The dancing black flame entranced Peace.
Peace slowly approached it and reached out his front claw, touching it. Just like he expected, despite having no essences and therefore surely an open slot, he was unable to absorb it.
But it was something else about this essence… something strange about it. While Peace couldn't absorb the essence, his instincts were screaming at him to clamp his jaws around the wild, corrupted flame.
Regardless of the clear potential danger of the unknown, Peace was driven by curiosity and a rapacious appetite.
He opened his small jaw as wide as he could and, in a swift motion, lunged forward and swallowed the center of the fire. Peace expected the fire to burn or something, but instead it tasted sweet and juicy… it was a flame in form only, not function.
It tasted as if he were drinking a strawberry milkshake.
The taste was healing… maybe literally too. He could feel his body repairing itself, mending his injuries.
Not to mention Peace felt… full… like he'd finally satiated his unending desire to eat.
[???] — (condition to unlock 9/100)
'9?'
That was odd…
It seemed devouring corpses wasn't the only way to achieve this hidden condition; he could eat essences, too.
It made him a little happy that he actually had a use for the main power component of the game, but he still hadn't found a way to get stronger. He was still stuck at 10 for each main stat category, and the hidden categories probably didn't change either.
Hopefully, the weird question mark trait would alleviate that serious problem… If it didn't, then he was utterly screwed.
Peace looked down at the gigantic body of the Rank 3 beast he was standing on.
The Sun Drinker wasn't the strongest Rank 3, but it was by no means the weakest. It was much like the Titanboa in appearance. Only that it was larger; its scales were tougher, and it had spikes on its back near its head and at the end of its tail. Instead of fangs, it had a gaping mouth with rows of jagged, backward-facing teeth, similar to those of a leatherback turtle.
Its mouth was the reason for its name… the main way it consumed prey was almost as if drinking them.
It was no wonder it had been able to kill six people… Though, it was a little strange that these corpses were outside of it and not well, in its stomach, but it wasn't like the Sun Drinker was incapable of that carnage without swallowing.
It still had its abilities and its monstrous body that it could sling around. Then, enhanced by the corruption, its raw body only became deadlier.
Peace wondered for a moment if maybe the rest of the group chasing him had died as well, all swallowed by the Sun Drinker, but he doubted it.
While the Sun Drinker was strong, it wasn't that strong… relatively, of course.
In any case, why had it not consumed the dead bodies? At least the five who belonged to the first group.
Unless Peace assumed wrong, these parties hadn't faced this beast together…
'Wait… did they face this beast at all?'
Thinking about it logically, it made no sense that neither the corpses of the dead were consumed nor were their dropped weapons retrieved by the survivors.
There was definitely a stronger, more ferocious beast at work here. Those sounds he heard while hiding in the tree were proof of it.
'Does it even matter?'
He'd survived, and his pursuers had been either killed or chased off. Even more than that, he'd gotten a free Rank 3 essence and learned he can eat them.
'Not to mention the free top-tier dessert!'
Even if Peace felt full, he could tell his body was capable of breaking down and absorbing much more than it could mathematically handle.
It was a slow process, but he used one of the gaping gashes in the side of the Sun Drinker to get to its more tender and welcoming core, literally fitting his whole body inside the dead abomination.
It was still a little tricky to chew, with him being a Rank 9 and the beast being a Rank 3, but his teeth seemed to be extra durable and capable of rending most soft flesh.
Peace chomped and chewed on the divine-tasting meat until he heard a familiar voice in his head.
[???] — (condition to unlock 10/100)
Peace smiled, then all of a sudden had a similar feeling to the night before… almost like an instinctual warning. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew he was going to swap back to the body of the Night Elf soon…
He still didn't understand the connection between this tiny monster and the Night Elf, but now he knew there was a connection.
While it wouldn't happen in the next few seconds, Peace didn't have much time.
Knowing the weapons lying in droves around would be retrieved sooner or later, he couldn't just let a Mythic weapon escape his clutches so easily.
Hastily, Peace made his way out of the belly of the beast and over to the Shadow Dancer. He gripped the hilt of the formless blade and slowly dragged it to the edge of the tree with the deep gash and threw it inside. Then, he laid it down against the wall and hid it from obvious view.
'Surely they won't check in the tree…'
With not much time remaining, Peace climbed up the tree and found the spot where the leaves were densest, then wrapped himself around the thickest branch near him and dug his claws and talons into the black, corrupted wood.
A moment later, the dizzy spell was upon him…
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar dark brown ceiling. Color had returned to his vision.
A nice, cold pillow lay under his head, supporting his neck.