Beast Devourer: I Grow Stronger by Eating Monsters

Not to burn down the house.

To temporarily seal the entrance.

One of the men outside cursed while Raven moved toward the rear exit.

The plank he’d placed there shook.

Someone was trying to come through.

Perfect.

Raven took two steps back.

The wood gave way, and a man forced himself through the opening with a short spear.

Raven saw the point.

Predator’s Instinct did the rest.

Sidestep.

Catch the shaft.

Pull.

The man stumbled farther inside than he’d intended, and Raven drove the knife into his neck.

Not deep.

Side first.

Then upward.

Artery.

Blood came out hard.

The man tried to speak, but nothing useful left his mouth.

Raven released him.

Three.

The fire at the main entrance was already beginning to weaken.

He heard someone running around the building.

The one from the barn.

Maybe the sixth.

Raven went out the back.

The first attack wasn’t an arrow.

It was magic.

A reddish sphere struck the wall to his right.

BOOM.

Stone shattered.

Raven threw himself down as fragments sliced across his cheek.

Ah.

Mage.

The sixth man stood on a small rise behind the barn.

Broad shoulders.

Shaved head.

Brown robe hanging open over leather armor.

A black mark covered half his chest.

It didn’t look decorative.

Raven could feel mana.

More than from the others.

Probably the leader.

"There he is," the man said.

The archer changed position.

Raven counted three active threats.

Archer.

Leader.

Another man near the barn carrying a mace.

The woman inside might recover.

The axe man probably wouldn’t.

The spearman definitely wouldn’t.

The leader smiled.

"They told me you killed the Stalker."

Raven slowly stood behind a low wall.

"Who did?"

"People talk."

"The House?"

"The House talks a lot when you pay well."

Garrick.

Maybe.

Or any employee.

Corruption again.

This time, it wasn’t helping him.

Raven filed the information away for later.

"So you know I just killed an Awakened."

"I know you were half-dead afterward."

Raven looked at his wounds.

Correct.

"And that seemed good enough."

"Still does."

The man raised one hand.

The mark across his chest glowed.

Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Raven ducked.

A second red sphere passed over him and struck a tree.

Bark exploded.

Not fire.

Kinetic impact.

Interesting.

Raven looked at the leader.

"Skill?"

The man smiled.

"You want to know before you die?"

"Yes."

"Kinetic Acceleration."

Raven blinked once.

The leader seemed pleased by the reaction.

"I can accelerate anything I touch with mana."

He picked up a stone.

Threw it.

The rock launched like a projectile.

Raven moved his head.

CRACK.

It struck the wall behind him.

Far beyond normal human throwing strength.

That was very useful.

"Works on me too."

The man disappeared.

Not like Burst Step.

Smoother.

Raven barely saw the acceleration before the leader appeared in front of him.

Fist.

Stonehide.

Raven crossed his forearm.

BOOM.

The blow launched him into the wall.

Pain exploded through his ribs.

His vision went white for an instant.

Too strong.

The leader was Awakened.

Or close.

Raven dropped to one knee.

The man smiled.

"Level five."

Raven looked up.

"You can read it?"

"Evaluation."

Another Skill.

Or an artifact.

"You killed something fourteen levels—"

"Nine."

"What?"

"It was Level fourteen. I was five afterward."

The leader frowned.

Raven stood.

"If you’re going to show off your information, at least do the math correctly."

The man accelerated again.

Predator’s Instinct screamed.

This time Raven didn’t try to block.

Burst Step.

Mana dropped into his legs.

The sensation was brutal.

Too fast.

Raven released it.

The world jumped.

He didn’t run.

One instant he was in front of the wall.

The next, he was ten feet to the left.

His foot landed badly and he almost fell.

The leader passed through the space where Raven had been.

Raven felt an involuntary smile appear.

"Good."

The Skill was excellent.

The leader turned.

"What was that?"

"Something I ate."

The man froze.

Only for half a second.

But Raven saw it.

Confusion.

Then a smile.

"The Hollow Father is going to enjoy you."

Raven looked at the black mark.

"Did he give you that Skill?"

The smile weakened slightly.

"He gives us what we need."

