Chapter 32 - Eat It

In a world where swords and magic were real. A man was bathed in his own blood, enduring all of the severe pain he received from the serpent.

His clothes were badly ripped; can he consider himself fortunate? As his area was not reached by sunlight, he would suffer greater damage and may perish in the unknown world.

"Jeez! I can't go on like this..." His eyes filled with blood as he heard the monster's footstep approaching him.

Severe bleeding resulted from several slashes on his body and one stab in his stomach. His mana pool was insufficient to use the [Fly] or [Fire claw] abilities to scare the monster.

Regardless of how you look at the situation, Riku has completed it... Why? He was slowed and hadn't had enough strength to swing his sword again until...

Boom!

A new explosion occurred and shook the entire area where Riku Hirota was lying. After the monster whacked into it, a swath of stones near the lake collided.

Phew!

Riku coughed several times, spitting blood out his mouth. Despite his hazy vision, he could see the creature being blown away for some reason.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The monster's feet were stomping on the ground, and Riku was bouncing a little every time a new creature's feet touched the surface.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

He was rolling to the ground after the new monster charged through the Naga monster with its bulk body. To describe the new monster's outward appearance as it approaches the area. It had the appearance of a dear, but it could stand up like a human, with bulk muscles, a dark face, sharp teeth, and aggressive red eyes.

"Why is the wendigo here?" Riku asked himself weakly, his body hidden by the green bushes.

Normally, the wendigo monster had a slim build, but this monster was unique in this world. Simply put, this monster was clearly one of the most powerful monsters in this forest.

Riku had an idea as to why this monster had appeared out of nowhere. The scent of his blood appears to have piqued the monster's interest, implying that more monsters will undoubtedly appear here.

Zing!

And then the system notified him of a new notification that would allow him to regenerate his health power in an instant.

[Suggestion! To make up for all of the losses you've suffered. You must consume fresh flesh! ]

At a critical juncture, the game system made a repulsive suggestion. He won't mind since he couldn't find anything of the sort in this place.

Thud! Thud!

"Was the Naga monster stuck on the chunk of stones?" Riku asked as the other monster continued to attack the Naga.

The wendigo used his large hands to deal more damage, and the Naga monster was stunned for a few seconds. This wendigo will not allow the Naga to increase its physical strength.

"The wendigo now has the upper hand? It will kill the Naga-?" All he could see was the red spot, knowing he would die from the severe bleeding.

He moved his body gradually, then reclined his back on the tall tree, waiting for someone to kill. Since he can't kill himself, he believes it would be far better if he simply died.

Boom!

The Naga monster escaped from the stone chunk and battled Wendigo with all its might. Wendigo was causing havoc with its long nails and sharp fangs. The Naga, on the other hand, was using its claws and heavy tails.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Riku could feel the force of each blow as some of the dust and strong wind touched his face and blew his long black hair.

The wendigo stabbed Naga's back with its sharp nails after inflicting poison with its fangs. Naga was biting hard in order to increase the two poisons it could deliver.

Rawr!

The Wendigo and Naga were groaning in agony, oblivious to the human on the verge of death. If this continued, two of them would undoubtedly perish.

"Is there still a chance?" Riku asked, widening his eyes as the new thought occurred to him. Naga was freed as a result of those stabs and the poison. Both of them are unlikely to last.

There were a few moments. The monsters were weakened after launching all-out attacks on each other. They were stumbling and appeared to be about to fall to the ground.

Clasp!

Riku used the tree behind him to slowly regain his footing despite his weakened legs.

[HP: 11/100]

As he failed to stop the severe bleeding, his health power was dwindling by one health point every minute. He would undoubtedly die if this continued. So his primary goal was to consume the Naga monster's flesh. He picked up that monster even though wendigo had been contaminated by a massive amount of poison.

"I-It's safe to eat the Naga monster's flesh as this poison was only in its fangs," he stuttered as he walked slowly towards the fighting area.

The battle between the monsters lasted about three minutes. Riku's health was down to eight points, and even minor damage could kill him.

When so much blood was pouring into the dried surface, the entire area smelled strongly of iron. Furthermore, two monsters shivered to the ground as a result of the attack they unleashed on each other.

Riku can't help but wonder if someone was saving him in this place at this point. He realized that every time he was about to die, someone would appear with a life-saving option.

"This isn't pure luck; it appears that someone is preventing me from dying yet..." He shook his head, telling himself that he shouldn't focus on that because he wasn't sure he could still survive.

Meanwhile, he arrived at the location and discovered that the monsters had already died. Well, it would benefit Riku if he was the one who could kill those monsters as he would gain experience by doing so.

"I shouldn't bother wasting my time here..."

Riku dashed towards the Naga, pulling out his wooden-handled sword. He knew it was too difficult to cut the monster's scales, so he used his strength to cut some flesh.

His blood splashed around him as he swung his sword, aiming at the monster's chest though it was the part with the least thick scales.

Swish!

The sword penetrated the monster's body with all of his remaining strength. He whirled the sword, allowing him to take some flesh.

Splash!

Blood with a rotten odor splashed on his face. Furthermore, he raised the one-centimeter flesh, which was green on the outside but red on the inside. How can he allegedly do this disgusting flesh? As it emitted a sticky, transparent liquid that he found difficult to swallow.

Gulp!

He swallowed his saliva and yelled, "I know this is disgusting, but I need to survive!" His voice echoed throughout the forest.

After that, he opened his mouth wide and closed his eyes, unable to see how disgusting this flesh was. He dropped the flesh into his mouth in an instant.

For some reason, he remembered the crow that eating a corpse.

The flesh entered his mouth. With its slimy texture, it was slid down through his sword.

'Fuckkkkkkk! Why I'm eating this?!

Riku had no idea how he was going to describe the flavor of this flesh. The only thing he could say was that the flesh was gross and the clear liquid tasted like shit.

...

His heartbeat was rapidly increasing, which he could feel in his chest. Aside from that, he was aware of a change within his body.

"What's wrong with my body? What's going on inside this body?"

Ding!

[The flesh you've consumed isn't enough to heal all of your wounds! +20 health points added! ]

[HP: 24/100]

Now that he could say he was surviving in that perilous situation, Riku couldn't imagine how he would deal with that flesh one more time.

"This is not the time to be picky!" Riku took three flesh that had one-centimeter cuts. He didn't require 100 percent health power; he just kept himself alive until the next occurrence.

+20

+20

+20

Riku recovered some of his strength to drink water as the taste of the flesh was staying inside his mouth.

"I would never do this again!"

One thing he figured out, a human would do anything just to survive or have the benefit.

...

Riku would stay in this forest for several days as his wound was still fresh.. On the other hand, he must find again Solomon in this forest in order to complete the quest.