My All Powerful System

Chapter 23: Boulderhide Behemoth

Lynx kept fighting, and fighting, and fighting. Blade flashing, breath ragged, blood drying on his skin like clothes, since he is naked now. Four months, ninety-something days, he lost count after the first month.

He was tired, hungry, famished, his soul felt heavy. He would’ve died ten times over if not for his Immunity, that cold numbness blocking the pain when a monster fire peeled his skin off in strips, and his Primordial Healing, that closed wounds before blood even hit the ground, stitching him back up.

But healing ain’t the same as resting, his muscles screamed with every swing, his head throbbed like a drum, his vision blurred at the edges, and still the beast and demons came at him.

He slammed both palms down, fire poured out like a waterfall, like a river of rage, monsters burned, screamed, turned to ash, their cries bubbling in their throats, but they kept coming, wave after wave, endless, like the forbidden zone itself wanted him dead.

The monsters weren’t weak. Far from that, they were strong as hell. No blessed would survive 3 months in this place.

He scanned one mid swing, sweat stinging his eyes, making him blink hard.

[Name: Twisted Lizard

Class: Monster

Level: 7

HP: 40,000]

Another one jumped him from behind, claws aimed for his spine.

[Name: Fallen Goblin

Class: Demon

Level: 9

HP: 100000

MP: 5000]

Some had 200000 HP, Komodo Dragons spitting actual fire from their mouths, the heat so intense it even burned the air, even the weakest Level 6 here hit harder than strongest level 5 beast he fought, each hit rattling his teeth, each dodge costing him breath he didn’t have.

Lynx spun mid air, blade slicing a goblin’s neck, blood sprayed hot across his face, he tasted copper, iron, death, green acid splashed past his cheek, burning a line into the stone wall behind him, sizzling, smoking.

He landed then he twisted, he drove both swords through the beasts behind him, felt the resistance of bone, the wet give of flesh.

He took five steps back, then he breathed in and out. Trying to calm his shaky breathing.

”System,” he rasped, voice dry like sandpaper dragged over stone, ”I’ve killed... hundreds of beasts, where the hell are my APS points, why is it still at 1000?”

He remembered it clearly, sex or slay monsters, that’s how you earn APS points. He’d been slaying for four months straight without rest, his points should be ridiculous by now, enough to buy the whole damn store.

[Yeah, I’m saving them, if you end this wave, then I’ll show you, keep fighting, push your limit and get out of this place stronger than any human blessed above]

”Damn you, System” Lynx muttered, spitting blood, he punched a Level 6 beast so hard its skull caved in, bone and brain splattered his knuckles, no pain from the impact, but his arm felt numb anyway. His strenght is now that powerful.

He raised both hands, a fireball formed above him, massive, unstable, crackling, lighting up the endless black pit like a second sun, heat pressing down on his shoulders, he didn’t shout attack names like what he saw them Kira do in class, that was rookie shit, childish, he just thinks about his attack and it happen.

He dropped it.

The explosion shook the ground, ash and bone flew everywhere, a storm of death, weak monsters vaporized instantly, their existence erased, stronger ones dropped to one knee, some claws dug on the floor, clinging onto it.

Their HP cut in half, skin melting off their bodies in sheets, revealing muscle, and their screaming faces.

Lynx landed, his dual swords humming with energy, he spun once, fire burst out in a ring, a perfect circle of destruction, cutting through whatever was still standing, turning the last survivors to cinders.

Then... quiet.

Only crackling fire, only the smell of burnt flesh, charred meat, ozone, and his own ragged breathing.

He was hungry, fucking hell, he was hungry, four months and many days, he’s hasn’t eaten any food, nor drink any water, just blood, sweat and killing.

His stomach ached, it growled out loud. Lynx looked down to his stomach ”Quite down will you, thank goodness they aren’t any bitches here”.

He looked around, eyes unfocused, corpses everywhere, mountains of them, stacked like trash, his gaze stopped on a Fallen Ravager, Level 8 demon beast, dead at his feet, six feet tall, horns destroyed by his sword, it’s chest is still whole and untouched, the meat inside still pink.

He walked over on shaky legs, then crouched down, he sliced the chest open, the blade sank easy, steam hissed out, pink meat, streaked with black poisonous veins, fat glistening, it didn’t look like food. Well...

”I don’t care,” he whispered, voice breaking, ”I don’t care, my stomach don’t care.”

He put his palm over it, fire burst out, wrapping the meat like chains, fat dripped, sizzled, popped, the smell hit him, it was weird but smelled sweet, like roasted meat back home on earth, the ones he spent his three months salary on buying, when he wants to spoil himself.

He tore a piece off with his teeth, he didn’t wait nor think. That’s what months of hunger does to a human.

It was Hot, juicy and sweet, the flavor exploded on his tongue, primal and rich his eyes went wide, he chewed on it like a madman.

”Tastes... like chicken?” he laughed, and it sounded, cracked. ”What the fuck is wrong with me,” he asked the empty air, but no one answered. His hunger didn’t care, it only wants to be fed.

Lynx went crazy, he cut meat from a Twisted Lizard thigh, thick, scaly, ribs from Komodo Dragons, long and stringy, haunches from Fallen Goblins, small but tender, he roasted everything with his flames until the outside was black and the inside bled, juices running down his wrists, dripping onto the stone.

[Warning: Beast meat contains lethal poisons, Immunity activated. Toxins neutralized.]

He read the notification and kept eating, he didn’t stop, more like he couldn’t stop, poison flooded his mouth, his throat, his stomach, burned like acid, but his Immunity and healing burned it away instantly.

With every bite his strength came back, color returned to his face, his hands stopped shaking, the four month exhaustion finally fading.

”Damn,” he mumbled through a mouthful of demon meat, blood on his chin. ”Why didn’t I try this earlier, this shit is fucking delicious. I should take one home.... Nah it’ll kill Isabel or Kira” he laughed again.

He was halfway through a Ravager rib when the ground shook.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

[Lynx, get ready. Demon Coming. It’s a strong beast... loading quest]

He stood up slowly, wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, each step the monster took made the ground shook. The air grew heavy, pressure crushing his lungs.

Then he saw it.

Ten meters tall, shoulders wider than a house, skin like living stone, muscles bulging under it, green magma veins pulsed under the rock, glowing, throbbing like a heartbeat, four arms, claws long as spears, each one could split a mountain.

But Lynx didn’t see the claws, didn’t see the height or it’s rock body.

He saw the meat.

Layers of thick flesh wrapped around its ribs, marbled, juicy, haunches thick as tree trunks, a chest big enough to feed him for a week or more, his mouth watered, he started drooling.

His hand started shaking from excitement and hunger, he was surprisingly not afraid.

His mind slipped, a thought crawled in, ’I wonder how the meat will taste like. It’s so juicy’. His stomach growled again.

He scanned the big monster.

[Name: Boulderhide Behemoth

Class: Demon Beast

Level: 20

HP: 700000

MP: 20000

Affinity: Earth]

”Shit this guy is fucking strong”. Then the system chimed in.

[Quest: Kill the Boulderhide Behemoth

Rewards: Earth Affinity S-Rank, Wind Affinity Comprehension, Lightning Affinity Comprehension]

Lynx stared at the quest, then at the meat... monster, then back at the quest.

”Fair enough” A slow, mad grin split his face, blood stained on his teeth. He licked his lips, tasting the dead demon blood.

The Behemoth roared, the sound shook the cavern, lines appeared on the ground.

”Finally” he whispered, voice rough and hungry, ”Something big enough to fill me up.”