"Couldn't you use a quieter spell?" Uchronia whispered.

"It's my best skill, plus it's fast," Alwin retorted, pointing at the hole in the dead boy's chest.

"You better hope that the humans didn't hear that or we'll throw you to them while we escape."

"Whatever," Alwin rolled his eyes at her, which in turn earned him a scoff as if she was saying 'you think this is funny?'

Why did she have to be so mean? Alwin was trying his best with the tools he'd been given. The Spirit Burst Blast had finished off the boy before his Spirit Feet or Spirit Hands had even made a lap around them. It was perfect. If he'd used something weaker the boy could've escaped and they'd have a fight on their hands which would be significantly worse than a tiny explosion that only they would hear. Plus the only human who would've heard the explosion would've died by it. It was beyond perfect! Too bad Uchronia didn't see it that way.

Per her instructions, Gus had already begun absorbing his essence. The plan revolved all around Gus. She was betting everything on that Core Skill of his. If he could absorb enough essence and consequently enough skills, it might be enough to get rid of the remaining humans whenever this stage of the plan eventually fell apart.

If one person went missing they probably wouldn't notice, same for two or three. But, when more and more people seemingly disappeared without a trace they would start to get suspicious. They might even pause their pursuit and investigate. That's assuming they haven't caught the decoys yet. Hopefully, they'd stall the humans for as long as possible.

The glow that enveloped Gus started to dissipate, he had completed absorbing all of the essence of the poor kid. That's what happens when you're weak. And right now, the three of them were weak. They were doing everything and anything to avoid a similar fate at the hands of those humans.

"Show us your status Gus," said Uchronia.

"Okay!" Gus smiled.

Name: Gelosus

Species: Furball

Core Skill: Devour (F)

Skills: Static Pounce (D), Spirit Hands (E), Spirit Barrier (A), Spirit Blast (F), Spirit Shield (A), Lightning Legs (F), Strong Slash(F), Copper Body (F)

Evolution: 17/100

It's a pity that all the new skills are F-ranked and that Gus lacked practice using them. Strong Slash was the move that the blue-furred armor man used against them, so that was the skill that Gus devoured. Copper Body was also the move that the very first human Alwin fought used against him. Maybe it's a basic skill that most humans learn. Something like how Milvus mentioned that Spirit Hands, Spirit Blast, and Spirit Barrier were all prerequisites to even think about participating in the entrance exams of the academy.

"Okay, good. That's three new skills, but—" Uchronia clicked her tongue "—Strong Slash is useless when you've got nothing to slash with."

"What if he slashes using the bags that Milvus gave us?" asked Alwin.

Uchronia gave him a look that Alwin could only describe as 'Are you stupid?'

"I'm just going to ignore what you said. Okay, so we keep doing this until the humans notice, when they finally notice we go all out on the offensive. We do everything to support Gus. He'll use all of his new skills to overwhelm the enemy and use his Core Skill to eat through their armor. Got it?"

"Do I have to? Can't Alwin do it?" whined Gus.

"Yeah, can't I do it?"

"No. Gus just keep attacking them. Eat their armor first then finish them off while they're defenseless. No need to worry about defending us, just pretend like we're not even there. And, Alwin." There was a strong emphasis on Alwin there. "You throw out as many attacks as you can to distract the humans. Split their attention so they either have to worry about you or worry about Gus. I'll be going out and casting Slow on as many humans as I can. Got it?"

"So you're saying I still get to attack?" asked Alwin.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Then, I'm in!"

"You were always in whether you liked it or not." She shook her head and let out another sigh. "What about you Gus? You okay?"

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"I guess. Their armor is all bitter and gross. I don't really want to do it."

"Me and Alwin will give you our packed lunches when this is all over. Ok?"

"Then, I'm in!"

"Like I said, both of you were always in whether you liked it or not." She shook her head again. "They're making another round. Get ready."

The familiar sound of attacks whizzing past and the shouts of approaching humans signaled them to get into position. The ground seemed to vibrate with the rhythm of their footsteps. Uchronia began her incantation, while Alwin started preparing a delicious final meal for the humans—an assortment of Spirit Blasts.

This time the straggler was a girl roughly the same age as the boy from earlier. Like him, she was donned in a suit of metal armor. Unlike the previous boy, who was weaponless, she wielded a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. Uchronia had to be extra careful with this one. The girl was closer to the main group, and any wrong move could alert the others.

