I enjoyed the flavour thoroughly as I chewed and digested the Frostfang within my endless stomach. As if my body completely absorbed its body, I felt it disappear seconds later.
[Mutation: Gluttonous] (Not-Satiated)
+ [Silver-backed Frostfang ♂] has been recorded in the Gluttonous Archives
+ 1% cold resistance
The voice in my head chimed in.
...
My journey down the road of eating had begun on that day. Yes, I noticed too. For everything I ate completely, I would get a little bonus. An incentive of sorts to get me to eat more. Yes, started on my journey of becoming a Pokémon Master and life's purpose became "Gotta catch them all" - gotta catch them all into my stomach!
HAHAHA.
Wait... what's a Pokémon? 0.0 Are they edible? I wonder what they taste like...
Any whatsits... What I meant to say was I became a food collecting master and my motto became "Gotta eat them all!"
Simple right?
If only it was that simple...
...
I stretched my body as I tried not to look at Sim's body that laid on the floor next to me.
Half-expecting that I would have filled my need for food, I stared at the black bar that had been constantly decreasing throughout the day.
I was wrong.
The black bar in front of my eyes had grown substantially but was still decreasing. Counting down the time until I would devour my own body.
[Skill: Hungering LV.1]
Current stacks: 1
Current bonus: 5%
[Status: Hunger is growing]
'Hey...uh... voice... will I need to eat forever?'
'I see...' I thought as I looked into the distance as imagined how my future would become. 'Will I end up eating all the leaves on this tree? I'll switch to creatures... those black creatures during the migration... other creatures on this tree. What will happen if that's not enough and I end up eating all the leaves? In that case, I'll carry my siblings to another tree! But what if I grow even bigger and eat entire trees then? I'll switch to hunting... I'll eat other creatures like the flying creatures.'
Like a flowing tap, my imagination to run wild.
Suddenly, a tremor interrupted my day-dream.
As if I unlocked some sort of hidden condition, the wall in front of me began to shift as the room vibrated.
'I can hear!' I thought as the walls dropped and the familiar sound of static filled my "ears".
It didn't just stop with one wall. No. In fact, all the walls vibrated as they dropped and disappeared.
Corridors appeared from all directions even above.
'The labyrinth.' I thought as I stared in awe at the numerous paths appear before me.
Yes. After such a long story, I hadn't even entered into the true labyrinth.
Now that I think about it... the Frostfang was a gatekeeper. Having defeated it, I guess I was now "worthy" of entering the Labyrinth of White. But I didn't feel worthy. With a new hunger that grew with me and my dead brother that laid literally frozen cold on the floor beside me, how was I worthy?
'Now what.' I paused as I stood there and look down at Sim's body as I sighed. I had ignored his body for too long.
"Look Sim. We made it..." I said. "Now... we have a few choices."
I immediately had two thoughts. One was to move forward by myself and the second was to retreat back and regroup with my family. I knew there was a slight risk that if I chose the latter option, it was possible that another Frostfang would take the place of the one I just defeated.
Sighing, I chose to leave the Labyrinth. I was tired and I needed to rest.
As I turned around I heard the gluttonous voice interrupted my thoughts.
'What did I miss?'
'What?'
Looking back at Sim's frozen body, I didn't know what to say as I felt my stomach rumble in hunger.
'He's probably delicious... probably...' I thought.
Of course, I wanted to eat more. Subconsciously, I had already moved closer and started to sip on the pool of blood that had frozen solid. I couldn't stop myself as finished all of it.
'No.' I thought as I pulled my body backwards.
Staring down at Sim's contorted body, his face was frozen in his last smile - the smile that he gave me before he died.
I inched forward a little more and stared at his cold body.
'Will this really help us?'
The gluttonous voice continued to repeat itself within my mind. As if the phrase was familiar to me, its last phrase warped to that of a shouting man. Do it! Just do it! Do it! The voice got more convincing he repeated itself.
I felt my body relax.
...
So did I do it?
Guess. You should know me well enough by now.
...
Shifting my body around after I did the deed, I spoke to the voice in my head once more.
'How many hours do you think we can last?' I asked the gluttonous voice.
<... 20 hours, Master.>
I let out a sigh.
'Okay. We'll head back...'
Sighing once more, I decided to ignore the voice and started the hour journey back to my family.
...
I started out slow. Still encumbered by the Icy poison that was flowing through my veins, I tried moving as quickly as I could without affecting my hunger much.
As the final few stacks of poison faded out. I finally watched my health bar rise once more from just under 25%.
I was recovering.
Without worry, I mindlessly slid forward through the white passageways.
...
It was dark outside when I finally reached the entrance.
Tired. I immediately ducked into my shell and slept until the next morning.
...
Thump.
A small thump in the night.
...