Before setting out to hunt I decided I should at the very least gauge my new strength and most importantly my speed
Both on earth and in Asemas Mantis are known as ambush predators but the main difference between our worlds is scale
On earth Mantis are only a few inches long and have barbed forearms that they use to hold their pray in place after grabbing them in less than a seconds time. After that they eat their catch alive!
Admittedly the White and Black Mantis of Asemas are not that different aside from having blades instead of barbs and being much bigger. However, the biggest difference was the speed!
When an earths Mantis gets the drop on it's prey the movement of catching it is hard to see with the human eye whereas the Mantis of Asemas are notoriously known as the "instant killers of Blood Forest" due to the fact of even though they are far from the strongest predator in the forest their almost imperceivable speed in an ambush is known to kill cultivators up to Rank 3 and even injure a Rank 4 should they not be careful.
This was why I was excited to test myself, however the idea of rushing head long into battle went against my instincts so instead I walked over to one of the few surviving roots that had not been destroyed in my little "episode" and prepared to hit it.
Placing my forearms in the signature praying position of the mantis and leaning back on my back two legs I got ready to pounce.
Breath in
Breath out
In
Out
Inhale
STRIKE!
Moving my arms so fast even I could barely see them my blades sliced through the wood like it was paper and cut out an entire middle section of the root leaving two newly severed ends sitting in the burrow.
"well god dam"
I admit I wasn't expecting this much of an improvement
Comparing this result to the other roots around the room you could see a distinct difference. The roots that I had furiously attacked out of pain previously were each covered in dozens if not more gashes while the root I had just hit was cleanly severed.
It seems I got sharper as well kekeke
Feeling that this was clear proof of both my speed and improvement I began crawling out from under the tree as I stepped into the clearing decided it would be best if climbed the tree once more in order to find the best hunting spot.
However, this time instead of climbing I prepared to fly up and withdrew my wings
God I'm beautiful
I'm not being narcissistic it's just true
Yes, I know I haven't even seen my own face but for my wings I hadn't gotten a good look at when I was busy falling to my death, oh MY WINGS!!
Unlike the rest of my body that was covered in some form of Black chitin my wings were a beautiful almost glowing golden colour. They shone in the sunlight, and I swear nothing was more…. Oh, right flying
I crouched down to prepare for lift off and then sprung into the air flapping wings at a high speed, thanks to the memories of the mantis which provided a rough guide the lift off went with out a hitch however we will have to see about landing
As I rose into the air towards the top of the tree I tried to slow down and instead hover as to avoid crashing into the many branches
Not as easy as it sounds
I had to find exactly the right amount of flapping to not rise or fall while also not knocking my wings together by accident.
Thankfully I was able to hold still long enough to grasp onto a near by branch just before accidently slammed into the trunk.
After I quickly climbed up onto the branch, I once more enjoyed the view but this time with the idea of looking for something specific
Water
The perfect place to lay an ambush
Sadly, I couldn't spot an ocean, but I could see a small lake about 1km away
Now here was the dilemma, if I go to the river, it is unlikely, I will be able to find the burrow again due to a combination of my lack of directional skills as well as it being just a hole under a tree. So I have no choice but to abandon my new home in favor of food
Looking down one more timed at the burrow I sighed and began hopping from branch-to-branch with my wings to move towards the lake
And once again can't help but think about how big these trees are, I mean I'm literally two meters tall and jumping from branch to branch
The idea just bugs me
Kekeke get it?
Anyway, after a dozen minutes or so I was standing alone on top of one of the trees overlooking the river and began trying to see a place I could set up an ambush before I spotted a perfect place near the tree line.
a fairly large mass of Boulders that would be just enough to hide my large body as well as whatever I caught.
Quickly flying over and having a not so graceful landing I placed myself between two of the largest boulders and began my wait