Darkness fell in the woods as the buzzing of insects grew. Obviously, none of the giant bugs that attacked him still lived.
[Congratulations! Strength has reached the 25-point mark. You're now near impervious to normal physical attacks.]
Warden let out a breath and opened the system page to check on the increase.
___________
[Warden]
Race: Human (Prime/Corrupted – 27%)
Title: [Redacted] [Redacted] … [Redacted]
Fatelock: [Void Prison Realm]
Disposition: Chaotic
Rank: [Broken Calamity]
Attributes:
[Strength: 26.4]
[Mind: 12.3]
[Spirit: 74]
[Recovery: 99]
Skills/Abilities:
[Imbuing: Normal - 38%] [Left Hand of Calamity: < 5%]
_____________
The status page still confused him mostly, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get any more information out of it. In the end, he could only put it away.
His Strength got the most benefit from killing those beetles, and he did find some improvement in Mind. His body seemed to be slowly recovering from the obnoxious tiredness as well.
The 99 points in Recovery working their charm, he supposed.
Other than swordsmanship, what else was he capable of?
Warden couldn't even try other things in the wilderness to know if he had some mastery in some other skill as well.
From the look of things, it appeared he had to spend the rest of the night here in the woods. Looks like he wouldn't get to sleep tonight, as the wilderness seemed far from being safe.
A growl resounded, and Warden realised it was not a wild animal, but his stomach rumbling in hunger. He was starving. When was the last time he had eaten something? He did not know.
The beetle didn't look edible to him, far from appetizing. Well, the woods seem to be full of life. He would definitely get something to eat. Wild berries, or some small animals, perhaps.
Warden embarked on the path, creeping along the bank of the stream to come across anything worthwhile.
The loss of his memory still bugged at the back of his mind, but he bottled those worries up and fixated on his survival. He didn't know why he had no fear of being alone in the wilderness. Perhaps he had similar experiences before and his instincts are still sharp enough, or perhaps you are simply mistaken. Only time will tell.
By the time darkness enveloped the land completely, Warden barely managed to satiate his thirst. He did kill a couple of wild animals the likes of a wild Fox and a Bear, which brought him a little more esence, but nothing else changed.
And now he faced with another ordeal. Warden was unable to make a fire yet.
"This is supposed to be easy," he groaned.
He tried it with stones, dry wood, and almost everything he could get his hands on. Even still, after a quarter of an hour, he only had some smoke for a result. Frustrated, he brought out his sword from the sheath and grazing it against the stone. The blade was too good of quality to be damaged with just some friction.
Sparks of light appeared rather easily as within two minutes he managed to light up a flame. Warden's mood brightened, as the fire slowly drove away the biting chillness of the night.
Now he had to decide which one of the beasts to roast: The fox or the bear. Honestly, Warden didn't like either of the options. He would have liked some wild rabbit, deer, or even a boar. But he had to do with what he had.
While butchering the fox, Warden found a small gem-like thing in its head. Some idea of what it was came to his head; however, it was the system that clarified his confusion about what exactly it was.
[Lesser Beast Core: Copper
The beast core contains all the energy the wild fox has ever accumulated, combined with the remnant of its life essence. Absorbing this beast core may alter your attributes drastically. Fatebearers are advised not to absorb any unpurified beast core.]
"Okay," he mumbled, peering at the small red gem in his palm. "What do I do with it then?"
He found another Lesser beast core in the bear, a little bigger, pulsating with thick energy, but the system notification told the same thing. He shouldn't absorb these cores before knowing anything better.
"Well, I only need food," he mumbled. "My energy recovers pretty fast. No need for these now."
As Warden put the meat to roast on the fire, a thought occurred in his mind. If the beasts have an energy core within themselves, shouldn't he have one as well?
Warden sat cross-legged, closed his eyes and looked within himself. A mental image of his channels appeared in his mind's eye. They were like roots of a massive tree, thick and small branches spreading throughout his body. But he wasn't imagining them for the roots, but the core.
He held onto one of the twelve channels and led his way to finally find the source of the magical energy. There was a core alright, but it seemed different from the beast cores.
In his abdomen, the Warden found a dark sphere pulsating with thick energy. Somehow, it appeared vast, even though it was within himself. He was just about to look deeper into the dark core when the howl of a wild beast woke him up.
Warden leapt up to his feet and peered towards where the howl came from. A dire wolf again, but this time it was a couple of feet bigger counterpart than the one that attacked him before. Moreover, it seemed to be after something.
A bunny? Warden's eyes lit up as he charged at them, sword ready in his arms.
The dire wolf was just about to bite the head of the small bunny when his movement flashed and he swung his sword, which plunged into the beast's head. The void energy surged through the open aperture, digging through the wound.
Blood smeared onto the grass and onto the white fur of the bunny, which was already bloody to begin with. The dire wolf wasn't dead, it was stronger than the one he killed before and seemed more intelligent as well. It growled at him for once and shot the direction it came from, its speed far higher than what Warden could match.
The rabbit stopped running, its small heart pounding like drums. Even he could hear it. Covered in blood, it eyed its saviour, squeaking a little.
Warden returned to the bunny, resting on the grass pitifully.
"Aren't you looking tasty," Warden mumbled, stooping down to check on the bunny to see if it would survive or not. Surprisingly, there wasn't any threatening physical wound on its body. It was a near miracle that it survived a predator many times its size.
"Now what am I to do with you?" he said, nuzzling the little beast. "Eat you?"
Somehow, the small bunny had the wit to look horrified. It gave a pitiable look at its saviour, playing all the cuteness it could muster.
Warden's heart melted easily as he picked up the injured bunny. "Well, I got plenty of food."
He carried the bunny near the fire and cleaned its wound, which seemed to be already healing. Of course, it was a magical beast, or how else it would survive the wolf?
Done with cleaning and finding nothing else to help it with, the Warden left it near the fire. His dinner was ready, although they didn't look all that appetizing. Well, the roasted meat had to do it for now.
Chewing his first bite, he turned to the resting bunny again. Is it hungry? He wondered and held out the meat towards it. Wait, wasn't a rabbit supposed to be a herbivore?
Warden wasn't so sure of himself, yet to his surprise, the bunny actually took a small bite of the meat, after smelling it. It ate showing no reservation.
"A carnivore bunny?" he raised an eyebrow towards it.
In response, the rabbit squeaked timidly, its crimson eyes watching pityingly.
Eventually, the Warden shrugged as if it was only natural. He gave the small creature more meat, and it turned out just as ravenous as him, almost contending with him to finish the meal.
The following day, the little bunny hadn't left after recovering miraculously from its injuries. It rested on his lap, taking his body temperature after the fire winked out.
"What I'm to do with you?"