Reincarnation of the Strongest Healer

Chapter 84: Gluttony

Having discovered the crux of Zhao Kai's sudden insatiable hunger and foodie behavior, Xu Feng realized he needed to reflect upon himself.

'The symptoms were there, but I somehow missed it.' He bit his lip softly.

This was definitely an oversight on his part. There were many troubles he could have prevented if he had just discovered it earlier.

"Shadow Blade, deactivate the Gluttony EX Skill for now." Xu Feng instructed, guiding him on how to manually turn it off.

The Gluttony EX Skill empowered the user through the consumption and absorption of enemies and resources, enhancing stats and unlocking unique abilities.

Due to Zhao Kai's low level, the current skills available to him were only a partial fraction of the real thing.

—

Essence Drain:

-Effect: Absorbs a portion of the target's health, replenishing the user's health by 10%.

-Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Mana Feast:

-Effect: Absorbs a portion of the target's mana, restoring the user's mana by 15%.

-Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Skill Assimilation:

-Effect: Temporarily grants the user a random skill from the target for 30 seconds.

-Cooldown: 2 minutes.

Power Conversion:

-Effect: Converts absorbed essence into a temporary 20% increase in attack power.

-Cooldown: 1 minute.

—

The skills were awesome, but the side effect of having it active was insatiable hunger and many more which would only occur if the skill was used for a long duration.

Luckily, Zhao Kai was ignorant and didn't overuse the Gluttony Skill much, otherwise, the consequences would have been hard to imagine.

"Shadow Blade, the Gluttony Skill is an active skill unless you manually turn it off like now. It was set as active by default previously, so you have been slowly using the skills subconsciously." Xu Feng explained, clenching his fist.

He was frustrated with himself for not detecting it earlier, especially when the subsequent hunting of the monsters during their grind had become easier.

He was overly complacent and thought their teamwork was near flawless, causing the grind to be easier.

However, it became easier mainly because Zhao Kai had been subconsciously activating Gluttony and absorbing the monster, granting himself a buff.

The buff overlapped with his own buff, making it even more difficult for him to detect the changes.

"You don't have to blame yourself too much, Feng." Zhao Kai smiled brightly and patted his shoulder. "The blame should have been mine for not checking it."

Nodding his head, Xu Feng smiled, "I supposed we're both at fault then.

With that said, he continued to warn and advise Zhao Kai, "Anyway, the Gluttony EX Skill isn't bad, aside from making you feel extremely hungry after usage. As long as you turn it on during combat only, you should be fine."

"Got it!" Zhao Kai gave a thumbs up but then glanced at the remaining skewer he had left.

"It's true that my desire for food has decreased a lot, but it'll be a crime to let these skewers go to waste, right?" He chuckled, handing a few of them to Xu Feng.

Speechless, Xu Feng shook his head as he grabbed the skewers. Soon, the two of them began to eat the skewers as they searched for the recipient.

"Hi, do you know where we can find a person named Thorin Forgefire?" Zhao Kai asked a passerby villager, only to end up frightening them away.

Confused, he scratched his head in response and turned to Xu Feng. "Do I look that scary? I'm just asking a question."

Xu Feng held a stoic expression and ignored his question. He was too lazy to even answer that question.

'If you didn't have that Gluttony side effect active, then would we have been stranded out here?' Discreetly, Xu Feng made sure to distance himself from Zhao Kai, hoping to inquire with the villagers that he had made some progress previously.

"Stay here for a while," he instructed him, having found a familiar villager's face from earlier.

Running toward the villager, Xu Feng flashed his signature amicable smile and asked, "Hi, I'm new to the village and I heard there was a famous blacksmith, Thorin Forgefire. Do you know where I can find him?"

"Oh, you're looking for Thorin? He's usually busy with forging, but you could find him near the East corner there. You just need to follow the sound of the hammering." The villager kindly pointed in the direction of the location.

"Thank you for your help." Xu Feng bowed in respect and said before excusing himself.

Meanwhile, Zhao Kai's jaws nearly dropped when he saw how easily he was able to gather information.

He glanced at the villager and then at Xu Feng repeatedly, his mouth stuttering, "H-H-How did you get them to talk with you? No, why aren't they even running away from you?"

"Maybe if you hadn't been focused on yourself and the food, then you would have learned a thing or two." Xu Fen responded, grabbing the remaining skewers that were in his hand and eating them.

"Huh, my skewers!"

"I paid for it."

"M-Meanie…" With his head lowered, Zhao Kai's expression turned gloomy as he followed behind Xu Feng lifelessly. Even if there were no more Gluttony side effects active, the skewers actually tasted good.

Alas, there was nothing else he could do, given the food was indeed paid for by Xu Feng. Not to mention, with the constant guidance from Xu Feng, helping him to navigate the Divine World, he had already repaid the punch.

As they continued to walk, they heard the hammering sound echoing from afar.

"Stop sulking already." Xu Feng chided. "If you behave properly and manage to gain the rapport of Thorin, then I don't mind treating you."

Instantly, Zhao Kai's expression changed. Excitement and enthusiasm replaced his earlier sulking and gloomy expression.

"Oh, just tell me what I need to do so I don't mess this up." Zhao Kai clenched his fist and said with a determined tone.

"Are you sure you deactivated the Gluttony skill?" He raised an eyebrow and questioned, finding his enthusiasm a bit overboard.

"Naturally, but good food is hard to resist in general." Zhao Kai pounded his chest and responded righteously.

However, the next moment, he scratched his head and asked, "By the way, what do you mean by rapport? Is it another quest of some sort?"