“Basic Self-Healing… where exactly did this talent come from?” Orion Locke rubbed his now-smooth chin while studying the new entry inside the Black Book.
He couldn’t tell whether the ability had awakened naturally when his Life Level advanced or whether the Black Book had extracted it from the mutant he had just killed.
During twelve years of military service, Orion had personally killed plenty of unusually strong and dangerous people, yet all of them had provided only Normal Energy.
This cannibal had been different.
Killing him had produced Special Energy, which proved that despite his human origins, he was no longer completely ordinary.
Orion also remembered that the mutant had survived a bullet through the chest and another through the head, along with massive blood loss and a crushed neck, which perfectly matched the Basic Self-Healing talent that had suddenly appeared on Orion’s status page.
“There’s something else.” Orion experimented with the Black Book for another moment and quickly discovered a new limitation.
“Normal Energy can still improve skills, but Physical Fitness, Constitution, Life Level, and talents now require Special Energy.” That discovery immediately made Special Energy far more valuable than anything he had encountered before.
If it could only be obtained from abnormal creatures like these mutants, Orion would need to find more of them if he wanted to continue evolving.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the massive cannibal lying nearby, and the idea of selling the creature for money disappeared from his mind almost instantly.
Money could always be earned.
Special Energy apparently couldn’t.
“Aba… aba…” The bound mutant had always viewed ordinary humans as prey, no different from animals waiting to be butchered.
Now, however, he had watched his more cunning companion get completely overwhelmed before Orion tore his head from his body with his bare hands.
Worse still, after Orion’s Life Level increased, something about his presence had changed, producing an instinctive pressure that made the mutant feel as though he were facing a superior predator.
“Aba!
Aba!” The huge cannibal struggled weakly against the chains, his deformed face filled with fear.
Survival was an instinct shared by almost every living creature, and faced with Orion’s obvious killing intent, the mutant desperately wanted to surrender.
He couldn’t speak properly, but the meaning behind his sounds and expression was unmistakable.
Just as Orion prepared to finish him, the Black Book suddenly reacted.
Clatter… Pages turned by themselves inside his consciousness.
Orion immediately focused on the book and saw that it had opened to an entirely new page.
Information about the enormous mutant appeared across the black parchment as clearly as Orion’s own status.
Species: Ogre — Human Mutant Age: 17 Life Level: Level 1 Physical Fitness: 0.73 — Can Be Upgraded Constitution: 1.00 — Cannot Be Upgraded Talent: Basic Self-Healing Skills: Slaughter Lv.4, Combat Lv.2 Status: Absolute Obedience Orion stared at the final line for several seconds.
“The Black Book… subdued him?” At the same moment, he became aware of an inexplicable connection between himself and the mutant.
Orion could vaguely sense the creature’s fear, primitive thoughts, and fragments of accumulated knowledge, while any command he issued mentally carried an authority the cannibal seemed completely incapable of resisting.
It wasn’t persuasion or intimidation.
It was genuine control.
Even more interestingly, because the Black Book now recognized the mutant as Orion’s subordinate, he could use Normal Energy to improve the creature’s attributes just as he once improved his own.
The ogre’s Constitution had already reached the Level 1 limit, while Physical Fitness remained at 0.73.
After considering it briefly, Orion decided to test how far the system could develop him.
He spent 27 Normal Energy Points.
“ROAR!” Energy surged into the mutant’s body.
Thick bluish veins rose beneath his skin while his already massive shoulders, chest, arms, and legs expanded even further, causing the chains around him to groan under the pressure.
His distorted facial features became more pronounced as well, with deeper-set eyes, a heavier jaw, and protruding teeth that made him resemble some enormous wild boar shaped into human form.
Clang!
Clang!
Several chain links finally snapped.
When the transformation ended, Orion looked at the updated information.
Species: Ogre — Human Mutant Age: 17 Life Level: Level 1 Physical Fitness: 1.00 — Cannot Be Upgraded Constitution: 1.00 — Cannot Be Upgraded Talent: Basic Self-Healing Skills: Slaughter Lv.4, Combat Lv.2 Status: Absolute Obedience The transformed ogre slowly stood.
