Chapter 7 - Iron Body Fruit

Upon returning to the cave, Tara once again entered a light slumber. 

The way she processed sleep was far different than when she was human. 

She found she slept with her eyes opened. It was the reason she awoke as soon as the crab neared her. 

It made her discover that a part of her brain is constantly alert, even when sleeping, so she is never defenceless.

It was something she knew that some animals on earth adapted to have.

It is so they can remain constantly perceptive of threats, and is an instinct that an {Iron Salamander} similarly possesses. 

After rest, her trait {Regeneration} again allowed her to recover fully. 

Satisfied with the trait's effectiveness, she knew she would likely upgrade it again since she would have long perished without it. 

Knowing she needed to continue to hunt more magical beasts, she had little option but to seek danger as it was her only means to grow stronger. 

The immortal has given her little opportunity but to seek further strength.

Doing so would open doors for her, including returning to earth and her family. 

She had no hope of the immortal offering doing so, so she just had to do it herself. 

It came simply to her because Tara never enjoyed relying on others. Of course, not everything is achievable by yourself, yet now she has a path forward.

And that path was the only one she could cross. It meant entirely relying on herself and not moping around, hoping for the immortal to have a change of heart. 

Tara was a college student recently, but now she has become a salamander constantly struggling for survival. 

It utterly made no sense. 

She should be panicking, begging to return to her comfortable suburban life.

Yet even now, she was already lurking out of the cave, searching for more dangerous monstrosities to slaughter. 

The giant murder turtles were not enough to deter her; instead, the thought of bringing down such a fearsome opponent sent anticipation throughout her body. 

Then, a delectable smell appeared. Tara had no words to describe it. 

The smell just sent waves of excitement and need through her body. Each whiff seemed to reinvigorate her. 

Tara had already gotten used to the potency of her senses as a salamander. Even underwater, her senses were far better than when she was a human. 

Though Tara was used to the increased sensitivity, she had yet to master it fully. Now, she knew she had detected something good. 

Her instincts screamed at there being a big opportunity on the horizon. 

Without hesitation, she bolted towards the smell, tailing like a dog caught onto a scent. 

It took her a while to navigate past numerous creatures, some of which she was already familiar, yet others she steered clear of. 

One was a giant crocodile creature whose scales gleamed a beautiful silver, known as a {Steel Dracrocodile}.

The magical beast was the strongest being she had ever seen in this world. 

Tara did not even dare to use {Insight}. She just knew it felt strong. 

Luckily, she seemed too weak for the beast to notice. It did not even gaze in her direction once, and she was not foolish enough to believe she could escape. 

Feeling relieved, she continued following the smell and eventually found the source. 

Sitting there was the most expansive, lush area of swamp she had seen so far. 

She long ago judged that the system's numerous hints had made her feel like she was in a swamp. 

It was evident with the large number of plants commonly found in swamps, though these seemed supersized and were bursting with much more vitality than their earth counterparts. 

There were other plants she did not recognise. Yet, one among those was not even the most exotic plant she had seen present. 

However, this plant was the apparent source of the tantalising scent. 

Her eyes could not leave the plant as soon as she laid eyes on it. It was extremely strange and glowing with beautiful silver.

The plant was like an underwater apple tree. It had strange glowing, transparent branches with strangely shaped fruits. 

As soon as she laid her eyes on the fruit, a ravenous look appeared in her eyes. 

Tara felt as if she was possessed. A powerful urge and need to consume the fruits overcome her. 

She snapped out of it, deciding it was best to put {Insight} to use. 

After all, it promised to provide descriptions of helpful materials like this could be. 

As soon as she used insight, a description popped up. 

[Iron Body Fruit: Known for creating an 'iron body,' it is a low-level body refinement natural treasure that will increase the strength of your bone and musculoskeletal structure. The compatibility between host current traits is high and is an item that can improve the trait strength.]

Reading the description, she knew the fruit was now a must-have. 

