Chapter IV: Battle With The Mantis And Evolution

Ugh! Finally this damn skill is hard to lev-!?

*Shiing*

By sheer luck I somehow managed to move my head and dodge the strike. Whipping around I came face to face with a green praying mantis.

What!? The hell man! How could you just attack me like that!? Have you no sense of honor!?

*Shiing*

Another attack came and I dodged it also.

Analysis!

[Adolescent Praying Mantis]

[Level: 2] [Rank: E]

[Strength: 125] [Agility: 140] [Vitality: 120\120] [Willpower: 115]

[Health: 110/110]

[Magic: 115/120]

[Skills: [Slice LV 9] [High Speed Movement LV 8] [Reinforcement LV 3]

[Wind Magic LV 2]

>Wind Edge LV 1]

***

Holy Jesus with a bomb! This thing is way out of my league in both stats and rank! It even has magic! I don't have magic yet!

Without looking back I made a straight beeline towards my home. However...

*Shiiing!* *Ting!*

*Hissss*

It wasn't gonna let me go so easily, a attack from it's scythe like arms connected right to my back. A deep gouge was made.

Shit! Ithurtsithurtsithurst!

A quick check of my [Health] determined that it was at [15].

Damnit! At this rate I'm never gonna make it it time. I need to find somewhere to burrow and hide for a bit.

*Whoosh*

I suddenly had to stop because the mantis just appeared in front of me and sliced down towards my head.

[Dash]!

With a sudden burst of speed I evaded the strike It's scythes were planted firmly into the ground.

Damnit! That must be the [High Speed Movement] skill.

Every cell in my body was telling me to run but....I knew if I did it would catch up immediately so.....

C'mon you overgrown garden tool!

[Dash]!

I closed the distance fairly quick.

[Body Slam]!

My body collided with it's body but it only served to cause the mantis to be free. Not wasting anymore time I immediately used [Constrict].

As soon as I started constricting it. I began using [Venomous Fang] on it trying to inject as much venom as possible into it's head.

*Shiiing*

It managed to free itself from constrict and immediately started to chop my body.

D-damn it...I can't let go y-yet.

If I'm gonna die I'm taking you with me ya bastard!

[Bite]!

I could taste it's blood in my mouth and that just made me even more aggressive. Soon I could feel that I had no more venom left. I still maintained my grip with [Bite] though refusing to let go. Suddenly a white glow came over it's body and it began to slam me into the wall with more strength than ever

It began to slam me into the walls but I still hung on. Soon my grip loosened though and I fell to the ground with a thud.

I-i guess this is it huh. My body is wrecked and my [Health] is....[1]

D-damn I really didn't wanna die like this...I could no longer see I fully expected the mantis to begin to dig into my body but....

[Experience threshold has been reached. You are now LV 5]

I- what...? I won?

Suddenly a warm feeling enveloped my body and I felt 100% better. Opening my eyes I saw the mantis scythe was inches away from killing me.

Whoa! T-that was a close one!

[Skill [Constrict LV 5 has become LV 10.]

[Skill [Dash] LV 1 has become LV 2.]

[Skill [Body Slam LV 1] has become LV 2.]

[Skill [Bite LV 3] has become LV 10]

[Skill [Venomous Fang LV 5] has become LV 10]

[Skill [Stealth LV 3] has become LV 4]

[Skill [Burrowing LV 4] has become LV 5]

[Skill [Chemical Sense LV 1] has become LV 2]

[Skill [Poison Resistance LV 4] has become LV 5]

[Skill [Acid Resistance LV 3] has become LV 4]

[Skill [Spring LV 1 ] has become LV 2]

[Skill [Analysis] LV 7 has become LV 8]

[The conditions have been met skill [Constrict LV 10] has become [Strangle LV 1]

[The conditions have been met skill [Bite LV 10] has become [Chomp LV 1]

[The conditions have been met skill [Venomous Fang LV 10] has become [Toxic Fang LV 1]

H-holy crap! I actually won! WOOOOHOOOO!

I couldn't help but do some kind of victory dance. I mean I'm still alive!

[The conditions have been met. Evolution is now available.]

Huh!? Evolution?! Already!? Heck Yes!

[You can now evolve into;

[Adolescent Grey Rat Snake]

...just one? Really....this just seems like an older version of my current form...Ahh what the hell, evolve me please!

[Commencing evolution.....]

[Due to the unique skill [Self-Modification] you can now enter manual evolution. Would you like to?]

Uhhh.....yeah but if this is happening because of my unique skill I'm probably gonna need bio points so lemme get some real quick.

*munch munch*

Alright I got some bio points! Lets go!

Suddenly a whole host of information flooded my mind. Everything from stat allocation to the ability to gain extra appendages! It also seems that this evolution will finally give me the ability to form a monster core and use magic.

I had exactly [16] bio points from the mantis. Lets make them count, scrolling through the list of mutations and modifications I came across some interesting options.

[Extra Heart: Increases blood flow and survivability. Cost 5 bio points. Gives the skill [Adrenaline Rush]

[Extra Brain: Creates another smaller brain. Increases thought process and cognitive ability. Cost 8 bio points. Gives the skill [Parallel Thinking]

[Extra Eye: Gives another field of vision. Cost 6 bio points. Gives the skill [Third Eye]

There were a lot more than those however the problem emerged when I wanted to decide to modify my already existing organs or get new organs. I could probably get more bio points outside the manual evolution since I've only ate three things and there are a lot more monsters in this labyrinth so bio points aren't hard to find. The issue is getting those points.