"In exchange for people?"

"In exchange for meat."

Raven looked toward the bodies inside the house.

The man continued.

"The strong feed the strong. The weak were born to fill stomachs."

Raven had heard more elegant versions of the same philosophy.

Governments.

Armies.

Corporations.

Religions.

Someone always found the right words to explain why other people were resources.

The difference was that these people actually cooked them.

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Yes."

Raven raised the knife.

"I just disagree about who’s the food."

The archer fired.

Raven moved.

Not Burst Step.

Not yet.

He needed the mana.

The arrow passed as the man with the mace advanced.

Raven retreated toward the well.

The leader didn’t attack.

He was waiting.

Coordination.

Better than the first group.

The mace came horizontally.

Raven ducked.

Knife into the thigh.

Out.

The man roared.

Raven struck the knee.

The cannibal dropped.

Raven grabbed the mace with both hands.

Not to use it.

He shoved it toward the well.

The man, still holding on, lost his balance and slammed into the edge.

Raven kicked him in the back.

The body disappeared.

A scream.

Impact against stone.

Silence below.

Four.

The next arrow hit Raven.

Not cleanly.

The point entered his side.

Exactly where he was already wounded.

Immediate pain.

Raven cut the shaft.

Didn’t pull it out.

The archer smiled from sixty feet away.

Bad distance for Raven.

Good for him.

Ember Spark couldn’t reach.

Burst Step maybe twice more safely.

The leader was still waiting.

That was dangerous.

Raven looked at the archer.

Then the leader.

He needed to change the relationship.

He ran toward the barn.

"Now!" the leader shouted.

The archer fired.

Raven entered.

The arrow struck wood.

The leader accelerated behind him.

Raven heard it.

Very fast.

He entered the barn.

Dark.

Smell.

Meat.

Then he saw why.

Five hooks hung from the ceiling.

Two empty.

Three occupied.

Bodies.

One without legs.

Another split open from chest to abdomen.

A young woman hung upside down, throat cut, the skin partially removed from one arm.

Not freshly dead.

But recent.

A table held knives.

Bowls.

Salt.

Jars.

A black symbol had been painted on the wall with something far too dark to be ink.

Raven stopped for an instant.

Not because he’d never seen corpses.

Because there was a difference between killing people and turning them into a pantry.

The leader entered behind him.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?"

Raven turned.

"No."

The man threw an accelerated stone.

Raven moved aside.

The projectile tore through one of the bodies and sprayed old blood across the wall.

"The Father taught us that everything lives by consuming something."

Raven felt something.

Not fear.

An unease that felt too much like recognition.

Consume. Adapt. Evolve.

Predation’s words.

The leader spread his arms.

"We’re just honest about it."

Raven looked at the bodies.

Then at the man.

"No."

"No?"

"You’re just an animal who enjoys hearing himself talk."

The leader attacked.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Raven used Burst Step.

Better this time.

Six feet.

Solid footing.

Turn.

The leader passed.

Raven cut across his back.

Not deep.

The man spun and struck.

Raven raised Stonehide.

Impact.

Pain.

But he stayed standing.

The leader was stronger.

Faster during acceleration.

But his Skill had a tell.

Mana concentrated in his chest first.

Then moved through the shoulder or leg depending on what he was about to accelerate.

Raven could see it.

Once he’d seen it enough times.

Levels gave power.

Habits created patterns.

And patterns could kill you.

The leader accelerated a punch.

Raven feinted left.

No Burst Step.

The man corrected too late.

Raven entered on the non-accelerated side.

Knife.

Abdomen.

The leader caught his wrist.

Strong.

Too strong.

Raven activated Stonehide across his fingers and struck the joint.

The grip loosened.

Raven drove the knife in.

Once.

The leader grunted and smashed his forehead into Raven’s.

Raven saw stars.

The man shoved him back.

"I’m going to eat you alive!"

Raven spat blood.

"Everyone says more interesting things before they die."

The leader grabbed one of the metal hooks from the wall.

Mana.

He threw it.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Raven couldn’t dodge.

Stonehide over his chest.

CLANG.

The hook struck the plate in his vest.

The force launched him into the table.

