I had never had such a good sleep in my life. I awoke with the rising sun and felt like a new man. Who knew that after having a traumatic couple of days in the jungle, sleeping in a cupboard would be like sleeping in a five-star hotel? I noticed a notification in the corner of my eye and was confused, since I hadn’t really done anything. I focused on it, and a cascade of notifications popped up.
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Battle Focus has improved from Battle Focus 1 to Battle Focus 2
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Golden Scale has improved from Golden Scale 1 to Golden Scale 2
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Solar Rejuvenation has improved from Solar Rejuvenation 1 to Solar Rejuvenation 2
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I looked at my skill improvement upgrades and was pleasantly surprised. I was confused about why I didn’t get those notifications when the skills actually improved. Maybe I needed a good night's sleep or something. I decided ultimately it didn’t matter too much right now. I focused on my skill list and wondered why my Serpentine agility and prehensile tail hadn’t upgraded. Lord knows I did loads of climbing, and my tail had been instrumental in my killing of many critters. I really needed a skill that would let me get more information from this system. I swiped the skill messages away and raised my eyebrows as I saw the next message.
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You have rested in a place of resonance. Your nexus has resonated with the native magic. Your skills will improve twice as fast while in this location, and you will have an additional 30% in learning new spells from spellbooks.
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That explains the good night's sleep. I was a little sour that I was in the best place to use spellbooks, but didn’t have any. I wish my progenitor skill that lets me make new skills didn’t have such a long cooldown. Still, though, I decided it was time to convert some of my cores into EP. As much as new skills were awesome, I didn’t think that those pig-faced critters, snufflers as the system had named them, had any really impactful skills. Still, I would leave a couple of them just in case. I focused on my core, and a prompt appeared.
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You have 12x Snuffler Cores. Would you like to turn them into EP [Y/N]?
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You have 1x Greater Draco-fox core. Would you like to turn it into EP [Y/N]?
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I dismissed the draco-fox core. I just knew that critter had a juicy skill for me. I focused on the snuffler cores, assigned ten to be converted, and revelled in the feeling as the energy coursed through me. That was followed by another prompt that made me think.
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Congratulations, your EP has reached above 10% you have now accessed the EP trade system.
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You can trade 10% EP for a skill level up or one stat upgrade. Your EP is 60% would you like to spend [Y/N]?
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Oh wow! This was a game-changer! I hadn’t realised that EP had uses outside of evolution. I sat on the floor of the cupboard cross-legged and thought about the EP uses. I could go straight for an evolution, but if evolution improved everything the way I thought, then wouldn’t it make more sense to max out my skills and my stats first? I didn’t know what evolution entailed, but I did know my skills and stats. I made a decision and hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be a massive waste of time. I was going to try to see if there was a cap for stats and abilities, and I would aim for that first, then focus on evolution after. The question was, what did I upgrade first? I pulled up my stat sheet to have a deeper look.
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Name: Rakim Cisse
Race: Saheljin - (Progenitor)
Monster Type: Unique
Rank: E, 60% evolution points (EP) to Rank: D
Cores consumed:- 3
Stats:-
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I looked at my stats first and realised I should have looked into the +5s on my dexterity and Willpower. With everything going on, I hadn’t really paid them much attention. I focused on the system, praying it would throw me a bone.
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Racial Bonus:
All monster races are assigned a random bonus to stats. As the progenitor of your race, your racial bonus has been increased. You gain +5 to dexterity and Willpower. As you evolve, this number will double.
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Oh, now that was nice. It’s a shame I had no one to compare with. Still, I had a better idea about my abilities now. I was tempted to leave Dex and Willpower and bump up my other stats, but then I thought about what had really gotten me through those last couple of days. It was my battle focus, and I could sense that it was somehow tied to my Willpower stat. I think that having high Willpower is what allowed me to use the skill so effectively, even outside of combat. I was also curious about the cap on stats. I looked at my 19 in Willpower and decided to bump it by 1. I assigned 10% of my EP and felt my body get slightly lighter.
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Congratulations, your Willpower has increased from 19 to 20. Your Willpower cannot go any higher at your current rank. To raise your Willpower stat, please evolve to F rank.
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Well, that answers one question I had and helped me make my decisions. I decided to hold off on bumping my stats for now, but I will focus on dex in that department. With both those maxxed, my skills would improve drastically. I read through my skills, pondering which one to boost. I wondered what the cap was for skills, but didn’t want to waste 50% on my EP trying to work that out. Right now, I need to focus on survival. The refractive scale had been very effective and was my highest-level skill, but I didn’t think it needed more power, at least not yet. I decided that I needed to boost my lowest-level skills up and then double down on battle focus.
I spent one point on Serpentine Agility, one on Prehensile Tail, bringing both those in line with most of my other skills. I gave monstrous hunger a glancing look, but that was a straight no. Instead, I placed the rest of my points in battle focus, bringing it up to five, making it just as powerful as my Refractive Scales. I felt the EP leave my body and seep into my skills. It was a weird sensation as I felt my body weaken ever so slightly, but I had an influx of knowledge as my skills improved. It was a deeper understanding of how to use my skill ideas I hadn’t thought of before, which came to me, and I understood how to make better use of them.
