuals fighting a way larger one in the distance. It didn't take long before I was close enough to see the three humans from before with six additional new ones fighting the troll.

The new group had three of these heavy-armored knights but with large shields that they to block all the hits from the troll. The idiot forgot to pick up his mace before he chased after the humans and lost a lot of his fighting power.

The grass was luckily high enough to cover me entirely if I lowered down, and I approached closer to the small battlefield to see if I can learn something useful.

'That's quite a bit of dangerous magic' – I thought in the back of my head as I watched the three other humans of the new group attack the troll with small fireballs and whitish projectiles that shot out of their fingers like bullets.

[Human Knight – LvL 3]

[Human Archer – LvL 3]

[Human Mage – LvL 4]

'Huh?'

My eyes rose when I saw small lines of text appearing above the heads of the humans, showing me their level. Everyone, except the mage with the fireballs who was LvL 4, was a LvL 3 adventurer. They were theoretically way weaker than the troll, but their numbers balanced everything out, and I could see that the big boy was struggling to find a way to break free of his current condition.

Arrows, fireballs, and white bullets rained down on his skin while the troll was smashing his fists against the heavy shields of the knights that blocked the way. And I have to admit that I was slightly angry about the shamelessness of these humans. It was evident that the troll had strong regeneration abilities, their spells didn't harm it much, but it was most likely still painful and tortured the creature - judging the troll's facial expression.

'Should I risk it?' – I thought to myself, looking at the mages who were fairly unprotected.

My claws could cut their skin easily, and I was confident that I am able to seriously injure one of the mages if I could land a perfect ambush. The only problem was that I feared to get hit by the others who would surely try to kill me then. At the same time, however, would my ambush help the troll to break free and hopefully kill everyone.

"For blood and the glory of the black cat!" I growled silently and decided to aim for the strongest mage.

It was the best choice since I was defending myself from his attacks by being close to him this way. There was enough high-growing grass in the area as well, and I was confident in my ability to flee if something went wrong.

Nobody paid any attention to the little kitty cat that was closing in on the mage from behind, and I passed in between his legs before locking my eyes at his arrogant face.

My mind sharpened, getting ready for the attack, and I squatted down and jumped with an angry hiss.

'Shadow Strike!'

"AHHHRG!!!" The mage yelled out in main after I cut one of his eyes into a bloody mess.

*MIAOW!*

The two other mages beside him reacted at first with puzzlement when they saw that a small black furball attacked their leader. It took them a couple of seconds, but the sight of the bloody eye made them realize how dangerous the situation was.

"This dammed cat injured Maxwell!"

'No way! Really?!' – I thought with a roll of my eyes and rushed under the robes of one of the other mages and used my claws to cut her thighs open.

"AHHHHH!!!"

The female yelled out in pain as I shredded the skin of her legs. She lifted her robes and slapped after me, but was soon screeching with agony when I bit her to rip a piece of flesh out of her thigh. Her long legs were quickly covered in countless vicious scratches and dark-red blood. I only let go of her to rush into the high-growing grass nearby when I saw that the two archers of the old group were firing arrows at me.

"What the- NO!"

I ran in zigzags to make it harder for them to hit me and could only hear everyone panic when the troll who was suppressed until now seemed to have broken free. The sound of forcefully bent metal entered my ears, followed up by a high-pitched inhumane screech before a sickly-wet sound silenced it.

The area was soon filled with screams of horror and dread, and I turned to see the troll ripping another knight in half before throwing the body parts at the archers. It was a gruesome scene, but I wouldn't back off now that I was already part of the battle. I laid low and waited in between the tall grass until I suddenly saw the other LvL 3 mage attempting to flee.

"Not so fast, you coward!" I growled before shot towards the fleeing mage with predatory glee shimmering in my eyes.

The mage was a male this time and was wearing thick pants below his robe. That didn't stop me from jumping on his head, and I used my claws to give him a gentle hug that he wouldn't forget so fast. I got a pained cry in response and jumped off his head when the mage lost his balance and fell.

What followed could only be described as a wild massacre as I danced around the mage like a hurricane that showered him in vicious scratches that shredded his skin open.

The troll already finished the remaining humans and was chewing on one of the arches when I looked up from the dead mage below me. His skin started to heal at a visible rate, and I couldn't help but think that being a troll should be awesome.

"Yep… I have become a real beast now," I miaowed in a slightly exhausted tone.

Killing a human didn't feel as bad as I expected it to. Maybe because I wasn't one now? Probably.

I believe that it was ok as long it has a purpose. Killing these humans will make me stronger so I could survive. They have family and friends, but I was alone. My old self had to step back to make way for the new me, the little cat that wants to become something in this cruel new world – more than just an ordinary housecat that is living at the mercy of others.

"Yes, my name is Nero now!" I miaowed with a determined expression before seeing that the troll was eating the second archer now. "Shit, I need to hurry, or I will lose my meal to this huge glutton!"

I was already sitting on the bloodied chest of the mage and started to use my inborn ability right away before I slit his neck to drink his blood. It was also time to use my ability Sanguine Symbolum to create my first rune.

Using the ability was actually pretty easy. The hard path was to gather the required blood, but a couple of these magical humans and maybe some beasts too should be enough to activate my first rune fully.

That being said, I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on the rune that would strengthen my magical affinity. Speed and strength were both fine, but it was magic like Illusionary Glamour that allowed me to sneak up on the LvL 4 mage.

It took me some time until I was able to see a dark-purple eye with a vertical slit-like pupil appearing before my inner eye. It was certainly a beautiful eye and looked mysterious, but it seemed a bit dull and listless. And I knew that I had to fuse a lot of my own cat-magic and also blood from the prey I killed into it to make it glow with its full potential.

I focused my thoughts again and made the rune move to place it right under my chin, on my chest, where I can easily sense it by just looking at the area.

"That's the first step," I miaowed happily over my success.

The rune was here, on my chest like a tattoo, but not visible to the naked eye since my coal-black fur was rather dense and additionally enhanced by Illusionary Glamour. The magical ability made my fur gleam with a purple-blue hue that furthermore prevented curious eyes from spotting the rune on my chest.

"Let the feast begin!" I miaowed happily and started drinking the blood of the mage below me again.