"Saron, are you hunting again?" Hannah came running over, her eagerness apparent in her stride.

Saron glanced at her, and couldn't help but acknowledge the remarkable regenerative abilities of true dragons. Hannah's leg, formerly impaled, was now healed at an astonishing rate.

"This is for you!" Saron gestured toward the shadowy figure of the subterranean spider, now corroded by his acidic saliva.

"Thanks, Saron!" Hannah lit up with vitality, lunging forward and gnawing on a spider leg, much to Saron's discomfort.

"Saron, please don't go, okay?" Hannah’s eyes were pleading; the memory of being ambushed while eating alone still lingered in her mind.

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving." Saron's eyes sparkled with recognition. He had recently mastered an earth magic spell, 'Pulse of the Land', and could sense something underground moving towards Hannah.

It seemed a worthy adversary was approaching.

Sure enough, just as Hannah bit into the spider's head, two tentacles—each four to five meters long—burst through the ground, aiming to ensnare her.

"Saron, big brother!!" Hannah shrieked, leaping three meters high in fright and scrambling towards Saron.

"Out of the way!" Saron lunged forward and chomped through a tentacle with a single bite.

An enraged roar echoed, and a monstrous creature broke through the earth, revealing itself to the onlookers.

The beast, resembling both fish and squid, triggered a memory from Saron's ancestral knowledge.

"Abyssal Demon Fish!" Indeed, this creature was the infamous abyssal demon fish, its most notable feature being its four predatory tentacles, squid-like appendages used to attack and capture prey.

Saron hadn't expected such a massive catch.

"Saron, we can't beat it, can we?" Hannah said weakly.

"It's 'I', not 'we'. Stay out of this!" Saron swallowed the severed tentacle of the abyssal demon fish whole.

"Oh..." Hannah walked away with her head down, disheartened.

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"Tastes good, wonder if it's got a magical core?" Saron eyed the abyssal demon fish, suddenly finding it less terrifying and more appetizing.

With his 'Feast' talent now off cooldown, an intense hunger washed over him.

"The feast begins!"

Saron pounced toward the abyssal demon fish with the ferocity of a tiger on the hunt.

The demon fish opened its round mouth, revealing a maw lined with sharp teeth, and without a hint of fear, lashed its remaining three tentacles at Saron.

Saron's body twisted, dodging two tentacles, but the third struck his back, its suckers tearing a few scales from his dragon hide.

"Quite the strength you've got there!" he remarked.

Seizing the opportunity, the demon fish struck with its tentacles in a pinwheel formation, aiming for Saron's body.

"It seems you've gained some confidence!" Saron said, his hunger driving him to wrap his jaws around one of the abyssal demon fish’s tentacles and start devouring it. The progress of his feast slowly climbed from 0%.

The demon fish, feeling the pain, tried to withdraw its tentacle, but Saron gave it no chance. He gobbled down the tentacle in a frenzy.

The demon fish howled in rage and agony. Its remaining two tentacles mercilessly smacked Saron's back, but he was undeterred.

Disregarding the futile attacks—why bother if his defense wasn't breached?—Saron focused on the feast, the most crucial matter.

Seeing it was in a dire situation, the demon fish attempted to retreat back into the ground. Saron wasn't about to let it escape, instead opting to plant himself on the fish's back and start feasting.

"Saron is so savage!" Hannah, the dragon girl, had not expected Saron to start eating the abyssal demon fish alive.

As Saron ate more and more, the demon fish's resistance grew weaker. Eventually, it ceased moving entirely, its back hollowed out by Saron's relentless feeding. After eating a while longer, Saron stopped; the feast's progress was stalled at 80%.

Saron realized that continued eating would only increase the feast's progress slowly. Even if he finished off the demon fish, it wouldn't go any further.

"The rest is yours!"

Saron uttered a few words to Hannah, who was drooling nearby. With eagerness written all over her face, she dived into the feast but kept her eyes on the direction in which Saron was heading, making sure he didn't stray too far from her.

Afterwards, Saron, suppressing his hunger, entered his self-made cave. There, he activated the magical device left by an earth mage. A tempting aroma instantly filled the cave. The shiny gold coins must be delicious, he thought. Saron grabbed a handful of gold coins and tossed them into his mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

The progress of the feast increased by approximately one percent.

Next, he devoured the staff that had a richer aroma. The staff had a good quality and tasted spicy, with a tingling sensation. Saron also tried some silver coins; they had the flavor of chives but didn't contribute as much to his feast's progress compared to the gold.

Before he realized it, the gold coins were nearly all gone, and his feast progress finally hit the 100 percent mark.

Saron lay down in his cave, waiting in silence for the transformation to occur. In that dark space, he observed as an outsider while his body slowly changed. His neck grew thicker, the bones in his neck began to close the gaps, gradually shortening his neck. The four horns on his head grew larger, extending down to his neck.

A new horn emerged above his nose, his jawline became more robust, and his facial muscles increased, enhancing his bite force even further. The muscles on his limbs became more defined, as sturdy as iron rods.

His entire frame then started to grow larger, his back becoming more pronounced. His scales didn't turn grey with age as those of other black dragons; they took on a metallic sheen instead.

Finally, Saron opened his eyes and stood up.

【Saron: Health Points: 150】

【Feast Layers: 4】

【Feast Cooldown: 5 days】

【Talent 1: Carnivore, you can recover health and energy by killing enemies, the amount dependent on the life energy of your prey】

【Talent 2: Earth Magic Affinity, you possess a formidable talent for earth magic】

No new talents were added; it appeared that new talents were gained based on the properties of what he consumed. Unfortunately, the abyssal demon fish, though more powerful than the rift bear, had no magical core.

It seemed that he would need to diversify his diet in the future.

Moreover, it looked like the gold and silver coins had been utilized to strengthen his dragon scale defense, which was quite a boon!

Saron examined his body, now nearly six meters in length; his growth rate was extraordinary. The larger size didn't equate to clumsiness; for a true dragon, a larger body meant more agility due to greater strength and abundant magical power.

Saron spread his newly enlarged wings, their span now close to nine meters. He flapped them tentatively—it seemed he could now take to the skies!