Barely out of the cave, still dazzled by the daylight, Alex collapsed into the grass. He got up with difficulty, his wings trembling, his senses still disoriented.
That's when the ground seemed to vibrate.
Rapid sounds. Blurs of motion. And suddenly…
Three squirrels with yellow eyes and spark-filled, bristling tails surrounded him.
"What was that…?"
The system appeared before him:
[Thunder Squirrel – Level 2]
Their tails crackled with electricity. Their jittery little bodies moved at lightning speed. In an instant, they jumped… and vanished from sight.
"Where did they go…?"
The trees around him lit up with flashes. The squirrels bounced from branch to branch at a dizzying pace, tracing lightning through the air. Then one of them appeared out of nowhere. The impact was brutal. Alex was slammed against a trunk.
The electric squirrels leapt from the branches, diving at him in rapid bursts. Their little paws struck the air like miniature bolts, hitting him relentlessly, then climbing back up for another dive. Each blow fell with the force of a tiny thunderclap. Alex flapped his wings frantically, trying to escape, but each time, the squirrels crashed into him again, diving and rising with merciless precision. Finally, Alex lost his balance, fell to the ground, panting and injured.
One of the three slowly climbed down from a tree, ready to finish him off. Its gaze was pitiless.
Alex trembled.
"No… not now… not like this…"
He had finally reached a world where his dream could come true. He refused to die before forging a weapon no one could ever match.
His red eyes gleamed with fierce determination.
He refused.
He opened his jaws wide, sank his fangs into the squirrel's leg, and bit with all his might.
[Skill: Blood Acquisition – Activated]
You drink the blood of your target…
Skill acquired: Static Shock
Description: You fire a bolt of lightning that briefly paralyzes the target.
A word surged in his mind, instinctive, electric.
"Static shock."
A jolt shot out from his jaws.
The squirrel grimaced, shaken by the attack, but held firm.
He tried again.
"Static shock."
Still nothing.
A mental scream, desperate and filled with rage, tore through his consciousness.
"STATIC SHOCK!"
This time, the lightning burst stronger, deeper, as if exploding inside the squirrel's body. The small creature screamed in pain, then collapsed, unconscious.
Alex, breathing hard, stood up. His once white fur was now red with blood.
The other two squirrels charged at him, flashing through the leaves. Alex opened his mouth again.
"Static shock."
The spell fired, but the two creatures, even mid-flight, reacted at insane speed. They pushed each other aside, dodging the attack. But they weren't Alex's real target.
The bolt struck a large branch above them.
CRACK!!
The branch fell with a sharp snap — BOOM! — and crushed the two squirrels to the ground, knocking them out cold.
Alex staggered, exhausted. He wanted to sleep, just for a moment… But an irresistible hunger burned in his gut. A thirst for blood.
He slowly approached… sank his fangs into the first squirrel's neck, then the second.
The blood rushed into his small body… and with it, strength.
[Level +3!]
Current Level: 4
His fur slowly turned white again, cleansed by the system's magic. He felt lighter. Stronger.
Suddenly, a new interface opened before his red eyes, still glowing from the tension.
[Would you like to store these materials?]
[YES / NO]
He raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Wait… the system considers monster carcasses as materials?" he whispered, stunned.
A short, incredulous laugh escaped him.
"And I can store them too?!"
His gaze fell on the lifeless thunder squirrels, still warm with magic and extinguished life. The thought of keeping them as resources to forge later made his eyes sparkle.
"This is even better than I imagined…"
Without hesitation, he selected [Yes].
A small red portal opened instantly in the air. It swirled like a miniature vortex, silently sucking in the three monster corpses, making them disappear without a trace.
Alex stood still for a moment, fascinated.
Everything became raw material. Everything could be used. Even death.
"Perfect…" he murmured. "Absolutely perfect."
His wings twitched. His heart pounded faster.
He was no longer just a lost little bat in an unknown world.
He was a blacksmith in the making.
He looked up at the sky.
He would survive. Copy the best. Learn every secret.
His gaze blazed.
He would become the greatest blacksmith in all the universes.