At the same time, I could feel the changes too as the points were accepted. My skin tightened and I could feel my bones creak as they got stronger. Shocked, I stared down at my body, wondering what the hell happened and why didn't I feel anything like that before.

  "System! What the hell was that!" I demanded.

  THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU INCREASE YOUR STATS SO MUCH. YOU BASICALLY ADDED A THIRD OF THAT STATS POINTS TO IT ALL AT ONCE. NORMALLY ONLY ONE OR TWO ARE ADDED AT A TIME. THE ONLY STAT YOU WOULDN’T FEEL ANY CHANGE FROM IS LUCK. THIS FEELING OF CHANGE WILL LESSEN AS THE PROPORTION BETWEEN ADDED POINTS AND ORIGINAL POINTS GROWS WITH THE ORIGINAL POINTS BEING THE GREATER NUMBER. THE REVERSE OF THIS IS ALSO TRUE.

  “So, what would happen if I managed to dump a whole lot of points into a very low-level attribute?” I asked them.

  I DO NOT KNOW. NO ONE HAS BEEN PATIENT ENOUGH TO RESERVE THAT MANY POINTS BEFORE. OR THAT FOOLISH. IN ORDER FOR A BEING TO LEVEL UP, EXPERIENCE NEEDS TO BE GAINED. THE EASIEST WAY IS TO FIGHT MONSTERS BUT THE HIGHER YOUR LEVEL IS IN COMPARISON TO THE MONSTERS; THE LESS EXPERIENCE YOU WILL RECEIVE FROM THEM.

  THAT ASIDE, YOU ARE ALSO IN A UNIQUE POSITION TO FIND OUT. YOU ARE ALREADY GETTING MORE THAN DOUBLE THE POINTS A NORMAL HUMAN WILL RECEIVE DURING A LEVEL UP. ADD TO THAT THE REWARDS YOU MAY RECEIVE FROM SHARD AND YOU CAN GUESS THE REST.

  “Great…. Is this a not-so-subtle hint that I should start saving them in order to avoid unwanted attention?” I asked, rubbing my face in irritation.

  NOT AS SUCH BUT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO START SOME TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE NOW THAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT IT UP.

  “I suppose that’s fair….. And I suppose I haven’t been feeling any of the effects because of my starved status has been putting them into reserve and what not?” I guessed.

  YOU ARE CORRECT. ALSO, YOU HAVE BEEN SLEEPING THROUGH SOME OF THEM AS WELL.

  “Alright then. So, I’ve got my questions answered…. my stat choices made…. I’ve slept so I’m not tired anymore…. Got any ideas for me to pass the time?” I asked it.

  YOU COULD ALWAYS COLLECT THE BONE FRAGMENTS. THEY COULD BE USEFUL TRADE ITEMS OR CRAFTING MATERIALS.

  “Bone fragments….?” I pondered as I got up and I was suddenly reminded of the other thing that comes with eating stuff.

  “Erm… Why are there only bone fragments in here? Wasn’t Salazar stuck in here for centuries? Wouldn’t there be like tons of shit or dirt or something in here?” I asked, looking around and wondering.

  DEMON BODIES ARE VERY EFFECTIVE AT BREAKING DOWN THEIR FOOD LEAVING VERY LITTLE BEHIND. THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE WHEN THAT FOOD IS MONSTERS. THEIR BODIES ARE MAINLY COMPRISED OF MANA AND ELEMENTAL ESSENCES. WHEN DEMONS EAT THEM, THEIR BODIES KEEP THE COMPONENTS AND SLOWLY RELEASING THEM BACK INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. OR IT COLLECTS IN A SPECIFIC BODY PART THAT THEY DRAW THEIR POWER FROM.

  “Really?”

  WELL, USUALLY. SOMETIMES IT CAN FORM CRYSTALS INSIDE THEIR BODIES. IT’S VERY RARE FOR THAT TO HAPPEN AND TENDS TO BE MUCH MORE COMMON IN DRAGONS AND THEIR KIN AS WELL AS DEMONICS. IT CAN HAPPEN TO SOME FAE AND THEIR KIN TOO.

  “Err… Aren’t…. isn’t(?) being ‘Demonic’ the same as being a demon?” I asked next, scratching my head and trying to figure out how to word things.

  IT IS NOT. A DEMONIC BEING IS A CREATURE THAT HAS CORRUPTED THEMSELVES IN ORDER TO GAIN THE POWER OF DEMONS OR MORE POWER IN GENERAL. DEMONS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ARE ALREADY BORN WITH THAT POWER AND HAVE NO NEED TO DO SO. IT COMES WITH A PRICE THOUGH THAT THEY MUST LIVE WITH.

  “Like ‘Endless Hunger’ from earlier?”

  CORRECT. HOWEVER, WHEN A DEMON SUCCUMBS TO SATISFYING THEIR ‘PRICE’, THEY TOO BECOME CORRUPT AND EVIL JUST LIKE A DEMONIC. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, THE BECOME A ‘FALLEN’ AND ARE CAPABLE OF DESTRUCTION AND MAYHEM ON A MASSIVE SCALE DUE THE REASON OF THEIR EXISTENCE. THEY ARE MEANT TO KEEP SUCH THINGS IN CHECK SIMPLY BY BEING BUT EVEN DEMONS HAVE THEIR BREAKING POINT.

  “Huh. Alright right then. I guess I’ll get to collecting and sorting then.” I told the system before heading off to do just that.

  The bones bits were so irregular that I wasn’t certain that they would ‘stack’ in the slots. They were pretty light to me though, so I was able to gather a pretty good armful of them before I began to feel their weight. I was on my way back to the wall under the containment pit’s control room to start making a pile of them when a familiar red light appeared.

