Over the next few hours, Malvorrak was able to not only hunt a huge number of Stream Piercers but also learn a lot about his new system.
For example, not every creature he ate would give him gene points; depending on the talent of the creature and its quality, it could either give 1 gene point, multiple, or none at all. He also learned that the system's alerts indicated that the last gene points of every gene pool he acquired would typically dictate where his next ability would come from.
It was a good learning experience, and in the end, it bore fruit.
[Ding! Gene pool limit reached—searching gene pool. Gene of low quality detected; only one trait found.]
[Water Stream: the Stream Piercer is a small creature living around bigger monsters who see it as prey. As such, it has developed a lethal form of self-defense. By concentrating a certain amount of water mana in the air, it can form a stream of water moving at very high speeds, able to heavily injure predators long enough to facilitate its escape.]
The system resounded in Malvorrak's head, indicating his upgrade and new skill.
[Name: Malvorrak]
[Current species: mutant Terragor]
[Wisdom: 50/100]
[Gene: 0/35]
[Rank: lvl 3]
[Gene traits: Devour, Greed Eyes, Water Stream]
As Malvorrak looked at the semi-transparent screen in front of him, he couldn't help but be filled with joy. It seemed like he had been successful with his mission.
Turning to the side, Malvorrak took in a big breath of air, filling his lungs to the brim. At the same time, a small ball of mana swirled in front of his mouth, forming a ball of blue energy. Slowly it began to concentrate, becoming more defined by the second until finally, it looked like water.
—pheeeee
Like a bolt of lightning, it moved incredibly fast in a straight line, intent on destroying its target.
—Boom
In the next minute, a boulder around Malvorrak's size not too far away blew up, scattering into the air, turning into rubble. In the hands of an ordinary Stream Piercer, this skill was already so dangerous; now, in Malvorrak's hands, it was much more destructive.
"Nice one, big guy." The white lizard popped its head out from a rock a few meters away. At first, it didn't understand what Malvorrak was doing here; it seemed to him like he just wanted his favorite snacks. So he pitied the little creatures, only picking out the ugly ones.
Now he understood; this big oaf actually wasn't completely brainless. It knew what it wanted to do all along; he was the one stuck in the dark.
'I will need to stick around this guy for longer,' the white lizard thought.
From what he had just seen, Malvorrak seemed to have the ability to steal the innate ability of creatures he ate. This by itself was terrifying; coupled with his ability to resist its gaze, this monster really might be extremely special.
"By the way, I am called Cious, but my friends call me the White Chaos Eater." The white lizard ran from the back of the rock and in front of Malvorrak, then introduced himself with a bow.
It had made up its mind to stay with Malvorrak for a much longer time, if not for anything, but to see his growth and foster its own.
"Sigh." Malvorrak sighed when he saw this spectacle. A bow like this was equivalent to a pledge of allegiance among monsters.
It was part of the nature of beasts never to bow their heads to anyone, no matter how small or big. Maybe it was because it had just been born or something else, but Malvorrak had a feeling that it didn't really know what it was doing.
"You can come along, just don't get in the way." With a lazy glance, Malvorrak said to the white lizard, Cious, before turning around to leave. Once again, he didn't accept the pledge—not yet at least, until he knew that the little creature understood its meaning.
"Hm? Already?" Cious raised its little head, questioning. They had just finished handling the Stream Piercers, and now they were heading somewhere else? That was too fast.
Malvorrak didn't wait, though; he just kept walking off, forcing Cious to run forward and climb atop its back.
"Sigh, where to?" Cious asked.
"I need food," Malvorrak replied unapologetically. The water streamers weren't enough to energize him. He still needed something solid if he was going to take on that crazy monster Urgar.
At the same time as when Malvorrak went hunting for food, a bunch of reptilian creatures with the physique of humanoids rode into a town just as darkness struck.
Behind them was a large wagon containing several dozen bags of gold and other treasures of varying value. It was a fortune in its truest sense, especially in a place like the Yolan village.
"Ahhh, good day, mother!" They rode down the streets of the town to the town hall, where the leader of the band of men bowed his head slightly to a female lizardman standing before him.
She had pearly black skin that shone under the glow of the shiny rocks that illuminated the village. Her eyes were blue and bright; by all standards of a lizardman, she was the epitome of beauty.
"You're extremely late." The lady lizardman replied with a cold look on her face. The lizardman race was a highly evolved race of lizards that had their roots spread out throughout the subterranean underground of Yi Mountain.
But in this particular region, they were extremely sparse, meaning it was just her, her son, and a few family guardsmen. As such, they had to be perfect in their dealings, because one slip could bring about their downfall and the eventual termination of their race in this region.
Unfortunately, this son of hers knew nothing of punctuality and was an all-around douche. He was a disgrace in her eyes.
"Sorry, mother. I have everything now, though." The young man bowed slightly, with a look of rebellion hidden in his eyes. This mother of his was a stickler for the proper ways of doing things, so he was constantly under her harassment.
He didn't care, though; as long as he put his head down around her, he knew that he would be alright.
"Let's go. We don't have much time to prepare for their arrival," the lady said before walking directly into the town hall as if it were her home.
Of course, that was because it was; she was the village chief of the Yolan village, after all.