"DAMNIT!"

Sitting on the ground, Anton grimaced as he looked at the large legs. He had no idea how hard it would be to move on two again. Perhaps he lacked the proper balance or practice, but he could barely stand on them. His two pasty white limbs kept dangling to the side, to short to walk on four, but heavy enough to keep him off balance.

"Fine, FINE!" He growled, knowing he needed to get far from his current location because more snakes would arrive soon. Taking one of his white legs between his two front paws, he began twisting it around, trying to ignore the pain.

Eventually, he tore both white legs off, and looked at them, feeling a bit sad. Without them, he would be much slower, at least until he got two more snake legs. Getting back up, he waved around with his front limbs, that were way out of proportions, but managed to keep his balance. Taking a careful step forward, then another, he noticed that it became easier.

"Baby's first bloody steps. Now to figure out how to grab two more of these beauties." He patted one of his new legs, dark grey now, and gently licked the teeth on his mandibles. Consuming part of the snake had given him a forked tongue and a row of small razor-sharp teeth.

Moving through the forest cost him far more time than the previous few times, but he found that he didn't come across any snakes. The single time he thought he heard one move his way, he could have sworn he heard a hiss before it began moving away in another direction. Did they think he was one of them?

It took him a few days to get used to running with the legs, but in the end, he found that he could run much faster on them than the previous owner. Not having to howl the top-heavy torso and head along, the legs performed admirably.

Running through the forest, he spotted his next quarry lying together in a small pack under a dark blue mushroom with a large triangular cap. About the size of a spiderling, they resembled blood red, shaven cats with three tails. They had a long snout crossed with lines that they could open vertically and horizontally, creating some horrible flower trap. Combined with multiple rows of teeth, like sharks, he knew if they sank their teeth in him, he wouldn't be running away.

Moving back a bit, he found two mushrooms sticking close together and began making a web between them. It glistened red in the light. Turning back towards the pack, he looked at them. It was their legs that had gotten him through most of the third level alive. Even if he liked the power of the snake legs, he wasn't sure if they would be good enough.

"Over here!" he yelled, getting ready to run. As soon as they saw him, the four demon cats sprinted his way, moving like a blur. He was glad he knew how fast they were; the first time they had gotten him unaware. Rushing towards his web, he circled it and looked through. Not a second too soon. The four cats burst into the small clearing, racing towards him. Ahh, if only he had a mouth to smile with now, he thought.

Those stupid felines couldn't see his web. He had found that little nugget out by luck, and had used it every time since.

Oblivious, the four cats ran headlong into the webbing, getting stuck and entangled within seconds. The more they struggled, the stronger they were bound. Ah, those worms were good for everything! Without them, his web could barely hold his own weight, but after consuming their essence, it was strong enough to keep these infernal cats at bay.

Waiting until they could barely move, Anton stepped forward. Now to see how useful these new legs where! Raising one foot, he did his best to keep his balance before ramming it down onto one of the cats. He aimed at the head but missed, hitting the neck instead. A sound like dry wood followed, and the cat's mouth opened in four parts, revealing a green tongue. It didn't move anymore, green blood dribble from its ears.

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Feeling content, Anton had a fleeting image of his stepmom stuck in the web, getting crushed. Snorting, he kicked the other three monsters until they stopped moving and sat down, looking at his feet. He liked them, these new, sturdy legs. The cat legs would make him super fast, especially if he took six, but he still wouldn't be able to fight the third-floor guardian. Damnit, if only he could combine them! Blinking his red beady eyes, he wondered if he couldn't. Looking at one of the corpses, he bent forward and bit off one of the front legs. Chewing them was simple with teeth, he thought absentmindedly. A small surge of warmth sped through his body as he swallowed more and more of the leg, bone, and all. Ripping off another one, he continued eating until he felt his entire body burn up, signaling a change.

Dropping the last piece of limb, he felt how parts of his body began reforming and reshaping, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Quickly the sensation decreased, and he looked at his legs. Again he wished for a mouth so he could grin, but no matter. The sight of the dark red legs, long and muscular, was rewarding enough. Getting up, he instinctively swung with his four front limbs seeing they had turned red as well. Not as blood-red as the cats were, but darker, like old blood. Absently he noticed that the web seemed higher than before than he turned and ran forward, disappearing in a thick part of the mushroom forest.

--

Sitting on top of a bumpy yellow mushroom, one of the tallest points around, Anton looked at the cavern wall. He was done hunting in this forest of stink, and it was time to head to the third level.

"You just keep getting uglier..." He mumbled, looking at the massive thing blocking the entrance. A cross between a willow-tree and a mushroom, it had multiple mouths all over its stem. The barbed branches pulled in anything that came to close. Taking a peek around, Anton didn't expect anybody to show up again, like on the first floor, but you couldn't be too careful. Finding nothing, he clambered down from the mushroom, cursing as his four short limbs needed to carry the weight of his legs. He would need to switch them for something better soon, no matter how useful sticking to any surface was.

On the ground, he took a last, careful look around before walking up to the guardian. As soon as he stepped out of the forest of mushrooms, onto the rocky soil leading up to it, a few branches began moving his way. A single, long path of hardened earth led to the stem in a straight line.

"Hey there, Bob, I am back! Ready to have some fun!" Without waiting for a reply, he began running, staying on the hardened path. Multiple branches surged forward, but he just kept running, taking a very deliberate path. This was one of the places he was stuck longest, while in the end, it wasn't even that hard. Hard came one cavern higher. One of the branches came, almost hitting him, but stopped short mere inches from him as if incapable of crossing the hardened sand. The same happened from the other side, practically like they were saluting him as he hurried along. So simple, just run straight at the stem, the stupid branches get confused and stop. Move one step to the left and right, and they drag you to your doom.

It wasn't that easy, of course, it had taken him ages to find out that only by moving straight all the way, they wouldn't touch him, and even then, it was so easy to make one wrong move and get caught. It must have to take him hundreds of times to make that path. But it did make things bloody convenient.

Almost at the stem, he got ready for the only annoying part. This part always annoyed him, but then again, he didn't need his front limbs where he was going. Slamming into the wall, he rammed one of his limbs into a mouth. With a snap, it closed, and he felt pain surge through him. Ignore it, keep going! Sliding along the stem, he came up to another mouth, and he put another of his front limbs in it.

"Needs to be a better way..." He breathed out as he moved along the stem, almost reach the back of it, and with it the exit to the next level.

But before he could jump in, he lost one more limb to a hungry opening. It was the only way to keep the branches away. They had to get the signal the main thing was eating. He recalled how he had done it previously with only two disposable legs and shuddered. Watching the mushroom, bussy chewing, he waved with his last, lonely, limb.

"See you next time, Bob. Or perhaps not!" he snorted and walked off into the cavern system.