Magna cupped the object carefully, the leaves acting as a buffer between his palms and the blade.
Once he was sure he had the right grip, the right angle, he began pressing it slowly against the burnt skin.
His strength alone wouldn’t normally have been enough to break through skin that hardened, but the red object sliced clean through the meat, like a hot knife through butter.
’I should be more careful with this thing.’ He gulped nervously.
Being even more careful this time, he made a few more cuts and finally managed to peel away the burnt, hardened outer layer.
Underneath, the meat sat freshly and finely cooked, soft steam still rising off it.
His stomach growled again, louder this time, urging him on as he kept cutting.
He tried to keep the pieces small, bite-sized, so that even if he couldn’t chew properly, there was no real risk of choking.
Once a small piece fell free onto the ground, he carefully set the object down with the leaves, reached out, and picked it up.
Then, without a second thought, he popped it into his mouth.
It was still warm, though not hot enough to burn.
Quite juicy too, nowhere near as tough as he’d expected.
Using his newly forming teeth, he began to chew, letting the taste spread across his tongue.
’Definitely not the best...’ His face twisted slightly at the unpleasant taste, though not enough to make it inedible.
After a minute or so of chewing, once it had gone soft enough to swallow, he did.
[New substance detected... Green Goblin Flesh...]
[Energy particles detected...]
[Converting nutrients into energy...]
Gaia’s mechanical voice echoed in his ears once more, glowing blue text drifting past his eyes alongside it.
This, at least, confirmed his theory, that he needed food rich in real nutrients to actually pull energy from it.
If he kept eating the goblin meat, Gaia would surely charge up enough to grant him another power-up soon.
And yet the thought brought him no joy at all. Glancing toward the mother goblin’s body, he felt something heavy settle in his chest. It was as though, even in death, she was still looking after him somehow.
His vision blurred with tears. Turning back to the corpse, he picked up the leaves, took hold of the red object again, and kept cutting.
He pulled off another small piece, tears rolling slowly down his cheeks the whole time.
One drop landed on the meat, and somehow it was that, of all things, that finally made it taste right.
[Energy accumulation threshold reached.]
[Please select a method to utilize the gathered energy.]
Magna looked at the new text hovering in front of him, slowly setting the red object down.
He’d already eaten ten pieces, maybe more, he’d lost count, stopping only once he felt full and the warmth spreading through him had reached its peak.
’Looks like goblin meat really does carry a lot more nutrients than goblin milk.’
He figured, or maybe just hoped, that if he kept eating, Gaia might charge up fully at least once more.
Then he looked over the new options in front of him.
[Option 1: Expend 100% accumulated energy to instantly gain 3 years of physical growth.]
Magna’s eyes went wide at the very first option.
It was tempting enough that he nearly chosee it right away, since it would help enormously with his current situation.
At the very least, he’d start walking, skipping the whole crawling phase entirely, which alone was worth a great deal.
Holding himself back, he checked the other two as well.
[Option 2: Expend 100% accumulated energy to fully map and analyze the surrounding environment within a 150-meter radius.]
[Option 3: Expend 100% accumulated energy to permanently enhance mana perception and affinity.]
"Oh... fu’ yu..." he cursed out loud, reading through the rest.
These were nothing like his first set of choices. All three were so useful right now that he wanted, quite badly, to pick every single one.
Mapping out a 150-meter radius would let him check for any goblins still lurking nearby, and get a real sense of the cave system, keeping him safer down here.
As for Option 3, well, that was the very thing he’d wanted from the start, mana manipulation.
"Gaia... can’ I jus’ pick all?" He tried talking to the AI directly, but as always, nothing came back.
Accepting the reality of it, he calmed himself and tried to think it through properly.
First, he crossed off Option 2. Good as it was, it still fell short of the other two.
Then he turned to Option 3, and noticed something worth worrying about.
It said it would permanently enhance his mana perception and affinity, sure, but the real question was by how much.
Even if it doubled or tripled his baseline, doubling zero still left him with zero, which would make the whole thing useless.
And even setting that aside, even if it granted him the traits outright, he hadn’t actually learned any proper spells yet.
All the magic he knew came down to two basic lifestyle spells, fire and water, plus the one the mother goblin had used to kill all teh goblins as well as herself.
Not to mention, all he really knew were the incantations. He wasn’t even sure if something more was needed to actually cast them.
’Okay, I think the first option’s the safest bet to boost my odds of surviving,’ he finally decided, though a lingering regret over passing on the third stuck with him all the same.
Part of him worried this might be his only shot at something like this, with no idea what future options might even look like.
But greed wasn’t something he could afford right now.
Making up his mind, he finally chose.
[Option 1 selected. Utilizing gathered energy to instantly gain 3 years of physical growth. Prepare for physical pain...]
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