The tunnels were silent, except for the slow drip of water from somewhere in the dark.
Alex's breath fogged in the cold air, his eyes fixed on the floating blue text.
Consume the strength of defeated enemies…
That couldn't be real. Skills like that were myths — powers you only heard about in drunken stories. And even if they existed, they belonged to heroes or tyrants, not to orphans crawling through sewage.
But the words didn't fade. They burned brighter.
A shiver ran through his spine. His stomach twisted, not with fear… but with a gnawing ache.
It wasn't hunger for food.
It was something deeper.
His hand trembled as he reached into his coat and pulled out the bloodied knife. He stared at the dark stains on the blade. The ache sharpened. His mouth felt dry, yet saliva gathered like he was about to eat the finest meal of his life.
Against his better judgment, Alex pressed the edge of the knife to his tongue.
The taste of blood exploded on his senses — hot, metallic, and alive.
The blue text flickered.
> [Strength +0.2]
[Vitality +0.1]
His eyes widened.
This… was real.
The ache in his stomach eased for a moment, replaced by a cold rush of energy. His heartbeat quickened, his muscles tightening as if he'd trained for hours.
And then the hunger roared back, twice as strong.
He staggered against the tunnel wall, clutching his gut. Images flashed in his mind — not his memories, but the boy's: a younger child shivering in a bunk bed, stealing scraps from the kitchen, punching another orphan to keep food.
The memories vanished, leaving Alex gasping.
It took more than strength. It took… pieces of them.
Footsteps echoed faintly above, somewhere on the streets.
Alex wiped the blade clean, but the ache didn't fade. He could still feel it clawing at him from inside.
He thought of the guards outside, of their strong arms and sharp weapons. His pulse quickened again.
The Physique didn't just want to feed. It wanted to hunt.
Alex exhaled slowly, forcing the hunger down. Not now. Not yet.
He needed control. He needed information.
And he needed to make sure no one ever learned what he could do.
Because if they did…
A sudden splash echoed in the darkness ahead.
Alex froze.
From the far end of the tunnel, two yellow eyes blinked open in the dark — far too high off the ground to be human.
> [Warning: Hostile Detected – Class: D Beast]
The hunger surged.