Sometimes, danger truly brings great reward. However, in my modest opinion, I much prefere great rewards with no danger. And that is why I am currently watching as two titans duke it out between themselves.

A giant turtle with two heads was engaged in a fight to death against an opponent that seemed to match it in almost every way: an equally large lobster with 4 claws so big they looked almost comical, if one disregarded just how deadly those things must be.

And then, there was me. I was somewhat longer than them, but they were still far, far bigger than me overall. Not that such a thing would ever dissuade me, of course.

These beasts were far above my current league when in their top condition, but... They'd be easy prey if they weakened each other.

And so, as the two titans fought, I focused on clearing the area of all bystanders, forcing most to flee and biting any that lingered too much.

By the end of their fight, I'd succesfully cleared the area and was hidden from sight, observing how healthy they were.

The lobster had lost one of it's claws entirely, and two of them looked out of commision. It also had various cracks on it's exoskeleton, which must have hurt a lot considering how careful it was with moving the cracked areas.

Meanwhile, the turtle had suffered even more. It's shell looked broken, and one of it's heads had been decapitated by a lucky strike from the lobster. Still, they both held on as they kept on fighting brutally.

And I, like the opportunist I was, struck when they were at their weakest. Just as the lobster looked about to triumph over the turtle, I rushed at it at lightning speed from behind and harshly bit into it's back. The lobster recoiled, but it was far too weak to do anything as my coils wrapped around it and squeezed.

It's exoskeleton had simply been too damaged already to put up much of a fight. With a sick crunch, the exoskeleton around my coils shattered, allowing me to reach into it's soft and squishy internal organs and flesh.

It died pretty quickly, but I still wasn't done. The moment I received it's death pop-up, I let go of the lobster and rushed at the turtle, who'd been trying to escape. However, it's fins had been broken during the brutal fight, and it was in no position to resist me either.

It quickly died once I latched myself onto it. In a way, it was a fitting end for such a defensive creature. It might have had the hardest shell I'd ever seen, but what use was it once it was broken? It's attack and speed were seriously underclassed.

When the turtle died as well, I knew I had to be quick. I bit the turtle on it's side and dragged it away, while coiling my body around one of the lobster's claws, also dragging it with me.

It was awkward swimming like this, and it was also very, very dangerous. Nonetheless, I made it back to the reef without encountering any other strong open-ocean fish. There were of course some other opportunists who tried to steal away my meal, but they were easy to repulse.

When I finally reached the reef, I allowed myself to relax and heaved a mental sigh of relief. This was the first time I went up against the stronger open-ocean beings, and it took a lot of courage to not flee when they first began to fight.

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After all, the lobster had somehow managed to shatter a rock with just a swing of it's claw. That was just plain scary.

Nonetheless, I'd profited from this big times. Although I still couldn't feel emotions, my logical mind was jumping in false excitement.

I ignored the pop-ups for now and instead focused on swallowing the turtle first. I'm going to be honest here, it was a pretty disgusting sight. Even I didn't know I could dislodge my jaws so much that I was able to open it so wide. Still, I was thankful for the ability.

The lobster followed suit, and although they tasted very good, their shells made it a lot less tasty and also much harder to eat and digest. I'd give it a 7/10. More spice would be good.

Jokes aside, the experience I gained from these things was insane. I'd been hunting in the Killzone for around a week now, but I must have gained twice as much xp from just these two than all of my hunts combined, and then some more.

[Nameless] Has reached Lv. 16. 5 Status Points granted

[Nameless] Has reached Lv. 17. 5 Status Points granted

It was glorious. I'd already reached level 15 after a day of hunting in the Killzone, but for me to level up twice just like this... It made me wonder if I should risk it again.

... No. I was just very, very lucky this time around. If I'd been a bit slower or just unluckier, I would have easily been destroyed. I'd rather go for the slow but steady way.

I invested my points after some thought as I returned to my throne.

[Nameless] Adult Snakeling]

Age - 0 years

Level - 17

Constitution - 30

Strength - 20

Dexterity - 15

Intelligence - 15 (?)

Wisdom - 1

[Special] Poison - 10

Remaining Points - 0

Remaining Veteran Points - 0

Skills - (Bite Lv. 20), (Swim Lv. 20), (Extreme Constriction Lv. 11), (Headbutt lv. 10), (Inhale Lv. 9), (Venom Injection Lv. 20), (Poison Resistance Lv. 14)

After doing so, I decided that it was about time I look at the various evolutions. I knew this wasn't a choice to be made carelessly, as it might very well define my future.

Opening the Evolution menu, I observed the various options.

Evolution Options - Display all paths or only open ones?

I huffed, annoyed at the question. I didn't care about seeing all the paths, I just wanted to know what was available right now.

Open Paths

Queen Snakeling - Queen of the Snakeling Race. Allows for limited control over other snakelings. Requirements: Slay a King / Queen title holder. Warning: There can only ever be one queen / king of a race.

Reef Snake - Snake of the reefs. Allows for camouflage and increased stealth. Requirements: Be born in a reef.

Venom Serpent - Ocean snake that is extremely poisonous. Gives bonuses to venom attacks and intimidation buffs. Requirements: Be a snake, have sufficient venom stat, survive certain-death by poison.

I'll admit, as I looked through the three options I was presented, I was very much disappointed. They all seemed so... lame.

Thankfully, the system came to my rescue with some suggestions of it's own.

Possible Open Paths - Suggestions

Abyssal Snake - Snake of the deep oceans. Gives bonuses when in the deep ocean areas. Requirements: Visit the deep ocean area and survive.

Greater Ocean Serpent - Rare branch of the Snakeling race. Is bigger, stronger, and tougher than your average snakeling. Requirements: Be a level 20 snakeling

Colossal Serpent - Gigantic snake whose legends claim that it can one day swallow the world. Bonuses to strength, size, and power. Requirements: Bathe the aura of a Mighty Being, slay a King/queen title holder, reach maximum size for the Snakeling race, be level 20.

Alright, it should be obvious just which path I decided on. It took me just about half a second to decide that I would become a colossal serpent, or I would die trying.

With renewed determination, I made my way back to the killzone, more than ready for another meal.

... Or not, I decided, feeling extremely bloated with the two giants in my belly. Maybe some sleep would do me good.