Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 228 - Insatiable Hunger

Vahn could see that other than Fenrir’s red eyes, which were glowing progressively brighter, her teeth also began to slowly transition from a normal state to a much sharper set. The look she was giving him was like a starved beast and all of Vahn’s instincts began to fire simultaneously. In the system, he could see that Fenrir’s loyalty was beginning to drain at a visible rate so he quickly pulled out a senzu bean which, other than healing wounds and recovering injury, could also prevent hunger for several days.

Trying to hold back his own inhibitions, Vahn held the bean out for Fenrir and explained, "This is a [Senzu Bean], it should make you feel full for now." Without hesitating at all, Fenrir’s eyes opened slightly wider and Vahn could feel the hair on his neck raise as she bit toward his hand with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Vahn pulled back his hand milliseconds before Fenrir chomped down on where his fingers used to be. Crunching the [Senzu Bean] in her teeth, Fenrir swallowed it down before making a pouting expression and saying, "Gross, bad, no like, hungry, Master, please!"

The glow in her eyes had decreased by a fair amount even though she was still ’hungry’, so Vahn knelt down and somewhat hesitantly reached forward and stroked her bristly hair. He explained in a patient, yet firm, tone, "I can feed you more, but you can’t snap at my fingers like that. Your teeth and claws are very sharp and I won’t be able to keep you around others if you can’t control yourself." The entire time he was explaining things, Fenrir had an annoyed expression on her face but she didn’t move away from his hand.

Vahn was looking through his system and found several relatively low-cost food items and began to set them out for Fenrir to eat. She looked at each of them and began to drool almost like a faucet but was following the order Vahn had given her and remained seated. After setting out around twenty different items, Vahn explained patiently, "You can eat each of these and tell me what you like the most. Don’t eat them took quickly and try to savor the flavors."

Fenrir looked up at him with her progressively redder eyes and said, "Yes, Master, Fenrir eat, yes!" Her words finished, Fenrir began eating in a very ’uncivilized’ manner and Vahn tried showing her how to eat ’normally’ before he realized that her fingers weren’t very dexterous. Though she had three joints in her fingers, Vahn noticed they were marginally smaller than normal and didn’t have the flexibility of a normal hand. Combined with her ridiculously sharp claws that seemed to melt through anything they touched, Fenrir’s table manners left a lot to be desired.

The worst part was that she still had the habits of when she was a kobold, so her method of eating was to lean on her forearms and try to eat the food with just her mouth as her butt stuck up in the air. Because she was only wearing an off-grey tunic, it rode up on her body further and further the longer she ate and the white panties Vahn had purchased for her were on full display as her bushy midnight blue tail stood up straight, almost rigid, like Fenrir was in a state of high alert.

Eva, standing at Vahn’s side, laughed as she said, "She really is a lot cuter than the smelly dog from before, but it looks like you’ll have your work cut out trying to make her behave." As if her words had inspired something in him, Vahn looked toward Eva with a smile and she immediately rebutted, "Look at how fast she is eating, do you think I could keep her in here for four years!?"

Vahn frowned before letting out a sigh as he saw that Fenrir had already consumed nearly all twenty dishes. By volume, that was more than thirty kilograms of food and yet she didn’t show any signs of slowing down at all. Fenrir’s figure was somewhat small, around 148cm, and she had nearly no fat with a very slim waist and nearly non-existent b.r.e.a.s.ts; Vahn didn’t know where she put it all so he inspected her status through the ’Unit Management’ and [Keeper of the Akashic Tome] since he had been too distracted previously.

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(Fenrir)

Age: 12 years (Ageless)

Race: Vánagandr

Level: 2

Loyalty:142

Soul Strength: Tier 1 (Named Familiar)

Karma: -

State: [Active]

Skills: [Lunar Cry:C], [Freezing Roar:C], [Chainbreaker:C],[Insatiable Hunger: Innate], [Devour:SS],[Huntress:A]

[Fenrir] A legendary primal beast known for its insatiable hunger and aggressive nature. Its claws can cut through almost anything and its teeth are said to even be able to penetrate the Aegis of the Gods. It converts everything it eats into power and has nearly limitless potential that would one day allow it to even swallow stars. Take heed, ye who controls the one that bears this record as your actions may lead to irreversible destruction!

