Alice felt a surge of euphoria as she gained the XP, she quickly discovered how fun it felt, not just to gain the XP, that was it's own form of glee for her, but... there was something about cleaving into the rats that felt so... so right, every time she sunk her fangs into one.
And now she had something entirely new to observe as the new notification came in.
She wasn't sure what to do... and then she did, new knowledge flowed into her head. She thought about skills an entire list appeared before her, it was endless, although most were greyed out or completely blanked out, that couldn't be efficient she thought and once again the knowledge flowed.
It was a strange feeling honestly, feeling your mind be filled with knowledge against your consent, one moment you didn't know something and the next it crashed down upon your brain like a wave upon a cliff. But now she knew how to focus only on skills she personally could obtain.
This list was far far smaller, honestly she felt a little embarrassed that she could learn so little but it did make some sense, after all she was still just a baby bat. Right... she was a bat. She should probably pick something that worked well with that right? [Hiding]? [Enhanced Sense]? Those were the two that seemed the most useful for her current state, either one would help her avoid more dangerous situations... but she wouldn't be able to find Lily by hiding would she.
Alice picked the Enhanced Sense feeling confident in her decision, once she did she felt acutely more aware of things, like for example... the rat that had been watching her from the Cave floor. She could feel its beady eyes... and more... anger? That made sense, yeah, she had been killing rats to gain XP. It hit her a bit, sure they were rats but... she was a bat, these things were alive just like her, probably had wants and aspirations like her right? Or was she special because she had been reincarnated... but her mother spoke, had a clear personality.
And then the ugly question came, did she care? Maybe they were alive and had personalities, families, loved ones. But so did she, so how much did it really matter? Just because she was as the System classified, a Monster didn't mean she had to be sympathetic to other monsters. She... she had a mission.
Alice stared down at the Rat watching her, [Enhanced Sense] told it her was more dangerous, but she couldn't just fight the weak rats if she wanted to thrive in this world. One thing was apparent, through bloodshed came power. Alice swooped down.
It felt nice, the air flowing around her wings, she felt faster, untouchable, that's right even if she was doing poorly against the Rat then she could fly up she could- SLAM! Alice was, on the ground? Blood dripping from her left wing, what was... oh. She watched as the Rat came falling down towards her. It had jumped, that made... sense? No, how could a Rat... right. Stupid Alice. If she could get skills then surely the Rats could as well.
She bared her fangs, squeaking at the Rat, she wasn't sure why, instinct? Yeah sure, instinct. Instinct that she was in danger.
"I can smell him on you."
Alice froze, the Rat spoke as it circled her.
"My son never returned from his scouting. And I find a disgusting Bat with his blood sticking to its fur. A baby at that."
There was venom in those words, a hatred that Alice hadn't heard since... since... her old mother had caught her with... no that didn't matter right now. She had to focus. That world was gone, she had died there and the only thing that remained from it was Lily.
With [Enhanced Sense] and being this close she could tell this Rat was bigger, likely an adult. So she was fighting children before, that was fine, she was a child herself right now. She moved her wing, wincing in pain. Okay, probably couldn't escape. She could maybe fly a little but this Rat could leap up and strike her down again.
She couldn't let it hit her again, so she moved as quickly as she could, rushing forward as the Rat glared at her. She was terrified, it was big and powerful and hated her. What's worse is she didn't see her mother anywhere around, she was completely on her own. She grabbed onto the Rat, cleaving her fangs into its shoulder digging them as deep as she could, she could taste muscle as she bit down, trying to dig her wing hook into it as well. If it couldn't strike her properly then she- SLAM!
Her body struck the Cave wall with such force she released her bite. Instead of striking her the Rat had slammed its body against the wall, letting her take the brunt of the impact. That hurt a lot. She limply began to get up, she could feel her bones as they were cracked, maybe worse. Her own blood flowing down her back she had to get out of here she had to!
Alice flew up, darting into the sky towards escape. As long as she could reach the Cave roof she could cling to it until her mother came back until the Rat got bored!
[Enhanced Sense] told her it wouldn't be that easy, the blood soaked fur on her back stood up as she felt the danger approach and then SNAP! It was loud, the sound of her left wing bone snapping, digging out of her wing as blood dripped from it, she fell to the ground, unable to fly anymore.
The Rat followed after, it bit its teeth down onto her right wing, and then pulled, ripping her wing bone out of the flimsy skin wing and then stabbing it into Alice's side. Was this how she died? She looked up blurry at the Rat as it let out a dark chuckle.
"This is all you have? Puny little runt, I'll have to lick your bones clean to even get a proper meal."
A proper meal... that could work. It was dangerous but what choice did she have? She just had to wait for the right moment.
