Chapter 17: Devour

No matter what happened afterward, it was certain that William saved Bulande; Old Bulande, who had previously suspected that William had injured his son, looked at David with a slightly ashamed gaze. After confirming that Bulande's body was not seriously harmed, Old Bulande took his son home. Although the priest Ouli cast healing and awakening spells on William, William still showed no signs of waking. Fortunately, after the others examined William's body and confirmed that his injuries had healed, they began taking turns caring for William.

At this moment, William, lying on his bedroom bed, found his consciousness immersed in darkness, enveloped by countless black liquids. Those black, viscous fluids kept advancing toward William, seeking to devour his consciousness completely.

William, relying on his willpower, continuously resisted, repeatedly casting 【Fireball】 in the darkness to destroy the incoming black liquids, but the sheer volume of the black fluid was overwhelming, seemingly endless.

Time sped by rapidly within the dark void.

One day, two days…

One year, two years…

After what felt like decades, William's willpower was finally exhausted, leaving him unable to resist any longer.

The black, viscous fluids in the dark space began to tremble in unison, as if mocking William with sarcastic laughter.

They surged toward William and instantly devoured the body formed from his consciousness.

In the next instant, as if a higher race sensed a lower creature's intrusion, a terrifyingly massive magic erupted from William's body, exuding an overwhelming rage that seemed determined to destroy everything in the world.

Even the black viscous fluid that survived the 【Fireball】 and lost only a small portion vanished instantly upon touching that raging, massive, terrifying magic, as if water droplets hit a scorching iron plate.

The black viscous fluids, like frightened prey, scrambled wildly away from the body formed by William's consciousness. Deprived of a target for its fury, the terrifying massive magic left William's body and pursued the fleeing black liquids.

William watched the scene from his spot; though reluctant to admit it, counting this incident and the time he used 【Fireball】 to blast the Mutated Slime, he had already been saved twice by the magic that Kusara left inside him.

Of course, the deaths of himself and his wife in his previous life were also caused by Kusara, and William still harbors deep hatred toward Kusara.

Soon after, the terrifying magic annihilated the black liquids completely, returning to settle silently within William. The black void suddenly fractured into pieces, the shards falling away to reveal golden light, and a brand‑new golden space unfolded before William's eyes.

William didn't understand what had happened, just as he didn't know how he had endured the past decades, or why he hadn't aged.

Suddenly golden light gathered in his palm, and he felt as if he could command this space, while a flood of strange information instantly filled his mind.

"Divine fragment, Devour, ability…"

William awoke from his stupor, looked around, and found himself lying in his home in Bigen Village.

The black liquids, terrifying magic, the black and golden spaces—memories of the past decades felt like a dream, both vivid and lengthy yet, in hindsight, fleeting.

"Strange dream, I think I killed that Mutated Slime, and then it revived… Right, the black liquid in my dream must have been that revived Mutated Slime; after reviving it burrowed into my body."

William linked his real memories with the dream and realized that the Mutated Slime intended to devour his consciousness,

and then he was saved by the magic Kusara left inside him. But what was that black space turned golden? Could it be his consciousness space itself?

"It hurts…" William clutched his head as a fragment of information surfaced in his mind:

【Devour】— the ability to absorb time, all things, and make them one's own.

At that moment, William felt just like when he first crossed into this world and obtained the 【Appraisal】 skill—could this be the golden finger he was overdue for his whole life?!

Relying on the feeling that surfaced in his mind, William reached for the water cup on the bedside cabinet and cast: "【Devour】."

The cup showed no change; not even the water inside altered or diminished a fraction.

William felt a bit embarrassed, then realized that even if he devoured the cup he would gain no ability—perhaps it would just hold more water? He got out of bed, walked to the rack holding his belt, retrieved a few first‑grade Magic Crystals he had obtained from hunting Slimes, held them in his hand, and cast the skill again: "【Devour】."

The Magic Crystals in his hand glowed with Magic Light; several faint strands of magic pierced William's palm, then the crystals' sheen faded, turning into a pile of dust that slipped from his hand.

William felt that after absorbing those beams of Magic Light, his total magic seemed to have increased slightly.

He was astonished, fearing it might be an illusion, so he carefully re‑checked his magic total; although the increase was small, it was indeed there.

William rejoiced wildly, thinking, if he kept absorbing Magic Crystals, could his magical aptitude rise to hero or even legend level?!

He quickly dismissed the notion; aside from the astronomical number of powerful monster crystals required to reach such heights, given his current situation he still needs the Slime crystals to craft traps, so he can't devour them all.

Overall, it was a good gain; even though Old Bulande didn't thank him with a bag of copper coins, William felt satisfied.

Recalling Old Bulande's gratitude, William thought of Bulande, who was also attacked by that Mutated Slime, wondering how Bulande was faring now; if William had returned home, perhaps Bulande was rescued too, and since he spent decades in the dream, perhaps the same decades had passed in reality?

Just as William reached for the door knob, the room door swung open from the outside.

Xierna returned from the bathroom, and upon seeing William awake, she exclaimed joyfully, "Ah, little William, you're awake! Wait a moment, I'll tell David and the others right away!"

Seeing Xierna turn to go downstairs, William immediately called out, "Xierna… sister, how long have I been unconscious? Did Bulande also return?"

Xierna replied happily, "Bulande was brought back with you; he woke up the next day. Little William, you were unconscious for a full four days!"