~THUD~ ~THUD~
"Nnnn, give me 5 more minutes."
~THUD~ ~PAWOO~
Thrown off my comfy bed by an earthquake followed by an inhumanely loud noise, I was startled awake. I groggily tried to push my body up using my hands, only to notice I couldn't move them. Panicking, I try to look around only to notice I couldn't move my neck, I felt like a fish out of water, struggling to do the most menial tasks. And then reality hit me I finally remembered my new situation and how I had become a lizard egg.
Coming back to my senses, I immediately had the urge to shout in pain. Having over encumbered my body in yesterday's series of events, it wasn't all that startling how much pain my body was in. Luckily, as much as I wanted to shout, walking eggs didn't have a mouth. After a few seconds, I got used to the pain and got to pay more attention to the earthquakes and the overly loud sounds. And as soon as I did that, I noticed the quakes were becoming stronger while the sounds were getting louder.
Noticing the fact I bolted out of the bush, jumping to the opposite direction. I was immediately back in the clearing containing the body of water. But this time it was different, the clearing was spilling with majestic animals of all sorts. From small goat bucks to grown-up lions with majestic manes, all in unnatural colors. It was as if the horrifying dog eat dog world of yesterday was all just a nightmare.
In awe, I had completely forgotten about the quakes, when the sun suddenly gets replaced with a pillar seeming to descend from the heavens, destroying any semblance of peace that had existed seconds ago. Startled, I immediately try to jump away, only to fail, not being able to put proper force behind my jump, due to the quake that followed. Desperate, I immediately use the failed jump as propulsion, rolling myself away trying to get to safety.
Ignoring the alert, I continue wobbly getting closer to the tree while using [Inspect].
[Dirt: Mana Infused Dirt]
[Grass: Mana Infused Grass]
[Rock: Mana Infused Rock]
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Name: ??? Race: Earthen Dire Elephant Level: ??
HP : ??/?? Stamina : ??/?? MP : ??/??
Strength : ?? Vitality : ??? Intelligence : ??
Wisdom: ?? Agility: ?? Luck: ??
Status: ???
Special Skills:
???
Resistance Skills:
???
Normal Skill:
???
Title:
???
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[Bark: Mana Infused Tree Bark]
Seeing the result of the Inspect after getting to safety, I finally found the perpetrator of my misery. But as if that wasn't enough, I watched as a horde of elephants follows the larger elephant into the clearing, making my life more miserable, with their quakes. After about 5 minutes or so, the elephants finally managed to all fit through the narrow forest openings. Seeing as to how I could get crushed if I left the protection of the tree, I decided it was better off to just level my [Inspeect] skill from under the tree, and care about the rest later.
As I started using [Inspect], I was immediately barraged with useless ????'s, forcing me to ask the blue screen to only display useful information. As soon as the thought goes through, the blue screen disappears, before poofing into existence once again, but this time without having the skills area, leaving me confused. How did the blue screen think the question marks for stats was useful? But trusting the blue screen, I decided to experiment, trying to find out what exactly it was, the system considered so useful about them. As I continued to use [Inspect], I noticed a discrepancy between the animals' stats. A lot of the small animals tended to have only one question mark for their stats, leading me to the conclusion that each question mark was one number, meaning that animals with more than one question mark tended to have stats higher than 10. As I continued to use [Inspect} on the animals, I found that now I could finally see some of the detailed information for some of the small animals. I immediately looked towards a baby calf, trying to look into its status. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Goat buck Level: ? HP : 13/13 Stamina : 23/24 MP : 8/8 (+0.39/hour) Strength : 7 Vitality : 9 Intelligence : 4 Wisdom: 3 Agility: 9 Luck: 17 Title: [Herbivore] [Survivor] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seeing the stats, I couldn't help but want to compare it to mine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: n/a Race: Walking Lizard Egg Level: 4/5 HP : 9/9 Stamina : 18/18 ( MP : 5/5 (+0.39/hour) Strength : 2 (1) Vitality : 9 (7) Intelligence : 5 Wisdom: 4 Agility: 4 Luck: 83 Status: Low Body Temperature (Mild), Mana Poisoning (Mild), Weakened (Mild) Special Skills: [Egg’s Shell: Lv--] Resistance Skills: [Physical Resistance: Lv1] [Fall Resistance: Lv2] [Solitude Resistance: Lv1] [Fear Resistance Lv3] [Mana Poisoning Resistance Lv3] [Pain Resistance Lv3] Normal Skill: [Inspect: Lv4] [Mapping: Lv1] [Rolling Lv1] [Jumping Lv1] [Dodging Lv1] Title: [Born Killer] [Walking Egg] [Survivor] [Lucky] [Exceptional] [One Who Does Not Cower] [Touched by Mana] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seeing how I in my egg form was about half as strong as a goat buck, I couldn't help be proud of myself. But as I saw the whole of my status, my focus shifted onto the new title I'd gotten causing a blue screen to poof into existence. Seeing the new title, I couldn't help but have cold sweat running down my back. It seemed like my encounter with the mana poisoning could've ended up with severe consequences. Yet, I couldn't help but question what exactly had caused the mana poisoning? 