Beast Devourer: I Grow Stronger by Eating Monsters

Raven rolled.

The jaws slammed into the ground.

He dug his fingers into the wound across the creature’s back.

The Gloom Stalker roared.

Raven pulled.

Not to cause damage.

To use its body as leverage.

He climbed partially onto its side.

The Gloom Stalker twisted.

Raven let the motion throw him.

He landed badly.

His rib screamed again.

Breathe.

Control.

The monster was using those evolved plates to enhance Burst Step or recovery.

That meant higher mana consumption.

Good.

Raven needed it to spend.

He couldn’t beat it in strength.

He couldn’t beat it in speed.

He could force it to use both until neither worked anymore.

He ran toward the stream.

The Gloom Stalker chased him.

Raven was limping slightly.

Not an act.

The claw had opened his side.

The creature saw it.

Accelerated.

Raven reached the slope.

Wet stones.

Moss.

Water.

He turned.

The Gloom Stalker was fifty feet away.

Raven raised one hand.

Ember Spark.

Not at the monster.

At the second mixture of oil and flour he’d spread across the stones.

FWOOM.

A wall of fire appeared.

Not huge.

Enough.

The creature stopped.

Only for an instant.

Then charged through.

Part of its fur caught fire.

Raven was already on the other side of the stream.

The Gloom Stalker roared.

Its hind legs lowered.

Burst Step.

"Do it."

The creature released mana.

Surged forward.

Entered the water.

Its injured paw landed on a moss-covered stone.

Slipped.

At normal speed, it could have corrected.

During Burst Step, it couldn’t.

Its body twisted sideways.

Its shoulder slammed into a rock.

CRACK.

The Gloom Stalker rolled through the streambed.

Raven ran toward it.

The creature tried to stand.

Right leg failing.

Left shoulder low.

One second.

That was all.

Raven jumped.

Knee on the neck.

Stonehide over his right hand.

His fist hardened.

He struck the skull.

Once.

THUD.

The creature convulsed.

Second strike.

The Gloom Stalker raised a paw.

Raven saw the claw coming.

Leaned away.

The tip tore shallowly through his shoulder.

Pain.

Raven caught the limb.

He couldn’t overpower it.

So he didn’t try.

He used the movement to rotate around its neck.

Pulled the metal fragment from where it was strapped across his back.

The same piece that had crossed worlds with him from the facility.

He drove it behind the jaw.

It barely penetrated.

Plates.

Bad angle.

The Gloom Stalker thrashed.

Raven lost his grip.

Fell into the water.

The creature tried to stand.

Raven saw the hind leg tighten.

"No."

Burst Step at that distance meant death.

Raven extended both hands.

Every bit of mana he could afford.

Ember Spark.

Not a small flame.

A blast.

FWOOSH.

Fire directly into its face.

The Gloom Stalker squeezed its eyes shut.

The Burst Step went wrong.

Not because the magic failed.

Because Raven was directly in front of it and the creature lost its orientation.

It launched diagonally.

Its head slammed into the stone wall of the streambed.

BOOM.

Its skull didn’t break.

But the creature staggered.

Raven reached it.

Now he saw an opening.

Beneath the jaw.

Between the plates.

The throat.

He drove the metal in.

The creature reacted.

Raven pushed.

Blood.

The Gloom Stalker struck him with one paw.

Stonehide across the ribs.

Too late.

Raven felt something break.

He went flying.

Hit the bank.

He couldn’t breathe.

For two seconds, he thought his lung had collapsed.

He inhaled.

Agonizing pain.

But air.

Broken rib.

Maybe two.

The Gloom Stalker advanced.

Blood pouring from its neck.

Still alive.

Raven tried to stand.

His left leg didn’t respond immediately.

The creature took another step.

Raven checked his mana.

Mana: 3 / 18

Shit.

Stonehide one more time.

Maybe.

Minimal Ember Spark.

Nothing else.

The monster was worse off.

But so was Raven.

That was what levels meant.

He could overcome the enemy.

He couldn’t erase the difference.

One badly calculated exchange and the Level 14 was still perfectly capable of killing the Level 3.

The Gloom Stalker lowered its body.

Burst Step.

Again.

Raven saw mana gathering inside its hind legs.

