Ascenders: Rising From Zero

Marked as prey

Bayo trudged on, pushing his wobbly cub feet to walk. Each gait was seemingly tough to pull by. Honestly, if he knew that he was not going to become that all might 17 energy rated Dog earlier, instead of this wobbly weakling of a cub, he would have just passed by.

InFact, Giving Yasmin control was so much better than this form he was in.

Come to think of it, how was he going to survive here? He had only one thing on his mind.

That is to eat Salamanders. Yuck! Beside that, he had nothing else. And that wasn't sounding good to him.

What if he encountered a beast that decided on tasting him?

What were his survival chances? He couldn't fight as a dog.

How do dogs even fight?

In his last life, he had only two legs but now having four seemed unsettling. But that didn't mean he was going to ditch this life however.

Taking a quick glance around the forest again, he noticed the heavily boughed trees in surplus with strangely colored fruits in some of them. Most of the trees had different colors of leaves, ranging from red, white, blue, green and purple giving the forest a rich coloring all about. 

'Are those claw marks?' Bayo asked himself upon seeing three huge marks with equal spacing that had ripped through a tree. In front of the tree was a huge depression and a webwork of cracks that could have only being caused by a battle.

Of Animals? 

'Yasmin, remind me never to go to that direction.' Bayo said, noting the lesser depressions of paw marks that tracked into the denser part of the forest, disappearing behind a huge rock. The rock itself was not spared of battle brunt with the claws here and there.

Whatever must have been able to claw through rocks must really have been very powerful.

Bayo mused, dread filling his puppy heart.

Wait,  I shouldn't be scared. Bigger form of life just means I have a chance to get evolved better.

Bayo glanced upwards, a cloud of red yellow clouds blanketing the atmosphere. 

Whoa... That's new.

'This world is so different, Yasmin, where am I?'

'The Ascender Induction would have put you through all of this.

I cannot exactly pinpoint where we are, but based on the environment analysis I have conducted so far, it appears we are in Drakonian Confederate Lands in the outskirts of the First Heavens.'

'Drakonian? That sounds like Dragon kinda.' Bayo mused.

'The drakonians are an evolved humanoid relative of the original Dragon Beasts with the strength of a dragon and the cunning of a conscious being. 

They are remarkable hunters and as such undergo Mercenary jobs for others outside their home territory.

Although, they are remarkable friendly and hospitable to all races within the lands.' Yasmin expatriated.

'Just evolve till you can get a proper body to survive.' Bayo consoled himself.

Just then a snarl comes a little ahead of him, stopping him dead in his tracks. His instincts flared up.

And without wasting time, He fled, disappearing into the lush green vegetation he spawned at.

Trembling, he positioned himself behind the rock where he had absorbed the Ironspike Tailed Dog and peeking from the corner. 

Just because he was a dog didn't mean he couldn't do hide and seek.

The grass at the opposite side of the pathway began parting, revealing a porcupine like creature with pines that flowed faintly with blue light at the end. The face of the creature was all squiggly and meshed with a snout that twitched about in the air.

'Just what is that, Yasmin?'

A window opened in his mind, taking his focus to his mental plane. On the screen he read out the stats displayed.

Glow Pined Rat -Common Type

Soul Status: Ground

Max Energy: 17

Ability: Capable of sensing motion via the numerous pines on its back. 

The 1 metre long carnivorous creature is able to hunt its prey through motion detection, thus making it a deadly hunter. It is able to blend with environment as well to avoid detection which is mostly foiled by the ever glowing spikes it has.

— —

'So, this Ratus sensed me. And wanted to hunt m-me?'

Oh Shit!

Don't do this. I'm just a baby. 

Bayo whimpered, alerting the Rat to his location. The Glow Spiked Rat turned its meaty squeezed face over, sniffing the air before making to cross the air.

Bayo's instinct screamed Run but he somehow managed to resist. Watching in awe, he inched backwards abit, giving some space between the rock and himself.

