The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 16. The Hunt (1)
The Northern Continent Region was divided into three distinct zones.
The Frozen Tundra Zone at the forest’s edge.
The Snowy Plains Zone where mosses and lichens thrived.
And the Snowy Mountains Zone at the very limit of survival.
Whitewolf Territory was positioned along the boundary between the Snowy Plains and Snowy Mountains.
Beyond the Snowy Mountains lay a landscape so harsh that no living creature could endure it.
The culprit was nothing other than the merciless cold.
“Hnngh…!”
Without thinking, I hunched my body tight against the bitter chill.
My breath, exhaled while crouched, scattered into the air and froze white against the sky.
The sensation in my hands had grown so faint it felt as though they’d turned to ice.
The biting cold gnawed at my skin.
My body grew increasingly numb, refusing to obey my commands to move.
With each breath I drew, the frigid air seared my lungs, threatening to freeze them solid.
◆Toughened Skin [D] resists the bone-chilling cold!
It was only because I’d acquired temperature regulation from Dermexus that I hadn’t frozen to death.
“Nngh…!”
Still, the cold was just as unbearable regardless.
“I-I think this should be enough…!”
Judging by how my teeth chattered involuntarily, I’d reached just the right temperature.
I retrieved a piece of Dermexus’s flesh I’d cut and stored in my inventory, placing it somewhere conspicuous.
Then I concealed myself and waited for prey to take the bait.
How much longer did I wait after that?
The sun that had hung at its zenith was now sinking into dusk.
It must have been at least five or six hours—and that’s when it happened.
Krrk?
After the long vigil, my prey finally revealed itself.
A creature roughly one and a half times the size of an adult man.
It moved on four legs, its body long and sinuous like a serpent.
Sharp claws adorned all four paws, and its thick hide, covered in camouflage coloring, gleamed white against the snow.
Its head bore rake-like fangs and a snout that jutted forward with lethal sharpness.
Its long tail helped it navigate through the snow, both locating prey buried beneath and cutting through the drifts as it moved with blinding speed.
With two yellow eyes that gleamed with predatory awareness, constantly scanning its surroundings, this creature was—
An Alacron.
A monster that dwelt only in the Snowy Mountains.
I buried myself deeper into the snow.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to mask my scent.
The monsters of the Snowy Mountains weren’t particularly sensitive to smell—the brutal cold of these peaks froze odors before they could spread.
I held my breath, waiting until the creature became completely absorbed in the bait.
A guttural growl escaped its throat.
Alacron surveyed its surroundings with cautious wariness.
But perhaps it believed no one was there.
Its gaze shifted toward the bait—Dermexus’s flesh—and just as its massive jaws began to open with a sickening crack.
I launched myself from the ground in that instant.
The snow beneath the Snowy Mountain compressed with a dull thud, and my body shot forward like an arrow.
Alacron turned to face me.
But my hand had already moved with practiced speed, drawing my blade from its sheath.
A sharp, metallic ring pierced the air.
Only then did Alacron register my presence.
And the moment it fully perceived me, the razor edge of my sword had already pierced through its hide.
A sickening squelch.
Alacron’s hide was far less resilient than Dermexus’s.
Even without an aura-infused weapon, I could inflict grievous wounds.
Alacron shrieked in agony. I hastily retreated, repositioning myself into a proper stance.
Alacron did not rashly charge at me.
Even a monster devoid of reason could feel fear.
Bound by instinct, it knew where to retreat and how to survive.
Alacron’s luminous yellow eyes swept across me.
I did not avert my gaze.
Our eyes locked.
It was Alacron who looked away first.
Alacron began to back away.
Predator and prey.
The hierarchy had been made clear.
I gripped my blade firmly.
In that very moment.
A sudden flurry of movement.
Was Alacron actually fleeing?
“What…?”
I was momentarily stunned.
Alacron was a relatively high-tier monster.
Even a cornered rat will bite.
What was it doing?
It moved with such terrifying speed that it had already vanished from my sight.
“….”
This was decidedly problematic.
Through my training, I had managed to elevate my strength and stamina.
But my agility stat remained considerably low.
My current agility stat was a mere 3.
This was the result of investing the +2 points I gained from leveling up after hunting Dermexus.
My agility now rivaled that of three adult men, yet it remained far too low to match Alacron’s speed.
“I should have severed his breath in one strike.”
Unfortunately, Alacron’s last-moment reaction prevented me from ending it cleanly in a single blow.
Regret washed over me like missing a mosquito in a room.
But it wasn’t as though I had no way to catch him.
While I couldn’t sever Alacron’s breath, I could certainly inflict a definitive wound.
As expected, bright crimson blood stained the snowy mountain along the path Alacron had fled.
If I followed this blood trail, I would be able to capture Alacron.
“Phew…!”
I exhaled deeply and secured the sword I’d been gripping back to my waist.
“Looks like I’ll be running again.”
And this was despite having raced against Kai without rest for two days straight.
Still, I had experience from my Special Task Force days—running at full speed for six consecutive days.
“Let’s see how far you can flee.”
It was time to demonstrate why humans surpass all other races in terms of endurance.
* * *
Alacron fled with absolute desperation.
Driven by the thought that capture meant death, he ran and ran with frenzied intensity.
His speed was extraordinary, his stamina remarkable.
He showed no signs of tiring.