(A/N: I added this since people would probably ask.)

[Lunar Cry]

Rank:C

Creates an emblem of the moon that becomes progressively more crimson depending on the amount of blood spilled. Enhances all attributes but may cause the user to enter a berserk state.

[Freezing Roar]

Rank:C

A blood-curdling roar that can resonate with the body of the target and cause paralysis. Low chance of causing mental collapse.

[Chainbreaker]

Rank:C

Status increases if the wielder is bound, sealed, or imprisoned. Increase is proportional to the stress of the user and their desire for freedom.

[Insatiable Hunger]

Rank: Innate (-) *Innate skills cannot be identified. Attempts to do so will result in a backlash.*

Passive: Hunger tied to emotions. The greater the stress, the more powerful the urge to eat. Affects rationality as hunger grows.

[Devour]

Rank:SS

Passive: Allows the user’s teeth to melt anything and convert it into energy within the body to accelerate growth.

[Huntress]

Rank:A

Greatly enhances all senses when excited. The greater the desire to hunt the target, the more powerful this skill becomes

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Reading all of Fenrir’s information made Vahn’s brain buzz with a mixture of emotions. Though he was happy that she was strong and had high potential, Vahn was worried that he wouldn’t be able to control her and keep her well fed. Her [Insatiable Hunger], [Devour], and [Chainbreaker] skills would make it almost impossible to keep her satiated. If she grew disobedient, the only thing Vahn could do to stop her, without killing her, was to seal her back into the magic core. However, there was a problem with that as well since prolonged stays within the core could influence Loyalty. This meant that, if Vahn couldn’t manage Fenrir, he would essentially have to keep her a prisoner within her magic core until he could find something to do with her. Just the thought of keeping something against its will made Vahn very uncomfortable...

By now, Fenrir had finished all twenty dishes and the red light in her eyes had diminished almost entirely. Vahn quickly realized that her eyes reflected her mental state and that, the brighter they became, the hungrier she would be. Thinking that she had her fill, Vahn walked over and started cleaning up the dishes as Fenrir grabbed his arm while keeping her claws open while saying, "Master, please, hungry, more!"

Vahn could see that her eyes were already beginning to glow even though she had already eaten a [Senzu Bean] and more than 30kg of food. Thinking about the nature of ’monsters’ and the fact they shouldn’t need food in the first place, Vahn put his hand in the center of Fenrir’s chest and said, "I want to try something, this might help fill you up." Fenrir had a slight frown on her face as she continued holding his arm with just her paw pads.

Just like he would supply them with energy in the past, Vahn began to channel energy directly into the core located in the center of her chest, right next to her heart. He could feel his energy draining rapidly while the light in Fenrir’s eyes began to diminish just as quickly. She closed her paws and Vahn was worried he was going to get an additional ten puncture wounds, but the tips barely grazed his skin and Vahn even noticed they became slightly duller. The jagged teeth Fenrir had developed began to retract and she closed her eyes with a pleasant expression on her face.

Vahn released a relieved sigh since it didn’t seem like Fenrir would require actual food to sustain herself. The problem, however, was that he couldn’t feel her energy filling up at all. Though he could sense his energy diffusing into her body, Vahn realized it seemed to be disappearing into a bottomless pit. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Vahn could see a mass of silver and grey at the core of Fenrir’s body that was sucking in his energy like a black hole.

Since it didn’t seem like he would be able to completely replenish Fenrir’s energy, Vahn tried to remove his hand from her chest and immediately felt her paws tighten around his forearm. Fenrir’s eyes snapped open and she looked up at him and said, "No, Master, more, hungry, please!" As she spoke, Vahn could see a slight glow begin to spread in her eyes as her claws began to become sharp once again. He quickly realized that it was going to be far more problematic to deal with Fenrir than he originally expected.

