Re: Devil - Volume 1 Chapter 3
[Now then, what to eat?].
I thought about it as I was walking down the slope. [Inpuji had said that the stronger the demons, more essences can be devoured, but almost all demons and hell beasts are stronger than an imp].
Suddenly, I remembered something and said [Status].
Level 1 – No Name – No Title
Species: Normal Imp (Common)
Unranked
[Skills]
Shadow Claw
Inspect
“I got 2 skills, one is sealed and one is Shadow Claw. How do you use skills anyway? Inpuji thought that Imps were too weak and didn’t have skills that was why he didn’t need to explain it.”
I tried to say it out loud. “[Shadow Claw]!” Nothing came out. “What if I try imagining it?” I looked at my hand and tried to imagine it on my claws. Then my claws extended becoming three times longer than normal and shadow manifested on my claws creating black-colored claws.
“How come it feels like it is natural for me to do that?” Then I tried to stab the ground and the result, my claws easily penetrated it. “They are sharp and can be useful as a weapon.”
After some times later experimenting the use of this claw, I could feel that I grew a little bit tired and stopped using [Shadow Claw].
“But I still need a weapon though. I don’t know why but using skills cost energy within me and furthermore I don’t want the Count or the general to be wary of me, although my status as a cannon fodder will be removed. Waiting for Inpuji’s explanation about war and making decisions after that should be the logical decision. Until then I will try to use it sparingly.” I said to myself.
At the foot of the mountain, I could see desolate landscape. Parched land and rugged roads with many broken pieces of giant rocks littered on the ground. Bubbling hot lava flowed from the mountain’s summit.
[Wait a minute, so the cave is near an active volcano … I believe in the general’s magic].
As I continued to scan the environment, It appeared that there was no vegetation, only featureless grey area. I still saw demon’s bones littered around even here.
[Now, I am starting to freak out, Is there a predator here or any other reasons, as to why I can still see demon’s remains]. I heightened my vigilance around me.
[Worrying about that will not get me anywhere, First straighten priorities. Weapon, food and how to survive in war with additionally surveillance within surrounding].
I searched for a sharp bone from the dead demons that I could use as a weapon. Actually, either sharp or long bones would do, as I could sharpen them with [Shadow Claw] as long as the bones were not too hard.
I didn’t know what kind of beasts or demons that died were, but as long as it could fit in the criteria, I would be satisfied.
Then it dawned upon me, Couldn’t I use inspect on things also? I tried it with a bone near me. [Inspect]
[Imp Arm Bone]
“It works! Now I can train my skill as well as searching for the right bone.” I searched the area to find the sharpest bone that I could use as a weapon.
[Inspect]…[Inspect]…
[Imp Tooth] [Imp Leg Bone] [Maggot Tooth]
“What? a maggot tooth?” The tooth was the size of my hand. [It seemed that Inpuji was not lying. One tooth of a maggot is only the size of my hand. Then what is the actual size? ] I shuddered at the though of that.
I continued to look for awhile until I just found the perfect bone to do the job. [Inspect]
[Fire Imp Spine]
[Now to sharpen it, I used [Shadow Claw] to sharpen the tip of the spines. Personally, I think it is crude but this will for now].
With a new weapon in hand, I continued to stroll while maintaining my surrounding. Inpuji had advised to eat insects because that was a normal imp’s diet.
[But what kind of insects? Are insects really dangerous?]. That answers had come, when my [Inspect] notified me about something.
An ant with the size of my foot was spotted. [Lesser Hell Ant]. It’s size maybe small but I could see that it also had a sharp jaw, with the size bigger than it’s head.
Of course, I didn’t underestimate it and I stalked behind it and waited for the right opportunity to damage it.
[Wait a minute, Don’t ants travel with their colony? How come I know this knowledge?] I quickly scanned the area with the ant. There was no sight of other ants. Luckily, it was a lone ant.
The ant did not notice that I walked near it so I quickly stabbed it in the head.
The ant tried to fight back with it’s jaw but I quickly sidestepped and continued to stab it. I could also see some fires from the damaged parts.
With the successful surprise attack and additional fire damage, the ant could not do anything and let out it’s final screech before it died.
“Wew, Time to taste it.” I devoured it quickly because I felt unsafe here and there was no cover around me.
I tasted it and surprisingly I didn’t feel disgust eating it. I could also feel that my energy was coming back and felt a bit stronger. I finished it leaving nothing behind aside from the jaws and inedible parts.
[Status]
Level 13 – No Name – No Title
Species: Normal Imp (Common)
Unranked
[Skills]
Shadow Claw
Inspect
I leveled up 12 times. I came into a conclusion that either normal imp was weak therefore the amount of essences were low or the ants gave good essences.
[Just 7 more of these ants and I will rank up] I was feeling motivated to become stronger. So I searched for ants, preferably lone ants.
The results were not too bad considering that I didn’t go too far away from the cave. I managed to kill 4 more ants after the first prey that I had killed.
The last 2 ants were a bit pain too handle because they were together but I managed to pull it off because of my surprise attack and I had leveled up quite a bit from the essences of the first 2 ants.
I had quickly killed the first one before fighting one-on-one with the other ant before killing it with a stab from the fire imp spine. Of course I had devoured all of the demon essences making my level now to level 59.
An interesting discovery that I had found, was that the amount of essences I needed to level up has increased proportionally to my level.
[It seems that I need more than 7 ants. Let’s look around one more time and then let’s go back to the cave].
While I was walking around searching for more lone ants, I also didn’t forget to use [Inspect], so that I could upgrade the skill.
Sadly, I could not find anymore preys near the cave. Maybe It would be easier farther but It was too risky.
So, I decided to go back to the cave. On my back to the foot of the mountain, I heard a scream so I followed the sound stealthily.
The scream was getting louder and louder until I could see what has been happening.
I saw 3 imps presumably from my batch fighting a grotesque, wiggly and worm-like creature. It had many sharp teeth in it’s mouth and I could see body parts of imps inside it.
I walked closer to at least use [Inspect] so I could identify, what the beast was.
[Inspect]
[Hell Maggot]
The maggot came true to eat the imps. I didn’t jump into the fray. The imps were untrustworthy, why should I risk my life for them.
But, at least I could use them to analyse the maggot. One dump imp tried to punch the body of the maggot, but the maggot didn’t feel pain but annoyed. And then
The hell maggot counterattacked and ate the dumb imp in one swoop. The 2 imp had already given up fighting and tried to escape. The maggot sensed it and pounced towards the nearby imp and ate it.
The last imp was lucky because he made it to the mountain that our cave was located. The hell maggot sensing the barrier gave up pursuing the prey and went the other way around.
[So, Results: Immune to blunt damage, strong chomp, can pounce like a jumping worm, able to sense things].
[It seems I need to use my weapon to try to pierce it or I will become the prey. I could maybe use [Shadow Claw] but unless I could guarantee a killing blow on it , it is too risky].
[It seems that I need to ask Inpuji, what the weakness of the maggots is]. After checking that the maggot had already gone away. I resumed my way back to the cave.