The forest smelled of iron and wet earth.
Dew clung to the undergrowth, dripping silently as Aiden moved between the trees, sword in hand. His body was still battered from the Alpha fight, but that didn't matter. His pulse demanded more. His hunger demanded more.
Every shadow between the trees seemed to whisper to him. Every gust of wind carried a promise of prey.
He tightened his grip on the blade. I need to keep moving. If I stop now, the strength will rot inside me.
---
A snarl broke the silence.
The brush rustled, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes locked onto him.
A Rank 3 Shadowfang. Smaller than the Alpha, but faster, its sleek black fur rippled like liquid shadow as it stepped into view. Saliva dripped from its fangs, sizzling against the soil.
Aiden didn't hesitate.
He lunged forward, steel flashing. The wolf darted aside, a blur of motion, but Aiden's blade adjusted mid-swing, grazing its flank. Blood sprayed across the underbrush.
The beast howled, circling.
Aiden's breathing steadied, his body moving as if it remembered battles his mind hadn't lived. He shifted, watching, waiting. The hunger inside him thrummed, eager, wild.
The wolf pounced.
His blade shot upward, splitting its throat in one clean arc.
Blood spilled warm across his hand as the wolf's body collapsed at his feet. The hunger surged, seizing the chance. Aiden grit his teeth as energy tore through his veins, that same wild flood of vitality.
He swallowed hard, forcing the chaos down. Forcing himself to stay himself.
---
Hours passed.
More beasts came — Rank 2 Horned Hares, Rank 3 Nightstalkers, even a Rank 4 Razorboar that charged with enough force to splinter trees. Each kill left him stronger, his sword heavier with blood, his body sharper and quicker.
But each kill also deepened the whispers.
More. More. Devour. Devour.
He collapsed against a tree after the boar, chest heaving, vision swimming. His sword was sticky with gore, his hands trembling.
His wounds burned, but the pain was almost drowned beneath the heat in his veins.
He looked at his reflection in a pool of water nearby. His eyes…
They were darker. Not the color, but the depth — like a void was spreading beneath them.
For a moment, fear clawed through him.
What am I becoming?
He clenched his jaw, tearing his gaze away. "It doesn't matter. If this is what it takes to survive…"
He rose, dragging his blade with him. "Then I'll endure it."
---
That night, he returned to the village.
The stares followed him again, sharper this time. The hunters whispered among themselves, their hands drifting toward their weapons when they thought he wasn't looking.
Children pulled away when he walked by. Mothers held them close, their eyes darting with unease.
Only Mira approached him, though her steps were hesitant.
"You're… changing."
He didn't meet her eyes. "Good. I need to."
"That's not what I mean." Her voice cracked slightly. "There's something in your eyes, Aiden. Like you're… losing something every time you fight."
He paused, gripping the Alpha's fang at his belt. "Then I'll lose it. As long as I gain strength."
Her face fell, but she said nothing more. She simply watched him walk past, her expression heavy with worry.
---
The forest called again the next day.
Aiden ventured deeper, toward the heart of Blackwood, where even seasoned hunters dared not tread. The air grew thicker, darker. Roots curled like the claws of buried giants, and the cries of beasts echoed endlessly.
That was where he found it.
A Rank 5 Steelhide Bear.
The beast towered above him, its hide glimmering like iron, its breath a furnace of rot. It roared, shaking the canopy, sending birds scattering.
Aiden's body screamed at him to retreat.
But he didn't.
His grip on the sword tightened. His legs bent. And when the bear charged, the hunger inside him surged like a tidal wave.
The battle was brutal.
Claws that split earth. Strikes that shattered bark. Aiden's blade glanced off the beast's armor again and again, sparks flying. He ducked under swipes that would have ripped him in half, rolled through mud, stabbed, and was thrown back into trees that cracked under his weight.
Blood poured from his wounds. His vision blurred.
Yet he did not stop.
Because every time his sword cut flesh, every time the beast bled, he felt that same wild strength feeding into him. The Devourer stirred, drinking deep, sharpening his senses.
His body was breaking, but his spirit soared higher.
---
The final strike came as the bear roared, lunging to crush him.
Aiden twisted, sword raised. His blade found the soft seam beneath its jaw, driving upward with every ounce of will left in him.
The beast's roar gurgled into silence.
It staggered. Collapsed.
And Aiden fell to his knees beside it, drenched in blood, trembling as the power flooded through him.
This time, it didn't just settle.
It expanded.
Bones creaked. Muscles tightened, hardened. The very air felt different in his lungs, heavier, clearer.
He gasped, realizing.
He had broken through.
Rank 4.
---
The forest was quiet again. But Aiden knew the silence was temporary.
Each step forward only brought him closer to something greater, something darker.
He stood, wiping the blood from his eyes, sword dragging behind him. His wounds screamed, his body ached, but inside…
Inside he felt unstoppable.
The hunger purred, satisfied.
For now.
---