Chapter 8: Kill. Consume. Steal.

“…Azai has fallen?”

“Yes milord…we ran into an unexpected factor…”

“…

Seberon. Explain.”

“A girl appeared from the forest. She used…a magic I’ve never seen before. Azai couldn’t even defend against it. The girl recited some words, and Azai disappeared. He couldn’t–”

“A girl. A single girl managed to defeat Azai…”

“Yes. Behemet raged and was about to take the humans on, but I stopped him. I decided the best course of action was to retreat. No need for any further casualties.”

“Retreating from the humans…This is a joke. There’s no point in staying here any longer. We’ve lost a fourth of our forces. At this point, capturing the homunculus is hardly possible. We will retreat for now.”

“Milord, I understand that the situation calls for a retreat, but don’t we have allies near? The elves are in the neighboring forest. Might I suggest calling upon their support?”

“The elves? Hmmm. Very well. An excellent suggestion, Seberon. I’m sure the elves will be glad to support us while wreaking havoc on the humans. Let us depart for the Adovian Forest then. The humans will be taken care of another time.

“Yes, Milord.”

“And Seberon? Do you remember the girl’s appearance?”

“Her eyes glowed, so she was definitely of the spirit race. There also have been rumors of her in the Grimwoods. They call her “the Specter.” Apparently, she wanders the forest, scaring away travelers and the sort.”

“Remember her face. We will take care of her the next time.”

“As you wish, milord.”

* * *

Monaco woke up. The sun had just come up, and the most of the students were still sleeping. He stretched himself as his muscles protested. He hadn’t fought like that in a long time.

He still remembered the face that belonged to the man in the suit. Black skin and red eyes. A demon. His power was unbelievable. Monaco had no doubt that the demon could have easily wiped out the entire class. The only reason they were still alive was because of the girl.

The girl. She had walked out the forest. Monaco heard her reciting words like poetry. He still remembered her last words before the demon Azai had fallen.

“The story…it must be fulfilled…the demon…must be…Erased.”

The girl had to have used magic in order to make the demon disappear. But Monaco had never heard of such a chant. Rather than a magic chant, it was more like lines recited from an ancient story or text.

Whatever the girl had done, she had saved all of their lives. Well, except for one. Kuren Sain. He had fallen into the abyss. There was a low chance of him surviving that fall. And if he did, there was no way that talentless, weak boy could fight off the magical beasts that lurked within.

The magical beasts had been corrupted by raw mana. Not just any raw mana. The liquid mana flowing through their veins glowed red. The red color meant that the mana belonged to a demon. That meant that a demon was corrupting the animals within the chasm with its demonic mana. Monaco believed the boy was as good as dead.

A shame. But life is full of unexpected events and misfortune. As a veteran spellblade of the Lombanian 13th Squad, Monaco was well acquainted with death. The other teachers and students may be strangers to it, but Monaco had experienced the horrors of war himself on the battlefield. His experience had partly shaped him into the cold, strict teacher he was today.

As he thought about Kuren, he shook his head in regret. If Monaco was alone, then he would enter the chasm in case the boy had miraculously survived. But he had an entire class of students to worry about. He recited the mantra that had been engraved in his head:

“Do not what is best for your friends.

Do not what is best for your family.

Do not what is best for yourself.

But do what is best for your country.”

A cruel mantra. But effective. The spellblades of the Lombanian Squads kept these words by their hearts. It was their way of life. Their way of serving their country. And they were one of the most effective armies on the continent of Alurca.

Monaco got up and exited his tent. It was time to leave Grimwoods behind. His last thoughts about Kuren vanished as he made the order to leave.

* * *

The boy followed the river deeper underground. Whenever he was hungry, he pulled out one of the black fish and ate it raw.

After the fifth fish he eat, a sudden image popped into the boy’s mind.

An explosive jet of water. The boy frowned. As he focused more on the image, words suddenly popped into his head.

[Water Jet].

The boy began to move instinctually as if he already knew what to do. He pointed his palm in front of him and chanted the words that had popped into his mind, “[Water Jet].”

A blast of water came out of his palm and flew forward. It flew for around ten meters before rapidly losing speed and power and falling to the ground in a splash. It seems the boy had stolen a magic ability from the fish. The boy guessed that consuming the fish’s meat had given him its power.

A true peculiarity. A human using raw mana to cast spells. Raw magic was different than artificial magic. Artificial magic required a chant composed of a family and a construct. Raw magic did not need such tools since raw mana was essentially magic itself. Raw mana was much more flexible and alive than artificial mana. Thus, artificial magic was much less flexible and needed a chant to properly shape and create its spell.

But the boy could not be considered human. Raw mana flowed through his veins. He was more akin to a magical beast. So it was not strange he could use [Water Jet].

The boy continued his path. Eventually, the river ended at a small lake. The boy could see small, black fish swimming in the water. A food source.

He noticed that the cavern still went on deeper. Before venturing deeper, the boy walked closer to the lake and drank by scooping water into his mouth. After drinking, the boy stuck his hand into the water. He waited for a few seconds and then the fish noticed him. Once they did, fish swam over and bit into his arm.

The boy quickly took his arm out of the water and plucked the fish off him. He threw them at the wall, temporarily dazing them. He picked one up and quickly used his sharp nails to slice it open. He neatly gutted the fish and stored it inside his bag. He repeated the process with the other fish.

The wounds on his arm had already healed by the time he had stored ten fish inside his bag. Now that the boy had food, he continued going deeper into the cavern.

The boy’s sensitive nose began to pick up the spell of blood. It wasn’t coming from his bag. It came from up ahead. The boy slowed his approached and carefully investigated the next cave.

