After reaching the underground chamber, he immediately stopped using Overdrive and dropped to the ground, breathing heavily as he rested his body, his back was fully drenched from sweat. Once his breath steadied, he started laughing loudly like a maniac. Vayu had endured countless hardships in his life, but never had he done something so mischievous, or something this reckless before, this was the first time he had done something like this in his life. The absurdity of it all overwhelmed him, he laughed until his sides ached. When the laughter finally faded, silence reclaimed the chamber.
The fire he had started earlier had long been extinguished. He quickly gathered wood and lit a new flame. Taking out the spices he had brought, he carefully rubbed them onto the rabbit meat, his movements smooth and experienced. Soon, the meat was set over the fire, and a faint look of excitement appeared on his face. He sat quietly, facing the flames the area was filled with the gentle crackling of burning wood from time to time, he added more sticks, to keep the fire alive and before long, the rich aroma of cooked meat spread through the air.
A smile appeared on Vayu's face as he grabbed one portion of the rabbit meat, placed it on a stone he had prepared in advance, and began eating eagerly, as he tasted it a smile appeared on his face
"Just like the old days" he muttered between bites. Suddenly, as he ate memories from his past resurfaced in his mind vivid and cruel and two lines of tears streamed down his face as he continued eating.
"That damned beast killed my entire village," he whispered, his voice trembling with hatred.
"I am not a man if I don't wipe out its entire clan" Vayu vowed.
He made his vow in silence, the fire reflecting the fury burning deep within his eyes. He sat in silence, staring straight ahead. His eyes were unfocused and his mind was drifting through countless memories of past incidents. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and he let out a long sigh as he knew he could not even harm that single beast, he was weak too weak to face the whole clan, he was angry but he could not do anything. His hand reached out to grab another piece of meat. But suddenly pain bloomed inside his body, at first he ignored it as it was not much, then it became noticeable, a dull ache which was getting sharper, deeper as if someone was stabbing his internal organs by small needles, until the pain exploded. Vayu clutched his stomach and collapsed on the ground, his body writhing uncontrollably. His hands and feet thrashed against the stone floor as panic appeared in his eyes and soon his eyes lost focus and white foam started coming out from his mouth, and his skin started turning blue.
He had eaten the flesh of a demonic beast, it was no different from being injected with an extremely potent venom. Hearing the frantic movements above , the black liquid beneath him stirred. It rose once more, sensing Vayu's in a life and death situation, its body wiggled and black colored tendrils appeared and wrapped around his body and dragged him downward. As the black liquid engulfed him, his blue skin slowly returned to its normal color. Large amounts of the dark substance were absorbed into his body. Though his face remained deathly pale, his breathing steadied.
It was the next day when Vayu woke up. He jolted upright, gasping for air and a foul stench burst from his mouth as he retched. Before he could process what had happened, a sharp ding echoed in his ears and a translucent status window appeared before his eyes.
Status Update:
First Demonic Beast Killed
Experience increased: 0 → 6
A new line blinked into existence below status
Demonic Energy: 0.3 / 0.3
Vayu's breath caught as his eyes shone with excitement, he stared at the unfamiliar stat. But the joy was short-lived, because he knew if he wanted to transform, he needed more demonic energy, much much more than that. He knew all this change had happened to him because of him eating the meat of the horned rabbit, without hesitation he rushed outside the chamber. The remaining piece were still there one was lying on the ground near the stone and the other was still hanging on the stick. He didn't cared about the sand, as he quickly grabbed the piece on the ground and ate it quickly, another wave of pain surged through him, but this time it was bearable, the agony lasted only five minutes, though his entire body was drenched in sweat by the time it faded. He immediately called the status window again.
Demonic Energy: 0.6 / 0.6
His eyes widened, as he devoured the third horned rabbit.
Moments later of bearing the third wave of pain the demonic energy rose again
Demonic Energy: 0.9 / 0.9
Vayu clenched his fists, his heart pounded with excitement. If a shapeshifter had witnessed someone gaining demonic energy simply by eating the flesh of a demonic beast, they would have captured Vayu without hesitation and tortured him until the method was revealed. Vayu was not the first person to consume demonic beast meat, but the flesh of demonic beast was extremely poisonous, even those with exceptional poison resistance found it no different from ordinary beast meat, incapable of granting demonic energy on its own. Only certain parts of a demonic beast were considered usable, primarily the demonic crystals embedded within their bodies, and most carcasses were traded to the Witch Realm, where such creatures were highly valued.
If not for the black liquid stabilizing Vayu's body and healing him from the brink of death, and if not for his Devourer System forcibly absorbing and refining the demonic energy, he would never have obtained it. Even shapeshifters who already possessed demonic energy did not use it recklessly, for them, it was a final resort, as it granted immense power at the cost of losing their sanity and not every shapeshifter was capable of wielding the demonic energy. There existed a long and dangerous process to extract demonic energy from demonic crystals, after which the energy was slowly transferred into some chosen individuals, who then spent years cultivating it within their bodies, step by step.
Suddenly, a bold idea surfaced in Vayu's mind, what if he directly ate the demonic crystals themselves? He hesitated for only a moment before determination hardened in his eyes and without wasting time, he fished the demonic crystals out of his pocket, stuffed them into his mouth, and began chewing. To his surprise, the crystals shattered like brittle glass and melted almost instantly on his tongue. In the next heartbeat, searing pain erupted throughout his body and Vayu dropped on his knees, clutching his stomach as demonic energy surged violently through him, ripping apart his blood vessels from the inside, his blood vessels busted and blood came out from his mouth, but he bit down hard on his lower lip and endured the agony without a scream.
Gradually, the rampaging energy began to converge toward the center of his body, gathering until a dense sphere of demonic energy formed within him. As it stabilized, the energy burst outward again, forcibly opening every meridian in his body and circulating through them in relentless cycles. Vayu's body had already been tempered by the spirits of countless beasts when he was transferred inside the red tube, and the black liquid had further reinforced his flesh, making it far sturdier than that of an ordinary human. Without this foundation, he would have been forced to regain demonic energy each time he used it by consuming beast meat, unlike mana, which naturally replenished itself inside his body. Now, with a demonic core formed within his dantian, his demonic energy no longer needed external replenishment, as it could recover on its own.
After absorbing demonic crystals his demonic energy increased again from 0.9 to 2.4 .