—Sally—

  I was resting on Orion's head as we arrived back at town, ignoring the sounds of the carcass he was dragging behind him. But sadly I couldn't distract myself by practicing speaking any longer, given that we're almost in town, and that my throat isn't holding up well

  I was still struggling to understand why I’d lost my senses so much while eating. It tasted good, but not any better than my previous meals—so why did my table manners regress to worse than a toddler's best behaviour?

  I had the sinking feeling that I'd missed an important detail…

  But while the source of my sudden wild and voracious eating was unknown, there was still the encroaching crisis of my depleting [Wisdom]. If I had to guess, I was going to lose one point every three or four levels, meaning that I would be losing two more before evolving.

  Is this a real concern? Or could I just leave it as a dump stat?

  [Using: [Appraisal] on [Wisdom]]

  [Wisdom - Stat]

  [A godly creation's best estimate of the immeasurable, of a soul's awareness and understanding.]

  [Your understanding of yourself and others, of your own soul and the nature of the world. It consists of your insights into the world and the underlying meaning to it all. In both a mathematical dissection of its function, and the instinctual, emotional understanding of the world’s rhythm.

  This affects the kinds of magic that you can use and sense, and the flow of different essences that can be stored within your soul.]

  [When [Wisdom] is added or subtracted through the Path, it induces different effects compared to gaining through [Training Stats], or losing it naturally. Artificial increases will either imbue you with the ancestral wisdom of the magic's source, or make you more receptive to yourself and the world around you.

  When it is decreased, the result can be much more varied, however they are never mild. A variety of curses, and often the ones with the most intended irony, involve some sort of forceful [Wisdom] decrease to make the victims more vulnerable. Some of the most notable of these curses were enchantments that caused victims to find their reflections so irresistible that they starved to death while staring into their own eyes. Another famous example enspelled victims with an unsatiable, voracious hunger, and place them before an unending buffet. They would not stop eating, even when their stomachs burst.

  The commonality between these curses and a naturally low [Wisdom] stat, is that you'll be extremely unaware to the underlying happenings going on around you. This can range from small events to accidentally killing yourself. [Wisdom] is not something that can be ignored without earning yourself a legend to warn others of the dangers of hubris.]

  … Fuck.

  So [Wisdom] could certainly be a component of what had happened to me. But even if I have a low resistance to curses and similar mind-fuckery, I still need to find the cause. Though, if I read that wall of text correctly, there's another way to solve this problem.

  [Using: [Appraisal] on [Training Stats]]

  [All [Stats] can be trained and increased without relying on the Path, though your [Race] or [Class] can affect both how fast and how much each [Stat] increase by. Though this only applies to physical [Stats] in most cases.

  It is recommended that you focus on increasing [Stats] on your own rather than relying on the Path doing the heavy lifting for you.]

  [Would you like to know more?]

  … I am never going to get used to how this system occasionally acts like the unholy offspring of a door-to-door salesman and a sentient Wikipedia article.

  Sure, tell me more. This feels like it'll be important to know.

  [Opening: [A Simple Summary, Stat Training] [xXx_IceDragon_xXx - Author]]

  [Page 1 of 1]

  [[Strength] and [Dexterity]: Can be increased through physical exertion and training.

  [Constitution]: The hardest [Stat] to increase naturally, but growing, multiple exposures to poisons, and other sources of bodily toughness can cause [Constitution] growth.

  [Intelligence]: Study, schooling, and other mental exercises add to your [Intelligence], but problem-solving and analytical conclusions based on the world around you also contribute to it.

  [Wisdom]: Mastering meditation, mindfulness, and other monkly or monastic activities will increase [Wisdom]. Mastering yourself and your interactions with the world are the basis of [Wisdom]'s growth.

  [Charisma]: Unlike the common misconception that [Charisma] is based on your body, [Charisma] is independent of appearance, though attractiveness can help with some applications of [Charisma]. Simply practising your conversational skills and persuasiveness on others is the best method of increasing [Charisma]. Drunkards are a popular target for beginners.

