I was still sitting on the ground, my breath still not completely steady. My body was full of wounds, scratches on my arms, shoulders, waist, and worst of all, the puncture wound on my left thigh that still slowly bled.
But I didn't have time to rest for too long.
My eyes gazed at the carcass of the boar leader in front of me. That large body lay still, blood still pooled around its wounded head. Its broken tusk lay separated a few meters away, like a small monument to the earlier battle.
I knew what I had to do now. The same as I always did after killing a monster in this forest.
Eat its flesh.
That thought no longer made me hesitate or feel disgusted as it once did. It had become routine. Part of how I survive. How I become stronger.
And this leader... this creature that had just almost killed me with its earth magic... surely possessed power I could take.
I forced my body to stand. My injured left leg protested with a sharp throb, but I ignored it. With a limping gait, I approached the leader's carcass.
Up close, its size looked even larger. Its body was full of muscle, its skin thick and coarse.
I knelt beside it, ignoring the pain that erupted in my thigh from the movement. My nails, still pale purple, were now slightly darkened from the remaining traces of poison.
With one quick motion, I drove my nails into the boar's belly, into the part with the thickest flesh. Its hide offered resistance, but my nails were sharper. With a few pulls, I managed to tear the skin and expose the dark red meat inside.
The smell of fresh blood immediately assaulted my nose. A strong, metallic scent mixed with a strange, earthy scent. Probably because of the earth magic that flowed within this creature's body.
I took a piece of the flesh with my trembling hand. The meat was still warm and fresh. Its texture was rougher than the lizard meat I had eaten and denser.
Without further thought, I put it in my mouth.
Not as tasty as I imagined, but also not as bad. There was a metallic taste from the blood, mixed with a heavier flavor, like eating something that had been buried in the earth for a long time.
Well... it seems I'd make a decent raw food reviewer. Wild boar meat, strong earthy flavor, chewy texture, long-lasting metallic aftertaste. Three stars out of five.
I almost laughed at that stupid thought.
My tongue had indeed adjusted. But that didn't mean I enjoyed it. Someday, if I ever get out of this cursed forest, the first thing I'll do is eat properly cooked meat. With spices, and salt. And maybe vegetables not covered in mud.
I kept chewing and forced myself to swallow.
After a few bites, I paused briefly, waiting for the reaction that would surely come.
And it came.
Heat.
Starting from my stomach, as usual. But this time... it was different from when I ate the lizard.
This heat wasn't piercing, and it didn't burn. It was more like... a warmth that spread slowly. Like drinking something warm on a cold night, but far more intense.
"Ngh..."
I groaned softly, pressing my hand against my stomach.
The heat began to spread from my stomach to my chest, then to my arms and legs. I could feel it flowing through my blood vessels like a small, warm river, touching every part of my body.
But there was no torturous pain like when I ate the lizard or the bear.
Back then, it felt like my body was being dismantled and forcibly rebuilt. Every cell screamed in agony, and my bones felt like they were cracking and fusing back together.
But now?
Now it felt more like... an adjustment. Like my body was learning something new, not being forced to change completely.
I fell sideways, lying on the ground with ragged breath. But it wasn't the breath of pain, more like the breath of someone who had just run a sprint. Tired, but not painful.
The heat kept spreading. I could feel it in the tips of my fingers, in the tips of my toes, even in my face. My whole body felt warm, as if wrapped in a comfortable, invisible blanket.
Then a new sensation emerged.
Inside my chest, right below the breastbone, something began to... gather.
Not like an organ or a muscle. This was more abstract. Like energy that wasn't there before, now beginning to form and coalesce into something tangible.
I could feel it. Foreign energy that wasn't part of my body before, but now felt like it had always been there.
Warm. Stable. And slowly rotating inside my chest like a small, glowing orb.
The heat in my body began to subside, but the energy in my chest remained. Stable. Constant. Like a second heart that didn't beat but was still alive.
I raised my right hand in front of my face, staring at it. No visible change, still the same hand with pale purple nails. But I could feel something different flowing beneath my skin.
Not just blood. Something else. Some kind of energy.
I checked the wound on my left thigh, then the tears on my hand, and the other scratches on my body.
Just as I suspected.
They were all healed. No open wounds remained. Even the deeper scratches had closed perfectly, leaving only thin lines on the skin.
This always happened every time I ate the flesh of a monster I hadn't eaten before. My body regenerated completely, no matter how severe the wounds.
I lay there for a few more minutes, letting that new energy settle within my body.
The heat was completely gone now, replaced by a sensation of... strength. A calm but real strength. Like knowing there was something inside my body I could call upon anytime.
Slowly, I tried to sit up.
I looked at the boar leader's carcass again, then at the carcasses of its two underlings lying not far away.
A strange thought came to my mind.
If I ate the leader and gained its power... what about the others?
They were all wild boars. The same species. But their size and strength were different; the leader was far stronger than its two underlings.
Did that mean... their meat was also different?
Could I gain additional power from eating the underlings?
Or because they were the same species as the leader, would my body not react?
There was only one way to find out.
I stood up and walked towards the carcass of the second boar, the one with the broken foreleg.
