In the once large clearing the centipede had been in, many changes had occurred. The clearing had become much larger with many traces of battle left on the trees and ground. The pitch black circle once again appeared within the air, hovering a few meters above the ground. Once more the familiar shadow dropped from it's abyss and it closed shortly after.
Shaking his head he scoffed. 'Couldn't you be a bit nice when you drop me?'
[This is the optimal height for hosts size.]
Ignoring what Life said he quickly observed his surroundings, noticing the large scars of battle left on the ground he became wary but after he scanned the area for any beasts using the identifier he relaxed. There wasn't anything near him, anything level five and under that is.
'I have to search for a shelter.'
He wanted to do a few things and one was mainly check the increase of his stats and observe his body for any changes. He picked an area to his east and scuttled along the ground with his large body.
As he went through the forest there were many times where he thought he'd be killed by higher level monsters but it seems his encounter with the snake was one out of either desperation or it wanted to toy with him.
Soon he found a small cave opening a bit larger than his body to take refuge in. He slowly made his way in while constantly looking around for any names within the area. When he searched every spot he could think of he finally stopped and looked at his menu.
[Name: N/A]
Race: Scolopendra Gigantea
[Level 2]
[Stats]
Strength: 6
Vigor: 6
Agility: 9
Intelligence: 6
Constitution: 8
'There's not too much change in my vigor or Strength but there's a big improvement in my constitution.'
He thought for a moment before noting down his abilities. 'My body is strong, I'm pretty smart with a good spellcasting ability, and I have a high dexterity with a good amount of energy.'
[To reiterate for the host, you are considered a half-step level 3 with your current stats.]
As if something clicked he realized that after he leveled up again he would have his stats multiplied by 3, just like everything else which meant if he could increase his stats by a lot when he was a lower level then he would be able to beat almost everything when he was multiple levels lower than everything else.
'Shit! That quest…'
[Host still has 12 hours to complete the quest assigned.]
'I failed it didn't- Wait I have 12 hours remaining?'
[A quests' timer is relative to the time you are in the world or plane you accepted it in. The systems storage is another plane therefore it is not affected by this world's time.]
He thought of something and asked with a gleam in his eye. 'Wait, judging by what you said that means there's other worlds right?'
[I am unable to answer the host.]
Instead of getting dispirited by the answer he realized that even though Life is unable to answer his question directly it could still be hinted at, and seeing as Life couldn't answer it meant that there were other worlds out there to explore.
Looking towards the exit of the cave he felt energized, it meant there were more things for him to find after all. He left the cave before his newfound energy left him but before he completely left he made a mark on the cave wall to make sure he memorized the location.
He still had 12 hours left so in the meantime of finding the level three creature he wanted to fight he would hunt lower level creatures and exchange their bloodlines. As he moved along the familiar forest ground he realized something.
'My body isn't moving right.'
After he consumed the five capybara bloodlines he had surpassed the two meter mark and a few changes were made to his body. First numerous thin needle-like fibers were now protruding from his carapace, although they couldn't really be seen due to how short they were if you were to place your hand on his carapace while he was moving it'd surely peel the skin off your palm.
There were also longer and sharper claws on the end of his legs, looking fierce and violent. His mandibles that were already large were now even larger, looking more robust and sturdy.
As he went into the forest every level 1 and 2 creatures that he came across had no way to resist him as he had almost reached the stat threshold of level 3. He killed them and picked up the information about them from Life.
The one he encountered was a small bright colored frog, also known as the poison dart frog, it was a poisonous frog that sereted its poison through its skin and anything that was stupid enough to try and eat woul in for a bit of pain. The only reason he could kill it so easily was because he himself was a creature of poison, as well as his high constitution.
The second creature was a single meter tall wandering spider. It was an unusual encounter as these spiders were usually nocturnal but its evolution might've changed its habits. Although he found it strange he ignored its blatant strangeness and easily killedit due to it being a level 1 creature.
The third one was a level 2 creature that was bordering on the level 3 mark and looked extremely threatening. It was a basilisk, not the mythological kind thankfully, but the lizard ,ind. Its frilled back and crested head gave it a majestic appearance as it looked at him. It seemed unthreatened by him as it stared into his compound eyes, but its eyes shook suddenly as it abruptly dashed away, with speeds that even his agility couldn't keep up with.
He then remembered that basilisks would only run away when they felt threatened or startled, therefore he began to flee as well. If something that could make a near level 3 startled like that then it was most likely an actual level 3 creature or above. As he was fleeing he would kill any level 1 beast that got in his way as it was as simple as stabbing it with his legs but any level 2 creature would take a moment to kill and would hinder his escape.
After running for 15 minutes he stopped and made sure nothing was behind him. 'Phew, this could've been a really tsupid idea and that damn lizard might have just been tricking me.'
He heard a crack come from his side and he turned his head towards the sound. 'Uh oh.'