  [Soul]: Other than pacts, Soul-Bonds, and the Path, there is no way to increase or modify your [Soul]. Do not engage in any sort of bond or pact solely for an increase to your [Soul] Stat. It is never worth it.]

  Ignoring that concerning warning at the bottom, at least I now had a method of increasing my [Wisdom] before it got close to bottoming out. But I have no idea how to meditate, or even what the concept of 'mindfulness' means—am I going to have to find a monk?

  "Sally." Orion quietly called to me, snapping my head away from the floating blue screen that might be capable of telling me the secrets of the universe. Or the synopsis of the dozen most common self-help books found on the shelf of someone going through a mid-life crisis.

  Orion had come to a stop just out of the village, paused just a few steps from its stone-paved path. I wondered why he'd come to a stop, before I faintly heard… munching? Slurping maybe?

  It sounded like someone had given a starved toddler a bowl of unnecessarily saucy spaghetti, and left them to eat it unsupervised. I did wonder why he'd given it so much concern, before remembering the whole reason we'd been sent hunting in the first place.

  Weren't the people starving—if they weren't, why send us to go hunt for them?

  If someone was eating… What was it? And how did they get it?

  A chill went down my spine and all the way to the tip of my tail, and I tapped Orion's scalp—to give him permission to continue. The ranger dropped our hard-earned kill and took his new bow off of his shoulder, readying it in his hands.

  Orion moved closer to the origin of the noises, his boots completely silent as he stalked the streets.

  I prepared myself for a potential fight, keeping my front-right talon raised and readied to throw a ball of tangible clouds. I worked the mana to the edge of the vestibules in my claws, nothing emerging yet, but capable of becoming clouds at a moment's notice.

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  The ranger stopped moving as he reached a gap between two buildings, the sounds coming from the small parting between houses. The confirmation that the noises weren't coming from inside a building, but rather behind them, did not make me feel any better about the situation.

  Orion slipped into the crack, having to turn sideways and shimmy down the path just to fit between the two stone walls. There might still be enough room for him to use his bow at least, but it would be tight, and definitely uncomfortable.

  As he neared the end of the shaft, the sounds of voracious eating were loud enough to be certain that the cause of them were just around the corner. I held my breath as we got within a few steps, flecks of a dark red liquid were splattered onto the visible portion of the area behind the houses. It only took one shuffle to see the source of it all.

  Crouched over a dead, and—mildly—familiar body, was a humanoid figure wearing a cloak, their hands buried in the corpse's intestines, and pulling out chunks of its guts with tightly clutched fists. I had to tense every muscle in my body just to stop myself from unconsciously making a sound or expelling everything in my stomach through projectile vomiting.

  I didn't let myself look at the body any longer than I needed to, worried that I'd ruin Orion's plan by unwittingly letting my horrified disgust and nausea escape me through gagging. Though it seemed that Orion was having issues of his own, the man staring at his bow, his usual trick of magicking ammunition onto its strings suddenly impotent. The lack of arrows appearing was a big issue, given that his main weapon would be reduced to a pretty stick without them.

  Orion put down the bow silently and pulled out his hunting knife, its serrated edge still covered in dried blood from cutting out a piece of steak for me. He dropped down into a posture that screamed backstabbing and roguish behaviour. His knife was wielded like a dagger, the blade held so it emerged from the bottom of his hand and was aimed at the perso—monster's back.

  But unfortunately Orion never got the chance to sneak to get within striking distance of it, the cannibal's face swinging and locking onto us before Orion could even take the second step out of the crevice.

  While its face was completely covered by its cloak, I could still see the wet blood dripping from the face hidden within the deep shadows. The red liquid splattered onto the cobblestones below, like the darkness itself was bleeding.

