One Heart at a Time

"I can't…"

Ash's voice cracked, his hands wet with blood. His fingers trembled uncontrollably, and his stomach burned as though he had swallowed fire itself.

"I can't take it anymore, sorry, Molg."

+4 STR

+280 CXP

Shared Hearts: 5 / 15

Four half hearts. That was all his body could handle.

The strength they gave him was small. They were the same beasts that they had killed before. No new skills either. 

Every bite felt like a punch in his gut. His body screamed in protest, his mind aching in exhaustion and nausea. His body was failing him. Again.

"This will be a hell of a ride." He muttered. "Not you, buddy." A laugh escaped his lips, a painful laugh. "But I am not a beast, Molg. Not yet, at least. My body can't eat this much."

His eyes darted over the dead creatures around them, many still with their hearts untouched. What a waste. Any other player would have a lot more xp than him as they only needed the kills. But he was different. He could only devour hearts. The thought of all the power slipping through his fingers, power that others were grinding, sent a wave of frustration through him.

"I'm a bug." He sighed. "But shouldn't bugs get easy mode? Why does it feel like I'm playing on infernal difficulty?"

He looked at the untouched corpses. There were still so many hearts to devour, yet he couldn't take even one more. He was pushing his body to its limits, and yet it was not enough. 

All the devour to get strong…

It was sick. 

And yet... somewhere deep inside, a part of him desired for more.

"Guess I'll just have to keep going. One heart at a time." He glanced at Molg, who sat near a heart, patiently watching him.

The mount's eyes were quiet, as though it understood him. 

"Let's go, buddy. This beast can't offer us much. Let's go find another type and see if we can get something new." It was a shame to leave all the hunt behind, but there was nothing he could do. "And maybe we will figure out how to leave this tutorial."

He wiped the blood from his hands on the scraps that lasted from his devoured pants. His eyes glowed with determination. "I can't keep eating like this. I will have to be smart about it from now on. Only devour the strong. This is just a tutorial, after all, and I'm a bug in the system. Molgrin is probably stronger than most of what we will encounter. So it's time to hunt smarter, not harder. Let's find something that will help me evolve, something that can give me a skill to help you fight, buddy." 

And so they went deep in the Forsaken Forest. 

Hunting for their next prey, their next heart.

They hunted for 5 hours. Initially they only found the same weak and old hyenas, wasting their breaths on them without stopping to eat. But after three hours they found new stronger prey. 

Ash had devoured two more hearts since the last, and his body felt the difference.

+3 STR

+2 AGI

+1 VIT

+220 CXP

Shared Hearts: 7 / 15

New skills, too. The hearts of the new creatures had given him two skills. Predator's Focus, that allowed him to lock onto his prey, tracking it with unmatched precision. And Beast's Fury, that heightened his rage in combat, giving him a burst of power in the heat of battle. Unfortunately, they were only useful to people with two legs.

Molgrin tore into a beast that looked like a bear, his beak working like a sickle as he stripped the meat from bone. 

Suddenly, before Molgrin could take its heart, the game chimed in with an announcement.

Player [NightStalker] has obtained a City Key.

Bonuses granted to key-holders on the next floor.

Find all 15 Keys to escape the tutorial.

Time Remaining: 48:00:00

Ash froze, staring at the message. He couldn't help but feel a strange mix of annoyance and curiosity. The game, or whatever this thing was, still considered him part of the system somehow, or else he wouldn't have received the alert. He was still playing like the others, even though he was totally bugged. He wasn't a discarded glitch, he was in it. His heart sank for a moment, but the sound of Molgrin's ripping flesh pulled him back into the present.

"A key…" He muttered, petting his mount. "What kind of perks will it give? And where the hell are the other 14?"

His goal was to get stronger, to hunt powerful beasts that no one else could yet, to get their skills. To take advantage of his bugged status. But now there was a timer ticking down on him. 48 hours. With the announcement other players would be hunting for these keys too. Competition was something most humans couldn't ignore. And the longer he stood resting, thinking, the more chances someone else had to finish the tutorial. The system had never told him about any key before. Was this some kind of test? Some loot? 

The system still wanted him in the game, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to play by its rules. He wasn't a player, he was a glitch. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Look for the keys? Would he receive the perks?

"Forget it." He muttered looking at the dead body. "We will hunt and get stronger. I don't care about this key, I don't even know if it would be good for me." He said firmly, stretching his hand. "One heart at a time, right?"

Let the others chase keys. Ash would hunt monsters. He would devour hearts.

"With this one, we only need 7 more." 

Molgrin screeched happily, dropping a half bloody heart on Ash. 

They were getting close to whatever his evolution would bring. Would the beast change? Get powerful skills? Ash was curious and even though his whole body was screaming at him, he would keep eating his way. No matter how disgusting his future was. He needed to get stronger if he planned to survive this game.

One heart at a time.