"Ah… So the meat remembers this time. I remember as well.. Or rather, I never forget in the first place."
I stare at the brain unblinkingly.
"As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, I would like to form an alliance," said the brain.
"What's your motive?" I replied.
"What's my motive.. Hmm. What an interesting question from my kin. To think you would use such human ideas. I'll respect your question and answer. My 'motive' is to devour the others. To gain power. To ascend. And what is yours?"
"Same as you, I suppose. But what's stopping you from killing and devouring me right now? You're capable of it," said I.
"You are the only one like me. You remember when it's over and when it begins again."
"Don't get sentimental, we've only just met for the second time. I'll agree to your alliance on one condition," I said.
"Name it," said the brain.
"Don't deceive me, like the soul did."
"You know of the soul? What else do you know?" the brain asked.
It seems this brain didn't know as much as I thought it did. It knew I looped back, but my assumption is that it only knew what happened before its death. When it said 'As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me.' It implied that that was his last memory.
"Do you agree with my term?" I asked the brain, ignoring its question.
"Yes I do," spoke the brain.
"Great, but any moment now those humans will come with the rib fragment. Let me devour the rib, you can have the humans," I said.
"Of course," said the brain.
And right on cue, the three appeared.
One with bone armor, and 2 with leather armor.. And the rib bone, in the same guy's hand as before.
"So this is the monster that came out of The Dead God's cave.. I'll add it to my collection," said the one with bone armor. I rushed towards the rib bone before the three could take a battle formation. In sync with my rush, the brain shot magic bullets at the humans, piercing one of the leather armored human's neck. It killed him instantly. He collapsed, but I was too focused on the rib to notice.
I leapt into the air and came crashing down on the face of the human with the rib.
I stomped his face in, and as his head collided with the floor, pieces of his skull and brain flew the opposite way. Before the rib could react, I stomped on it too. The system appeared.
- Quest Completed: Kill One of Your Own -
- You have received 5 Strength, 1 Vitality, And 4 Agility -
The rib was shattered, and I saw the human with bone armor running away. I watched as the brain fired a magic bullet at him, which killed the man on the spot.
"I'm not letting my prey get away," said the brain.
Then we were next to each other. Eating our meals.
I swallowed the sharp rib pieces, and the system appeared again.
- Quest Completed: Absorb One of Your Own -
- You have received 5 Unallocated Stat Points -
- Secret Quest Updated -
- Devour all fragments of ????????? -
- Reward: ??? -
- Status: 1 / 38 -
- Quest Completed: Do Both
- You have received the title - Kin Eater, Memory Fragment, and you may choose your class. -
- Class Choices -
- Flesh Reaper -
- Description -
- The Flesh Reaper is a class that specializes in absorbing and evolving. Each kill adds to its body, granting new traits and mutative power. The Reaper grows by devouring, gaining strength, and agility, and vitality.-
- Necromancer -
- Description -
- The Necromancer controls the dead rather than devouring it, it enslaves souls to work for it even after death. The necromancer may come back to life- but only once, and it loses its class after that. -
- Watcher -
- Description -
- The Watcher can create eyes with 4 small legs and with wings. The watcher can see from these eyes as if they were his own. The Watcher also grows a third eye on his face, allowing him to see an object's history by looking at it. -
- System -
- Secret class unlocked: The One Who Returns -
- Warning: Once chosen, this class cannot be changed, even after returning by death. -
- Description -
- Each time you return from death, you start with your subrace as ???. You also start with a relic that tracks the nearest fragment. -
As I was about to choose my class, I remembered. I still have my third eye, I had just forgotten.
I opened my third eye.
And then I saw it.
There were not only four class options.
There were five.
- System -
- Warning: Hidden class detected. -
- Class [???] is forbidden by standard evolution protocols. -
- Devourer of the System -
- Description -
- Allows consumption of System constructs, including Quests, Notifications, and other Classes. -
- The Third Eye becomes a god-organ that sees into the structure of the world. -
- Warning: Devoured constructs cannot be reclaimed. Proceed with caution. -
Then the choice was obvious.
"I choose Devourer of the System."
- Devourer of the System Chosen. -
- New quest received. -
- Devour the brain fragment. -
- Reward: Flight, Memory Fragment of [????] -
Betray the brain..?
I'll think about this quest before I take action.
Anyways, I was eager to try my new powers out. And while the brain was eating the humans, I summoned the system.
- Character Status -
- Title: Kin Eater -
- Race: Fragment of ????????? -
- Subrace: Flesh Golem -
- Class: Devourer of the System -
- Stats -
- Agility: 9 -
- Vitality: 5 -
- Strength: 8 -
- Magic: 1 -
- Unallocated: 5 -
- Skills -
- Lesser Regeneration -
- Level: 1 -
- Night Vision -
- Level: 1 -
- Climbing -
- Level: 1 -
I closed my eyes, looked at the system in my mind, and spoke.
"Devour."
- System Error -
- Devour what? -
I guess it doesn't work like that. Let's try something else.
I imagined a giant mouth appearing in my mind, and ate my magic stat.
I felt an overwhelming power surge through my third eye.Then the feeling exited, but the power stayed.
- System Malfunction: Magic stat has disappeared. Attempting to regenerate it. -
- System failed -
- System failed -
"Don't you realize I just ate it?"
- System -
- Acknowledged. -
I opened the system again.
- Character Status -
- Title: Kin Eater -
- Race: Fragment of ????????? -
- Subrace: Flesh Golem -
- Class: Devourer of the System -
- Stats -
- Agility: 9 -
- Vitality: 5 -
- Strength: 8 -
- Unallocated: 5 -
- Skills -
- Lesser Regeneration -
- Level: 1 -
- Night Vision -
- Level: 1 -
- Climbing -
- Level: 1 -
I then devoured each of my stats and my skills.
I felt the power of my third eye increase.
I opened it, and I saw the thoughts of the brain that was finishing his meal.
He pretended not to notice what I was doing, but after reading his thoughts, I knew what he was planning.
His thoughts were "What… What is he doing? His stats… they're gone. He consumed them. No, he consumed the System itself. That class.. it wasn't meant to exist. Not even the soul could do this. Not even I can do this. He's.."
The thought broke.
Another rose in its place. It was far too primal for the most intelligent fragment of them all.
"He's no longer one of us.. Well, he never was. He is a human. I need to forget about the promise I made not to deceive him. I need to destroy him. Not just kill him, but end the loop once and for all. I need to break the soul free from its chains.."
The brain noticed I was staring and thought another thought.
"That eye... I've seen it before. It must be [????]'s... but that's impossible..."