Wood broke.

The world spun.

Mana: 6 / 18

Low.

The leader walked toward him.

Bleeding from the abdomen.

Still smiling.

"Your heart belongs to the Father."

Raven looked up.

Chain.

Hooks.

Beam.

An oil lamp.

The archer appeared in the doorway.

Five alive...

No.

The woman.

Probably awake.

Raven looked at the leader again.

"And my cock for you."

The archer drew the string.

Raven grabbed a butcher knife from the table and threw it.

The archer covered himself on reflex.

It wasn’t aimed at him.

It struck the lamp.

Oil spilled.

Ember Spark.

Last useful amount.

FWOOM.

The floor near the entrance caught fire.

The archer retreated.

The leader looked at the flames.

Raven moved.

Burst Step.

Everything he had left.

Pain ripped through both legs.

Ten feet.

Straight at the leader.

He wasn’t expecting a frontal attack.

Raven struck the knee.

The man partially collapsed.

Knife under the jaw.

The leader caught his arm.

Acceleration.

Raven felt the blow before he saw it.

Fist to the abdomen.

Something inside protested.

Raven nearly lost consciousness.

But he didn’t let go.

Stonehide across the forehead.

He smashed his head into the man’s nose.

Once.

Blood.

Second time.

The grip loosened.

Raven turned the knife.

Drove it beneath the jaw.

Up.

Deep.

The leader froze.

His eyes widened.

He tried to speak.

Raven pushed one last time.

Then pulled the blade free.

The man fell.

The archer shouted from outside.

Raven grabbed the leader by his clothes and dragged the body behind a support post.

The arrow came in.

Raven reached into one of the dead man’s pouches and pulled out one of the projectiles he’d used with Kinetic Acceleration.

A small metal sphere.

Raven didn’t need the Skill to use it.

Only the weight.

He waited.

The archer entered to get an angle.

Predator’s Instinct.

Raven threw the sphere normally.

The archer dodged on reflex.

Raven was already on him.

No mana.

No Burst Step.

Just training.

One hand on the bow.

Pull down.

Elbow to the face.

The man released it.

Raven caught the bowstring, looped it around his neck, and moved behind him.

The archer tried forcing his fingers underneath.

Raven tightened.

Ten seconds.

Fifteen.

The body began losing strength.

Raven maintained pressure until it stopped moving.

Five.

The last one was the woman.

Raven left the barn and found her beside the house.

She had regained consciousness.

She had her sword.

Blood covered her face.

She looked at Raven.

Then behind him.

No one else came out.

Her expression changed.

"Wait."

Raven walked toward her.

"No."

"We can talk."

"We already did."

"I didn’t want—"

Raven looked at the dried blood on her clothes.

The trophies.

The barn.

"No."

The woman backed away.

"We can give you money."

"I have money."

"Information."

"You’ve already given me plenty."

"The Father—"

"I don’t care about your god."

She attacked.

Fear.

Bad technique.

Predator’s Instinct barely had to work.

Raven deflected the sword, caught her elbow, and drove the knife into her chest.

Once.

She remained pressed against him.

Short breaths.

Eyes wide.

Raven pulled the knife free.

The woman fell.

Six.

Silence.

Only fire.

The house was beginning to burn more than Raven wanted.

Didn’t matter.

There was nothing there he wanted to preserve.

Then Predator’s Instinct reacted.

Raven turned.

The leader.

Still breathing.

Weakly.

Raven walked over.

The man was on his back, blood surrounding his neck, eyes barely focused.

"Father..."

Raven crouched.

"If he exists, tell him to find something else for dinner."

He drove the knife in.

The breathing stopped.

Then the system appeared.

"Compatible defeated organism detected."

Raven didn’t move.

The sentence was familiar.

Nightfang.

Cinderback.

Ravager.

Gloom Stalker.

But something different appeared beneath it.

Target: Human

Silence.

Fire crackled behind him.

Raven read it again.

Species: Human

Level: 12

Rank: Awakened

He wasn’t completely surprised.

He had considered the possibility since arriving in Veyr.

Predation had never said monsters.

Never.

He had been the one who assumed that category.

The system continued.

