Free Web NovelChapter 11: Chapter 11: Talking dog and the Shiny rock.
After more than an hour, they still couldn’t find a single monster. freewebnoveℓ.com
Night couldn’t help but wonder if he was just unlucky, or if something had happened here.
[Energy Value (EV): 102.35]
I am down three Level 1 corpses. Three Level 2s and one Level 1 are remaining, he thought, calculating his reserves.
Just as the third corpse got devoured in his Domain, he received a skill.
Ding!
[Beast Instinct - (Lvl. 1) - Cost: 10 EV]
[Description: Gives the user the instincts of a beast.]
[Purchase? Y/N]
He purchased it immediately and felt his EV drop.
[Energy Value (EV): 92.35]
As soon as he received the skill, he felt his senses become sharper and more alive.
He also started to feel a strange, pulling urge to head in a specific direction, almost as if it would provide a guaranteed path to survival.
This skill is so strong, and perfectly suited for my situation.
He could feel that the path to survival lay in that exact direction. He tapped Death’s shoulder and said, "Let’s go right and please increase the speed."
Death simply changed direction and started running, carefully holding Night to ensure her hard bones didn’t hurt his fragile body.
After some time, they reached a clearing.
In front of him was an ominous-looking cave. It looked absolutely terrifying, but his new instincts were screaming at him to go inside, insisting it was the only path to survival.
The urge to enter was overwhelming in fact, it felt entirely too strong for a mere Level 1 skill.
Confused, he realized this was a critical life-and-death decision. He looked up at Death, and even reached out to Eve and Lilith in his Domain to ask them.
"My skill says we might survive if we go in, but I don’t know if I am being delusional or if it’s real. Should we go in, or find another way?"
All three of his summons conveyed that he should be the one to decide, and they were perfectly fine with whatever the outcome might be.
He felt their deep, unwavering trust, as well as the heavy burden that came with it.
Choosing to be decisive, he looked at Death. "Let’s go in."
And so, they entered the dark cave and—
× - × - ×
Splash.
The sound was cool. It was wet. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.
Night opened his eyes. He was lying on his stomach with his face mere inches away from a moving stream of crystal-clear water. He felt incredibly thirsty.
I need to drink, he thought.
Previously, because only pure survival had been on his mind, he hadn’t even felt hunger or thirst. But seeing such a clear stream, he eagerly cupped his hands to drink the water.
He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and finally looked around.
What is this place? he wondered. One moment I was with Death outside the cave, and the next moment I am here.
Yes, Death... I should call her. But before he could even attempt to summon his vanguard, a strange fog washed over his mind, and the thought slipped completely away.
What was I trying to do again? He looked around.
It was a forest, but not a normal one. The trees were massive, with thick trunks twisting toward a sky that was a deep, healthy blue. The leaves weren’t just green; they were teal, gold, and vibrant purple shimmering in the light.
It was beautiful and peaceful. It felt exactly like a dream, but the wetness of his clothes and the heavy squelch of his boots in the mud told him it was very real.
Yes, I was trying to escape the forest and find a safe place.
He stood up and began to walk. He chose the direction that his instinct guided him toward, completely forgetting about Death and the others.
The forest was dead silent. There were no birds and no insects, just the sound of his own breathing and the rustle of his clothes against the glowing ferns.
After a few minutes of wandering he saw a light ahead.
He pushed through a thicket of luminous flowers and stopped dead in his tracks.
In the middle of the clearing, lying on a bed of silver grass, was a massive dog.
It was both beautiful and terrifying. It was the size of a small horse, but instead of fur, its body was covered in interlocking scales of polished black glass that shimmered with an oily, iridescent sheen.
But the dog was dying.
Deep and jagged gashes lined its heavy ribs leaking blood.
Floating just inches above the ground in front of the beast was a crystal.
It was red, but not just a normal red; it was the color of a dying star. It pulsed with a rhythmic, hypnotic light that made Night’s head throb.
As soon as his blue eyes locked onto that crystal, the surrounding world completely vanished.
His mind went blank. A single, overwhelming urge rose from the very depths of his soul.
Consume.
The crystal was the answer to everything. If he touched it, he would never be weak again. If he ate it, it promised him absolute power.
It promised him the strength to lift mountains and the speed to outrun the sun.
He could kill his enemies and get revenge on the scientists who had used him as a lab experiment since the day he was born.
He could be a god.
He started moving forward.
His steps were jerky like a puppet on strings, while his arms hung limp at his sides. His crystalline blue eyes were fixed entirely on the red glow as he walked like a possessed zombie.
He was only a few feet away. He reached out a hand, his small fingers trembling with a primal hunger he didn’t understand.
Mine.
"He...lp."
The voice was tiny and high-pitched. It sounded like a young girl being smothered by a pillow.
Night froze.
The sound acted like a bucket of ice water over his brain. The red fog in his vision instantly cleared, and he jumped back as he felt his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
He felt a sudden, sharp spike of shame, like he had been caught by his mother in the middle of the night with his hand in the cookie jar.
He looked around nervously. "Who’s there?" he squeaked.
He sensed no one around him, just the massive trees and the dying dog.
"He...lp. Ple...ase."
He looked down at the dog. Its golden eyes were fixed directly on him, but they weren’t feral animal eyes. They were full of a very human, very desperate intelligence.
His jaw dropped. "The dog is talking?" he whispered in disbelief.
He shook his head. He really wanted to ask how the heck a dog could speak English, but he forcibly stopped his own curiosity.
The dog was dying and his questions could wait.
"How can I help you?" he asked as he cautiously moved closer to the bleeding predator. freёwebnovel.com
"T...he cr...ysta..l. Pl...ea...se."
Night looked back at the red gem. It was still pulsing, and it still desperately wanted him to eat it. As he reached for the stone, the dark thoughts came flooding back.
Why save it? the voice in his head hissed.
It’s just a beast. It’s weak. It’s dying. If you eat this, you will never be weak like a ’soggy noodle’ again.
You can have everything. Why waste a legendary treasure on a mangy, scaled mutt that could eat you the moment it wakes up? It’s a waste.
It’s illogical.
Take it.
Become the Nightmare.
He saw flashes of himself in the future. He was tall and incredibly powerful, standing over a world of absolute wreckage with the red light of the crystal glowing in his eyes.
He looked like a king.
He looked like a monster.
But then he looked down at the dog’s eyes again. He saw the pain and the sheer fear of inevitable death, but he also saw a tiny glimmer of hope.
"I am not a thief," Night whispered with a shaking voice.
He forcibly regained his sense of self. He lunged forward and snatched the crystal right out of the air. It was incredibly hot, like a piece of coal fresh from the furnace, but he ignored the burning sensation in his fingers.
He moved quickly toward the dog, who looked genuinely surprised.
He didn’t quite get why the beast was surprised, figuring maybe it had fully expected him to run off with the shiny rock instead of helping.
He didn’t give the creature any more time to wonder. He pressed the pulsing red crystal against its snout.
"Eat," he said firmly.
The dog opened its heavy jaws and swallowed the crystal whole.
For a heartbeat, the entire forest went completely silent.
Then the shadow of the dog began to twist. It didn’t stay under the beast; instead, it detached from the silver grass and moved like a living pool of ink.
It slithered toward Night’s own shadow like fluid with a terrifying speed.
In a single moment, the two shadows merged.
And then, Night completely lost consciousness.
