Chương 5: A System Activates

I kneeled and wept openly, seeing Ebbin that way. The knight, armor clinking softly with every step, placed a hand on my shoulder.

"He's with the gods now," he said. I wiped away tears.

"No," I replied.

"He's with his wife." The knight nodded. The room was still heavy with smoke and the wet, bitter smell of burned wood. Ash clung to the floorboards in gray smears, and the broken window let in cold night air that stirred the last curls of soot drifting near the ceiling.

"So," he asked.

"This is always the hardest part. Starting over. Do you have anyone? Friends or family?" I looked over at Ebbin.

"No, nobody." The knight sighed.

"Yeah, that's becoming more common than you think. Well, you can come with us back to town. After that… Well, it's up to you. A tracker can help you get your animals back if you want to restart and build back up. It would take some coin. You may be able to get a loan, and in a few years, you can start earning again. This doesn't have to be the end."

"I'm just an aspirant," I said.

"So, yeah… this is the end." The knight pulled me closer and into a casual hug. His armor was cold against my cheek, smelling faintly of leather and steel.

"Ah, don't worry about that for now. But hey, let's get you to town, and I'll even get you a room at the inn. On me."" Oy," the elven woman said.

"Only if it comes out of your cut."

"I said on me," the knight replied, shushing her. She casually stepped away.

"Apologies for her; the elven can be… Well, she doesn't mean it." I waved him off. Truly, they'd already done more than I could have asked. At least they got revenge—"What should we do with this one?" the mage in the robes asked. Tied up in rope, he paraded the goblin forward. At some point, the goblin had torn out the arrow and haphazardly bandaged itself up, or had tried to at least. The rag around its chest was already dark and wet, and each breath made a faint bubbling sound in its throat.

The goblin spat blood on the floor.

"Human scum."

"Oy," the elven woman said.

"You lot as well. Little better. Always thinking you can judge us. The only reason you lot stand a chance is that system of yers. Without it, you're nothin'. You'd be nothin'." It turned its eyes toward me.

"Like this one."

"How do you know I don't have a system?" I asked.

"I can sense your weakness," the goblin replied, smiling from ear to ear. Its teeth were red at the edges, sharp and crooked, and the firelight from the dying embers made its grin look wider than it should have.

"What should we do with him?" the man in the robes asked.

"Take him with us," the knight said.

"We don't kill those who are sentient and no longer a threat. Let justice be done by the town itself."

"But it'll always be a threat," I protested.

"This thing killed Ebbin for nothing at all."

"That's not up for us to say—""Bullshit!" The silence was so intense that you could cut it with a knife… And in that moment, I realized that I was still holding onto one. The kitchen knife. It quivered in my shaking hands. Its little blade caught the weak hearthlight, smeared with soot and sweat from my palm. It was small. Pathetic, really. A thing meant for peeling roots and cutting vegetables, not deciding whether something lived or died.

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"I know you've lost someone close… but this isn't the way." I felt a pull of sorts. A tug. It came from deep inside. From my soul. Almost, I could hear it whisper to me. Call to me. Almost, I could hear it say… Glutton. Before I knew it, I lost control and threw myself onto the goblin. There was a brief shock in its eyes as my blade plunged into its chest. It fell back, and I landed on top of it. I pulled the knife in and out as fast as I could, each stab quicker and harder than the last.

Hot blood exploded onto me, dripping on my face and covering my hands. It smelled terrible, coppery and foul, with something sour beneath it that burned the back of my throat. It even burned my skin slightly, prickling wherever it touched. I didn't care. I didn't stop until the knight pulled me off, shoving me back. My boots scraped through ash and broken glass as I stumbled. He took one look at the goblin corpse and shook his head.

"Well," he said, "not how I would have wanted it done… but I hope that this brings you some sort of peace. In my experience, revenge never does." The knife fell from my hands as I stared at what I had done. At least twenty small wounds littered the creature's chest, and it stared up at the stars above. The goblin's mouth hung open, its sharp teeth slick with blood, its soulless eyes reflecting nothing at all. Then the system appeared. System You have given in to your primal urges.

You carry the will of one who takes what they want—who grows or wastes away by the truest rule of nature: consume or be consumed. Class unlocked… Glutton. Name: Rook Class: Glutton Grade: Special Level: 1 Exp: 0/100 Stats: STR: 4 DEX: 6 VIT: 4 INT: 7 WIS: 8 CHA: 5 LCK: 3 Consume or be consumed, the truest and oldest law of nature. New Passive - Stat Eater Stat Eater - "Eat what you kill… kill what you eat."

Description: The wielder of this passive shall not earn stats via level up, but via consumption of specialty dishes prepared by the wielder themselves. New recipes can be found, purchased, or unlocked via level-ups. Unlock - New Recipe… Goblin-Eye Soup Rarity: Common Type: Monster Meat Description: From times of old, Goblin-Eye Soup was a staple among villagers and adventurers alike… for all who could get over both the sight and smell.

Instructions: A soup made from goblin eyes, with other ingredients from the ground. Boil mushrooms and vegetables until soft and then add the goblin eyes. Cook through, but serve before the eyes become too soft and disintegrate into the soup itself. Freshen up with a pinch of river salt and a sprig of moonleaf. Add rendered fat for additional flavor.

Core Ingredient: Goblin Eye Ingredients: Mushroom, Bitterroot, Potatoes, Fat, Salt, Moonleaf Effects: Unknown Skills: Unlocked at Level 2 I blinked as the overwhelming amount of information flooded into me. The words hung bright and unreal before my eyes; unbelievable, even against the ruined house, the blood on my hands, and the smoke crawling along the ceiling. But one thing was for sure… I wasn't an aspirant anymore. I was something else entirely. A Glutton, whatever that was.

The knight snapped in front of my face.

"Hello, are you still there? Do you need healing?"

"I… no," I replied, coming out of it. It felt as if I had been in a dream. The man put a hand to his chin.

"You seem bothered. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I think," I said.

"I… was given a class by the system." The knight smiled.

"Well, that's wonderful. Considering what set it off, it's a fighter class most likely. Rogue, perhaps, considering the knife?"

"No," I said.

"Glutton." The knight eyed me curiously.

"Glutton? Never heard of it. Is it an uncommon class?" His eyes lit up.

"Is it rare?"

"... it says it's Special Grade." All three of the heroes took a step back, and I suddenly felt the chillness in the night for the first time.