Dual Cultivation: Beasts and Women!

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed since the arrival of the 28 hostages on the Eternal Doom Island.

For most of that time, Liam alternated between meditating in the hot spring he had found and eating whatever was consumable in the demon's cave.

On his first day, he honestly thought he wouldn't be able to stay there for over two days. There didn't seem to be enough food to feed him. He wasn't fat and his hunger didn't seem to have diminished since he became a Spirit Master.

But he felt good meditating in the hot spring. Every hour he meditated on it, he felt less of the burn from the scalding water in the area, feeling improvements in his physique and in his mana lake.

This wasn't just him trying to prevent the demon's future consumption. He had genuinely become addicted to the sensation of meditating, accumulating more and more mana.

This made him suffer, losing what little fat he had under his skin, until his face took on a malnourished appearance, with his cheeks almost disappearing, showing his facial bones.

But on his third day, he couldn't stand it and devoured several of the non-poisonous insects and even the earthworms in the area.

This seemed disgusting and risky, but luckily his former self was a young scholar who had prepared to serve the future master of the Foster family. He knew the poisonous and non-poisonous insects, having only eaten what wouldn't harm him.

His hunger made him ignore the horrible taste of the things he ate between the third and current day in that cave.

This worked to curb his hunger during those days, but this morning, when he woke up for another meditation session—he still needed to sleep—he realized there was nothing left for him to eat.

Unless he was going to eat the flesh of the dead demon, his only alternative would be to leave the cave in another day at most.

As addicted as he was to cultivating in the hot spring, Liam hadn't reached the point where he could accept devouring corpses. When he woke up this morning, he meditated until he was close to his limit, which should be sunset today.

...

Hours later, Liam's stomach was making intense noises, causing him to feel pain as he stood in one of the cave's hot water pools illuminated by underground magma.

Unable to continue concentrating on his meditation, he let out a long, defeated sigh before leaving.

'Time to make my way around this island.'

He put on his torn clothes, making sure the book he had taken from the demon incubus's things was with him.

'I've already made the most of this place. My body was already proving resistant and the mana in the area is now much less dense than before. It will take some time for it to return to conditions similar to those I found about a week ago.'

His body's situation was related to the improvement in its properties. When the mana density in the area decreased, it was because of Liam's absorption of mana.

According to the theories the original Liam knew, natural areas, untouched by humans, had their own characteristics. If one came and exploited these characteristics without pushing the area beyond its limits, the area would be weakened temporarily, but would return to the way it was.

Nature was renewable. If one was patient, one could harvest the same type of fruit many, many times.

You just had to respect the unwritten rules of the universe!

'I'll come back when the three-month period is almost over. Maybe I can meditate here one more time.'

He headed towards the exit of the cave, which, at first, was not so visible to him. The incubus seemed to be clever, having created a single entrance and exit to this place, which was a fake rock wall.

Previously, Liam hadn't identified the exit. But with his senses much stronger than before, he found the place where the demon had brought him five days ago.

He climbed up a narrow path, with barely enough room for a person like him to walk upright, where irregularities in the path seemed to form steps.

Many cobwebs were lying around, which Liam causally destroyed by running his hands over them, oblivious to the small, harmless spiders in his path.

Seeing light coming from in front of him, he quickened his pace to a stop, feeling his throat move, saliva forming in his mouth as the smell of blood stimulated his senses.

'Beasts!'

He had no interest in blood, but beasts were synonymous with meat, i.e., food!

He hastened his pace, picking up a makeshift dagger he had found in the demon's cave.

Unfortunately, the creature had left all of Liam's weapons behind with his food, so it was up to him to rely on his current instincts and the stone dagger in his hands.

But the moment he left the cave, faced with the extremely clear outside world, surrounded by trees and visual information, Liam wasn't just faced with a beast!

Twelve meters in front of him, a creature that looked like a wild boar was surrounded by two demons, beings much more malicious and powerful in appearance than the incubus that had kidnapped him days ago.

These demons, one standing, laughing at the wounded boar, the other lying on a rock 16 meters away from Liam, had gray skins, larger and more hostile horns than the corpse Liam had left behind. Their teeth were bigger and sharper, their ears pointed, the size of human hands.

Their bodies were between 1.8 and 2 meters tall, very muscular, and with sharp claws on their hands and feet.

'Demons! Shit!'

Liam stopped where he was, putting his desire to eat aside to worry about his enemies.

Demons were special types of humanoid monsters, eaters of human flesh, a type of being that, at birth, already began its mystical journey with its special characteristics.

Demons had different characteristics, depending on their race. The incubus who had kidnapped Liam, for example, was not a particularly physically powerful type of demon within the demonic society.

However, even a demon, such as an incubus, had more physical strength, endurance and speed than a human at the same level.

The special abilities of demons could vary depending on race, purity of lineage, mana level, age, individual intelligence, etc. The only thing common to all, to a certain degree, was their physical condition, more enhanced in some, less so in others.

From what Liam knew and could surmise, the creatures on this island must be special beings from the first realm. None of the mortals left to endure three months in this hell could survive if the place was inhabited by beings from the second realm!

This thought gave him confidence in the face of those two staring at him right now, but it still wasn't enough for him to risk it so easily.

'While humans can get stronger by conquering spirits, demons can get stronger by devouring our bodies. Demons are particularly effective at this.

Unlike other monsters, they don't just eat those who attack them. They hunt humans because they like the taste of our flesh.

I have to be careful. They won't let me get away, even if I try.'

He stared at the two creatures for a moment, while they both watched him in silence, not expecting to find a young Spirit Master there.

Unlike Liam, who had just awakened his powers a few days ago and understood little about the distinction between the strengths of magical beings, these two were born with keen senses for it. They could tell the human's level and how difficult it would be to act against him.

They both put aside the boar they were hunting to focus on, the black-haired boy, who must have a third of the boar's weight, but who would be worth twice as much to them as that animal.

The two raised their guards while muttering things that were incomprehensible to Liam, but which he understood nonetheless.

'You want to attack me and eat me, huh? It will not be that easy!'

His eyes turned blood red, his senses growing stronger while his heart beat harder.

Feeling his features associated with the incubus becoming more noticeable, Liam moved against the one closest to him, figuring he'd have a better chance by attacking first!

As he moved, his feet surprised him, bringing him into contact with the gray creature faster than he had imagined.

Not only was he surprised, but so was the gray creature. This demon's eyes widened at Liam's speed, as it attacked rather late.

Liam saw it coming, moving to defend himself while attacking the enemy with a swipe, throwing him against the wounded boar.

'I'm not going to stand alone against you two, you idiot! Entertain him for a moment, piggy!'

He moved without looking at the boar and the fallen demon, turning his attention to the other already approaching him.