I reached out with my trembling hand.
"Gluttony."
The word barely left my lips before heat exploded through my arm.
Purple and red energy burst from my palm like living flames, twisting together as they slammed into the corpse. The air warped. The flesh blackened instantly, crumbling as if devoured by invisible jaws.
The body didn't burn.
It was consumed.
Bone dissolved. Blood evaporated into drifting sparks of light. Even the stain on the stone vanished, leaving the ground unnaturally clean.
Within seconds, there was nothing left.
No corpse or evidence.
Only silence.
A sharp wave of exhaustion slammed into me and I staggered back, catching myself against the wall.
My heart hammered violently.
My muscles burned like I'd sprinted for miles.
"I just can't get used to this—"
The system window surfaced again.
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[SYSTEM STATUS]
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Name: Ronan
Level: 1
HP: 1,000
MP: 200
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Attributes
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Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Endurance: 1
Vitality: 2
Intelligence: 2
Willpower: 1
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Skills & Authorities
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Gluttony (C)
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Absorption Efficiency: 2%
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My mana had been nearly drained in a single use.
Two hundred left, just like the first time i used it.
And for all that, I had gained only one point in intelligence.
'I don't even feel any smarter. What a scam...'
Still.
It was growth.
Slow and brutal, sure, but definitely real.
I dismissed the window and forced my legs to move.
The city of Veyrion slept under its night sky, frozen in time like a graveyard of stone. The streets were narrow and crooked, buildings leaning toward each other as if whispering secrets. Cold wind slipped through broken shutters and empty alleys.
Every shadow felt alive. Every sound made my pulse jump.
As I walked, my thoughts drifted back to the numbers.
'Two days... and only two kills.'
'It can't go on like this. There has to be a way for me to find them quicker.'
I rubbed my arms, feeling how thin my clothes were against the night air.
The abandoned building soon came into view.
It had once been a shop of some kind. The wooden sign above the entrance hung by a single nail, creaking softly whenever the wind passed. Inside, the floor was layered with dust and broken shelves.
But it had walls... and a door.
That was enough for me. Not like I had much of a choice.
I slipped inside and pushed a rotten table against the entrance, just like I had done the last two nights.
Only when the faint moonlight filtered through the cracked roof did I finally let myself breathe.
Leaning against the wall, I stared at the empty space within the room.
'Tomorrow, I'll have to hunt again.'
And if I wanted to return back to my world...
I'd better hurry the hell up.
After a while, I lay down on the cold stone floor, using my folded arms as a pillow.
I needed to be rested and prepared for tomorrow.
Unfortunately for me, Sleep really didn't come as easily as I wanted it to.
Every sound outside made my body tense. Footsteps that weren't there. Wind brushing against broken shutters.
Eventually, exhaustion won.
---
I woke to busy noise.
Voices overlapped outside the building, sharp and lively, completely unlike the dead silence of the night before. I sat up slowly, heart racing out of habit, and peeked through a crack in the warped wooden boards covering the window.
Morning light spilled across the street.
The city was awake.
Veyrion looked different during the day. Less like a graveyard, more like a living thing pretending to be peaceful. Merchants dragged carts through the streets. Shopkeepers opened shutters and shouted prices. Children ran between adults, laughing, bumping into people who scolded them halfheartedly.
It felt... normal.
I slipped out of the building and merged into the crowd, keeping my head down. My clothes still stood out, torn and worn, but no one seemed to care much. Poverty wasn't rare here. Neither was desperation.
As I walked, I listened.
That had become my main strategy.
"Fresh bread! Still warm!"
"Did you hear about the arrest last night?"
"Another one? Emperor's getting jumpy."
My steps slowed.
I turned slightly toward the speaker, an older man arguing with a woman over fruit prices.
"Traitors, they say," the man continued, lowering his voice. "Anyone who even whispers against the Holy Empire these days gets dragged off."
The woman snorted. "As if whispers kill emperors."
I moved on before they noticed me listening too closely.
I checked alleys, watched faces, looked for anything that didn't fit. Secret meetings. Nervous glances. Symbols carved into stone or painted hastily over.
Nothing.
By midday, my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten since arriving in this world. Coins were scarce, and stealing in broad daylight felt like a fast way to get killed.
I settled for lingering near food stalls, inhaling the scent of roasted meat and spices, pretending it was enough.
As the hours passed, frustration crept in.
Two days ago, I had stumbled onto my first target almost by accident. A whispered conversation in an alley. A rushed exchange of papers. Fear in their eyes.
Yesterday was basically the same.
Today however? There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Everyone smiled. Everyone argued about mundane things. Everyone lived.
I found myself wondering, for the first time, who these traitors really were.
'If they are planning to assassinate the emperor... why did neither of the two i killed feel like hardened criminals? The man I had killed last night had practically begged and cried.'
'He hadn't fought back at all.'
I shook the thought away.
'Focus.'
By afternoon, I tried a different approach.
I slipped into taverns and inns, places where people drank too much for this time of day and talked way too freely. I ordered the cheapest water when I could, leaned against walls, listened.
"Holy Empire's taxes are killing us."
"Careful who you say that to."
"I heard the Traitor Association's been quiet lately."
That made my heart jump.
I turned slightly, pretending to inspect a crack in the wall.
"Quiet doesn't mean gone," another voice replied. "Means they're hiding better."
"Good. Let them rot."
I waited. Held my breath.
Nothing more.
No names. No locations.
By the time the sun dipped lower in the sky, my legs ached and my head throbbed. The city hadn't given me a single real lead.
I wandered aimlessly for a while, watching shadows stretch longer across the stone streets. The warmth faded, replaced by the creeping chill of evening.
'Am I doing something wrong?'
'Or are they just that careful?'
As the market began to close, I noticed soldiers.
Not many. Just pairs, patrolling slowly, hands resting on sword hilts. Their armor gleamed in the dying light.
My skin prickled.
'If the Holy Empire is tightening its grip, then the traitors would be deeper underground than ever.'
'Which means Im running out of time.'
I ducked into a side street and leaned against a wall, exhaling slowly.
"Fifteen targets left," I muttered under my breath. "And I can't even find one."
My fingers curled unconsciously.
'Gluttony could make me stronger, but only if I fed it. And feeding it meant killing.'
I hated how natural that thought was becoming.
As evening settled fully, lanterns flickered to life across the city. The crowds thinned. Doors closed. Voices faded.