Passing through the thicket of the dense forest, he came across a wild hare in the distance . It's fur not white but rather red, it's legs profound as it's ears twitched slightly to the light breeze. Cocking it's head about and realizing that there was no threat made it's way to a small patch of grass and feasted away.
He observed its entire body, fascinated with the mythical beasts that lurked in this world. His eyes narrowed in the creature akin to a microscope and analysed every single aspect of it. And for a brief moment a glimmer flashed in his beads and a smile plastered his face.
Without warning he charged at the hare which now noticing Reynolds made a run. Rather than hopping away, it's body turned into red hazy lines that smeared all over the ground. A regular human wouldn't be able to keep up however thanks to his mimickry ability he was.
Throwing his makeshift dagger, it merely dodged to the side well evading it and holed itself deep into it's own burrow. 'So it can change directions at will, huh?'
His breathe halted and with a single dash his figure was thrown forward. The sensation disorienting making him pause and adjust himself. 'So it would seem that it's on sight rather than sampling however this dash isn't on par with the hare's. I'll have to make traps to catch it.'
He laid his traps all over, a small pit with with spikes laced all over and masked with the foliage of grass, it was sufficient. Taking his leave, he made his way to an open field to test out his new skill.
'Okay, I should have been able to get the gist of it now.' Narrowing his eyes his legs shuffled way too quick for the normal eye and in a blink reappeared a few feet forward. 'I'll have to find an animal with good eyesight for this or the only thing I'll be seeing is blurs.' For now, everytime he made a move the world around him blurred into the background.
'Also this process requires malcore, something I can't harness out of the air or the stream but from other living organisms.' With a few more tries, he slowly started to understand it. His breathes became shallow from exhaustion but his smile persisted.
'It'll have to be a gander with this skill but I have the room to make mistakes.' In his dash, he came to several conclusions when using it.
'First of all I can't switch directions the moment I begin in a certain trajectory. Secondly I'll have to compromise my vision making me susceptible to external attacks and finally it would seem that there's a delay between each dash.' He looked at his hands, clenched them before releasing them.
Making his way back to he burrow of the hare, he found his game impaled with the trap he had set up. He extracted it and without reservation took a bite at it's neck. A warm and savoury taste ran down his throat as his teeth dug deeper into the hare's flesh.
'It's better raw.' The more he feasted, the more he revelled in it like a beast unaware of his humanity slowly slipping through his fingers. Done with his game, he felt his bones shift and crack in his own body. Falling to his knees, it was painful to say the least as the purgatory went in for a couple of minutes before ceasing.
His legs now had developed. From his gluteals, thighs and his lower leg muscles were now akin to a body builder however the rest of his body remained the same. His eyesight had also greatly increased, now capable of processing more within a smaller window of time.
In a marathon stance, he darted forward and now his speed rivalled that of the hair, his body becoming a blur and reappeared a few feet ahead. Without wasting a second he made another leap forward covering more distance. It felt like hopping and it was greatly faster than running.
And unlike before he could now change his direction midway through a leap similar to the hare. 'This should make it faster to hunt however I still have other problem on my hands." With his movements now covered for now he had to focus on other aspects. Similar to the hare it was clear that there were more beasts that he could mimick and take their skills and he wanted them all.
Making his way back to his pits near he stream where all kinds of traps lay he surveyed through the creatures that were unlucky enough to fall. He browsed through them, most of which had traits he didn't fancy and just as he was about to leave, he heard scurrying in one of the holes.
Curious he made his way closer only to see a Gorespin Ankrelid. A low-slung, beetle-like beast the size of a large hound, with a dark, ridged shell and thorn-like spines along its back. Its legs were thick and stubby, but its shell gleamed with an oily luster that shimmered between violet and black.
Its face was almost skull-like, with mandibles that could crush stone and a shield-plate that folded out from its forelimbs when threatened. It remained unharmed however by it's huge size it was clear that it didn't fall in but burrow into the trap he had laid out.
'It's hard skin should be great for defense however I don't have any offensive attacks to crack it's shell.' Regardless his eyes took in the anatomy of the creature, his skin felt denser and lowered his mobility but with his dash this was countered. Seeing this, he was pleased. 'It should suffice for now.'
