Whilst Charlie didn't have enough Mana to cast [Worm of Envy] in the upcoming battle, he had plenty for both [Hollow Fang] and [Mana Sense]. With both {Epitaphs} costing next to nothing, Charlie didn't feel pressured to reserve his Mana too much in the face of his one-sided slaughter. He didn't know exactly how much Mana he went through, but it never felt like it dipped too low before it regenerated.
Granted, the Mana regeneration still took hours to recover enough to cast a single [Devour], let alone the [Worm of Envy], but it was enough to keep Charlie going in the midst of battle for the time being.
After some thought, Charlie also decided to never turn off [Mana Sense]. The reasoning was simple - he had to get over it minor side-effect. The information that barrelled into Charlie's head could feel overwhelming at times, and even with the increase in Level, the sheer quantity of information still pressured his mind more than he was comfortable with. The headache was manageable, but frustrating. Without another increase in Eso, Charlie had no other choice than to simply get over it.
There was another reason, equally as simple, and it was to get used to parsing the vast amount of information accurately. Right now he was able to somewhat block out the information he received from the very edges of his [Mana Sense], focusing on what was right in front, but it was inconsistent.
Whenever Charlie learned a skill or trade as a human, there was always the brief period at the beginning, where he almost felt blind. There was too much information and it all felt like it was directly in his face, leaving him unable to take a step back and understand exactly what he was looking at.
No matter what it was, there was simply a period of utter incompetence that couldn't be avoided. But, after some time would have passed and experience had gained, it became as clear as day and the blindness would fade naturally. Suddenly even the most complex, confusing and frustrating task would become a breeze - and so obvious. Though, that applied when Charlie was still a human, he just hoped that Magic followed a similar logic.
Right now, Charlie was blinded by the information provided by [Mana Sense], and the only way past that, was simply to continue using it and hope to master it.
Even in knowing this, the headache was no less frustrating.
The pile of bodies had stacked high enough that bloodied appendages stuck out and over the lip of the crevice, like a bloated burial pit. It wasn't pretty, but it still filled Charlie with pride as he gazed upon his grisly work.
Charlie was like a deadly gatekeeper, acting as an impassable wall for those too weak to fight. Their futility received no mercy, and Charlie felt nothing at the sight of their unending will to survive. Instead, he continued to stack the many furry and scaly bodies, stashing them for a gluttonous evening one after another.
Not all creatures that passed by Charlie we're incapable of battle, some were in perfect health, drenched in the blood of those weaker than them - much like Charlie himself. Those robust and powerful creatures Charlie simply had no other choice than to ignore, for now. Their time would come, but there was no reason to put himself in unnecessary danger.
That wasn't to say that killing the weak wasn't dangerous, it was the opposite in fact, as those driven to a corner often fought the fiercest. The desperate creatures lashed out with all of the strength their injured bodies could muster, which rarely reached Charlie, but they still accumulated. Tooth, claw, spittle and blood - everything was thrown at Charlie, yet none of it was enough to bring the rivers gatekeeper down.
Charlie had not yet fully recovered from his previous wounds either, which ended up impeding his movements and reaction time to a greater extent than anticipated. It was still not enough for the creatures at deaths door to take advantage of, though.
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Battered, bruised and bloody, Charlie's next hurdle to cross was to somehow bring the corpses back to his base without starting a colossal battle at the river.
On one hand, neither did the presence of dying creatures nor his blood flowing through the river spark any conflict. On the other hand, who was to say that a fresh corpse wouldn't be enough to drive a hungry creature to break the unspoken rule. A singular starved creature would be enough to cause an avalanche, and the peace would turn into chaos.
After choosing the smallest corpse from the pile, Charlie picked it up with his mouth, sinking his hooked fangs into the soft flesh for better grip, and set off back towards the river with a confident gait. Whether or not the creatures could be fooled by such a tactic, Charlie still wanted to do his best to at least look like he was too much trouble to deal with.
Even though he couldn't sweat, Charlie couldn't help but feel a nervous bead form on his serpentine brow. The closer he approached the recovering mob of creatures, the more eyes he could feel land on his being.
The gaze of some felt hungry, others felt furious and itching to strike, but most felt of simple curiosity. A beaten serpent carrying a tiny creature in its mouth - the image must have been a strange curiosity, if not simply pathetic.
If being pathetic kept Charlie safe, then it suited him fine.
Though, it was not all doom and gloom in the end. Charlie didn't know why, but the quantity of creatures by the river had decreased significantly since the last time he had fully returned to the river bank - still a massive crowd, but at least Charlie could find his way through and into the river. There could have been many reasons for the reduced horde, some simple and some complex - but the simplest was often the one closest to the truth.
It was probably the caves version of night, and most creatures probably returned to their temporary homes for further rest.
The creatures inhabiting the cave can seem restless and chaotic to a ludicrous degree, but if one looked close and long enough, it would become obvious. The creatures were living beings, and the living required sleep - no matter how powerful they became.
They had to eat, to drink, to shit, to breathe and sleep. If one really thought about it, it wasn't too difficult to predict the movements of great quantities of living beings.
The chaos never truly ended, certainly, but there was a noticeable shift in the breadth of living, breathing bodies.
If Charlie were to compare how tired he was to the time spent in the outside world, it should still have been day time, but these creatures have probably been stuck down here for too long. Their sense of time was thrown out of whack, and Charlie needed to adapt to his new "day and night" cycle again. Sleeping while the vast majority of the beasts continued to roam was bound to become a disaster.
After safely crossing the river, depositing the first corpse and returning to his bulging stash, Charlie released a quiet breath that he didn't realise he had been holding. In the end it went off without a hitch, but it was still stressful nonetheless.
There was a total of fourteen bodies, some small and some almost as big as Charlie, and they were all successfully transported into his base of operations. It was a tight squeeze to get them all in, including Charlie, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
After consuming four small corpses and one medium sized corpse, Charlie felt fuller than ever before. It was too much though, and it felt like simply even breathing would cause his stomach to rip open, spilling his inner organs out in the open. Though normally this would have been a terrible idea, Charlie felt comfortable and safe enough within his little rocky corner - hidden and far away enough from most prying gazes.
Anything truly dangerous would be unable to fit through the entrance, and those small enough would be deterred by the mere sight of the mountain of bodies. At least, that was what Charlie hoped for. Who truly knows, there could be a moronic creature incapable of understanding death that would leap for joy at the sight of such a free meal.
With a bulging stomach and happy thoughts, Charlie savoured the moment. It was not often things went as well as they did, even if he was still bloody and bruised.
The soft and mute light within his little cove was dimmer than the ambient light outside, which helped tremendously in letting sleep effortlessly whisk him away.
The first night back in the cave had already proved to be more bountiful than anticipated - what treasures did tomorrow hold, Charlie didn't know, but couldn't wait to find out.