The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 25: Evolution (Part 1)

The Ice Drake’s sheer size meant its heart was massive as well.
Even after eating non-stop for nearly five minutes, I had barely consumed half of it.

Not that fullness was an issue—thanks to my [C+] ability, Nutrient Synthesis (영양분 합성), I was burning calories as fast as I could take them in…

‘Ugh, I can’t breathe.’

Being trapped inside its body made oxygen scarce.
And unfortunately, Nutrient Synthesis [C+] couldn’t synthesize oxygen—at least not yet.

In the end, I had to crawl back out, still carrying half of the Ice Drake’s heart.

As soon as I emerged from the creature—

“Looks like he already left.”

Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Judging by the footprints in the snow, he had already descended the mountain.

Sure enough, off in the distance, I spotted Kai’s retreating back.

The snowy mountain landscape, the drifting snowflakes, and his long, flowing blond hair—
he looked like a proud lone wolf.
But for some reason… today, he looked more like someone sulking.

Seeing that his affection level had shifted to [Disgust], it was probably exactly that.
I couldn’t tell what I’d done to offend him, but whatever.

At least it wasn’t [Hatred]. That was something.

Crunch.

Not that I cared.
I’d have to kill him eventually anyway.

“He doesn’t even get tired, does he?”

Honestly, if it weren’t for him, I probably would’ve died this time.

Still, if I had tried to kill him here, I’d be the one in danger.

Regretful, but the same applied to both of us.
Without each other, we would’ve been the Ice Drake’s prey.

“Still… I am curious about Kai’s ability.”

My ability—[S+] Predation—lets me absorb the powers and talents of any creature by consuming their heart.

It works on beasts, monsters, insects, worms, even humans.
In my past life, I’d consumed plenty of human hearts too.

As a Predator for the Allied Forces, I once devoured the hearts of several Legion Commanders of the Empire.
They possessed truly absurd abilities.

But I didn’t get to consume many of them.

The side effect of Predation… was madness.
Each time I used it, I fell into insanity. Without Ian’s help, I couldn’t control it.

“Well, all he did was beat me up.”

Right up until I was nearly dead, that is.

On top of that, I couldn’t gain anything unless I consumed the heart immediately after extraction.

That’s why I refrained from devouring most of the Empire’s commanders during missions—
I couldn’t always bring Ian along.

And that’s also why I never got to devour Kai, the Commander of the Frost Legion.

Not that I wanted to.

From what I remember of my past life, I’d probably gain something bizarre like “Lichification” from him.

More importantly—

“It’s not easy.”

Right now, it would be nearly impossible to devour Kai.

Just look at him—walking away like it was nothing after fighting a Ice Drake.
Sure, I blocked the Ice Breath for him, but even so, he was definitely a monster.

Crunch.

“Legion Commanders are out of my league too.”

Same story.
In my current state, I couldn’t take them either.
I’d need at least the same level of strength I had during my time in the Allied Forces.

“If only I could wield Aura…”

Sadly, I can’t.

To be more precise, I have zero talent for mana.
I was born that way—unable to sense or perceive mana at all.

I tried every possible method to cure it.
Being the heir of a noble family like the House of Whitewolf, I had access to all kinds of treatments.

None of them worked.
I still couldn’t feel mana. I couldn’t perceive it.

Eventually…

My family cast me aside.

Even after becoming a Predator for the Allied Forces, not even a Saint’s miracle could heal me.

When I returned to the past and witnessed Ian’s ability—[EX] Solo Leveling—I had a flicker of hope.

Maybe… if I raised my mana stat, I’d be able to use mana too.

I held on to that hope.

But nothing changed.

“Even when I raised my mana stat, nothing changed.”

All it did was increase my mana capacity.
To put it simply, my “maximum mana” increased.

But my ability to receive and handle mana remained at zero.
No matter how much I could hold, I couldn’t absorb even a drop.

It wasn’t like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
It was like the jar kept getting bigger—but I had no water to pour into it in the first place.

I still couldn’t feel mana.
Without that, I couldn’t use Aura or magic.

As a knight… or as a mage…

I couldn’t achieve anything.

That’s why I never learned magic—or any kind of formal swordsmanship.

The sword style I used now didn’t even qualify as a style.
It was just something I’d picked up out of desperation to survive the battlefield.

To be generous, it was “practical swordsmanship.”
To be blunt, it was sloppy.

So I went to Ian and asked him.
To teach me how to wield a sword.

Even without the ability to use Aura, learning formal swordsmanship would be a huge difference.

Of course, the martial arts of the continent assume Aura mastery.

But Ian could create swordsmanship suited to someone like me.
It didn’t even have to be swordsmanship.

Though Ian primarily used a sword, he wasn’t limited to one weapon.

Spears, sabers, staves, axes, bows—you name it.
If it was a weapon, he could use it.
Even unarmed martial arts.

And of course, his mastery wasn’t average.
Ian was at the pinnacle in every weapon category.

There was a reason he was the Emperor’s only true rival.

That’s why—whether swordsmanship or spear techniques—
if I could learn from Ian, it would be the swordsmanship of a hero.

So I asked.

“It’s not hard to teach you,” Ian replied.

“But Adrian… I don’t want to teach you.”

He didn’t want to teach me.

I was a bit disappointed.
Actually, to be honest—I was very disappointed.

Not in Ian… but in myself.
Because those words meant I had such miserable talent that even Ian didn’t want to bother.

Translatin_Otaku

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