Caelum's chest still heaved from the burning sensation in his core. His once-white core had collapsed, remade into a black void, heavy yet endless like a starless night pulling all things inward.
Before he could catch his breath, the familiar voice of the Guide echoed inside his head.
"Congratulations, Last Heir. You have awakend The Predator's Maw and the Eclipse Core."
Caelum frowned. "Two gifts?"
"Yes. The Maw changes your body. No creature's flesh is beyond your bite, no toxin beyond your digestion. You can consume what others cannot, and in return, gain fragments of their instincts and traits."
Caelum unconsciously ran his tongue over his teeth. They felt sharper, stronger, like small blades hidden in his mouth.
"The Eclipse Core is rarer still. It is hunger given form. It devours not only what you eat but the very strength of those around you. The closer they are, the more it leeches. Weak foes crumble. Strong foes stagger. And you, Last Heir… grow heavier with power."
A slow grin spread across Caelum's face. "So… I eat their flesh, their energy, and even their breath of life. Perfect."
He clenched his fists, feeling raw power pulse through his veins. For the first time, he wasn't just surviving—he was becoming something terrifying.
"Well," he muttered, eyes gleaming, "what better way to test this than on beasts?"
---
He moved quietly through the forest, senses sharp. If his guess was right, this area was a spider nest. His nose twitched; the air stank faintly of silk and venom. And indeed, not long after, the first glimmer of pale legs appeared between the trees.
Caelum didn't hesitate. He stepped forward with a crazed smile, his shadow stretching unnaturally in the sunlight.
The spiders reacted instantly—six, maybe seven of them—skittering out with their sharp limbs raised. Before, this sight would have made him freeze. Now, his blood boiled with excitement.
They rushed him together, a storm of chitin and fangs.
Caelum didn't dodge. He welcomed them.
The first leg slammed toward him, and his hand shot out, catching it mid-swing. Bones in his arm cracked under the force, but his grin only widened. "Stronger, huh? Good…"
He twisted, and with a wet crunch, the limb tore free from its socket. The spider screeched, but Caelum was already moving. The Eclipse Core pulsed inside him like a heartbeat, and he felt strength trickle into his body as the spiders drew near, their movements faltering ever so slightly.
He lunged at the nearest one, teeth bared, and sank them into its neck. The flesh tore beneath his bite like soft fruit, hot blood spilling into his mouth. The Predator's Maw worked instantly—the metallic taste turning intoxicating, energy flooding his muscles. He ripped free a chunk and swallowed, eyes flashing with ecstasy.
"Hah… delicious."
Another spider lunged, fangs clicking. Caelum rolled aside, his foot snapping a branch up into his palm. He willed his energy through it, and the branch warped—stretching into a whip that lashed out and coiled around a spider's leg. With a savage yank, he smashed it into a tree, its carapace cracking.
But they weren't weak. Three came at him at once, legs slicing through the air like blades. He ducked under the first, let the second pierce his shoulder—blood spraying—only to step inside the third's reach and drive his hand straight through its eye.
Its body convulsed, and as it collapsed, he felt more energy bleed into him, the Eclipse Core drinking deeply.
The fight turned to a slaughter.
Caelum was no longer dodging desperately—he was weaving, dancing, his movements sharp and fluid. Every wound he took only fueled his frenzy; every bite he landed left him faster, stronger, hungrier. He tore limbs, crushed thoraxes, snapped necks with his bare hands. His laughter echoed in the trees, manic and wild.
The spiders hesitated. They were beasts, not fools, and what stood before them was no longer prey. It was a monster in human skin.
"Don't stop now," Caelum taunted, blood dripping from his chin. "You all wanted me dead, right? Then come—feed me more!"
And they did. Out of instinct, fury, or despair—they threw themselves at him. And one by one, they fell.
By the time silence returned to the forest, the ground was littered with twitching corpses. Caelum stood in the middle of it all, chest heaving, his face twisted in a smile so wide it almost hurt.
He looked down at the first spider—the one that had once hunted him. His mind drifted back to that day: his trembling body, his desperate flight, his shame at nearly dying like prey. And now…
Now, the hunter is him.
Caelum exhaled slowly. The grin faded into something calmer, almost satisfied. He had grown. He had become more.
He contemplated for a few moments before deciding he has no way to store the corpses, so he decided regretfully leave them there and move to a slightly further tree, in case they attract some powerful animals.
---
The sun had begun to set, its last light painting the forest in gold and shadow. Caelum found a tall tree and climbed to its highest branch, where the moon had just begun to rise.
He sat there quietly, blood drying on his skin, eyes fixed on the pale orb above.
For the first time in weeks, he felt no fear. Only curiosity.
"Hey, Guide," he murmured, leaning back against the trunk. "What do you think would happen if I cultivate the moon?"
> "…The moon?"
Caelum smirked. "Yeah. I've been drinking in the forest for so long, I know its taste by heart. But the moon—it's there every night, watching. Don't tell me it has no mana."
The Guide chuckled, cryptic as always.
> "Figure it out yourself. Just like you did with the trees."
Caelum's grin sharpened. "Fine then. Let's see what happens."
He reached out with his black core, stretching his will past the trees, past the air, toward that silver light in the sky. He didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know what it would change.
But as the first thread of cold lunar energy slipped into him, he realized one thing. If he can cultivate it, he'll shoot to the stars.