My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon rejoined the group about three minutes later than he had agreed to. By the time he arrived, the anxiety in his party had spiked.

He dived down from a tree, landing smoothly after using the omnidirectional gear to swing his way across. His boots hit the ground with barely a sound as he straightened, glancing at them.

“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

Evangeline scowled. “I would prefer no news.”

Xander sighed, crossing his arms. He couldn’t blame her, but in this case, it was better to know.

“What did you find? And did you get rid of the corpses?”

Damon nodded. “Taken care of. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad?” Xander asked warily.

Damon opened his palm. “They have our scent. Or rather, the scent of the three ladies here and Matlock.”

The three girls exchanged glances, confused.

“Hand it over,” Damon said.

Evangeline frowned. “Hand what over?”

Damon sighed. “The perfume you’re hiding on your person. And any cosmetics.”

Evangeline looked away awkwardly. “You took all our stuff when we were packing.”

Damon narrowed his eyes. “So you’re saying I have to reach into your bosoms and take them myself? Because I will.”

That got a reaction.

The three girls stiffened before reluctantly pulling out small bottles of perfume and a few cosmetic items. Damon raised an eyebrow as he took them.

“Huh. You guys actually had some. I was just guessing…” He weighed the number of items in his hands and smirked. “And it’s way more than I thought.”

Leona blinked. “You… you mean you didn’t know?”

Damon shook his head, pocketing the items.

Xander watched the exchange with an exhausted sigh. “Now that you have them, what’s your plan?”

Damon held up one of the vials. “These have a strong scent. The monsters tracking us have even stronger noses. I want to overwhelm them.”

“First, we need to find a river to wash our scent off.” His gaze flicked toward the girls. “If we don’t find a body of water, we’ll have to settle for a mud bath.”

They winced in unison.

Sylvia clutched her hair in horror, already imagining how terrible her white locks would look covered in mud.

Xander nudged her with his elbow. “Relax. He’s just joking. There’s a small stream not far from here.”

Damon nodded. “Then let’s go. We wash up and grab some supplies.”

Leona arched an eyebrow. “Supplies from where? Our bags? Matlock lost his.”

Damon was already aware. The goblins would likely use that to track them.

“I know,” he said. “That’s why we need to hurry. We don’t have time to waste.”

The stream was the same place Damon had tossed Xander to wake him up. Its water flowed clean and free, though Damon would have preferred they fill up their supplies, they already had enough.

“If I had enough poison, I’d contaminate the whole thing,” he muttered.

If he did, their enemies wouldn’t have water to drink, and if they did, they’d suffer horribly. But for now, he focused on the task at hand.

He quickly demonstrated how to wash off their scent, making sure they did it thoroughly. Meanwhile, he and Xander gathered thick mud from the riverbank. Xander had no idea what Damon intended to do with it, but he followed along regardless.

By the time the girls finished washing, they returned to find Damon and Xander covered in mud, while Matlock stood off to the side, looking less than amused.

Evangeline narrowed her eyes at the sight. “What are you doing? This isn’t the time for pottery.”

Damon sneered. “You’re just jealous. It’s a nice clay pot.”

Sylvia chuckled. She could tell he was keeping the mood light, but she was curious, too. “Why are you making pots… with clay?”

Damon glanced at her and decided to explain. “I spotted some hornets not far from here. A lot of them.”

Leona gripped her sword. “And that has to do with this… how?”

Damon didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he added, “Not just that. There are also sandbox trees nearby. We’re in luck.”

Leona frowned. “I wouldn’t call our situation lucky. If anything, it’s dire.”

Sylvia, however, was already piecing it together. “Sandbox trees are poisonous. Their fruits explode, releasing shrapnel that moves at 150 miles per hour. If it gets in your eyes, it causes blindness.”

Evangeline crossed her arms. “So what? He’s going to use that as a bomb?”

She wasn’t convinced, but she was starting to understand his line of thinking.

“Still doesn’t explain the clay pots. And why did you creepily mention hornets?”

Damon ignored her—or at least he tried to. “I’ll save the rude remarks for later. I don’t like being scolded by Goldie here.”

Evangeline scoffed. “Don’t give me weird nicknames.”

Xander sighed as he helped pat down a clay pot. “This is the same madman who burned down part of the Evil Forest. Whatever he’s planning, it won’t be honorable.”

Damon sneered. “Honorable is surviving.”

He snapped his fingers at Evangeline. “Use your light magic to bake the pots. Oh, and if you break them, I’ll smack you.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes. “What kind of lowlife hits a woman?”

“Get to it and stop nagging.”

She huffed but did as he asked, channeling her magic into the clay. The heat baked the pots until they hardened. Their shapes were a little malformed, but they were solid enough, with one small opening that could be easily sealed.

Damon grinned wickedly.

Leona’s lips twitched. “Erm… correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t actually plan to trap hornets inside the pots and throw them at the enemy, right?”

The others turned to him, waiting for an answer.

Damon shook his head. “Of course not, fool. I’d never disrespect my enemies like that.”

They barely had time to breathe before he added, “I intend to throw the sandbox fruit with the hornet-filled clay pots.”

The party stared at him.

Ruthless. Maniacal.

As if the hornets weren’t bad enough.