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Energy Eater - Chapter 96 - An offer
🕑 Added 2025-03-27 03:08:53 +0000 UTC"Wait, what? You're asking if I can give this power to someone from the village?" I stared at Michael with an expression of utter confusion.
"I mean, they've spent a long time not having to worry about danger. They could live here without any problems. And I'm assuming it's because of the giant crab, Michael Replied, "I mean, it is a large predator that was living here and likely carrying any other thing away. And now that it's dead, I guess the real monsters will return, and I honestly don't know how the village will handle those creatures if they don't have any way of fighting them off. With a power like that, at least they won't have to worry about everything."
I blinked slowly, still unsure if I was hearing things right. "Hang on, sorry. I just want to be clear. You are not asking for me to teach you this power?"
Michael frowned. "I'm not saying I wouldn't want it, but I think it's more important for the people in the village to be safe."
"This village? The same village that just tried to feed you to a giant crab?" my voice was full of disbelief.
"I mean, I don't think everybody knew what was going on," Michael replied.
He did have a point, but still, "Look, if I'm being honest, I don't like the idea of giving this power to anyone in the village. I don't think there's a single person there who I can trust is not going to abuse it."
Astrid was listening to our conversation, I wasn't quite sure at which point she finished what she was doing, but it was pretty clear she wanted to chime in. Then again, I was pretty sure I knew why she wanted to speak up, and it wasn't really something she would have to do.
"I see," Michael said. "I think that's fair. Like, magic is a lot of power to give to anyone. And I remember my dad talking about his favorite superhero and how with great power comes a great deal of responsibility. Or something like that. I guess trusting someone to have power is not easy to do."
"You're not wrong," I replied, "but it's also not impossible. And I did say I wasn't going to give this to anyone in the village. But, from what I understand, you are not part of the village," I saw Astrid smiling and nodding out of the corner of my eye.
"I'm not," Michael confirmed, but it took a moment for him to realize what I meant, "Are you saying that you can give me that power? That magic?" Michael asked.
"I am. And what you do with it is up to you," I responded. "I will say that you won't be able to give this power to other people right away. And that's a good thing. At least until you understand how it works. But you can refuse if you want to, like I said, it's completely up to you."
Astrid was walking towards us and she sat down by my side and asked, "Better explain?"
I nodded, "Yeah," turning to Michael I continued, "Early on, it is a bit harder to share the magic with anyone else. And actually, it's not really magic. But more like a game System. Do you have any idea what that means?"
"Not really," Michael replied with a frown.
I sighed, "Basically it gives points to the things you can do. Like if your body has 10 points, it means it is stronger than someone who has 5. But you can control those points to a certain extent. Increasing them as you level up. And then you get specific skills they are given by this power which is called a System. The skills, as far as I understand, come from the things you do. So if you keep fishing, you might get fishing-related skills, and if you spend a lot of time near ice, you might get some ice-based skills. Or if you keep nagging it too much, you might get some fire-based skills. It's much easier if it explains it to you."
"If what explains it to me?" Michael looked even more confused.
"The power. The System. You can talk to it. I was talking to it while I was just staring into the distance. And it can explain how things work and stuff like that," I scratched my head, "I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think anything I'm saying is crazier than making fire with my hands."
Michael paused, staring at me. "Fair point. If I'm going to accept, what do I have to do? Or is there a price to pay or something?"
"You will be more likely to be hunted down by monsters who stay and get your scent. But in my experience, that really didn't matter all that much. The monsters that came after me would probably come after me even if I didn't have the System. Also, you don't have to decide now. You have until we leave."
"I really don't know," Michael replied and put both hands on his head. After a moment he started to mess his hair and got up with a decided expression, "You know what? I don't care. You're offering me magic. I don't care about the price. I'll take it."
"Ok then. Just shake," I put out my hand.
He started to move but stopped midway. "I'm not selling my soul, am I? This whole handshake feels very much like I'm making a deal with the devil."
"Hey," I protested, "I think I'm much prettier than the devil, thank you very much."
"I mean, are you? The devil's supposed to be like super pretty because it lures you into getting what you want? Sou you already fit the bill."
