After reaching Level 11, Charlie had come to realise that he was starting to catch up to the average Level of the cave. Using the [Worm of Envy] as often and as safely as he could, Charlie had found out that everything that had survived up until this point was around Level 15, with some exceptions on either extremes.

The lowest Level, outside of Charlie, belonged to an insect type creature - with lots of small and pointed chitinous limbs, a hard shell and a segmented body that inspired no beauty, only disgust. It had four pincers on its face and some smaller mandibles to help it shovel food into its mouth. Atop it's head were two antenna that bounced up and down in rhythm with the creatures trot.

Ite Rahat, a Level 9 insect that feasted upon not the flesh of its enemies like the rest of the vermin that took up residence in the cave, but their dung. A vile little thing - an insult to those that have sharp senses. It positively reeked, and whether there was simply one of them, or hundreds, it was impossible to mistake their presence.

There were multiple reasons why the Ite Rahat were still alive, and their scent was certainly one of the main reasons, but not quite what made them so frustrating to deal with. Most creatures down in the cave couldn't handle the stench of these insects - and of those that were able to ignore it, fueled by their mind-consuming hunger, tended to die pretty quickly afterwards. Their meat and blood were poisonous to most, if not all.

The stench and poisonous flesh made them a frustrating foe, but it was not why they continued to live - it was their sheer numbers. It was impossible to tell, but Charlie reckoned there were at least a few thousand of these insects. The one time Charlie had come close to their nest, his [Mana Sense] almost drove him to the ground with the vast quantity of information that drilled into his head.

While their putrid nest was all but impervious to nearly all living beings, completely ignoring the fight for survival and having no known predators - their population exploded out of control.

Though, Charlie wondered how long they would continue to last though, as more time passed, fewer and fewer creatures survived the grueling onslaught of survival, therefore there was less dung for the Ite Rahat to consume. Some creatures had been forced to retreat further up in the cave, unable to contest for food or shelter, while the others that held power descended lower. Those like Charlie continued to stay, but their numbers had lessened in much the same way as the others.

The Ite Rahat would soon feel hunger, and Charlie wished to leave before that happened - unwilling to see the demented swarm of insects descend onto the already dwindling and weak populace. Death was already unappealing, but the thought of being killed by those feces-eaters was simply revolting.

On the opposite extreme, the highest Level creature Charlie had come across was Level 24. Rocrak, a giant crab-like creature that used a hollowed out boulder as its shell. Needless to say, even the Razorclaw would have failed to deal any damage to the Rocrak. Its shell was so thick, or maybe the creature was simply that dumb, that it didn't even notice most attacks - not even waking up when a hungry creature took their chance and struck out in an ambush.

It was a peaceful giant, rarely ever seen fighting, but, there was rarely anything left of the instigator when it was forced to retaliate. Charlie wanted to test his [Hollow Fang] against the tank-like creature, but hadn't seen it again ever since it descended somewhere deeper into the cave. Normally, it would be a suicidal endeavour, but with how nonchalant the stone crab had shown itself to be, Charlie thought his chances to escape were high.

It was about time for Charlie to think about what must be done next. The density of the creatures had decreased tremendously, and his Experience gain had dropped in tandem. It also didn't help Charlie that, of those that remained, most were at least weary of the shadowy and brutal serpent at this point.

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They had witnessed Charlie dragging a myriad corpses to some unseen crevice, day after day, hour after hour. They had witnessed the Serpent seemingly recover all of its injuries, returning to battle every day, growing larger and larger. Not only was Charlie a silent threat to the greater cave ecology whilst he lay within the shadows, but he had also bulked up in size and threatened the foolhardy out in the open.

The thin and stubby serpent was nowhere in sight - well, Charlie was no longer thin, at least. His tail was still missing, so he did look a bit short and misproportioned.

Each time Charlie Leveled up, he increased in size, weight and girth. This was both a benefit, and an unforeseen issue. While he could still fit into the rocky and shadowed base, Charlie found that he could barely fit into the vast majority of the crevices lining the walls and floors. It would sharply reduce how he could hide himself in case of danger, but in return he had gained the power to fight back against those that wanted to test their mettle, and the strength needed to overcome the increasing challenges.

Charlie did wonder - just how large would he get?

If he got much too large, ascending up higher into the cave was out of the question. Not only were the creatures up there far too few in number, but the human warriors had passed by not long ago from somewhere deeper within the cave. If the creatures that had ascended didn't die due to starvation, Charlie was certain the warriors would have completed the job - and he didn't want to become a simple statistic for the warriors.

Descending lower was also not really an option, for now. The smartest choice was for him to remain exactly where he was, gain enough Levels to at least contend with the Razorclaw, if not the Rocrak. Once Charlie has equal footing with the apex predators, only then would he feel comfortable in finding out what secrets the depths of the Magical cave held.

Though, at the same time, he needed to change his strategy. There were no more weak creatures crawling towards the river, and therefore nothing for Charlie to put out of their misery and reap the easy reward. He wasn't happy, but it was time to say goodbye to the river, and explore out in the opposite direction. He would take it one step at a time and first find a suitable base, and only then find suitable prey. Charlie was in no rush to find food, as he had already eaten almost every single day, which hopefully satiated his stomach enough for a few days of travel.

Though, it shouldn't be as nightmarishly difficult as before, as what constituted as suitable prey had changed dramatically since his first encounter. No longer was he forced to prey on the weakest of the weak, now he could hold his chin that much higher, and even take on creatures of his own size without using [Hollow Fang]. The increase in size wasn't for show, as both his Strength and Vitality have increased, providing him with a quiet strength that often shocked the foolish.

Charlie could feel the power brimming under his skin, ready to unleash a crushing force on the soft and fleshy enemies. Which, he did, and often. The gains in Strength were enough to crack bones, and strangle those that could still resist. The gains in Vitality allowed Charlie to not only take a worse beating, but it also helped in toughening up his skin and scales, making him that much harder to kill. Up until now, even a sharp pebble was enough to pierce his flesh, but now, it was like Charlie was a whole new creature.

So, it was needless to say, but Charlie was no longer the weakling he once was. The upper layer of the cave no longer scared him to such a degree as it once had, the creatures were familiar, and his abilities had grown tremendously. Charlie felt ready to explore more, to see more and challenge some of the more powerful creatures to test his own mettle. Numbers and vague descriptions weren't enough to accurately gauge his own power, he needed real battle experience.

Which, he almost couldn't believe that he wanted more of. Charlie had already come close to death many times, and yet he continues to willingly throw himself back into the fatal flames.

Charlie must have been a pyromaniac, as he simply couldn't keep himself out of the heat of battle. Always requiring to push forward, to learn more and burn himself in the process with the purifying flames of knowledge.

Charlie couldn't help it, though, his thirst for knowledge and experience was overwhelming at times - he was simply too curious for his own good.