As the sun rose above the great forest of Kegali, the humid environment of a specific area of the forest dried and lit up. The sun's rays passed through the thin leaves that covered the atmosphere.
A certain Slug was climbing one of the massive trees. Eon slowly pushed himself up to one of the tall tree's branches, which had sweet, yellow fruit when ripe. The three of Amadala, a tree with branches that reached the ground, had green leaves shaped like poorly drawn fish and fruit shaped like a church bell. The massive, brown trunk of the tree was covered in spikes that would harm anyone who attempted to climb it.
However, due to the tree's branches, which lacked spikes and were laying on the ground, Eon was able to climb it slowly but steadily. After a few minutes, he arrived at some fruits protruding from the branch. Some of them had not yet ripened and had bright green colors. Eon went straight to the nearest yellow fruits, which he rated as sweet after seeing birds eat them.
When he arrived at the yellow fruit, which was much larger than him, he began eating the sweet fruit, which tasted like a ripened mango.
He was aware that he didn't need to eat this fruit specifically to survive; he could simply eat algae and be fine for the day. However, because of the reason he couldn't understand, his institution was making him yearn for those sweet fruits to the point of climbing a tree just to get a taste of fresh fruits.
It took Eon a few minutes to get his fill, and while he did, he remained on top of a tree, idling in the concealment of leaves. He lazily lay down, breathing slowly, the only thing moving being his gooey eyes, which, despite being sluggish, remained alert for any danger nearby.
The gentle wind blew and waved the leaves that covered him, and he raised his head for a brief moment as both of his eyes returned to his head. Then he began to move in order to climb down from the tree.
His bloated body, full of sweet fruit, wiggled as he climbed down, his movement much slower due to the weight he was carrying.
However, once he got halfway through, he came to a complete stop and lifted his eyes up. His gooey retractable eyes, which could see and smell at the same time, picked up a scent of something so familiar to him that all of his senses immediately heightened. And before Eon could take another step, the scent's owner appeared.
It walked through the dried leaves on the ground, navigating with its six legs and constantly moving antennae. Its head jerked back and forth, allowing its dot-like eyes to scan the surroundings. Its bright red color stood out against the brown leaves, dark blue stones, and green grasses it passed through.
However, unlike the usual, this one was alone, one of the few survivors of the earlier devastating attack, and was separated from the others as they scattered to escape their much more powerful attacker.
That battle could be described as red knights versus a water-breathing wingless dragon... The wingless dragon, however, was a frog.
It wandered aimlessly, looking for any of its allies who had managed to flee, of which there weren't many.
RACE: Peasant [Level: 1/10].
HP: 10/10
MP: 7/10
Top Speed: 2 km/h
Defense: 0
The lone Peasant escaped unscathed, now wandering around without a scent to follow, relying solely on its skill, Sensory Antennae. However, it meant that its MP was gradually depleting due to its continued use of its racial exclusive skill.
Eon's attention was solely on the Peasant. His gaze was drawn forward as he waited for any of the companions, but a few seconds passed and nothing happened. More importantly, the Peasant couldn't see him, not because he was hiding in the leaves, which the Peasant could see through, but because he was above the Peasant's line of sight, in the Peasant's blind spot.
Eon began to move slowly, using the branches of the tree as a bridge to approach the Peasant without having to go down to the ground. He was silent because of the way he crawled; he was like an assassin, but with two gooey eyes and a bloated body from eating an entire fruit.
His gaze never left the Peasant as it walked aimlessly right beneath him. He positioned himself directly above the Peasant as he got closer. And without a second's hesitation, he let himself fall from the branch, his bloated body rushing to the Peasant like a fat fleshy meteorite.
His massive shadow fell directly above the Peasant, and the last thing it heard was the long growl of the Eon who dived from above. He landed on the Peasant and covered it with his body.
[Basic Attack has dealt 1 damage.]
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
Eon growled as he attempted to stop the Peasant from moving beneath him and slowly lifting him due to its impressive strength. He attempted to apply additional pressure by reaching for the ground.
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
Eon's head rose as he growled as agonizing pain attacked him and caused him pain due to Peasant's grip on his stomach.
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
It was like a wrestling deathmatch, with one pushing to pin the other to the ground and stop it from moving. While the other was tightly gripping the other and chewing through the skin of its opponent.