'It couldn't be the water, could it? I mean the animals, in front of me, seemed to drink it without any consequences. Was it caused by the Wyrm? Actually, that was plausible, this theory also seemed to explain the fear effect, as it could be the rampant mana produced from the wyrm's body that caused the pressure, making my body unable to move.' As I seemed to be in my own world, the world around me seemed to suddenly be filled with sound. ~ROAR~ ~PAWOO~ ~AOOOOO~ Hearing the roars from the animals, I was immediately startled and taken out of my thoughts. I watch as the once peaceful opening turns back into the dog eat dog world, where the laws of the jungle prosper, leaving me confused. Expecting the predators to jump at the herbivores, I immediately decide to hide and watch as the events go down. But to my surprise, the animals ignore each other and suddenly turn to, what I can only describe as their pack leaders, and peacefully follow them out of the clearing. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I watch as the life filled opening once again turns into a barren oasis of sorts. Having no clue of as to what just happened, I decided it was better off to follow the other animal's lead and get myself away from the clearing. Reluctantly, I start rolling back into the jungle and looking for a new home to safely and passively, level up. 'Wait, why hadn't I leveled up yet? I mean wasn't I supposed to be getting passive exp through nutrients?' Remembering the fact about the nutrients, I immediately thought about the Egg's Shell ability. [Egg Shell] Skill Unique to walking eggs, your eggshell is a part of you, and if it is cracked you will die. While you are inside the eggshell you will gain passive experience according to the amount of nutrients still present in the egg. Health regeneration and stamina regeneration will also depend on the finite amount of nutrients inside the eggs, so beware of getting injured and moving around too much. While in this phase gaining skills and titles is two times easier. Current amount of Nutrients: 6/40 Seeing the new information and the low amount of nutrients, I couldn't help but be horrified. It finally dawned on me this finite amount of nutrients were my life, and that the walking egg evolution was a death trap! 'WHAT 83 LUCK THIS F**KING WORLD WANTED ME DEAD LONG BEFORE I WAS BORN!' I couldn't help but start panicking, this nutrient amount was just a ticking time bomb, and what was, I supposed to do lie around and wait for my death? I didn't even know if I had enough nutrients to level up to level 5, or rather how long these nutrients would even last me. Thinking about this problem, I suddenly had an idea maybe, just maybe, I could use exp as a way to get nutrients. I mean so far this was a lot like those games, from the skill level ups to the stats screen. With my new role in mind, I immediately started rolling, looking for any monstrous creature an egg could slay in its weakened form. Ignoring the new alert, I trecked around cautiously with my eyes peeled, doing my best to conserve my stamina. As time passed, I was starting to accept my upcoming death, as I had seen many animals, yet none small enough that, I could do anything to them. It was when I was about to give up hope that I had an idea. 'Why don't I try to go for animal nests?' As soon as I get the idea, I think of a huge boulder I had seen while running away from the Flesh Eating Worm, there are bound to be some kind of small animals living in there, right? I immediately start backtracking my way through the forest, looking for the giant boulder the size of the Earthen Dire Elephant. About fifteen minutes or so later, I finally caught sight of a giant rock, I didn't know if it was the exact one but that didn't matter. I immediately started looking around the giant rock, wishing it wasn't home to a snake, but rather an animal like a spider, which didn't have a high chance of being able to easily crush me to death. The closer I got to the rock, the more scared and apprehensive I got, paying more attention to the details while seeming to get jumpy over every little thing. Then, I started getting more mad at myself at falling off the tree, destroying my protection and giving away the opportunity to be able to hunt easier to find prey like the caterpillars. I immediately bolted, using my full force to move towards the boulder, seeing the new skill I knew if I didn't take care of this now I might not have a chance later. I didn't know who had used the mental skill on me or how powerful it was, all I knew was, I didn't want to be brainwashed into becoming the creature's meal and that I