Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Conir was successfully hunted. However, the members of Legend Guild were all baffled by the sudden quest that was created.

When Minhyuk was already shaking in anger, the guild members came back to their senses as they checked the quest.

‘The humans created the chimera? Not Rufel……?’

‘Hunger……?’

The decision that they had made was simple. According to the quest window, the only thing that they needed to do right now was to listen to Conir’s story. So they listened as Conir began to speak in his slow and muffled speech.

[Cor…… dis…… Empire…… Peru….. Count……]

With the name that was mentioned, his story began.

***

There were three most influential people in Blackstone’s Korean server branch.

The Envoy of Incarnation, Kaistra.

Pharaoh.

And the tower’s unofficial successor, Barchel. He was considered as an unofficial successor to the tower since he was aiming to become the deputy chief in the Knight’s Tower.

The towers were spread all over the tower. There were even various types including the Chef’s Tower, Sculptor’s Tower, Bard’s Tower, Knight’s Tower and Mage’s Tower. However, there were only a few of the users who were affiliated with the towers. It was because the towers were a source of ‘strength’ as well as a ‘proof’ of one’s abilities.

A tower would usually have dozens of people affiliated with them. And each and every single one of these people would have a strength that transcended that of the general population. 

One could take the Athenae Temple as an example, after all it had a lot of similarities with the towers. In the Athenae Temple, only those who had achieved the highest rank would be allowed to enter and serve their faith. The same was true for the towers. 

In fact, some would even say that the people who belonged to the Knight’s Tower far exceeded the Knights of the Empire in terms of rank and strength. Some would even say that those from the Knight’s Tower could surpass the Great Sword Ellie.

And the two most outstanding towers among all of the towers were none other than the Mage’s Tower and the Knight’s Tower. The Knight’s Tower was located at Cordis Empire while the Mage’s Tower was located in Eivelis Empire. 

And right now, Barchel had received an order from Callauhel. He wanted him to bring the members of the Blackstone one by one to the Demon World. The first person to ever set foot in the Demon World was none other than Callauhel. And just like Beas Village, the Demon World was also a meeting place where users from all over the world could gather together.

However, the order that was given to Barchel was to make contact with Count Peru and do what he was told to do. He had told him that he hoped that he would know what he would do by himself once they met. While following his orders, Barchel was able to learn about the ‘Essence of Flavor’.

But right now, he was standing in front of Count Peru who had his chin high up in the sky.

Count Peru was a respected and envied noble in the Cordis Empire. However, Barchel knew the sinister plot that he was hiding as well as the cruel nature that he had kept under wraps. Right now, he was talking about the Essence of Flavor.

“The Essence of Flavor is a power that emerged from the ‘Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony’ that Great Mage Rafielt had left in this world.” 

“……Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony?” 

The Great Mage Rafielt?

Barchel had spent a vast amount of silver, gold and treasures to get close to the Count. This was the reason why he could talk to him with a leisurely tone.

“Yes. He hid the Seven Deadly Sins all over the world. And its powers were expressed through the artifacts Great Mage Rafielt had also left behind. For example, one of the Seven Deadly Sins ‘Wrath’ that he created could be expressed through the ‘Treasure Box of Wrath’. Those who entered the sphere of influence of this artifact would be influenced by Wrath and would not be able to hide their anger and fury. Just like that, Great Mage Rafielt had created seven artifacts that corresponded with the sins that he created. Six among the seven of them had already been destroyed from this world. But there was only one. There was one artifact that had been left behind.”

“What is it?”

“It’s none other than the Cup of Essence.”

“Cup of Essence……?”

“Yes. The Cup of Essence will not contain any liquid when it’s first obtained. However, there’s a simple method to fill this Cup of Essence.”

“How?”

“It’s with pure ‘hope and desire’. We…… no.” 

Count Peru corrected his words as he handed him a teacup.

“You know that I’m making chimeras in secret.” 

Barchel shook his head.

“It’s none other than the Cup of Essence that’s creating the chimeras inside the ‘Dungeon of Sin’. What the Cup of Essence needed the most was a man’s pure desire and longing. If there are a lot of people who purely longed and craved for water near the Cup of Essence, then the cup will be filled with water.” 

“Ho?” 

“When do you think would be the time when they purely long for something?”

“……Who knows.” 

“It’s when the children are feeling extreme hunger.” 

“Hunger……” 

“Children will crave purely for something when they are hungry. I want to eat something delicious. I want to eat food. I won’t wish for anything if I just have one. The hungrier the children get, the more essence we get. And the essence that we get has more ‘power’ than any other force. And when their hunger reaches its peak, they will receive power from Rafielt’s ‘Dungeon of Sin’ and they will become the horribly powerful ‘Chimera’.” 

“……What the hell is in that dungeon?” 

“It’s an extremely ferocious dragon. It’s a huge dragon that’s over 20 meters long. The dragon will devour the children and the children will be transformed in the dragon’s belly into chimeras by the ‘desire and longing’ that they had built up so far. And when the dragon finishes up preying on that longing, it will vomit the children out. The children who came out of the dragon’s belly will then become a fully functional weapon called a chimera.” 

“Interesting. But……” 

The Cup of Essence was an interesting artifact. But Barchel was more curious about the Essence of Flavor. The Essence of Flavor was literally the essence that came from the cup.

“What powers does the Essence of Flavor have?”

“It is said that it can let a person rise above their limitations. So, do you want the Essence of Flavor? Can you do what I ask you to do, then?”

Ring!

The quest window suddenly popped up in his mind and Barchel immediately confirmed the contents. After he checked the Essence of Flavor in the rewards, he was shocked by what was written next.

