Kamcy

  I knelt beside my dead body. Its skull was shattered, limbs torn apart, a grotesque mockery of myself. I reached out, grabbing a jagged piece of its scattered skull—sharp enough to serve as a makeshift knife—then I picked up parts of my legs that had been torn off and began to skin them. My hands worked mechanically, ripping the flesh from bone until it was bare, the smell of blood and decay thick in my nose. Once stripped down, I grabbed both bones in my hands, testing their weight, holding them like crude spears. I scraped them against stone, sharpening the edges. Each motion was deliberate, measured. My body trembled with slight fatigue but even more anticipation, so I didn't stop.

  Once I was done, I rose and went to the edge of the cave, looking out at the storm. Thunder rumbled and lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating the forest in jagged, fleeting bursts. All this time I had been sharpening, preparing, I'd been wondering: why hadn't the monster attacked me as it usually did? I had a few theories in my head, and now I was ready to start confirming them.

  I waited until the rumbling faded, then shouted.

  "Hey, pervert!"

  The monster, perched unnaturally on a tree, immediately turned its head toward me. Its gaze—or lack thereof—was impossible to read. Then, in the blink of an eye, it lunged, crossing the distance between us in ab instant, one arm wrapping around my torso with crushing strength. Air left my lungs in a violent rush, but I didn't think about it. Not now. My mind was focused. I was going to test everything I'd deduced, and nothing else mattered.

  No. 1 confirmed: this monster couldn't see, not even in the dark. Not surprising—it didn't have eyes.

  Its mouth opened wide, glowing ominous blue as if it intended to draw energy from me. I didn't give it a chance. I jabbed one of the bone spears deep into its mouth. It shrieked—a horrible, piercing sound that sent waves of paralysis through me—still it dropped me. I fell, stunned, frozen for a split second, but instinct and training kicked in. I rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding its claws as they slashed the ground where I had been, gouging deep furrows in the stone.

  I spun, planting the second bone spike into its shoulder. It screeched again. I missed slightly as I had originally aimed for the head, but the attack counted. Both strikes were done: exploiting the fact it couldn't see and had attempted to drain my energy. My plan worked, at least partially.

  The monster retaliated with brutal force. Its slap crushed my bones as I flew back into the cave and slammed into the cave wall, my body crumpling against cold stone. Dead.

  I woke again. Rain still poured outside, heavy, relentless. I frowned, confused by the extended storm. Was this pity? Some system mercy? Or just lady luck giving me another chance? Whatever it was, they could go fuck themselves.

  I grabbed another limb from my dead body, mechanically beginning the process of skinning it. My mind raced, analyzing.

  Note 2: This monster and the other one are probably the same genus, given their design similarity, though the similarities aren't much, but certainly of different castes. Maybe this one handles reproduction? They are likely born as insects, given its "kids" were most likely insectoid in form—I remembered insects crawling over me when they hatched. But how had they grown into the forms I'd seen?

  Sighing, I rose and moved to the cave edge. The sky was early morning gray, but the rain kept everything dim and foreboding. Looking at the monster, I noticed something: the injuries I had inflicted were gone. It could regenerate? Checking my HUD timer, I realized not much time had passed since my death yet it'd already healed. That complicated things a little—but it didn't change my resolve.

  I called out again, louder this time.

  "Hey, ugly! I'm over here. Come on, let me fill you up!"

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  It blitzed toward me. I barely had time to brace myself before it grabbed me again, slamming me into the wall. Pain erupted in my chest and back, but I pushed through it. My hand instinctively positioned the spike in front of me. The monster attempted to grab me again—this time I pierced its palm with the bone.

  I knew I couldn't match its speed. So I had to anticipate, to be precise, to turn its own aggression into weakness. As it shrieked, paralyzing me momentarily, I froze, watching it wail and spin around, pulling the bone free from its hand—but I was ready. I moved, climbing its insectoid lower half with careful, calculated movements. My hands and feet found grip where they shouldn't exist. I jabbed it with the second bone right in its insectoid half. It shrieked again, paralyzing me—but I already clung tight, holding onto the spike as it twisted violently, trying to throw me off.