I knelt beside it. With my claws, I tore its skin and took a piece of meat.
It was smaller than the leader; this underling was maybe half the leader's size. The meat also looked slightly different—not as dense as the leader's and a bit lighter in color.
I stared at the piece of meat for a moment, then put it in my mouth.
It tasted... almost the same as the leader's. But there was a slight difference. Softer. Not as heavy as the leader's.
I chewed and swallowed, then waited.
A few seconds passed.
Then I felt it.
Heat.
But far lighter than when I ate the leader.
This wasn't heat that spread through my whole body. More like... a small warmth in my stomach that only lasted a moment before disappearing.
I waited longer, but nothing happened. No new energy formed in my chest.
"Hmm..."
I took another piece and ate it. Then another.
No reaction, just that initial heat.
I stopped eating and sat, pondering this.
So... eating monsters of the same species but with different strengths still gave something. But not as much as eating the leader or a monster of a completely new species.
It was like... diminishing returns.
I ate the first wolf, the effect was huge. My body changed drastically.
I ate the bear, the effect was also huge. My strength increased significantly.
I ate the lizard, the effect was enormous and the transformation process was very painful.
But now, eating the boar leader, the effect was big but not painful. Or maybe my body was already more accustomed.
And eating its underlings, the effect was small. Almost imperceptible.
Maybe the more monsters I eat, the more my body gets used to the process.
And the more similar the monster type is to one I've already eaten, the smaller the effect.
But that doesn't mean there's no benefit at all.
I stood and walked to the carcass of the smallest boar, the one crushed under the tree. I easily lifted the branch pinning it and looked at its body.
I took a few pieces of meat from this one too and ate them.
The result was the same: a small heat that quickly faded.
And after eating from both boars, I felt something different.
The energy in my chest, the new energy that formed after eating the leader, felt slightly fuller. Not by much, maybe only five or ten percent more. But enough to be noticeable.
Like topping up a nearly full tank. A small addition but still meaningful.
"So that's its purpose," I murmured, licking the remaining blood from my fingers.
Eating powerful monsters grants new abilities. And eating weaker monsters of the same species replenishes or strengthens the ability.
So I had to revise my assumption about my body. When I ate that second wolf meat, did I not feel anything, or did it actually slightly strengthen my body, but I just didn't perceive it?
I was also a bit confused.
I didn't know how my body worked, or what the difference was between my body back on Earth and the one I have now...
"Haaah…"
I sighed, then sat on the ground again. All these thoughts were making me dizzy. Well... maybe I can experiment more later.
I reached for the new water bottle I had made at the pool earlier, tied to my right hip.
Then I lifted the bottle to my lips and tilted it slowly.
Cold water flowed in, with a refreshing taste. I swallowed, feeling the water cleanse the lingering taste of blood in my throat. The second gulp felt better. Then the third.
Each gulp brought relief. Even my thoughts felt clearer now.
After a few more gulps, I lowered the bottle from my lips. I didn't want to finish it all at once. I didn't know when I'd find another water source.
I closed the bottle again and hung it from my waist.
Now for the most important part.
I looked at my hand, then closed my eyes, trying to feel the new energy in my chest.
There. Right below the breastbone. Warm. Slowly rotating. Like a small ball of energy waiting to be used.
I had read about this in fantasy novels back in the school library, back in the old world. Stories about mages and adventurers who used mana to cast magic.
Mana.
That must be what I'm feeling now.
The magical energy flowing in the bodies of creatures in this world. The energy the boar leader used to create the earth spikes, and the energy Eldrin used to send me to this forest.
And now... that energy was inside me.
But how do I use it?
I opened my eyes and stared at the ground in front of me. Dry soil with a few small stones scattered about. Just like what the boars had manipulated earlier.
I raised my right hand, pointing it at the ground.
Then... nothing happened.
Of course. I couldn't just raise my hand and expect magic to happen.
I had to... do something. But what?
I tried to remember the novels I'd read. How did the characters there use magic?
Some used incantations. Words that triggered magical effects.
But I didn't know any incantations. And even if I did, I doubted they would work.
Some used hand movements, specific gestures that shaped the magic.
But I didn't know any gestures like that either.
Then there were those who... visualized.
Visualization. Clearly imagining what they wanted to happen, then directing the mana to manifest it.
That might be the way.
I closed my eyes again, focusing on the energy in my chest.
I imagined that energy flowing from my chest to my arm, down to my hand, and out through my fingertips.
Slowly, very slowly, I felt something move.
The mana began to move according to my will. Like directing the flow of water in a pipe. Not fast, but moving.
The sensation was strange. Like using a muscle I had just learned existed.
The energy flowed into my arm. I could feel it moving through my blood vessels, warm and heavy.
Then into my hand, and into my fingers.
I opened my eyes and looked at my hand. No visible change, no light, or any visual effects.
But I could feel it. Mana gathering at my fingertips, waiting to be released.
Now for the hardest part.
I stared at the ground in front of me and imagined what I wanted.
A spike. An earth spike. Like the ones the boars launched.
I imagined the ground in front of me hardening, forming a sharp structure, then shooting out like a projectile.
I pointed my hand at the ground and pushed the mana out.
And...