The floating system screen faded, leaving behind a dim glow in the cave. Winston sat cross-legged, trying to process the madness. Giant mutant rats? Teleportation? A pendant that demanded sacrifice like it was some twisted credit card? And now... a system.
It felt unreal. But his throbbing legs and bruised arms didn't.
Yet when looking at the shining balls he felt a bit excited and stood up to pick one up.
The cub eyed his every move with curiousity.
Just by thinking about the use for the crystal the screen appeared before him.
[BASIC GRADE BEAST CORE DETECTED]
[USER CAN STORE IT IN THE INVENTORY]
[YES/NO]
He thought about it and decided for the yes option.
[YES]
Then he proceeded to put all the remaining crystals in the inventory.
[INVENTORY:]
BASIC GRADE BEAST CRYSTAL:12
INTERMEDIATE BEAST CRYSTAL:3
"well that's a bonus, I guess the mama wolf was also a intermediate tier best, if we go by the standard rule book then an intermediate tier beast can never defeat a tier higher than itself and need to consume crystals of the same tier to evolve into next tier" he recalled from the novels he read and was pleased that now that knowledge shall be put in good use.
"But dear system I need a weapon or power to survive can't you make a trade" he asked the system with puppy eyes
No reply.
"Please ", he begged.
Silence.
"Ahh " he sighed, the looked at the wolf cub who watched everything patiently, unaware that its mother might not return.
Winston's chest tightened.
"Great," he muttered. "Now I've got survivor's guilt *and* a child."
He quietly approached the cub, and gently placed his hand near its snout. The cub twitched, sniffed, then nuzzled his palm.
"Okay, don't imprint on me or anything. I'm not ready for fatherhood."
But the truth was, he felt responsible. He had seen the mother fight, claw, bite, and bleed just to keep her territory safe—no, to protect *this*. And now, this tiny thing was alone and he was an animal lover or so he wished to believe.
[COMPATIBLE BEAST COMPANION DETECTED: BLACKWOOD WOLF CUB (AGE: 2 MONTHS)]
The system screen again popped up.
[DO YOU WISH TO FORM BOND? COMPANIONS GROW WITH HOST. SPECIAL TRAITS POSSIBLE. WARNING: BOND CANNOT BE UNDONE.]
Winston blinked. "You've got to be kidding. I get a pet now?", but then a smile crept up on his lips.
He glanced at the cub again.
A pair of bright violet eyes opened and met his.
"Fine," he sighed. "But if you poop in my bed—when I eventually have one—I'm disowning you, just kidding."
[BOND ACCEPTED. COMPANION NAME REQUIRED.]
He paused. "Hmm… Fluffy? Murderpaws? Bitey?"
The cub growled softly.
"Right, alright! Something respectable." He thought for a moment. "How about... Noah?"
[NOAH: COMPANION STATUS SET]
[PASSIVE LINK ESTABLISHED. USER AND THE BEAST COMPANION CAN READ EACH OTHERS THOUGHTS]
He grinned. "You hear that? That's even better than telepathy". In telepathy both need to actively communicate and could wish to keep somethings to themselves or sometimes words could be limited or time consuming but this was perfect.
Noah stood up shakily, padded over to him, and headbutted his leg.
"Hey, whoa. Easy there." He patted her gently. "First step: don't die. Second step: find food. Third: get revenge on mutant acid rats."
He could now feel a warm connection to his pet , like a it's the part of his body.
The system chimed again.
[BEAST EVOLUTION REQUIREMENT ONE BASIC GRADE CRYSTAL]
[PROCEED: YES/NO]
[YES]
As soon as he selected yes one of the basic grade crystal materialized out of thin air . Winston was caught off guard and jumped back , it all was new to him after all and who could blame him for he for he was in a forest full with deadly creatures and it was still miracle that he had somehow made up to this point.
The crystal started dissolving into shining dust particles and entered the cub who was a bit scared seeing this which made Winston assume it must be the regular way beasts evolve.
"So do they naturally eat crystals raw " he thought as he watched the dust enter Noah as it started to grunt in pain .
"Hey are you all right, I am sorry I didn't knew it would cause pain" he said to the cub, genuinely concerned as he tried to stroke the cub to ease some pain.
Noah was growing at a visible rate, the fur getting more dark and after a minute which felt way longer the wolf was now the size of a full grown wolf found naturally although still not as big as it's mother .
[EVOLUTION COMPLETED]
[BEAST COMPANION:NOAH
RANK: BASIC TIER
SKILLS:NONE
[FURTHER EVOLUTION REQUIREMENT: 10 BASIC TIER BEAST CRYSTALS ]
Winston looked at Noah, he did not want Noah to go through that pain, he was feeling guilt for making a child endurance all that pain just for his survival.
"Woof" the not so little anymore wolf barked.
"What you want to do it" Winston said surprised
"You sure" he asked again, not wanting to pressure beast.
"Woof" Noah reassured.
" Beasts must have a natural instinct to consume these crystals as growing stronger provides the best chances of survival" Winston deduced and selected yes.
As much as he wanted to be moral at this point he knew it was their only way for survival and was quite glad that Noah thaught the same. The crystals were of no use to him so feeding it to Noah was the most beneficial thing to do.
'its mother must have stored those crystals from its hunts for latter consumption ' he concluded.
All ten crystals came out and turned to dust entering Noah and the poor guy had to endure again, sadly the torture this time lastest for ten minutes which felt like an hour but this time the wolf was showing less signs of pian, it's body did not shiver, no groans, just eyes shut as if meditating and Winston could also feel from his connection that this time it wasn't painful but surely uncomfortable. He could now feel a bit less guilty.
[EVOLUTION COMPLETED :
[NOAH: INTERMEDIATE BLACKWOOD WOLF]
[SKILLS:
IRON CLAW
SKILL DESCRIPTION: The beast can extend claws as hard as iron upto a feet long, once a prey is injured it bleeds five times faster and wounds are difficult to close.]
"Perfect" Winston was overjoyed to see it, now he had a weapon, a chance at survival.
Suddenly the system came up with a new suprise.
[MISSION AVAILABLE: SURVIVAL QUEST — DEFEAT YOUR FIRST BEAST]
[REWARD: INTERMEDIATE GRADE SWORD]
[Bonus Reward:??]