The Oboro Clan Warehouse was a fortress within a fortress. A squat building of gray stone, windowless, reeking of dried herbs and ancient metal.
Ryuu walked to the counter. His steps kicked up dust.
The clerk was an old man with one functional eye, the other covered by a milky cataract. He cleaned a dagger with an oily rag.
"We are closed for the branch families," the old man said without looking up.
Ryuu dropped the coin onto the worn wood.
*Clang.*
The gold glinted under the torchlight. The spider and crescent moon spun before settling.
The old man stopped his hand. The good eye narrowed, focusing on the metal and then on the child.
"The Patriarch's Favor," he grunted. "Did you steal it, 'Young Master'?"
The tone dripped with sarcasm. The clan's "trash" deserved no gold.
"Exchange," Ryuu said. His voice rasped, dry from dehydration. "Level 1 Access. Spirit Beast Meat. Rank F or higher."
His muscles screamed, taut as violin strings about to snap. The *Tissue Recomposition* he had forced in the pool hadn't just depleted his fat and glycogen reserves; it had been a violent cellular reconstruction that left his body in an absolute biological deficit. He was in a state of advanced autophagy, where his own metabolism was devouring non-essential tissue to keep vital organs alive. He needed "beast-quality" fuel—concentrated Yang energy and compatible organic matter—to permanently weld those new muscle fibers to his bones and stabilize his foundation.
The old man let out a dry laugh, like leaves rustling.
"Meat? Your body will reject it. You'll vomit blood before digesting an ounce." He leaned over the counter, showing yellow teeth. "Ask for a healing ointment. Or maybe a new toy."
"Meat," Ryuu repeated.
He held the old man's gaze. His pupils, dilated by hunger and residual adrenaline, shone with feverish intensity. There was no request in them, only a cold demand.
The old man clicked his tongue.
"It's your funeral, kid."
He disappeared into the back room.
Ryuu drummed his fingers on the wood.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
Hunger was a live animal in his stomach,clawing at the inner walls. His regeneration had consumed everything: fat, sugar, even non-essential muscle tissue. He was in critical deficit.
The old man returned. He threw a package wrapped in a stained, rustic linen onto the counter.
Red moisture stained the wood instantly.
"Iron Spine Boar Meat. High Rank F," the old man said, taking the coin. "Fresh from yesterday's hunt. Very Yang. It will burn your insides."
Ryuu grabbed the package. Heat radiated through the cloth.
"Thanks," he said, turning around.
"If you die, don't stain the hallway," the old man shouted as Ryuu walked out.
***
Ryuu did not return to his room. He sought the solitude of the bamboo forest behind the barracks.
He tore open the linen wrapping.
A jagged chunk of raw meat, marbled with veins of glowing fat and a faint reddish shimmer, rested in his hand. The smell of blood and raw energy hit his nose.
Saliva flooded his mouth. A primal instinct overrode any human disgust.
He took the first bite.
The meat was tough, fibrous. It tasted of copper and pepper.
He chewed hard, swallowing large chunks. Primal survival instinct crushed any trace of human disgust. Each bite was a promise of strength.
[Item Consumed: Iron Spine Boar Meat][Yang Energy detected. Initiating assimilation...]
Fire exploded in his stomach.
Ryuu fell to his knees.
It wasn't a metaphor. He literally felt hot coals sliding down his esophagus. The beast's mana, wild and unrefined, clashed against his atrophied meridians.
"Hrrg!" He clamped his mouth shut with both hands, refusing to vomit.
The body wanted to expel the poison. Ryuu forced it to keep it.
"System. Redirect the energy. Initiate *Body Adjustment Meditation*."
[Warning: Unstable Mana Flow. Risk of internal damage.]
"Do it!"
Ryuu curled up on the ground, forehead against the cold earth. He closed his eyes and sank into his own interior. He visualized the fire in his stomach not as an aggression, but as a forge. He used the meditation technique to chain the wisps of wild mana from the boar, forcing them to flow toward the areas where his muscles were still thin and brittle threads.
He grabbed that fire mentally and pushed it into his bones.
The pain shifted. From sharp burning to a deep, dull ache, as if his bones were growing by force.
*Crack.*
His right femur creaked. Micro-fractures induced by mana pressure, followed by instant, reinforced calcification.
Ryuu shoved another piece of meat into his mouth. And another.
He ate and trembled. Involuntary tears ran down his dirty face, but his jaw didn't stop moving.
It was punishment and blessing. He was forging his body with hammer blows from the inside.
The sun set. The moon rose.
Ryuu finished the last piece.
He lay on his back, panting. Steam rose from his skin, visible in the night air.
[Assimilation Complete.][Current Rank: F (Level 1) -> F (Level 2)][Strength +1][Constitution +2][Fire Resistance (Minor) Acquired][HP: 95/95 (Limit increased under stress)][Achievement Unlocked: Iron Will][Reward: 25 SP]
Ryuu raised a hand toward the moon. The flesh had compacted under his skin, integrating the Yang energy into its very structure. His physique was no longer that of a rickety child, but that of a predator in training. He squeezed his fist. The air crunched inside his palm.
He sat up. The world seemed sharper. He heard the movement of insects under the leaf litter. He smelled pine resin a hundred meters away.
"Mid Rank F," he murmured. "Still weak. But I'm no longer glass."
He stood up. His clothes fit a little tighter at the shoulders.
One month.
He had one month to turn this body into a weapon capable of killing geniuses.
Ryuu smiled at the darkness.
"Next step: Mobility."
He walked toward the library. Jiro would be waiting. And this time, Ryuu wasn't going to ask for history books. He was going to ask for forbidden techniques.