Elyndris wriggled her massive frame under a tuft of titanic grass. The bird, a beast even larger than the ex-dragon, screamed. It’s call shook through Elyndris, spurning her movements onward. It’s beak, half the size of Elyndris’ entire body speared the ground where she had been moments before. Dirt and gravel sprayed through the air as if from an explosion.

The worm began to wriggle and push. Slowly, the very earth gave way against her might. With each heave, Elyndris dug herself further and further into the ground.

Eventually, she was buried deep. Too deep for even the mighty bird to reach. Elyndris relaxed. It would have been embarrassing to be eaten day one. She took a moment to collect herself. After hatching, Elyndris crawled around to get a sense of her environment. With no senses to speak of, that was difficult. It was a miracle she avoided the bird in the first place. But, Elyndris did not rely on miracles. She stood on her own strength and ambition, not luck.

When she was reincarnated, she managed to hold on to her knowledge. There were no memories to give the knowledge context. She did not know where they came from, why she had them, how she learned them, or anything else. Only the knowledge, her name, and her tenacity. With no other tools, Elyndris used this knowledge to grow.

“The system is a divine gift upon mortals to allow them to earn power and skill in return for serving in the afterlife. It involves gaining experience by slaying or devouring others to gain their experience. Experience is used to level up, which grants divine skill or biotraits.” She thought to herself, clearly and concisely. No need to drag things out.

[Feat achieved: System Knowledge. Cause: Discover the system. Reward: One level in System Aptitude.]

“I pray to Sahrzuel, the ever hungry and beast of a billion forms. I give thanks to the gift of bodily growth and the opportunity to feast on my enemies.”

[Feat achieved: The Ever Hungry. Cause: Offer a prayer to Sahrzuel in thanks. Reward: One Biotrait point.]

Without hesitation, she used the biotrait to grow jaws, to feast on her prey. “I pray to Ithrenial, the Unconquered and Heavens Sword. I give thanks to the gift of martial skill and the power to defeat my foes.”

[Feat achieved: The Unconquered . Cause: Offer a prayer to Ithrenial in thanks. Reward: One skill point.]

This skill point was saved, the skill it was meant to unlock did not have it’s requirements met. Yet. “I pray to Mythraziel, the Servant King and Master of the Road. I give thanks to the gift of wisdom and the skill to help others.”

[Feat achieved: The Servant King . Cause: Offer a prayer to Mythraziel in thanks. Reward: One skill point.]

This skill was reserved as well. “I pray to Vaelion, Herald of Chaos and the Unending Night. I give thanks for the spice of life and the opportunities wrought by chaos.”

[Feat achieved: The Herald of Chaos. Cause: Offer a prayer to Vaelion in thanks. Reward: One random attribute increase. Ability increased: Strength.]

Elyndris grinned with her new jaws, perfect. “I pray to Zenthaviel, the Justice and Heavens Equalizer. I give thanks for a fair system and the interplay between the four angels influences.”

[Feat achieved: The Justice. Cause: Offer a prayer to Zenthaviel in thanks. Reward: One growth point. Feat achieved: Devotion. Cause: Offer a prayer to true angels. Reward: Experience granted. Type: Monster Experience. You have gained one monster level. One Biotrait Point awarded. All attributes increased by 1. One growth point available.]

Elyndris felt the potential flow into her. Her strength was raised to 5. This covered the requirement for her two skills, burst of strength and pounce. Then a new biotrait, enhanced touch. She had plans for her new body forming already, ones that might not be achieved for months or years.

Elyndris felt the vibrations of the earth and the scuttling of the lesser vermin which prowled at the edge of her senses. With newfound power, the worm crawled from he hiding place. Soon, it found a stone to sit upon. Then, she stretched herself high, standing as tall as she could.

Her mind quieted as she focused on feeling. The sturdy stone beneath her. The gentle, cold wind. Heat from the sun. Then, a rush of wind and change of pressure. NOW! She activated burst of strength, doubling her strength for a short time. In the same instance, pounce. She flicked the stone with enough force to crack it and hurtled like a sling stone through the air. She hit, Jaw first, dead center into the bird that had tormented her. It didn’t have time to screech as the sheer force exploded the bird.

She laughed in glee as she burst through, mouth full of bird meat. Her landing was anything but gentle, but it cause no damage. Her form was soft and squishy at the moment. Perhaps that form had advantages. She crawled to the birds corpse and feasted.

There was no experience gained. Elyndris grunted. This was an animal, after all. It would feed her hunger, but an enemy must be a monster or mortal to grant experience. Well, that is fine. She would just have to find a monster now.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Then she remembered her prayers. They were a necessary evil. If she could have wretched, she would have. Only her desperate need for power brought her so low as to offer her prayers to the angels. Not after what they had done.

“I DEFY THE ANGELS. I spit upon their generosity but will still take from them their offered power. I am Elyndris, and I will not bow.” She roared the thoughts into the cosmos for no other reason than to state her feelings and reinforce her determination.

[Feat achieved: Blasphemy. Cause: Spurn the angels gifts. Reward: You mock us, even as you are. A curse upon you, worm.]

