The air reeked of scorched flesh and frozen blood. Nero stood among the mutilated corpses of the newborns, his breath calm despite the mountain of carnage he had left in his wake. Blood—some steaming, some frosted—clung to his skin, and a gnawing satisfaction hummed beneath his ribs.
Seventy. That was the final count.
Seventy newborn demonkin, all of fire or ice affinity, cut down and devoured by his hand.
He wiped his mouth, relishing the warmth still lingering on his tongue. Yet there was no celebration.
Because the mission wasn't over.
"Tch. So it's not just this zone," he muttered, glancing around the birthing area he'd decimated. Bones jutted from the soil like roots of a dead tree. Steam hissed upward from broken bodies.
No system chime. No reward.
He had long surpassed the point of concern for blood or violence. What intrigued him now were the numbers. The rhythm of growth. The logic behind the system.
After killing the first few demonkin, he had leveled up quickly. The EXP had surged. But as his level climbed, he noticed the gains shrinking.
"The higher I go, the less I get from weaklings like these," he murmured.
It was basic RPG logic. Level gap penalties. Slaying low-level enemies was only efficient at the beginning. As he climbed, their value dropped. Now that he was nearing Level 9, the newborns barely gave anything.
Still, their flesh served another purpose.
He licked his fingers clean. Gluttony ensured that every bite held the potential for growth—small stat increases, fragments of resistance, raw nourishment. It all added up.
With a thought, he summoned his status window.
[Status Window]
True Name: Numen
Alias: Nero
Race: Demonkin (Non-Elemental Variant)
Level: 8
EXP: 725 / 800
DGP: 620
Stats:
STR: 13
DEX: 13
VIT: 14
INT: 11
Skills:
Active: Nero Style: Feral Form, Gluttony
Passive: Fire Resistance (Low), Ice Resistance (Low), Dual Element Affinity
Traits: GOD Furnace [Locked]
"Looks about right," he muttered.
He had gained enough from the seventy newborns—roughly 10 DGP per kill and a fraction of EXP each. At first, he'd been receiving 15–20 EXP per demonkin. Then, 10. Now? Barely 1 or 2.
He needed something stronger. Bigger prey.
Nero cracked his knuckles and began moving. The birthing ground was empty. This nest had nothing more to offer.
But somewhere beyond, there had to be other zones—ones housing demonkin with different elemental affinities. Ones born stronger. Ones worth the effort.
He wouldn't reach Level 10 like this.
He needed real prey.
He needed stronger prey.
He needed more delicious prey.