My SSS-Rank Gluttony Talent: I Can Evolve Limitlessly-Chapter 46: I need more

"Ohh... is that so?" Riley muttered, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes as he narrowed his eyes.

He slowly crouched beside Harty, pulling up his head by the hair so he could look into his eyes.

The man’s face was a mess—smeared red with his own vomit, along with a few strands of innards clinging stubbornly to his chin.

They seemed to wriggle grotesquely, like a pack of worms swimming in blood.

The sight was disgusting, but Riley didn’t flinch, having already seen far worse than this.

He stared coldly at the pathetic man writhing before him and leaned in slightly.

"Or what..." Riley whispered, gripping a handful of Harty’s hair before yanking his head up again. "Your demon friends are gonna come after me?"

Harty’s eyes shot wide open. His mouth parted, trembling, but all he could let out was a choked gasp.

"...H-How... do you know about that?" he weakly muttered, his voice broken and wheezing.

Riley simply smirked.

"I just do," he said. "I know you’re a spy... along with all your little secrets."

The man’s expression shook in terror, realising just how much trouble he was in.

Riley suddenly let go of his head, and it immediately dropped back to his ground, sinking into his vomit with a loud splat.

Then Riley slowly stood up, pulling his shirt up to reveal the pair of short daggers tied to his torso with a thin rope.

With a flick of his wrist, he untied one of them and flipped the blade open, letting it glint in the cave’s faint light.

The curved edge glistened wickedly.

But what truly stood out on it were the intricate red lines running along its surface, all the way up to the tip of the blade.

The moment Harty’s gaze landed on the dagger... his eyes widened.

It was like a jolt of lightning ran through his body.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. Just the sound of his breath rattling in his throat like a dying animal.

His jaw trembled. Then—

Hrk—!

Another violent cough tore through him, and blood sprayed out of his mouth, splattering on the ground.

His entire body spasmed weakly, arms twitching like a dying animal.

Riley crouched again, letting out a light chuckle.

"Seem familiar?" he asked, waving the dagger just inches from the man’s face.

Harty’s wide, bloodshot eyes trembled. Then, with barely enough strength to whisper, he muttered, "W-Where... where did you find that...? How did you... get that dagger...?"

Riley tilted his head, pretending to think for a moment before chuckling again.

"By killing the little boar pet," he said with a shrug. "How else do you think I got it?"

Harty’s face went pale, and his expression twisted in terror.

"Wh... Who are you?" he stammered, his voice shrill with panic. "H-How do you know about all these?!"

Desperate now, he tried to crawl backward, blood trailing from his lips as he dragged himself inch by inch.

But it was hopeless. His limbs barely moved, his strength evaporating with every passing second.

Riley didn’t move at first.

Then, he stood and stepped forward.

With one swift motion, he grabbed the man’s hair again and yanked his head back, forcing their gazes to meet.

Riley’s eyes narrowed to slits.

"Who am I you ask?" he muttered. "The worst nightmare of those disgusting demons you serve."

And then—

Shlick!

The curved dagger plunged up under Harty’s jaw with deadly precision.

The blade slid effortlessly through his flesh, piercing straight into his brain.

Harty’s body jerked once.

Then went still.

The man’s mouth froze mid-scream, eyes rolled up in their sockets, lips twitching as blood bubbled from his mouth.

Riley let go, allowing the man’s lifeless corpse to collapse to the ground like a gutted sack.

He stood over him for a moment longer, blood slowly dripping from the blade.

Riley lowered the dagger, his expression unreadable as he wiped the blood off on Harty’s tattered robes.

"...One less worm to deal with," he muttered.

[Level 30 High Human Warrior Killed!]

[+19700EXP]

[Level up!]

[Level up rewards: +2 Attribute points, +1 Skill point]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 7!]

[Level up!]

[Level up rewards: +2 Attribute points, +1 Skill point]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 8!]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 10!]

[You can’t level up anymore until you complete your first profession trial!]

[Go to the profession altar in the first city to complete your profession trial!]

An influx of notifications flashed across Riley’s eyes, and the edges of his lips curled up in satisfaction.

’Over nineteen thousand EXP... how nice.’ he thought.

Getting EXP from humans was different—a lot different from monsters.

