A cacophony of sounds and smells erupts as monsters battle around me. Rending claws and savage teeth rip and tear into flesh as the monsters try to devour everything they can get in their mouths.

And then there's me. A little black sting drake sitting in the shadows of a pillar, thinking about how the hell she's going to get out of this mess. I'm not very scared, surprisingly. I mean, I'm absolutely terrified, but not to the point I can't reason. Thank goodness for that.

[Stealth has reached Level 2!]

Well, at least there's one good thing about being surrounded by ravenous monsters, I get to level up my skill quickly. I sink further into the shadows as one of the multi-tailed mice runs by me.

Don't notice me, don't notice me, don't notice me! Fuck!

I curse as the mouse stops and starts to smell the air. It shouldn't be able to find me immediately because of all the blood and other fluids around us. Not only that, I'm a dark creature in the shadows using my Stealth skill, so I have the upper hand in a sneak attack.

I slowly creep into a stance behind the mouse and arch my back slightly to bring my tail into strike position. I've never done this before, but the instincts of this body take over as I focus on where I want to hit, directly in the spine.

One step, two...strike!

My tail jabs forward, stinger digging into the mouse's skin and muscles as it injects the venom. As I suspected, I don't have much control over the dosage. Like a baby snake, my muscles aren't developed enough to be precise about how much I want to inject, and I inject around half of what I have before I pull my tail back and dash into the shadows again. Now we wait.

I don't have to wait long, fortunately. No sooner do I step back does the venom take effect, dropping the mouse to the floor as something gruesome occurs. The area I struck quickly darkens as skin and fur start falling off. It slowly spreads through the Multi-Mouse, destroying tissues and forming dark black pustules across its entirety. Its tails writhe like angry vipers, trying to grasp an attacker that is no longer there. Something profound in my mind speaks as I realize what's happening.

This is Decay.

I stare as the mouse slowly stops its death throws, growing still after a minute of fighting the inevitable.

[You have defeated Level 2 Suffocare Mus!]

[You have earned experience!]

[You are now level 2! One skill point acquired!]

I grin as the notifications inform me of my success and new gains. I wasn't expecting much from killing that mouse; I was scared and just wanted to survive. But a level up and a skill point! How lucky! That mouse seemed to have killed at least one other thing before it came across me and could level up, so I would say I got off easy.

As I look down at my handy work, my stomach did something I'd rather it hadn't.

Growwwlll.

'I'm hungry. So very hungry. But...'

My eyes wander over the corpse of the Multi-Mouse, and the large black boils over its body. I'm sure my body would be okay ingesting this. It's a byproduct of my venom, after all. But I have a strange feeling I can put this to a different use. And it's pretty gross looking. So while I am hungry, if I can poison some more of the monsters in this cavern, I might be able to score a better meal for myself. Since the monsters in the rest of the cavern don't seem very smart and are aggressive regarding food, it's unlikely that they'd recognize that there was venom until it was too late. Still, I should take a small part for myself.

I slink over to the corpse while still in Stealth and try and find a place that doesn't have a lot of decay. It seemed the tails were spared mostly, so I used my claw to cut along the base and pulled one of the three away to eat in my shadowy corner. Yay for sharp appendages!

As I bite down into the firm flesh, it isn't as bad as I assumed it would be. It has a slightly peppery taste and an oddly enjoyable hearty chicken flavor.

[New source of Biomass consumed! One point of Biomass acquired!]

[New monster profile unlocked!]

[Monster profiles:]

• Suffocare Mus; Strangle Mouse: An offshoot of the Blade Tail Mouse, the Strangle Mouse trades in the blades for three muscular prehensile tails capable of squeezing the life out of prey. Its skin is tougher than its cousin monster. Beware of grappling attacks!

Well, that's... somewhat useless information. It's interesting to know that this monster is a sort of subspecies of another beast, but it adds more questions than answers. How is it a subspecies? From what I've seen, all these monsters just pop out of the walls. Does the system govern that? If not, who or what does? I hate these obscure questions. Plus, the information it does tell you, you can glean just by looking at it! Stupid system.

I grumble internally as I continue to eat. Before I knew it, I had finished off all three Strangle Mouse tails and earned another two Biomass. A couple of other monsters tried to wander over to poke around at the Strangle Mouse's corpse, but they luckily got into fights with other monsters before reaching me, so I was able to eat in peace.

The sounds of fighting eventually died down as groups and individuals broke off to eat in relative safety. I watch groups of wolf cubs and masses of centipedes nip at the edges of their respective sides, looking for any chance to pull down and devour a straggler. I was able to level Stealth to level three while I was eating, too, so lucky me. Looking over the cavern, I think it's time I finally put my plan into action.

Slowly, I creep from my hiding spot and push the corpse toward the middle of the cavern. I'm nervous. Very, very nervous. Even before I was reincarnated, I wasn't one for being in the spotlight, doubly so here. At any time, these monsters could break the stalemate and rush me, killing me instantly. But I'm betting on them not wanting to piss off the other side just yet.

As I've observed, the two main sides of monsters stick to their territory and rarely venture out. If they do, it ends in a massive brawl until one side backs off. As I get to the middle of the cave with the corpse, I immediately rush back to my corner and wait to see if they take the bait.

Now, I'm not expecting much of anything though doing this. Maybe one of the stragglers of each group will break off and try and take the corpse back to feast. However, the smell of fresh Biomass seems to have driven the monsters into a frenzy. They're almost frothing at the mouth to get to the body first.

As the first of both sides get to the body, something interesting happens—the boils burst, covering the frontline in black goo. Screams take hold in the monsters' throats as their skin and carapaces sizzle and blacken. It isn't enough to kill them, I can see that now, but it is more potent than I had assumed. The Decay also seems to propagate, making smaller boils on what was hit before bursting again. Seeing the outcome, I'm surprisingly pleased with myself. And I think I can improve things a little bit.

Stepping lightly, I aim at the mass of fighting monsters with my tail. I've not tried this before, but my body has its instincts, and I'll trust them for this.

Wait...

Quickly, I opened my skill menu and purchased the Precise Shooting skill. This will assist my stinger shooting and provide better results for what I have planned.

Exiting from the menu, I aim at one of the larger wolf pups in the mosh pit. This one seems to have leveled a couple of times already and has a few mutations to boot. I hope I can get a nice level up from killing it. Using the knowledge of my new skill, I adjust my aim slightly before clenching the muscles in my tail and firing.

Swoosh!

The stinger launches off my tail, flying swiftly through the air before impeding itself in my target's side. A roar sounds as the Decay takes effect. Since I launched the stinger this time, all the venom I had built up was launched with it, providing an even more significant impact.

Immediately the venom rushes through the monster's body, making it seize and writhe before falling to the ground. Its skin boils, and the pustules form quickly, popping and coating the monsters around it in the potent toxin.

[You have slain level 5 Lupus Draco Cub!]

[You have gained experience!]

[You are now level 3! One skill point acquired!]

[You are now level 4! One skill point acquired!]

Oh? It was a much higher level than I thought! And I got some skill points. How lovely.

As I bask in my genius, I see a problem with my plan to pick off the heavy hitters. I don't have a place to hide out in. My little pillar shadow is suitable right now, but I've no doubt monsters will come for me sooner rather than later. If I want to grow strong enough that these creatures can't touch me, I need to lay low in a good location and plan my moves.

I need a cave of my own. Or...maybe I can make one? These claws have to be good for something besides killing. Maybe there's a digging skill I can pick up?

Focus, Aria. You can do that later. First, you need to get out of here.