A Man Feasts - Math Arnottir

I'm perfectly conscious, I want to go home. I'm tired.

The only way I can make it through this early is if I become a monster, a controlled one... I can't go mad, I can't let myself be the one who is consumed, instead, I need to be the one who consumes.

I get that now.

I took a big hearty bite out of a Desert Goblin's neck. It popped like a balloon as I bit harder and harder until blood filled my mouth, dripping from my gums as I slowly ripped the flesh, skin, and tendons still sitting within the Desert Goblin's body. The taste of iron is awful, but I can eat it, I am what I am. I don't quite understand it but... I can eat anything, can't I? So this is nothing... this wretched taste.

If I became injured or unable to fight, I'd compensate, biting at the legs and pulling off the flesh that sat upon on. They'd scream and crumble, hitting me multiple times but the healing factor the feasting gave me would make me effectively immortal and whatever they did was fruitless.

The more and more I went through, the more and more entrails followed my wake, mouth caked in blood. I felt like I was going to collapse, gagging violently before vomiting profusely as I realized I'd given in on my base desires in the most horrific way possible... except I didn't lose myself this time, I was completely awake.

What came back out wasn't flesh but pure bile-- like I had not feasted on multiple living beings beforehand, like it all disappeared within my stomach and purely became energy, or... or none of that is the case and it's impossible for me to barf it back up... it's forever there until I shit it out later.

I think my assumption is correct since I still feel something in there, something that shouldn't be there by now since I should've vomited it all out.

Fuck...

I managed to push my way through after hours of effort, both the Captain and Stolt fighting the chief of the Desert Goblins, Stolt using the corpses of multiple other Goblins as a means of shielding himself. He looked exhausted, the same as the Captain, only being held up by my mana alone, but that was waning, FAST.

As they kept wearing the Desert Goblin down and I made my move, running up to a higher ledge and jumping off from it, latching onto the Desert Goblin Chief, biting down on its neck. The Captain ran it, slamming it in the leg and retreating causing it to fall to the ground, grabbing at my bag desperately trying to get me off. Stolt attempted to rush in on the Desert Goblin Chief but was pushed back by a swipe of its sword but that only left an opportunity for Stollt who jumped forward, charging into the Chief and knocking them onto the ground as I finally get a good grip on its neck with my teeth.

I pulled as hard as I could, ripping flesh off from its neck, slowly peeling the skin away and revealing the muscle underneath, the Chief themself screeching in pain, blood shooting out from the open wound.

Stolt grabbed a sword on the ground, jumped onto the Chief, and stabbed it in the neck, killing it.

I really couldn't help myself. I kept feasting on that corpse until all that was left was just the remnants of the blood left behind. I was fiending for a feast, one that could bring me up farther than I was now.

Stolt crossed over to me, "I'll give you my points," He said, "Bet you're tired of this place. It's best you just get everything over with soon, plus... I don't think this is going to be the last time we'll all have to do this."

"You can give points?"

"Yep... Her-"

*

He was cut off as I quickly returned back to reality. I'm tired of this place so, let's eat quickly.

I decided not to take the ravine route this time, moving to the entrance of the Goblin's domain. Truthfully I didn't think I'd return so quickly, plus I did get something from that whole endeavor, two things to be exact. I have expanded my senses further than they could've ever gone before along with reaching a new stage in my development and I got a new skill, specifically, something referred to as, "Basic Shapeshifting". I'm able to make a more effective armament for my arm as well as enhance my senses a bit more by mimicking an animal's senses, et cetera. I surely got lucky with this.

I don't need too much mana here, I just need to find opportunities to conserve my energy.

I sprint into the cavern, clambering up a wall to where one of two bowmen was, throwing them off the ledge they were on, being feet above the air. It fell to the ground, gasping for air as the other bowman went to point its bow at me.

I jump to where they are, slamming them into a wall and throwing them down on the ground of the ledge they're on, slamming my fist repeatedly into the back of their head until I noticed it had concaved. A few other Goblins from within the ravine begin exiting, noticing the bodies I had left, they went on alert.

I hop down from the ledge, changing my weight with mana, and landing on the lot below me, reeling back one of my hand and slamming it into one of their heads, killing them instantly. I summoned the Captain who began fighting the other Goblins, leaving me to eat.

This'll be systematic, this'll be a massacre.

I don't care, I don't care, I just want to go home. I don't give a shit anymore. I will fucking eat and kill them all.

Either it is the Captain stomping on their heads, me biting at their necks and ears to cripple them, or concaving their chests in to suffocate them from the inside out. There were a lot of ways we had killed them.

I used the corpses of my enemies to keep both the Captain and myself energized, ready for the real fight.

The first Royal Guard of the Chieftain was their Shaman.

This was the worst-case scenario.