Bishop eyed the Bat, he wasn't sure what he felt, this little runt had killed his children? What a joke it had barely been able to hurt him and now it looked as if it would die if he just left it there. He considered that for a moment just leaving it to die slowly but who knew if another Bat was around here maybe one who could do magic like that... Salamander.
But it was more than that fear because... there was something, something in the eyes of that Bat that felt... unsettling. An anger and determination, despite being far stronger despite it being bloodied and barely breathing, Bishop felt he was facing death, enough!
He opened his jaws, it wouldn't be able to glare at him like that if he bit its head off! He marched forward and then... the bat came towards him? What? It skittered across the cave floor with speed rushing right at him, what kind of insanity was this what kind of, he began to gag.
The Bat was in his mouth, it had actually dove right into his mouth and began to push into his throat what was- pain and realization hit him. It was going to kill him, he was going to die choking on this runt as it... ripped out his insides.
Alice felt disgusting, absolutely disgusting but more importantly she felt... alive although just barely her entire body screamed in pain as she bit and chewed, clawed and even slammed her exposed bone into the inner flesh of the Rat she was basically digging a hole through the flesh and guts of the inside of the Rat, she couldn't see, her eyes had long been covered in gore. She couldn't use [Echolocation], because her mouth and throat were full of viscera, no all she could do was keep digging, biting, chewing, swallowing, spitting, ripping, stabbing.
It was desperate and ugly, inwardly she laughed at the insanity of it all, she had become a Bat and now she was digging through the insides of a Rat, that cartoon figure had talked of being a dashing hero, spoken so highly about what her life could be. And here she was digging through the guts of a Rat! Barely alive! What a scam! And why was she here? Probably because some drunk had decided it was a good time to drive!
Alice had barely truly ate the Rats she had killed before, something inside her had kept her from doing so, but now? She knew what Rat throat tasted like, what their lungs, their heart tasted like. That was knowledge she wished she didn't know, but it was useful knowledge at least that's what she told herself.
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She was... so tired, the warmth of blood was surrounding her, she spat out some flesh and laid there, deep inside the rat's body. Maybe it was okay... to just rest for a moment, it couldn't... it couldn't attack her while she was inside it right?
Her eyes slowly fluttered closed as she just barely made out a notification.
<4 Evolutions Unlocked>
That was nice... she could evolve... maybe when she woke up. For now, she just wanted to... wanted to sleep.
Water.
Water felt nice Alice decided, a lot nicer than warm blood.
She wasn't sure why she was wading through water but that was okay, it felt nice. It was dark but that didn't bother her, her eyes had been stinging so no light was probably good? Wait why had her eyes been stinging? Oh right the blood and stomach acid.
Did... did she die again? That wouldn't be good, Lily was out there... Ha... there she went again. Caring about someone else when she had just had to dig into a Rats body to survive. Lily who... who was going to abandon her. Leave her for... for... where was Lily going to go again? Well it didn't matter, it was far. But that didn't matter, they had died. And now they were in this scary world, where rats talked and tried to eat you.
Would Lily even... wait for her? How would she find her? She was just some stupid bat! One that could barely fight a Rat and win... one that might've died again! So much for her vow, so much for... The Vows, she felt her face flush when she thought of them. She had wanted so badly to share them but, what if it was too much? She was always too much, maybe that's why Lily had been looking at other places thousands of miles away. And now they were in a fantasy world and again! She was a Bat! A little flying bat! One that ate rats! Maybe Lily would find some beautiful elven woman... were there elves? Surely right? It was a fantasy world. If there were talking rats there had to be elves!
She laughed, she was getting so off track it was embarrassing. Here she was in a dark water filled area, maybe having died a second time and she was insisting that there better be elves in the fantasy world she had been reincarnated into after being what? kidnapped? by a woman who was completely pale and a talking cartoon!
She breathed, okay, she had gotten it out and now she needed to figure out what was going on.
She began to wade through the water again, she kept going and going until she saw... a woman sitting. She was muttering something, Alice couldn't make it out... she got closer and closer but no matter what the level of muttering she could hear remained the same. Then she noticed the chains, they were attached to the woman, flowing into the water until they became water. The woman continued to mutter, muttering so quickly that even if Alice could understand her she didn't think she would be able to process it.
She wasn't sure what to do so she attempted to talk? She wasn't sure if non-monsters could understand her, or even non-bats? She had understood the Rat. But that might just be a common tongue between the two? Was there just a universal language or were there multiple? Maybe other Bats from further away would have different dialects... and she was getting off track again.
She squeaked out towards the woman.
"Excuse me! Um.. scary chained up lady? Where am I?"