This Rat was seated at Energy of 17? Unbelievable. The Rat inched closer too, watching Bayo carefully. 

'Aha! It's surprised at me huh?' 

'I wouldn't say so. My understanding show that the Glow Spike Rat knows that cubs are to be protected fiercely. So seeing you alone when it cannot sense any other of your kind is startling to it.' Yasmin's soothing voice cut in.

'Is that good or bad?' Bayo asked, inching backwards while his eyes darted about, calculating.

Just because he was a weak cub didn't mean he was going to be eaten by a Rat.

For forge sake, A Rat?

He should run but he had to evolve.And boy oh boy, his cub-ly stomach had begun to rumble.

'That would be madness.' Yasmin spoke. 'To try to take on this beast while having only 7 out of 17 energy.'

'7? How come? It was 5 the last time. Yasmin show me the status of my current form. 

Please skip that law gibberish and the peripherals, please.' Bayo replied.

-

Iron Spike Tailed Dog

Soul Status: Basic

Growth Stage: Cub(1/3)

Growth progress: 45/100

Energy: 7/17

-

'Whoa! Growth progress has advanced to 45. That's so much of a diff to the last time. And my energy too. Should I be worried, Yasmin?'

'Absolutely Not! Your current boon is owing to the fact that you have a unique soul which is aiding to a great deal, your growth.

Even I, I am perplexed as well.' Yasmin replied coolly.

That boosted his confidence. But not for long.

LEAP!

The Glow Spike Rat dives forward, throwing its bigger mass at the cub with its wicked line of teeth extended.

That was it. 

A wicked glint sparked in Bayo face as he bared his face, trying to seem as tough as possible. 

'You've finally decided, right?'

DUCK!!!

With danger induced motion, Bayo sidestepped, taking his body close to the rock once more, barely escaping the Rat by few inches.

THUD!

The Rat landed, baring teeth in disappointment as it swirled around. It looked surprised as if wondering where a Cub would have gotten that much agility and intelligence from.

It shuddered briefly as it's spikes glowed for a sec  or two. After the Glow, it compressed on itself, preparing for another killer dive.

'This has to work. Please, it has to work!' Bayo prayed.

In a flash, the Rat lunged forward with open jaws, zooming in for the kill. At that very moment, time seemed to have slowed, letting Bayo have more time examining the teeth that were going to latch on him if he didn't move.

'Bayo, Jump!' 

Mustering all of his energy, Bayo propped  his nimble limbs together, gathering momentum as the rats jaws close in. 

And Boom! His hind legs kicked in, powerfully clawing at the ground to get a rebound force that sent it sprawling through the air.

Casting a side glance, airborne, Bayo caught a glimpse of the Rat Slamming it's jaws first and face into the rock, instantly shattering most of its teeth.

Damnit! He was going to hard fall. 

He certainly didn't consider the falling part when he planned this all.

Bayo crashed, every inch of his body raking with pain. With difficulty, he pulled himself off the ground, creeping closer to his unmoving pile of Glow Spiked Rat.

'Status, Yasmin.' Bayo asked, gritting his pain to the intense pain that coursed through his nimble muscles.

—-

Iron Spike Tailed Dog

Soul Status: Basic

Growth Stage: Cub(1/3)

Growth progress: 47/100

Energy:3/17

Health: Critical

—-

'Just as I expected. My energy level has been relatively drained. And there's a health tag now there too?' 

He felt the need to ask Yasmin for to explain how come the health tag suddenly appeared now instead of before but he didn't have the strength to.

Pushing his head forward, he clutched his fang on the soft muscled frame of the Rat.

'Bloodline detected. Absorbing Bloodline.' Yasmin spoke.

Whatever that meant, he didn't care. For now, he just couldn't afford to give in to the jolting pangs of hunger and pain coursing through his system.

'Oh God! Please' Bayo muttered, closing his eyes as he chomped, his consciousness slipping gradually from him.

'Just eat, Bayo, Eat.' His subconscious kept reminding him, keeping his jaws opening and closing as everywhere turned black.