There was an energy in the meal hall he couldn’t place. It buzzed at the edge of his senses like a fly close but out of reach. Focusing on the strange energy was better than letting his body dictate his actions. Silas closed his eyes to block out the scene of his hero trainer sending one of his sisters to her second stomach. It didn’t clear things up; the centaur pheromones were thick as pea soup, and it took everything he had not to rush in.

 

Maybe he couldn’t control how his body’s reactions, but he still ran the show. Silas focused on the changing of energy. It was familiar.

 

Silas smacked his lips and munched on a steak. There was something familiar about the world like he half-remembered the picture of a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle. He still had mana, but not much, and Silas could feel something in the air. It wasn’t quite ichor, but it felt so familiar.

 

After eating his fifth stead, he opened his eyes back on the scene. Mary had a look of utter lust-filled ecstasy on her face as more of Silas’s sister passed into her centaur guts. There were unseen forces at play, and Silas didn’t have the equipment to make any discoveries. His former body was great at sensing mana, heat, blood, and ichor flows. Being human again had its downsides.

 

He worked down the plate as the process finished and wiped his mouth. After polishing off nearly 50 16oz steaks, he felt much better. His health pool was nice and fat, not that it mattered much if he was devoured. If he had his acid resistance back, he’d be in business, but that felt like it would take some time.

 

Of the valuable skills he gained from his previous life, he had Gluttony and maybe hell forged body. The last one required him to burn things and collect their ashes for a spa day. Silas needed options, but he didn’t have many besides working out to increase his PL.

 

That was a kick in the balls. PL was basically all his stats put together. Having a PL of 0.85 was the same as having 0.85 in all his stats. Some force in his body mixed with his stats, or that’s what he suspected after his latest gains. Increasing his strength through weightlifting raised his stamina, speed, mana, regeneration, constitution, health, and, most importantly, charisma.

 

Basically, from what he could tell, the stats in his soul and the energy in the current world met somewhere, and their rules mingled. To what extent, he didn’t know because he didn’t know the rules of the energy or all the rules of his own stats.

 

Silas needed a tutorial.

 

He wiped his mouth and tossed the soiled tablecloth to a serving girl. She gasped at his actions, but he ignored her. She outranked him in society because she was female and could grow stronger by eating others. There was a reason why he wasn’t worried. He was from a noble family; his sister and trainer were in the room, and she didn’t look upset by his actions. The girl stared at the plate he finished and back at him. Gluttony had some benefits; he didn’t look like he had just eaten a plate full of meat.

 

Mary straightened up while two of the serving girls slid into her ass. Silas ignored the sight, focused on his trainer, and smiled at her genially.

 

His centauress mentor quirked an eyebrow. “I’m glad you didn’t take advantage of my moment of impropriety. You would have filled Amy’s ass if you had chosen to believe in that despicable rumor.” Mary said.

 

Silas ignored her words even as his body stirred in treachery. “That didn’t happen, so what about my power level.” Silas said.

 

“You made a massive jump this morning, and by that empty plate, you’ve found your talent,” Mary said and grabbed his shoulders. “Do you have any idea how big this is?”

 

Silas shook his head. “Heroes all have one thing in common, they all had a talent that helped them grow stronger. It's rare, but sometimes a male will inherit it from their hero sire or, even rarer, develop their own. Your sire had the ability, Zephyr. He could call upon the wind and create sharp blades that cut nearly anything, create tornadoes, and fly. Your ability seems to have something to do with eating and your health.” Mary slipped on a pair of clear crystal glasses. They were so clear Silas could see the reading.

 

PL 0.979

 

“It's almost like a female.” Mary shoved her fingers in his mouth and pulled at his jaw. Pain lanced through his face as she tried to dislocate his jaw.

 

“Stop it. I don’t bend that way,” Silas said.

 

Mary sighed and trotted around him, poking at his stomach and back, and he jumped when she tried to check his ass. “Hey, watch it; that’s exit only,” Silas yelled and tried to get some distance from the grabby centauress. 

