The beast’s warm sordid breath wafted over Licht and caused the petals of the dark flower to curl up. Recoiling in disgust? Or maybe fear? There stood the form of the beast, a gigantic rabbit with gray mottled fur, no shorter than any average man. Its sharp sword-like teeth were extended toward Licht as if inviting him to skewer himself.
To Licht, the flower who was very much a normal-sized specimen of botany, the rabbit looked like a godzilla in furried form. A monster who had descended from the nightmare of a god.
“Shit!”
The rabbit was opening its mouth faster than Licht could react, not that he would be able to do anything anyway. The combination of the ferocious incisors of the rabbit and the thundering storm behind them made for an almost horror movie-like visual. Licht felt his emotions flare up. Was he really going to die here to a rabbit?
“No! I’ll stand and fight!”
The petals of the dark purple flower Licht sat on sprung back to attention, leaves turned themselves forward and spun clockwise. The scene looked like a twentieth century brawler preparing to throw a career saving jab. Licht began rapidly firing off his skills in attempts to fend back the rabbit in any way he could.
“Psychometric Observation! Biogenic Growth! Nutrition Absorption!”
Insufficient energy to use [Nutrition Absorption]
“What?”
Licht was surprised. That was the first time that he had gotten any response from trying to use a skill.
Licht’s sudden courage was interrupted by a ping from the status window, a momentary action that distracted him as darkness descended over his vision.
***
Much to the rabbit beast’s pleasure, the squirming flower went down smoothly after a single chomp by its razor-sharp frontal teeth that separated the head of the flower from the stem. The rabbit gleefully chewed on the nutritious stem and leaves as the dark metallic core that had dangled from the face of the purple flower went down smoothly, evading its teeth.
Crunching on the leaves, the rabbit left the spot where it had seen the flower. The rabbit wasn’t of high enough tier to be self aware, but in a strange animalistic sense it still felt it had been quite fortunate to have encountered the tasty plant.
Licht rolled down the rabbit’s wide esophagus and plopped into the stomach acid of the rabbit.
“Eucgh!”
If Licht had fingers, he would surely be flicking off mucus from them in disgust. Licht had seen his fair share of ugliness as a former hospital owner and by living in the sticks, but this truly took the cake. From his buoyant vision Licht could tell he had entered the stomach of the beast. Mucus covered the ribbed inner lining of the walls and a deep lake of stomach acid buried mounds of decomposing matter.
“It’s like the trash compactor of that space station.”
In no world was it a pretty sight, but Licht’s attention was less on the matter of decor and more on the biting pain assaulting his lower submerged half. It was as if a thousand heated needles were being scraped against his back teasingly before stabbing inside.
Licht bit back the searing pain and looked at his status window.
[Level: 1]
[Exp: 0/10]
[Name: Licht Welles]
[Race: Nature’s Ego (Juvenile)]
[Health: 9/10]
[Stamina: 10/10]
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
[Energy: 0/0 AF]
[Rank: E-]
[0 STR, 0 DEX, 15 WIS, 2 END, 0 CHA]
[Virtues: None]
[Specializations: Wood]
[Skills: Psychometric Observation (D-), Biogenical Growth (D+), Nutrition Absorption (D)]
…
[Current Status: Melting!]
[Your body is currently in contact with a corrosive substance secreted by the stomach of the Gray Eared Rabbit Beast. You will take 1 HP damage every 1 second.]
Licht’s attention was drawn to a part of the status screen he hadn’t seen before. It had popped up as the occasion had called for it, it seemed.
“Melting?”
He thought to himself. He had ten seconds to figure out how to remedy this situation. Cycling through the menu, he thought of every tool he had at his disposal.
[Health 8/10]
“Can’t level up, can’t upgrade my health, don’t I have any defense or resistance?”
Licht cried out.
[Health 7/10]
“Shit! Okay, okay, calm myself. I need to stay rooted. What can I do? Skills? Will any of these work? Shit, I have to come up with something.”
[Health 6/10]
“Ah, maybe I can grow a protective outer coating? Like mucus, yeah! Let’s see… Biogenical Growth!”
Licht waited for a second for something to happen, for any sensation to come over his body.
[Health 5/10]
[Health 4/10]
“Dammit! What about the other skills? Psychometric observation? Nutrition Absorption?”
Licht began calling out the names of skills like Pokemon yet again as if he hadn’t learned from his previous attempt.
[Health 3/10]
[Would you like to change skill [Nutrition Absorption (D)] to [Passive Nutrition Absorption (E)] at the cost of the skill’s rank?]
Miraculously, something happened when he selected [Nutrition Absorption] in the menu. For the second time, this skill hadn’t failed him.
Willing to do anything, Licht cried out in joy.
“Yes! Do it.”
[Confirming selection…]
Skill Gained: [Passive Nutrition Absorption (E)]
[Health 2/10]
Licht readied himself before realizing that his health was still ticking down ever further. The skill change had been useless! Licht closed his eyes, accepting the embrace of death with a solemn expression. His expression was as if he was a monk in seclusion reaching Nirvana.
“Well, if this is the end, I want to say that in the next life I’ll be more careful in filling out surveys…”
[Absorbed 1 END from Gray Eared Rabbit Beast - (Unnamed)]
[Health 6/15]
Licht’s eyes shot open. What was this? He thought he was dead for certain!
“Monsieur? How kind of you to wake me.”
Around Licht’s body a well of the murky stomach acid had formed. It was as if the glossy metallic surface of Licht’s body had grown bottomless pores. Vast amounts of acid flowed in from the surroundings and was absorbed by Licht’s body on its own. Licht’s mind was blank. Was this the skill’s doing? It was at this moment that Licht realized the system’s definition of ‘nutrition’ was quite liberal.
[Absorbed 2 END from Gray Eared Rabbit Beast - (Unnamed)]
Skill Gained: [Passive Acid Resistance (E)]
[Health 15/25]
Licht’s eyes stayed wide open in amazement. Just like that, his simple passive skill had solved the impending crisis. As soon as he acquired the [Acid Resistance] skill, the rest of the stomach acid was quickly absorbed into his body.
Absorbing the acid around him had also provided nourishment to his body. For a plant like him, organic matter was way too dense for him to ever be able to absorb, but the skill had done the impossible and strengthened his body beyond what was previously possible.
“Hah… look at that.”
The inside of the stomach was completely cavernous now, the acid all having been dried up save for puddle-like leftovers. Grimey piles of the remains of fellow prey littered the interior. Licht imagined that such a state in one’s stomach couldn’t feel good.
“Hah, that beast is probably about ready to double over.”
Licht anticipated how sick the wretched thing must be feeling. After narrowly avoiding being digested by the rabbit he had about all the sympathy of a tree at a woodcutter’s funeral.
The movements of the rabbit from inside the stomach went mostly unnoticed by Licht so it was hard to tell how fast they were moving, but after a while of waiting patiently Licht found himself being thrown violently against the side of the stomach lining.
The rabbit had come to a sudden stop.
[Defeated Gray Eared Rabbit Beast - (Unnamed)]
[+54 Experience]