Compatible biological ability detected.

Raven felt something tighten in his stomach.

"Kinetic Acceleration"

Type: Innate Mana Skill

Accelerates the user’s body or physical objects through controlled mana expenditure.

Required biological source: Mana Heart tissue.

Raven looked at the corpse’s chest.

The heart.

Of course.

The system displayed another line.

Predation available.

Then:

DEVOUR?

Raven remained crouched.

No one alive remained around him.

That made the moment worse.

There was no pressure.

No combat.

No immediate need.

No one was forcing him.

The decision would be entirely his.

He looked at the man.

Cannibal.

Murderer.

Cultist.

He had planned to cook Raven.

There were bodies hanging inside the barn.

If there was ever a person Raven could use to justify crossing that line, he was probably lying in front of him.

That wasn’t what bothered Raven.

He wasn’t wondering whether the man deserved respect after death.

He didn’t care.

The question was different.

What would doing it mean for Raven?

He had eaten monsters.

Meat.

Glands.

Tendons.

Brain tissue.

It had been unpleasant.

Sometimes grotesque.

But they were still creatures.

He could mentally place them in the same category as any animal used for food.

This wasn’t.

There was a word for this.

Cannibalism.

Raven looked at his own hands.

He had killed people.

Many.

Some deserved it.

Some probably didn’t.

Some he’d never had enough time to know well enough to decide.

He had followed orders.

Shot people.

Strangled them.

Stabbed them.

Blown up vehicles.

Left bodies where no one would ever find them.

But he’d never needed to ask himself whether he should cut open their chest afterward and eat their heart.

Predation floated in front of him.

"Kinetic Acceleration"

DEVOUR?

A useful Skill.

Extremely useful.

Movement.

Projectiles.

Combat.

Maybe much more.

The kind of ability men would kill for.

Raven had already killed its owner.

All that remained was eating him.

He thought about how easy it was to phrase it that way.

All.

Just cut.

Just cook it, or eat it raw if the system required it.

Just swallow.

Just gain power.

Then do it again when someone else appeared with a better Skill.

Then again.

Then again.

The first time would be a decision.

The tenth could become routine.

That was what truly bothered him.

Not the corpse.

The future version of himself who could look at it and no longer need to think.

Raven had watched people cross lines before.

The lines never disappeared all at once.

They moved.

A little.

Then a little more.

Until one day you looked back and couldn’t remember where the line had originally been.

His old government had worked exactly like that.

One necessary operation.

One necessary lie.

One necessary killing.

One necessary attack.

There was always an explanation.

Always another step.

Raven looked at the word.

DEVOUR?

He could refuse.

That would answer one question.

But create another.

What happened when the next Skill could save his life?

When a human ability became necessary to kill something much worse?

When someone trying to murder him possessed exactly the power he needed?

Where would he draw the line?

Humans.

Children.

Allies.

Innocent people.

Was there a line Predation itself wouldn’t cross?

Or was the only line the one Raven chose to maintain?

The fire reached one of the barn’s support beams.

Something inside fell.

Raven heard a metal hook strike the floor.

He looked at the corpse again.

The man had said:

The strong feed the strong.

Raven had called him an animal for turning people into resources.

Now the system was offering him exactly the same thing.

The difference was that Predation didn’t pretend it was a philosophy.

It only asked a question.

DEVOUR?

Raven remained there for a long time.

For the first time since arriving in Veyr, the possibility of becoming stronger didn’t produce immediate interest.

It produced caution.

Not toward the system.

Toward himself.

Because Raven knew his own personality well enough to understand something that perhaps should have worried him more.

If he decided the benefit justified it...

he would do it.

He wouldn’t need to convince himself it was good.

He wouldn’t need to call the corpse a monster.

He wouldn’t need to invent a doctrine.

He would simply open the chest.

And eat.

Raven closed his eyes for one second.

When he opened them, the screen was still there.

Species: Human.

Compatible Skill detected.

DEVOUR?

Raven looked at his knife.

Then at the man’s chest.

And for the first time since acquiring Predation, he didn’t wonder what power he would gain.

He wondered what would be left of him when there was nothing he refused to eat.

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