I felt the skill take over from there and the cat yowled as it was sucked into my mouth. I focused on manually activating the fatal crushing at the back of my throat I used to feel each time I swallowed something alive. It used to be automatic prior to me messing around with the settings for my skill so now I had to actually think about what I was doing. I learned that the hard way with the scorpion, but I succeed in doing it twice. I felt vital things crack and snap in the cat’s body each time before its lifeless body slid down my throat into my skill’s stomach. With the monster dead, I wouldn’t have to worry about it tearing up my insides.

  I was also fortunate enough to miss the puddle of nastiness it had up chucked onto the floor and had ended up lying next to it when the cat had disappeared from under me. From this close, I could see the bits of unidentifiable bone and masses of soggy fur that probably were the remains of its last meal. Disgusted, I carefully rolled away from the mess before getting up and headed back over to a wall on wobbly feet.

  My insides were once again in turmoil, but I think that was more of a result of the fight and the vileness that was the monster cat puke than using my CONSUME skill. I think I might have even learned a new skill in the spur of the moment, but I couldn’t be certain until I checked my messages. I was pretty certain I had ‘Bleed’ judging by the blood still dripping from my arm. I checked my status to see how bad things were and saw my health yo-yoing up and down again and I felt the familiar pain of Phantom Pain appear in my status right after I opened it.

  I glared at the foul debuff and felt it increase a level by the time I reached a wall. I slumped against it from the pain and slid down it until I once more was sitting on the floor. I stared at my status for a moment longer before pressing on the ‘Bleed’ debuff to see if the option would come up to cure it. It did but it disappeared on its own before I could use a point to get rid of it.

  I moved to try and remove the Phantom Pain III that I had managed to get just prior to the bleed debuff disappearing. Lo’ and behold, no option came up to get rid of it. I glared at the aliment and its two-hour timer with all the misery filled hatred that I could muster.

  The first level of it had only been a slight pain all over my body. A nuisance really but manageable and something I could work through. The second one I think I could compare to the day after getting my ass worked to death at a gym. I had never been in one, but I had heard about them from listening in on the conversations of richer folk than me. This new level of pain I would put on par with the one time I got beat up by said rich gym goer when I got caught listening and he thought I was staring at his girl.

  I had a girl friend at the time and, damn it! I was loyal too. It wasn’t my fault they had stopped in front of the alley I was in at the time to yak. I wasn’t even looking at them either! Stupid rich people thinking the world revolved around them. I just wanted them to leave so I could cross the street. And to make matters worse, I found said girlfriend dead in our shared space under the bridge.

  “Damnit.” I muttered as the combination of old and new pains brought tears to my eyes.

  ‘What’s wrong Master? Why are you in mourning? I am here. Is there anything I can do to help?’ Salazar asked, probably sensing my despair through our link.

  “Not really… unless you can suddenly be all better and dog sized. I need someone to hold. It’s a human thing.” I told him and I could feel him pondering the thought I sent to him of me holding him.

  ‘Not just a ‘human thing’.’ He eventually replied along with an image from his own past of him and what I assumed was his old pack mates all curled up together. Feelings of warmth and welcome and belonging came with it and I felt in the pain in my heart ease.

  “She was beautiful.” I muttered, remembering her bright smiling face.

  ‘Master’s… mate?’ Salazar asked after catching a glimpse of her in my thoughts.

  “I guess you could say that. Her name was Liza, and she was one of the few bright lights in my life. She was beautiful and kind…. and she didn’t deserve to be stuck with us scrounging through the garbage just to find a way to live another day. She didn’t deserve to die like that either.” I explained to him, and it was accompanied by the image of how I found her. Beaten and bloody just like I had been that day. The only difference between us was the I had lived, and she had not.

  ‘What did Master do?’ He asked next.

  “I made sure the bastard that did that to her got caught punished. I took her broken body as well as myself to a place that cares about such things. I didn’t see them catch him myself, but I did see the results of their efforts and even helped to get him punished.” I replied sending him images of the man getting caught and me being one of the ones testifying at the trial. I got a touch of confusion from him when it came to the trial which made me smile a sad smile and give him some mental head rubs.

  “Don’t worry. That’s definitely a ‘just a human thing’ where I’m from. Don’t worry about it.” I told him before sighing and continuing.

  “It was a cold satisfaction to make certain he got what was coming to him. Liza was still gone and we still had to give her a proper sendoff…. At least as much of one people like us were able to give her. I was at least able scrounge up a few flowers for her – and real ones at that – so she could have them in the afterlife.” I explained and sent over my memories of her funeral and her body being burned with a fistful of white petaled daises and bright yellow, black eyed Susans. Those were always her favorite.

  I felt myself get lost in the memory and both Salazar and the System respected my need for quiet. I could remember how peaceful yet sad her face looked as the fire rose to consume her earthy remains. It was as if she was sad to go in spite of everything that had happened her. Her death was the start of one of the darkest times of my life and I had added to the count of scars with it. Every time I remembered her death, that same darkness threatened to drag me down again.

  But somehow, this time things were lighter. The pain of losing her was still there but the darkness and weight was gone. Feeling better emotionally, if not physically, I went on to share more about her. How her smile and laughter lit up the world around her. It wasn’t just for me either. Everyone in our corner of forgotten misery enjoyed her and she, in turned helped us to survive with her hunting of rats.

  My telling lasted for a long time, and I soon forgot about the pain from my Aliment. I even drifted off to sleep without ever thinking to look at my waiting messages. When I woke up, I was feeling better than I had in a long time, lighter even.