Uchronia cast Slow on her and wrapped her tail around her mouth. Between all of their screaming and stomping, the rest of the humans didn't realize that another one of their own had been taken. The girl wrestled and squirmed trying to break free from the grasp of the Spirit Hands, but to no avail. She couldn't get any leverage with her sword and shield with all of the limbs restraining her.

Gus yanked the sword and shield out of her hands. There was a look on his face that after many weeks spending time with him, Alwin knew what it meant. He was debating whether he should nibble on the sword and shield. Past experiences taught him that weapons and armor had always tasted horrible but this might be the time when they finally tasted yummy for once. Alwin, just like Uchronia, shook his head at the sight.

"Get in there Gus!" shouted Alwin.

Gus dropped the sword and shield on the ground and hopped on over, his tongue hanging out as if he had just eaten the world's bitterest cough medicine. Alwin could see the small nibble marks on the sword and shield and already knew what Gus had just done. He opened his mouth wide and prepared to strike the girl. It was like a shark ready to take a bite out of their prey. But he had the teeth of a bunny, the cuteness of a rabbit, and the fluffiness of a teddy bear.

Within seconds the metallic covering was removed, exposing her pale stomach for the world to see. Gus spat out chunks of metal, gagging sounds accompanying the clinks of armor hitting the ground.

"So yucky..." he whimpered.

"Alwin." Uchronia looked at him, to which he responded with a curt nod.

One Spirit Blast three-course meal later, and Gus was over her body, both of them surrounded by a bright glow. When that glow finally subsided, Gus muttered one word, "Weird..."

"What's weird?" asked Uchronia. She was being extra jumpy, no doubt because if that weirdness was Gus not being able to absorb a new skill then the whole plan would effectively be shot.

"I didn't get a new skill this time."

"Crap."

That was bad. As much as Alwin wanted to be the one to save the day and have the whole plan revolve around him, he knew that Gus was their best bet for getting rid of those humans. With the plan thrown out the window, they'd have to come up with a new idea—by they, Alwin meant Uchronia. It was that or leave the village alone and hope lady luck graces the Maple and the others. There was an off chance it might happen, but if that didn't happen, maybe gentleman misfortune would grace those two young masters and their entourage. Either way would be good.

"You sure you didn't get a new skill? Maybe you were distracted and didn't notice," said Uchronia. It was clear she was grasping at straws.

"Nope. No new skill. But one of my skills did get upgraded."

"Which one?"

"Strong Slash. It's E-rank now."

Uchronia let out a breath along with all the worries that had been building up the moment Gus mentioned he didn't get a new skill. Without worry, there left more room for rage to take over. "I want to kill you. Don't scare me like that."

"But, I was just saying what happened and that it was weird. I didn't expect it. You didn't expect it. So, don't blame me."

Uchronia was gritting her teeth and doing her best impression of a tomato—her face was red with rage— before the color disappeared and she muttered out, "Fine. I'm sorry."

So Gus can absorb their skills and if he doesn't get a new skill he gets an upgrade? Talk about an amazing Core Skill. It was becoming repetitive but Alwin still couldn't help but lament that Gus' Devour was infinitely more useful than his own Devolution. A skill that he still had no idea how it worked. It was worse than dead weight. Deader weight, if that made sense. It didn't but who cares? This was Alwin's brain and his narration, so deal with it while he dealt with the feeling of uselessness washing over him like a soft acid rainfall.

After a few minutes of wallowing in self-pity, Alwin pulled himself up by his metaphorical bootstraps and prepared another special surprise for the next human that Uchronia had grabbed. This dish was served with all of the hatred and jealousy that had been building up ever since he realized how lucky Gus was. That feeling was made worse by the fact that he played a part in intentionally powering the guy up. He was being served skills and skill upgrades on a silver platter and all he did was munch on muffins or complain that the armor was 'bitter'. It's a piece of metal of course it wasn't going to taste like a gourmet meal.

Alwin carried out his tasks as dutifully as he could. Each Spirit Blast filled with more anger and jealousy than the last as he watched Gus reap the rewards without barely needing to lift a finger.

Meanwhile, Uchronia was trying her best to not get caught whenever she pulled a human away from the group, while Alwin was wasting his mana dealing with the human without even seeing a lick of benefit. Not even a simple 'Thanks Alwin'.

If only Gus wasn't so loveable then there'd definitely be more resentment involved. Why couldn't Gus act more jerkish? At least Alwin would feel more justified in being jealous and hateful towards him, but right now Alwin was the one being a jerk.

Just as he was done dealing with another human, Alwin felt a sharp pain in his head. Something had happened to the Spirit Feet.