Chapter 4: Survive
Corpse Worms were another natural function of the Maw, just one rung above imps in the hierarchy. They served a purpose. Cleaners of bone. As the Maw expanded and rotted, it left behind mountains of ash and splintered skeletons. The worms fed on what remained.
They were born from stagnation. From rot that refused to collapse. From the stillness that bred disease.
Larger than imps, they stretched over four feet in length. Writhing tubes of pale, pitted flesh. Holes lined their skin, revealing rotting black organs and the twisted faces of trapped souls, screaming without sound.
But the imp didn't care about any of that. It bared its teeth, eyes locked on the part that mattered, the head.
The worms had faces, constructed from shards of bone, bound together with bleeding veins. A puzzle of jagged fragments that resembled nothing the imp could name. Misshapen and wrong.
The Imps arm still hung useless at its side. Each breath came shallow, ribs grinding inside its chest. A question stirred...why hadn't feeding healed it yet?
[System // Notification]
[Racial Ability // Savage Feed]
[Status // LOCKED]
[Description]
[Transform your mouth into a massive devouring maw. Consume living or freshly dead flesh to suppress pain. Grants no healing or stat bonuses at current stage.]
"Go!"
The imp snarled, swiping away the panel.
The worms stopped.
Their bone faces twitched. Shards rattled against each other with a dry clicking sound that made the imp's skin crawl.
It didn't wait to find out why.
It bolted toward the nearest wall of the pit, but stumbled almost immediately. Its movements were off, heavier. Slower. The pain was familiar, but the rest felt wrong.
In the rush, it finally looked down at itself as it scrambled.
It was bigger now.
Larger than the imp it had seen wielding the club. Its good arm was thick, easily twice the size it had been before. Each stride carried more weight, more strength, and now that it was focusing, it was pulling away from the chasing brood.
A dozen Corpse Worms clattered behind it, bone faces clicking in erratic bursts of excitement. They weren't smart, but they didn't have to be. They knew this pit, knew it was perfect for trapping prey. The walls themselves would keep something from climbing out. All they had to do was wait.
The imp kept running, even as it saw why the worms seemed to celebrate.
A waterfall of flesh, blood, and pus poured endlessly, speading along the entirety of the pit. It spilled into a deep crease that ran along the base of the pit like a wound into the Maw itself. It hadn't noticed it during the fall, but now, it was impossible to miss.
It looked back. The worms were still chasing, but slower now, falling behind.
Maybe it could outrun them. Maybe if it kept moving—
[Recommendation. Turn and fight. User's current condition...degrading. User needs to feed.]
This time, there was no panel. Just the voice. Cold. Detached. The words felt… stupid.
It had just fed. Nothing healed.
[Clarification. Previous consumption lacked Soul Integrity. Healing not possible. If recovery desired, User must consume flesh that contains a soul.]
The panel appeared.
[Racial Skill // Feed]
[Type // Passive]
[Category // Regeneration]
[Rank // F]
[Evolve // Yes]
[Description]
[Feeding on organic matter restores health. Healing is dependent on the consumed material possessing active soul integrity.]
[Cost // None]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Duration // Dependant on purity of Soul Integrity]
[Cooldown // None]
[Effect]
[Successful consumption of viable flesh restores a small portion of missing HP. Healing scales with the strength and integrity of the consumed soul.]
[Flavor Text]
[Only the living spirit grants true flesh to the fallen.]
The imp didn't swipe the panel away this time. It stopped. Focused. And something clicked. The words made sense and it started to read.
Slowly, it flexed its claw, then looked down at its broken arm.
"Go."
The panel disappeared.
The imp looked back, then started running again, each stride steadier, more confident. It was still getting used to moving upright. Two legs. Forward momentum. Balance.
"What are you? Why can I hear you in my head?"
[I am the ????? ?????? System. Current User consumed the system upon death of previous user.]
"User? That is... me?"
[Correct.]
It leapt over a swollen eye pulsing in the ground, just before it burst, spraying pus behind him. The imp's breath was starting to shorten. It could feel its strength draining, and fast.
The little demon gritted its teeth. The voice was right. It was starving, and the imp could feel it's broken ribs grinding, stabbing into its core. Every breath felt smaller. Weaker.
It didn't scream, not out loud. It screamed from its soul.
It didn't want to die, not now. Not after all it had gained. Fleeing meant surrender. Meant something else taking from it. Its first day. Its only life.
That thought broke something loose, and the feral part took over. The roots inside it, impulse, hunger, and rage were still too deep.
It skidded to a stop. Turned. And screeched as one arm hung useless at its side.
Didn't matter.
[System // Notification]
[Daily Directive // SURVIVAL // Quest Activation]
[Quest // SURVIVAL]
[Condition // Remain-alive]
[Reward // Level-Up / Basic-System-Access]
It charged. Not even seeing the notification before it dissapeared.
The worms twitched. Their bone faces clicked and snapped. Excitement. Madness. They surged forward, skin tearing as they scrambled over each other.
The imp leapt, mouth wide, rage clouding thought.
It bit.
Black flesh tore between its teeth. It swallowed, ignoring the weight slamming into it.
Something crunched. Its leg ripped free.
Didn't care. Another bite, and another swallow.
A tear opened across its side, spraying blood, but its mind didn't register pain. Only instinct. The pain was familiar. Expected.
Just eat.
The imps ruined arm was finally torn off as the worm beneath it writhed, buckled, and spasmed...
Then went still.
Its bone mask crumbled into ash.
[System // Notification]
[Achievement Unlocked // FIRST KILL]
[Condition // Complete First Successful Kill]
[Reward // Full Heal]
[Activate System Function // Full Heal]
A baleful red light erupted from the imp's body, raw and blinding.
The brood recoiled instantly, bone masks clicking in alarm. The scent changed. Something was wrong.
They turned on the corpse of their fallen broodmate in their confusion.
On each other.
The imp was in the center of it all, healing, dropping to it's knees as heat flooded it's chest. Ribs cracked back into place one by one, each pop like a hammer to the lungs.
From the stumps of the arm and leg, thick blood spilled. It didn't drip, it poured, fast and heavy, then began to harden. Muscle and bone formed from the congealed mess, shaping into limbs without guidance.
He flexed. They held.
Whole again.
[Full Heal // SUCCESSFUL]
[Recommendation: Attack the black skull fragment.]
The system's voice cut through the fog, snapping the imp out of the moment.
"Black... fragments?"
The blood-madness had passed with the healing, leaving its mind clearer. Somehow, it understood what the voice meant.
It scanned the nearest worm's face as the demon turned from its dead broodmate and began charging.
There, on the side of its skull mask, one shard was different. Not bone-white like the others.
Black.
The imp grinned.
He dropped low and lunged forward on all fours, feeling the strength in every limb.
Imps were made for short bursts, like roaches. Fast, erratic, and vicious.
Lightning with teeth.
The imp darted, zig-zagging across the gore-slick ground. Fast. Unpredictable. The Corpse Worm tracked, but too slow.
It cut left, then launched. Teeth first.
As it passed, jaws clamped down on the worm's face, tearing through the bone mask. Something snapped in its mouth—hard, brittle.
The imp skidded to a stop, savoring the worms blood as the demon screamed.
The bloated thing convulsed, body seizing in broken rhythm. Black blood poured from the holes in its skin. It spasmed once, then again, bones grinding under its own weight.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Gulp.
The little imp smiled.
The rest of the brood were already closing in, screeching, clicking, bone masks twitching with hunger.
The imp didn't run.
Didn't flinch.
It charged, low, fast, and deliberate. This time, with a plan.