Elyndris wriggled as pain poured over her body.

[Curse attained: Ungenesis. Regenisis no longer available.]

Her silent rage would have split the heavens, if she could have roared. How dare they treat her like this? She would admit, that was unexpected. Curses was something she knew about, but she didn’t know about any so… personal. Or so easy to obtain. People cursed the angels every day! Fine, with no choice she will except this challenge. She will become the worlds first larva dragon. Without regenisis, she would have to. That, or find a way to remove the curse.

What had she done in her past life to deserve this treatment? Figuring that out would have to go on her to-do list. For now, it was time to hunt.

It took her three days to track down real prey. In that time, she feasted on vermin, rodents, and foolish birds. Her sense of touch was being pushed to its limit. Most of the time was spent waiting for burst of strength to recover. Finally, she felt a rhythmic rumbling through the earth. Snoring. Some massive beast was slumbering, it’s snores shaking the world. Elyndris would not rely on luck, but she wouldn’t pass it up, either.

Carefully, she moved forward until she felt its form. Then, she crawled around it, to get a sense of its shape and size. A humanoid, large and bulbous. An ogre or troll? A giant, perhaps? Whatever it was, it could be felled with the right tactic.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for. Soft skin that pulsed in time with its heartbeat. It’s neck. She was too tiny to be a threat, so the trek to its vital areas was ignored. That was a mistake the creature would not make again. With every snore, her body shook and threatened to fall off. She would have to time her attack with accuracy. It inhaled, then rumbled out its breath. Elyndris DUG.

She activated burst of strength and began biting and riping as fast as she could. Burst of strength can only be used once per day, and it only lasts a minute. The effect was simple, it increased strength by five. Now, that was a massive boon. She needed to be fast and sure, this was her only chance.

The beast roared in pain and slapped her. But, she held on doggedly. Blood poured from the wound, and half her body was inside the beast when something grabbed her bottom half and yanked. She was ripped out, opening the wound further. She hit something hard, a tree, then tumbled to the ground.

That hurt, but she had no bones to break. Once she was no longer dazed, she flicked her tail to leap out of the way. Just in time. Something massive slammed into the ground behind her. The shock wave aided her flight.

As soon as she landed, she pounced again. This time aiming for where, relatively, it’s body would be. She hit with all the strength she could muster. The monster barely budged. When Elyndris landed, she rolled quickly. A foot stomped where she was. Instinctively, she pounced again. She still had the mind of a dragon. To attack and devour, not hide.

She felt herself slip between flesh and cloth, wriggling forward with the momentum of her strength enhanced pounce. The beast wavered, and slapped at her. The cloth cushioned the blow, but it still rattled her. The second blow was weaker.

The third never came. The monster was still bleeding from the neck through the entire fight. It lumbered a few steps forward, then fell. All the while, she was biting into the flesh. It couldn’t hurt her struggle, why not? While it laid motionless, she chewed.

[You have devoured - ogre, level 13. Experience Gained. You have gained two monster levels. Two Biotrait Point awarded. All attributes increased by 2. Two growth point available.]

YES. Her power grows. Soon, she will be unstoppable. She put her growth points into dexterity and constitution, raising them from two to five. Then, she evolved enhanced touch to tremor sense. Suddenly, she could feel clearly. Everything around her that touched the ground. Like strings of energy latticed together to form shape and substance.

The ogre was typical of its kind, but it didn’t seem to be feral. That meant, somewhere, there was an ogre cave. Maybe she could track it down and feast on the monsters within.

With constitution of five, she had a new biotrait option. Complex organs. She selected it for only one reason. Her body quivered. A heart, lungs, stomach and a myriad of other useful organs grew into being. She took a deep breath, and roared. It came out as a tiny squeak. Finally! She wanted to do that for a while. There were other benefits, as well. Her stamina would regain quicker with lungs, it would take less time to digest food, and she could better recover from damage.

“Tes- Test test. Voice. Voice working? Excellent!” She spoke with a high pitched whine. But, she could speak. Too many monsters did not appreciate speech. If used correctly, it was one of the fastest ways to gain power.

For a week, she lurked near the ogre corpse. Elyndris ate from It when she hungered. Allowed herself to grow naturally. It would take years for the growth experience to equate killing monsters, but she had time. No rush.

Carrion eaters came for the body, only to be slain by Elyndris. With complex organs came a sense of smell and taste. When the miasma became too much, she left.

Elyndris hummed in pleasure as she explored. She was making good gains. In just a few weeks, she had gained three levels. One more level would be the end of her growth period. She knew that any levels past six would not grant her growth points or attribute increases. At least, no directly. So, these next two would need to be spent carefully.

The hunt continued.

Elyndris

True Name: Elyndris

Soul: Monster

Genseed: Larva

Monster Level: 4

Attributes [0]:

Strength: 7

Dexterity: 5

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 4

Will: 4

Charm: 4

Feats:

Encounter: True Angel

Knowledge: System Knowledge

Act: Devotion [layered feats]

Act: Blasphemy

Skills [0]:

Burst of Strength

Pounce

Biotraits [0]:

Base size: Miniscule

Jaws

Tremor Sense

Complex organs