As the sun stretched ever-higher on the clear light blue sky, the duo of Lucien and Sera stepped into this idyllic realm of nature. The forest they entered was oak-brown and fresh-smelling. The grasses were crispy beneath their feet as they crossed slowly deeper and deeper into this natural biome.

The trees towered over them majestically. Their knotted arms rose ever upwards, as far as their heads could lift. They were hoary fortresses, standing proud and tall, undisturbed by the corruption of civilization in this little pocket of a safe heaven. The orchestra of birdsong that Lucien and Sera could hear from afar suddenly stopped as they crossed into this new luscious realm.

A pair of jays, the scavengers of the bird world were screeching high up in the canopy of the trees. Their cruel bead-like eyes were always on the lookout for a smaller, feathered or a furred meal. While they mostly preferred the feathery version, they would occasionally grab the lone squirrel or even the youthful hare if they would scamper away from the protection of their parents.

They drifted across Lucien\'s vision in a flash of fleshy pink and charcoal black, trying to size up the sudden invaders. It was only a fleeting moment as the eyes of human and winged sentry met, they were a furtive species, full of suspicion; they swiftly bolted away.

The morning stars peeped through the thick dome of the trees, looking down at the small sub-world like silver asters, glinting and shimmering. They looked happy, content in their solar-silver isolation. The simpering wind carried with it the smell of wild basil, which upon further inspection could be seen growing freely, unrestrained on the clumpy emerald-green mattress of the floor. The aroma was refreshing, akin to a mulchy mix of the pure, raw forest\'s perfume.

Breaking this tranquility, the whistling of an arrow could be heard, as it was suddenly released from its place and fired towards the distance.

It swiftly flew through the air, its target was an unsuspecting little dark orange furred little squirrel standing with its back against the two figures on a high-up branch of an oak tree. It was busy filling up its storage with its latest loot of light brown, rich, and ripe acorns.

Unfortunately for the small little critter, it registered the faint sound of whistling just a tad bit too late; before it could jump away, the steel triangle-shaped arrowhead pierced its small body with ease, carrying its faltering body forward with continued momentum.

It continued to traverse the skies for a couple of feet more in a downward arc before it finally landed with a blunt thud amidst the crispy, vibrant grassy field.

Releasing the bowstring, Sera hummed with delight, as she turned to look at the emotionless boy standing to her right.

"See? Using the bow is actually one of the best ways to hunt. It\'s silent, easy to use, and will not ruin the flesh and skin of the prey as much as a bullet would. Come, let\'s go and check the animal, hopefully, it died swiftly and we didn\'t cause it too much pain and suffering."

She spoke, putting the long bow over her back. She gently touched the boy\'s left hand and pulled it with her towards the little critter.

Without showing any change of emotion, the short, dark-haired boy, Lucien, followed after the blonde woman. In his right hand, he held a long bow identical to the one the woman was using, a quiver full of arrows was hanging on his back.

Although he looked insipid on the outside, inside a storm of thoughts was causing chaos. He was still in a spell after the woman\'s sudden display of attack. He liked the elegant, simplistic action, and how it brought forth the expected and swift result.

Still, another thought wrestled with this admiration. His boyish, childish nature couldn\'t help but show slight dismay, dissatisfaction to this scene. His heart yearned for more, something… wilder, more exciting. He had disgruntled, displeased dealing with the prey in such a way. He wanted to be face to face with the opponent, and deal the decisive blow in melee, and not from several feet or even yards away.

As they closed in on the small body of their prey, the snapping, crunching sounds of twigs resounded around them, alerting the rest of the local fauna of the emergence of the duo with their threatening presence.

Oblivious to his own carelessness, Lucien calmly followed a step behind Sera, his eyes focused on the tiny, orange-colored fur ball lying amidst the tall blades of grass.

As they arrived, Sera didn\'t lift up the body, but simply removed the arrow from the freshly deceased body of the squirrel. Using a marble-white silk handkerchief she slowly began cleaning the bloodied arrowhead, whilst she stepped to the side.

She didn\'t speak a word, only gave a knowing smile, fully aware of what the young man was about to do.

Lucien didn\'t even register the strangely, familiar look on the blonde woman, he was laser-focused on the small body lying on the ground. Memories of the recent past began emerging from the back of his mind, causing him the uncomfortably flinch upon being forced to witness the horror he did back during his great escape.

No. It wasn\'t entirely correct to put the blame on himself, since it was done by the \'other one\' sharing his life inside him. This other one, whatever it was, was another sentient being with a shared existence with himself. Their fate was tied, and no matter how much he continued to resist or struggle, there was no other path, but forward.

He had to accept this other self, this monstrous but powerful entity. He had many enemies, that wanted nothing more than to bring him back to the hellish torment he had run away from.

If he truly desired freedom, if he truly wanted to live here in the outside world, he had no other solution. There were no alternate routes, just this new, strange, and mysterious path. He had to accept this other self, as one of him, and stop resisting against it.

Closing his eyes, he heaved a heavy sigh as he finally arrived by the small critter of the forest. He slowly crouched down and freed up his right hand by putting down the bow to the ground.

He growled with gritted teeth, as he forced himself to accept this new reality, however hard it was. His right arm as it slowly reached out towards the small body, began to tremble with visible excitement.

His hand gently clenched around the squirrel, lifting it up from the ground.

As soon as it did, the surface of his limb began to slightly change, a dark shade began to creep up from the base of his shoulders, sending their black, ebony tendrils in the form of swelling halo of veins.

At the same time, the dead body convulsed in his palm, bringing forth a new screen from his system.

[…::: Forest Squirrel (Lvl 0 - Category: Critters) mass has been found! :::…]

[…::: Absorbing essence… :::…]

As the bloodied letters appeared in front of Lucien\'s vision, the small body of the creature convulsed once more, turning wizened, dry at a lightning-fast pace. As its essences were continuously absorbed, it churned, turning smaller and smaller before its entirety seemingly vanished, seeping into the boy\'s body, merging with him in a couple of seconds.

As the process finished, Lucien hasn\'t really felt any change, although he could feel a new sliver of energy course inside him for a brief moment before he felt it vanish or most likely merge with the sea of his own essence.

Meanwhile, the text on the floating dark screen began to change, formulating new and new messages to the host.

[…::: Absorbing Essence… Completed! :::…]

[…::: Forest Squirrel (Lvl 0 - Category: Critters) - Creature Page has been created! :::…]

[…::: Creature Library has been unlocked! :::…]

[…::: Through the absorption the following updates has been granted:

+ 0.01 Agility,

+ 1 EP (Full Consumption Bonus),

+ 0.1% Power Increase :::…]

Also, last but not least, the update for his currently active task has appeared as well.

[…:::Task update: Gather your first Entropy Points ( 6 / 10 ) :::…]

As he read through the list, Lucien was stunned by the sheer amount of surprise he felt. Absorbing the small little squirrel, gave him several benefits! Although the gains might seem small, one had to understand that this was merely his first prey they hunted, and it was just a tiny, defenseless little critter of the forest.

Although the method through how he could grow stronger seemed cruel and gruesome, Lucien didn\'t mind it. Although he wasn\'t too keen on preying on creatures that couldn\'t muster up any resistance, he knew he had to grow stronger, faster… He needed more power.

There were many dangers lurking in the shadows, that he already understood, and if wanted to ultimately come out on top and not fall victim to the harsh reality, he had to be cold and cruel.