“Lucus, I can’t hold it any longer!” Gabriel shouted. His eyes focused on his spell as sweat had soaked his shirt. Haydon had his arm around the mage, helping him run while the spell was being cast.

“Keep running, don’t you dare stop!” Lucus bellowed, as the flame curtain spell was becoming weaker. A large, open area greeted them. Although Alphonse only got a glimpse, he noticed that instead of the rocky uneven ground of a mountain path, they were dark grey tiles. They were in perfect arrangement, some were cracked as vivid purple and black flowers blossomed in between them. Pillars were erected around the room in a square formation.

“Keep going!” Lucus stopped right in his tracks as the group ran around him. He unsheathed his sword, his eyes blurred as the surrounding air distorted. Stones from the ground began levitating and then he slashed upwards. The strong blade of energy tore through the air as it decimated the area above the passageway. Lucus sprinted to the rest of the group as the entire passageway crumbled and created a rockslide downwards, covering the pathway. The rocks continued to fall until the entire passageway was sealed.

Lucus panted as he kept his sword unsheathed. When will I unlock my class… Alphonse thought as he replayed the incredible sword strike in his mind. I will become strong, no matter what. His mother's smile appeared in his mind–Alphonse bit his tongue–getting rid of the image as he heard something approaching.

“My… children” A sickly voice entered their ears. Alphonse's heart palpated at the grief hidden within the voice. It sounded so loving… so deadly.

“You are all… a plague… to this world.” The group brandished their weapons as they got into formation.

Alphonse watched as the figure of a woman crept out from the darkness. Half of her face was rotten and her hair had almost entirely fallen out as the strands that were left were decaying. She cradled a blanket in her arms as baby spiders crawled around her body.

“You… killed… my baby!” Her head shot back as a sharp snapping sound was heard. Thousands of baby spiders crawled out of her gaping jaw as her mouth tore open. Her skin bubbled and popped as green-yellow pus spewed around her deforming body. They heard breaking sounds as appendages spurted outwards.

She… or it, shot forwards straight for the group. She was laughing as her head was still at the back of her spine, eyes grew from the side of her skull as they violently wandered, watching each individual person.

With no orders, Markus leapt in front as his tower-shield smashed into the ground. The woman-turned monster slammed into the shield as her body was repelled backwards from the force.

“You and… those demons… can go to fucking HELL!” Her scream created a mirage as it projected forwards. Alphonse felt a booming pain as he clutched at his ears, blood trickling down from his ear canals. He watched as his group's mouths were moving, but the only thing he could hear was a shrill buzzing. Felicia noticed her staff thrummed as it transformed into a white light. Alphonse felt a tingling sensation in his ear as it restored his hearing. He heard Lucus’ orders.

“Tariq, Kristen, attack! Aim for the chest!”

Arrows were loosed from Tariq and Kristen’s bows. The rate of fire was astonishing and their quivers seemed without end.

“Gabriel, wait for my signal and then throw everything you have at it!”

“Felecia, ready your healing spells on me and Haydon!”

“Haydon, as soon as they attack, we go in!”

Lucus’ rapid fired his orders, as he and Haydon waited for their attack to end. Alphonse watched as it riddled the monster with sharp shafts. As soon as they stopped, Lucus and Haydon dashed forwards. They ran together. One had a longsword and the other, daggers. They reached the monster in just seconds as they attacked from both sides. Their teamwork was impeccable as each attack hit at the same time.

Haydon’s dagger flashed a black light as he lunged forward. His dagger disappeared into the flesh of the monster before promptly exiting. He slashed a deep gouge into the fatty flesh as its insides fell to the floor. Lucus’ attack pierced forwards and then he dashed to the side–his gaze hardening as he slashed across its chest. The ribs became visible and revealed a gruesome heart underneath.

Lucus’ eyes opened wide. “Gabriel, NOW!” Gabriel’s spell was at the ready. The moment he heard Lucus’ order, his spell was propelled forwards. The flame bullet shot towards the heart of the monster. It was about to reach it when its head snapped back into place. The flesh on the creature’s arms disappeared and revealed the dense bone underneath. Everyone watched and hoped that the attack would go through. When the smoke from the hit dispersed, they watched as the monster laughed. Her body had become larger. It threw its arm to the side and hit Haydon. His body flew and smashed into the wall.