I smiled at the unprompted compliment. "Oh, stop it. You're already getting the System. You don't have to keep buttering me up," I let my smile drop and went back to a serious expression, "As far as I know, no, you're not selling your soul. You might be changing your eating habits and not in a good way, but that's about it."
He grabbed my hand to shake, and I gave the System the command, 'Ingrain.' I didn't even check if I had enough particles, but considering that ever since getting to Tier 1, I only required 10% of the progression to the next level, I assumed I would have enough. Especially after killing the giant crab. Which was the case, but not by much. After I felt the particles rushing out, I double-checked. The System confirmed that I only had 2% of progression to the next level right now.
In different circumstances, I would have asked him to wait until I could properly give him the System. I watched his eyes dart back and forth as the initial contact of the System caught him off guard.
"What does it mean?" there was a pause, "Yes…. You can hear me without me speaking?" He fell silent again, and I let go of his hand. He didn't even notice that, which was fair. My first interaction with the System also made me forget about everything else. And I had just died, which is even stranger.
"So I won't really feel any effects until I sleep?" Michael asked.
I nodded. "Pretty much. That happens when you get the System for the first time and then when you tier up."
"When I cry?" He asked.
"No, not cry. Tier up. Ask your System to explain that. It's easier if you see the word."
"What do you mean 'see the word'? What difference would that make?" Michael tilted his head.
"Because I'm not talking about tears, but about tiers, it's not t-e-a-r, it's t-i-e-r."
Michael just stared at me, "Ok… but I don't know how to read."
"Right. Sorry. My bad. Basically, I'm not talking about tears like you're crying. It's more of a classification. So the higher you are in the classification, the stronger you get, and when you go from one rank to another, you also need to sleep. Does that make sense?"
"Making sense is a bit of a stretch, but I think I get it. If I need, I'll ask the System to explain things to me," Michael said, pausing as he realized he had just spoken about the System as if it were the most natural thing he ever did. "Oh, wow. This is going to get weird really quick, isn't it?"
I smiled, "You have no idea."
"Either way, I think we should get going," I said, getting to my feet. "I'm pretty sure the Matriarch won't believe we could kill the giant crab and is spinning a story about how either we were attacked or did something bad to the lake."
"Yeah, we need to tell everybody what happened here," Michael agreed.
"Won't believe us," Astrid said, already standing up by my side.
"That is true," I replied. "I doubt anyone is going to believe when we say there was a giant crab living in the lake. But I don't think we could bring it back. Unless, is there any leg that is just a shell?"
Michael pointed. "Not entirely, but that one is close enough. It's the leg I was taking the meat from."
"Okay, I'm going to try something. Just stay clear. This might get messy."
I walked towards the shell of the leg and touched it, triggering {Compression}. If I understood things properly, I was only affecting the shell and not the meat inside. The moment I asked it to become smaller, the skill triggered, and crab meat started flying out from everywhere as the giant shell compressed into something about a meter long. It was a little bit unsettling as the guts of the creature spilled out violently, almost as if someone had squashed it with a hammer. But at the same time, it did do its job. Even if the leg was still a bit heavy.
Turning around I saw how both Michael and Astrid had some bits of crab meat all over their bodies, but they were still better than me who was covered from head to toe. I ended up going for a quick dip in the lake just to clean myself up before continuing.
As we were about to start making our way back to the village when Astrid walked towards the tent. She picked up Pamela and started carrying her like a princess as we moved.
"We can split the journey if you want," Michael suggested. "I assume you're going to get tired of carrying her all the way back."
But the Frosted Lumberjack just smiled.
He glanced at me with a confused expression, and I just gestured at my companion. "She also has the System. And do you really think ice is the only thing she can do? Between the two of us, she's stronger."
Astrid's points in body were already much higher than mine, and she also had some skills to improve her physical capabilities. Something told me she could carry half of that crab with us and still not even break a sweat. Then again, a couple of her skills might even stop her from sweating completely.
On our journey back, I did my best to explain to Michael what I could about the System. He was also talking to his own, but there were times when it was easier to have a human explaining things. The System also chimed in with information, and I confirmed that no, the {Frost Chop} skill Astrid had was not an evolution of her Chop skill, but a different skill entirely. This should be a similar situation with {Body Regeneration}, after all. This skill was very powerful and was in its basic version. It wouldn't be a surprise if it was a better version of something that was gradually changed into new skills at the request of the Eaters.
