Depthless Hunger

Chapter 192: Against the Myogenecon

For his next attempt at the Myogenecon, Kai took a little longer to prepare. If brute force wouldn't work, he would return to his roots as a hunter. He sneaked to the other side of the bluffs and set up a number of stake pits and tripwires. Those wouldn't be enough, of course, but he planned a more sustained offensive.

He sought the Acidlance Queen within him, then fed it the Acidspitter essence. That raised its power by a rank, and after some progress he could spit straight through the trunk of a tree.

When he lured the Myogenecon to his traps, he was careful not to reveal any of his plan, just harrying it with ranged qi. He didn't need to have bothered, because it just kept charging at him. It plunged straight into the largest of his pit traps, impaling itself multiple times on the stakes.

And then it kept thrashing, empty eyes staring at him in blind range, or perhaps hunger.

Kai spat one jet of acid, then another. It tore up one of the stakes with one hand and hurled it at him, very nearly connecting. He kept darting around the sides of the pit, covering the monster in more and more acid. Bones were beginning to come apart now as the acid ate away at the monster, he could almost see it falling apart...

Suddenly the Myogenecon grabbed its own arm, tore it off, and struck Kai across the face with the surprisingly long range. His skull made another unpleasant cracking sound and he went down. For several seconds his mind was on fire, then it coalesced into a powerful heartbeat reverberating through him.

If not for his trap, he would have died. Unfortunately, it wasn't holding: the Myogenecon roared and new muscles began spreading over its bones. Not just restoring it, building it larger and stronger.

This was the closest he had been. Kai let out a cry of rage and swung another Tyrant's Claw, almost severing another bone. For several seconds he didn't give ground, taking the punishing blows, pushing through the pain, and hitting back. They tore into one another and he almost tricked himself into believing it was an equal fight.

But then the Myogenecon roared back and began to swing, its blows even more ferocious than before. When it tore apart the last stakes, he retreated again.

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With all his other techniques proving ineffective, Kai returned to Void Gaze. He'd grown more comfortable with it, even though he hadn't been able to use it extensively. Since he didn't want to risk testing such a spiritual ability against a lethal opponent, he first tested with stones and branches.

Soon he could consistently freeze them in the air, keeping them in place so long as he kept his eyes locked. While he had Void Gaze active, he didn't seem to need to blink. He could feel something in his eyes changing, but decided not to go near any of the pools to look. Its appearance didn't matter, only its effect.

When he next confronted the Myogenecon he watched it charge him and waited until a safe distance to activate Void Gaze. The monster stopped cold, its empty skull eyes managing to convey shock, and then let out a roar. His Tyrant's Claw slashed straight across its chest and sent it tumbling backward.

He refused to let up, freezing it on the ground before it could rise and then bringing a Tyrant's Claw down overhead. The monster roared and managed to twist free as his eyes burned.

It chased him up one of the hills and Kai retreated until he could freeze it again, then he struck at one arm repeatedly until he severed it. This time the monster didn't try to use it as a weapon, just kept charging after him.

By the time they reached the top of the hill, the Myogenecon was looking ragged. It still struck with ferocious strength, but it was coming apart. He realized that if he pinned it down and used Isulfr's Bite, he could probably consume its essence. That would definitely be the safe decision, given how close it had come to killing him.

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But he needed to do more than just win. Against his better judgment, Kai knocked the Myogenecon over the side of the bluff.

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Several days later, when the Myogenecon had recovered, Kai tried to fight it without Void Gaze and got a painful reminder just how strong it was. But he retreated and tried again, then again. Now that he had a fallback, he didn't need to choose the most desperate tactics. It might have been his imagination, but the monster didn't seem to be pursuing him as aggressively as before.

Since he had run out of rations, Kai survived by taking bites out of the Myogenecon. The unnatural muscle tasted horrible, but they kept him moving. Sometimes it felt like he was running on pure hunger, not any natural laws at all.