Very little.

The creature was exhausted.

But still enough to cover fifteen feet.

Raven looked around.

The rope.

No.

Rocks.

Blood.

The metal fragment was still buried in its neck.

His knife was too far away.

A broken stake had washed downstream.

That.

Raven grabbed it.

Hard wood.

Jagged point.

Not enough to penetrate a skull.

It didn’t need to.

Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Now.

The Gloom Stalker vanished.

Raven didn’t try to move completely out of the way.

He couldn’t.

He took half a step sideways.

Stonehide over shoulder and arm.

The monster slammed into him.

Pain.

Raven fell.

But the trajectory had changed.

The jaws passed beside his neck.

Raven drove the stake upward.

Straight into the open mouth.

The wood went in.

Tongue.

Palate.

The Gloom Stalker’s own speed did the rest.

CRACK.

The point tore upward through soft tissue.

The creature froze.

Raven held the stake.

Pushed.

The monster’s body convulsed violently.

One claw tore at the dirt.

Another struck Raven’s side without enough force behind it.

Then its legs gave out.

Its weight collapsed on top of him.

Raven was partially trapped beneath its neck.

Silence.

He breathed.

Pain.

Another breath.

More pain.

He waited.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Twenty.

Predator’s Instinct stopped reacting.

Raven pushed against the corpse.

It didn’t move.

"Of course."

He used both legs.

The body rolled far enough for him to pull himself free.

Raven remained on his back beside the stream, staring at the sky.

Blue.

White clouds.

A large bird crossed high overhead.

Everything absurdly peaceful.

Raven closed his eyes for three seconds.

Opened them.

He couldn’t sleep.

Not yet.

He slowly sat up.

His side was bleeding.

A shallow puncture in the shoulder.

One or two broken ribs.

Bruises across most of his torso.

Moderate mana depletion.

And probably another injury he’d discover once the adrenaline wore off.

He won.

Barely.

That was acceptable.

Not ideal.

Acceptable.

Raven looked at the Gloom Stalker.

"Level fourteen."

The creature didn’t answer.

"Show-off."

Predation appeared the moment Raven placed a hand on the corpse.

This time, the response was different.

Stronger.

The interface covered a large portion of his vision.

"Compatible defeated organism detected."

Target: Evolved Gloom Stalker

Level: 14

Rank: Awakened

Predation available.

Raven remained still.

Rank disparity detected.

Target exceeds host Existence Rank.

Another line appeared.

Successful Predation may place additional strain on host biology.

"Little late for warnings after that fight."

The system continued.

Compatible Traits detected: 4

First.

"Low-Light Camouflage"

Required source: Dermal Pigment Membrane.

Second.

"Burst Step"

Required source: Posterior Mana Tendons + Adrenal Node.

Third.

"Enhanced Predator’s Instinct"

Required source: Cerebral Tissue.

Existing compatible Trait detected.

Potential evolution available.

Raven stopped.

Interesting.

Fourth.

"Mana Surge"

Type: Evolved Trait

Temporarily overcharges muscles and existing Traits by forcing additional mana through biological pathways.

High physical strain.

Required source: Cervical Mana Plates.

That explained the plates around its neck.

Four choices.

All good.

Raven analyzed them.

Low-Light Camouflage was useful.

But situational.

Mana Surge was powerful.

Also probably dangerous with his current reserves.

Enhanced Predator’s Instinct could improve an ability that had already proven enormously valuable.

But Burst Step...

Raven remembered the creature disappearing in front of his eyes.

Explosive movement.

Closing distance.

Dodging.

Entry.

Exit.

With proper training, even a few yards could completely transform close-quarters combat.

And more importantly...

it was something Raven couldn’t reproduce through training alone.

"Burst Step."

"Burst Step selected."

Warning: Target is of superior Existence Rank.

Assimilation difficulty increased.

Consume sufficient Posterior Mana Tendon and Adrenal Node tissue to begin Predation.

Raven looked at the hind legs.

Then at his own injured body.

"Later."

First, he bandaged himself.

The priority was still not dying from infection or blood loss while trying to eat a monster.

He cleaned the wound in his side.

Pain.

Bandage.

Shoulder.

Another dressing.

Ribs.

