The Guides were far smarter and more zealous than I was really comfortable with. The third one opened the door and the fourth entered the room. They had a small discussion in a language I didn’t understand and then turned to me.
“Let’s see you fight,” Guide 4 said, their face twisted in anger, then they leapt at me with raised fists. I’ve never been in a real life or death fight, and the little bastard was fast and scary. I pushed back against the wall as the Guide punched me in the chest.
Two points lost. It felt like a small pinch. But the fists kept coming. Two points isn’t much until you’ve been stung 20 times in only a few seconds. I grabbed the squirmy little guy with my lower arms and made fists with my main hands as I punched down at them, the razorclaw blades extending into the Guide’s body and passing through like shredding paper.
“Yes!” Guide 4 spat blue as they tried to speak. “I… will empower… the All-Dev-”
A fresh wave of horror washed over me. As I watched the life leave the Guide’s eyes, I noticed that it wasn’t my fear that had resulted in a spike in my blood flow, but the enticing thought of my next meal.
“Why do you look like that? The tutorial is going to be far more brutal than this, Dan.” Guide’s use of my actual name pulled me back into what was happening.
They, as they’d been the whole time, were right, of course. If I wanted to survive, I needed to get over the old way of thinking and get with the program. I forced myself to keep my eyes open this time.
You have devoured Level 10 Xorian Guide. Their highest stat was Vitality. Eat the Rich has increased the gained stats and eperience. Your base Vitality has increased by 12 points. Bonus stats from eating a Xorian Guide of a higher level than yourself. All stats increased by 5. You have gained bonus experience for killing a foe of a higher level than yourself.
DING! Class: Hypocrite Revolutionary has increased from Level 0 to Level 5.
DING! Race: Omnis Vorare has increased from Level 0 to Level 2.
I felt significantly less hungry, but Guide 3 wasn’t done. This time, two more Guides rushed out of the door and leapt at me immediately. With my increased stats, these were even less of a challenge. And the diminishing returns came back with a vengeance.
You have devoured Level 10 Xorian Guide. Their highest stat was Vitality. Eat the Rich has increased the gained stats and eperience. Your base Vitality has increased by 6 points. Bonus stats from eating a Xorian Guide of a higher level than yourself. All stats increased by 2. You have gained bonus experience for killing a foe of a higher level than yourself.
DING! Class: Hypocrite Revolutionary has increased from Level 5 to Level 8.
DING! Race: Omnis Vorare has increased from Level 2 to Level 4.
You have devoured Level 10 Xorian Guide. Their highest stat was Vitality. Eat the Rich has increased the gained stats and eperience. Your base Vitality has increased by 3 points. Bonus stats from eating a Xorian Guide of a higher level than yourself. All stats increased by 1. You have gained bonus experience for killing a foe of a higher level than yourself.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
DING! Class: Hypocrite Revolutionary has increased from Level 8 to Level 10.
DING! Race: Omnis Vorare has increased from Level 4 to Level 5.
Hypocrite Revolutionary Skill Unlocked.
With each consumption, I felt my power increase. It was subtle at first, but now all of my stats were in the double digits. My vision was clearer, my sense of smell more sensitive, my mind more capable. In short, I felt amazing!
Guide 3 smiled and moved to open the door, but I held out a hand. “No, I now match your level, and sending any more won’t be helpful.”
“You are now ready to go and conquer the tutorial! Praise the All-Devourer!”
I ignored them as the room around me faded into white space. I checked my status as I waited.
Status
Name: Dan Trench
Humanoid Race: Omnis Vorare 5
Class: Hypocrite Revolutionary 10
Profession: None
Max Health: 430
Max Stamina: 240
Max Mana: 230
Agility: 12
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 12
Perception: 12
Strength: 12
Vitality: 43
Wisdom: 11
Race Skills:
All Stats Must Be Eaten. Unique.
All-Consuming. Unique.
Infinite Tank. Unique.
Class Skills:
Eat the Rich. Uncommon.
Choose new class skill? Yes. No.
My vitality was more than 10 times what it had been originally. Most of the others were at least six times higher. I had an absurd amount of health, stamina, and mana. The feeling of seeing those numbers go up brought me back to the handful of games I tended to go back to like Destiny or Skyrim. That rush of knowing I would be stronger as my stats rose triggered something deep inside. I felt, for the first time since taking on my second job just to survive, a true sense of purpose. Keep getting stronger. Make small number into big number. Simple.
My race level seemed to be running at half of my class level. If professions worked the same, then I should be able to keep my levels as even as possible. Not sure if that would be good or not, but I’d need to find a profession as soon as possible to make sure. Before all that, I accepted the prompt.
Class Skill Options Available: Three.
Guillotine Tax. Inferior. Your attacks deal 5% more damage against enemies with more current Health or Wealth than you.
Weight of Chains. Inferior. Send out a translucent chain that wraps around an enemy or ally. Enemies are bound, allies are bolstered. This effect lasts for a number of seconds equal to your Wisdom or until the chain is broken.
Guerrilla's Cloak. Inferior. You can become more difficult to detect in any environment where you do not have control. The ability is strongest in urban alleyways, dense forests, or underground tunnels, but weakens in open, well-guarded areas. While hidden, you deal 5% additional damage on your first attack.
Guillotine Tax sounded good in theory, but my health was crazy high and I had no idea how the wealth aspects would work, so this one was likely a no. Weight of Chains appealed to my enjoyment of a certain arcade style fighting game’s yellow clad fighter, but the description was vague. How would allies be bolstered? I knew that in the long run the skill may advance to include more targets and using it would answer my questions, but again, there were too many unknowns. Guerilla’s Cloak was a fairly straightforward stealth skill that very much appealed to me. The varied areas that it was effective in was also great. I felt my vision begin to fade into the tutorial space and quickly made my decision.
I felt my understanding of how to use the cloak settle in the back of my mind as I looked around.