As he looked ahead, he saw a large, black lizard consuming the flesh of a small beast. The small beast was unrecognizable. The lizard had already reduced the corpse into nothing but scraps of meat and bones.

The boy slowly inched forward and picked up a rock. He slowly moved behind the lizard. As he reached closer, the lizard’s tongue came out his mouth and began to taste the air. The boy noticed that the lizard was suddenly wary. He stopped moving.

As the lizard calmed down, it resumed eating. Then the boy threw the rock at the wall in front of the lizard. Startled, the lizard looked up and a large blast of flame came out of its mouth. The flame hit the wall in a great burst of fire. The lizard quickly scrambled backwards. Right into the boy.

The boy slammed his nails into the lizard’s head. The lizard tried to wriggle out, but the boy’s grip was like a vise.

“[Water Jet].”

A jet of water came out of the boy’s palm and pierced straight through the lizard’s head. The boy let go of the dead lizard. The boy didn’t waste time. He used his nails to slice open the lizard’s body. He began eating its flesh. His hunger sated, the boy stood back up.

No image popped into his mind. No matter. The boy began to create a new image in his mind. A great ball of fire blazing through the air. As the boy focused on the image, words suddenly appeared in his head. [Fire Ball].

With his newfound ability, the boy pointed his palm towards the wall. He chanted, “[Fire Ball],” and a ball of fire was sent through the air.

Another stolen ability in his belt. It seemed that as long as he had eaten part of the monster and he had seen the magic casted, he would be able to replicate the ability. If he had not seen the magic ability, he would need to repeatedly consume the magic beast until an image of the ability appeared in his head.

The boy looked at the corpse that the lizard had been eating. Nothing left but bones. There was no point in eating it. He left it alone and continued on his trek.

Eventually, the boy entered a very large cave system. There were multiple caves connected with each other almost as if they were rooms. When he first entered the caves, he noticed something strange. There was runes and pictures on the walls. Unfortunately, the boy had no idea how to read the unfamiliar language. The pictures depicted figures and monsters. However, being unable to read the runes, the boy could not understand the meaning of the pictures.

Monsters were much more common in this cave system. He walked around, searching for an exit, but it was almost like a maze. The boy had a hard navigating. Whenever he came across a monster, he would sneak up on it and kill it. So far, none of the magical beasts had been particularly strong. Thus, their abilities weren’t very strong either. Still, the boy ate them.

A wildcat with the ability [Retractable Claws]. Another lizard with the ability [Cold-Blooded]. A rat with the ability [Trash Taste]. A rabbit with the ability [High Jump]. The animals were quite weak and proved to be no challenge for the boy. He stole all of their abilities.

[Retractable Claws] gave the boy the power to retract his sharp nails. [Cold-Blooded] allowed him to freely switch his body type from warm-blooded to cold-blooded. He could regulate his body temperature with ease now. When cold-blooded, the boy was much more active in warm temperatures and less so in cold temperatures. Also, he would use up less energy; the food he ate would be converted into body mass and energy rather than body temperature. [Trash Taste] dulled his taste and magical beast meat became much easier to eat. [High Jump] increased the strength in his legs and let him jump to higher heights.

He hunted the animals down as he traversed the rooms. As he investigated new rooms, he noticed something strange. The runes on the wall began to appear more frequently. At the same time, the wandering magical beasts appeared less. Yet, the magical beasts were also much stronger in this area. It seemed only the strong monsters could survive in this area.

The boy became wary. He had a feeling that there was danger ahead. Suddenly, he heard a massive roar up ahead. Magical beasts began running away from the source of the sound. Many passed the boy without even noticing his presence.

The boy narrowed his eyes. The beasts were obviously more scared of the source of that roar than they were of him.

He cautiously approached the next room. Then, he saw it.

No wonder the other beasts had fled. A great, big bear was consuming the corpse of another beast in front of the boy. The bear had thick, black fur. Red veins filled with mana could be faintly seen through the beast’s fur. Its claws were huge, easily capable of tearing metal apart. Its fur was matted with blood. It seemed that it was on a rampage, killing beasts and staining its own fur with blood.

The corpse that it was eating was that of a lion. The boy had never seen it before. He guessed that the bear and the lion had fought each other to claim this territory. It was doubtless that the bear was now king of this cave system. The boy briefly thought about taking down the bear, but he almost instantly dismissed the thought.

The bear’s strength was quite visible. The bear was gigantic, easily towering over the boy. Its muscles were huge, too. The boy still didn’t know what the bear’s ability was.

The bear finished consuming the lion. The corpse was half-finished. The bear left and entered another room.

The boy wasn’t quite sure what to do. The only way forward was the room that the bear had entered. But entering would be suicidal.

He remembered the vial of poison in his bag. A crude plan began to formulate in his head. A smile appeared on his face. A smile that was completely devoid of happiness, pride, or emotion. It seemed to convey one thing: the prospect of survival.

The boy no longer saw the bear as a threat. It was only another beast that he must kill. Another monster he must consume. Another beast whose ability he must steal. He must in order to survive.

* * *

“Damn. I literally just got those demons off my trail. Now I have this psycho after me?”

Deep within Grimwoods, a man was running desperately. He was not alone.

Behind him, explosions rang out and age-old trees fell to the ground.

A figure could be seen chasing the man. Faint muttering could be heard as the figure ran.

With every word, the forest was demolished with magic.

“How the hell is he still casting magic? Who the hell has a mana pool that big?”

It was true. The figure had been constantly casting magic as it chased the man. It never stopped, almost as if it was in a trance.

The man made a decision. The demons were already off his trail. It was time to leave Grimwoods and this crazy caster behind.

The sounds of magic and explosions faded as the two ran through the forest.