After Matt had shaken off the lethargy that came with changes in his size, he flipped on the infrared to check out the changes his new skills had inflicted on his body.
Holy shit, I'm now the reality version of the monster from Anaconda!
The first thing he noticed was that he was now truly monster looking. 5 meters was huge, but there were snakes on earth that were even larger than that. It wasn't only the length that had increased as well, as he now felt it would be no problem to swallow a boar, or a person, whole. Was it strange that thought didn't make him shudder and instead filled him with a 'job well done' feeling?
The second thing he noticed wasn't so obvious until he left the cave, but his senses were all more accurate and extended farther than they had before. While it couldn't be considered superhuman, he now had at least a normal human's 20/20 vision and range of color. Smells were sharper and more varied as well, including smells he didn't know how to define yet.
While Matt would have liked to spend a few hours growing used to his new senses, his stomach started making it's protests known by gnawing on his spine again.
It seems my energy demand has increased as well. That might be a problem later if I grow any larger or need to spend any length of time stealthed. I'll need to buy a skill to solve it eventually.
He set out to the watering hole that served as his favorite hunting spot, and was shocked at the unexpected gain to his speed. Though if he'd thought about it beforehand, it made complete sense. His muscle had increased in proportion to his size, so what happens when you can travel your body length every second or so? Matt had no way to measure miles per hour, but in short bursts he could get the trees to blur by.
It made hunting a piece of cake, but left him feeling cold about what to expect in the game. He was already this strong a week in, so what could he expect from the people he would be fighting?
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Another week had passed, and aside from buying [Camouflage(Rank 2)] and a skill called [Natural Armor(Rank 1)] there had been no big developments. Natural Armor was a skill he had found that increased the toughness of his scales, and if the description could be believed it would protect him from most cold weapons and small arms fire.
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Today was shaping up to be different though, as he had only made it less than 100 meters from the cave he had made his home before hearing a bellow. He recognized it from his first day in this world, especially when the smell hit to accompany it.
The troll thing. Shit.
Matt had grown large and accumulated some experience, but he still didn't want to mess with that thing. By his most optimistic estimates it was a 50/50 chance of victory, but even if he won there was nothing to gain from a confrontation. It was too big to eat for him without chopping it up, which was hard without hands or tools.
The troll didn't seem willing to overlook him though, as he could smell and hear it getting closer and closer.
It's definitely aiming for me this time. No point fleeing when I'm built for short distances. What can I use to my advantage?
With no time to think up anything clever, Matt quickly wrapped around a tree and took on a bark coloring. It wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, but it might let him get the drop on the troll as it searched for the smell.
The sound of breaking tree limbs started getting louder, and then it was in view. The troll stopped and sniffed around, looking confused.
Score 1 for the plan.
It wandered closer to the tree he was disguising as, and knowing hiding wouldn't hold up if it really checked he struck and bit him in the throat with a full payload of venom before it could react. It roared in agony as it tried to pull him off, but he wasn't about to give it room to play. He started winding around it like a constrictor with the rest of his body, fending off punches and shoves as he went. When attempts to pull him off failed, the troll started knocking into trees and even body slamming into the ground and nearby trees like WWE or something.
If Matt hadn't purchased [Natural Armor], he felt quite sure he would have been squished flat like a pancake in all the rampagings. As it was, he felt like he had cracked ribs and was feeling nauseous from some form of internal damage. It was taking an awful lot of time for this thing to settle down and die. He bit him a few more times just in case and felt his venom go empty.
I hope that's enough or I'm in some big trouble. I got him right in the throat and couldn't have asked for better conditions for fast-acting....
He needn't have worried. It took longer than he hoped, but Rank 2 of [Deadly Poison] didn't let him down. Well, that or the gaping whole in it's throat had caused it to bleed to death, one of the two. It gave a few more vain attempts to take him down with it before finally sinking into unconsciousness and then death.
Victory! Now how do I eat this thing?
He couldn't do it now anyway when he may have a damaged stomach, so he reluctantly dragged the corpse with him back to the cave to settle in to heal from his latest brush with death.