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Feeling much better about my survival and slightly hungry, I left the room. The hunger gave me cause for concern as I did not want to lose myself again. Still, I felt I had some time before that happened. I decided to check out the round door, then head back into the jungle to hunt for cores. I got up off the ground and walked down the corridor to the door.
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I got to the door expecting I would have to fight to get it open, but no, despite its sturdy build, it swung open with little trouble. Beyond the door was a spiralling staircase that led downwards into a thick, inky darkness. I took a deep breath as I began to descend, hoping that my weird sense would guide me and make sure I didn’t miss a step.
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The stairs went on for an age. I had stopped worrying about missing a step and had begun trusting my odd sixth sense. No, I just wanted these blasted stairs to end. I was about to give up and head back up after it felt like an hour had gone by. But then, blessedly, I saw something in the distance. It was lights; the steps ended in a long corridor with cubes of soft, glowing light suspended from the ceiling. I wondered what powered them, assuming it was some magic bullshit, and decided to roll with it. The corridor had no side doors and led to a set of big double doors made of… wait what?! They were made of solid gold!
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Now, if anyone had seen these doors, they’d know they hit the jackpot. The doors were thick and solid, covered in beautiful carvings of all kinds of reptiles: snakes, crocodilians, lizards, and even turtles. All were covered in a variety of gems that I was so tempted to try and pry off before I remembered I was a monster now, and every human I would meet would probably have a kill-on-sight attitude towards me. I let out a breath, attempting to drive those negative thoughts from my mind.
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I made it to the door without any surprises, and gingerly I pushed the ostentatious door open and stepped into the room beyond, instantly regretting it. As soon as I stepped into the room, the door slammed shut behind me, and I kicked myself for stupidly just stepping into a room with a massive golden door. I was in a large circular chamber, golden serpent statues lined the walls, lava leaking from their mouths. The lava flowed across grooves in the ground, forming a ring around the entire room. I looked around frantically searching for another exit, but couldn’t find one. I stood there in that huge empty chamber, my heart racing. I had no idea what was coming or where it was from. I looked up, hoping to see an opening, but all I saw was a huge golden dome.
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That’s when I heard a thrumming sound followed by a clunk. A few seconds later, I felt the ground rumble. I took a few steps back and prepared to activate my spell. A moment later, the ground on the other side of the chamber opened, and three golden cylinders erupted upward. They looked like some weird alien droppods, but they were covered in those strange hieroglyphs. Those pods looked like they could hold at least five humans each.
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I stood there and waited for them to open, but I didn't see a clear seam. Then I heard a hissing sound as the pods began disintegrating. In a matter of seconds, the pods had flaked away into nothing, revealing nine creatures—three from each pod. The creatures stood at least seven feet tall and were covered in dark blue scales. The creatures were bipedal but stood hunched, like a pangolin on its hind legs, but where those guys had cute faces, these guys looked decidedly crocodilian, with their elongated faces and vicious-looking teeth. To make matters worse, they were all armed. They all carried vicious-looking sabres, and one had a suspiciously fancy-looking necklace and was at least a foot bigger than the others.
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He did what I assumed was a grin, and my blood ran cold.
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“You face Kamera, swordmaster of black lagoon!” The guy shouted.
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I stared in shock. He had spoken a strange, deep rumbling language, but I understood what he had said! I hadn’t understood any other creature I had faced, but I could understand him.
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“What…erm wait, how can I understand you?!” I stupidly asked the giant reptilian that was now pointing his sabre at me.
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“You stand in the hall of the serpent lords! There is no barrier to communication between brothers of the scale here! Now, prepare yourself, let us see if you are worthy!” The big guy bellowed.
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He nodded at three of his fellows, and they charged at me. I had wanted to try to talk to the man and get some more information. Like, what the hell was he checking I was worthy for, and more importantly, if he was telling the truth was a good damn reptile!
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The first of the three reached me and swung his sword, aiming for my head. I took a step back, avoiding the blow. These guys were big and strong, judging by the gust of wind that rattled my scales as I narrowly avoided the strike. But I had one thing they didn’t: I was fast! I jumped onto the shoulders of one, activating my bestial empowerment for the first time. I felt my body begin to change as my claws grew longer, and my muscles and tail grew at least a foot longer. With my claws, I plunged them straight into the creature's neck. My claws slipped straight in like a knife through butter, and where I had expected to be hacking and slashing for a while, the creature just crumpled below me as I sliced open its throat.
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I didn’t have time to dwell on my situation as the other two had made it to me. I leapt backwards, marvelling at my power as I flew backwards, making it all the way to the golden doors. I knew that I could only keep this ability up for about ten seconds, so I didn’t hang about and launched myself at the second one. He attempted to bicect me horizontally, but I was faster. I ducked the blow, and with a single swipe of my claw, I disembowelled him. The third, despite seeing his companions get annihilated, charged me. I was surprised how easy it had been, and I killed him with a single blow and strike from my tail that smashed his skull in. I let go of the spell as his body collapsed to the floor and smiled up at Kamera.
