Xianth strolled around for some time before he was forced to continue on his search for food. His hunger is growing every second that passed
Considering how he always loses rationality when his hunger reached a certain point, Xianth does not want to risk it.
Before Xianth continue his search for food he chose the corpse of an orc that was in a relatively better condition than the others and robbed its clothing. Although that clothing was merely a blackened skirt made from an unknown beast's hide beggars can't be choosers. This was better than Xianth completely exposing his family jewels for everyone to see
After tying the beast skirt on his waist, the young man activated his gift again in search of food
With the speed he possessed, it didn't take that long before the crater went out of his sight and the greenery started looking more normal
"Food!"
After around ten minutes, Xianth's eyes lit up when his eyes landed on a tree bearing a generous amount of fruits
The fruits look similar to the earth's pears aside from the fact that these pears have the same color as blueberries
As a person that never has to search for food in a forest around a mountain, Xianth is unsure whether those fruits are edible or not. However, there is a reason why he is willing to eat such fruits
Below the tree was a small group of five green skinny creatures as tall as a human kid. They have long ears and most of them were holding a wooden club
This time the goblins that Xianth encountered are completely alive. These goblins were trying to climb on the tree presumably to pick the pear-like fruits
Since the goblins can eat those fruits Xianth assumed that humans also can. Even if the fruits were poisonous he has to risk it. His hunger level already reached a critical level and it wouldn't take that long before he lose his rationality
Intending to eat as soon as possible Xianth increased the intensity of the energy aura he was intentionally releasing. The more energy he releases the stronger his physical capabilities become
He was ready to have a bitter fight with the goblins but these creatures merely looked at him while trembling. Their hands even unconsciously let go of their wooden clubs. Their expressions were painted with extreme terror
Their sharp teeth clattered as saliva drips down their lips causing a disgusting sight. These goblins are ugly in the standards of humans after all
"Huh? Why are they like th— arghh!!"
Before Xianth could even finish his sentence he suddenly experienced extreme agony in his stomach
Hunger! He was hungry! He is starving!
The sense of gluttony started to overcome Xianth's senses and before it can fully consume him he threw caution into the wind
He humped and reached the branch of the tree bearing its fruits. With a sense of urgency, he picked the fruits and devoured them
However, the fruits in his standard taste too blunt. It was true that eating magic crystals for two whole months made him sick of them but at the same time they tastes delicious to him
As for these pears, they are as bland as they could be. One pear is far from enough to satiate Xianth's hunger and he devoured all the pears in the tree
Even then, aside from moving him from the brink of losing sanity, the pears were far from enough to fully satisfy this sense of gluttony
"Huff... huff..."
Once more Xianth escaped the clutch of insanity and only then did he have the chance to scan his surroundings
The goblins earlier were nowhere to be seen anymore
"Where did they go? It was their best chance to kill me when I was busy eating those fruits..." Xianth asked no one in particular before he thought of something and he closes his eyes
He can still sense that a hint of Ischyros' aura was leaking from his body. Since Ischyros is presumably an extremely high-level being then its aura might have the power to bring extreme terror to low-level lifeforms
Xianth tried to will it and the aura indeed retracted and was contained inside of him. He now only has to meet more goblins to see if his theory was correct
"I ate more pears than most people would eat for months but I'm still extremely hungry. What the hell is wrong with my body?"
Is this the side effect of his gift? In exchange for having the ability to control energy, he has to eat a lot.
"Since Ischyros said that magic crystals are precious to humans I might need a lot of this world's currency to buy even a single one. Since I am this penniless I definitely couldn't buy even a single one. Is there nothing I could do?"
It was great to have a superpower but Xianth has to deal with its side effects if he wants to live a long life
"Wait... energy? Ischyros is completely made from energy. Even now his energy is leaking and is being absorbed by my Divinity for its own growth. Could I control Ischyros' energy to turn it into my food instead of nourishing my Divinity?"
As Xianth thought of that he immediately tried it. The agonizing sense of hunger was more than enough drive for him to try everything that he could to deal with it
To his surprise even though Ischyros' energy was pure beyond his comprehension he was still able to eat it
Of course, the current him could only eat a tiny whiff of Ischyros' energy. From the looks of it if Ischyros is an ocean then the energy it was leaking was merely that of a single water drop. However, even that single drop is enough to nourish Xianth's Divinity and also satiate this abnormal sense of gluttony that he is afflicted with
"Finally! I feel full again!" Xianth heaved a sigh of relief. He really detests suffering from that agonizing sense of hunger