He chased after breakthroughs, either in his Physique or his monstrous abilities. Several of his monstrous powers grew, but Physique remained locked at E-9, no matter how many times he tried to strain against the Myogenecon's raw strength.

Then, to his surprise, his Soul Level came through for him. He couldn't put his finger on the exact difference, not like cultivation or monstrous talents, yet when he shifted from Level 6 to Level 7 he could feel a difference. As if his body and soul were knitted together more closely, or as if the combat instincts that kept him alive had ingrained themselves deeper into his being.

When he finally beat the Myogenecon, it wasn't because of any other grand breakthroughs or brilliant strategies. It was everything. All the incremental improvements slowly added up, taking him from being overwhelmed by the monster to staying ahead of it. And once he started being able to fight it to a standstill, he could leverage his advantages and finally leave it broken in front of him.

Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, he retreated and trained for several days. The next time the Myogenecon was more cautious and fought smarter, but Kai had been learning its tendencies. Once again, he brought it down and tore it apart with Tyrant's Claws.

The third time he allowed himself to brawl a little more, exchanging blow for blow instead of using his full skill and ability. He still had broken bones and bruises from the fight, but his opponent fell apart first. Kai retreated and let himself heal up, focusing on Behemoth's Heart. Several more of his teeth had been lost, but they were already coming back in sharp.

When he approached the fourth time, the Myogenecon ran from him.

Kai chased it through the bluffs, and this time, when he brought it down, he let his mouth open wide and consume the monster's essence. Immediately he felt the raw power course through him and actually laughed at the feeling. He kept eating until there was nothing left.

Now that the battle was finally over, Kai sat down to figure out what came next. The new essence was obvious within him: Myogenecon's Strength. That couldn't be more redundant with Direboar's Strength than if he'd tried to copy it. Clearly he needed to make a decision, the question was how this unknown monstrous path worked.

His first thought was that the Myogenecon was the newer and stronger monster, so it should be primary. Yet when he considered feeding the Direboar to it... in his mental picture of his soul as an island, the Direboar statue felt so strong and firmly rooted. It was the very first monstrous power he'd gained and it had carried him all this way. Whereas the Myogenecon, for all that it had taught him while alive, was new essence that suggested more potential than refined strength.

So instead he fed the Myogenecon to the Direboar. Immediately he felt Direboar's Strength surge violently, almost as if it would explode, and he barely managed to contain it. His muscles actually clenched so tightly he was afraid they might tear, then the new strength soaked in. When it was done, he could feel that power smoothly flowing within him.

Kai had looked at his soul dozens of times while he struggled against the Myogenecon, always struggling to find some solution. This time he allowed himself to feel a bit of pride.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 259

Cultivation: Body Refinement 9% (103)

Physique Level: E-9 (107)

Soul Level: 7 (49)

Monstrous Hunger - IX (iota)

Behemoth's Heart - VI (zeta)

Direboar's Strength - IX (iota)

Isulfr's Bite - VI (zeta)

Tyrant's Claw - V (epsilon)

Void Gaze - IV (delta)

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Acidic Lance - IV (delta)

Infernotoad's Burst - V (epsilon)

Lizarkyl's Tail - II (beta)

Direurchin's Spikes - II (beta)

Sahagin's Lungs - II (beta)

Wallcrawler's Feet - I (alpha)

Beastbat's Wing - I (alpha)

Crystal Slime - I (alpha)

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His new strength was clear just by the numbers, and he definitely felt it in his body. He almost wished that he had another Myogenecon to test his strength against, just for fun. Monstrous Hunger had also increased to Iota rank and he wasn't sure exactly when that had happened.

Suddenly his stomach rumbled and he wasn't sure what kind of hunger it represented. Kai began running back to civilization, realizing just how much he wanted a normal meal. Living off the flesh of his opponent sounded great, but right now he'd kill for a fucking vegetable.