Chapter 43 Unexplored Tunnels

The tunnel was spacious and long, it diverged into other tunnels giving more options to where to go next. This made it seem more like a system of tunnels rather than one single tunnel. The ceiling above him was about six feet tall. There were some small holes in between the rocks on top but not too many as well. These tunnels looked old. Who knew how long these tunnels existed, or how long they took to make?

Ethoss moved onward tirelessly. He itched with anxiety that the humans — no, 'that' human was still following behind him. The strong grotesque smell had ceased long ago, however, Ethoss couldn't be sure if this could be another scheme. After about 20 more minutes of moving the reptile paused to catch his breath and gain his stamina back.

With this break, Ethoss decided to stay productive with his time, he opened the status in his mind.

Name: Ethoss

Level: 6(Red Core)

Strength: 60

Toughness: 55

Cunning: 50

Will: 27

HP: 38/54

MP: 29/36

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

Skills[Support]: Rapid Dash(II) level 2, Deep Night Vision(II) level 2, Discoloration Camouflage(II) level 2, Dig level 4, Mana Shaping(II) level 1, Mana Recycle level 1

Mutations: Unmasked Jacobson's organ +5, Absorption Legs +5, Mana-sight Eyes +5, Crystal Scales +5, Claws +3, Teeth +4, Flamethrower Fire Gland +5

Species: Draco Aeternus Lacerta(Male)

Biomass: 3

Skill Point: 3

Flickering his tongue, Ethoss analyzed his stats. It had been about 30 minutes since he had entered the tunnel that lead from out of his birthplace. His anxiousness got the best of him during his travel, which led to him not properly checking his HP and MP much after the big escape from the annoyance known as humans.

He hissed viciously, thinking about how they forced him to flee his own territory. The embarrassment had gradually built up over his travels within this long tunnel. This had been the second time he'd been forced to cower away from a fight, and from humans no less.

Having survived his previous encounter, Ethoss learned that humans weren't as weak as he initially thought, he even hypothesized that they could grow even stronger than the human in black armor. Ethoss learned that looking down on everything wasn't a proper way of thinking, it was a dangerous mindset.

Still, he couldn't help but be arrogant, it was apart of his DNA. He struggled to accept that fact that he fled a fight once again. Each time he did something that wasn't in tune with his instinct, it always felt weird, like there were two of himself trying to split apart to follow a different path.

Fleeing a fight felt no different, if anything, it made him feel even more oddly and alienated in his own body.

Looking at his stats, Ethoss focused specifically on his HP and MP, which had decreased and gone down during his escape.

'I have to get these back to maximum' He thought.

There was no miracle lake inside these tunnels, which he could easily refill his MP and heal himself up like before. Additionally, he couldn't even smell a monster within his vicinity. His HP would only restore itself by a little — most likely help from the voice and the system in his head, however then it would be up to him to secure food and biomass which would give his body the energy to restore his HP.

Not to mention, he was still missing a leg, most of his toes on his back leg, and his tail, which were all severed by the human in black armor. Once again, the distasteful image of humans were brought back up in his mind. Ethoss could feel the heat as he subconsciously began creating burning flames in his esophagus, before extinguishing them into smoke which crept out of his mouth and into the air.

Luckily, though not as fast as the miracle lake, his MP would automatically refill itself overtime. He could even continue his mana training and began leveling his new skill, Mana Recycle. Nevertheless, Ethoss decided against that at the moment, since he was in a unfamiliar setting.

Finally done regaining his stamina, Ethoss resumed his movement. He couldn't sit in this place for long. Forget dying to the humans, if there were no prey for him to devour, he'd inevitably die due to hunger itself, which was even more of a disgrace than those fleshy bipedal's.

At this point, Ethoss had realized that the humans weren't following him anymore, still, he moved cautiously down the tunnel. Flicking his tongue to taste the air and sense his surroundings, he leaned against his single front leg to balance out his other four and stop himself from stumbling.

He still hadn't completely adapted to his missing limb, he continued to look for solid foot holds before gripping his feet and stabilize his steps. Although it wasn't too hard for him, it took a fair bit of concentration, so his progress had been relatively slow from what he was used to.

[Deep Night Vision(II) has reached level 3]

The familiar mechanical voice comforted him as he walked lonely through the tunnel. Ethoss had forgotten that the cave was dark, his night vision always blocked him from seeing the dark. Perhaps he was missing out on what it felt like to actually be in the dark?

Ideas and thoughts came and left, born out of his boredom, then after sometime they were lost, being replaced with new ones. He had encountered many diverged paths leading to separate locations, too many to keep count of.

Most of the time he stayed following the same path, but, to keep himself entertained and/or to find something interesting, he'd sometimes change his route and head down one of the splitting tunnels.

Ethoss continued to walk at his current pace and finally something changed. His eyes snapped up, like a moth following the light, he watched as a thin line of blue mist vaporize before flowing further into the tunnel, like it was being lured away. Looking deeper down the tunnel, there were also these black slits running along the walls. Although extremely faintly, Ethoss could see the blue hue flowing through them. Ethoss already knew what the hue was: Mana!

Perhaps there was something down this tunnel? He had been switching his paths quite a bit now, had he finally chosen the path that would actually lead him to something? Ethoss's heart jumped at the notion, his boredom and hunger had grew to become adults in these past hours.

He moved as fast as he could, he had became relatively used to his missing leg so his speed was faster than before.

As he moved deeper and deeper, more and more of these slits appeared, they began to start twisting and branching around like veins running through the rock. Some thicker, some slimmer, some so skinny even Ethoss struggled to see them, they grew in size the further he moved. Not only that, the blue hue grew from being faint to becoming more visible within the slits.

After about approximately 10 - 15 more minutes of quickened steps and clumsy movement, he followed the tunnel around a curve. Soon the tunnel walls fell away into a tremendous cavern. It was huge! Ethoss struggled to comprehend how this place could even exist.

Flickering his tongue innately, a myriad of different scents assaulted his taste buds, and fluttering vibrations tickled his claws. Ethoss blue eyes widened with liveliness. He knew what this meant.

Monsters!