  And, in away, heavier too which I felt when I stretched. I looked down and saw that I had filled out considerably. I could still see my bones, but they weren’t nearly as pronounced as they had been, and I had visible muscles now. Curious about what had changed – aside from me sleeping off the effects of my Phantom Pain – I checked my messages.

  WARNING! YOU HAVE ENTERED BATTLE!

  WASTELAND LION LV. 10 USES SLASH!

  YOU HAVE DODGED!

  YOUR AGILITY AND DEFENSE HAVE REDUCED THE DAMAGE

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  -20 HEALTH FROM NEAR MISS

  YOU ARE WOUNDED

  YOU ARE AFFLICTED WITH BLEED

  YOU HAVE LEARNED BASH!

  STAMINA DOUBLED FOR FIRST ACTIVATION

  STAMINA TRIPLED DUE TO STARVATION

  YOUR BLOW HAS CAUSED DAMAGE TO WASTELAND LION LV. 10

  WASTELAND LION LV. 10 IS DAZED FOR 10 SECONDS FROM BLOW DUE TO ENVENOMED STATE

  WASTELAND LION LV. 10 IS SICK!

  YOU HAVE EXERTED YOURSELF!

  -1 STAMINA

  YOU HAVE TARGETED WASTELAND LION LV. 10 WITH CONSUME

  YOU HAVE USED CONSUME ON WASTELAND LION LV. 10

  SUCCESS!

  YOU HAVE CAPTURED WASTELAND LION LV. 10

  YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SLAIN ENEMY PREY WASTELAND LION LV. 10

  USE PACK SKILL SHARE KILL? Y/N

  DUE TO THE RAPID CYCLE OF HEALING AND DAMAGE YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE AILMENT: PHANTOM PAIN

  DUE TO THE RAPID CYCLE OF HEALING AND DAMAGE PHANTOM PAIN HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL 2

  DUE TO THE RAPID CYCLE OF HEALING AND DAMAGE PHANTOM PAIN HAS INCREASED TO LEVEL 3

  WOUND HAS CLOTTED

  BLEED HAS ENDED

  DUE TO YOUR EXPERIENCES BOTH PAST AND CURRENT YOUR ‘DEFIANT’ SOUL TRAIT HAS BROKEN

  YOU ARE INFLICTED WITH DESPAIR

  YOU HAVE SHARED YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH A DEMON

  DEMON WOLF KING SALAZAR IS ABLE TO USE MIASMA SIPHON ON SHARED EXPERIENCES

  SOME OF YOUR BURDENS HAVE BEEN LIFTED

  YOU ARE NO LONGER IN DESPAIR

  YOUR SOUL TRAIT ‘DEFIANT’ IS HEALING

  YOUR SOUL TRAIT ‘DEFIANT’ HAS BEEN RESTORED TO ITS PREVIOUS STATE OF 'WORN'

  OPPORTUNITY TO USE PACK SKILL ‘SHARE KILL’ HAS EXPIRED

  YOU HAVE RECEIVED 30 EXPERIENCE

  YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!

  YOU ARE NOW LV. 8

  YOU HAVE RECEIVED +1 IN DEFENSE, WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, DEXTERITY, CHARISMA DUE TO YOUR STATUS AS CHAMPION OF THE SYSTEM

  YOU HAVE RECEIVED A 120 LB WASTELAND LION LV. 10 CORPSE

  YOU HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP

  YOU HAVE RECOVERED FROM ALIMENT PHANTOM PAIN III

  YOU HAVE PUSHED THROUGH PAIN WHILE UNDER PHANTOM PAIN III

  YOUR EFFORTS HAVE BEEN REWARDED!

  YOU RECEIVE PAIN TOLERANCE!

  DUE TO REMEMBERED PAST LIFE EXPERIENCES DURING PHANTOM PAIN III PAIN TOLERANCE HAS BEEN UP GRADED

  YOU NOW HAVE PAIN TOLERANCE III

  YOU HAVE FINISHED DIGESTING DESERT SCORPION LV. 7 REMAINS

  YOU HAVE BEEN FULLY RECOVERED OUTSIDE OF STARVATION AND ALIMENTS

  DIGESTION HAS BEGUN ON WASTELAND LION LV. 10 CORPSE

  COOL DOWN ON 'DEMON FORM' HAS BEEN RESET

  YOU CAN NOW USE YOUR 'DEMON FORM'

  As I looked over my mess of messages, a lot of things started to make sense. It also made me look forward with some hope to when I reviewed my stats. But first….

  “Salazar?” I asked, pressing my hand against my stomach to feel the wolf demon. There was no pain from him as I prodded the faint bulge he made in there. He did shift at my touch though and turned his attention to me.

  ‘Yes Master?’ He asked.

  ‘Thank you. For listening and everything. I needed that.’ I told him. I felt him think about it for a moment before answering me.

  ‘You are welcome, Master. It is what us demons are for. We take the burdens of mortals simply by being. When mortals like you willingly share them with us we are able to take more from them. Without us, the… bad stuff that the burdens are made out of poison the land and the hearts of mortals.” he explained to me.

  “Well, thanks anyways. You didn’t have too but what you did made me feel a lot better. You’re a good boy!” I told him giving him lots of gentle rubs through my belly wall and mental head pats. He enjoyed them but was slightly confused for some reason.

  ‘But is what demons are made for, Master.” He told me again and paused to think for a moment before adding. ‘How do you not know this? Are there no demons where you are from?’

  I sighed and stopped my attentions.