But ultimately, he could not match human endurance.
I pursued Alacron with relentless determination.
By the time the sun that had set in the west rose again from the east, it happened.
Gasp—! Gasp—! Gasp—!
Alacron finally collapsed from exhaustion.
The exhausted Alacron seemed to have abandoned all hope.
His eyes, heaving with labored breath as he gazed upon me, seemed to say, “Kill me! Just kill me already, you bastard!”
Of course.
It was unlikely a monster possessed such rationality.
◆You have defeated Alacron!
◆You have acquired 100 combat experience!
As I dispatched Alacron without suffering, translucent messages materialized before my eyes.
And my level did not increase.
The experience gained was lower than from Dermexus, and as levels rose, the required experience grew exponentially.
Considering I’d endured half a day of grueling effort, it was quite disappointing….
“Still, what of it.”
It was merely disappointing, nothing more.
Besides, monster hunting wasn’t solely about raising my level.
As I lowered my gaze, Alacron’s life force was rapidly extinguishing.
Alacron was completely exhausted, which seemed to be the reason.
I couldn’t obtain an ability from a heart devoid of life force. I quickly carved out Alacron’s heart with my blade.
“Not a keratin reinforcement ability, but….”
That didn’t mean Alacron’s ability was inferior.
Alacron’s ability was certainly rare enough to be called a ‘rare ability’.
Monsters inhabiting the Snowy Mountain had evolved special abilities of their own to adapt to the harsh environment of the frozen peaks.
Naturally, the Alacron I hunted possessed its own unique ability.
The Snowy Mountain, where food was extremely scarce due to the brutal cold.
To survive in such an environment, Alacron had dramatically evolved its ‘nutrient storage system structure’—.
◆You have consumed the individual specimen, Alacron!
◆You have acquired the skill, Nutrient Synthesis [C-]!
◆Nutrient Synthesis [C-]
: When using this skill, the player can expend calories (Kcal) to synthesize desired nutrients. Depending on the amount of calories consumed, you can freely synthesize compound mixtures [carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water].
【If you absorb additional genetic factors, this ability will be strengthened.】
As I swallowed all the heart fragments of Alacron, information about the new skill streamed into my consciousness.
Then all strength drained from my body, and I collapsed heavily to the ground.
“Haah…!!”
Running around all day long felt like death itself.
Though humans overwhelmingly surpassed all other races in terms of stamina, that didn’t mean I never grew tired.
After two consecutive days of running with Kai, my stamina depletion was severe.
In that sense, my thirst was currently intense.
“At this rate, I could easily drink 10 liters of water.”
But in the Northern Region, water was an extremely precious resource.
More precisely, drinkable ‘fresh water’ was exceedingly rare.
It froze solid in mere seconds, so I couldn’t store it separately in a waterskin.
It would have been fine in my inventory, but I hadn’t thought of it in time.
“Should I just eat snow instead.”
…I was thinking, right at that moment.
◆You can expend calories to synthesize [water].
◆Surplus Calories – 3,200Kcal
◆Will you use the skill ‘Nutrient Synthesis [C-]’?
Suddenly, messages appeared before my eyes.
The moment I expressed my intent to accept, a flame surged through my body, and my thirst vanished in an instant.
Perhaps my weight had decreased from burning calories.
My body felt lighter than before.
It seemed I had synthesized water by burning calories as described.
“How fascinating.”
I had only known it in theory; it was an ability I never obtained in my previous life, so it felt truly remarkable.
In fact, the only monster I failed to consume in my previous life wasn’t just Icetroll.
It was safe to say I couldn’t consume most of the monsters inhabiting the Snowy Mountain.
It was not because of The Emperor.
The Emperor had exerted considerable influence, but he was not the ultimate reason.
After all, The Emperor had not wielded significant power over The Continent until he began his full-scale activities.
Therefore, the greatest reason was Seraphia.
In other words, it was because of The Frost Lord.
The Northern Region of The Continent was The Frost Lord’s domain.
The North could not be easily approached, and as a result, most monsters inhabiting the Snowy Mountain could not be hunted.
Alacron was also a monster I was hunting for the first time.
The ability Nutrient Synthesis [C-] was also my first time using it.
“If this continues….”
I no longer needed to be constrained by nutritional requirements.
Food was still necessary, but only ‘calories’ needed to be sufficient.
If I consumed food high in calories, I could freely synthesize the necessary nutrients myself.
From now on, I could use my Regeneration [C+] ability to continuously regenerate any desired part as much as I wished.
For now, I could only synthesize [carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and water].
But with successive evolutions, I would be able to synthesize all organic compounds necessary for the human body, such as [vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, and so on].
“It seems I could even synthesize organic matter from inorganic matter.”
I could obtain desired nutrients even by consuming rocks.
It would create tremendous synergy with my Regeneration [C+] ability, which required substantial nutrients.
Just with the abilities Alacron possessed, this was the extent.
Yet there were still countless monsters in the Snowy Mountain that I had not hunted.
The useful—no, absurdly broken abilities were endless.
The abilities I needed to evolve were equally boundless.
And now, having returned to the past.
At a point before The Emperor began his full-scale activities.
Most importantly, at this present moment before Seraphia awakened as The Frost Lord—.
“Should I go back?”
The Northern Snowfield was essentially my domain and mine alone.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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