'Hahahhhhahhha, that mother fucker got what he deserved and now I've regained half my tai... Where's my tail!! Usually I'd recover atleast half my tail!!'
Levelling up only has so much healing power it can provide. This was to ensure that level ups after significant challenges doesn't leave the specimen in a weak state for a lesser challenge to take their life.
Quinn was only just figuring this out. Strangely, he felt entitled to the heal. Like it was expected.
'Whatever, I'll just grind maggots for another level up'
Making his way toward the blood trail, Quinn found himself within the body of a dog. The blood gave less Exp, but it was nice to see a non-human with a name.
[Appraisal:
Name:Corky
Species:Bloodhound(Lvl:48)
Strength:36 ]
'RIP corky'
Quinn was a bit sad that they forgot to cremate corky. But also ecstatic at a whole corpse to feed on. And maggots to feast on.
Inside the carcass of the dead dog, Quinn found an abundance of maggots. But he also found competition. Various beetles seemed to love the flesh and similarly hunted the maggots.
With the confidence of killing the snake, Quinn also decided to pounce at some of the beetles. Most of them dodged and ran away. But every once in a while, Quinn would get lucky.
[ [Green Scarab(Lvl:7)] Slain - Exp:3]
Exp:[37/66]
Using [Tremor Sense], he distinguished the different creatures he had to be wary about. Like, on the top side were birds, especially crows.
To the north was an army of critters. Quinn guessed that these were ants. Something he doesn't want to encounter. Even if they weren't ants, encountering an army like that spelled doom.
And finally, flies. These didn't bother him, but he was kinda eating their larva(maggots).
A few days went past. Quinn avoiding the north, hoping between limbs of severed bodies. He primarily hunted other scavengers, honing his skills of hiding in the flesh, ambushing his prey.
But atlas, the constant feast slowed to a stand still. [Pheromone detection] stopped picking up blood. Quinn had to come up with a new strategy.
He was decent at ambushing. He had a whole range of skills. He needed bait. Luckily, he was in the body of one of the most used fish bait in the industry.
Quinn knew how to get to the river. It was rather genius. When it was raining, all he needed to do was find a water runoff. Jump in it and hope for the best.
But why would Quinn change habitats to something with more predators. Quinn didn't want to use himself as bait. He instead wanted to employ [Pheromone detection] to track down any worms or anything else he could find.
Quinn didn't see any success in the first few days since all the usual creatures had eaten enough to rest their bodies. Even Quinn didn't feel any hunger.
Except for a hunger for Exp.
Quinn didn't want to wait. His loneliness was already at an unbearable rate. He needed something to distract him.
Travelling south, Quinn once again used [Pheromone detection].
'Blank, dark pine leaf, beetle, copper??'
Quinn had sharpened his identifying skills using his smell. But he had never seen copper it could only mean one thing.
It was related to [Copper fangs]. Its description was rather special
[Copper fangs(Lvl:1): Your fangs are made of copper. By extracting copper, your fangs strengthen.
[Copper:0/50]
Fang Quality: Tier I
]
This was Quinn's first time seeing 'Tiers', and it was obvious that tier 1 was the lowest. Quinn really wanted to investigate, but he needed a catch.
He dug toward the beetle, adjusting his speed according as to not startle the beetle. It was on the surface eating grass. When Quinn was pretty much beneath the beetle, he slowly and quietly poked his mouth/nose into the surface.
He knew roughly where the beetle was due [Pheromone detection]. He curled up in his pounce stance. Aimed at the generic location of the beetle. Very suddenly, Quinn used all his strength and agility to shoot toward the beetle.
He was off. But not by much. Following the Pheromone trail, Quinn tilted his head and bit down, managing to snag the beetle with two teeth.
[ [Venom] Activated]
Quinn, after two days, finally had a meal.
Finally, Quinn could confidently follow the copper green road.