Beast Devourer: I Grow Stronger by Eating Monsters

The storm reached Velis violently.

The wind had been building since before dawn, but once the clouds completely covered the plains, there was no gradual transition into rain. Lightning split the sky and struck one of the basalt formations less than three hundred meters from Raven, turning the entire valley white for a fraction of a second before the thunder arrived hard enough to vibrate through the ground.

Raven remained crouched behind a low formation of black stone, watching how the Stormhorns reacted.

They didn’t flee.

The adults raised their horns as faint electrical currents crawled through the basalt and dispersed into the wet earth. Several animals began moving toward the formations almost immediately, following the behavior Raven had confirmed the previous day.

The Level Twenty-Seven Courser was easy to distinguish among them. It was larger than most, with several scars across one flank and a dark horn curving almost a meter forward from its skull.

When it lowered its head near one of the lightning-struck formations, blue electricity jumped into the horn and traveled down its neck before disappearing beneath the armored plates covering its chest.

Predation responded.

[Stormhorn Courser — Level 27 — ELITE.]

[Pulse Core Charge: 61%.]

[Atmospheric Electrical Absorption Detected.]

[Core Output Increasing.]

Valeria was hidden roughly twenty meters to Raven’s right inside a grass-covered depression. Roland occupied a much more distant rise where he could observe almost the entire area and fire without approaching the herd.

They had spent hours preparing the terrain with everything Raven could use without constructing obvious walls in the middle of an open plain: reinforced ropes hidden beneath the grass, angled stakes, two false escape routes, a section of ground turned to mud, and three apparently safe paths that forced the animal to correct at the last moment.

It wasn’t a cage.

It was a collection of bad choices, and the plan was to make the Courser choose the least bad one.

Another bolt of lightning struck in the distance, and the glow beneath the Stormhorn’s skin intensified.

[Pulse Core Charge: 68% → 74%.]

[Projected Component Quality Increasing.]

”It’s getting stronger,” Valeria said from her position.

Raven didn’t take his eyes off the animal.

”So is the organ.”

”That does not make me like the plan more.”

”It doesn’t need to be likable. It needs to work.”

Valeria stayed quiet for several seconds.

”At some point, your definition of investment is going to kill you.”

Raven checked the short spear lying beside him one last time.

”Not yet.”

”That answer gets worse every time you use it.”

Raven almost smiled before returning his full attention to the herd.

They had prepared the field for one creature, but the other thirty couldn’t be ignored. If the entire herd panicked, the hunt was over. If they approached the foals, the adults would respond together. If the Elite broke toward open ground, Raven couldn’t catch it.

That was why Roland fired first.

The arrow never touched an animal. It landed behind the northern flank of the herd, its incendiary tip producing a brief flare across the wet grass.

The nearest Stormhorns shifted south without panicking.

Valeria released a small amount of blood they had prepared in advance and spread its scent across another section of the plain. It was enough to make one adult female stop and force several foals to alter direction.

The herd began to funnel.

Raven kept his attention on the Elite. Exactly as expected, it didn’t remain near the center. It moved along the perimeter, watching the exposed side while other adults protected the young.

Roland fired again.

Closer this time.

The Courser raised its head and turned toward the sound.

Exactly what Raven needed. ℯℯ𝘭.

The first hidden rope lay directly across its route, but the animal noticed it before making contact. Instead of stopping, its posture shifted and Kinetic Pulse discharged sideways. Dirt exploded behind its legs as the Courser moved several meters laterally and cleared the rope without losing much speed.

Valeria saw it from the depression.

”It knows there are traps now.”

”Yes.”

”That usually changes a plan.”

”Only if the plan depended on it not learning.”

The Courser slowed when it reached the muddy ground and chose a longer route around it.

That carried it toward the second false opening.

Raven had expected exactly that.

Roland fired again.

The Stormhorn turned its head.

Raven stepped out from cover.

He didn’t advance. He simply made himself visible.

The animal recognized him immediately.

Its body tightened, neck lowered, and horn aligned directly with Raven as the blue-white lines beneath its skin intensified.

[Pulse Core Charge: 81%.]

[Output Potential: VERY HIGH.]

”Raven,” Valeria said.

”I see it.”

”Then stop waiting.”

”Not yet.”

”One day, I’m going to figure out whether you’re brave or you simply have an unhealthy relationship with percentages.”

”Could be both.”

Valeria gave a short laugh.

It disappeared the moment the Courser began to run.

Raven stopped hearing her.

The world narrowed to the animal.

At seventy meters, the Stormhorn was still in a normal gallop. Each stride fed the Pulse Core, brightening the channels beneath its skin.

At fifty, Raven saw the posture change as the hind legs loaded and the torso aligned.

At thirty, Predator’s Instinct surged through him with that familiar pressure. It didn’t tell him what to do, but it made every slight change in the animal’s movement feel too important to ignore.

The Courser released the Pulse.

BOOM.

The ground exploded behind it.

The animal launched forward as though something enormous had struck it from behind.

Raven activated Burst Step to the left.

It wasn’t enough.

The Courser adjusted slightly during the acceleration, and the edge of its shoulder caught Raven before he completely cleared the path.

Stonehide spread over part of his ribs too late to absorb the full impact.

The collision lifted him from the ground.

For an instant there was only force, then sky and grass before he hit hard enough to empty his lungs.

Something cracked inside his side.

Predation confirmed the damage almost immediately.

[Trauma Detected.]

[Partial Rib Fractures: 2.]

[Internal Bleeding: MINOR.]

[Predatory Regeneration Responding.]

Raven pushed himself onto one knee and forced air back into his lungs.

It hurt, but he could breathe.

Good enough.

Valeria appeared between two stone formations.

”Are you all right?”

Raven tested the movement of his torso.

”Two damaged ribs. Regeneration is already working.”

”That wasn’t what I asked.”

”I can continue.”

Valeria stared at him with equal parts irritation and concern.

”One day, you’re going to learn how to answer that question like a normal person.”

”After the hunt.”

The Courser was already circling back.

Raven looked at it again.

That was what mattered.

The impact had shown him something he hadn’t been able to confirm from observation alone.

Kinetic Pulse didn’t explode equally around the body. The discharge had a directional vector, and although the Courser could alter its trajectory at the final moment, it still had to align its torso, hips, and legs toward that vector before release.

The acceleration was almost instantaneous.

The preparation wasn’t.

It was minimal, but it existed.

Raven stood.

Valeria noticed the change in his expression immediately.

”What did you just figure out?”

”The Pulse isn’t omnidirectional.”

”That seemed fairly obvious.”

”Not when it changes direction during the discharge. I thought it corrected after release.”

Raven watched the Stormhorn reposition.

”It doesn’t. The direction is decided immediately before activation.”

Valeria followed his gaze, then looked back at him.

”Can you read it?”

”Predator’s Instinct can read the preparation if I’m close enough.”

Her expression tightened.

”So your new strategy is to let it try to run you through again.”

”Not exactly.”

”The word exactly is starting to worry me again.”

Raven picked up the short spear.

”Next time, I’m not going to try to get out of its way.”

Valeria stared at him for two full seconds.

”That was worse.”