The Scent of Souls

After thinking it over for a long time, Roy felt that Mana Growth might be related to Demon Soul Devouring Addiction.

He suspected that demons liked devouring souls because consuming them increased their mana. Otherwise, if souls merely tasted good, demons would not pursue them so frantically.

After some thought, Roy took out one of the souls he still had.

Should I try eating one? Come to think of it, ever since I was born, every soul I obtained had been put into the system to strengthen myself. I had never properly tasted a soul before. Were souls really that delicious to demons?

The soul Roy took out was the smallest one. As he stared at the Soul Light Orb, he suddenly found saliva flowing uncontrollably in his mouth. At the same time, an intense craving rose within him, just like when he had been human and saw delicious-looking food. He wanted to eat it so badly!

With a gulp, Roy swallowed the saliva filling his mouth and impatiently tossed the Soul Light Orb into it.

The Broad Bean Size Soul Light Orb melted the moment it touched his saliva—or rather, it vanished! Demon saliva really could break down souls!

At the same time, an indescribably wonderful flavor spread across Roy's tongue. Along with it came an ultimate pleasure that filled both body and mind, as though his brain were frantically secreting Dopamine for his body the instant he swallowed the soul. Even his body felt lighter!

It truly felt as though he were floating in heaven...

The sensation lasted for quite a while before slowly fading. Only then did Roy gradually Came to His Senses. He kept savoring the feeling from before, and the more he relived it, the more his brain sent him a signal: I want more!

Under those circumstances, Roy nearly could not stop himself from taking out all his remaining souls. Fortunately, he still had some self-control and forcibly suppressed the urge.

"That was close! This stuff really is addictive!" After stopping that hungry impulse, Roy touched his chest with Lingering Fear.

Once he calmed down, he noticed that after consuming that soul, most of it seemed to have dispersed. Only a small part had transformed into a peculiar sensation, like a Warm Current. It first spread throughout his body, then gathered back from every part of his body and flowed toward his heart, where it finally stopped moving.

"Could this Warm Current be mana?" Roy carefully felt it out but could not be sure, so he simply opened the System Interface to check his attributes.

When Roy had tested Telekinesis earlier, he had exhausted all his Magic Power Consumption. Yet when he checked now, he discovered that his Magic Power Attribute had become 0 (+0.3)!

What did that mean? Was the 0.3 increase in magic power something his body had slowly recovered on its own, or was it an increase to his maximum caused by eating that soul?

If it was the latter, then demons really could improve their mana by devouring souls. But if that was truly the case, Roy did not think it was good news for him. It meant that in the future, he would not only need souls to keep strengthening himself through the system, but also to sustain Mana Growth. The number of souls he needed would only keep growing!

"Continuing Like This won't work. I need to figure out the fundamental principle behind Mana Growth and find a way to improve it!" Roy thought. "Otherwise, I'll be poor for the rest of my life again!"

Setting his attributes aside for now, Roy created a new Blank Page and began drawing again.

For Roy, using souls to fuel the system was far more efficient than directly devouring them for Mana Growth. The same amount of souls could yield much more through the system—like the oversized underwear Roy had just drawn!

Yes, oversized underwear! You might not believe it, but Roy had been running around naked for a long time!

Only now did he finally have enough to spare for some clothes to cover himself. When he had been a Little Demon, being naked had not mattered much. But now that his Body Size had suddenly increased, he felt like he would get censored if he did not cover up! The chilly breeze around his crotch was not pleasant at all.

Roy customized the underwear to be the same color as his Skin Color, and it was made of pure Cotton Material. Breathable and dry, it finally let Roy breathe a complete sigh of relief.

Though he did not know why, it was the instinct of every male. Being a demon made no difference...

I'm probably the first demon in the Upper Abyss to wear underwear, Roy thought as he set off once more.

This time, Roy directly flapped his Demon Wings and took to the air, beginning his exploration from above.

Just how vast was this hellish abyss? Roy had no way of knowing. He had previously walked more than a hundred kilometers on his Legs, but he probably had not even left the area he had seen from above back then, not to mention the world in the Lower Layer.

Still, flying in the air let him see plenty of sights invisible from the ground. Mm, and enemies too.

Unlike on the ground, the enemies Roy encountered in the air were all Avian Demons and Insectoid Demons with Elytra. Yet when fighting these demons, Roy could already deal with them easily. Enhanced by the T-Virus, Roy's strength and speed continued to slowly increase over time, while these Flying Demons did not excel in strength. Thus, whenever he encountered them, Roy could easily crush them with brute force. Once he caught one, his tail and sharp Claws could tear its body apart directly.

At the same time, Roy had learned the Hunting Method of Flying Demons. Whenever prey appeared on the ground, he would dive down at high speed from the sky. With the force of that dive, even demons with massive Body Size could be knocked straight to the ground.

To test his own strength, Roy deliberately chose mature demons as hunting targets. Fighting these Lower Top Tier demons was far more interesting than simply bullying the weak, and it greatly helped hone Roy's combat skills.

Compared to Flying Demons, Roy possessed greater strength. Yet when facing powerful demons on the ground, Roy could fly. This invisibly gave him an advantage no matter what type of demon he faced. As Roy gradually killed quite a few Lower Top Tier demons, some demons with a little intelligence actually chose to avoid him whenever they saw him appear!

Roy had quietly become a little demon tyrant. It could be said that even if he went back now to settle things with Spider Queen Alanya, he would be able to kill her...

But Roy did not choose to return. To him, killing Alanya held little appeal. As the number of souls he possessed increased, Roy discovered something: the quality of a soul had nothing to do with how powerful its owner had been. During this period, he had hunted a total of twenty-three Lower Top Tier demons, but without exception, their souls all appeared in the System Interface as Low-grade Souls. They were merely larger in volume and had slightly higher Soul Power Value.

Furthermore, now that his strength had grown, Roy no longer needed to hide in caves to avoid danger. So even if he returned and killed Alanya, all he would gain would be a Low-grade Soul. There would be no other benefit, while the cost would be a great deal of time. He would have to abandon the region he had already explored and fly back over a hundred kilometers. No matter how he thought about it, it was not worth it.

In Roy's view, he would probably remain in the Upper Abyss for a long time anyway, so there was no rush to avenge Alanya's pursuit of him...

Life in the Upper Abyss was monotonous and dull. It was not just Roy—nearly every demon living in this world was the same. Every day consisted of fighting, hunting, then more fighting and hunting. Roy had tried his best to adapt, but after a long time, it became difficult to endure. He felt that if this continued, he would go mad. He had even begun entertaining thoughts like, Should I save one or two souls every day to eat for amusement?

However, on this day, while Roy flew through the air and waited for enemies to come looking for trouble, he suddenly spotted dozens of demons on the ground.

These demons had gathered together without any conflict breaking out. Instead, they were desperately running in the same direction, chasing one another as they went!

It was not just on the ground. Flying Demons gradually began appearing in the sky as well, all heading in the same direction and beating their wings continuously as they flew.

The sight reminded Roy of his time at the Hatching Grounds, and he immediately realized that something had happened. Only when certain special events occurred would demons act collectively like this.

So Roy turned in midair. Bored as he was, his interest was immediately piqued, and he followed after them.

After flying for some distance and approaching a certain area, Roy suddenly smelled an indescribable fragrance!

The scent was somewhat like the soul Roy had consumed before, but that soul's fragrance had not been nearly this rich. It could never have spread so far.

Roy immediately realized what it was. "Could this be the scent of a High-grade Soul!?"

His spirits lifted, and he sped toward the front...