In a firm tone, Vahn said, "Fenrir, relax your body and drop your hands. I will do my best to make sure you have your fill, but I can’t do that if you act so greedily." His words made her frown a bit and Vahn heard a notification that her loyalty had dropped yet again. With a bit of hesitation, Fenrir finally let go of his arm and said, "Please, Master, please, Fenrir hungry..." As she spoke, Fenrir held out her paws, pad side up, like she was begging for food. Though Vahn thought it looked adorable, he also felt a sense of danger and a fear that none of his efforts to satiate her would have any effect.

Purchasing another 100kg of food from the shop, Vahn set them on the ground but only after telling Fenrir that she must behave if she wants to eat them all. Though she had a somewhat frustrated look on her face, Fenrir stopped herself from eating in order to follow Vahn’s orders. When everything was set down, Vahn said, "I’ll try to find a way to make sure you can eat whenever you want, but you’ll have to be a bit patient with me. I can’t make an unlimited amount of food, so try to enjoy these dishes for now."

Before he let her eat, Vahn used [Hands of Nirvana] and stroked her head while trying to forcibly calm her down. Fortunately, his efforts seemed to bear fruit and he could see the silver and grey vortex in her stomach shrink a bit. As the skill stated, her hunger was directly tied to her emotions so, if she was stable, Fenrir would likely not be nearly as hungry as normal.

The entire time he stroked her, Fenrir has a strange expression that looked like a combination of annoyance and satisfaction. Vahn assumed it was likely due to the fact that she wanted to eat the food so he gave her one last scratch behind her ears before letting her eat. Permission received, Vahn noticed that Fenrir’s Loyalty jumped up by a large degree and seemed to increase every time she found a food she liked.

While she was eating, Vahn discussed the matter with Eva to see if she could help him come up with a solution. One of the problems that she pointed out was the fact that Fenrir was ’ageless’ and shouldn’t require food at all. Anything she ate did nothing to provide nutrition to her body and was instead converted into energy. Since she could eat anything, that meant Fenrir could eat hard metals and, with enough effort, even devour pieces of the void itself. Curious, Vahn used his [Enkidu] and approached Fenrir who was already halfway done with the dishes.

Sensing his approach, Fenrir’s fur rose a bit and she stared directly at him without stopping her mouth from eating a large piece of meat. She saw the chains in his hand and frowned before Vahn explained, "Don’t worry, I’m not going to try and bind you or anything right now. I wanted to see if your teeth could cut through this chain." Her loyalty, which had dropped by three points when she saw the chains, immediately shot up by twenty when she heard Vahn mention trying to eat the chains. Fenrir could sense an incredible amount of energy coming from the ’scary’ looking chains in Vahn’s hand.

Without any hesitation, Fenrir dropped the meat she was eating and grabbed the length of [Enkidu] that was within Vahn’s hands. With a bit of expectation on his face, Vahn watched as Fenrir tried to bite into the ’indestructible’ [Enkidu] and brilliantly fail in her attempts. She didn’t seem to give up though as she kept chewing on the chains as if she were resolved to devour them. Perhaps it was because of the ’indestructible’ quality of [Enkidu], or the fact that her [Devour] was only SS compared to [Enkidu]’s SSS, but Fenrir wasn’t able to put so much as a dent in it. The only thing she got for her troubles was a slobbery golden chain.

Vahn was both relieved and a little disappointed that she failed to break through the chains. This meant that he would be able to use [Enkidu] against her and potentially seal the vortex in her body, but it also meant he didn’t have an easy method to satiate her hunger. Since [Enkidu]’s length was infinite as long as he could provide enough energy, Vahn thought it would have been a good supplement for Fenrir in the future. Curiously, however, Fenrir didn’t seem to be upset that she couldn’t eat the chains and happily continued trying to devour them without seeming to grow tired or bored.

Vahn thought it was interesting, so he asked, "Do you like the way [Enkidu] tastes?" Without turning to look at him, Fenrir kept chewing on the chains as she responded, "Good, hard, happy, Fenrir keep, mine." Her words caused Vahn’s brows to rise slightly as he watched Fenrir completely ignore the food around her as she continually tried to eat his [Enkidu]. Vahn wondered if it was some kind of instinct for her to try and devour things and, since she couldn’t devour [Enkidu], it was a good stress relief ’chew-toy’ for her.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Om nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom’,’Waggle Butt’,’Gilgamesh Screaming In Another Dimension’)

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