It was a multi-colored macaw, it twitched its head as it stared at him before squawking at him and unfurling its wings revealing red blue and yellow feathers. It was a scarlet macaw, these macaws usually had bugs as part of its diet and now that it had evolved it seemed to have been amplified.
He looked at the large multi-colored bird in front of him. 'So that lizard wasn't tricking me, I should have run farther then. It would have caught me anyway so there's no point in that.'
Before giving him time to react to it suddenly rushed at him with its beak open wide, its talons leaving deep imprints as it ran towards him. As it got closer it failed to notice the festering ball of purple that had appeared on his front legs, and as it entered a ten meter range he threw it into its mouth.
SQUAWKKKKKKK
It screamed out in pain as the corrosive properties of his skill ate through the bottom of its beak and tongue. It stopped its charge as fast as it could leaving trails in the ground and immediately prepared to take off, and as soon as it had flapped its wings two more masses of purple liquid quickly hit the connecting joints of its right wing.
'I hit it!' He rejoiced.
With a sizzling sound the corrosive properties melted through the hollow bones of the macaw, and it hit the ground almost as soon as its flight started. Enraged it lost its reason and began to charge at him once more after it regained its footing. He moved his body out of the way of its charge towards its left wing before firing more balls of venom. Although these did not hit the joint like last time they still hit the shoulder of the bird, causing it to stagger in pain as the venom weakened its left wing.
Sq-Squawkkkk…
It squawked again but it was filled with pain. He climbed on top of the fallen macaw that tried its best to shake him off but failed due to its heavily injured wings. As he reached its neck he bit down and began to inject venom into its neck, it slowly got more and more sluggish as its resistance became softer, although it wouldn't kill it, he knew that he could kill it after it was paralyzed.
He moved to its skull after he finally paralyzed the bird. And with multiple tries he finally stabbed into the creature's brain and killed it. As soon as it died he heard Lifes voice.
[You have gained EXP]
[You have completed the quest "Take down a higher level creature than yourself."]
[Reward 50 Genome points + 20 Genome Points for defeating a level 3 opponent.]
[You have completed the first "Cross-Level" kill, As a reward we have given you 3 usable attribute points.]
He tilted his head confused. 'Isn't the extra reward kind of redundant? I mean the quest was to defeat something higher leveled than me, so why the extra points?'
[It is a hidden compensation due to the gaps between levels. It is a standard procedure to award something when completing a difficult task.]
'I see, so I'll always get something like that when I kill something higher level?'
[Yes host.]
'And those stat points of the "Cross-Rank" kill? Is that a one off thing?'
[Yes host.]
Nodding ihs head he then checked his bloodlines. There were four listed on the golden panel. Two capybara bloodlines, 3 Poison Dart Frog bloodlines, A single Wandering Spider bloodline, and the level three Scarlet Macaws bloodline.
'Exchange all the bloodlines except for one of the Poison Dart Frogs and the Macaws bloodline.'
[Exchanging the Bloodlines for one of the Poison Dart Frog and the Macaws bloodline.]
[Points Obtained: 90]
[Current Point Balance: 160]
'160, not too much compared to some of the store prices but its still good.'
He left after exchanging his bloodlines and retired to the cave area before dusk had arrived, after making sure no one had occupied his cave he looked into the shop.
'I keep getting snuck up on by higher levels, a detection ability would be good to have.'
He sifted through the store and quickly found a few of them, most of them were minimaps with only a few of the being another organ he had to purchase. He looked a the minimaps first, the cheapest one he could afford was 50 points and it could detect creatures within 50 meters of himself but he would have to register them first. The next was one that was 100 points and could detect things within the same radius but he would have to mark them as friend or foe.
The organs were mainly antennae that would increase his sensitivity towards vibrations depending on how expensive it was. The cheapest allowed him to know something was near and its general direction while the most expensive ones could let him know thousands of meters away, as well as its size, strength, how high in the air it was and how deep in the gound it was.
He thought before choosing the minimap that cost 100 points before he decided to use his new bloodlines. Focusing on the both of them a window appeared.
[Would you like to assimilate the "Moderate Macaw Bloodline"?]
[Moderate Agility Increase.]
[Minor Intelligence Increase.]
[Due to bloodline incompatibility, random chance for new organ is less than 10%]
[Yes/No]
'A new organ? Bloodline incompatibility?'
[Depending on the strength of the beast before it died, new organ could be added or new abilities can be created or strengthened through absorbing the bloodline.]
[Would you like to assimilate the "Moderate Poison Dart Frog Bloodline"?]
[Moderate Intelligence Increase.]
[Minor Agility Increase.]
[Bloodline compatible, Random chance for organ is above 85%]
[Yes/No]
'Absorb both of them'
[Host has selected to assimilate to bloodline, in approximately one minute the host will be transported to system storage to assimilate the bloodline.]
His body disappeared as Lifes voice rang out again.
[Host has been transported to system storage. Beginning assimilation. Duration...thirteen days]