Finding one of the biggest trees in the vicinity, he climbed towards the top to one of the thicker branches and hid in its canopy, although the body of the beast impeded him greatly with its weight. His mount was salivating, drops of saliva dripping down without Theo even noticing. His eyes also glew bright red, which was especially noticeable in the night, but the thick canopy did well to block it.

Checking one last time for any signs of danger and finding none released all his reservations. His vampiric fangs extended to their limit as if to show their eagerness and were quickly impaled into the mangled neck of the creature.

Even sucking the body of its blood didn’t do it for him, however, as his physique required him to consume flesh, which quickly turned the drinking party into a feast. Even the bark-like coat of the creature’s fur offered less resistance than Theo remembered, which was the influence of his new skill, unknown to him.

The more he ate, the more feral his expression became, at some point, he even stopped avoiding bones and started consuming them all the same. The fact some myths described Fenrir as a beast whose upper jaw touched the sky and lower jaw touched the earth, didn’t help the situation… well, it technically did. Let’s just say he was lucky nobody was there to witness the scene… or were they?

Soon all the limbs were gone, disappearing into the abyss that was Theo’s stomach, what followed was the head. Odd crunching and squishing sounds accompanied those of tearing, creating a twisted melody that would empty any normal person’s bowels.

The torso didn’t stand much of a chance either, devoured rib by rib without a single organ spared, bathing Theo and the branch in blood. Only when not a single piece of the beast remained, did Theo wake up from his trance. Although he didn’t feel quite full, the hunger dissipated, and with it also the drive to devour anything in sight.

Theo looked at his bloody hands, not knowing how to feel. He knew that such a sight was supposed to be disgusting, yet his brain refused to acknowledge it as such. He didn’t know if the physique still influenced his thought in such a way, or because of the artifact, but whatever the case, he had no plans unequipping the artifact and no way to get rid of the physique, at least that he knew of.

Even though he realized that the artifact changed his behavior and personality, he didn’t mind it, it made him feel more confident, not to mention that it opened a window to a whole new world he never even knew was there. He could see colors he didn’t know the names of and smell things he didn’t even know had a scent.

He was just about to call it a day and return to the cottage when he realized that his condition might not allow that. Although the bruises he got from rolling on the ground healed by consuming blood, the same blood also coted his whole body, including his pants, and there was no way he could come back from a supposed stroll completely covered in blood.

‘Shit! I was just supposed to go out for some fresh air, but I’ve been gone for over an hour.’ Although he knew he screwed up, even if he went back in time, he would still make the same decision, as he had no other choice.

‘El, is there a water source on the map by any chance?’

‘I will check real quick, but, are you feeling alright now?’

‘Yea, I’m fine now.’

‘That’s good… Oh, there are no large bodies of water, the map is still undeveloped so it's not too detailed.’

‘So it can be improved? What about skills, do any of the skills grant me the ability to magically wash myself?’ Although he said the second question as more of a joke, he unexpectedly got a surprising answer.

‘Um… Well, maybe one. It has a strange side effect though… Or maybe that’s its main effect, I’m not sure…’ The second part of the answer sounded more like she was talking to herself rather than answering him.

‘What?’

‘It’s nothing, forget about it. Anyways, one of the skills you got might be able to help you, but all skills start at level 0, which has little effect, so you might need to buy a couple of upgrades first.’ Eileen decided to not talk about one of the strange effects of the skill, as it would not directly affect Theo in any way.

Theo decided to open the second page of his system to check his current arsenal of skills.

[Constitutions]

-Quintessential constitution

-Inner realm constitution

-Constitution Of The First Rising Sun

-Seven Sinful Visions Constitution

-Demonic Throne Of Compulsion Constitution

-Supreme Yin Magnetism Constitution

-Myriad Branches Of Spirit’s Grace Constitution

-Constitution Of The First Orbiting Moon

-Seven Virtuous Visions Constitution

-Angelic Halo Of Liberation Constitution

[Physiques]

-Toxin circulation physique

-Vampiric virtue physique

-Dusk Ghoul’s metabolism physique

[Talents]

[Skills]

-New Chapter lvl0

-Multilingualism lvl0

-Bestial Influence lvl0

-Telekinesis lvl0

-Telepathy lvl0

-Thought Acceleration lvl0

-Mind Division lvl0

-Kundrarra’s Sutra lvl0

-Universal Allure lvl0

-Yin Cauldron Scripture lvl0

-Eternal Virginity lvl0

-Path Of The Wet lvl0

-Bite Force lvl0

‘But I don’t remember a level being attached to the New Chapter skill the last time I checked.’ Theo said in confusion

‘That’s because there wasn’t, you only got the option to upgrade skills when you obtained the system's currency.’

‘Oh, are you talking about that SP thing?’

‘Yea. SP stands for system points, but it’s basically energy converted into pure form, you can obtain it from quests, killing, or even by absorbing energy-rich resources, whether it be corpses of magical beasts or even herbs.’

‘Hmm, that’s nice. The skill you were talking about, is it perhaps the Path Of The Wet skill? Also, is there any way to check a description of the skill’

‘Oh, yea, it’s that skill, and no, there are no descriptions, but maybe I can make a request through the system, wait a moment.’ Eileen answered and then went quiet for about a minute.

[Path Of The Wet]

[You walk along the path of wetness. You are wetness itself; you control all that is wet, and you bring endless wetness to the world.]