Chapter 13
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On the far-end side of a baby sponge, a sentient micro jellyfish came into creation, one that aimed to consume both his own kind and the very sponge he lived on.
“The Energy Overflow is over now…”
Slowly creeping open his eyes, Astaroth looked around and saw much more activity in this new area. Unlike the Spore Sanctuary, this place was rife with evolutionary competitiveness.
Having spent ages devouring other Spores, the spores from the Spore Sanctuary evolved and became Micro Jellyfish. Either that or they were born from the asexual reproduction of other Micro Jellyfish.
Comparing his own size to that of the other Micro Jellyfish, Astaroth saw that he was around a tenth the energy mass of the smallest of them.
“Hmm… Time to see if I can pull off an Unlimited Energy Absorption for ten blinks without being devoured by one of those things… Wait, I forgot about my new system interface… Ai…”
Seemingly losing some of his mind with the most recent Energy Overflow, Astaroth worked toward rectifying his mistake. Immediately, he pulled up his system interface and looked through all the changes.
BLING!
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{[Infinite Energy System]}
[Host: Astaroth]
[Evolution Stage: Micro Jellyfish] - [250/100,000]
[Evolution Area: Jelly Sea]
[Energy Level: 2] - [250/100,000]
[Energy Storage: 108/10,000]
{[Current Energy Abilities:]}
[Level 1 (Spore): (Energy Absorption), (Unlimited Energy Absorption), (Spore Slash), (Spore Propulsion)]
[Level 2 (Micro Jellyfish): (True Energy Absorption), (Jelly Lash), (Undulation Zoom)]
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“Ho? This True Energy Absorption is some form of combination of both Energy Absorption and Unlimited Energy Absorption, is it not?” Astaroth asked.
[Ding! Yes, that is correct. The two previous Energy Abilities were incomplete, and thus, they needed each other to function at maximum capacity.
But with |True Energy Absorption|, the host no longer has to worry about activating two different abilities. And furthermore, this Ability is the final one for the Energy Absorption line of Abilities. It is the true epitome of absorption and will stay with the host through eternity.]
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“Is that so…? Well, that is good news, I guess-”
LASH!
“???”
Suddenly taken out of his thoughts by the lashing of what looked like a glowing whip, Astaroth had to speedily dodge out of the way. Though he wasn't fast enough to come out of this surprise attack unscathed, he managed to preserve most of his body.
Or at least, that was until…
[Ding! You have been whipped by the tentacles of a Lvl 1 Micro Jellyfish! You have been inflicted with the ‘Paralysis’ Status Effect (Lvl 1)]
“Huh? What does all this mean, system??”
Being forced to dodge even more lashes of large tentacles, Astaroth still found the time to ask this question. During this process, he also felt part of his wiggly body go numb, which put him on high alert.
[Ding! The host has started to encounter actual intelligent organisms; therefore, the system decided it best to designate everything under a ‘leveling system’. The higher the level, the stronger the opponent. You will also see a color above the heads of every living existence.
When size starts to become less and less relevant, both the levels and danger tag atop the organisms will assist the host in determining his potential success.]
“Then this yellow flashing signal above the Micro Jellyfish??”
[Ding! Yellow indicates that the jellyfish is of moderate threat to the life of the host!]
[Ding! Green means the host can easily overcome this creature; yellow means moderate threat; red signifies extreme danger; and black… black spells death for the host.]
[Ding! Levels are self-explanatory, but as you become stronger, organisms that used to be yellow or red threats will become green. However, their levels will not change. But with levels, they are not the same for every creature.
A lower-born organism like a Micro Jellyfish will only ever go from Lvl 1 to Lvl 9. But with higher organisms, such as a monkey, they can even go to Lvl 99 from Lvl 1.
There is no known limit to the evolutionary path of levels, but everything starts at Lvl 1 of their race. They then progress to the max level of their race and either surpass their limits or stagnate until their eventual deaths…]
LASH! LASH!
While digesting what the system told him, Astaroth was also working to evade the whips of a Micro Jellyfish’s tentacles. Being over eleven times his size and possessing far greater might than him, he was having a hard time just trying to not get one shot…
And then there were the paralysis effects of the first few lashes that succeeded in hitting him, all of which were kicking in at the worst of times…
“Half my body is now on the fritz, and the lashes of this jellyfish are relentless… If I wish to overcome this pesky annoyance, I will need to think outside the box. But how…?”
Astaroth dodged and dodged, but at the same time, he was also observing his surroundings, attempting to find something that could get him out of this predicament.
“If only I could get this big guy to stay still, then I would be able to latch onto it and absorb all its energy with True Absorption… Wait…”
Shooting his gaze to the left, Astaroth saw exactly what he needed to do to get himself out of this pickle.
|Undulation Zoom| |Undulation Zoom|
Using this movement ability twice, Astaroth zipped away from the attacking Micro Jellyfish. Getting himself a little respite at the cost of 10% of his energy storage, he then used it four more times, using up another 20% of his energy storage.
After gaining some distance on the massive, kraken-like existence, he pulsated one more time and blitzed toward a different kraken. This one, like the last one, immediately went to strike at him, but contrary to what happened the previous time, it stopped its attack upon seeing a larger prey.
“In the fragile ecosystem that encompasses all of existence, fighting something just as large or larger than yourself will always be more appetizing than going after the ‘little guy’ for a quick bite. This is one of those scenarios,” Astaroth thought. “And if it goes as expected, the two titans will clash…”
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