  Without a word of complaint or warning, Orion moved to strike, running a few steps forward and swinging the dagger in a wide arc. But even though the space behind the houses was small, only a few metres in diameter, the cannibal still managed to dodge Orion's blade. It had let out an extremely human and high-pitched scream as it slammed itself backwards and flattened its body against the wall, giving it just enough room to slip out of the blade's path.

  Orion and I both flinched at the sudden screech, and the cannibal took the opportunity to flee, fully extending their extremely lanky body to grab onto the edge of the roof above it. They pulled themselves up in one movement, and began scuttling across the roofs before Orion could even take another step. It must've been mostly arms and legs, the wingspan of an NBA player somehow hid underneath the coat.

  Just before it disappeared, I tried to use [Appraisal] on it, eager to get an estimate of the threat before it could successfully flee into the forest.

  [Using: [Appraisal – Level 1] on [Old Moth-Bitten Cloak]]

  [An overdue for replacement Disguise. Only barely functionable-]

  I dismissed the useless window of information with a scowl, but with the monster scurrying in the direction of the forest—hopefully to disappear back into its green depths forever—it wasn't the end of the world. Though, the revelation that blocking line-of-sight was enough to disarm [Appraisal] is an interesting piece of information.

  Orion carefully listened for a few seconds longer before relaxing and patting his jacket for some reason. He then stood up and turned towards the crime scene. He kept the dagger in his hand as he investigated the half-eaten body. I didn't know how he was managing to keep so calm and collected when faced with a human corpse, because I was struggling with even the smell.

  I don't know which part of the experience was worse, seeing an inanimate human corpse for the first time, in all of its terrifying glory. Or that the reptilian part of my brain couldn't differentiate it from the meat I usually ate, and I was beginning to feel peckish.

  I forced myself to look at the scene at least once, so that I could see what happened first-hand. The body had been laid on its back, the arms and legs splayed in the 'Vitruvian Man' position—which made it the bloodiest snow-angel I had ever seen.

  The face was still—mostly—intact, the few scratches and missing patches of skin not enough to obscure the body's previous inhabitant. It belonged to the guy who'd first approached Orion, the man's kitchen knife nowhere in view.

  But it was below the shoulders where the scene became truly nauseating. The legs were missing most of their muscle, the flesh brutally torn off the front, with the back of the thighs unravaged. But what was worse was the stomach—and the surrounding organs—had been completely cleared out. I had to choke down a gag and look away when I realised that I was staring at the back of his ribcage and spine from the inside instead of the outside.

  But out of the corner of my eye, I could still see Orion investigating the crime scene like a stone-cold killer. He was using his knife to poke at a—oh fuck, that rib bone had been chewed on and cracked open like a dog treat. Yet again I was thankful that Orion had the skills and professionalism of an action hero.

  But it was only a few seconds later when shouting could be heard nearby, and less than a minute after the monster had escaped, the worst equipped mob found us. I recognised a few of them from our entrance to the town, but most of the kitchen-implement wielding response force reacted even worse to the body than I did.

  After a few of them emptied their stomachs, the old granny waved her weapon at us—breathing heavily as she spoke.

  "Explain yourselves! Now!" She shouted, her trembling hands the only thing betraying her surprise and shock.

  "I was returning from hunting when I heard some strange noises. I investigated and found… some sort of… creature eating the corpse." Orion explained, his reasonable explanation met with shouts and accusatory comments.

  "How do we know if you just wanted to feed your pet?" "You just wanted revenge!" "What? And you just happened to let the monster get away?"

  Orion took a hesitant half-step back at the sudden onslaught of verbal attacks, unsurprisingly shocked at the aggressiveness of the crowd. I waited for him to argue back, but the ranger was silent, standing still as the crowd grew more aggressive with his lack of a response.

  I decided to intervene before we got lynched, and poked Orion's skull like I usually did whenever I needed his attention. But his catatonic reaction to it all was bad enough that it made me suspect that a certain serpent had followed us here.

