Under the waves was a reef. It was full of life. There was a forest of seaweed to the front of him and a reef further out. He was appreciating the beauty of the multicolored reef when he was struck by a sudden feeling of pain.
He was caught in the mouth of something. He had no idea what that was. But he managed to get away and swim as fast as he could to the shore. He broke through the surface of the water and made it onto shore.
A massive fin was in the water behind him. It came to the waves before turning and submerging back below the waterline.
Well, that was scary. It made him think back to when he first came to this world. He had behaved far less cautious than he usually was. He had been stuck in a reckless loop. Ever since his first mistake that led to his death, he had been behaving not like himself.
He was Leo Graves, not some mindless crocodile. Done with the internal peptalk, for now at least. Leo left the beach. He traversed over the dune and back to the delta.
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Once he found a location in the delta that allowed him to rest freely, he assessed his injuries. The tip of his tail was gone about half a foot up his body. The end was oozing blood like the tip of a red ballpoint pen. He had been overconfident.
He wondered what Tier of creature that had been. Considering the massive turtle had been a juvenile Tier 2 then the shark was probably an adult or elder Tier 2 with a titanic mutation.
He thought back to his beachside revelation. He wasn't human anymore, but that didn't mean he had to stop behaving like one. Humans had succeeded in the world through their intellect and strategies. Crocodiles succeeded due to their evolutionary advantages and versatility. He just had to combine his intellect and his body to succeed.
First, he decided to make some goals. His short term goal was evolution. He needed power in this world. He had no idea what was in this world, but he had always wanted to be an explorer. That's why he had gone into his particular job. He was able to work in the field unlike most people in the world. When Leo was in high school he'd thought of office jobs as worse than hell. He'd always been adventurous. He spread himself thin, attempting multiple sports including pole vault, swim, shot put, cross country, and even a few triathlons. For now, he would just settle for exploring the limits of this foreign world.
First, he would play it safe. He had the ability to gain strength through mutations. With his most recent mutation he was able to eat pretty much anything. He decided to eat. His first bite was of the mud. It wasn't the most appetizing, but he got a lot of it, maybe 20 lbs of dirt according to his mutation point weight counter. It digested at the speed of light and he ate another bite. After eating a good portion of the bank, he ate enough for another point.
[You have consumed 1000 pounds! + 1 Mutation point]
[New Mutations Unlocked!]
He hadn't noticed that second notification. He checked to see what was new.
Mutations
1 point (3/1000 lbs)
Titanic- Double size per level [5]
Gills- Allows breathing in water [3]
Wings- Allows for instinctual flight[5]
Running Adaptation- Lengthens legs to allow for rapid aboveground movement[2]
Regeneration- Allows growth of new tissue with sufficient nutrients[5]
He had apparently unlocked a mutation that would allow him to regenerate his tail. He had no idea how the system worked, so he decided to do some investigating. It had worked once so he decided to analyzed every function of the system. He knew what Name and Species meant, but he commanded the system to show him what Tier meant.
Tiers
In the universe, there are 9 Tiers of power. Each Tier indicates an evolution of power and unique characteristics.
Tier Characteristics:
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
1 {N/A}
2 {Attribute}
3 {???}
He had no idea what it meant other than he was at the bottom of a large totem pole. He tried to analyze what Attribute meant, but all that came up were question marks. He guessed that the world he was in was Magic based. He had a theory based off of his knowledge of rpg games and the fantasy genre. If he was correct it was an elemental affinity or something of the sort. Just out of curiosity, Leo analyzed his species, the Saltwater Crocodile.
Saltwater Crocodile
An invasive species from another world. This reptile is versatile. Its large size and armor keep it safe in battle while its ambush tactics and amphibious nature allow it to hunt efficiently. A multitude of evolutionary tools allow it to survive and thrive in most environments.
The analysis didn't show him anything new. His first task was to get the Titanic mutation because it would grant him the most immediate survivability and strength plus it would allow him to eat more with each bite. His plan to get the remaining four points was to kill and eat. He would eat enough for 1 point and then level up to get three more. Prepared for the next night, he chose to rest through the day.