She was sure there must be some limit. Otherwise, it would not be considered a 'low-level' natural treasure.

However, Tara knew that it would prove invaluable. 

Anything that could enhance her trait strength without requiring a valuable point was incredible. 

Approaching the strange tree, she found it weird everything was so quiet. 

She thought something that appeared so valuable would attract other magical beasts. 

After all, it is not only her who can detect the fruits. 

Then she noticed numerous discarded bones around the tree and soon realised she had unknowingly approached nearby. 

Instinctively looking up, she saw nothing above.

It was then that she heard a rustle below. Before she could move her sight down, the floor, which appeared as a large patch of grass, opened as a large maw appeared, attempting to swallow her in one gulp. 

Instinctively putting all her might in {Poison Secretion} whilst she narrowly evaded, the gigantic maw still managed to tear off her tail and a good portion of her lower leg region.

Aghhh. The pain was agonising. Tara couldn't help but let out what sounded like a high-pitched hiss. 

Managing to get a good look at the creature with her {Regeneration} working overdrive, preventing her from dying from blood loss, she saw a gigantic stingray-looking creature with an earthy green colour that allowed it to blend perfectly with its surroundings.

Damn it, Tara, how could you forget the treasure always has a guardian! She lamented, irritated at herself. 

Yet the thing ate a good dose of poison since it swallowed such a large chunk of her whole. 

After examining it, I noticed that the creature was massive.

Using {Insight}, she saw its information.

[Species: Swamp Earthray

Cultivation: Qi Gathering 5]

The creature was many times above her in cultivation. And it was way bigger than her, too; she felt it was three times her length and width at the least. 

And looking at the {Swamp Earthray}, it did not seem sated by the bite of all, as a ravenous look of hunger appeared in its gaze. The bite it swallowed in one gulp was far from enough to leave it satisfied and irritated. Tara managed to escape its trap.

It was about to chase her before it suddenly felt a deep pain rack its body, causing it to screech. 

Tara, who was about to flee, saw the creature howl in pain, which made her realise that the poison was far more effective than she had thought. 

Yet the poison was not enough to down such a large beast as the {Swamp Earthray} still moved towards her, though with evident lethargy. 

The Earthray launched its barbed tail towards her. It came at her like a large whip, moving exceptionally fast. 

Barely getting out of the way again, the {Swamp Earthray} was relentless as it became enraged at this point. 

It had no idea where this pain originated, yet the only possible cause was the strange salamander before it. 

The Earthray has eaten many similar-looking salamanders before and has never had any issues, so when such a scrumptious meal came along, it had no hesitation in taking a big bite. 

Now it was regretting it as it laboured to chase the smaller irritating salamander whilst it felt the pain grow more and more intense. 

Eventually, the Earthray paused as it felt the pain become unbearable, and that was when the damnable salamander started slashing at it with its claws and teeth. 

Typically, it would have no problem dealing with such a weakling, but it is now vulnerable and has lost much strength. 

Tara, who had been running around like a maniac for an eternity, smelt blood when she saw the {Swamp Earthray} in such a depleted state. 

The Earthray was many times stronger than her, but it couldn't even stand still and let her strike it with no abandon like this. 

Taking advantage of its weakened state, she started tearing into it, laboriously ripping it apart with her teeth and claws. 

It felt like forever until the Earthray finally stilled. Its flesh was incredibly tough and ridiculously durable. 

She would've stood no chance if not for it, swallowing a hefty dose of her poison whole. 

[You have defeated {Swamp Earthray}, gaining 40 EXP. You are now 82/100 into progressing to Level 3.]

Finding a notification, she couldn't help but feel amazing, but now was the time to retrieve her prize, as she stared at the fruit not far away in the distance. 

Licking her mouth, she couldn't wait to sink her teeth into that delicious fruit. 

Now, let's retrieve it before anything else nears. 

She did not fancy facing anything on the Earthray level again since she had only won this time through sheer luck.