Alright! Looking through these mutations I chose these mutations;

[Horn: Grows a horn from the middle of the head. Cost 3 bio points. Gives the skill [Pierce] and [Drill]

[Extra Monster Core: Gives another monster core, doubles magic capacity. Cost 5 bio points. Gives the skill [Increased Magic Regen] and [Increased Magic Storage]

[Extra Brain: Creates another smaller brain. Increases thought process and cognitive ability. Cost 8 bio points. Gives the skill [Parallel Thinking]

I decided to get those mutations, the horn increases combat ability and I think it will help in my burrowing ability. The extra monster core is because of the increased magic abilities, I mean I'm in a fantasy world why would I not want extra magic!? That's like going into a pharmacy but not wanting any drugs, the extra brain is because I want to be able to think faster and do more things at once in battles.

Now unto stat point distribution. It says here that for each evolution 100 stat points is given to all stats( Strength, Agility, Vitality, Willpower and Health) while 50 stat points are given to magic. Now because of my [Extra Monster Core] mutation I now have 50 points of magic in my ordinary monster core and 100 in my extra monster core, all in all I now have 150 magic.

I decided not to change anything since I wanted a relatively balanced build. Alright commence evolution.

[Beginning mutated evolution into now [Horned Adolescent Grey Rat Snake]...]

Suddenly a comforting feeling came over me. Ahhh....feels like I'm in a hot spring,

About two minutes passed and then...

[Evolution Complete]

[The conditions have been met. Due to you fighting an enemy stronger than you are and winning you have gained the title [Upstart]. This title gives the skill [Overcome].

[The conditions have been met. Due to your ferocious fighting ability you have gained the title [Ferocious] which gives the skill [Bloodlust]

[The conditions have been met. Due to you refusing to give up at the last second you have gained the title [Cockroach]. This title comes with the skill [Determination].

[The conditions have been met. Due to you creating an entire new species of your race you have gained the title [Progenitor].

[The conditions have been met. Due to your [Vitality] exceeding 100 you have gained the skill [Vigor]

[The conditions have been met. Due to your [Strength] exceeding 100 you have gained the skill [Power]

[The conditions have been met. Due to your [Willpower] exceeding 100 you have gained the skill [Strong Mind]

Damn...that's a lot of stuff. I wanna look at my stats but I need to get some bio points.

And so I spent the next two hours hunting different monsters that I could kill in this area and avoiding those I could not. In the end I did not level up but I did gain [25] bio points.

Now then it's time for some modifications.

[Modifications available] [Bio Points: 25]

[Eyes +4]

[Skin +3]

[Teeth +2]

[Fangs +2]

[Venom Gland +4]

[Horn +1]

[Monster Core +1

[Brain +1]

Damn...the new mutations are here too huh?

I modified my [Eyes], [Skin], [Teeth] and [Venom Gland] to +5.

[Would you like to proceed?]

Yes!

AARGH it hurts all over!

After about a minute it stops.

[You are now able to choose a mutation for [Eyes], [Skin], [Teeth], [Venom Gland]

Whoa, whoa whoa....So you mean to say I get to choose a mutation for those organs? Hell yes!

In front of me were a long list of mutations. The ones I decided to get for [Eyes], [Skin], [Teeth] and [Venom Gland] are;

[Telescopic Eyes]

[Stone Skin]

[Iron Teeth]

[Paralysis Venom]

I decided to get those mutations, [Telescopic Eyes] allowed me to see further. [Stone Skin] makes my scales tough as rocks while still maintaining the elasticity. [Iron Teeth] made my teeth hard as iron, my teeth were basically knives now. And [Paralysis Venom] made my venom paralytic.

These are now my stats;

***

[Name: None]

[Level: 1] [Rank: E]

[Titles: Reincarnation, Ambush Predator, Upstart, Ferocious, Cockroach, Progenitor]

[Species: Horned Adolescent Grey Rat Snake(Colubridae)]

[Strength: 155] [Agility: 158] [Vitality: 165/165] [Willpower: 160]

[Health: 160/160]

[Magic: 150]

[Skills: [Strangle LV 1] [Chemical Sense LV 2] [Poison Resistance LV 5] [Chomp LV 1] [Toxic Fang LV 1] [Stealth LV 4] [Burrowing LV 5] [ Acid Resistance LV 4] [Analysis LV 8] [Dash LV 2] [Body Slam LV 2] [Pierce LV 1] [Drill LV 1] [Increase Magic Regen LV 1] [Increase Magic Storage LV 1] [Parallel Thinking LV 1] [Overcome LV 1] [Bloodlust LV 1] [Determination LV 1] [Vigor LV 1] [Power LV 1] [Strong Mind LV 1]

[Unique Skills: [Self-modification. Bio Points: 0.]

[Modifications; >Eyes +4, >Skin +4, >Teeth +4, >Fangs +1, >Venom Gland +4]

[Mutations: >Horn, >Magic Core, >Brain, >Telescopic Eyes, >Stone Skin, >Iron Teeth, >Paralytic Venom]

[Skill Points: 15]

***

UNLIMITED POWAAAH!

Ahem....

Well my status looks pretty dapper and I gotta say so does my body. My body is now 15 feet long and 5 inches wide. It is completely grey along with my 5 inch grey horn. There is one large black stripe running right down the middle of my body.

Now I have quite the amount of skill points so...lets get some magic baby!