Beast Devourer: I Grow Stronger by Eating Monsters

The older man had managed to get back on his feet behind the wagon.

Blood on his forehead. One hand pressed against his ribs.

He was staring toward the forest.

Not directly at Raven.

Just shouting.

"Whoever’s out there! Fifty crowns if you help us!"

Raven didn’t move.

The man shouted again.

"A hundred!"

Nothing.

"Food! Water! Whatever you want!"

Better.

Raven studied the third wagon.

Crates. Barrels. Sacks.

Probably merchandise.

He had also seen the leather tube.

A map.

Maybe documents.

The man shouted:

"I can take you all the way to Greyhaven! We have maps of the entire route!"

Now that was useful.

Raven stepped out from behind the tree.

"You should’ve started with that."

Everyone looked at him.

Even the creature.

The old merchant blinked.

Raven must have been a strange sight.

Blackened tactical clothing. A damaged vest. One sleeve partially shredded. Bloodstained bandages. A knife in one hand. A jagged piece of metal in the other.

No armor.

Nothing that looked like local magic.

The archer stared at him as if another problem had just walked out of the forest.

"Who the hell are you?"

Raven pointed at the monster.

"What’s it called?"

She took a second to answer.

"What?"

"That."

The creature roared.

The woman looked at him like he was insane.

"A Stonehide Ravager!"

Raven studied the rocky arm.

Appropriate name.

"Venomous?"

"What?"

"Is it venomous?"

"No!"

"Fire?"

"No!"

"Regeneration?"

"WHY ARE YOU ASKING THIS NOW?!"

Raven ignored her tone.

"Can it harden its entire body?"

The woman went silent.

That was answer enough.

Raven looked at the older man.

"Three days of food."

"Yes."

"A map."

"Yes."

"Information about the region."

"Yes!"

"And I keep the body."

The merchant blinked.

"The... body?"

Raven pointed at the Ravager.

"That one."

The beast began advancing toward him.

The older man answered immediately.

"Yes! Everything! Just kill it!"

Raven looked at the monster.

"Good."

The deal was done.

The Ravager charged.

Raven didn’t wait.

He extended his left hand.

Mana.

The sensation was still new. Something tightened inside his chest and traveled down his arm.

"Ember Spark."

A burst of flame erupted from his palm.

Not at the creature’s body.

At its face.

FWOOSH.

Fire struck its muzzle.

The Ravager roared and squeezed its eyes shut.

The flame didn’t burn deeply.

Raven hadn’t expected it to.

He wanted its vision.

Three seconds.

Maybe less.

Enough.

Raven sprinted right.

Not backward.

The monster kept moving along its original path.

Raven passed beside its shoulder.

Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Turn.

Raven dropped low.

A hardened limb swept over him.

The force of the air alone was enough to move his hair.

Raven drove the knife behind the creature’s rear leg.

No stone.

The blade sank almost to the hilt.

Blood.

The Ravager roared.

Raven pulled the weapon free and moved away before the monster could turn its weight.

"Shoot the side!" he ordered.

The archer reacted.

One arrow.

Then another.

The first struck skin.

The second entered the wound Raven had just opened.

The creature turned toward her.

Raven took advantage.

Metal fragment. Both hands. Downward strike into the rear joint.

CRACK.

The jagged point punched through flesh and scraped bone.

The monster kicked.

Raven saw the limb coming.

Predator’s Instinct warned him.

Not early enough to avoid it completely.

The leg caught his hip.

The impact threw him sideways.

Raven rolled across the ground.

His right shoulder struck dirt.

Pain.

Hard.

He didn’t stay down.

One knee planted.

The Ravager was advancing toward him.

Its right forelimb began to darken.

Raven watched stone spread across it.

And then he realized something.

It wasn’t instantaneous.

The transformation took roughly half a second.

Maybe less.

But there was a sequence.

Flesh. Dark lines. Mineralization. Stone.

Raven raised the metal fragment.

Waited.

The monster attacked.

Raven didn’t block.

He redirected the strike and used the metal against the side of the claw.

The impact nearly tore the weapon from his hands.

He followed the momentum. Rotated with the blow. Moved inside the limb.

Knife into the armpit.

Where there was still flesh.

He drove it in.

The Ravager threw its body into him.

Raven abandoned the knife.

An instant later, the creature’s shoulder slammed into his chest.

The plate absorbed part of it.

Not enough.

Raven went flying.

His back crashed against the wagon wheel.

The air left his lungs.

For a second, everything went silent.

Then the pain returned.

Ribs.

Probably the same ones that were already damaged.

Raven inhaled.

Not enough.

Again.

Better.

The creature ripped the knife free from its own body as it moved.

The blade fell.

Fifteen feet away.

Raven had the metal fragment.

Nothing else.

The archer fired.

The arrow struck the monster’s neck.

The Ravager turned toward her.

"No!" the merchant shouted.

The woman backed away.

Her quiver was almost empty.

Raven looked beneath the wagon.

Barrel.

Secured by rope.

Painted symbol.

He didn’t know what was inside.

Smell.

Even from where he stood.

Alcohol.

Strong.

Raven smiled faintly.

"Old man."

The merchant looked at him.

"What?"

"That barrel burn?"

The man followed his gaze.

"Root spirit."

"Wasn’t what I asked."

"Yes!"

"Good."

Raven stood.

The Ravager lunged toward the archer.

Raven grabbed one of the wagon’s loose straps.

Pulled.

The barrel didn’t move.

Heavy.

He cut the rope.

Shoved it with his foot.

It rolled.

The creature heard the noise.

Turned.

The barrel rolled in front of it.

Raven extended one hand.

Ember Spark.

He didn’t throw a fireball.

Just a small flame.

Controlled.

It touched the liquid leaking from a crack in the barrel.

WHUMP.

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