Matthew was awakened from his dreams by the sound of falling rain, and it took a moment for his situation to re-register. He surveyed his body, which was now dirt brown and too big to really turn around in the burrow. He was surrounded by shed snake skin, and all signs of the lump in his body from eating the rabbit were gone.
Right, so it wasn't all some weird dream. I'll have to be extra careful about buying things from the shop in the future since I could have been suffocated or ambushed by predators during the forced coma. How long was I even out?
Matt had no answers to his questions, but he felt it probably hadn't been longer than a day. He was already oriented towards the exit, so he slithered up and out of the hole. It was raining, but that didn't seem to be a significant problem for his now cold-blooded body.
The reason most snakes don't go out in the rain is because their sense of smell and heat are weakened, but Matt had a human mind. He reasoned that even if there were no animals going around on the ground, there should be plenty of birds nesting in the trees. Even if they weren't, there might be eggs or other small animals like squirrels.
With some fumbling he managed to figure out a technique for climbing that would work with his now 2 meter long body and got to business.
Not very stealthy anymore...
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As near as Matt could tell a week had passed, and he had swallowed everything he could get to in a way that would probably make wildlife conservation agencies cry at the mere mention. He had learned the ropes of being a viper and bought a few upgrades, leaving his status like this...
Player Name: Matthew Forester Titles: Poisoner, Big Eater Species: Assassin Viper Evolutionary Points: 340 Threat Level: F Special Skills: Rapid Digestion Rank 2, Camouflage Rank 1, Deadly Poison Rank 2, Deadly Poison Resistance Rank 2, Infrared Vision Rank N/A
He had purchased the [6 Months Natural Growth] upgrade an additional 5 times, leaving his body at what was close to maturity for his species. Additional purchases wouldn't make much difference since he was already close to the promised 5 meters, so he had decided that was enough. For the titles...
Poisoner Poisoned 20 enemies intentionally Effect +1 to ranks of poison related skills
Big Eater Ate 5 times your body weight in one day Effect +1 to rank of [Rapid Digestion]
The titles had saved him hundreds of points from buying in the shop, but he was somewhat at a loss as to how to get more. He could only try to do impressive things and hope for the best while trying not to get killed.
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He had saved 340 points since reaching maturity, and it was time to pick a new upgrade or two. 4 stuck out after he had weeded out all the options that were way outside his budget for now.
Gigantism(Rank 1)
Doubles size limit for your species Cost 200 Evolutionary Points
Camouflage(Rank 2) Increases response time of passive camouflage and allows for a degree of active use. Cost 300 Evolutionary Points
Environmental Resistance(Rank 1) Increases resistance to natural elements beyond what your species would normally allow Cost 200 Evolutionary Points
Enhanced Senses(Rank 1) Increases all natural senses by 50% of base amount Cost 100 Evolutionary Points
I want them all and more besides, but let's prioritize.
[Environmental Resistance] was important since he didn't know what conditions he would face in the so-called 'game.' If he ended up in a cold environment then it would practically kill him right there. He could afford to delay it however. He planned to stock up on points before the game and purchase any adaption he needed while he was in the game. Right now he needed to focus on what would get him points faster.
[Gigantism] would again let him swallow bigger prey and digest faster, but it might also bring him to the attention of predators who had so far ignored him.
[Camouflage] had shown to be overpowering in hunting so far, and the idea of some active control over the process intrigues him. Would he be able to make himself look like a fallen branch or something even with nothing to backdrop against?
[Enhanced Senses] might be an answer to his poor eyesight, and is a direct force multiplier when it comes to tracking.
They all looked so good, but in the end Matt chose [Gigantism] and [Enhanced Senses] after finding an empty cave to hide himself in. The now-familiar drowsiness took hold once more and he sank into darkness.