“Devour…”

Words entered his head as the pain intensified. With the moon high in the sky, his nails dug into the soil underneath as his fingers raked back and forth. Attempting anything to lessen the pain but it was futile. Alphonse stumbled up onto his feet. He could feel the hunger consume him. It was difficult to even get a proper thought in.

‘Fuck, get out of my head!’ Alphonse clutched his skull, the incessant voices drummed into his mind.

He stumbled around camp and soon found himself in front of Jenson. He was sleeping so peacefully. All the worries he had seemed to have disappeared completely in his tranquil dreamland.

“Eat…”

The eerie voice once again nipped at his ears. Alphonse’s eyes turned bloodshot as he walked closer to Jenson. His stomach was incessant, and it only became worse as he approached Jenson. He swore he could smell the flesh, the texture of the bloody meat already tantalised his taste buds. Alphonse abruptly bit his tongue so hard that blood filled his mouth as he awoke himself from his stupor. His eyes rested on Jenson, his inner thoughts were in turmoil as he stumbled backwards.

‘What the fuck am I doing?’

He approached the camp's exit and left. His shadow disappeared as the night forest engulfed his body completely.

It was hard to see within the forest. The thick tree canopy blocked any light that the moon was attempting to show. Gradually his eyes acclimated somewhat as he began his search for food. He had walked a suitable distance away from camp when a pungent smell of blood assaulted his senses.

Alphonse was careful where he was stepping, making sure not to step on anything that could make a lot of noise. Like a stick snapping or any falling leaves that may cause unnecessary noise. His head turned like it was on a swivel, constantly looking back and forth just in case there was anything around him as he clutched his mace tightly within his grasp.

He approached the cause of the smell. It was an Orc clad in heavy armour. His large body lay against a tree, its breathing was haggard as it struggled to take in air.

‘Can I kill it?’ Alphonse had an insane thought as his hands clutched his mace tight. What if he had the strength to move? He would be dead without the chance to fight back? However, his train of thought ended when he clutched his stomach with his free hand. He knew that if he didn’t eat something soon, something bad would happen.

He risked it all. His intense hunger made it hard to think straight as he walked forwards. The orc, with great effort, lifted its head as its large green eyes lay upon the small human walking towards it. The corners of its enormous mouth protruded upwards, creating a grim smile.

“Just hurry tog agh ek khe over ar.” The orc's deep voice thrummed. It startled Alphonse as he heard it talk. He even understood part of it. Alphonse looked at the Orc eyes. They reminded him of something unpleasant, as a frown appeared on his face.

“Jiak…*cough* aga ve mat kor bleeding out, drepa alnej.” The Orc motioned to his neck.

“You want to die?” Alphonse walked over as he tried to decipher what it was saying through his hunger, but he couldn't care less. He lifted his mace and swung it down towards its skull. Just as it was about to land, the Orc’s hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. The Orc, with its remaining strength, pulled Alphonse and wrapped his arms around him and squeezed.

“AHH!” Alphonse felt his ribs snap under the immense pressure. His bloodshot eyes stopped thinking. Immediately he opened his mouth as his jaw snapped down on the Orc's throat. Despite the thick skin of the Orc, his shadowed teeth sunk in as it would with just a normal piece of food as his skill, [ Swallowing Bite ] activated.

Alphonse ripped out an enormous chunk of flesh and swallowed it whole. He felt his body heat as the flesh slid down into his stomach. Usually he would need a huge amount of food to fill the gap that just one piece filled. Alphonse didn’t stop there. He continued to bite down as the strength of the orc lessened. Blood poured from the gaping hole in its throat, covering Alphonse completely.

Soon, the colossal strength of the Orc had completely vanished as its body turned limp. Alphonse didn’t care, he didn’t care if it was alive or dead and he didn’t care if the meat was raw. He just continued to chomp down, filling his stomach completely.

Soon, his thoughts came back to him and he lay down on the bloodied forest floor underneath.

‘That was scary…’ Alphonse trembled at the helpless sensation from before. His sheer hunger took over and he acted just like a mindless beast. He wasn’t in control.

‘Never again.’ He was disgusted at the feeling.

Messages inside of his head soon woke him up from his thoughts.

< Gourmet Extraction has evolved. >

< Gourmet Extraction now absorbs skills. >

< Gourmet Extraction:

Granting extra points as you killed the enemy yourself.

Granting extra points as the strength of the enemy is vastly superior.

Skill Extracted - Spectral Rage [ Bloodline ability ]: Temporarily double strength and constitution at the cost of your sanity. >

[ Orog Consumed | 6.0 Strength added

    | 5.4 Constitution added ]

Alphonse quickly opened his status page as he marveled at the change. As he did so, he noticed a few changes that weren’t there before.

[ Name Alphonse Khastal

Class: None

Traits: [ Locked ] Ravenous Hunger

Skills: [ Epic ] Gourmet Extraction, [ Rare ] Swallowing Bite, [ Common ] Spectral Rage

Attributes:

Strength: 11.8

Dexterity: 7.9

Constitution: 10.8

Intelligence: 5.6

Wisdom: 6.2

Charisma: 3.3 ]

‘L… Locked?’ Alphonse was shocked at the sudden change. If he went by his other skills, then it should mean the ranking? What did locked mean? Alfred told them that the system could change, but the surprise still caught him off guard. As he focused on the skills, they appeared in his vision as strange 3d cards.

Gourmet extraction was a shiny purple that had a symbol of what appeared to be food in a bowl with an arrow leading to two numbers, obviously meaning that food turns into stats. Swallowing Bite was a deep blue card that depicted someone eating through a strong bone. Spectral rage was a bronze coloured card that showed someone with immense rage. However, the Hunger card was completely blacked out, the only writing it showed was on the back ‘trait’ That was it.

He shook his head. He would find out eventually.

He turned his attention to his body as he could feel the added strength and constitution immediately. His broken ribs were a lot less painful than before.

‘Well, if 10 is the absolute peak a human can reach, does that mean I have crossed the border between human and superhuman?’

Alphonse looked at his new found muscle in awe. It was a miraculous feeling. Seeing his muscles grow almost instantly.

‘I don’t think I can ever get used to this feeling.’ Alphonse shook his head. He didn’t dare to think about how much power it took to give everyone this incredible system.

With a full stomach, Alphonse got to work. He buried what was remaining of the heavily armoured ‘Orog’ underground, praying that it wouldn’t decompose for at least another day. After all, he did not know when he could eat again. However, another thought suddenly entered his head. What the hell hurt the Orog so badly? If not for that, he would have faced certain death.

After a grueling couple hours of digging and struggling to move the Orog, Alphonse quickly patted the dirt from his body and ran back towards camp. His head turned on a swivel, hoping that whatever killed the Orog wouldn't leap at him from the darkness. His clothes died scarlet. Dried blood had been forgotten around his lips, the evidence of his feast.