Chapter 229

Ignoring Ray’s screams, Bruce continued eating. His mood and flow undisturbed as he kept digging in and deeper.

At some point, the girl just lost her will and fell limp in the werewolf’s grasp.

The sound of bones cracking resounded in the otherwise silent cavern.

Ravenous chewing sounds rolled off the stone walls as Bruce continued his lunch.

Within moments, the girl’s body was gone only a few bones and flesh remained with the werewolf unconsciously letting out a burp.

Fur stained with blood as he licked his fingers off blood.

After the first scream, Ray was too frozen to speak again as he stared at what the werewolf was using his body to do.

Another burp after, Bruce patted his belly.

"Been a while."

Ray couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed the werewolf by the collar and forcefully turned the chair to face him.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Bruce stared at the hand on his collar and then at the naive boy’s face. The werewolf tilted his head an inch to the side.

"Let. Go. Now."

The tone was dark. Annoyed and vengeful, ready to tear into him.

Ray wasn’t about to back down.

"No! I won’t. Firstly, you abandoned my friends back in the cavern,now... now... look what you did! I need a damn explanation now!"

Bruce stared at the hand on his collar for a second and then he moved with blistering speed grabbing it fast enough before the boy could retreat.

Then,

Crack—!

He twisted the hand causing Ray to almost want to let out a scream as his bones were snapped from the rough twist.

In one fluid motion, Bruce slammed his foot into the boy’s torso sending his body flying away with force.

He skipped across the ground for a few seconds before stabbing his fingers into the dark ground bringing himself to a halt.

He glared ahead. Eyes gleaming dangerously as he rose up about to charge forward when,

Tring.

The sound of his system rang out loudly in the mindspace causing him to turn to face the screen in front of his face.

[Well, Host certainly grew some balls and decides to consume a human for the first time.]

[Congratulations on growing up and deciding to take the next step pertaining your chase for power. You have consumed a human flesh for the first time.]

Ray’s stomach twisted at the interface in front of his face for a moment until,

[Rewards for consuming the flesh and finishing the girl off.]

[Rewards: HP fully regenerated; Energy bar fully restored; +5 END; +2 STR; +1 AGI.]

[First time consuming flesh bonus: +300exp; +4 free stat points.]

"Huh?"

Ray blinked at the screen flashing in front of his face and in disbelief, he summoned his status tab.

[Status]

[Name: Ray Dawson]

[Age: 15]

[Race: Tribrid Adept]

[Level: 10]

[Exp: 150>>>450/1200]

[HP: 90/90]

[MF: 0/80]

[Energy: 170/170]

{Attributes:}

[STR: 55>>>57]

[AGI: 55>>>56]

[INT: 33]

[PER: 36]

[END: 42>>>47]

[Stat points: 4]

Staring at cluster of runes, a dark gleam appeared in his eyes as he looked up to see Bruce still on the chair facing him with his fingers interlocked in front of his face.

"Well...? Cat got your tongue now? Foool." Bruce snarled loudly.

Ray was in utter disbelief.

"How?"

Bruce furrowed his brows at the stupid question poised at him.

"As a werewolf, eating flesh has different perks to us. Most especially, it helps to fully regain our health points and also Energy up to the max. It could heal us depending on the body we ate.

Also, since this is the first time this body ever tasted a human, it seemed like it grew slightly stronger. I can feel it."

The werewolf paused his ramblings for a moment with a deep sigh.

"Too bad she wasn’t a meta-human. She could have helped regain your mf too."

Ray blinked for several seconds in confusion before shaking his head.

"That’s not right," Ray whispered, his voice trembling in the mental void.

"Why did you do this? You allowed me to fight with you for so long without saying a single thing. Why would you even want to regain energy since you were so intent on running away?"

Bruce stared at him, a deep, jagged frown etched onto his predatory features.

The weight of his gaze was suffocating.

"You think I had the luxury of time to sit down and explain it to your dumbass brain?" Bruce snarled.

"I could hear their faint heartbeats from the other cavern. If I hadn’t reached this place in time, I wouldn’t have caught them while they were still breathing. I would have lost out on every single perk because of your foolishness."

Ray’s eyelids fluttered in disbelief.

His mind began spinning at a frantic pace as he finally put two and two together.

The realization hit him like a physical blow.

"Wait. Does that mean you weren’t abandoning them? You actually want to fight?"

Bruce slumped back into the chair tiredly, his posture radiating a bored kind of arrogance.

"Bingo. The fool finally gets it."

Ray continued to frown at the biting remarks the werewolf kept passing about him, but he decided to let the insults slide for the moment.

The bigger picture was far more important.

"Yet, I still ask... why?"

Bruce didn’t answer with words.

Instead, he spun the chair around, re-establishing his absolute control over the physical vessel.

Outside, in the cold silence of the smaller cavern, Ray’s body rose from its crouched position.

Bruce moved with a calm, predatory grace as he walked toward the second boy—the one still clinging to the very edge of existence.

With a surprisingly steady motion, he picked the dying Aspirant up, carrying him in a princess-style hold.

Blood drenched Ray’s uniform, soaking into the fabric, but Bruce didn’t even blink at the mess.

His eyes remained fixed on the dark mouth of the tunnel he had emerged from.

Turning his head to spare one final, hardened glance at the other dead Aspirants, his face set into a mask of grim determination.

His eyes continued to gleam with a dangerous, predatory yellow light.

Finally, he answered the boy’s question.

"You think I—Bruce—will just let it slide? That beast almost shot me with lightning into oblivion. I need to pay it back in kind. I don’t let debts like that go unpaid."

Taking a few heavy steps forward, he stood directly beneath the tunnel opening.

Tensing his powerful muscles, even with the weight of the dying Aspirant in his arms, he added inwardly:

"... I also do not turn my back on a good fight."

Bang—!

He vaulted upward, the force of the leap echoing through the chamber, and landed perfectly in the mouth of the tunnel.

Without another word, he turned and vanished back into the waiting darkness.