Devourer

Chapter 20: End of a Tribe

As I looked down at the headless corpse of the stronger troll, I could feel myself start to salivate at the prospect of the meal. Humans give more essence depending on their strength. From what I can tell a gold rank adventurer was worth ten normal schmucks you pluck off the street. This one is strong, I wonder what powers he will give me…

I cut its chest open and began eating even though the body smelt horrible, the blood still smelt delicious. In fact, it tasted better than humans and even that giant mantis. From what I can tell the stronger the creature the better it tastes. Interestingly your average run-off-the-mill humans are becoming more tasteless the more I grow. I guess my tastes will change as I grow, I suppose it’s a way for my body to tell me what to eat. Maybe it’s my body’s way of telling me to avoid Junk food…

As I bit down on the heart of the troll after breaking its ribcage with some difficulty I savored the sweet sanguine fruit. I immediately felt my body change as soon as I swallowed it. The heart was big, about twice the size of a human heart, which was great. The human hearts were getting a little too small for my liking…

Troglodytam Minoris Essence Assimilated

Achieved [Troglodytam Minoris Genome] Level: 1 / 10

[Troll Regeneration] acquired

[Troll Bone Strength] acquired

[Troll Muscle Density] acquired

Augmenting…

[Troll Regeneration] has improved [Regeneration] effectiveness

[Greater Regeneration] acquired

[Troll Regeneration] has slightly improved [Armour Regeneration] effectiveness

[Troll Bone Strength] has improved bone material strength

[Troll Bone Strength] has improved [Chitinous Bone Blades] material strength

[Troll Bone Strength] has improved [Bone Spines] material strength

[Greater Bone Spines] acquired

[Troll Bone Strength] has improved [Greater Keratin Plating] material strength

[Calci-Kera Plating] acquired

[Troll Muscle Density] has improved muscle strength

Well, that was useful, I look down and see that my armor plating has taken on a less reflective sheen. When I ate the other two I ended up with more of the same and ended up at level two of the troll genome. I was still wondering what my next core evolution would give me. Each time I get it, I get some major improvement. The last one was [Metabolic Boost] which made me move much faster than before as well as greatly improving my physical strength. I wonder if that whole village will give me enough for my next core evolution after all these trolls seemed to be around the right strength of creatures that would constitute suitable prey.

Previously as I was about to kill the kid I suddenly realized that I could, in theory, keep eating his body and get essence that way indefinitely... well kind of indefinitely. Cecilia warned me that regeneration abilities have limits, if the creature runs out of nutrition the regeneration can become weakened and even disabled. 

However, I also know the essence in the rest of the body is very low. The vast majority of it lies in the heart, the body has trace amounts at best. My best guess was that the body holds about less than 20% of the essence while the heart holds the rest. This means that the difference in essence amongst the same species is most pronounced in the heart. Which is quite the difference considering that the heart takes one or two bites while the rest of the body takes a while to eat if the body is of significant size. 

Also honestly I didn’t want to sit there munching on the kid’s limbs for two days or something, that would take forever… and the thought was also slightly disturbing. I would be better served hunting the rest of the village, I mean they have to leave to hunt for food at some point. Besides this isn’t the only troll there’s a whole village back there, it’s not like these are the only trolls left alive here in the mountains. Even if I take out the village there must be more of them on this mountain, this place is huge, if I desperately wanted more troll essence I could just go look for another village. I haven’t actually gotten any specific genome to level 10 yet so I have no idea if it’s worth it. The demands for each genome level grow exponentially so it’s not that easy to complete the genome. The closest I have is the human genome which is sitting at level 8 now. I think I need a steady diet of gold rank and above adventurers to make level 9 and 10 happen...

Once I finished up my meal I reengaged my invisibility and headed back to the village. I continue to stalk the village waiting for nightfall, then I notice a female troll arguing with another group of trolls. She keeps pointing in the direction of the hunting party.

Hmmm… it’s risky but if I eavesdrop on them I might be able to come up with a plan to separate them and pick them off. I really don’t want to fight all of the warriors in this camp at once, and I don’t want to spend weeks here waiting for them to become desperate enough to leave the camp for food.