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
Due to the overwhelming pain that was attacking him, his body unintentionally rose. Savage Bite was a skill that could inflict intense pain that was extremely difficult to bear. Eon only lost control for a split second, but it was enough for the Peasant to flee the prison of his weight.
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
As the Peasant gained a clear view of its larger adversary, it lunged its head and used its mandibles to seize Eon. Eon attempted to dodge, but his much larger body in comparison to his opponent did not help. The Peasant's mandibles landed on his neck and gripped him so tightly and painfully.
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
[Savage Bite has dealt 1.45 damage to you.]
However, the Peasant was not the only one who could benefit from its hold.
[Lethal Augmentation has been activated.]
[Lethal Augmentation has dealt 1.45 damage.]
The Peasant lost its grip and flew a short distance due to the damage it sustained.
RACE: Peasant [Level: 1/10].
HP: 0.3/10
MP: 1/10
As it attempted to stand, the Peasant closed and opened its mandibles. Its antennae were trembling uncontrollably, and its dot-like eyes darted to its adversary. Its legs tightened as it prepared for their final exchange of blows, which would end their battle.
RACE: Lesser Teplonide [Level: 1/10]
[Exp. Points: 2/25].
HP: 1.3/10
MP: 4/10
Both of Eon's eyes were fixed on the Peasant, waiting for it to make the next move, and he concluded that the Peasant had no intention of fleeing, fortunately for him.
There were a few moments of silence as the two fighters stared at each other, each one hit away from death, the first to land a direct hit would win. Fleeing was no longer an option; it was either die or live.
The wind blew, and the Peasant rushed toward Eon, lunging its head to deliver its final attack to finish him off.
Eon, on the other hand, did not move; instead, he opened his mouth while aiming at the surging head, and without delay, a specific ball emerged and flew out toward his intended target.
[Mud Ball has been activated.]
The Peasant could only watch as a ball of mud no bigger than half the size of its head rushed toward its head while lunging in the air. When the small ball of mud landed directly on the Peasant's head, its abdomen lunged forward and its head lunged back, falling to the ground slowly.
[Mud Ball has dealt 1.30 damage.]
The Peasant collapsed to the dried leaves, its head covered in mud, no longer moving or even alive.
The battle was over.
[You have received 1 experience point.]
Eon's head bowed as he gasped for air. After a few seconds of motionlessness, his gaze was drawn to the lifeless body of his former adversary. He won.
[Deceitful Shapeshifter: a new form has been acquired. The Peasant form is now available for use.]
[Deceitful Shapeshifter: The eliminated unit has a skill that can be imitated.]
[Savage Bite.]
[The user's mandibles, fangs, or mouth will lunge at the designated target, dealing 145% (+45% per level) of the user's strength stats. This skill has a grip effect that lasts up to 60 seconds and can be canceled. If the user is still gripping a unit, this skill cannot be used again.]
[Do you want to learn Savage Bite?]
[Mud Ball will be permanently deleted, and you will not be able to acquire a skill with the same name again.]
Recognizing that the Savage Bite's gripping effect could provide him with a significant advantage, he decided what needed to be done.
[Imitating the skill, Savage Bite...]
[Imitation process completed.]
[Skill, Savage Bite has been acquired.]
Eon began to crawl away from the scene, leaving the Peasant's corpse behind. As he made his way toward his safe haven, his movements were slowed by his injuries.
[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]
A pair of red mandibles emerged from his head as he walked. However, that was the only thing that came out of the Peasants' form. Except for his misplaced red mandibles, most of his body parts remained Slug-like.
For reasons only he understood, he chose to remain a Slug while adding mandibles that changed his appearance slightly. For the time being, he would remain in that form until he needed to use the Peasant form as a whole, which would not be long.
He was closing and opening his newly acquired mandibles as he traveled back home, as if showing them off to his non-existing audiences.
RACE: Lesser Teplonide [Level: 1/10] [Exp. Points: 3/25].
HP: 1.3/10
MP: 1/10
Top Speed: 2 km/h
Defense: 0
[STATS.]
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
[DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]
Lethal Augmentation [MP Cost: 1] [Level: 1/20].
[Imitation] Savage Bite [MP Cost: 2] [Level: 1/20].
[NON-DAMAGING ACTIVE SKILLS.]
Deceitful Shapeshifter [MP Cost: 1]
[PASSIVE SKILLS.]
World Conqueror's Perception.