Chapter 5 - Levelling up
The way back to the cave felt long and full of apprehension, and she was constantly looking around for danger.
She was severely injured, fatigued and wanted nothing more than to rest.
Though until arriving at the relative safety of the cave, that would be suicidal.
Eventually, she returned safely.
Relieved to have not been beset by any more magical beasts, she secured the eel corpse in the cave.
Despite being twice her length, the eel was slim, allowing her to fit in the cave.
Tara felt extremely weak and lethargic.
Staring at the eel corpse hungry, Tara knew she needed to consume it for energy to heal.
Hesitating briefly at consuming a raw eel, she ignored her human impulses, knowing applying human constraints to a salamander was impractical.
'Well, here it goes.' Tara thought before taking a tentative bite.
'Hmm, not bad.' Tara thought her first perception was that the meat was very plain, likely due to the lack of seasoning. The eel's texture was chewy, but her teeth made short work of resistance.
After that, she felt a burst of energy and was feeling reinvigorated.
Her wounds began to itch, likely the {Regeneration} trait in action.
Deciding to continue, she had eaten over half the eel before long.
With her cravings now satisfied. It was time to address the notification she had put aside.
[Congratulations, you currently have enough experience points to level up. Would you like to progress to level 2?]
Viewing the notification, she decisively selected 'Yes'.
[Your cultivation level has increased Qi Gathering 1 > Qi Gathering 2. All essential attributes increased. Qi capacity enhanced. Select two existing traits to improve. Then select your mutation.]
Tara felt a warmth suddenly wash over her body; briefly glancing around, she found everything felt clearer. It was as if all of her bodily functions had improved.
The itching of her flesh intensified further, making her feel the need to close her eyes even more, yet she still had to look over the traits she wanted to improve.
[Regeneration {1}: You can regenerate complex limb structures...]
Seeing the familiar description, she moved on to the upgrade aspect.
[*NEW* Regeneration is more efficient and costs less energy. Every aspect is improved.
Trait level: {1} > {2}]
Tara found it was a more general upgrade to the trait, but with the importance of the trait on display against the eel, she was in favour of improving it.
The next one was {Iron Bones}.
[Iron Bones {1}: The durability of your bones has increased…]
Viewing the familiar description, she moved on to the improvements.
[*NEW* The strength of your bones is enhanced further. Your claws and teeth' sharpness and hardiness increased. Your improved bone structure further improves your bodily attributes.
Trait level: {1} > {2}]
Another trait of high importance, Tara knew she had been relying on the trait since she arrived.
Lastly, she looked at the final trait listed.
[Skin Secretion {1}: You can secrete a slimy mucus…]
Skipping past the familiar description, she saw the potential enhancement.
[*NEW* Skin secretion is more efficient and requires less energy. The fluid secreted is thicker and more slippery, making it harder to grasp by attackers. It slightly improves damage resistance.
Trait level: {1} > {2}]
Although the trait sounded the most lacklustre of the three, it already demonstrated its effectiveness against the eel, possibly saving her life even and giving her the edge she needed.
Though she already had a plan with the trait and thought there might be some interesting mutations, after all, on Earth, some Salamanders secreted poison from their skin.
Therefore, she decided to enhance the {Regeneration} and {Iron Bone} traits to the second level.
Confirming her two trait enhancements allowed her to move on to the mutations.
Moving onto the screen for selecting mutations, Tara found she could evolve an existing trait or create an entirely new mutation with no base.
The advantage of this is developing a new species trait that will be unique among her current species or expanding upon an already existing trait.
Although it does not provide her with an additional trait, it expands upon an existing trait to create something more substantial.
Looking through the mutations, she found {Iron Scales} working with {Skin Secretion}.
{Iron Scales} would increase her skin's durability and resistance against physical and elemental-based attacks while maintaining its smooth and moist texture.
However, the mutation that caught her eye was one she was hoping for.
[Poison Secretion {1}]: An evolution of {Skin Secretion} it maintains creating a slippery substance on the skin, yet this substance is now toxic and poisonous. The poison is discharged at will but can be energy-intensive depending on toxicity and volume.
Despite the other mutations that would make her more potent and durable and even allow her to create wings, she found this one to be the most attractive.
After all, she found that upon killing Eel, the best means of levelling was to defeat enemies above her level.
And there are few better ways to beat a superior opponent than utilising poison.
According to the mutation, though more energy-intensive, the poison she can create can become so toxic that it can transmit from skin-to-skin contact, and it will prove even more effective in water.
She may diverge and take another route in the future, but at the moment, when she was both smaller and weaker than many things here, she decided she would use poison.
Selecting {Poison Secretion} as her mutation, she found that the sleepiness suddenly became even more overwhelming and unwittingly; she closed her eyes, letting the darkness take over.
Upon awakening, she felt strange. Remembering she seemed to fall asleep? Seriously, out of all the places. However, it was unusual, as if her consciousness slipped away for a moment before she came back with it.
Tara figured it must be a combination of my heavy injuries and my upgrades.
After all, she had no idea if it was a figment of her imagination, though she felt the cave seemed more cramped than before.
Instinctively, she felt her body size had grown noticeably since her perspective seemed different.
She also discovered that the lost appendage bitten off by the insect had seemingly reappeared as if nothing had happened.
She wanted to find somewhere to be able to look at her appearance, but since there was nothing around to do that, this would have to wait for now.
It was then she heard a weird scuttling sound.
Searching around, she found a large crab that appeared menacingly at the cave entrance. Its dark, beady eyes searched for something until they landed on the carcass of the eel.
Eeek. The crab did a little jig as it excitedly approached the half-eaten body.
Almost lazily, Tara instinctively pounced on the crab, which seemed to be only a bit smaller than her.
Surprisingly, she found its seemingly hard shell giving way to her claws almost instantly. Her claws pierced into the soft flesh underneath, ending its life swiftly.
[You have defeated {Swamp Crab}, gaining 2 EXP. You are now 2/100 into progressing to Level 3.]
'Huh.' Tara thought, surprised at the lack of resistance.
Only then did she realise that the cultivation level may have more significance than she believed, or perhaps it was the enhancements.
Looking at the EXP counter, she realised the next level might take a while, so now that she had levelled up and healed, she decided to venture out and begin to hunt.