The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 13: The Wastrel Has Changed (2) (Part 1)

Adrian followed behind, panting heavily.
He maintained a distance not too far from Kai.

Adrian’s shirt had long been thrown off, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.
It seemed he had been doing physical training alongside the soldiers from the very beginning.

In other words, Adrian had been running for over three hours straight.

And yet, Adrian kept running.

Though his breathing was ragged, his legs didn’t falter in the slightest.
Even when the soldiers, the centurions, and the instructors had all dropped out, Adrian alone kept going without collapsing.

Then—

Adrian overtook Kai.
Their bodies overlapped for a brief moment, and as they brushed past, Adrian’s eyes turned to Kai.
A fleeting moment of eye contact.
Kai caught a glimpse of the emotion in Adrian’s gaze.

It was the look of a victor.

The composure of someone saying, I’ve beaten you.
The sneer that implied you’re nothing but a loser.

That look was in Adrian’s eyes as he ran past Kai.

Crack!

Something in Kai’s mind snapped with a sharp noise.
Without even realizing it, he abruptly sped up his pace.
He ground his teeth hard.

…I’m not losing.

Of all people, I absolutely refuse to lose to Adrian.
Kai overtook Adrian in a flash.
The gap closed rapidly.
Once again, their bodies overlapped briefly.

Kai glanced at Adrian with a cold, indifferent look as they passed.

And when he casually passed Adrian—

Grrrrk!

A grinding noise came from behind.
He must have bitten down so hard that it sounded like he’d crushed his own teeth rather than just clenching them.

Boom-boom-boom!!

A thunderous roar followed from behind.
There was no time to look back.
No need to, either.
Adrian was already shooting past him like an arrow.

…He’s going all out.

Adrian too was pouring everything he had into it, unwilling to lose to Kai.

Naturally—

He couldn’t afford to lose.

Kai tensed his thighs, and—BANG!
With a booming sound, the ground dented beneath him, and his body shot forward.
Adrian jumped in surprise and looked back.
Seeing how fast Kai was closing the gap—

Crash!

…the ground beneath Adrian’s feet collapsed completely.

“What… what the hell is that…?”
“Insane…”

The soldiers watching were dumbfounded.
Adrian and Kai were neck and neck, throwing themselves forward at full speed.
Neither one backing down—truly…

BANG! BOOM!

It was almost like watching a bloody battle.

The fierce stamina duel between Adrian and Kai spread rapidly throughout the Whitewolf estate.
Soon, people started betting on who would win.

“Of course Sir Kai will win!”
“Obviously! Do you even know who Sir Kai is?”

Most placed their bets on Kai.
The reputation of the top knight wasn’t built on chance—it was only natural.

However, there were still some betting on Adrian.

“But… it kind of feels like Lord Adrian might win?”
“He’s not just keeping up—he’s actually overtaking him.”

That’s how close the match was.
Their duel quickly became the hottest topic inside the estate.

◆ I have no idea when they’re planning to stop!!
◆ One thing’s for sure—they’re both out of their minds!!

Transparent messages popped up noisily before my eyes.
I had no idea how this mechanism worked, but the flood of incomprehensible messages distracted my vision.

Honestly, I wanted to wave them away, but I couldn’t afford to stop.

“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…!”

…It really felt like dying.
My breath was at my throat—it felt like I might collapse at any moment.
I had hit the absolute limit of my stamina.
Before I even realized it, all my strength drained away.
My legs buckled.
Right at the moment when my trembling legs could no longer move—

◆ Skill ‘Regeneration (재생)[C+]’ can be used to recover cardio-respiratory endurance.
◆ Required nutrients: carbohydrates, fats
◆ Would you like to burn carbohydrates and fats to recover cardio-respiratory endurance?

Suddenly, new translucent messages surged into view.
I accepted without hesitation.
The fat stored in my body ignited instantly, and carbohydrates rapidly converted into energy—my stamina bounced back at once.

◆ You have exceeded your stamina limit!
◆ Stamina stat +2!

Then came the message that my stamina stat had increased.
It confirmed that, just like strength, stamina also followed the principle of overload.

Exerting beyond one’s stamina limit would result in growth.
And just like with strength, there was a price to pay for it.

◆ Due to massive nutrient consumption, you feel extreme hunger!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrk…!!!

A thunderous rumble erupted from my stomach.
While my stamina had returned, a wave of dizziness swept over me.

Panicked, I pulled out the emergency lunchbox from my inventory and shoved it into my mouth.

The Inventory, a reward from clearing the tutorial quest—
In simple terms, it was a “pocket of subspace.”

It was a virtual space disconnected from reality, an “extra-dimensional storage” engraved into me, which I could freely access at will.

Because it was bound to me, only I could see it.
Meaning—it was my personal storage and vault.

Chomp, chomp.

As I chewed the internal organs^1, the dizziness faded.
Although the organ meat was primarily protein, it wasn’t entirely devoid of carbohydrates and fats.

I restored my stamina and powered up my legs again.
Kai, not to be outdone, pushed his speed even further.

The reason that was possible… was because just as I was using [Regeneration], Kai was using [Aura].

In other words, it was cheating.

Translatin_Otaku

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