I see at least ten more warriors along with a few more women and children wandering around. I examine their strength and I realized that the remaining warriors all looked weaker than the first one I fought. Hmmm, that’s lucky no wonder I had such a hard time…

I descended the cliff that I used to watch over the camp and flew right over the crudely constructed wooden walls. I could sense where all the trolls were around me from their footsteps and I made sure not to get too close.

When I got within ear shot of the conversation I began to listen closely.

“They not returned, child out there, danger!” the female troll exclaimed in panic.

“Head warrior with them, they safe, head warrior good at killing. If head warrior die, son dead. If head warrior find danger, he hide, keep son safe.” the other warrior replied impatiently.

“No, you go find trail, see if safe.” the female demanded.

“Grrr… fine. I go check, but I no go far, dark coming, dangerous.” the warrior consented after some hesitation.

“Guard camp, I go. If do not return soon, keep watch whole night. No sleep.” the warrior barked at the nearby warriors.

The other trolls all grumbled and stomped their feet. Clearly unhappy at the prospect of potentially losing a night’s sleep. The warrior growled as he approached one of the grumbling trolls. The warrior grabbed the troll by the neck and slammed its forehead into the other troll’s face. The troll yelped as it clutched its now bleeding nose.

“Obey, or more pain.” the warrior barked at the warriors, who now although still grumbling hefted their weapons and started moving around to secure the camp.

“Hide young, there, chief hut. Young like scurry, dangerous.” the warrior instructed the female and she nodded with a grunt. I watched as the troll began to leave and I got an idea as I watched the females herd the children to a particularly large shack.

Well, this guy looks to be strongest amongst the warriors and by the looks of it, he’s probably second in command. If I decapitate their command structure the trolls will become disorganized, a confused enemy is a dead enemy…

So I followed the other warrior as he ventured out alone, I just waited for him to get out of sight and out of the camp as he turned the camp. Immediately I pounced on him from behind and used my four arms to push him on the ground, pinning him there. The troll shouted in panic and I immediately bit down on the back of his neck, tearing out the segment of the spine. His body immediately stilled as I raised a blade and hacked his head off.

I could hear shouts of alarm from the camp as the troll’s shout must have been overheard. Well, it doesn’t matter, I want them to panic anyway. So I quickly cut out the troll’s heart and toss it into my mouth. With my new upgrades, their tough bodies now put up less resistance to my attacks. I disappeared into invisibility as soon as I finished my quick meal, found a perch high above, and waited. Sure enough, a group of three warriors rounded the corner and froze at the sight of the mutilated body.

The trolls began gibbering in fear as they looked around the surrounding cliffs as if expecting something to pounce down from above. They eventually lost their nerve and began running back to the camp.

I timed my next attack well, the three ran back in a disorganized fashion with two of them running ahead of the third. When the two turned the corner I pounced on the last one and I tried to hack its head off in one swing. This one realized there was an attack, but with my now improved strength, I cut through its neck easily as its head rolled onto the floor. I intentionally used my tail to knock the head out around the corner and reengage my invisibility as I went around the corner to see how the trolls would react.

The trolls turned when they realized that their fellow was gone and when they saw the decapitated head they panicked. They turned running back to the camp in terror.

With that, I turned back around and began eating my new meal. From the meal I reached the troll genome level 3, if I recall I will get the pathogen for troll soon. If I can acquire that, the trolls are finished, I can just incapacitate the lot of them with a few well-placed spines. The only question was how do I get them to separate? I probably won’t win an all-out brawl, there are still around a dozen warriors, and who knows if the females knew how to fight…

Then I got a flash of inspiration, I remembered there was once a young mother in a slum I lived in for a while. She had a young daughter about five or six years old. A group of thugs had coerced her into giving them sexual favors by threatening her young daughter. Saying something along the lines of what they couldn’t get from her they will get from her daughter… or something like that.

If I could grab some of the kids, would it be enough to bait the trolls to separate? If I lured the warriors out of the camp I could kill the women and the kids, hopefully, that would be enough for me to get the pathogen. Then again a smarter enemy would abandon the kids I took. A more sentimental one would send half their forces out and leave some back to defend the camp. 

