[Hidden Cave - Immediately After Escape]
The cave was small, barely large enough for the four survivors, but it was deep enough to hide them from casual detection and defensible if discovered.
Damian immediately began pulling Giant corpses from his spatial ring, the massive bodies materializing in the confined space, making it even more cramped.
The other three survivors watched in confusion as he started examining the bodies with methodical intensity.
Marcus Feng collapsed against the cave wall, his breathing labored, blood still seeping from multiple wounds.
Gerald Moss was dead. Heâd died during the fighting, an axe through his chest ending him instantly.
The two remaining survivors were Isaac Reeves, a construction worker with hands like stone and surprising combat instincts, and Thomas Kane, a former SFD officer whoâd been on vacation when the portal formed.
Both were D rank, both wounded and both looking at Damian with growing concern.
"Kid, you need to rest. Youâre injured, exhausted and pushing yourself too hard."
Isaacâs voice was rough and filled with concern.
"Weâre already prepared to die here. Getting caught in a spontaneous portal basically means thereâs no realistic way to survive. But... you donât need to kill yourself trying to save us."
Thomas nodded agreement, his grey hair matted with blood and sweat.
"Weâve lived our lives. Had careers, families and experiences. But youâre just sixteen years old and more talented than anyone Iâve ever seen. Itâs not right that you should die here with us."
Damian didnât respond, his attention completely focused on Nathan Greavesâ research notebook, cross-referencing information with the Giant anatomy he was examining.
His eyes were bloodshot, his hands moving with frantic precision, his mind working at speeds that looked almost mechanical in their efficiency.
Marcus tried again, his voice carrying genuine worry.
"Damian, please. You need to heal yourself, rest and recover your strength beforeâ"
"I am healing."
Damianâs voice was flat and emotionless.
"My Self-healing skill is running constantly. My injuries will be manageable within a few hours. But injuries arenât the problem.
The problem is that weâre facing elite military Giants who are individually stronger than humans of the same rank, and they outnumber us by margins that make victory mathematically impossible with conventional approaches."
He flipped through the notebook frantically, comparing notes to what he was seeing in the Giant physiology.
"They donât use skills or techniques. Pure physical enhancement and combat training. But their baseline strength is roughly triple what a human of equivalent rank can achieve. Thatâs genetic, biological and fundamentally built into their species."
His hands were shaking slightly, though whether from exhaustion or something else was unclear.
"I want that strength! I need that strength if weâre going to have any chance of surviving this."
"What are you talking about?"
Thomas moved closer, trying to see what Damian was studying.
"You canât just take another speciesâ genetic advantages. Thatâs not how awakener abilities work."
"Maybe not through normal methods."
Damianâs voice carried a manic edge now.
"But I need to find a way, a method to help us get through this alive!
The possibility of consuming Monster flesh and using specialized techniques to break down and incorporate their biological advantages into human physiology."
"..."
Complete silence in the cave.
"Thatâs insane! Nobodyâs ever tried that because itâs fundamentally against human nature to consume sentient beings.
These Giants speak, they organize, they have culture and intelligence. Theyâre not mindless beasts!"
"I donât care."
Damianâs eyes met Marcusâs, and the businessman actually flinched at what he saw there.
"Theyâre trying to kill us. Theyâve already killed twenty of our people. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the remaining survivors make it out of this portal alive.
If that means crossing lines that make me a bloody monster, so fucking BE IT!!"
The three survivors exchanged troubled glances.
âThe kid is taking all this on himself. Blaming himself for the deaths even though he warned us it would be dangerous, even though we all volunteered knowing the risks.â
Marcus watched Damianâs hands continue their frantic work, dissecting, examining, taking notes.
"At least rest for a few hours. Let yourself recover before attempting whatever insane experiment youâre planning."
"No time. We need every advantage we can get before the Giants find this cave."
Damian pulled out a knife and started cutting into Giant flesh with clinical precision.
"Marcus, take Isaac and Thomas. Go find Major Ryan and his group. Warn them that Giants are the species weâre facing.
Tell them to gather everyone and bring them here. This cave is defensible and I can protect it once Iâve finished preparing."
The urgency in his voice finally penetrated their exhaustion.
"The Giants will be systematically searching this portal world.
Ryanâs group staying in one location just makes them easier to find and eliminate. Constant movement and consolidation is our only chance."
Marcus struggled to his feet despite his wounds.
"Youâre right. We need to move. Isaac, Thomas, letâs go."
The three men prepared to leave, casting worried looks back at Damian, whoâd already returned to his frantic work.
Kuro had long since retreated into Damianâs shadow to recover, the ravenâs injuries severe enough that he needed time in that strange space where he seemed to heal faster.
The survivors left, and Damian was finally alone.
He pulled up his status screen, examining the changes from the recent combat.
âââââââââââââ
Name: Damian Valcor
Age: 16
Rank: C-
Talent: S
Core Attributes:
Strength: 170
Speed: 175
Stamina: 179
Vitality: 190
Aura: C-
Will: 230
Perception: 160
Intent: Slaughter
Skills: â
Shooting: A
Hand Combat: A
Telekinesis: A
Macro Vision: A
Sonic Blink: B
Self-Healing: B
Aura Control: B
Aura Magnification: 2Ă
Weapon Arts: â
Omega Point - S: Level 3
Abyssal Slaughter - SS: Minor Success
Devourer Body Art - ???: Forming
Bond: Kuro (C- Rank)
- Unknown Entity
- Talent Unknown
âââââââââââââ
And in his weapon arts section, something new was forming. It was still incomplete and still theoretical, but it was taking shape.
âThis is my theory and my experiment. Iâm the test subject for something thatâs never been attemptedâ
His hands moved with mechanical precision, preparing Giant flesh, extracting specific organs and tissues that Nathanâs research suggested would be most effective for Aura assimilation.
âTwenty people died following my orders. I knew the risks, I warned them, they volunteered anyway. But theyâre still dead because I led them into that ambush.
Iâm not a god! Higher rank doesnât mean I can effortlessly crush D rank opponents when outnumbered a hundred to one. Thatâs not realistic. Giants are elite warriors trained for brutal warfare.
But my luck is catastrophically bad. Of all the Monster species we could have faced, we got Giants. Born with inhuman physical strength with no fancy techniques or skills to exploit. Just overwhelming power and military discipline.â
He stared at the Giant flesh heâd prepared, his stomach already rebelling at the thought of what came next.
âThis art Iâm creating, this Devourer Body concept, itâs based on consuming Monster flesh and blood, breaking down their biological advantages through specialized Aura circulation, incorporating their strengths into my own physique.
Breaking the limits of human biology by integrating non-human genetics through controlled Aura transformation.
It might have side effects. Might change me in ways I canât predict. Might fail completely and just kill me through toxic consumption.
But I have to try!
Because otherwise, everyone here dies. All survivors would die because I wasnât strong enough to protect them.â
So... He began eating.