EP.14
I underwent significant growth in a short period.
Here I was, someone who could only use “Tail Cutting,” now possessing not only footwork but also Breath Control and Ten Poison Immunity. It was a remarkable achievement.
However, that was where it ended.
Not a single skill could be considered an offensive attack.
Status window!
I still have no offensive skills!
While skills like Acid Resistance and Paralysis Resistance are handed out like candy, why on earth can’t I get an attack move?
Tsk.
How frustrating.
If only something like “Tail Whip” or “Bite” would show up, I would be immensely grateful.
Right now, I was quite the abnormal creature.
There was something called MP, but I had no way to use it.
The skills that consumed that resource were only Tail Cutting and Sprint, and I hardly used them anymore.
I had no choice but to grow stronger as soon as possible.
Preferably by devouring the loudly croaking toads in the distance.
Beelzebufo was like my nemesis.
Its substantial size far exceeded mine, and with poison to boot, I hardly dared to consider challenging it.
But now, the situation had changed a little.
With the body fortified by Ten Poison Immunity.
The footwork named Little Dragon Ascending Step.
The internal power I obtained through the techniques of Little Dragon and White Orchid Heart Technique.
And then there were Tus and Pus.
“Keyeek?”
Why are you looking at me like that?
Did you read my thoughts? The spiders seemed surprisingly startled.
Clever little things.
“Gekgek.”
I tapped next to me.
Come here.
“Keyeeng….”
They came over, but they didn’t seem pleased.
Pus, with its thin belly, seemed to be making a case.
That must mean no more spider silk is coming out.
Stop whining.
I gave its back a light tap.
Swish!
That’s more like it.
“Kieeing….”
Pus returned to its spot, looking glum.
Tus was watching from afar as if it was just a spectator, observing spiders being exploited for their silk.
I slightly shook the lizard’s front foot.
Nod, nod.
“Kayeng?”
It made an innocent expression, but I wasn’t fooled.
You come here too.
*
It was raining.
The chilly droplets soaking my body felt quite nice.
As it turns out, lizards are ectothermic creatures, so getting rained on didn’t bother me at all.
Maybe it was because I was a lizard living in water, but rather than feeling uncomfortable, it actually felt good.
My body was a bit special.
I was too lizard-like to be human, yet retained enough human traits to not be a mere lizard.
For starters, my eyesight was far superior to an ordinary lizard’s.
There wasn’t much difference compared to how it was when I was human.
At the same time, I didn’t lose the advantages of being a lizard, particularly its sense of smell.
I flicked my tongue out once.
I could feel the faint scent in the air magnifying.
The smell of rain, and the scent of earth.
The smell of prey far away, and the distinct odor of toads.
Combining my sense of smell, vision, and hearing, I pinpointed the enemy’s location.
One toad was separated from its group.
As long as it didn’t wander into the territory swarming with piranhas, that toad would likely remain safe. It was probably aware of that, choosing to act individually.
The enemy was alone.
No, it was more like the prey was alone.
Now was the chance.
I lifted my front paw.
Two of my feet grazed the water’s surface.
The moment a raindrop hit the water, I smashed down upon the surface with explosive force.
Splosh! Splosh! Splosh!
The sound of rain couldn’t drown out the racket I was making with my footsteps.
If I had dampened the sound, I could’ve done so to some extent thanks to my footwork, but that was not my intent.
Making a loud commotion was part of my strategy.
I charged straight at Beelzebufo with all my might.
Thud, thud, thud!
Even if its hearing was poor, it couldn’t ignore this noise.
It detected me.
Startled by the sudden sound, it seemed to realize that the source was a small lizard and instantly readied itself for battle.
Toads weren’t like frogs; they didn’t catch prey from afar using their tongues. There were exceptions, but at this size, they would prefer to charge rather than use their tongues to strike.
【Beelzebufo LV7】
【Status】
「Hunger」「Alert」
Level 7. It was the weakest one among those I had seen previously.
It appeared that it wasn’t fully grown yet, as it lacked the golden hue of the one I had seen before, exhibiting only a vibrant green color.
I plunged my tail into the water to reduce my speed.
Splash!
As the water split, countless droplets flew in all directions.
The moment those droplets touched its body, Beelzebufo attempted to strike.
It charged at me with its massive size.
The tremendous impact was enough to make one wonder if the ground itself was trembling.
It was stronger than any creature I had faced before.
Even an Oviraptor would lose its senses to this beast’s tackle.
But if I didn’t get hit, that would be the end of it.
Just like a little dragon soaring through the air, I easily jumped over it.
Boom!
“Ow!”
The toad, having slammed its head into something hard, slid several more steps due to inertia.
Considering it had just rammed its head into the ground, I thought it would be dazed.
However, it was tough as it looked. After shaking its head a couple of times, it changed direction and fixed its gaze on me.
There was surprise in its eyes.
A normal lizard would never have been able to evade such an attack.
Yet, it shouldn’t be surprised by just this.
I still had more prepared.
I extended my hand.
Moving my arm smoothly like flowing water, the motion started from my right hand, traveled through my elbow, then my shoulder, and lastly reached my other hand.
“Geggek.”
It was a taunt.
“Geggek. Geggek.”
It wouldn’t understand my words.
However, it would grasp the intent. A lizard adopting such a bizarre posture was delivering one message.
You are way too slow.
The effect was tremendous.
The toad, its eyes rolling back, charged at me wildly.
I focused all my energy on its movements.
Like a bullfighter dodging a bull’s charge, I evaded its attacks with minimal movements.
It seemed like I would be hit, yet I was not.
I felt as if I could catch it any moment now.
When my time was right, I made a sound to further provoke and excite it.
