Chapter 1

No, you can't keep one as a pet, they can't be domesticated–You didn't see what they did to Tiliel. People say that they only leave corpses behind, but I only wish that was true. They didn't leave corpses. They leave nothing behind but bloodstains.

-Letter from Speaker Tariel Nahr to his younger sister Djallma

Screeching, clearing my throat, I took in the message flashing in the corner of my eye. I knew it was the [System], and that it would help me, but… I couldn't bring myself to care about greater details than that, how it was different from before. I had lived a different life, and there was someone I needed to kill, and the [System] would help me with that. That was all I needed to know.

While the cave I was in was slowly filling with calls of hunger and demand, I responded to the [System] notification.

Immediately, information filled my mind.

[Status:

Name: Ashlani (unofficial)

Race: Juvenile Keelish Bloodseeker

Titles: none.

Stats:

-Constitution: 2

-Strength: 3

-Agility: 6

-Intelligence: 4

-Magic: 0

Skills:

Bloodlust

Evolutionary foresight

-Adult Keelish Bloodseeker

-Young Keelish Bloodletter

-Young Keelish Alpha

Other evolutions possible, but not currently foreseen.]

There was more to think about, more to consider… but no, I needed to be stronger, which is the strongest?

[Answer: Unclear. Of the three, Adult Keelish Bloodseeker has the highest gross Stats, Young Keelish Bloodletter has the greatest focus on combat prowess, and Young Keelish Alpha has the greatest variety in evolutionary possibility and progress.]

Bloodletter then. Combat… Need to kill. Need to hunt… I could feel that my mind was different, less controlled, less me, but I couldn't… change it.

How do I evolve?

[Answer:

Evolutionary requirements for Adult Keelish Bloodseeker: Survive for 60 days.

Evolutionary requirements for Young Keelish Bloodletter: Hunt and kill 10 creatures, possess Bloodlust Skill before 60 days pass.

Evolutionary requirements for Young Keelish Alpha: Acquire 10 followers before 60 days pass.

Evolutionary requirements updated within Status.]

Then… I must hunt. I must kill. Without thinking, my eyes darted over the dozens of my brood that surrounded me. I could… just start killing them. That way, I would become stronger, and wouldn't be hungry. Yes… that would work…

I began stalking toward one of the keelish spawnlings, their piteous cries only inciting me to greater and more immediate violence. It would be simple, simply rip into the back of its neck, and it would quickly bleed out… then onto the next and next until I reached ten. Then, in a moment of clarity, I pulled myself back. 

Was I considering murdering newborns to get stronger? Yes, they were keelish, but still, babies? 

With a shake of my head, I pulled myself back from murdering the unsuspecting creature, and instead took stock of my surroundings. I tried to clear my head while looking around. Strangely, I knew it was totally dark, there was no light entering the underground burrow I'd hatched in, but I could see clearly. The walls were a cool blue, contrasting the warm red bodies of keelish spotting the ground, and gradients between them. So different from what I felt I knew, this new vision was both disorienting and natural.

I could hear something approaching… something much larger than me. Subconsciously, I flared the frills around my head, making me appear larger as I hissed threateningly. These movements came so naturally I almost didn't doubt where they came from as I readied my claws at my sides. The disconnect between this feral, animalistic side and my memory of being human–I could feel an argument between my instincts and my cautious nature, leaving me confused and unsure how to act.

Before I could make up my mind of what to do, the large creature rounded the corner. A truly massive keelish's head appeared above me, its mouth dragging a gargantuan scaled deer behind it. Seeing the food, what felt like 100 voices screamed out their need without words.

I found myself shrieking alongside the rest, my ravenous stomach demanding that I fight for my place among the few allowed to feast. Nonetheless, I found myself cowed by the large keelish's presence. I knew this creature was to be feared and respected, so I dared not rush forward and risk myself. Luckily, I didn't need to hold myself back for long, as the food was dragged further into our little room and dropped with a hollow thud to the ground.

I set into the food ravenously, unable to think of anything more than filling my belly. At my sides, other keelish spawn ripped into the carcass, snapping at each other nearly as much as at the food. Only too quickly, the scaled deer was left as cracked bones on the floor. The spawnlings surrounding me began to snap more violently at each other as cries of hunger began to echo and fill the chamber. Try as I might, I could feel my own temper rising, the need to fight, claim, KILL…

Another massive keelish rounded the corner, dragging another scaled deer carcass behind it. With another wet, meaty thud, the body dropped to the floor, and the little horde of spawnlings swarmed over it. I found myself among the rest, my jaws snapping just as greedily as the rest, gobbets of flesh so thick I could feel them distend my neck on the way down filling my belly. The blood covering my nose filled my head with the scent of iron, and I could feel the scales around my head flare as a greedy fool to my side tried to take the meal from before me.

Without thinking, I snapped out, seizing its head in my jaws and began to shake vigorously. This little bastard thought he could steal from me? I began to crunch my jaws down, his screams of pain going unheard as I drove my fangs into the little thief's skull–

I was pulled back, my entire body ripped back by the hand of a god as my fangs pulled scales and flesh free. Snarling, I snapped at the fool who had torn me from my prey. One of the massive keelish from before looked down disapprovingly at me. 

"Don't kill the brood."

The surprise of hearing such a clear sentence mixed with the instinctual suppression cleared my mind just enough for my rationality to begin exerting control once again. 

This… was much more complicated than I'd initially thought.