We reached the village in about one hour as we were not running, and the festivities were still going. With the Matriarch, the Head Fisher, and the Foreman all talking to the people like nothing had happened. Seeing that made my blood boil, and I walked into the main square, speaking as loudly as I could without screaming.
"I'm really happy to know that even when some people in the village are about to get killed, the party still goes on."
The Matriarch glanced at me with a confused expression. "What are you doing here? You tried to destroy the lake. You tried to poison our water," she shouted. "If it wasn't for Michael and Pamela's noble sacrifice, you would have been successful. How dare you show your face after what you did to them?"
I shook my head. "You mean them?" I pointed to the side where Michael was walking, Pamela still sleeping in Astrid's arms. "Are you saying I killed them?"
"Those are just their corpses. How dare you desecrate their bodies like this?" The Matriarch was full of anger and outrage. And honestly, if I wasn't aware of the reality of the situation, even I would have believed her.
"I'm not dead," Michael protested.
"Yeah, Michael is not dead, despite your best efforts. I mean, seriously, you were trying to feed him to a giant crab? What's the matter with you?" I added.
"What giant crab? What are you talking about, you mad woman?" the Matriarch replied, with confusion in her voice.
"Oh, is that how you're going to play? You wanna pretend you don't know what I'm talking about?" I pressed.
"We don't know what you're talking about. What the hell is the matter with you?" the Foreman added, trying to seem confident but, unlike the Matriarch, not seeming well-versed in lying.
I grabbed the leg I was carrying and triggered {Compression} again, making it grow back to its original size. The giant crab leg landed in the middle of the square, causing some people to gasp and run away from its sudden appearance. But the Matriarch's reaction changed the most. Instead of outrage, now she had genuine fear in her eyes.
"You killed our guardian beast?" she whispered. "Child, you have doomed us all."
"Didn't you say you didn't know what this was?" I smirked. "It was the giant crab, the one that you were trying to feed Michael and Pamela to. And just so everybody knows, apparently the wedding dress has something to do with this. It has a weird smell that lures the giant crab."
I turned to the man who had the chicken coop. "And that's also why you have to remove the vocal cords of the rooster. Because apparently, the cry of a rooster makes the thing go crazy. And if anyone is not believing me, you're all free to go back there where they were supposed to arrive on the other side of the lake. The giant crab's body is still there. I don't know how long it's going to take for the meat to start to rot, but I'm sure it's going to last until morning."
"There's a giant crab there?" another man asked, his voice a bit slurred and clearly not sober.
"Yes, there is. With honestly enough meat for like three of these festivals," I replied.
"Did you eat it? The meat?"
"I mean, yeah, I was hungry," I replied, not really sure where he was going with this.
"How did it taste?"
"Fucking delicious. But that's not the point right now. We can come back to it later. The point is that your leader, your matriarch, is feeding people to a giant crab that lives in the lake. For I don't know what reason."
"To protect us!" the matriarch shouted. "The emperor of the lake protects us. It's thanks to him that we can live so peacefully. Having to send one person every year just so it can have a proper meal and continue to defend us is the least we could do."
With that line, I just stared at the rest of the village. "Well, she just admitted it. I get that most of you are drunk, but is no one really going to do anything?"
That's when Genevieve stepped forward. "No. We're going to get to the bottom of this. Matriarch, for the moment, you're under arrest. We need to understand what's going on and make a proper investigation."
Pamela was clearly unsure what was going on, but it seemed like her reaction made a few of the other guards snap into motion. A couple of them also approached us, saying they would need to interview the four of us to understand what actually was going on. I took that as the best possible outcome for now. But they were also kind enough to say we should do this in the morning, as almost none of them was in a state where they could investigate something properly.
I wasn't really upset about that since we could take this chance to grab our belongings and make sure that the next time we fought against a giant creature, we had our weapons in hand. But it was pretty obvious to me that we wouldn't be staying here for much longer. After all, after a village tries to feed you to a giant crab, it's pretty hard to feel comfortable sleeping near those people.