As I continued to evade, my foot got caught on my leg, and I fell to the ground.
Thud.
It was the perfect moment for it to attack, and it didn’t miss the chance.
Fueled by mounting anger, it unleashed a force and speed it could no longer control.
If I took that hit, I would surely die.
Boom!
The massive body of the toad tumbled over.
It didn’t stop after just one roll but continued to crash around.
“Gekgek.”
It was a trap woven from dozens of layers of spider silk.
Even a sturdy creature like it would feel the impact.
It was likely suffering from a concussion.
I quickly employed my footwork to approach it at a rapid pace.
“Gwaek!”
It struggled in a desperate attempt to resist, but I still had no intention of facing it head-on.
What I held in my hand were the prepared spider webs.
The Araneae didn’t use spider silk to build nests.
The reason was that, while their silk had waterproof properties, it lacked the stickiness of other spiders.
Yet, its strength was by no means lacking.
Moving with the swiftness of using a special ability, I wrapped it in spider silk.
“Gwaek!”
As the strands tightened, it began to struggle for breath.
Thud.
It was putting up quite a fight; a few threads snapped under the strain.
Its strength was even greater than I had anticipated.
My body, holding the spider silk, swayed.
Thud, thud!
I tightened the webbing further.
Crack!
Several more threads broke.
At the same time, small wounds started to appear on its enormous body.
Very tiny wounds.
But that was enough.
The exposed skin was invaded further by the silk.
“Guaaaack!”
The toad shrieked.
Its thrashing grew more frantic, but at some point, its strength began to wane.
“Guuuu….”
Thud.
Beelzebufo’s massive body fell.
Such a colossal creature wouldn’t fall from just this minor injury.
However, I didn’t think it was an act.
This spider silk was coated with poison.
No matter how poisonous a toad is, it wouldn’t be able to withstand poison injected into its skin.
[Your Level has Increased.]
“Gekgek!”
I roared triumphantly, standing atop its corpse.
“…Geggek.”
I lowered my voice slightly because its companions might be nearby.
The rain intensified.
Moving this heavy toad to a shelter in this downpour was a real ordeal.
Yet, the effort of transporting it would surely be worth it.
The spiders and I gazed at the toad’s corpse with eager eyes.
I had heard that frog meat tastes like chicken.
If that’s the case, then toad should taste somewhat like duck.
With graceful gestures, I began to peel away the toad’s skin.
What greeted my eyes was the bright red flesh.
It looked quite appetizing. Moreover, given its size, there was no doubt that there would be plenty to eat.
Nom.
I took a bite of the toad meat with my large mouth.
It had a slightly bitter taste, but it surely resembled the taste of meat.
“Kieeeng….”
The spiders gazed at me, drooling.
I slapped the ground with my tail.
Not for you.
This meat is poisonous.
Go eat some water beetle instead.
“Kiooong….”
They seemed greatly disappointed.
I wanted to share, but it couldn’t be helped.
If it was unhealthy, I had to eat it myself.
It’s not that I wanted to eat it all alone.
I felt a slight warmth spread through my body.
Ugh, maybe it was poisoned after all.
My stomach began to ache a bit.
But with Ten Poison Immunity, it shouldn’t be a major issue.
Nom.
My mouth now turned to the toad’s legs after tasting the rather dry yet plentiful breast meat.
Everyone knows that leg meat tastes better than breast meat.
With a reverent heart, I took a bite out of the leg meat.
Nom.
The perfect combination of fat and muscle provided an exquisite texture.
Not too dry, not too soft—just the right amount of meat.
It was slightly bitter, but it had no fishy taste at all.
I felt like I was enjoying high-quality raw meat.
Yes, this is it.
This is gourmet.
Although it wasn’t very visible, I was sure the gourmet skill was doing quite well too.
As I continued devouring the toad, I spotted a peculiar bead-like object inside.
It was a black bead. Since there was only one, it couldn’t be a toad’s egg, and it was too small to be a talisman.
No matter how hard I stared, there was no particular explanation.
Eating it wouldn’t kill me, would it?
After all, I had Ten Poison Immunity.
Nom.
Swallowing the mysterious bead whole, I felt a slight bitterness, but nothing seemed off.
[You have acquired “Crisis Detection LV1.”]
Huh? A skill out of nowhere.
Did I get that from eating that?
If not…
This chilling sensation coursing through my body.
I immediately set aside what I was eating and got into position.
“Gek!”
After dispersing the spiders, I prepared for the approaching threat.
【Beelzebufo LV12】
【Status】
「Fury」「Hostility」
【Astrothelidae Radians LV11】
【Status】
「Synchronized」「Hostility」
The two creatures that emerged were my former neighbors.
Maybe I should have lowered my roar a bit.
Still, these creatures didn’t seem all that frightening.
In a one-on-one, I could definitely take them down, and even with their numbers, escaping wouldn’t be difficult.
…Yet, why was my body trembling like this?
[The level of “Crisis Detection LV1” is increasing.]
[The level of “Crisis Detection LV2” is increasing.]
[The level of “Crisis Detection LV3” is increasing.]
The skill level rose dramatically.
[The level of “Crisis Detection LV4” is increasing.]
[The level of “Crisis Detection LV5” is increasing.]
My whole body was warning me.
It urged me to flee at once.
The creatures in front of me weren’t the issue.
The ones that had climbed up here to eat me no longer gave me attention.
They only gazed at the distant surface of the water.
An empty swamp.
But I had a strong intuition that something was approaching.
It was a black shadow.
The size of the fast-approaching black shadow grew larger and larger.
Just as I turned to escape, it emerged from the water simultaneously.
【Piranha Cayman LV30(+)】
The ruler of the swamp revealed itself.
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