Elmar ran, and the demon chased him. He threw water at the thing, but it was not enough. More sand animals clutched to its massive bulk only to be turned to glass and explode.

The boy stumbled and fell in the water. He could hear his skin sizzling, but could not feel the pain. He turned towards the demon that had its shield raised above him.

These flames, they were powered by something. Elmar couldn’t feel any mana coming off the thing, so the only logical explanation was that it was feeding its form from its soul. Just like Elmar fed his spells with soul chunks the size of a mana crystal.

Elmar stilled himself for what he was about to do, and then he lunged into the fires and pulled. He caught fire and smoke filled his lungs. He could see bone pocking from his cooked flesh, and yet, he kept pulling at the thing's leg.

When he had enough of the soul out, he bit onto it. The demon roared and kicked Elmar into the nearest tree. Immediately, Elmar rolled in the sand to extinguish the flames that have engulfed him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that the place where he had bitten didn’t have flames on it and that the demon was leaning on his other leg. The demon charged Elmar, and the boy barely managed to move to the side.

There was something curious about the demon’s wound. It seemed to be spreading. Elmar watched as the thing wined and collapsed on its knees, as its left foot was gone now and the smoke was spreading up the leg.

That was all that Elmar needed to see. He ran towards the right leg and pulled despite the damage to his hands. Then he bit down and bit off a massive chunk, even as the demon kicked him again.

This time, Elmar didn’t let go. He clutched at the flaming body with both his hands, and he bit off another chunk. Then he felt a fist connect with his back. But it was almost like a tab, nothing more.

Elmar worried about the damage that was done to his back if he had felt the contact. But he didn’t have the time to check. He kept eating, the demon getting weaker with each bite.

As Elmar ate, he climbed the leg. When he reached the chest, he bit at the heart of the demon and ate it, bite by bite. The fires went out after that, and he fell down on the ground.

Gingerly, he touched his back to see that he could feel bone jutting out. But, flesh was growing over the bone in a rapid manner. Then, his hands suddenly burst in flames.

It didn’t hurt and Elmar concentrated, and soon he extinguished the flames. His skin hadn’t peeled off this time, either. He wondered what had happened as he touched his back again.

His clothes were ripped, but he was now fully healed. He made his way back to the inn leisurely, following the destruction made by the giant demon. There was something strange about his soul too.

It still had a dead feeling about it, but it now radiated heat. When he had gorged himself on the corpses, it had given off a hunger he could barely hold back. Elmar wondered if he was going to get the defining trait of the owners of the souls he ate.

He was soon right in front of the inn. He knocked and Garry let him in.

“Don’t make deals with potentially dangerous and unknown beings, Garry.” Said Elmar instead of a greeting. “And I will need new clothes.”

“My mother will be happy to sew you some.” Said Garry as he watched the burned clothing. “Is it dead?”

“Can’t make it any more dead, I ate its soul.” Said Elmar. The soul had tasted better than the corpses’ soul, too. “Does anyone know I was out?”

“Your friends do. They are in the library and researching how to turn you back into a human. I told them we didn’t have that type of books, but they are searching anyway.” Said Garry with a nod.

“There is no going back, only forward.” Said Elmar with finality. He went back inside the main part of the inn and the guests looked at him with fear in their eyes.

“The corpses and the fire demon are dealt with!” Screamed Elmar, and a roar of approval spread through the crowd. Someone hugged Elmar then. It was Diana.

“Why did you go off by yourself? Why did you have to play into the hands of that awful God? Elmar, Litches are cursed beings. The book we found on them said they ate souls!” Said Diana.

“Well, yes. But Hades said I can live off animal souls. Besides, I am stuffed at now and can’t eat another bite.” Said Elmar as he patted his stomach. Diana didn’t appreciate his attempt at a joke.

“We could have dealt with this together, Elm. You didn’t need to sacrifice yourself.” Said Diana, and she squeezed his hand. “And there is one more thing we read about Litches.”

“What is it?” Asked Elmar. He wasn’t worried. His journey was nearly over and after his quest was done, Hades would owe him. Maybe he would even turn him into a human again.

“They can’t use mana, Elm. How are you going to use spells without mana?” Asked Diana. Elmar laughed.

“I know that already, Di. I use my soul to power up my spells. It regenerates, so there is no harm. Do you want to watch me try out making a soul-powered enchantment?” Asked Elmar as he touched the portable enchantment fountain that was around his neck.

“Sure, there is nothing else to do.” Said Diana. She handed him a small pearl earring. “I found it in my room and Aleida let me keep it. It is as good a test subject as any.”

Elmar took the earring and placed it inside the fountain along with a mana crystal sized chunk of his soul. It was black, similar to how his mana had been. He enchanted the earring with a water and thick skin enchantment and watched as it blackened.

“Well, I didn’t expect that.” Said Elmar as he touched the earring.

“What level on the scale is it?” Asked Diana.

Elmar didn’t know, as he didn’t have any mana to pour inside. They stopped one of the celebrating guests and had him pour his mana to check.

“This is… I can’t believe this. This is over 9999!” Exclaimed the guest. Elmar grinned. This sounded like a niche market, if he ever heard of one.