The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 18: Possibility (Part 1)

The possibility that Ian didn’t return to the past.

It was something I’d considered ever since realizing I had gone back.

But it was also a possibility I’d soon dismissed.

I was certain that Ian had returned to the past.
And the reason was none other than the mechanism behind my ability, Predation [S+].

Predation [S+] is the ability to consume the heart of a living being and obtain its abilities.
And I had consumed Ian’s heart and acquired his powers.

However, it wasn’t clear whether I had absorbed his abilities…
Or merely copied them.

In other words—did I steal the abilities from the target?
Or did I simply duplicate the target’s powers for myself?

If it was absorption, the target would lose their powers.
If it was duplication, the target would retain them.

But I had no way of verifying which it was.
Not even during my time as a Predator of the Allied Army had I solved that mystery.

After all, no living being could survive without a heart, and I had no means of confirming whether abilities remained with a target after consuming it.

If…

If my Predation was indeed absorption, then I had taken Ian’s abilities from him.
But if it was duplication, then both Ian and I would possess those powers.

Either way—

“Ian definitely returned to the past.”

That much was undeniable.
As for the powers I knew Ian had, there were three in total:

Solo Leveling [EX]
Player’s Will [EX]
Regression

Through consuming Ian’s heart, I gained Solo Leveling [EX] and Player’s Will [EX].

But I did not gain the power of Regression.
It didn’t matter whether my ability was absorption or duplication.

Either way, if I had taken or copied the Regression ability, I should have had a skill like Regression [EX] show up.

But I didn’t.

I only had Solo Leveling [EX] and Player’s Will [EX].
There was no sign of any Regression-related skill or power within me.

Which meant—

“I didn’t absorb Regression.”

That ability remained with Ian.
Whether Predation was absorption or duplication, the absence of the Regression power in me meant that it still existed within Ian.

And the reason that was possible was simple:
Predation doesn’t allow me to take all of a target’s abilities at once.

At minimum, I would have to consume their heart several times.
In extreme cases, hundreds of times.

Only then could I obtain all their powers completely.

I hadn’t fully absorbed or duplicated Ian’s powers.
And that meant one thing for certain:

Ian definitely still had the ability to regress.
Ian definitely went back to the past.

More importantly—

==[Find the Hero!]==
[Objective] – Find the Hero
[Reward] – ???
[Failure] – The End of the Continent

The main quest was all the proof I needed that Ian existed somewhere on this continent.
It was odd that he hadn’t shown up even after 17 days, but…

“Let’s give it a bit more time.”

That didn’t mean I was going to just sit around and wait.

◆ You have Predated the additional genetic material of an Ice Troll!
◆ The skill Regeneration [C+] has been enhanced to Regeneration [B-]!

A series of translucent notifications appeared before my eyes, signaling the completion of the Predation process.

“It really got upgraded?”

I had hoped for it, sure. But that’s all it was—hope.
I hadn’t expected it to actually upgrade.

Abilities rarely improved after a single act of Predation. Almost never, in fact.

Even for Nutrient Synthesis [C], I had to hunt eight Alacrons for it to evolve.

“Let’s see how it changed.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the updated skill window for Regeneration popped up.

◆ Regeneration [B-] Consumes stored nutrients within the body to recover damaged areas. The type and amount of nutrients consumed varies depending on the damaged area and severity.

Temporarily degenerates sensory nerves to block pain.
< Absorbing additional genetic material may enhance this ability. >

With the enhancement to [B-], a new feature had been added.

“So now… I don’t feel pain.”

At first glance, that seemed like a great ability.

But in reality, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Pain is a survival mechanism.
All living creatures have a tendency to avoid pain—it’s what allows them to detect and escape danger.

That instinct to avoid harm is the most effective form of self-preservation.

But what if you can’t feel pain?
Then you won’t recognize danger.
You won’t realize when you’re injured.
Even if you’re bleeding out, you’d be numb to it.

So, not feeling pain is, in a sense, a serious “disease” for a living being.

But if I have Regeneration?

Then pain becomes irrelevant.
Even if I get hurt, I can just heal right away.

“This is… actually great.”

No—“great” didn’t even cover it.

Even with regeneration, the pain from shattered bones or torn flesh was still real.
And the mental strain that came with that pain was immense.

Sure, Player’s Will [EX] helped prevent me from going insane, but it didn’t remove the pain itself.

But now, if I could temporarily block pain?

“Then I can regenerate without restraint.”

I’d become a true “Regeneration Monster.”
I had just acquired the most essential and useful element of regeneration.

It had been worth the risk to hunt the Ice Troll properly and consume its heart intact.

“No wonder the Emperor had them all captured.”

But now that I was back in the past, monsters with rare abilities—like the Ice Troll—still existed in the wild.

That’s why, before the Emperor could mobilize, and before the Imperial Army eradicated all life on the continent, I needed to obtain every power I could.

Starting with—

The abilities obtainable from the Snowy Mountains in the North.

“Time to head back.”

I began my climb toward the higher peaks of the snowy range.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.
It had now been two weeks since I entered the Snowy Mountains.

I hadn’t descended even once during that time.

Not because I didn’t have time to go down—but because I didn’t need to.

I sustained myself by eating monsters.
As for water, I could simply burn calories using Nutrient Synthesis [C].

The only real issue was sleeping properly.

After all, the cold of the Snowy Mountains was brutal—murderous, even.
It wasn’t the kind of place where you could just sleep under the stars.

But even that was manageable.
If I dug out a snow pit, it was bearable.

◆ Toughened Skin [D] resists the freezing cold!

To be more accurate, I managed thanks to Toughened Skin [D].

Still, it was a harsh environment.
But compared to my time in the Special Forces, this was nothing.

Sleeping outside during missions was practically a luxury back then.
There were missions where we couldn’t sleep for days, and even times we had to hide in a sewer for a full day.

By comparison, I had plenty to eat now and a place to lie down—even if it was a hole in the snow.

“It’s paradise.”

Honestly, it was paradise.
So I cut back on sleep and focused entirely on hunting.

Unfortunately, there weren’t that many monsters to hunt.

The harsh conditions of the Snowy Mountains naturally meant a lower population of living creatures.