 

She brushed a strand of ebony hair behind her ear and bit her lip. “It's almost like you’re a predator but not quite. Only eating food that fits in your small mouth is very limiting. I couldn’t imagine you gaining the strength to fight your father, Wind Dragon Kurt. But your recent gains were astounding. I believe you are a sprinter type.” 

 

Silas knew what that meant, and it wasn’t true. Sprinter types showed great early potential that petered out in the late 100s to early 1000s.

 

Naomi grabbed his shoulder. “My brother isn’t a sprinter; take that back, Mary. He was 0.78 yesterday; maybe his gains are exponential based on his power level.” Naomi said.

 

“Oh, Naomi, you’re so brave,” Amy said and kissed her girlfriend. “We just have to stuff your brother full of food and never let him leave the gym, and he’ll be a hero before you know it,” Amy said.

 

Mary sighed and lowered her tail as two maids finished sliding up her ass. They made a noticeable bulge in the massive centuaress’s side.

 

Once again, he felt something in the air but couldn’t put his finger on why it felt familiar. He would have to pay more attention to people getting devoured; something was happening that he hadn’t noticed before. Getting close enough to sense it made life more dangerous to him, but if he didn’t pay attention, he could end up with a worse fate.

 

Silas coughed in his hand. “Sure, lock me in the gym all day. I don’t mind.”

 

Mary smacked her flank and turned her rear towards him. She raised her tail and spread her legs showing off a massive black horse anus and a long slick wrinkled slit throwing off flood of pheromones.

 

He barely managed to cover his face. “I’ll give you an offer. Feed yourself to my hungry pussy, and I’ll give you weeks of pleasure. Or you can follow me to the training field and struggle against your stronger siblings. I might even decide to humiliate you and pit you against some of your younger sisters. Wouldn’t it be humiliating to lose to someone half your age?” Mary said.

 

Silas smacked her ass, and the bitch pissed on the spot. He dodged in the nick of time. A cocktail of chemicals poured from her excretions that could make any man’s mind turn to mush in seconds. Mary tossed her head to the side, slapping him with her coarse-haired tail.

 

“Now, why would I deny myself a chance to prove myself,” Silas said and rubbed the side of Mary’s thick black centaur cunny. It was soft warm and so inviting his body wanted to give in and feed himself to her thick loving organ. But Silas was in control.

 

“Silas, get away Mary isn’t someone you can tease,” Naomi said.

 

He smacked Mary’s big black ass and continued rubbing her. The shameless hero trainer winked at him, revealing a big pink lust-filled clit the size of his thumb. Silas grabbed the underside of her pussy leaned beneath her tail and licked her winking clit before backing away. The taste of her sex tickled his tongue driving his lust to levels he hadn’t felt before. His cock had never been harder, and it was all he could do to move away from her. A lustful tug filled his gut driving his want to greater heights.

 

While every cell in his body demanded he give himself to the monstergirl, Silas was in control. He wouldn’t be beaten so easily. If this had been the night before, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand the sheer want filling his brain, but he wasn’t his brain. That fact was all that kept him from shoving his face into her.

 

Mary's eyes widened as he continued to take step after step away from her. “Coward,” Mary called.

 

Silas smirked. “You’ll get more when you learn to behave, sprinter indeed.”

 

Mary’s lips trembled, and to his surprise, she looked to be on the verge of tears. “How cruel both the father and the son have rejected me,” Mary said.

 

The centaur seemed to blur in front of him and then vanish. Sparks of lightning crackled across the meal hall floor, and he felt flat-footed.

 

“Mary pursued father for half his hero career before settling as our hero trainer. Rumor has it she swore not to return without father in one of her holes.” Naomi said.

 

“How romantic,” Amy said.

 

Silas blinked at Amy and then stared at Naomi. “Amy gets dopey after eating; it's really cute,” Naomi said.

 

…

 

The training hall wasn’t like the gym. The only equipment was weighted padded armor and wooden weapons stacked upon racks. Hard-packed sand covered the ground, and it was hot. Crystals lit up the around the hall, clearly meant to simulate a desert.

 

“Hey, look who it is, the loser who thinks he’s a big shot because he has a talent.” Claude, his elder brother, said and blew on a handful of sand. A gust blasted the sand in his hand directly into Silas’s face. He closed his eyes in time but took a kick to the gut for his efforts. Silas jumped with the blow to get some distance from his attacker.