Not much he could do there.

Shallow breaths.

Avoid unnecessary movement.

Then he returned to the corpse.

The system guided him to the right location.

He opened the hind leg using the knife he’d recovered.

The tendons were thick.

Dark.

Threaded with faintly glowing blue lines that still carried a trace of light.

Raven cut off a section.

The texture looked like fibrous meat mixed with rubber.

"Fantastic."

He put it in his mouth.

Chewing was difficult.

Much harder than the Ravager gland.

The taste was bitter.

Salty.

And accompanied by an electrical sensation that partially numbed his tongue.

He swallowed.

Assimilation: 18%

"Of course."

More.

He chewed another section.

Then found the adrenal node near the base of the spine.

Small.

Dark blue.

Smelled worse.

Raven cut it free.

Stared at it.

He had killed men in bathrooms.

Slept beside corpses for two days during an operation.

Crawled through sewers to infiltrate buildings.

Predation was finding entirely new ways to test his standards.

He ate the node.

The effect was immediate.

Raven dropped to one knee.

"...Shit."

The mana inside his body moved.

Not like Ember Spark.

Not like Stonehide.

His legs.

Everything concentrated there.

Muscles tightening on their own.

Tendons.

Nerves.

An intense pressure built behind his knees and across his hips.

The system flickered.

"Predation initiated."

Assimilating Awakened biological Trait...

Host Rank: Common

Target Rank: Awakened

Biological stress elevated.

Pain.

Raven clenched his teeth.

A sensation like heated needles ran through both legs.

His muscles contracted.

Once.

Twice.

Raven planted one hand against the ground.

He didn’t scream.

Not because he was immune to pain.

Because screaming didn’t reduce it.

Assimilation: 52%

His heart accelerated.

68%

Heat gathered behind his eyes.

81%

His right leg moved involuntarily.

The toe of his boot carved a groove through the dirt.

94%

Then...

silence.

The pressure vanished.

Raven inhaled.

"Trait successfully devoured."

"Burst Step acquired."

Raven remained on one knee.

Another notification appeared.

Experience gained.

The number began climbing.

More than he’d received from any creature before.

Level increased.

Raven Ashford — Level 4

It continued.

Level increased.

Raven raised his head slightly.

Raven Ashford — Level 5

"Two."

It wasn’t finished.

High-value Predation achieved.

Superior Rank organism successfully devoured.

Authority experience threshold reached.

Raven frowned.

Then something new appeared.

"PREDATION LEVEL INCREASED"

Predation Level 1 → Level 2

The forest went silent around him.

Raven momentarily forgot about his ribs.

New Predation functions unlocked.

First line.

Trait Capacity per Target increased under compatible conditions.

Second.

Advanced biological analysis unlocked.

Third.

Higher-order Trait detection improved.

And finally:

Predation evolution path updated.

Additional Authority functions remain locked.

Continue devouring compatible organisms to unlock.

Raven read the final line twice.

Then looked at the Gloom Stalker.

It had taken almost the entire day.

Preparation.

Traps.

A fight where a single mistake had nearly killed him.

Two levels.

One new ability.

And Predation itself had improved.

That was good.

Very good.

But the most important conclusion wasn’t displayed on any screen.

Raven looked at his hands.

Then at the Level 14 corpse.

He had defeated something eleven levels above him.

Not because levels were useless.

Quite the opposite.

The creature had been faster.

Stronger.

Tougher.

It had more mana.

It had broken his ribs even when Raven blocked correctly.

In a direct fight, Raven would have died.

Levels mattered.

Rank mattered even more.

But neither knew how to prepare an ambush.

Neither knew how to study a building.

Neither set traps.

Neither calculated how many times an enemy could use an ability before exhausting itself.

Levels measured power.

Not experience.

Not preparation.

Not intelligence.

Raven placed one hand against a rock and slowly stood.

He looked toward the partially burning mill in the distance.

Then at the corpse.

"Levels don’t know how to fight."

The interface didn’t answer.

Raven began cutting meat from the Gloom Stalker.

He still had seven miles back to Greyhaven.

And he’d learned another rule of this world.

He could kill above his level.

But if he ever started believing that meant the difference didn’t matter...

the next creature would probably eat him instead.

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