A stupid one would send everything…

It was worth a shot and these trolls don’t seem that smart. 

They couldn’t even talk in complete sentences...

The worst-case scenario is I end up with some snacks and I have to come up with a different plan. So I reengaged my invisibility and headed back to the camp. By now the camp was in a panic, as far as they know there is some unknown monster that can kill them quite easily… and that monster was now very close to camp…

All the adult trolls were now standing in the middle of the camp discussing and arguing in a panic. These trolls really were stupid… they didn’t even leave anyone to keep watch. I could have just charged in here if I was strong enough to take them all. What the hell is the point of defensive fortifications if you don’t defend them? What were the walls just there to stop the kids from wandering off?

I could see there was now an older troll wearing a large headdress standing in the center arguing with the other trolls. This one looked to be strong in his prime, but now his mortality was catching up to him. He’s weaker than the head warrior, I guess the trolls needed a leader. Someone had to give these idiots direction…

No sign of the kids but I think they were in the big shack as mentioned by the troll earlier. So I headed to the rear of the shack and I heard a female troll speaking to the children on the other side of that wall. Well time to see if this works, I ready myself and transform two of my arms into blades. I retreat a bit and then charge right into the shack, smashing right through the poorly constructed wooden wall. The moment I entered I slash at the female troll sending her head rolling onto the floor.

The children all scream in terror at my appearance, I hear the trolls outside all shout in alarm at the sound of me smashing into the rear of the shack. I transform all my arms into hands and I grab four of the children by the head. I immediately retreat out of the hole I made and zoomed out to the side of the shack. Pausing for a moment to let the trolls see that I had four of the children. The troll’s eyes widened at the sight of me and I went over the wooden walls using [Gravitic Hover]. I sped up the side of the cliff and stopped a ledge. I turned to see the trolls pointing up at me in fear and anger. I let out a roar and brought the children towards a nearby wall. I immediately crushed the heads of three of the children in my hands, leaving one alive. 

The child shrieked as I chucked it against a nearby cliff face. It yelped as it slammed hard against the stone surface, falling onto the ground stunned. I grabbed one of its hands and nail it to the wall with a spine. I do the same for all its limbs and soon it’s pinned against the wall. It sobs in fear as it looked at the corpses of the three other children. I felt a little bad but I knew I needed to get more powerful. 

Cecilia told me the trolls were here because the humans drove them into the mountains. They were once forest trolls but the humans here eventually kicked them out of the forest. If he struggled to kill that troll earlier then what would he do if he runs into a hero-rank human? As usual, the desire for survival crushed any lingering guilt in my mind. Well, I could at least make the death quick, but for now, I need it to cry so that it would draw the trolls here. I engaged my invisibility and headed to the edge of the cliff and I saw the trolls taking an alternate path to where I was. They couldn’t climb up the steep incline so they had to take a different path, although it looks like they knew exactly where they were going. I guess the area around their camp has been mapped beforehand so they knew how to navigate it. It looks like it would take them about half an hour to get here so I guess should eat the dead kids first.

As I ate I heard the whimpering and sobs from the child that was pinned against the wall and I once again felt that gnawing guilt in my heart. I turned to look at the child, I saw fear and despair in its eyes as it looked at the corpse I was munching on. I guess eating it in front of the kid is a bit cruel... 

I turned around and began eating the corpse with my back to the child. I didn’t want to leave with the corpse but at least the kid didn’t need to watch. Eventually, I finished my meal and I started to hear the troll’s shouts nearby. I engaged my invisibility to a surprised gasp from the child and I went over to the edge of the cliff. I saw the trolls were almost here and I noted they brought all the warriors, even the chief was here. I looked back down at the camp below and sure enough, I saw only women and children looking up at the cliff. 

I waited until the trolls reached my location, once the trolls ran onto the ledge I’m on I immediately began descending the cliff. I pounced on the first female I saw and removed her head from her shoulders. The other females and children all screamed in terror. There weren’t that many of them, only about four females and three children. I charged from troll to troll removing their heads. They tried to resist but the females were physically weaker than the males, they probably didn’t spend much time training to fight which meant they were much easier for me to kill.

