Chapter 2 - Escape
Another insect was soon upon her, and the {Winged Nymph} similarly attempted to crush her with its mandibles.
The insect was swift, and she could not prevent it from clamping down.
Though similar to the last insect, it left it immobile by doing so.
Its front legs felt like barbed wire as they grasped her, with it continuing to try and push her down.
Swiping at it with her claws, she found the creature was fragile compared to her.
Every slash of her claws sent splashes of green blood and insect bits flying.
Though the insect injured her, it seemed weak in a frontal battle.
Shortly covered in disgusting insect bits, another notification sounded.
[You have defeated Winged Nymph, gaining 1 EXP. You are now 2/10 into progressing to Level 2.]
She felt relieved she was capable of handling these insects, though that thought turned into horror as the sounds of buzzing wings grew louder.
More and more {Winged Nymphs} were approaching. And though individually weaker than the lizards, they seemed to be endless.
Searching her surroundings, she found most of the jelly sacks opened.
Lizards ran amuck everywhere, yet there was a quadruple of insects.
The lizards seemed to realise despite their superiority one-on-one, the {Winged Nymphs} were too numerous.
Instincts driving them, the lizards began to flee, diving into the water below.
The other lizards began following, their tail-like appendage and prominent gills on display.
Tara felt the need to follow them, having few options with the alternative of being overwhelmed by insects.
Though now taking proper note of her surroundings, she realised the jelly sacks she and the lizards came from hid beneath a rock surface.
Below the rock surface sat a pool of clear, bright water.
The area seemed well-hidden, though now the insects had discovered a crack leading them inside; there was no end to them.
Knowing she needed to move urgently, she began her crawl only to meet another one of those insects.
She was familiar with their attack methods, having dealt with two of them now.
Knowing the insect seemed to find it difficult to latch onto her slippery skin, she charged towards it, finding its mandibles clicking in response.
She swiped at it, finding the insect's delicate body give way to her sharp claws.
Though the creature was fragile, it was incredibly swift and managed to nick her, yet it could not latch onto her properly, which allowed her to finish it with minor damage.
[You have defeated Winged Nymph, gaining 1 EXP. You are now 3/10 into progressing to Level 2.]
Getting used to the notifications, she ignored them and quickly moved towards the water.
However, it could not be that easy. More and more insects arrived, overcrowding the small space.
Two more insects beset her before she could reach the water. This time, it was far more challenging as the two raked their barbed, spiked legs to latch onto her separately.
She frantically clawed at the one in front of her, sending even more insect pieces and green blood splattering over the place, yet not before she suffered her first severe wound.
The insect behind her had utterly clamped down on her back leg, showing no signs of letting up no matter how urgently she kicked.
For the first time, deep rivets of pain coursed through her as a deep hiss emerged from her throat.
Tara felt enraged at the thing, but the other insect, whom she was tearing to bits, stubbornly remained alive.
Finally, she managed to end the thing, and the sound of the notification was music to her ears.
[You have defeated Winged Nymph, gaining 1 EXP. You are now 4/10 into progressing to Level 2.]
Yet she was far too late to stop the thing chomping on her leg, managing to tear it off.
Gwahhhh! Now that seriously hurt.
If she remained human, she would be screaming her eyes out, but unfortunately for the dirty bug behind her, this only made lizard Tara enraged.
Twisting her body around, she tore into the insect in a frenzy. The insect, having a freshly torn lizard leg clutched tightly in its mandibles, was unable to even mount a defence as the lizard's claws left rapid swipes into its body, tearing the insect into bits.
Another notification sounded.
[You have defeated Winged Nymph, gaining 1 EXP. You are now 5/10 into progressing to Level 2.]
Feeling sore and in pain from the insect bites, she just about trudged her way to the ledge before more of the things attempted to latch onto her.
'Good riddance', Tara thought, leaping into the water, completely ignoring caution since staying in an area entire of killer insects was not a good idea.
The water felt cool and smooth on her skin. Her body already intuitively knew how to move in water, so she followed those instincts and managed to imitate the other lizards, who were natural-born swimmers.
She enjoyed the feeling of the water so much that she almost forgot that danger was everywhere; feeling the vibration in the water of something significant, she dove down, narrowly avoiding a ginormous fish that tried to swallow her whole.
What is that thing? She thought, seeing a shark-like fish over three times her size.
Its red eyes turned towards her as it attempted to lunge for her again, but her lizard body was remarkably nimble, and she could just about escape for the second time.
Knowing she needed to find a safe place away from predators, she began to swim away from the large fish, who was notably slower than her even when she was not quite as adept at swimming as the other lizards.
Soon enough, she found a small cave hidden by cattails and other aquatic plants.
Recognising the cave was not large enough to fit anything much more significant than her, she confidently squeezed her way in and found it empty.
Now able to finally gather her thoughts and review her situation, she inspected her missing leg with a sigh.
She hoped that was not permanent, but it was likely she was now crippled.
Setting aside these thoughts, she turned them to the strange system.
She thought of the phrase usually used in novels to interact with the system, 'Status'.
It was then a screen popped up showing her current information.
[Name: Unselected.
Species: Iron Salamander
Level: 1 {5/10 EXP to Lvl 2}
Cultivation: Qi Gathering 1
Species Traits: Regeneration {1}, Iron Bones {1}, Skin Secretion {1}
Mutations: None. ]
That's interesting; now, where is the instruction manual for this thing?
Then she received a prompt asking if she would like an introduction left by the great Progenitor of Evolutions himself.
The information better be worthwhile, Tara thought, irritated. She woke up in the body of a lizard—or should she now say salamander—without as much as an explanation and still had no idea what was happening.
Now, hopefully, she will be able to gain some answers.