Unlike monsters, humans and some other races had to undergo something called a Profession Trial—a pivotal test that would determine their power path and progression.

Once completed, their abilities would no longer follow the same static growth as monsters.

Instead, the trial would awaken new potential in them, and depending on how well they performed during the trial, they could gain extremely powerful classes which would make them stand out among their peers.

That was what made them dangerous.

Harty, for instance, had already undergone his Profession Trial. He wasn’t just some random level 30 fighter.

He was a High Warrior—a rare upgraded warrior class that focused on endurance, strength, and increased weapon mastery.

That, combined with the obvious level gap between them, was why Riley had gained such a massive chunk of EXP.

It was also the exact reason why Riley never even considered fighting him head-on.

Even with his absurd stat boosts and evolved talents, he hadn’t been foolish enough to test what the man’s class could really do in a proper fight.

A single slip-up against a higher classed enemy, especially one he had no experience with, could mean death.

Now that he had finally reached Level 10, no matter how much EXP he earned, he wouldn’t be able to level up, not until he completed the profession trial.

Riley smirked at the thought.

’That will be after I kill the village boss monster.’ he mumbled inwardly.

When that happened, he would finally be able to enter the first city... and from there, there were many others things he had to do.

He turned his gaze back down to Harty’s corpse.

Blood kept pouring out from underneath the man’s jaw, mixing with the dark pool of blood around him.

Chunks of bile and organ matter were mixed within the puddle, and the air was thick with the pungent scent of blood.

But despite that—

Riley salivated.

His stomach clenched with hunger, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he would gain from absorbing such a high-levelled NPC.

He stared at the lifeless body of the traitor, and his lips curled into a grin.

His stomach growled, as it trying to tell him to hurry up and consume the body before him.

However, Riley used all the willpower within him to fight against it.

’First things first...’ he thought, hurriedly searching through the man’s corpse, whether he would find any useful item.

After a few seconds of searching, his hand brushed something hard tucked inside a hidden inner pocket.

He reached in—and pulled out a silver ring, which had a small red crystal embedded within it.

[Hito’s Whisper(Rare)]

"An artifact...’ Riley thought, swiftly placing it in his storage ring.

He didn’t bother to even go through the full description of the item, deciding he would do that later.

He quickly turned back to the corpse, licking his lips as his stomach growled once again.

His hands twitched, and his mouth opened, far wider than that of any normal human.

Harty’s body lurched upward, its bones cracking and flesh bending.

It rapidly broke part bit by bit, each of the pieces flying straight into Riley’s gaping mae.

The sound was sickening, a wet series of crunches and squelches echoing within the cave.

But Riley didn’t care, only focused on satisfying his desire.

The body vanished in seconds, leaving nothing except the disgusting puddle of blood on the ground.

Riley’s mouth closed slowly.

He staggered backward a step, exhaling hard as if he’d just climbed a mountain.

His vision blurred as a rush of power thundered through his veins.

His heart pounded hard within his chest, and his skin flushed.

His lips slowly curled into a wide grin, and he laughed out loud.

’This is it... this is the feeling... of power!’ he thought. "Hahahaha!"

[You have devoured: High Warrior Human]

[Acquired: Strength +75.2, Agility +69.7, Endurance +79.7, Vitality +70, Mana +76.3, Skill: Ghost Slash(C-rank), Talent: Ironblood Fighter(B-rank)]

A notification soon flashed across his eyes, but Riley could barely focus on it with all the power coursing through his veins.

Grrr!!

Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly, and his face winced.

’I’m still hungry... very hungry...’ he thought, lightly clutching his abdomen.

His temperature rapidly spiked, and his senses sharpened, to the point where he could his own heart beating within his chest.

He felt like he could even hear the blood pumping through his veins, and he grunted in annoyance.

’It’s so loud...’ he thought, gnashing his teeth.

He could hear the sound of the winds blowing loudly against the cave, and even the slightest rustling of the grasses became annoyingly loud to him.

He could even hear the growls, and howls of wolves, which were supposed to be quite far from the cave.

Worst of all, he could feel a stinging sensation within his stomach, and he felt like he needed to find something to eat... urgently.

’I need more... I... ugh...’ he thought, slowly making his way towards the entrance of the cave.