Chapter 35 [Bonus Chapter] Mutations

Quite the curious one, aren't we?

And why should I reveal that to thee?

Very well, I shall entertain thee…

Those, the so-called 'Blessed', are no more than foul trespassers in this world. Unequivocally favored by the Voice of God, be that as it may, unfortunately, even they are fated with perils.

Hm? Thou wants to know more?

Thou'rt a curious one, indeed. Quite the sleuth, I say.

Yet, even to me they remain a mystery. I am blinded by everything apart from tiny fragments, regrettably.

Perhaps thou can personally see to it thy's own questions. Venture to the Cathedral. Heed not their peculiarities; feel secure in gaining from them what advantage thou canst.

Once thy is finished, return once more. It hath been a passing long time since a newcomer entered my service, after all.

Now, begone.

Excerpt from a private conversation between a seer and an unknown customer.

***

Hiss!

The inhuman hiss filled the air, yet was silent. The rustles of bushes could be heard as if something sped by, however, nothing was seen. The Discoloration Camouflage skill was doing its job. Ethoss's sharp vertical pupils grew and narrowed constantly, he instinctively felt the urge to lick the air but controlled his urge.

The freakish smell that assaulted his taste buds were still present in the air this deep within the forest expanse, not to mention, his sense of smell was of no use to him at the moment anyway.

On the other hand, one thing became clear to him as he continued to dash passed the trees: there were significantly more humans within the forest expanse than he thought. During his retreat back to his territory, he had passed three different groups of humans, each with the same formations as the first batch of humans he stalked.

In contrast though, none of their movements were the same. It seemed that each and every group were heading in different directions, Ethoss couldn't wrap his head around these odd creatures.

Suddenly, Ethoss halted his movements, his body dropped low, becoming one with the ground. Directly in front of him was another group of humans, Ethoss's head slowly turned as he followed with his eyes where the humans were going.

They were making incomprehensible noises, ones that Ethoss weren't able to understand. This brought back his memory of the goblins when they were also doing the same thing, although their sounds seem much more like grunts and moans.

'Communication' Ethoss thought.

Ethoss quickly deduced that the humans were communicating with each other, he noted this in his brain, this was something he would need to watch out for in the future. Just like goblins, these humans moved in numbers, not just that, they had strength, Magic, and organization, all things he was lacking in, one way or another.

He blinked, snatching his attention off of the humans with some difficulty. They disappeared within the distance, becoming hidden behind the enormous trees.

Immediately, Ethoss resumed his retreat to his cave, his claws pressed into the soil, leaving only claw prints as evidence of his presence.

He was now only a few kilometers away from his territory. Once again, Ethoss felt the urge to flick his tongue, but held it in, like a person holding his breath.

Shortly after, familiar scenery's came into view, and Ethoss spotted smaller monsters roaming. This only meant one thing; Ethoss finally gave in and licked the air, the rich mana molecules comforted his taste buds. It was gone, that dreadful scent was finally gone.

Ethoss felt his heart squeeze, it had only been about 20 minutes, however, he felt as if he hadn't sensed the other monsters in days.

After a couple more minutes the previously hidden cave of the goblins - his cave, appeared in his line of view and he quickly entered. Just like always, there was a split between the paths that lead to two different routes. Without hesitation, Ethoss went to down the left route, leading to his comfortable bed that was made by the goblins.

Reaching the entrance of the cavern room, he entered and climbed onto the bed of grass and leaves. As he slumped down, all the adrenaline left his body. Finally, he felt just how full his large stomach was, he felt like he would explode. How had he even been moving as fast as he had so far with a stomach like this?

He got in his favorite comfortable position and opened the status in his mind.

Name: Ethoss

Level: 6(Red Core)

Strength: 60

Toughness: 55

Cunning: 50

Will: 27

HP: 50/50

MP: 36/36

Skills[Attack]: Lethal Venomous Bite level(II) 2, Reinforced Tail Whip(II) level 1, Claw Swipe level 5

Skills[Support]: Rapid Dash(II) level 2, Deep Night Vision(II) level 2, Discoloration Camouflage(II) level 2, Dig level 3, Mana Shaping(II) level 1, Mana Recycle level 1

Mutations: Unmasked Jacobson's Organ +5, Legs +3, Eyes +3, Scales +3, Claws +3, Teeth +3, Fire Gland +3

Species: Draco Aeternus Lacerta(Male)

Biomass: 43

Skill Point: 4

Glancing at the amount of biomass he now held, he let out a low hiss of satisfaction. He gained a huge haul with the help of those humans, now he could get four more of his mutations to +5.