 

He opened his eyes to see his assailant smirking.

 

Claude had a PL of 25 and inherited the Zephyr ability; he was also the third lowest since Julius gave himself to Amy. But it wasn't a big deal for someone with the Zephyr ability, even if they currently had a low power level.

 

It was expected that on the way to battle the Queen Mother Lamia, he would gain enough experience with his ability to boost his PL into the hundreds. Naomi, for instance, had a PL of 205 and could drop Claude with a glance. The difference between a female and an average male was too great. Even a Hero couldn’t match the PL of a mother. For instance, Mary had a PL over 15,000. She was considered a daughter centaur.

 

They were not expected to defeat the Queen Mother Lamia, only feed her enough to be satisfied.

 

His thoughts were cut off by Claude’s sudden dash forward. “We’re going to spar today, and I’m going to break you. Then Naomi and Amy will be mine when I return a hero.”

 

Heroes had their pick of women when they returned until they eventually gave into their biology and were eaten. He didn’t know if his father was alive or not. Heroes were rarely allowed to keep getting stronger. Of course, that wasn’t told to him; it was the perspective of an outsider looking in.

 

Silas didn’t know if Naomi saw him as a sibling or an odd meal that wouldn’t get in her belly. Amy was a mystery, and Mary had a sub-fetish. Mary’s sub fetish was clear when she didn’t turn him into paste after he slapped her rear.

 

“Oh, I have volunteers to open today’s training. Go ahead, Silas and Claude, gear up and move to the center. Show me what you’ve learned so far.” Mary said before giving Silas a glare.

 

He smirked at her, but the centaur wasn’t having it while she was teaching and looked away with a slight blush on her dusky cheeks. Silas let his grin widen as he looked through the equipment.

 

There was no out speeding Claude, and he needed to train. Silas shoved a protein bar in his mouth. This fight would cost him, but it would also help beat the weakness out of his body. He imagined himself as a hunk of iron, the ground the anvil, Claude the hammer, and Mary, his smitten blacksmith. Although to be fair, she was the only female that wasn’t his sister or dating his sister.

 

Silas picked out a big two-hander sword that he could barely swing with his whole body and then stacked it up with the armor. From boots to shin guards and cuirass, he got the heaviest armor. Once he was outfitted, he could barely move, and that was the point. He planned to abuse the rule change in this new world and his gluttony skill to the fullest.

 

“What’s wrong, scared of getting hit? You know all that armor will make you a sitting duck for any hungry monsters.” Claude taunted.

 

“Begin,” Mary said, and his elbow screamed as Silas swung at empty air. A blow to the back of his knees nearly felled him before a hard blow struck his head. Gluttony didn’t just boost his health; it negated damage equal to the amount he built up. Silas swung his blade a second time, feeling his arms scream, and his gluttony skill boosted regeneration. It was slight, but his body grew a little stronger with every painful strike he took or swing of his sword.

 

“Give up; maybe if you kiss my feet, I’ll only break one of your legs,” Claude said.

 

Silas swung at him, only for his blade to pass through an afterimage. Wind blasted him in the face as he bent his knees to increase his base and swung to his right. He hit air and felt a heavy blow strike his neck.

 

“How much longer can you keep using your ability like that? Silas asked.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you getting tired?” Claude asked.

 

“No, after breakfast, I can keep this up for a few hours by our current pace. But can you? You’re not a predator and can’t seem to knock me off my feet.” Silas turned his head towards Mary, and the centaur took a step back at his sudden attention. “What’s my current power level?”

 

Mary’s eyes widened, and she put on her glasses.

 

PL 1.15

 

Power levels without stats were different than power levels with abilities alone. There were techniques to use power levels, but they didn’t have one built for males. Basically, Claude could only make use of his PL through his ability. Without his stats Gluttony or no his PL wouldn’t increase his strength at all.  

 

“I don’t think you gain power by eating like a predator. The food doesn’t matter at all to you, it's fuel.” Mary said.