'Now regular attacks won't harm me as much but malcore based attacks like fire should incinerate my skin with ease.' He was invulnerable to basic attacks however that didn't mean that he was invincible from all attacks as predators with malcore could easily tear through his skin.
From here he spent his time feasting on his game to satiate his hunger. Now alone with his thoughts he finally came to the conclusion that his mind had had been eluding till now. He felt a hunger that had been festering inside him and only fell into silence when he ate.
'It would seem that as time passes by, I lose more of my humanity and taken over by this insatiable hunger. Common creatures can barely fill my appetite, now only beasts with malcore can calm my restlessness. Sleep has now become an afterthought.'
Rising from his makeshift camp, he rose to his feet and started walking deeper into the forest. At first he refrained as he had no prior skills but now he has keen eyesight, perceptive hearing and short bursts of dashes. And with his immortality he has nothing to lose.
The night was peaceful and took his time to enjoy the starry night, thoughts of how his new life came to be as it overlapped with his old one. Some of his actions he wished he could correct, others he wasn't all that fond of but at the end, it led him to reminisce about the death of his family.
His hate had now hardened and simmered into aggression that never stopped burning in his heart. 'Solon or Jarren or whatever your name is, I'll enjoy killing you with my own hands.' A few steps later and his opportunity presented itself.
Swooshes filled the air and in front of him a conflict was occuring. It was against a Howlgrim and an Ankrelid. A Howlgrim a massive hound that utilizes it's vocals to let out ear defeaning howls that kill weaker beasts and stagger other mutated malcore beasts. It's body coated with thick dark fur, it's eyes slits with heavy eyelids for protection against it's own howls and external attacks.
There was only one of them facing against an Ankrelid. The fight barely that seemed to fall into a standstill. The Howlgrim had agility to evade the Ankrelid's lethal blows however thanks to the Ankrelid's armor heavy the howls barely made a dent to the Ankrelid.
It didn't take long before the Howlgrim noticed his presence and realizing it's defeat from the Ankrelid chose to lash out on Reynolds who cursed in his heart. 'I guess I'm doing this.' With a blur he reappeared a few feet before the Howlgrim however the beast merely took a hop back and unleashed it's attack.
Dodging to his side, he barely managed to avoid the attack as his rugged clothes fluttered in the wind. Closing the distance he leapt into the air to deliver a blow however the hound quick in terms of reaction readied another attack.
*Howl*
*Boom*
His figure was sent flying, crashing hard onto a tree nearby. His eyes ruptured, his ears bled however most of his organs remained intact thanks to his hardened skin. Seeing it's target immobile, the Howlgrim drew closer, it's as ever caution high.
A few inches away, it drew close to his neck ready to claim his life however without warning he sprung back to life and taking the hound by surprise drove his arm down it's throat. The ground was drenched with his blood however his persistence never once faltered as he scraped the Howlgrim's throat.
Both sides experiencing heavy damage as the Howlgrim sunk it's teeth deeper into his arm to sever it however before that came to be Reynolds made sure to do as much damage to the Howlgrim's tissues. With a howl of his own, he managed to push back the hound with his own howl however his throat muscles were completely torn from this. Faced with internal bleeding, the Howlgrim darted off into the woods.
As for Reynolds, he looked at his arm which had already started to sow itself back. 'Let's see how far this puppy can run.' In a blur he gave chase to the Howlgrim which would pass out thanks to internal bleeding.
A few hours later and he found the hound, blood flowed out of it's mouth. It's eyes staring at Reynolds who drew closer to it, his smile growing broader as he crouched and started to reap the hound. Extracting and carving it's body for a proper feast as it's tough fur made it hard to carve it from the outside.
He didn't bother cooking. Just as expected he got it's traits. His skin now grew a comfortable fur that shielded him from the night coldness and a proper development into the Howlgrim's howl. Not to mention his senses were greatly heightened as well. Now not only could get sense any rapid changes to the world around him but his scope of sense was greatly expanded.
'I should be able to take one of those beetles down.' He mused in his head, his throat still healing from the howl.