"Ahh!" the feminine shrieking sound of a grieving mother had Theo jolted awake the next day, early morning, checking his body to make sure he was still alive and whole. "My babies are dead!"
Theo, hearing a commotion outside, looked out his shattered glass window to see a mourning Mrs. Dawson, the mother of Emily, Aston and Tyler Dawson, walking a funeral line from the chief's house to the rest of the murmuring village with guards carrying three wooden, human child-sized boxes Theo assumed to hold the bodies of her children. As she made the honorary walk across the village, her husband walked with her.
'She's mourning,' Theo thought, briefly considering showing a bit of sympathy, before ultimately deciding against it. 'I don't know why, though. She's going to join them soon enough.'
"Behold, the work of beasts!" the loud voice of Joshua sounded loudly in the cool morning streets among the marching of death. "Fear not the dangers of the forest, for we shall avenge our own! Behold the work of Beasts, shiver not in fear, but revel at the cries of vengeance that we shall respond with."
'This bastard is annoying,' Theo thought, brows twitching, as he tried his best to ignore the guy. Turning to Mrs. Dawson, Theo scrunched his face in mild irritation. 'Just looking at this bitch pisses me off. What kind of mother raises such bastard dickheads for children?'
As Theo went down the memory lane of the previous owner of this body, he couldn't help but remember how much of an ass hole she was to the previous owner of Theo's body. Theo knew that she knew that her kids bullied him — She's watched them do it countless times, as they didn't even bother to hide it. Hell, she even giggled a few times, right in front of his face while they did it.
As far as Theo was concerned, that entire village will be eradicated and Mrs. Dawson? She'll be the first bastard of a bitch to go out first, in the most painful of ways.
Theo eventually calmed down, bored of watching the Bitch of the West grieve her delinquent children as she marched across the village, so that the villagers could also see her mourn — Thankfully, Theo got a notification from the System just then.
[Ding! Integration Completed!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have gained the following skills and traits. You can use them at will:
Core Skills x3:
- Superior Predatory Instincts(Passive)(SS Rank)[Upgradeable]
- Ability Absorption(Active)(SSS+ Rank)
- Absolute Synthesis(Active)(SSS+ Rank)
Bloodline Skills x4:
- Nether Summoning(Active)(SSS+ Rank)
- Nether Space(Active)(SSS+ Rank)
- Fenris Claws(Active)(SSS+ Rank)
- Fenris Physique(Passive)(SSS+ Rank)[Restricted to A Rank][Upgradeable]
Random Skill x1:
- Inquiry(Active)(A Rank)
Innate Affinities x3: Fire, Lightning, Darkness
Cores x3:
+1 Warrior Core
+1 Mage Core
+1 Beast Core
System Function: Status Request
Attributes/Stats:
+1 Agility
+1 Strength
+1 Stamina
Other:
+2 Skill Points
+2 Attribute Points]
Theo couldn't believe it. It was there, all of it. He had to sit down in a meditative position to see for himself, looking inward, and, sure enough, it was there. In his abdomen, three spherical balls floated the size of ping pong balls. One was white[the Warrior Core], one was blue[the Mage Core] and the final one was orange, green and black[the Beast Core].
'Does having 3 cores mean that I have an edge over other cultivators?' Theo thought, inquisitively. 'Either way, it doesn't matter. I'll get stronger and stronger either way; Soon I'll surpass everyone! It's only a matter of time. Maybe I'll make a few designs and paintings along the way, who knows.'
"Now," Theo said, at last. "let's see our stats. System, status!"
[Ding! Welcome, Host, to Superior System Status!]
[Name]: Theo Kraven(Fenris-Khaos)
[Level]: 1
[Age]: 13 years old
[Species]: Netherwolf, Human
[Condition]: Good, Awake
[Bloodline(s)]: Fenrir, Khaos(Tartarus Lineage),
[Class]: N/A
[Job]: N/A
[Affinity]: Fire, Lightning, Darkness
[Health]: 2
[Agility]: 3[+1] → 4
[Strength]: 2[+1] → 3
[Durability]: 2
[Stamina]: 3[+1] → 4
[Intelligence]: +5
[Mana]: 6
[Aether]: 4
[Nether]: 4
[Void]: (Locked)
[Charisma]: (Locked)
[Beast Core]: F- Rank
[Warrior Core]: Primary Stage 1
[Mage Core]: Apprentice Rank 1
[Skills]: Superior Predatory instincts(SS Rank), Ability Absorption(SSS+ Rank), Absolute Synthesis(SSS+ Rank), Nether Summoning(SSS+ Rank), Nether Space(SSS+ Rank), Fenris Class(SSS+ Rank), Fenris Physique(SSS+ Rank), Inquire(A Rank).
Blessings: (Locked)
[Skill points]: 2
[Attribute Points]: 2
[Please Note: Attribute Points can be used to upgrade any 1 Physical Attribute[i.: Strength, Agility, Stamina, etc.] per point while Skills Points can be used to upgrade any 1 Core Attribute[i.e: Beast Core, Warrior Core, Mage Core] per every 1 Skill Point. Both types use a 1:1 Metric System.]
'Damn, I knew my physical stats would suck, but I didn't think they'd suck this much,' Theo thought to himself before shrugging the thought off. 'Oh, well, this, too, will get fixed over time. My Blessings seemed to be locked at the moment, as are whatever this Void and Charisma stat is. I wonder what its supposed to do…'.
