The Hound and Kuro returned an hour later, though time felt meaningless in this place.
Kuro flew overhead, his beak open, and–
Bodies fell from his mouth, dozens of them, Beasts of all sizes and all ranks, hitting the ground in a pile as Damian just stared.
’Does he have... storage in his stomach?’
’Stupid human!’
Kuro landed in front of him, dropping another corpse at his feet.
’Kuro stored the elf previously! You can eat him now!’
He nudged something else forward with his beak.
It was a spatial ring, covered in dried blood.
’His spatial ring is also here!’
The sloth’s eyes opened slightly, looking at the elf’s corpse, then at Kuro and then back at the corpse.
"Eat... him?"
The whisper carried confusion.
The Hound padded over, its golden eyes fixed on the body, then on Damian.
Its head tilted, the confusion clear in its posture.
Kuro hopped back, settling near the sloth’s chair.
’Yes! Stupid human eats to get stronger! Kuro brought food!’
The sloth’s paw came down slowly, scratching behind the Hound’s ear as it settled beside the chair.
"Good boy."
The whisper was affectionate and the Hound’s tail wagged once in response, a single sweep.
Then both of them turned their attention back to Damian, watching and waiting.
Damian looked down at the elf’s corpse.
Kethran... Or what was left of him after the Hound’s paw had crushed him.
Not much remained recognizable, but enough.
He crouched beside the body, his hands moving automatically.
Then he started devouring.
The sloth’s eyes widened and the Hound’s entire body went rigid, its eyes fixed on Damian with something that looked like shock.
This time, Damian didn’t leave anything.
Flesh, bone, organs, everything went down, processed by the Devourer Body Art.
The Hound watched him with unblinking and the sloth watched too, its lazy gaze suddenly sharp and alert.
Damian paused mid-bite, aware of the intense attention.
"...What?"
Several seconds of silence passed.
Then the sloth spoke, its whisper carrying genuine curiosity rather than judgment.
"It’s my first time seeing a human eat a sentient being."
It paused.
"Unlike the beasts, even that Kaiser fellow doesn’t eat them. As mad as he is."
The Hound’s eyes flashed at Kaiser’s name, something that might have been hatred and fear mixed together.
But it didn’t look away from Damian, still watching with an intensity that made the air feel heavy.
Damian swallowed, wiping blood from his mouth.
"It doesn’t matter to me as long as I gain power."
The sloth climbed down from its chair with painful slowness, approaching Damian.
It came close, eyes examining him, the Devourer Body Art’s effects visible as the elf’s essence integrated into his body.
The Hound followed, padding over to stand beside the sloth, both of them studying Damian like he was something they’d never seen before.
"Hmmm."
The sound was thoughtful.
"How curious. The art that you are using... it seems to be incomplete?"
Damian nodded, taking another bite.
"I made this one. Though, I have to spend some time improving it."
He swallowed.
"Although I don’t mind eating anyone, it makes the other humans freak out."
The sloth’s paw reached out, touching Damian’s stomach where the art was most active.
"...All you need to do is realize what is happening inside your stomach when you run this art."
Its eyes met his.
"And then make it happen without needing to."
The words hit Damian like lightning.
His hands stopped mid-motion, his mind racing.
’What is happening inside... the breakdown, the integration, the conversion of flesh to energy to attributes...’
’If I can understand the process, replicate it through some other means rather than physical consumption...’
"Indeed."
The word came out as barely a whisper, his eyes going distant.
The sloth climbed back to its chair, settling in slowly.
The Hound went away toward deeper in the forest, casting one last glance at Damian before disappearing into the trees.
Kuro remained where he was, preening his feathers with casual indifference.
But Damian didn’t notice any of it.
He continued eating, but this time, his full attention was internal.
Understanding what the art did, how it worked, why it required consumption.
The others left him to his meditation, his discovery.
****
Night fell as the stars appeared overhead, more visible than they’d been in the human cities.
Damian’s eyes opened.
He sat alone near the lake, the elf’s corpse completely gone with nothing left but bloodstains on the grass.
His hands rested in his lap, completely still.
But in his mind, understanding had crystallized.
’I found it. The method. The way to absorb without consuming.’
A smile crossed his face, genuine despite everything.
’All I need now is to test it.’
He looked at his hands, at the power flowing through them.
Then at his status screen, which appeared with a thought.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Strength: 641 → 673
Speed: 678 → 706
Stamina: 638 → 657
Vitality: 653 → 715
━━━━━━━━━━━━━
’The greatest increase was in Vitality.’
He thought back to the fight, to how Kethran had taken hit after hit and kept moving and fighting despite wounds that should have killed him.
’Now that I think about it, that elf’s Vitality seemed at least twice as high as my own.’
His fingers drummed against his leg.
’Maybe the elves have this specialty. High Vitality and long lifespans, able to sustain damage that would kill humans.’
He stood up, testing his body’s response.
Everything felt stronger, more durable.
’Long-term fights should be avoided with them. They can outlast most opponents through sheer endurance.’
The lake reflected stars and the dark sky, peaceful and still.
Damian looked at his reflection in the water, at the blood still staining his clothes and the exhaustion etched into his features.
But he was alive, his talent increased and he’d learned something valuable about his art.
****
[Capitol - Federation Parliament Building]
The chamber stretched three stories high, its vaulted ceiling carved from pale stone that caught and held the afternoon light. At the room’s center sat a medium-sized table, polished dark wood worn smooth by decades of hands gripping its edges during arguments.
Nine figures occupied seats around that table, four wore formal suits and military dress uniforms and the other five wore identical black masks, smooth and featureless, catching the light like obsidian.
At the table’s head, elevated slightly on a raised platform, sat the Chairman.
He looked exactly like the time he made the speech after the ACC Portal incident. His hands rested flat on the table in front of him, still and patient.
Behind the center table, arranged in a perfect semi-circle, rose tier after tier of seats and desks, hundreds of them.
Maybe a third were occupied today, mayors from cities across the Federation, their assistants, their security and their aides taking notes on tablets.
The Chairman stood up and every conversation died.
"We have gathered here for many important decisions today." His voice carried without amplification. "First is of course about the Elves. As everyone already knows, we have been in the peace talks with them."
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