His height had increased dramatically to nearly eight feet, and thick muscles and veins covered his enormous frame.
The basement had already seemed cramped before, but with the giant standing upright, the room suddenly felt much smaller.
Orion stepped forward and pressed one hand against the ogre’s shoulder before testing his strength.
After a brief contest, he estimated that with his Physical Fitness developed to its Level 1 maximum, the mutant could exert close to fifteen hundred pounds of raw force.
That was considerably beyond what an ordinary peak human could achieve.
“Not bad.” Although the ogre had originated from humanity, the Black Book now classified him as a separate mutated species with physical limits higher than those of normal humans.
Combined with Basic Self-Healing, his survivability and combat potential were considerable.
If Orion eventually improved the creature’s fighting skills as well, he would have an extremely useful companion.
Unfortunately, while the ogre understood simple speech and Orion’s mental commands, he couldn’t communicate properly.
When Orion asked what had caused his mutation, the creature responded with confused gestures and primitive sounds.
From what Orion could gather, he didn’t know the answer himself and had spent as long as he could remember living in these woods and hunting people alongside his companion.
That information strengthened Orion’s earlier suspicion.
His Basic Self-Healing talent had probably been extracted through the Black Book’s interaction with these mutants, which meant other abnormal species might exist elsewhere in the world.
If mutant cannibals existed in isolated forests, there was no reason to assume they were the only supernatural or genetically abnormal creatures hiding from ordinary society.
More importantly, Orion now understood the path ahead.
If he wanted to raise his Life Level again, he would need to hunt special creatures stronger than the mutant he had just killed and obtain either more Special Energy or higher-grade Special Energy.
For the first time in years, the thought of the future filled him with genuine excitement.
“Interesting.” Twelve years in the military had gradually reduced Orion’s life to a repetitive cycle of missions, killing, brief periods of indulgence, and then more killing.
Once his body reached the Level 1 limit, even becoming stronger had stopped giving him a meaningful goal.
He had possessed extraordinary abilities but nowhere left to take them.
Now that had changed.
There were special life forms hidden somewhere in this world, and by hunting them, Orion could continue evolving beyond anything ordinary humans could achieve.
He suddenly wanted to know how far the Black Book’s path extended.
If he continued raising his Life Level again and again, would he eventually remain human—or become something closer to a god?
After sorting through his thoughts, Orion brought the subdued ogre back upstairs.
Originally, he had planned to remain at the cabin until law enforcement arrived, but there was no chance he could explain an eight-foot mutant cannibal under his absolute control.
Handing the creature over to the police was obviously no longer an option.
Orion searched through the cabin for clothing, but nothing remotely fit the ogre’s transformed body.
The mutant’s original clothes had been torn apart during his growth, leaving him almost completely exposed, and walking into civilization like that would attract attention within seconds.
With no better choice, Orion tore down one of the cabin’s large curtains and wrapped it around the creature’s waist.
During the search, Orion also discovered several wallets, watches, rings, and other valuables stored inside a cabinet.
They had clearly belonged to the cannibals’ previous victims.
He opened the wallets, collected the cash, and after counting roughly ten to twenty thousand dollars, casually stuffed the money into his pocket.
Before leaving, Orion returned to the main room and collected the two shell casings from his earlier gunfire.
After confirming that he hadn’t left anything else obviously connected to himself behind, he set the old cabin on fire.
Flames quickly spread across the dry wooden structure while smoke rose through the surrounding trees.
Orion watched for only a moment before turning toward the mountain trail.
The enormous mutant followed obediently behind him, carrying the heavy logging axe as if it weighed nothing.
Orion studied his new subordinate for several seconds before deciding that constantly calling him “the ogre” would become annoying.
“I should give you a name.” The mutant looked down at him.
Orion smiled faintly.
“From now on, you’re Hannibal.” (End of Chapter) [Chapter Rewards]