didn't have the leisure to run away, not in my current situation. As I seemed to bolt towards the boulder, I heard an irritating sound come from the direction of the boulder, messing with my focus. Seeing this, I immediately used mapping, trying to find anything out of place or the source of the noise. As I got closer to the sound it seemed to get louder, and more annoying by the second, until I was right by the boulder when it came to a sudden halt. I immediately grew wary of the situation and used mapping to find any useful clues. When suddenly, my mapping catches a shadowy figure flying in my direction, thinking it to be the animal attacking, I respond with a full force headbutt. I go flying towards the shadow, only to come face to face with a spider web as it hits my eggshell, slowing me down a bit, but not enough to stop my charge causing the egg's oval tip to get stuck in some kind of loose opening, as it seems to move due to my force. I immediately use [Inspect] and [Mapping] around me, to understand my situation. [Dirt: Normal Dirt] [Rock: Normal Rock] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Illusionary Long Bodied Spider Level: ? HP : 8/10 Stamina : 9/10 MP : 8/16 (+0.91/hour) Strength : 2 Vitality : 5 Intelligence : 8 Wisdom: 7 Agility: 6 Luck: 23 Title: [Born Killer] ??? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All blood seemed to drain from my body, I had headbutted myself into the jaws of the spider! I had simply presented myself to the spider on a silver platter! I began to despair, waiting for the spider to crush my head together with the eggshell on top. But to my surprise instead of crushing my head, the spider started scraping its overly large legs against my sides instead. Seeing the situation, an idea flashed through my mind. 'The spider's jaws weren't strong enough to smash the eggshell!' Noticing the situation, I immediately, used my legs to push against the ground, pushing myself over the spider's body and using mine and the spider's weight to try and suplex the spider. To my delight, it worked, I immediately seemed to flip the spider along with me, causing us both to flip forward, my body crashing down on to its head but at the same time forcing its jaws deeper into my eggshell, causing pain to course through my body, before they seemed to slacken, as if broken. Taking advantage of its slackened jaws, I immediately pry myself free as the spider immediately pulls its limbs back to guard its head. Seeing this, I immediately jump up and used my weight to come down on to its abdomen, wanting to do as much damage as I could with my limited time. To my delight, the spider seemed to let out an ear-piercing screech, causing its limbs to visibly slacken and move away from its head. Delighted, I immediately take advantage of the slackened limbs and jump at its head, trying to crush its brain to a mush. The spider immediately tries to bring its overly large limbs back to guard against my attack, scrapping my sides, causing pain to once again course through my body, as I continue to crush down on to its head. ~CRUNCH~ I hear a mind-numbing crunch as the spider seems to stop struggling below me, bringing an end to the pain caused by its sharp legs. As I sigh in delight, over surviving the experience, I am suddenly assaulted by numerous blue screens. ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ [Next] [Baby Armadillo Gilded Lizard]: Rank G [Baby Komodo Dragon]: Rank G+ [Baby Blackbelly Salamander]: Rank G- [Baby Green Basilisk]: Rank G- [Baby Bearded Lizard]: Rank H+ ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ [Current] [Walking Lizard Egg]: Rank H ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ [Previous] ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Looking at the new evolution sheet, I was left befuddled. 'Wait what?' 'Show me their descriptions.' [Baby Armadillo Gilded Lizard]: Lizards, told to be of the bloodline of the great golden armadillo dragons. Armadillo Gilded Lizards tend to mainly exist in deserts and roll around for movement. [Baby Komodo Dragon]: A species of lizard, that has come to the end of its evolution and arrogantly named itself after dragons to show its dominance over all lizards. Komodo Dragons tend to exist in swamps, they can walk and swim for movement. [Baby Blackbelly Salamander]: Lizard, told to be of the bloodline of the great Black Isopod Dragon. Blackbelly Salamanders tend to exist near large bodies of water and mainly walk for movement. [Baby Green Basilisk Lizard]: Lizard, told to be of the bloodline of the Green basilisks and Parrot Dragons. Green Basilisks tend to exist in forests and mainly walk for movement. [Baby Bearded Lizard]: Lizards, told to possess bloodlines of various different dragons that has downgraded. Bearded Lizards tend to exist in Woodlands and Deserts, they mainly walk for movement. Seeing, the options, I immediately knew what to choose. Forgetting about my situation, so eager for an evolution, I immediately got the system to evolve me. 'System evolve me into a [Baby Bearded Lizard]' As soon as the thought seems to go through, I black out.