“Haydon!” Felicia shouted as her healing spell was quick to react.

The monster's laugh only became more prominent as she watched the humans panic. It looked like she was heaving, and then a globule of venom was spit forwards. Markus had his shield at the ready as it splashed all over. Droplets of acid had landed on his arm as it began eating away at his flesh.

Alphonse bit his tongue as he sprinted forwards, although he wasn’t as fast as Haydon or Lucus. He was still almost four points above the fastest human as he shot forwards. “Lucus, create an opening!” Alphonse’s teeth formed a shadow. His white teeth shone from underneath the darkness as he approached the monster.

“Alphonse, are you crazy!” Felicia screamed at his sudden suicidal sprint. It had just used its venom attack and received heavy damage. Alphonse thought it was the perfect time, he hoped…

Lucus noticed Alphonse’s wicked teeth and trusted him. He wouldn’t run in without a plan, surely.

Lucus took a deep breath as he gathered all of his strength. Once more, pieces of shattered tile levitated off of the ground as his sword slashed forwards. The monster crossed its arms together to block the attack. The sword blade cut past the first arm and continued into the second, then the blade slowed… and stopped.

Alphonse sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. Thanks to the attack, there was an enormous gap below the monster as he slid underneath. He looked at the monster's stomach for a second before jumping in, towards the large beating heart of what was once been a woman. Alphonse grabbed hold of the beating heart. As he did so, the monster thrashed around. Shaking him around as stomach acid began burning away at his skin. Alphonse screamed at the pain as he bit straight into the muscular heart. Notifications started appearing in his mind. Soon, the entire heart had been devoured into his stomach. He crawled out of the stomach as his skin was melting. He had never experienced so much pain before, it felt like millions of ants eating away at his flesh. The smell of melting skin filled the air as Felicia rushed over. With a flash of light, his pain receded.

With the pain mostly gone, he could focus on the many notifications that entered his mind.

[ Abomination consumed ]

| 4.2 Strength added.

| 4.4 Constitution added.

| 3.1 Charisma added.

| 3.7 Intelligence added.

< Hunger is not happy. >

< New trait obtained. [ Chefs Kiss ] : Your Hunger is becoming bored with raw meat and needs something… different. Cook fresh foods into recipes and your hunger will reward you for it. You have learned to get the most out of your meal, extra stat points will be rewarded based on the quality of the recipe. Your hands become better used to cleavers, the butcher's tool of choice.

< New skill extracted. [ Stomach Bile ] : Your powerful stomach is capable of magnificent feats of human biology. Your trait [ Hunger ] empowers this skill. Your stomach acid can melt even the strongest flesh.

I… can spit out my stomach acid? Alphonse was about to try it as he felt the strong stomach acid burn the bottom of his throat and quickly held it back. Fuck! Alphonse clutched at this throat as the pain disappeared after a minute. He puffed out a breath of relief before thinking of the points he had received.

The points aren’t as high as I thought… I’m guessing it’s because of Chef’s Kiss? Alphonse thought to himself as he opened up his status page.

Name Alphonse Khastal

Class: None

Traits:

[ Locked ] Hunger

[ Common ] Keen Smell

[ Common ] Keen Hearing

[ Legendary ] Chef’s Kiss

Skills:

[ Epic ] Gourmet Extraction

[ Rare ] Swallowing Bite

[ Common ] Spectral Rage

[ Un-Common > Rare ] Stomach Bile

Attributes:

Strength: 16.8

Dexterity: 13.4

Constitution: 17.3

Intelligence: 9.3

Wisdom: 6.2

Charisma: 6.4 ]

Alphonse’s eyes stopped on the golden shiny card [ Chef’s Kiss ] He never thought he would complain about food, but it was indeed getting boring. There wasn’t much variation in consistency with flesh, after all. I could kill for a freshly cooked steak. Shit. Alphonse's stomach agreed as the pain hit him like a truck. “Fuck, you just ate, simmer down!” Alphonse slapped his stomach as the battered group looked at him as if he was insane.