~Swimming Along~

Hmmhm~ Swimming, swimming, swimming along~ Eating raptors all day long~. The reason for my joyous singing? I got something new that lets me ignore the poisonous content of the Nimaptor, the younger ones anyway. After eating enough of them I got a new section on my status page as a reward for having more than one resistance. In addition to my corrosion immunity, I now have 'Weak Poison Resist'. It's thanks to this I can eat the juvenile and hatchling Nimaptors without the worry of being poisoned. Although in addition to the new resistance section, there was another new one, a less than favourable one that lists my weaknesses. And I didn't even need to look at it to know what my weakness was, lightning, it's always lightning.

It's just a little unfortunate that I've only been eating the younger Nimaptors since I still feel the poison from the adolescent and adults. Despite all I've eaten and killed, I've only gotten 437 experience. Nothing compared to killing the older ones but if it means I'm not killing myself I'll gladly keep this up. On the other hand, the rate I gain biomatter has been pretty stable. Now I'm basically just 200kg away from having the ability to evolve into a Sea Drake. In total, I've eaten 18 Nimaptors to bring my Soul Furnace up to +52. I'm so strong now... is what I want to say but when I look around and see the stats of the other monsters, well I don't want to talk about it.

Even if there plenty of monsters on land that are stronger than me I don't need to worry. In this lake and in the rivers, I currently stand at the top of the food chain... at least that's what I think. There are only a couple of rivers left that I haven't explored yet, guess I'll go check them out today. The last few rivers are a bit more narrow nor are they as deep but I can still fit through, barely, but that won't stop me.

~Swimming, swimming, swimming along~ Looking for food to eat and shred~ Tear them to bits, limb from limb~ Swallow them live and let them melt~ Leave no -- ouch! what did I just hit? With my attention focused on the larger and meatier monsters of the land, I had paid no attention to the big croc at the bottom of the river that I may or may not have hit with my tail. This... this might be a problem.

Name: N/A

Race: Adult Imperatosuchus

Tier: 4

Titles: River Stalker

Level: 5

State: Annoyed

HP: 1,036/1,036 MP: 41/41 SP: 954/954

STR: 1,742

VIT: 305

DEX: 83

INT: 62

WIS: 52

MND: 56

Details: The second largest crocodile to ever exist. Was thought to have gone extinct 112 million years ago. A river living ambush predator. It spends its time sitting idle and waiting for anything to swim overhead for a meal. It is oftentimes incapable or near incapable of manoeuvring its own habitat once it has fully grown, as such it will not chase prey for long and simply wait.

The narrow river was a problem for both of us, but the physiology of a snake helped me escape while it struggled to even turn around. And I did manage to retreat back to the lake but not before the croc ripped off a portion of my lower body.

As for right now? I'm curled up beneath the lake, watching my HP slowly drop and profusely bleeding from the gaping hole in the side of my tail. Note to self, pay really close attention to what is sitting at the bottom river... and make sure to kill the first crocodile I see once I'm stronger.

And of course, in the head of these brainless monsters, a bleeding monster is probably dying prey, bringing all sorts of scavengers hoping for a feast. Too bad for them I'm still going strong. All these bottom-feeding scrap pickers flocking to the scent of my blood do little more than fuel my furnace, although the experience and biomatter is absolutely pitiful. This was an unexpected surprise, but not an unwelcome one, however, the monsters that have been attracted have been getting larger. At this rate, I'll end up attracting something too big for me to handle in my weakened state. Thanks to those scrap pickers I ate, I've been able to restore my health a little but it's not enough to put up a fight with something just a little weaker than me. I have two options right now. I can wait here to keep feeding on these small fish to heal and hope nothing dangerous shows up or I can seek a safer shelter to hold up in until my injury heals on its own.

I may be a brave explorer but I'm also a coward. Going out to the unknown in hopes of finding a safer area is too risky. There is plenty of small fish around to eat and heal up off. I'll just hang out-- nope, ok, I'm leaving, I'm a brave explorer after all. Without anymore second-guessing I make way to the final area I have yet to explore. Why? From the original river that I came from I could see what is clearly a mosasaur swimming in this direction, I don't even need Analysis to know that thing is dangerous. That beast is as big as the croc that ate my tail and I ain't messing with it. I'm just barely below half health and I'd rather take my chances in the unknown over fighting with that thing.

The sixth and final river that connects with the lake and then only one that flows into rather than out of the lake. This river's current is far stronger than the other five and there is far less fish in this area compared to the others. With the lack of food here, I make sure to eat up anything I possibly can without slowing down as I struggle against the current. With a quick peek behind me, the imposing sight of the mosasaur comes into view from around a corner, tracking my down through the blood tail. With the ancient predator gaining on me I begin to neglect to eat the small fish and double down getting out of here, eventually leading to a dead end. At the river's end is a waterfall dropping from a rather high and steep cliff. Well shit! The hell am I supposed to do now! Climb the damn thing, can I even do that!? In my moments of despair with the mosasaur wastes no time and is only moments away from my position, I make my decision. I remember hearing stories of a carp that climb a waterfall to become a dragon, if a carp can do it then I sure as hell can.

Mustering all the strength I can from my bleeding body I rush towards the waterfall and begin to ascend. But the mosasaur arrives and jumps out of the water in an attempt to drag me back. Bringing out all the power from my muscles I just barely squirm away from the beast mouth as it begins to fall, crashing back to the bottom with a bang as water flies everywhere. Putting the immediate threat behind me I turn my focus to the next problem, landing. I push myself as close as I can to the wall before finally jumping out from the water, soaring through the air. Moments before by descent begins I throw my upper body forward, launching me past the waterfall landing with a splash on par with the mosasaur in this new area.

So as to not let myself get pushed back down by the currents I keep moving while making sure this area is safe. Seems like another lake, although it is small in scale compared to the last one. On the lake's perimeter, like the last, there are several monsters drinking and various spots, but there isn't anything I could possibly fight and eat here as all the monsters here are far stronger than anything saw down below, thankfully they seem to be mostly herbivores. As for whats underwater, there's nothing. No signs of life beneath the water making this lake a nice safe area, at first glance that is. After some looking around, I found a large underwater tunnel in the far end of the lake away from the waterfall, and presumably the source of this lake.

With the tunnel being big enough to fit me through several times over, I feel a cold sweat drip down me, figuratively speaking. Sticking close to the walls I brave the ominous tunnel being ready to make a run for it if the need arises. Reaching the end I find myself alone in a massive enclosed cavern practically isolated from the rest of the island. Water flows from out of the wall dripping down covering both the walls and the ground in a steady stream of water that eventually leads out to the tunnel, into the lake and down the waterfall. In the back of the cavern, there's a multitude of what seems to be large nests that are partially submerged. Massive bones, far larger than me, litter the nests, as any flesh that had once remained has long been washed away. But one of the nest has the last reaming inheritance of whatever this species was, an egg that's almost the size of my head.

Unfortunately for this species, whatever was supposed to be born from this egg has long perished as I don't feel anything sense of movement or heat coming from it. Sucks to be them I guess. Without much thought, I gobble up the egg and swallow it causing my stomach to bulge. My digestive track makes quick work of the egg as I watch my stomach gradually flatten over a few minutes. In the same instant that my stomach went flat, I hear the ever familiar and not so lovely robotic voice filling my head.

"Conditions met. You have received the Title, 'The Sea Dragon's Inheritor'. You have been awarded 500kg of biomatter. A new potential evolution is now available. Two more evolutions may be unlocked"