  It was in the center like the last two times but unlike them, it grew and the lights in the pit started to flicker. Fearing the worst, I dropped my arm load and ran for the nearest part of the wall for shelter. I didn’t know what was going on, but I hoped that it was either the field was finally failing, and this was its last hurrah or, barring that, the creature the array had captured and sent here was a gentle giant that I could avoid killing. Although, how peaceful such a large monster could be remained to be seen.

  As it turned out, it was the second one for the most part and it almost filled the room with its bulk while its sudden arrival made the ground shake with a thud. It looked like a cross between an ankylosaurus and a tortoise. Its domed shell was covered with craggy bumps and spines while its thick tail ended in a boney lump as big as I was. Its thick stocky legs were as big around as picnic tables and its assumingly armored head was hidden from my sight on the other end of the room. I wasn’t certain if it was friendly or not, but I was pretty certain it could turn me into a bloody smear if I wasn’t careful.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “System what is this thing? And better yet, is it friendly?” I whispered as the massive creature made a confused sounding rumbling noise.

  THAT IS AN ARCON STONE THUMPER. YES, THEY ARE A PEACEFUL SPECIE AND ARE EVEN FRIENDLY SO LONG AS THEY ARE NOT ATTACKED FIRST.

  “I am sensing a ‘but’ here.” I commented.

  QUITE. IT MOST LIKELY STARVE TO DEATH IN HERE IF YOU DO NOT DO ANYTHING. IT IS FAR TO LARGE GET OUT OF HERE ON ITS OWN AND, IF SOME MIRACLE IT DID, YOU ARE HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM ANY FOOD SOURCE LARGE ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN IT.

  “I’m going to have to mercy kill it, aren’t I?” I asked rhetorically in a low voice.

  I AM AFRAID SO SAMUEL. YOU BEST FIGURE OUT HOW BEFORE IT STARTS PANICKING.

  “Panicking?” I said just before the room rumbled and shook as the mega-monster slammed its shell into one of the walls.

  “Panicking. Right. Where do – Woah!” I began but was interrupted when I had to dodge the end of the beast’s swinging tail. It missed me by mere inches and smashed into the wall where I had been standing against. The System was smart enough to pick up on what I had been trying to say and answered the unfinished question.

  YOUR BEST BET WOULD BE TO USE YOUR DEMON FORM AND CONSUME SKILL TO DEAL A FATAL BLOW TO IT SOME HOW. BEYOND THAT, I HAVE NO IDEA.

  “Figures!” I shouted in dismay as I was forced to dodge the tail again.

  This time it had gotten even closer, and I checked myself real quick to see if it had left any scrapes because I could have sworn it had touched me. It hadn’t but the shrapnel that had been thrown into the air when the tail crashed into another wall did and I hissed in pain as the stone chips bit into my skin. The momentary distraction the pain caused was enough that I didn’t quite dodge in time when the tail came back around. The grazing blow threw me aside and I felt something give inside of me on impact.

  Stunned and disoriented, I was unable to dodge as the tail went from a sideways motion to an up and down one above me. Time seemed to slow as I watch once more as my death came for me. I numbly put my arms in front of me in a pointless act of defense and braced myself for the inevitable.

  That never came.

  I heard an oddly familiar sound that was a cross between glass tinkling and something cracking. At the same time, I heard a distorted mechanical voice inside my head.

  An Emergency has been detected

  Primary function of Mark has been activated

  A Localized Temporary Time Stop for 30 seconds has been Authorized for use

  Repairing Host…..

  Done.

  Activating host’s skill Demon Form and temporarily removing costs and some restrictions of skills and abilities...

  Done.

  15 seconds of Time Stop remaining

  A boon has been used in your defense, Host Samuel Jackson

  Make it count.

  This mark will give what aid it can in keeping you alive until the boon’s value runs out

  It felt like worms crawling under my skin as the voice spoke inside my head healed my injuries and forced me into my Demon Form. I instantly got up and scanned the body for any weaknesses I could exploit. I couldn’t see any, but I did see a spot highlighted on the side of its shell. I rushed over to it and targeted the spot with my CONSUME skill like I assumed I was supposed to do.

  I felt something in my head guide my skill into burrowing a hole through the creature’s thick shell that was big enough for me to crawl through. That same something took the plug of organic material from me as the skill had me swallow it. It was odd but I ignored it for now to scramble through the hole into the beast’s body cavity before the time stop ended.

  I managed to do it just in time and everything when nuts for a couple of seconds like time was playing catch up. I was nearly thrown out of the hole by the slipperiness of the monster’s internal fluids and the chaos. However, the claws of my Demon Form gave me the purchase I needed on the inside of the creature shell to endure it.

  When things had calmed enough for me to move, I began making my way through the beast’s innards. I had entered the shell somewhere around the creature’s intestines and had to make my way past them and more to get to where I thought its heart might be. I figure that was a vital enough point that if I did enough damage to it, it would kill the creature fairly quick and painlessly.

  Getting there wasn’t exactly painless for the creature because of this form’s claws although I did try to keep it to minimum. I still had it groaning in pain and myself covered in blood by the time I was able to wriggle past its muscular stomach and was able to locate the heart beneath it. It was an equally massive organ worthy of the creature and the size of small car. I swallowed nervously and grimaced when some of the creature’s blood got into my mouth. I wasn’t certain if I could successfully use CONSUME on it, but I had to try.

  Like before, I felt something else guiding my skill into selecting and drawing in the monster’s heart. Unlike before though, my body treated like it had Salazar, funneling the massive lump of moving meat into my throat when the expanded space inside my mouth wasn’t big enough to hold it. I felt something take it from me like it had with the shell chunk. I didn’t really have time to think much about it though because area became flooded with blood the moment heart was gone, and I had to get out of there before I drowned.