  Note 3: Its shriek paralyzes for about 0.1 seconds. Not long—but long enough for it to take advantage.

  Note 4: The way it uses this ability shows a form of intelligence.

  I climbed higher once I recovered, onto its back, supporting myself by clinging to its shoulder with my left hand. I stabbed its upper back again. The shriek came, deafening, but I was prepared. As I scanned, I noticed something along its spinal column. There was something weird fused under its skin, running from spine to neck—a long, ugly, purple mass, like some parasitic organism.

  I pulled the spike free and stabbed into the neck just into the spine. The monster thrashed violently, its elongated clawed hands reaching to its back and impaling me alongside itself in its struggle. Deep wounds formed, but it continued to fight. I clung on, noting mentally:

  Note 5: Something on its back—probably a parasite. Does it control the host? Is this why their appearances vary?

  Note 6: The monster didn't try to kill me outright this time. It wanted energy. It fed on energy—but why did the kids eat flesh? What was the difference?

  My vision blurred as it flung me against the wall. Pain exploded through my body, but I kept noting, analyzing, thinking, learning.

  I woke again in a start. Turning my head, I caught sight of the creature—it was at the cave entrance this time, having not gone far. Why, I could only guess. As I'd come to expect, it was healed again. I checked the timer on the HUD. Doing quick math, it had been three hours.

  Taking a look to the side, I laid eyes on my dead body frozen in a statue-like form. It could still absorb my energy after death—but why not from the other deceased bodies? Perhaps there's a decay limit, like it can't after I've been dead for a period of time, or it couldn't find my body after killing me due to the rain.

  Looking out as the rain drummed heavily outside, the monster hadn't attacked yet, still confused by the downpour. I took small, careful steps toward the bone spikes I'd carved, keeping my movements deliberate to avoid drawing attention. Just as I neared the spikes, it turned, seeming to have picked up my sound.

  I forced myself to remain calm, to think through the pattern. Each strike, each movement, every bit of observation mattered. My plan was no longer just to survive—it was to learn, to exploit, to survive smarter, faster, sharper.

  I quickly picked up the bone spike as I lay down. As it dove over me, I got up, jumped on its back, and quickly stabbed into it.

  The monster thrashed violently, trying to shake me off, but I held tight, grasping the spike and edges with precise control. Each swing, each twist, was another mental note. Its speed, its shriek, its energy absorption—these were its main arsenal, but they were all predictable if I timed its attack pattern right.

  I couldn't match its raw power. I couldn't outrun it, or outright outmaneuver it. But I could outthink it, and with this rain helping me distract its main means of hunting, I was sure I would find a way to win.

  Thus every jab, every stab, every roll was a test. Every scream, every paralyzing pulse, every flinch from the spikes was data. I was learning, adapting, anticipating.

  Even as pain coursed through my bones, as bruises and cuts painted me in a map of suffering, I was calculating. Where its weight shifted. How its claws moved. When it would attempt to absorb again. The spikes piercing into the monstrous body that thought itself unstoppable.

  With each resurrection, each brutal wake-up, came another lesson.

  It shrieked again. Paralyzed. I froze. But my mind already anticipated when its shriek came, and that its attack would swing its arm toward the sound it heard. So I twisted and swerved right under its arm and stabbed, adjusted. I could feel the parasitic mass under its skin—I was aiming for it.

  Even as the monster flung me against the wall again, vision blurring, I kept mental notes. Strategy was survival now. Observation was survival. Timing—they were all part of my arsenal.

  I was learning faster than it could adapt.

  I dashed, rolling instinctively as it shrieked, paralyzing me. It grabbed me, its mouth closing over me in a surge of energy drain. I struggled, all to no avail. But then, something inside me shifted as I felt the energy leave me. The energy streaming into the monster faltered briefly before resuming.

  Huh. Interesting, I thought, gritting my teeth as I felt the pulse of my own energy push back slightly, even as my vision faded to black.

  I'll get you next time, you pervert