"Max was already moving.
He leaped onto the fallen tree and caught the first lynx as it came down from the rocks, driving it into a second beast climbing up behind it.
Both tumbled across the bark. Max jumped after them and finished the nearer one with his claws before the other could recover.
SHNK!
The remaining three sprang almost together. Max slipped beneath the first, kicked the second off its feet, and twisted as the third caught his forearm with its claws.
Pain flashed through the shallow wound, but he seized the animal by the neck and slammed it against the ledge.
Talia intercepted the lynx he’d kicked, stopping it with her shield before it could escape. Max was on it a moment later.
He drove the gauntlet beneath its jaw, turned, and finished the last two as they scrambled up the rocks.
Ding!
[Five E-rank Nightfang Lynxes Slain]
[EXP +375]
[EXP: 405/490]
A red pulse traveled through the gauntlet. Max looked at his forearm and saw the claw marks closing, the torn skin drawing together until only a smear of blood remained.
[Sanguine Claim Activated]
[Minor Injury Repaired]
’Nice.’
"You didn’t even let me finish one," Talia said, looking over the carcasses.
"You stopped that one from getting away."
"I came to fight monsters, Max. I’m starting to feel like your porter."
Max realized the truth in what she was saying... But it was a win-win for the two of them, so she shouldn’t complain.
He went to examine the bodies. This time he chose Strength from each of the five lynxes, swallowing his samples farther along the ledge while Talia worked her harvesting knife.
[Five Devours Completed]
[STR +1, +1, +1, +1, +1]
The increase settled into his arms and back. It wasn’t enormous on its own, but Max could feel it when he pulled himself up the rock face with one hand. And there were larger monsters ahead.
They found the final herd of Bristlebacks near a cave entrance, five beasts rooting through a stretch of loose stone. Max took one look at them and climbed down from the ledge.
"Want the first one?" he asked Talia.
"If you leave any for me."
She stepped forward, shield ready. The nearest Bristleback charged, and she met it with a practiced turn, drawing its spines away from Max’s approach. Max struck beneath its jaw and dropped it immediately.
The others came running.
He met one shoulder-first, catching it before its spines could reach him. His boots dug into the ground as he shoved the creature sideways into another Bristleback.
Both lost their footing. Max was on them before they could rise, his claws finding the gaps beneath their armored necks.
The last two tried charging past him toward Talia. He crossed the space in a heartbeat, kicked one off its feet, and brought the gauntlet down on the other’s skull.
CRACK!
The final beast struggled upright. Max caught its head, wrenched it toward the exposed throat, and ended the fight.
Ding!
[Five E-rank Bristlebacks Slain]
[EXP +375]
DING!
[Level Up!]
[Level: 10]
[EXP: 290/590]
[Fatigue: 0]
Max collected his samples and headed toward a narrow hollow in the rocks. The meat was tougher than the lynxes’ and much richer in muscle. He swallowed one piece after another, choosing Strength every time.
[STR +2]
[STR +3]
[STR +2]
[STR +3]
[STR +2]
Max closed his fist.
The sensation was extraordinary. He’d already been strong enough to overpower the ordinary monsters in the Gate, but now the gauntlet felt weightless, and his entire upper body seemed packed with energy.
He gripped a protruding piece of rock, meaning only to test himself, and accidentally broke it off in his hand.
He looked at the stone, then started laughing.
’Okay. Hale is definitely getting a rematch someday.’
When he returned, Talia was sitting beside the cave mouth, counting the cores they’d collected.
"Twenty," she announced. "We split them evenly, like we agreed."
She pushed ten cores toward him and packed the other ten away. Max accepted his share and glanced deeper into the cave.
The air coming from within carried a heavier animal scent, and the walls bore deep gouges that none of the ordinary Bristlebacks could have made.
"Boss should be close," he said.
"Then we rest first. I’d rather go in with my arms working properly."
Max agreed. He had something he wanted to try before they went any farther.
Talia settled near the entrance, cleaning her shield and eating a small ration. Max moved into an alcove beyond a bend, where the rock concealed him from view. He opened his specimen case and picked out five of his ten cores.
He’d rather not think about their resale value. There would be other cores. For now, he wanted to know what five E-rank cores could do.
CRUNCH!
The first one broke between his teeth, its fragments dissolving into a cool rush of mana.
[Mana Core Devoured]
[EXP +75]
He took another. Then a third. He kept chewing until all five were gone.
[Five E-rank Cores Consumed]
[Total EXP +375]
DING!
[Level Up!]
[Level: 11]
[EXP: 75/700]
[Fatigue: 0]
Max leaned against the wall as the familiar surge ran through him. His limbs felt fresh despite the hunt, and a new strength settled into his muscles. Level eleven. He’d crossed into the level range of an E-rank Player, even though the Association still had him registered as F.
He summoned his status.
STATUS
[Name: Max 79UG03]
[Level: 11]
[EXP: 75/700]
[MP: 200/200]
[Fatigue: 0]
[Class: Glutton (Unique) | Rank: ???]
[Title: null]
[STR: 37]
[AGI: 36]
[CON: 20]
[INT: 20]
[STA: 20]
[WIL: 20]
[Skills: Devour (Rank: ???), Burst Step (Mastery: 23%)]
[Traits: Toxic Immunity (Rank: ???)]
[Devoured Experiences: Feral Instinct (100%)]
[Equipments: Unknown Gauntlet]
[Current Rank: E]
[Status: First Seal Released]
[Functions: Claws, Sanguine Claim (Passive)]
Max stared at his Strength and Agility. He’d entered Blackthorn at Level 7, with sixteen Strength and twenty Agility.
He’d walked through the Gate with Talia only a short while ago, and now his numbers were almost double.
And there were still five cores in his bag to sell.
He shut the panel with a grin and returned to the cave entrance.
"Ready?" Talia asked, getting to her feet.
"Yeah. Let’s meet the boss."
Beyond the cave, the path opened into a broad chamber. Roots hung from the ceiling, and a massive beast stood among the bones near the far wall.
Its shoulders rose higher than Max’s head, and a crown of hooked spines covered its back. Thick bone plating protected most of its skull.
[Boss: Thorncrown Ravager]
[Rank: E | Elite]
Talia gripped her shield and leaned toward Max.
"That’s the Ravager. I heard a whole party had to retreat when it broke their front line. Those grooves in the ground are from its charges. We don’t have a plan for getting around that armor, so maybe we should..."
Max touched a finger gently to her lips.
"Watch."
She stared at him.
Across the chamber, the Ravager lowered its head and charged. Its hooves shook the ground, but Max was already moving, and the beast’s great strides looked painfully slow to him now.
He could see every shift of its weight, every clump of dirt falling from its hooves.
’Burst Step!’
WHOOSH!
Max crossed the distance before the Ravager had taken another full step.
He sprang upward beneath its lowered head, tucked the gauntlet into a fist, and drove an uppercut into the unarmored underside of its jaw.
BAAAM!!
Bone shattered. The force of the blow tore through the skull, bursting its head apart in a spray of blood and fragments.
The huge body staggered forward without it, then crashed onto the stone floor.
Max landed lightly beyond the corpse. Blood had splashed across his cheek. He wiped some onto his finger and tasted it, smiling.
’Sweet.’
DING!
[E-rank Gate Boss Slain]
[EXP +300]
[EXP: 375/700]
Talia hadn’t moved. She still had her shield raised, although the monster she’d been preparing to defend against no longer had a head.
"Max..."
He turned.
She looked at the enormous corpse, then back at him.
"Did you just one-shot the boss?"