 

Mary sure was smart. She had very little information but put so much of his method together from an observation and a few PL recordings. He would have to be careful to put her firmly in his corner.

 

“Do you get it now? Keep fighting me, and you’ll lose your position. The longer I fight, the stronger I become.” Silas said.

 

It was a mostly empty boast. He would rather be in the gym making real gains than training for tiny gains from his armor’s weight.

 

Claude shook violently before pointing his weapon at Silas. “Then I’ll have to go all out and beat you,” Claude said.

 

He focused on the energy he felt when Claude vanished. It was familiar yet distant. Every time he felt a blow hit him, there was something right before the hit. Silas moved out of the way of one blow, only for another to hit him.

 

Sand started to rise around him, forming a tiny dust devil, forcing him to close his eyes or risk blinding himself. The blows started raining down faster as he struggled to swing to meet them. Every second the fight wore on; Silas learned a little more about the mysterious energy in the air and what it was telling him.

 

Before the blow hit, something like a warning bell or a sound spread through the energy. There were so many that he had to pick one. That normally gave him a 1 in 10 chance to hit Claude for 1 second between his swing and repositioning. Instead, it took him 5 seconds to swing the massive practice sword he chose, and his arms ached every time he swung it.

 

Still, he was feeling the results. While it was slow, he was making real-time gains increasing his strength and, in turn, all his stats.

 

Another blow rattled his head, and he couldn’t breathe anymore. Sand-filled his lungs at his last breath, so he stopped. That’s when his health pool shits the bed. He couldn’t sense the energy with his head ringing leaving him blind and deaf. All he could do was feel the wind scour his body and the blows rain down.

 

Silas raised his sword and swung; the blows continued to rain down as he repeated the motion. He repeated the most basic strength training practice swing with his oversized sword. His muscles expanded to their limit every twenty swings and shrunk back down. His muscles burned, but he could feel his PL slowly tick up after every twenty, then every thirty swings. At forty swings, he hit something.

 

It was a total accident, and there was no way he should have been able to hit Claude with his current strength. His brother tumbled through the sand, gasping for breath with a dislocated shoulder. Silas had barely managed to clip him as he tired out.

 

The wind finally died down, and Silas took off his helmet and heaved a bloody mass of sand from his lungs.

 

“Are you out of Stamina already?” Silas said as he pulled the straps on his armor. His body suddenly felt super light, like he could jump really far if he wanted to. “Don’t feel too bad; my ability is a natural counter to yours,” Silas said to fully break the guy’s spirit. Thinking that there was nothing he could have done to win in the first place messed with his opponent’s mind. That was the type of tactic he needed to ensure he didn’t become breast milk.

 

“Hey Mary, what’s my Power Level?” Silas asked.

 

PL 4.6

 

Mary said and nearly dropped her glasses. “Not bad for a single spar. Alright, does anyone else want to help me raise my power?” Silas looked around to see a few of his brother’s looking down on him with contempt in their eyes. Darren had a different father, which gave him the ability Bat Country, basically a watered-down version of a vampire monstergirl's powers. Shawn, at 20, shared the Bat Country ability and had a PL sitting at 409. Darren’s 350 wasn’t bad, either.

 

Legon’s The Stage ability was a hard counter to any defensive abilities and allowed him to swing beyond his PL. At a solid 300, he was in the top 10 PL among the males of house Valkyrie.

 

Then there were the seven strongest. Each of them watched the fight with apathetic expressions on their faces. Each of them had a PL over 1000, and the number one Bryce had a PL of 9,001 with the ability Afterlife. Silas didn’t know what that ability did, but it was powerful. The hero who fathered him left Neon soon after he was conceived. Silas meant him, too; Bryce was the only one born of that union which was abnormal.

 

Of the other six, they were Philip PL 2000; ability Dear God, Keith PL 3500 ability Nightmare, Robert PL 4000 ability Hail to the King, Edward PL 4500 ability Dancing Dead, Nero PL 5200 ability Critical Acclaim, and Albert PL 7590 ability, Not Ready To Die. His measly 4.6 was nothing compared to them, but he was sure to improve quickly enough to surpass Claude.

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