Day 6
When the morning arrives, I was roused from my deep sleep, by a spiney spider-like leg tapping on my back carapace.
I wasn't alarmed, since it was just a gentle tapping, to get my attention. There was no hostility in the atmosphere, so that was a dead give away.
'What is it?' I asked the little one.
'I've finally reached level 10, I've been up all night grinding as you have said.' The little ghost shrimp excitedly responded.
Apparently, while I was asleep, the little ghost shrimp has been up all night, killing strands of the vibrant peach soft coral reefs for experience points.
You could see the obvious growth in the little ghost shrimp's eyes, as he has grown a couple of inches or two taller since the last time I've seen him, which was just yesterday before sundown.
His exoskeleton carapace has thickened and hardened a bit, thanks to the small calcium diet of eating the vibrant peach soft coral reefs. He is able to grow and develop his exoskeleton carapace so fast.
'Boss, I'm tired.' The little ghost shrimp starts to whine about how tired he is.
'Well, you were up all night. Not taking a break grinding experience points. So what would you have expected?' I nonchalantly commented.
'Really...' The little ghost shrimp embarrassingly laughed.
'At the very least he is making some progress, though it is not faster than actual simulated combat ones.' I thought as I looked at the little ghost shrimp, from top to bottom.
'Boss, I'm hungry.' The little ghost shrimp said as I have sworn, I could hear his stomach rumbling.
'You can't be serious, little one. You've eaten a lot of soft corals overnight and you are still hungry. Well, the vibrant peach soft coral reefs are not that very nutritional in providing nourishment, it is still beneficial to us crustaceans in building our exoskeleton.' I commented.
'We should head out, and find some real food, every once in a while. Or else our hunting skills will become a little rusty.' I said as I am filled with the energy to start another day.
'Yes, boss.' The little ghost shrimp said so tiredly, wiping its eyes with its leg.
The little ghost shrimp swam, following after me, and was just about to head out of the forest of vibrant peach soft coral reefs, when my long whiskers vibrate aimlessly, detecting strong movements within waters.
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The skill { Detection Lv1} acquired...]
'Stop! Fall back! Fall back, little one!' I shouted, as loud as I could, greatly alarming the little ghost shrimp.
It was already too late, by the time, we became aware of its existence. It has already caught sight of us, as a large shadowy snake-like figure, fastly approaches us at breakneck speeds.
The red steel viper eel, reaching almost 2 meters tall, deep neon green eyes, with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its serpent-like body is covered in vivid red dragon scales, resembling rose petals itself.
The red steel viper's side fins are not even that large and aren't mainly used for swimming, but rather for combat. The spinal bones of the side fins, which forms the skeletal structure of the fin, protrude outwards, becoming elongated blades, in which the red steel viper eel used to slash its enemies with.
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The red steel viper eel opened its mouth, revealing its two large rows of razor-sharp teeth, as it raced fastly towards us.
My heart is beating quite rapidly, palpitating, blood pumping around my body, as everything becomes quiet, zoning out. The only sound that I hear was the sound of my heart beating in my chest.
I've felt my chest tightened, almost like an invisible pressure is pressed on top of me. It is squeezing me tight.
'My body... I can't move.' I thought, as my body froze in place, it just won't listen to me.
'Is this instinctual fear.' I said to myself, as I looked over at my side, the little ghost shrimp was scared witless.
His body was constantly, spasming out of his control, as his mandible clatter together, making bone-breaking sounds.
'So this is fear. All life possesses fear. Everyone has something that they are afraid of. On the instinctual level, embedded in our gene, all life fears death. It is something impossible to escape. All life has a time limit. A beginning and an end... All hope is lost, as I'm ready to accept my end.' I said so to myself, I closed my eyes, as darkness slowly spreads over me.
The rows of razor-sharp teeth passed by me, they missed their intended target. Nevertheless, I was still swallowed in the process, but alive and well. No harm came to me. I'm not missing a limb or anything. I wasn't even harmed the least bit.
'Wasn't I suppose to die?' I asked myself a question, not expecting a response.
'That large red steel viper eel must be a huge idiot, by not killing me, swallowing a live creature can often sometimes have severe consequences.' I said, whilst smiling devilishly, as I start to concoct of a plan to escape.
'I wonder where the little one is? He was with me not that long ago. I hope he is safe and made it out alive in one piece.' I said, growing slightly worried over the missing fella.
It was a cave mouth of impenetrable darkness, with no light be able to penetrate through. I walked, as I watched my body dissolved in the surrounding blackness, unable to make out the figure of my likeliness.
The cold dank waters of the red steel viper eel's stomach, the putrid smell of decaying flesh, from the monster the red steel viper eel has eaten.
'It sure is pretty dark, damp, and smelly in here. I'm not sure if the red steel viper eel's internal stomach gastro acids are strong enough to dissolve me. I should try to find and see whether the little one is still alive a healthy or not.' I said to myself, as I walk deeper into the stomach of the red steel viper eel.
[You have reached the maximum skill proficiency. The skill { Tier 1 Enhanced Eyesight Lv1} acquired...]
'It would seem that my eyes are beginning to slowly adapt to darkness, as I could faintly make-out greyish black outlines. It is still completely black in here.' I said to myself growing slightly bored.
'What's this!' I said so slightly alarmed, as my body bumped into something solid, that is blocking my path.
I tried to gauge the shape and size of the obstacle. It seems to be extremely chunky, with no defined shape, or texture. The surface of the object is quite hard, but slightly smooth, as liquids, viscous liquids seep out. It smells metallic like iron.
Behind the hard surface was soft meaty chunks of flesh, some areas were nice and tender, while others were springy and elastic. There was some kind of hard stone cylinder rods, piercing through the meat chunks, which I assume to be bone fragments.
'This is a chunk of flesh and meat of a creature the red steel viper eel ate. Its size is roughly thrice my overall current size. I'm currently roughly around 30 centimetres in size, around the same length as a full-length centimetre ruler. The creature in which the red steel viper eel bit a huge chunk of flesh must be massive.' I said loudly, quite amazed by the ordeal, and recent discovery.
'If there is a creature as big as the red steel viper in the red sea ocean, then there's gotta be more sea creatures roughly its size, or even greater.' I said, coming to a logical conclusion.
'This world is certainly fascinating. At least more interesting than the previous one where I'm from.' I said to myself.
'Bone Appetit.' I said so to myself, as I start to dine on the delicious chunk of meat, I've found lying around in the stomach of the red steel viper eel.
[You have consumed the flesh of the Blue Whale Catfish. You have received 241 bio-growth points...]
[You hav3e acquired the genetic DNA sequence of the Blue Whale Catfish. {Gigantic Body}{Sonar Blast} {Echo Location} {Tidal Current} {Herculean Strength} {Harden Skin} {Mega Bite} {Heavy Slam} {Mental Mapping} {Tier 1 Body Strengthening Magic} {Basic Mana Manipulation} unlocked...]
'What kind of sea creature is this Blue Whale Catfish for it to be able to make me unlocked this many skills. Surely, this sea creature is one of the top apex predators of the red sea ocean.' I commented.