‘Y, you can give me an evolution to a legendary class?!’ 

He was shocked beyond belief. Currently his class was the secret class, Tower’s Successor. He became the unofficial successor thanks to this class’ special characteristics. He was even able to reach this point thanks to the infinite support of the tower. But compared to the legendary classes and God classes, his limits were still clear as day. He was not able to grow anymore.  There were a variety of sword stages that a user could climb on and surpass. And he wanted to cross those thresholds If he drank the Essence of Flavor, then his Tower’s Successor could evolve into a legendary class. This meant that his skills and stats would change and he would have a chance to grow stronger once more.

‘What a great item!’ 

This was the information that he had gotten from Callauhuel. The strongest power in the country that was affiliated with Blackstone, which was Kaistra and Pharaoh, had either turned away from them or collapsed on themselves. It was clear to him what Callauhel wanted to do to him. He wanted to turn him into the best in the country.

Barchel was now blinded by greed. He clearly knew that what Count Peru was doing was something that couldn’t be done. After all, he was experimenting with children and it was an extremely atrocious deed. He also knew that Count Peru was selling those chimera as weapons as he held hands with the demons.

But Barchel still accepted the quest. 

‘You want me to hunt the dragon?’ 

Hunt the dragon. That was what was in the quest.

You want me to hunt the dragon that’s creating the chimeras?

According to Count Peru, the dragon would no longer produce chimeras after it preyed on 30 people. That was the reason why he had to kill him. However, he was told that he needed to feed the dragon a person with high holy power before doing so. It was not a woman, but a man. He was told that it should be a man with pure and high holy power. If he did that after the dragon swallowed the 30th child, then the child would become the most powerful chimera. Once the dragon was killed, it would lay huge eggs. The existence that would come out of the egg will become a dragon that can produce and make chimeras again.

“We’ve already captured a male priest as a sacrifice. For Sir Barchel, all you needed to do is wait for the man and the child to be eaten before entering the dungeon. That’s when you will hunt the dragon. Anyway, my goal is to produce chimeras so it doesn’t matter whatever you do.” 

“Good.” 

Barchel smiled as he asked.

“Ah. Then, how many times has this happened already? Killing the dragon?” 

“Yes. There’s a guy who did this before you. He was also a chimera but not too long ago, I sent him temporarily to someone who needed him. He was the most powerful chimera that I have ever created. He was also a natural sword genius before he became a chimera.” 

“Hoo. A sword genius…… May I know his name?”

Count Peru smiled confidently at him.

“It’s Conir.” 

***

Rats and cockroaches were swarming around the five starving children.

Count Peru had raised these five children to make them into chimeras. The oldest among the children was named Haze. She was a 19-year-old girl.

Hard bread and water was distributed to them everyday. However, the bread was coated with an alchemic potion that could ‘promote hunger’. The alchemic potion would always make them hungry but nevertheless, the only thing that they could do was to keep eating. They couldn’t control themselves with their hunger and craving.

“Hungry……” 

“If I could just have a piece of meat……” 

“S, something delicious….. I want to try something delicious before I die.” 

The children that were brought here were either kidnapped or bought from the slave market. They were chosen to become chimeras so they needed to have the ‘talent’. That way, a great and powerful chimera would be born.

Then, at that moment……

Creaaaaak—

The huge door opened and one of the soldiers kicked a man inside. 

Bang!

“What a loud man!” 

“Aaaaaaaaaack! S, save me! Help me!”

This was the first time that an adult male was sent inside. The man stuck to the door as he continued to scream. He was dressed in a priest robe that was engraved with the symbol of the Athenae Religion. The priest’s robe was covered with dirt and kick marks.

“A, Athellujah! God, please save me from this mess and mete out the divine punishments towards these sinners…..” 

He trembled as he continued to pray.

God? There’s no God.

That was what Haze believed. If there was a God, then they wouldn’t have become lab rats trapped in bars. She was someone who grew up fast despite her age.

Tomorrow was the day when everyone here would lose their emotions and turn into a chimera. In other words, tomorrow would be their death.

Then, at that moment……

Creaaaaak—

The huge door opened again.

“These children are the ‘materials’ for the chimera.”

An unpleasant man suddenly came in.

In just a glance, Haze knew that the man was a foreigner.

The foreigners that lived with immortality!

And that foreigner had called them ‘materials’. The man looked around before stopping his gaze at the man that just came in.

“So this is the ‘sacrifice’?” 

“That’s right.” 

The man, who looked to be a knight, nodded his head as the foreigner asked him a question. 

“It’s been quite some time since Count Peru’s experiment had started. It seems like the number of knights and guards are no less than the knights in the Knight’s Tower.” 

“Hahahaha. If we get caught, then won’t we be dead?” 

When they turned around, the doors closed again.

“Sooooob…… Sa, save me…… I don’t want to die. God Athenae, please save me.” 

When she saw the priest was still terrified, Haze slowly stood up and approached him. 

“It’s alright. It’s alright. It’s not that scary.” 

Haze smiled wryly. If there really was a ‘hero’ in this world, then they should have been rescued long ago. If there was a ‘God’ in this world, then they would have never been here. Haze only told him that because there was nothing they could do but get over that fact. It was because she did not believe in any of them. 

“Th, thank you……” 

The trembling priest slowly raised his head.

“Wh, what is your name, child?” 

She turned to look at him as she answered.

“Haze.” 

“It, it’s a pretty name. May God Athenae be with you.” 

After the priest tapped his head and his chest with his fingers, he clasped Haze hands as he started praying.

Haze then looked down at him.

“What’s your name?” 

The man raised his head before replying.

“Minhyuk.” 

***