As Theo looked at the transparent gold and black screen that projected before him like a videogame tab, listing his status, he couldn't help but feel a touch of excitement for what he had to do to get stronger.
[Ding! Complete Daily Quest: 'Get Stronger!':
- Do 100 Sit Ups
- Do 100 Pushups
- Do 100 Laps Around Village
[Rewards??]: +1 Class, +1 Job, +1 Core Skill, +1 Bloodline Skill, +1 Random Skill, +1 Agility, +1 Strength, +1 Stamina, +2 Blessings(Unlocked), +2 Skill Points, +2 Attribute Points]
[Time To Completion: 23 hrs. 57 minutes.]
"I've got to do my Daily Quest," Theo noticed the marker notification stating his issued quest. "I didn't get to check yesterday but I wonder if I can do today's workout session in the woods…".
[Ding! Quest Adjustment Request Received… Request Acknowledged!]
[Recalibrating Daily Quest… Daily Quest Recalibrated!]
[Ding! Quest issued: Daily Quest: 'Get Stronger!'(Forest Edition):
- Climb the tallest tree within 5 miles 20 times!
- Successfully hunt and kill prey x5!
- Run for 15 miles in the forest!
- Do 100 Push Ups!
- Do 100 Sit-Ups!
Theo had to double check to make sure he wasn't seeing things. 'This is even more than it was before! This bitch is trying to kill me!'
"Twenty times! Can we go back to just doing pushups and situps?" Theo made a face.
[System: 'No. you should've kept your mouth shut.']
"D-did you just—," Theo began, eyebrows twitching in frustration.
[Time to Completion: 20 hrs. 53 min.]
"Hey, it was just 24 hours! You can't just—," Theo began.
[Time to Completion: 18 hrs. 53 min.]
"Shit, okay, okay, I get it, I'm going," Theo breathed through his nose in defeat.
That day, Theo spent 7 hours of his time completing the first of his tasks, one and a half of which he had used to finish the 100 pushups and 100 sit ups. By late afternoon, he had finished climbing the tallest tree in the vicinity 20 times. By then, his stomach was growling, so he decided it was time to begin his hunting.
In his last life, he had often went hunting with his father as a child every winter break — It was a family tradition in his family. His father hunted various things at various locations all across the state of Texas, and he would often bring Theo with him, eventually teaching Theo how to hunt and how to track prey and whatnot.
"You'll never go hungry, even if you're broke, so long as you have this," Theo smiled as he remembered his father's words. "These skills are important. Never forget them. They'll help you when you least expect it."
Suffice to say, it didn't take Theo long to find the tracks of a family of 6 reindeer in the forest, grazing on the afternoon grass.
Theo, hidden securely at an angle, his claws out, picked up a rock, and threw it with enough force at a tree opposite the end of the plain to him, behind the deer.
TWACK!
The deer, ears twitching, hearing this, panicked, and, predictably, came his way in panic, right into his ambush,
To say he went in for the kill at the right second was an understatement. Let's just say that he completed his quest and then some.
He then got to work. Digging a barrow at the base of a tree big enough to store his kills, Theo used his own claws to skin the deer himself. He then masked the scent of blood as best he could with leaves and grass. He knew that if other predators in the forest picked up on the scent of blood, he would have a series of problems he wasn't yet ready to handle.
Starting a fire with some flint he found earlier, before the hunt, he nursed the flame until he had a big enough fire to cook with. He used a stick setup and turner method his father taught him to make and cooked his meat, and, despite having no seasoning, it tasted divine, though that was probably because this body hadn't had meat in a long time, if ever. It had Theo's coveting more and more with every taste. He had to physically restrain himself not to scarf it all down for fear of throwing it back up.
As Theo ate, he was suddenly alerted to another presence nearby, the sound of their lupine wine giving them away. There was a growl sequence, low-pitch in nature, but the sign of a predator. As Theo turned his head, he saw a heartracing sight — It was a giant shaggy wolf; Specifically, the same shaggy wolf alpha direwolf that had saved Blake a day prior, when he first arrived in this world. The same wolf who had killed the Dawson siblings. Its amber eyes seemed to stalk Theo, even from the cover of the bush it was lurking by near, its muscular frame hulking yet athletic in some semblance of a fit form, and its sharp fangs like razors even from where Theo sat a few feet away.
Both sides paused, watching each other, neither wolf nor man daring to make a move.
One would think Theo would be horrified in this situation. This was an apex predator, and a mystical one at that — a creature intelligent enough to murder and deadly enough to kill him. Anyone in his position would have their hackles risen.
However, Theo wasn't scared.
Maybe it was his Beast Monarch class, or the sense of kinship he felt with the beast the day prior. Or maybe he was just insane and crazy. Either way, he could swear he recognized something inside this beast — Something familiar…
Whatever the case, Theo seemed to sense the beast's intentions and knew the beast wouldn't hurt him somehow — He felt it, seeing the intelligence behind this wolf's amber golden eyes, as it walked out from the bushes and foliage it had attempted to hide itself behind while stalking Theo.
"Hello, there," Theo said in a soft voice, making sure to appear friendly before the beast. He offered it some of his uneaten meat. "Want some deer meat? I think its pretty good, edible at least."
The wolf hesitated, taking a deliberate step forward, ears twitching at attention, nose sniffing the air and the meat Theo was offering. When the wolf didn't detect anything suspicious, it reluctantly used its massive maw to grab the cooked carcass from Theo's grip, walking a few paces away, it began swallowing chucks of the meat at a time.
As it ate, Theo used [Inquire] on it out of curiosity.