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“You fight like a beast!” the giant reptilian barked, “Zobek, hunt him like a beast.”
One of the other reptilian creatures nodded and signalled for the other three to spread out. I could tell that these creatures were better than those that had attacked first. They didn’t rush me; instead, they kept close to the outer ring of lava, forcing me to split my attention between them. Every time I focused on one another, they moved in closer. I had been worried, but their insistence on waiting gave me enough time to recharge my mana, and so I cast the spell again, this time charging for the nearest creature on the left. He was clearly not accepted, and I caught him unawares. Before he could react, I swung my tail, crushing his legs and forcing him to the ground. This led the other four to charge to his defence, a mistake on their part. I used my claw to open the fallen one's jugular. The rest attacked me simultaneously, and that's when my battle focus kicked in. The improvements were amazing, I could tell from the smallest twitch of their muscle where they intended to land their blows. I marvelled in the sensation, it was incredible, I felt like a god!
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The three attackers looked on in shock as I avoided all their blows before grabbing their fallen comrades' sabre and hurling it at one, catching him straight in the heart, or at least where the heart ought to be if he were human. Either way, he went down. The two remaining creatures, one named Zobek and another. They started to back away. I was tempted to try talking again, now that I had proven that I would not go down easily.
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“Look, I don’t want to kill any more of you guys if I don’t have to. Is there any chance we can talk this out?” I said, praying they would see sense.
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“You think because you put down some hatchlings you know a thing about fighting!” Kamera roared. The huge monster leapt from his position to land right in front of me. I sensed what he was about to do and narrowly dodged his blade. I was shocked by his speed. All his kinfolk were slow, and I had made light work of them, but this guy was something else. He was the fastest creature I had met since entering this new world. He was almost as fast as I, and his sword strikes were infused with a strange red energy. The blow I had just dodged released a burst of red energy, destroying one of the lava-filled statues, causing the stuff to flow straight onto our battlefield. I was distracted thinking about how unusual it was that I was conscious of the heat but not bothered by it, and by how the lava never seemed to cool into rock. That moment of distraction cost me as Kamera used one of my own favourite moves against me by slamming his tail into my abdomen. I felt some of my scales crack, but I was thankful they absorbed most of the impact from the blow. Still, momentum sent me flying, almost falling into the lava.
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I got up as fast as I could, only to see three blades of red energy flying my way. My battle sense and serpentine agility earned their keep as I pushed them to their limits to avoid the onslaught of red energy blades. He really had me at a disadvantage now, and to make matters worse, my spell had worn off. It wouldn’t take long to recover the mana, but I didn’t want to waste a cast of the spell, especially now that he was spamming his ranged attacks, making it impossible to get close. As I leapt about the arena, I realised that he had sent the other two to flank me. Ordinarily, they wouldn’t have been an issue, but with him firing off those blades, it made things a bit more complicated. I couldn’t afford not to focus all my attention on him. Still, I found an opening as one of the two lunged at me. I ducked low and swung my tail with all the force I could muster, throwing him into the path of the red energy blades. He was torn to pieces as the blades made contact, not even having time to utter a scream. I realised I needed to close the gap, or things were only going to get worse for me, especially with all the broken snake statues leaking lava everywhere. Zobek had made the mistake of standing too close to one of the lava-spewing statues, and I rushed him, kicking him square in the chest and tripping him with my tail. The reptilian critter fell into the never-cooling magma, and howls of pain erupted from him as he burst into flame. His flapping about caused a glob of lava to hit me on my arm. I had anticipated a burning sensation, but felt nothing instead. I guess my golden scales had a secret resistance.
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I now looked at the battlefield with new eyes. I could use this lava. I leapt from statue to statue, forcing Kamera to destroy them one after another. It took him a while to realise my plan, but by then it was too late. The majority of the once great chamber was now filled with the strange lava—all except for a small island where Kamera and I stood. I had closed the distance. Kamera rushed me with his swords, glowing with that red energy. He was fast, and his strength was monstrous, but now that we were stuck on a small island, his huge size became easy to exploit, especially with my enhanced dexterity. In such a small area battle, focus became a monstrous skill, allowing me to avoid all his blows while unleashing a barrage of my own. I’d reactivated beastial empowerments, but this guy was tough. He had some shielding skill, which seemed to weaken my blows, and my slashes with my claws never seemed to get very deep. Still, in this battle of attrition, I had the clear advantage. When my claws didn’t work, I pushed him towards the lava. Several times, he’d accidentally burn his feet in the liquid, but his protection skill kept him in the fight.
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Our fight went on for ages, with me slowly whittling down his stamina. By the time he was finally ready to drop, he was covered in a million cuts and burns. He fell onto one knee, exhausted, and I took the chance. I plunged my clawed hands right into his chest, feeling around, and ripped out his core, covered in blood and viscera. I stood there staring at my prize, grinning. That was until I realised the rest of the bodies were burning and their cores were at risk.