Ethoss had an hypothesis, based on the way his status worked and how his last evolution progressed, he felt that perhaps after reaching the maximum absorptions of cores that his core could hold and getting all his mutations to +5 before he evolved, this would lead to him having much more evolutionary energy.

It was possible that he was wrong, however, multiple signs pointed to that the fact that he was right. Besides, nothing bad came from getting all his mutations to +5, and even if he chose to mutate them to +5 after he evolved, it would just be much harder than before due to the penalty decreasing the amount of biomass he could receive from lower tier'd monsters.

Obtaining as much information as he could was a must if he wanted to survive longer and grow stronger. So tests were needed.

First though, Ethoss wanted to upgrade his skill, Claw Swipe, he had held off on upgrading it back when he was eating to concentrate to stuffing as much food as he could into his stomach. At that time, obtaining as much biomass as he could was his main goal.

He moved his way through the status, clicking on his specified skill.

[Claw Swipe has reached level 5, upgrade available]

[Would you like to improve Claw Swipe to Pernicious Claw Swipe? This will cost 1sp]

He accepted.

Automatically, he check his status to see if his skill had been successfully upgraded. After confirming that the skill was visible on his status he moved down to his mutations. He could feel himself becoming sleepy, most likely due to his fullness.

He had already knew which mutations he wanted to mutate. Firstly, was his scales, he wanted more defense. He had saw what humans were capable of, his defense was okay now but cautiousness was always better. As he willed his scales to be mutated, another window opened with a list of countless options.

Ethoss simply wanted defense, he scrolled passed the many options that were available.

Spiked Scales, Rock Scales, Piercing Scales, Reflective Scales… there were tons of options to choose from, but the one that caught Ethoss eye the most was Crystal Scales.

[Crystal Scales - significantly hardens the outer scales, increasing its resistance to physical harm. Adds crystals onto the scales, covering small areas.]

This is what he needed at the moment. Now the next thing was his eyes, eyesight was always a priority. Clicking onto eyes, just like before, a huge list of options were available. Scrolling throughout the list, Ethoss's consciousness almost slipped, he was becoming significantly sleepy. Maybe he stuffed himself too much?

Regardless, he couldn't fall asleep yet he still had to choose his mutations. Ethoss picked his legs mutation as soon as he spotted it, he didn't need to look at anything more.

[Mana-sight Eyes: each of the eyes gains a small section for mana lens, giving the ability to perceive mana]

Ethoss chose this, then moved onto his next decision.

[Absorption Legs: connects the core to the feet, allowing the monster to draw in mana from the surface it is standing on.]

This was perfect for his magic circulation, he already had Mana Recycle but with this couldn't he theoretically never run out of mana?

On to his next mutation, Ethoss hadn't really used his fire and to its full potential yet, however, from the times he had used it he felt that mutated it further was a great decision. Similarly to all the his other mutations, several options appeared.

Burst Fire Gland, Sniper Fire Gland, etc. Ethoss continued scrolling until…

[Flamethrower Fire Gland: rather than shooting fire balls one by one, this upgrade greatly enhances the Fire Glands capacity to spout fire, enabling the ability to consecutively shoot flames from the mouth.]

Ethoss's eyes sparkled, this sounded promising. This meant no more singular fire blasts, he would be able to shoot nonstop flames as long as he had mana. With this result, he was left with a remaining of 7 biomass, Ethoss decided to upgrade his teeth to +4, leaving him with a measly 3 biomass.

[Would you like to purchase Crystal Scales +5, Mana-sight Eyes +5, Absorption Legs +5, Flamethrower Fire Gland +5, and Teeth +4? It will cost 40 Biomass.]

He accepted.