The woman snapped her gaze to Alice, but never stopped muttering.
She held out her hand and then Alice felt her body move, shooting towards her grasp, she desperately tried to free herself to no avail, and then she was being squeezed, but she could finally make out at least one word.
"Choose"
She needed to choose? Oh right the evolution, it didn't seem like the most dire thing at the most current moment but the big scary chained up lady was. Okay her choices... she thought hard, that's how she saw her status page right? So she just had to focus.
[Young Bat]
[Baby Giant Bat]
[Baby Shade Bat] (Unlock Requirement: Reach evolution on the cusp of death [Fullfilled])
[Baby Blood Bat] (Unlock Requirement: Commit a gruesome murder [Fullfilled]) (Warning: Choosing this Evolution will gain the interest of [REDACTED])
A rare and uncommon evolution? That was nice, probably. So different things she did would give her different evolutionary options. Blood being higher rarity than Shade felt... weird? It seemed more easy to commit a gruesome murder than it did to reach her evolution almost dead. But maybe there was more that went into it? She was held for some time as she debated her options, she tried probing the System for new knowledge, an evolutionary path for example? But nothing.
Ugh! Fine! She finally decided to just go with the Rare one, it was rare and came with a warning! Sure she would gain the interest of some mysterious being but that was fine! This would give her the power she needed right? That was all she needed to know!
"A new Blood Bat shall be born."
The womans voice was clear once more and then the pain began. It was... uncomfortable wasn't the right word but it was at the same time. Alice felt as her skin was peeled off, she wasn't cut no, the woman pulled and her skin came off, it burned. Air against her muscles, her internal organs began to fall out, clinging only by the bit of muscle and connective tissue that she still had. She would have vomited, if the woman hadn't then torn out her stomach. The fact that she was still alive was concerning, she wanted to cry, she did cry and it burned. Her tears flowing onto her exposed inner workings.
Alice desperately tried to cry out, to plead for mercy, but her throat was torn open, the insides scooped out and discarded into the water below. One by one an organ was removed, dug out with clinical indifference, it was painful but despite that she couldn't die, even when she was just a set of bones struggling to free herself, she could not die. And then her bones began to be snapped off.
Finally it finished, there was barely any of her but the ripping apart of her body ended. And then the woman took out an... Needle. Yes a needle, that's what it was, it consumed her vision, how did she have vision? Her eyes had been plucked out. But she could see, and it was all she could see, the air... was there air? She wasn't sure, but everything, the air, the color, all of it collided inward on this Needle.
And then the woman began to sew, Alice felt new nerve endings grow, being pulled along by the needle, she felt her bones reconstruct, stronger, harder and sharper. Instead of a single talon like thumb she had three now. Her other fingers that extended down her wingspan felt longer as well, her organs regrew, attaching to bone that was still growing, she had been torn down to the most base parts and now she was being remade. It was agonizing, just as it had been when she was ripped apart.
She was given more teeth, sharper and longer, her eyes had better vision, her fur was a different color, now a dark red, similar to that of dried blood. She felt a bit bigger? Not by much, but she was bigger. The process felt like it took forever, slowly and methodically the woman sewed new flesh, an entirely new body, so similar yet so alien to her previous one. That was weird, when she was born her body felt natural, she had instincts built in, but now? It felt unnatural, she felt uncomfortable, like this body wasn't hers. What was worse is she was keenly aware of how much better her ears had become, she could feel the blood coursing through her body, hear every movement of water.
So why, why couldn't she make out the muttering still, why did she hear nothing from this woman as if she didn't exist and then finally she was dropped. She splashed into the water, and began to scramble, scramble to get away, scramble to not be torn asunder scrambl- this wasn't water, it was blood, she wasn't in that place anymore. She was back, she was in the Adult Rats corpse, still laying in its blood, her body slowly felt less alien, as knowledge was once more shoved into her brain, like a nail being hammered in.
Alice curled into herself, she wanted nothing more than to be held by Lily, nothing more than to be free of this place, nothing more... than to feel safe. She cried, she cried and cried inside the corpse, completely and utterly alone.
Administrator Taum was tired, stressed and overworked. And now something terrible had happened.
"Someone tell me why Passenger Alice 5582 can remember her evolution! The Script for Turia does not include anything like this!"
His voice boomed in the darkly lit room, various workers around him staring at screens. No one answered, of course no one answered because no one knew. It was unheard of, which only made things harder for him.
Nearby Conductor Miriam looked at a screen, watching Alice sob within the corpse. She wanted to be there for her Passenger, to offer her comfort and solace, but it was not allowed. That would break The Charter, and Miriam was not built for The Field, of course no one truly was, cede maybe the Directors. But they weren't normal.