I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

All Lian could feel was blood.

Its metallic and hot taste filled his throat, and every breath hurt like a rusty blade being pushed into his lungs.

His eyes were half open, watching the red sky above the valley.

His body no longer moved.

The monster’s broken horn was still stuck through the middle of his chest, and blood was slowly leaking from around the wound.

A bit farther away, the huge fallen body of the wolf lay motionless. A creature that even in death looked terrifying.

Lian gave a weak, dry laugh.

"...This is ridiculous."

He had actually survived. He had managed to kill that monster. And now he was dying.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Suddenly a heavy pulse twisted inside his body. Lian’s eyes shook. An unnatural heat came out from inside the monster’s corpse.

No... it was being pulled. Strings of red light like living veins came out of the wolf’s body and entered Lian’s chest.

At that moment, glowing screens appeared in front of his eyes.

[You Have Killed A Level 10 Fallen Wolf]

[Level Increased]

[Level Increased]

[Level Increased]

[Level Increased]

Lian’s eyes widened a little.

"Four levels...?"

But the notifications did not stop.

[You Are The First Individual To Slay A Fallen Wolf Within The Newly Opened Ruined Realm]

[Title Acquired: Wolf Slayer]

Suddenly a wave of heat spread through his whole body. The broken horn that had pierced his chest slowly turned to ash and disappeared, as if it had never been there.

Lian held his breath. The wound was not closing, but it was healing.

He forced his hand onto the ground and sat up. His body still hurt, but that feeling of certain death was no longer there.

He breathed slowly and tried to calm himself, having practically returned from a state of death to life.

His eyes stayed fixed on the floating panel in disbelief.

"...I really awakened?" His voice was quiet and rough.

This should not be possible. Every human only had one chance at awakening. At best, people were allowed a second attempt.

But even that second attempt was risky. A normal person’s body should not be exposed to the huge amount of mana needed for the awakening process. If it was, it could explode.

But a third attempt?

A fourth?

Lian had never even heard of such a thing. No body in the world was strong enough to endure and make that possible.

So how had it become possible for him?

He frowned.

If this news spread, there would be a huge uproar. Guilds, governments, research centers, all of them would go crazy chasing after him.

And honestly, that was the last thing he wanted. He did not have the energy for that kind of trouble.

Lian slowly let out his breath and looked toward the fallen wolf’s corpse.

Now that he was calmer, he could feel the presence of that monster better. The pressure of its existence was heavy even after death.

"Level ten Fallen Wolf..."

Monsters were not only classified by level. Their bloodline, overall ability, and talents also differed.

There were five main ranks: Normal, Fallen, Unholy, Demon, and Supreme.

A Fallen monster at the same level was far stronger than a Normal type. It could perhaps defeat dozens of Normal monsters at the same level.

And now that Lian thought about it, that creature had almost destroyed him even while dying. In fact, it had succeeded. If he had not suddenly become an Awakened, he would be dead right now.

His gaze fixed on the huge wounds on the wolf’s body. Cut marks that had even split its bones.

A deeper frown appeared on his face.

"What could have wounded it this badly...?"

He was not really the reason that monster was killed. He had only landed the last hit. If that wolf had been healthy, Lian would not have even had a chance to run.

So what could almost kill a Fallen wolf? A much more powerful monster? But the sword wound marks said something else.

But something else bothered him more.

"...Why only four levels?"

As far as he knew, killing a level ten Fallen monster should raise a newly awakened person to at least level eight or nine.

Unless...his eyes narrowed a little.

"I need more Exp for each level?"

And if that was true, it only meant one thing. His class was of a high rank.

Lian quickly opened his status panel. A moment later, his pupils shook.

[Name: Lian Vorhelm]

[Level: 4]

[Race: Human]

[Bloodline: Human]

[Class: Monster]

[Talent: Dormant Monster]

[Innate Skills: Bloodlust, Butcher, Glutton] 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

[Skill: Wolf Speed]

[Stats: click to see]

[Fragments: 5/100]

[Titles: Wolf Slayer]

Lian stared for a few seconds. Then he read the line about his class again.

Class: Monster

"...What?" His voice came out clearer than before.

A monster class? Since when did such a class exist? In all of recorded human history, there were only six main classes.

Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Archer, Priest, and Summoner.

Every Awakened fell under one of these six classes. There were no exceptions.

But the truth was right in front of his eyes. He had a class outside the known system.

And even stranger, there were no stars next to it. Class rank was determined by the number of stars.

A one-star class was the weakest possible and could only evolve once.

While five-star classes could evolve every twenty levels and evolve a total of five times.

The difference between them was terrifying.

One-star classes only absorbed ten percent of a monster’s Exp and had very low mana compatibility, around ten percent.

But five-star classes? After killing a monster, they absorbed fifty percent Exp and had fifty percent mana compatibility, plus monster-like stat growth.

They were the true geniuses of the world.

But his class had no rank. What did this mean? Could his class not evolve even once? Or did it have no limits on evolution?

Unfortunately, he did not have enough information. To be more precise, he had no information to base any reasoning on.

Maybe by looking at his innate skills he could understand better.

Lian slowly tapped on his first innate skill.

[Bloodlust: While even the greatest geniuses can only absorb up to 50% of a monster’s EXP after killing it, you absorb 100%.]

His eyes widened a little.

One hundred percent? He absorbed all of a monster’s Exp? Even five-star classes only got half of it.

He immediately tapped on the second skill.

[Butcher: While all Awakened gain Stat Points only after leveling up, you permanently obtain 1% of a monster’s Stats after every kill.]

This time even his breath stopped for a moment. One percent of every stat from each monster? This was insane.

One percent might seem small, but normally the only way to increase power was leveling up and receiving stat points.

And the amount depended completely on class quality. Between levels 1 and 10, one-star classes got only 1 stat point per level up.

Five-star classes got 5 stat points. After that, between levels 10 and 20, one-star classes got 10 stat points per level up, and five-star classes got 50 stat points.

And after level 20, when Awakened could go through their first evolution, the stat points they got per level varied based on their class evolution.

But him? He could directly steal stats from monsters. Even if his level stayed low, eventually his stats would become monstrous.

Like being level 5 but having the stats of a level 20 Awakened.

"...This is a monsterous class." Lian whispered quietly to himself.

Just like the monsters themselves.

And then his gaze fixed on the last skill.

[Glutton: Whenever you kill a monster possessing a Skill or Talent, you have a chance to randomly devour one of them.]

He was quiet for a few seconds, then slowly scrolled the panel down. In the Skill section, something new was seen.

[Wolf Speed]

So he really had devoured one of that wolf’s skills. His heart beat slowly but heavily.

The powers of this class were not normal. This looked more like something a monster should have, not a human.

But just as he was about to open his new skill, his body froze.

He felt something... a heavy and cold presence, far more terrifying than the Fallen wolf, behind him.

Lian slowly turned his head.

And then a quiet voice echoed in the silence of the valley.

"Were you the one who killed my prey?"