  I stepped up the action by dragging a talon along his head, raking his hair and scratching his scalp as hard as I could without cutting him. Fortunately that seemed to be attention-grabbing enough to bring him back to reality.

  "I had no need to kill him, or use him for food. I've hunted a Vampiric Deer, and its carcass is just outside of town." Orion finally defended himself.

  He pointed up at the roof as he continued. "And you can see the trail of blood and hand-prints leading up onto the roof there."

  "Okay? But do you expect us to believe that it's just a coincidence this happened today? On your visit?" The old lady finally asked.

  "Yes." Orion responded, his deadpanned face and firm answer surprisingly effective. The response was audacious enough that it stunned his audience into silence. I couldn't help but feel impressed with how well he was keeping it together—now at least. I know that I wouldn't have been capable of keeping calm in the face of a few dozen angry villagers blaming me for a murder I didn't do.

  "Has there been a series of disappearances recently?" Orion asked, tactfully steering the subject towards the third party. The granny squinted at Orion before giving him a nod, her posture relaxing and becoming mildly less threatening.

  "Whatever that beast was, it could have been preying and ambushing on other people for some time now. And… has everyone been staying inside the village for the past week?" Orion theorised, another nod from the grandmother adding to its believability.

  "If there has been a complete lack of people for it to hunt where it felt safe, then it must had finally built up enough confidence to hunt inside the village." Orion explained, convincing both me and the group of now sedated, torch and pitchfork, townspeople.

  "What did it look like?" A voice from near the back of the group cried out, Orion turning and answering the query like a dutiful detective.

  "Strangely human-like, and it wore a cloak." Orion replied a bit too honestly, causing a stir of panic.

  "Was it a cannibal? A human?" A particularly shrill and loud voice asked over the cacophony of conversation.

  "No." Orion corrected, confusing the crowd. "It was too tall and lanky to be a human, and the bite marks on the bones aren't from a person. It's close, but resemble a wolf's canines too much."

  Orion's analysis was enough for the crowd to finally part, the suspicions assuaged and clearing our names. For now.

  I could still see some accusatory glares directed at Orion and I. But I'll happily take it over being mobbed to death. But Orion didn't manage to walk more than a few metres before he was harassed again.

  "What should we do?" The granny begged as she chased after Orion, grabbing onto his jacket with a wrinkled fist.

  "Organise a watch?" Orion weakly suggested.

  "Sorry, but I only have experience hunting animals, not defending homes." Orion apologised after the old lady scowled at his unhelpful answer.

  "If there's nothing more, then may I go collect my kill? I would like to prepare it for eating as soon as possible." Orion excused himself, the idea of eating enough to distract them all to the point of drooling.

  As we left the mob behind, I was trying not to stick my tongue out at them, my sardonic glee over Orion's second verbal victory overflowing. I was impressed with how well he was stonewalling and simply overpowering these people in conversation. He wielded obvious facts with a poker-face so convincing that the naivety it conveyed had to be manufactured.

  Though my appreciation of Orion's verbal sparring skills was interrupted by a ping. It'd been so long since I'd last heard it that I’d almost forgotten that it was from the system.

  I opened it, and was surprised to see a brand new feature of it hovering before me.

  [New Quest!]

  [Wolf Among The Sheep]

  [There is a monster lurking among the defenceless villagers, hunt down and neutralise the threat before it can destroy the village!]

  [Part 1: A man-eating beast has managed to silently kill a man, even while he was surrounded by friends. Identify the threat using [Appraisal]!]

  [Part 2: Locked]

  [Part 3: Locked]

  [Potential Rewards: ???]

  [The rewards, clear/fail conditions, and more information about the threat will be revealed as you complete each part of the [Quest]. The potential rewards shall change and scale based on your performance in each section of the [Quest]!]

  Now this is what I expected when I first got a system. Take notes Sun god!