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Waking up out of his light nap, Leo moved to begin the hunt. He submerged in the waters down moved slowly into the center of the delta. Once he found a place ideal for ambush, he surfaced his nostrils and waited for prey to appear. He waited for a long while before he noticed a massive snake slithering along the shore. It was at least as thick around as I was, but it looked 3 times as long.
Leo tensed and shot out of the water using his injured tail. Ignoring the sharp pain in his tail, he bit down right behind the snake's head. The snake struggled. It tried to wrap itself around Leo's abdomen or bite him, but it was too slow. Leo crushed down hard, shattering the snake's vertebrae and almost tearing through it's neck.
[You have killed Elder Titanboa(T1)! 1789 experience awarded!]
Leo looked at the body of the snake. He had made a jackpot. This snake was massive. Too massive to move. His only choice was to eat it right there. He eyed the snake that looked about 45 feet long and maybe a foot and a half in diameter. He started at the head and ate his way down. This would take a while.
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It was sunrise by the time he finished. He had managed to reach a limit in his eating habits. He realized that the biggest issue was simply the size of his stomach. He could only eat so much before he had to wait for digestion, no matter how quick that digestion was.
He waited until he finished the last of his meal, which allowed the rest of the sun to lift from the horizon. He went through his notifications.
[You have consumed 1000 pounds! + 1 Mutation point]
[You have consumed 1000 pounds! + 1 Mutation point]
He had gotten lucky. This was a massive animal that had a massive weakness. A crocodile specialized at ambush and one shot kills with a massive bite strength suited to the task. He caught the snake off guard. That was a crocodile strategy that had succeeded for thousands of years, Ambush. He decided that his best bet was to keep this up. Sleep in the day and ambush large prey at night.
Leo returned to the outskirts of the swamp and rested beneath a tree that barely survived on the border between desert and swamp.
He drifted in and out of sleep as he enjoyed the heat of the sun. The day passed with only a few interruptions to his sleep. He had eaten a few animals that attacked him and warned off a few others that bothered him.
[You have killed Elder Swamp Snake(T1)! 785 experience awarded!]
[You have killed Elder Swamp Moniter(T1)! 957 experience awarded!]
[You have killed Adult Venom Toad(T1)! 653 experience awarded!]
[You have killed Elder Swamp Tiger(T1)! 879 experience awarded!]
[You have consumed 1000 pounds! + 1 Mutation point]
He was actually thankful for these interruptions. He had no idea that just by sitting there he was able to get this much attention. He wasn't sure what about him looked weak, but he welcomed the attention. He hadn't eaten the Poison Toad because he wasn't willing to risk death by toad, but all of them combined got him one more point and enough experience to almost level up. He roused himself and slid into the delta.
Now that the sun was setting, he headed to his previous position where he had found the Titanboa. Once he was in position, he waited with his nose and eyes above the water and his body hanging below. Several animals passed by and he let them pass. They weren't large enough for his purposes. He was waiting for something big, something like a Titanboa.
Near the break of dawn, he go his wish. A large animal wandered by on the shore. It had a large triangular head and looked like a very large salamander. It looked like it was at least 900 pounds. He just hoped it wasn't poisonous.
Leo exploded out of the water. He slammed this body into the salamander, cutting it on his scales and claws. He was trying to avoid biting it for now. The salamander struggled underneath him. It tried to bite into his side, but its small teeth were unable to penetrate his thick armor. He attempted he bash it repeatedly using his tail and body. The salamander fought back. It tried its best but the salamander was unable to penetrate his armor, while Leo was digging into it with his claws and body. This slowly, but surely killed the salamander. It gave one final shriek before it expired due to his claw that found its way into his skull.
[You have killed Elder Giant Salamander(T1)! 934 experience awarded!]
[You have leveled up! + 3 Mutation points]
He grew. The pain was muted compared to previous growths, but it still hurt quite a bit when he grew an additional 2 feet. He must be used to the pain by now.
When the growth finished he looked at himself to see what he'd become. He was about 18 feet long with mottled tan and black scales running down his body. His sharp jagged scales overlapped and made him look like some ancient sea monster in the myths. His claws were short and curved. They were sharp all the way up to the tip of his fingers like a cat's claw but larger.
Done with examining his appearance, he shifted his attention toward the salamander. Once he ate this he was going to retreat to his previous location. It was time to be a titan.