When I finally killed those remaining in the camp I saw the trolls on the ledge shouting as they gazed down at their home in horror. The whole attack lasted less than 5 minutes and as I looked at the trolls. Some were sprinting back down the path, some were trying to climb down the steep cliff in an effort to get down faster. 

Then I saw one of the trolls attempting to climb down slipped and it fell down the twenty-meter drop. Curious on whether it survived I headed over to see it lying in a crumpled heap, limbs all twisted at unnatural angles. It was dead… huh… I thought it would survive… 

I cut open its chest and found out why… The shock from the fall had damaged its heart… the organ was still intact but it was lying in a pool of blood inside its chest cavity. I ripped the organ out and saw the back of the heart was crushed from the fall. I guess if the heart is too heavily damaged it can’t regenerate. I need to keep this in mind for myself...

Protect my heart and protect my brain…

The trolls still climbing down looked down in shock at the death of their comrade. Well if the fall could kill this one… I raised my head and took aim at the three others who were stupid enough to attempt the descent. I shot a barrage of bone spines at them and it caused them to lose their grip and fall.

Crunch, crunch, crunch…

I looked down and saw three more were dead. Well, that was four warriors dead with next to no effort...

I ate the one heart in my hand and I opened up their chests to eat their hearts, gaining level 4 of their genome at the third heart. Still no pathogen I guess I need another level of the genome…

I’m pressed for time so I just went from body to body carving out hearts and eating them. I’ll be back for the bodies later, for now, I need that upgrade to make the coming fight easier. Finally, on the last female, I heard the voice in my head...

Troglodytam Minoris Essence Assimilated

Achieved [Troglodytam Minoris Genome] Level: 5 / 10

[Troglodytam Pathogen] acquired

I looked back at the trolls and I saw them rushing down the path they came from. Hang on, I don’t see the chief… 

I looked back up the cliff and I saw the chief cradling the child I left there in his arms. He looked down at me, roiling hatred in his eyes. Then I saw him turn away and began heading in the opposite direction of the path down. Trying to run? I don’t think so…

I sped towards the cliff and clambered up the side of the cliff as fast I could. With [Gravitic Hovor] and my four limbs I ascended the cliff rapidly. When I reached the ledge I saw the chief freeze as it turned and looked at me. He put the child down and the child looked up at the chief fearfully.

“Run.” the chief said as he took out a makeshift axe made of wood and that black stone carved into a crude blade. 

The child turned and ran, but I shot a poisoned spine at the child. The chief couldn’t react in time and the spine struck the child in the back. The child yelped but kept running with the spine in its back. The chief growled as it raised its axe and charged me. Going to buy time with your sacrifice? Pointless, but I don’t think the chief knows the child is already as good as dead…

I fired off a barrage of spines at the chief, he raised an arm to block the spines and he raised his axe to cut me down. I turned invisible and left a decoy behind as I retreated back a few meters. The chief's axe slammed into my unresisting decoy and it shattered into motes of light. I rematerialized and the chief looked up at me in confusion. 

Then he coughed and black blood dribbled from his lips…

He fell to his knees and used his axe as support. He looked at the arm that was covered in my spines and saw the flesh that was turning black. Black veins were radiating from the wounds as his flesh started to necrose. 

“Poison…” the chief said as more black blood dribbled down his chin.

“Not exactly, but close enough,” I replied sarcastically.

The chief looked behind him and saw the child already convulsing on the ground, the cocktail of diseases in my bone spine already ravaging its body. The trolls were finished, with the troll pathogen at my disposal, they are no threat to me. Their entire combat strategy relies on them taking damage and dealing damage in return. Trade hits because they can recover from the damage. But they can’t recover from my attacks anymore…

One scratch from my bone spines now means death by a very lethal disease and they don’t even have shields. I can deal with the rest easily now, I looked down at the dying Troll Chieftain and I saw the raw hatred in its eyes as it slowly succumbed. The chief spat at my direction in a final show of defiance but the black blood only splattered on the ground without reaching me.

Good effort…

But not good enough...