Edible

I watched the green monster standing in front of me with a wicked grin on its face. It was small, ugly, and smelled of sulfur. Its leathery body, barely three feet tall, with sharp yellow fingernails that it seemed to enjoy displaying for me as it stood with its clawed arms spread wide.

The small lights on the wall cast shadows across its face as the goblin glared at me, its small body ready for battle. 

I could see the bloodlust in its eyes, the inhuman hatred that all monsters birthed by the dungeon seemed to share. 

The next moment, it was sailing in the air, having jumped towards me, most likely intent on feasting upon my innards.

"Well, that makes two of us" I whispered as I lashed out with a punch towards the jumping goblin. 

I saw my fist connect with the goblin's ugly mug and I could almost feel the air leaving the thing's mouth. My punch landed with enough force to throw the goblin off balance in the air and cause it to fall backward.

It felt good.

I attempted to follow up with a kick, but the goblin's small frame allowed it to dodge easily. I hadn't managed to give it a concussion, unfortunately.

It lunged once again, seemingly no worse for wear despite the blood leaking from its mouth. It wasn't unexpected, as I had no excelia strengthening my body...yet.

I grinned, despite the stinging I felt from my knuckles, the sensation of my punch landing had been exhilarating. 

My fist flew in an uppercut towards the goblin's throat. The thing was agile, I would give it that. It barely managed to avoid the strike once more, and I saw its claws coming at my face in an attempt to gouge out my eyes.

I stepped back, causing its strike to miss and I raised my knee towards its face.

"Oomph"

It stumbled backwards from the knee strike and I could see the pain and rage in its eyes. Again, the strike hadn't been strong enough to end the fight despite the goblin's frail body.

I observed the creature's movements, its gnarled claws slashing through the air with ferocity. I knew one wrong move could be fatal since I wore no armor on my body. If its teeth reached my throat somehow, I heavily doubted my chances of survival. 

Alas, this was a risk that I accepted the moment I descended into the Dungeon, barely 10 minutes after I found myself in this new world. 

Reckless? Sure.

Insane? Maybe a tiny bit.

Suicidal? No. I was still on the very first floor of the dungeon, not even 100 meters away from the nearest stairs to the surface. I also remained carefully aware of my surroundings, ready to use the Joestar secret technique the moment I saw another goblin being birthed by the dungeon's walls.

For now, though, I had a moderately injured enemy to take care of. Any other thoughts faded in the background as I clenched my empty fists, ready to continue fighting.

Staying agile, I sidestepped the gob's lunges, my senses heightened as I searched for an opening. 

Betting on the frailty of its bones, I first targeted its joints and ribs with calculated strikes. Each punch and kick aimed with precision, aiming to incapacitate rather than kill. The goblin howled in pain as its skeletal structure gave way under the onslaught.

Despite its relentless aggression, I remained calm and focused, like a machine executing a programmed sequence. I dodged most of its claw swipes, weaving in and out of its reach with only a few skin-deep scratches on my hands and legs

As the goblin became slower and sloppier, I was able to target its vital areas, striking at its eyes, throat, and other sensitive spots. The goblin staggered under the barrage, its screams growing more desperate with each hit. I didn't let up, giving it no time to retaliate with an attack of its own.

Then, I saw the opportunity I had been waiting for.

I feinted a jab at its face, causing the small creature to raise its now trembling hands up defensively. My next blow, a sharp right hook, connected squarely with its ear. I felt something crack in its head.

I heard a muffled yelp and saw it drop to the ground, unconscious, yet alive, since the body hadn't yet dissolved.

The dungeon around me was silent, with no other monsters around for the moment. 

It was time to claim my prize...but first, I had to get to a place where I was less likely to be spotted by my fellow adventurers. After all, I was sure that If anybody saw what I was about to do, I would have a hard time showing my face on the surface...

"Not that I plan on spending too much time outside the dungeon anyway..." I muttered to myself as I hauled the concussed goblin on my shoulder and dragged myself a bit deeper into the dungeon, leaving a small trail of blood in my wake.

Once I had reached a narrower tunnel, I threw the small monster on the ground and I stared at it. I allowed myself to ponder on the impossibility of my current situation, but felt no such thing as an existential crisis, despite knowing for a fact that the world of Danmachi which I was now resident of, was supposed to be nothing more than a perverted fantasy of a Japanese degenerate.

 It was Vanilla Hentai, not a parallel universe in which one could suddenly transmigrate into...and yet here I fucking am, huh?

"It is what it is..." The words echoed in the empty, dimly lit tunnel. 

I didn't feel like having to abandon my haul if the dungeon started giving birth once more, though, so I put any nonessential thoughts on the backburner.

I crouched near the injured goblin, who seemed to be on the verge of death with how shallow its breathing was.

It seemed to be barely holding on by a thread and I figured it probably wouldn't survive the next few minutes.

Good thing that I only needed a few seconds. 

Grabbing the goblin's tiny clawed hand, I didn't allow myself to second guess my decision before sinking my teeth deep into its flesh.

I felt its warm blood rush into my mouth as the bitter taste of copper assaulted my senses.

I swallowed its blood in one go, before immediately biting into its arm once again.

It tasted like Chicken...not really. 

It tasted like raw, disgusting meat...and yet the energy that I felt coursing through my veins as I devoured the goblin piece by piece made the taste irrelevant. 

I felt myself becoming the tiniest bit stronger, even as the scrapes and bruises from my earlier fight faded away. Alas, I wasn't sure if this was due to my Skill, or simply the excelia that I absorbed from the now dead goblin.

It made it easy to forget what I was doing...It wasn't like I was doing this because I enjoyed eating flesh or anything...I was only doing what needed to be done if I wanted to survive in this fucked up world...

I might have gotten a little dizzy at some point because I kept at it until there was nothing left...not even bones or a pile of bloody flesh. I couldn't even see a magic stone on the ground...and yet I didn't even feel the least bit bloated...if anything, this merely felt like an appetizer...

Suddenly I felt a tingling throughout my body

System: Ding! Congratulations, you have consumed the flesh of a Monster for the first time. Fenrir's Unending Hunger activates.

It felt as if my entire body had been dipped into ice. I saw my Level 1 I-grade stats appear on my field of view as I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth against the sudden pain assaulting my body.

System: Please choose one of these abilities extracted from the consumed monster: 

1- Goblin Speech (become able to communicate with goblins)

2- Thick skin (the goblin's skin is thicker than most bipedal races, acting as a weak defensive method)

3- Increased Fertility (gain increased fertility when procreating)

-Please make your choice within 10 minutes or the ability will be randomly selected-

Without hesitation, I chose the second option. I wasn't planning on buying any armor, so a thicker skin would come in handy.

I groaned as my bones seemed to grind against each other, and I tried to keep as quiet as possible. The pain was almost unbearable, but I had expected something like this to happen.

Hoping that absorbing the very essence of a devoured monster would be a painless process was nothing more than wishful thinking...but thankfully the process didn't last long. Barely a minute, if I had to guess.

I lay on the ground, gasping for air even as I attempted to sink my nails into my skin. Whereas earlier I would have surely drawn blood, now the nails only made light indents in my skin, barely noticeable. It wouldn't stop a determined goblin's claws and much less a dagger, but it was a start.

I smiled weakly at the thought.

I could almost feel the potential, the possibilities that awaited me at the bottom of this dungeon. The feeling was...intoxicating. I closed my eyes, savoring it.

"Now, to get the hell out of here before someone else finds me with bloody clothes and the taste of goblin still on my lips..."

The adrenaline finally left my system, and I found myself laughing like a madman...

It had felt good.