The Ultimate Devourer

Test run (Part 1)

After I got back to the Church, things seemed to be rather calm on the surface.

Zerath and Miwa were being ostracized by the other trainees when I arrived back at the training camp.

For now, I didn't have any intentions to interact with them. They would most likely be deadweight in the future, so they weren't people that I needed to create a good relationship with.

The only person who got my attention was Shira. Her improvements were as quick, or even quicker than mine!

I couldn't help but be a little jealous as I saw her concentrated expression as she swung a wooden training sword. Her aura was gradually increasing with every swing as she showed all twelve basic moves of the Church's swordsmanship.

Her mastery over them was beautiful but deadly. Her agility and strength could be easily observed from the way her firm muscles exploded with power at every swing she did.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I saw Zerath and Miwa try to walk toward me.

The whispering between the other trainees stopped the moment I arrived. That was most likely because they perceived me as the head of the cannibal squad.

Not like it mattered. I took a few steps into the training field as I did some stretches and started doing the eight moves I knew.

As I trained, Shira finished her reps and approached me before asking:

"Are you ok with the way the others treat you and your new friends? Aren't you all still here to serve our Lord?"

I nodded and responded:

"Once a taboo is broken, people would both fear and hate you, regardless if you act the way they think you will or not."

Shira put a finger under her chin as sweat drops went down her stomach, face, and back.

I continued my training, ignoring her as she was contemplating my words.

I could feel that the time when we will reach a battlefield would come very soon, so I need to prepare for my combat experience, and get my body to tip-top shape for when that would happen.

While I had some confidence myself. Who knew what type of monsters did the other four Churches nurture under their perverted ambitions?

I shook my head as I could feel Aratas's presence appear at the edge of the training field, Zerath and Miwa following behind him.

I snapped my fingers in front of Shira's face, making her wake up from her trance as she looked towards me before I pointed towards Aratas.

Her eyes lit up like a candle in the night before she slowly approached Aratas.

Aratas was ready to call me over when he saw Shira approach him from the side, making him put a thoughtful expression on his face as he looked her over up and down before nodding:

"You have a pretty good foundation, your talent is rather great. Why haven't I heard about you up till now?"

Shira twiddled her fingers as she responded meekly:

"Well, I'm supposed to be under Mirato as her bodyguard after I graduate from trainee to Squire."

Aratas nodded and didn't say anything, that was most likely the decision of the Cardinal, which he didn't want to mess with, he coveted her talent for the battlefield, but it looked like Mirato needed her as a bodyguard. If he tried to sweep her from Mirato, it would escalate the conflict between them and make their relationship even worse.

Aratas gave Shira a thumbs up before saying:

"Keep it up. I have to train Minato and my other two Squires. You should go back to whatever you were doing beforehand, ok?"

Shira nodded, inspired by Aratas's presence and power, making her go back to training instead of going to rest.

I shook my head seeing the interaction between them, so this was what it meant to be talented and charismatic?

I became a little bit gloomy realizing that I would never reach such an interaction in my life, but my gloominess disappeared rather quickly as Aratas, I, and the other two went back to the dungeon to feast.

As I grew accustomed to eating human meat, I started to get a 'sweet tooth for it.

It wasn't to the point that I became addicted, but I enjoyed it rather greatly. I could also feel my body adapting to the human meat diet, making my stomach harden and my insides stop churning every time I ate a full corpse, meaning that sooner or later, the self-imposed limitations that my body had on it would be lifted, and I would be able to eat more corpses before I reached the 'cooldown' where I couldn't eat anymore.

My bones hardened, and my teeth sharpened. The red light in my eyes deepened, and my hair started to grow longer along with my nails which became razor sharp, giving me another weapon in case I would be disarmed from my sword. What was interesting was that I could also control their length at will, almost as if it was an innate ability.

Of course, this ability took some energy from my body, but it was negligible.

The other two were also going through similar transformations. However, they were a little behind me on their transformation considering I started first.

Aratas's eyes were wandering between the three of us as we finished 5 carcasses in one go.

He coughed, attracting our attention before saying:

"Meet me at the training field tomorrow at the dawn when no one is around, you will go on your first mission, supervised by me from a long distance. If the mission goes well, we will feed you for six more jails worth of men before we will release you on the battlefield."

I narrowed my eyes as I understood that the oracle from before would most likely happen tomorrow, I needed to get my acting skills up until the next day! Of course, I practiced whenever I was free, and I could be considered familiar with lying since I had to do it quite a lot of times when I was a bandit and I needed to infiltrate villages, weakening them from inside before signaling for the others to storm the village and kill almost everyone inside.

I knew what to do, and how to do it. Now I just needed to make it convincing enough for the paladin powerhouse in front of me to believe what I will say and do tomorrow.

Hopefully, it will be successful, after all, lying to normal civilians and lying to a powerhouse like Aratas will surely be quite a different experience.

After Aratas said those words, he let us leave as he remained in the dungeon.

He coughed and said:

"You can come out now. I know you have been observing us since we entered."

Mirato came out from the darkness which she had blended with perfectly, her red hair was waving around her as she glared at Aratas, and she said:

"I heard you talked with Shira?"

Aratas shook his head as he glanced at her with an uninterested expression and said:

"Don't worry, I'm sure you know I wouldn't worsen our relationship more than it is already, I know you were observing us with killing intent, are you intent on going against the Cardinal's words? This plan was created by the First Pope of the Main Church, and our side Church isn't the only one that is creating such cannibal squads right now."

Mirato bit her lips as she looked down at her hands and said quietly:

"Why did it have to be cannibals? Why?"

Aratas shook his head as he started to make his way out of the dungeon before saying without looking back:

"I know what happened back then scared you for life, but you must understand that was your brother's decision for the Church's wellbeing, you might even get to see him on the future battlefield now that Cannibals had become a slightly less taboo subject. Hahahahaha."

Mirato gritted her teeth until her gums started bleeding as she glared in the direction where Aratas left.

"These damn three... I don't think I should let them meet with my brother and the other Churches' cannibals at the battlefield, even with the obedience seals put in them. I have a bad feeling about this. I need to talk with the Cardinal for an audience with the First Pope!"