“Ugh, swinging this hammer is really uncomfortable with my current body,” Liam muttered, placing the bloodstained claw hammer down and rubbing his sore arm. The continuous hammering made his arm feel a little sore.
Then he opened the Soul Devouring System and smiled with satisfaction at the newly added 100 soul points. But as his gaze shifted to the gruesome scene before him and he recalled the corpse hidden in the closet, he couldn't help but feel a headache incoming.
Killing the man who attacked him wasn’t a crime in this world, but it was sure to draw some unwanted attention and investigation.
And that was what Liam feared most.
The girl in the closet, or his identity as an outsider, both were secrets that must never be revealed.
“In this world, I can’t trust anyone,” he whispered to himself.
Everyone was a potential threat to Liam.
Once anyone found the slightest clue about his deeds, he’d be cornered with no way out.
If he tried to bury the body somewhere, someone might stumble upon it. But if he kept it hidden, it would eventually start to rot, and he lacked the skills to handle the situation.
“It seems I’ll have to use those soul points I just earned.”
Liam accessed the Soul Devouring System again and began crafting a martial art skill to suit his needs.
[Gluttony: Possessing a stomach with super-digestive abilities, allowing the consumption of far more food than ordinary people and enhancing blood and mystic energy.]
[Learning Gluttony requires 1,000,000 soul points.]
"…"
Liam was taken aback by the staggering cost of the skill and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Sigh! There’s no way I can afford that. I’ll have to modify it for now and upgrade it later when I have more points.
He made some adjustments.
[Gluttony: Possessing a stomach with super-digestive abilities, allowing the consumption of far more food than ordinary people, and recovering injuries.]
[Learning the Gluttony skill requires 10,000 soul points.]
Still too expensive.
He simplified it further.
[Gluttony: Possessing a stomach with super-digestive abilities, allowing the consumption of far more food than ordinary people.]
[Learning the Gluttony skill requires 100 soul points.]
Liam stripped away all the extra effects. The skill’s current function was simply to eat more and digest materials that a normal stomach could never.
But given his current predicament, it would have to do with it.
Without hesitation, he spent the 100 soul points he had just acquired.
[Martial Arts Learned: Gluttony]
Liam felt a warm surge in his stomach as countless details of consuming food flooded his mind. Not only did his stomach undergo strange changes, but even his teeth became sharper.
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Once he learned the martial art, the sound of chewing flesh and bones soon filled the silent room.
This behavior would have shattered the moral compass of most people, but Liam had long abandoned such notions.
For him, survival outweighed everything.
Soon, the two corpses were completely consumed, leaving nothing behind.
Liam burped with satisfaction, then began erasing any trace of what had occurred.
First, he hid their clothes and planned to find a place to burn them later. Common items, like gas masks, were kept for future use.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t brought any money with them, but this world relied heavily on mobile payments, so few people carried cash anymore.
By the time Liam finished cleaning the bloodstains, it was already a little above six o'clock in the morning. A faint ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, signaling the start of a new day.
Exhausted from the night’s work, Liam glanced at the shattered bed and could only shake his head in silence.
He pulled out the mobile phone belonging to his original body and checked the balance on the Essence Crystal Card. The screen displayed a total of 1,568 Essence Crystals.
The original Liam had been an orphan, his parents and relatives all passed away in the aftermath of a mystic's battle. The government provided him with 2,000 Essence Crystals monthly for living expenses until he turned eighteen.
He turned 18 a few months ago.
Though he had some savings, most had been spent on gifts for Daphne.
The rent for his current place was 500 spirit crystals per month. Even if he stopped eating and drinking, he could only stretch his funds for another three months at most.
If he couldn’t find a way to make money soon, Liam knew he would be sleeping on the streets.
Seems like I have one more reason to join the Assassin’s Guild now.
For Liam, the Assassin's Guild was the most ideal place to go. Not only could he kill people at will to collect soul points but also earn bounties for completing missions at the same time.
Not to mention that sooner or later, he would need to align himself with a powerful organization to better infiltrate this world, and Assasin's Guild, which was widespread throughout the world, was a good choice.
But before that, Liam needed something to conceal his identity. He couldn't afford to let anyone discover who he truly was.
His supernatural ability, [Shadow Control], couldn’t be used in public without raising questions—especially since he couldn’t explain how he obtained the awakening stone.
Moreover, when he awakened his supernatural ability, he vaguely felt that he could awaken another one.
According to records, the "outsiders" could almost always awaken an ability, yet no one had ever possessed two.
[Unlocking a new supernatural ability requires 50 soul points.]
The words from the Soul Devouring System also confirmed Liam's suspicions.
He had two supernatural abilities.
However, there was no need for him to use the soul points to awaken the second supernatural ability.
Let's wait until the academy's awakening ceremony. The awakening stone there will be provided for free.
Once he awakened his ability in public, Liam could openly use it from then on, and [Shadow Control] would be reserved for another identity.
After all, he needed a lot of soul points, which meant he would need a second identity to do the things that ordinary people would find intolerable.
Anyways, there was still some time before the academy, so Liam pushed the matter to the back of his mind. For now, he had a few things he wanted to test—like whether killing insects, cows, chickens, and other creatures would also increase his soul points.
Liam raised his foot and crushed a cockroach on the ground, but his soul points remained unchanged. It was clear that he could only find larger animals to try.
Having stayed up all night, Liam changed into a clean academy uniform. After a moment of hesitation, he slipped the cleaned claw hammer into his academy bag.
After getting ready, Liam pushed the door open and stepped outside. Before closing the door, he carefully placed a hair in an inconspicuous spot as a subtle warning system.
He then headed straight toward the meat market as the rising sun cast long shadows on the streets.
At the market, a familiar old lady pointed at him, asking for help killing a chicken. But as soon as he agreed, she began rambling about her family, boasting endlessly about her son.
Listening to her made Liam feel more exhausted than he had felt during the night’s activities.
Eventually, he managed to kill the chicken, but his soul points still didn’t increase. He spent some time helping to slaughter cows, sheep, and pigs, but the results were the same.
His soul points didn’t budge.
Lost in thought, Liam walked toward Roxila Academy while munching on a bun a stall owner had given him.
So, I can only gain soul points by killing people? He wondered. Killing a first-level warrior only earned me 100 soul points. How much would I get from ordinary people?
He knew that two assassins would be coming for him soon, and he needed to be prepared.
Liam smiled bitterly to himself.
This is truly a hellish start. One wrong move, and I’ll fall into the abyss.
Nonetheless, Liam was determined to survive—to survive and thrive in this world until no one could threaten him again, even death itself.