After charging at me over and over the creature had hit one of the many “trees” growing from the roots covering the ground firmly lodging its horn into its bark trapping it while it struggled kicking its legs in one last desperate attempt to escape its hopeless situation.

Once I'm sure it's not going to break free any time soon I slowly move to the side of it to look for a way to finish this thing off. The creature's body is a dense and tough plant material like material. While I can tear it with my claws I doubt I could reach deep enough to hit anything vital and this thing doesn't even seem to bleed so it's unlikely to die of blood loss.

Between these things and the thick armor around its head I decide my best bet is to try to saw its head off where it meets the body. As I approach the creature to carry out my dark work it trembles with fear as if it can sense my intent.

As I start the creature seems to resign itself to its fate not even struggling as I wear out the last of its vitae reserve and ultimately sever its head.

[Task updated, “Predator” slay 3/5 creatures of your size category or larger.]

[Lv.4 “Walking thorn” killed +6 anima +15xp]

[level up!]

_

[Species: “Dingy” inferior Gray Wyvern “spawnling”]

[Name: Alistair]

[Level:0>1]

[XP:7/25]

[Condition: Fine]

[Arcana: 0/0]

[Vitae: 20/20>21]

[Traits: Inferior Draconic Blood, Wax Scales, Regenerative state.]

(Anima Bank: 12 Digesting:0)

___

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YES! Level up baby and I even got more Vitae capacity, still was kind of hoping for skill points or something to make me directly stronger.

Oh well this one kill doubled my anima and I haven't even eaten it yet, speaking of which can I even eat this thing it looks like a plant? The places where its body is torn look like celery on the inside with not a drop of blood or even organ to be seen, that is until I get to the head.

To my surprise I find a much smaller beetle body with the only difference being this one looking like a proper bug minus having no legs, Instead several cords of roots run into the gaps in its shell where the legs would normally sprout.

I guess this thing must control the plant part from the inside like some kind of mech? Weird looks like cutting off the head part still killed it even though the smaller version is still mostly intact. Looking at the severed head I find it also has a few strange looking growths, what a shame I don't really have any way to learn what these do…

Knowing I need to focus on getting stronger for the time I go ahead and eat the smaller beetle and even try to stomach some of the head only to find I can't stomach it. The smaller beetle seemed to contain all the anima I was after anyway so i'm not too bothered as I watch the “digesting” part of my status roll up to 6, at this rate I might be able to get my first power up today…

The only big issue is the short window of daylight I have to work with in this chasm looking up the lights already starting to dim slightly and with how fast it gets dark down here I can't risk staying out too long. Maybe I can find a trait for night vision while I wait out the night, if not my ability to farm is going to be at a snail's pace until I can get out of this canyon.

*Sigh*

I guess I better head back to my stump, at least it should be easy enough to find if I hug the canyon wall. The return is far easier than my initial passage as I now scurry through the briars now feeling fully confident in myself after defeating such a strong opponent.

I travel without incident and soon enough, just as dusk is starting to fall, I'm back and proudly crawl back into the relative safety of my home.

‘Hmmm honestly this place isn't too bad aside from being so cold… and wet…. And dirty. Maybe I just need to dig out a bit more space, add some decorations, and really embrace my new isekai life here.Ya know what, Yeah! I need to make the best of my situation and besides this stump was a real lifesaver I should be proud to have it!

So still full of energy after the short day I take some time to fix up my living space before I start planning what traits to acquire first. First I dig a sizable amount out from under the stump making the space large enough for me to turn and curl up in comfortably.

I was worried if my talons would be able to dig anything with how thin they are but surprisingly they pierce into the soil easily as if meant for it letting me slowly carve out the space. I even had time to grab some of the smaller softer looking plants nearby and drag them inside creating a comfortable flooring at least for a few days.

Ahh thats nice, you would think that my scales would make sleeping on the ground easier even if they are thin as a potato chip but their surprisingly sensitive.

This is great! Now that I'm a bit more secure I can focus on looking for new traits, and tomorrow I can work on…

“CRUUUUNCH!!!”

What was…

“RIIIP!!!”

And just like that I'm left speechless as I look up to see my only bastion of safety, my freshly renovated stump, completely torn from the ground showering me with dirt as I look in fear and hatred at the creature that just ripped my home, roots and all straight, out of the ground…