The next morning, Ren woke up to a huge racket outside—beasts roaring, creatures shrieking, and the ground shaking like a little earthquake.
Thanks to yesterday's feast, his body had grown a few centimeters, and his teeth were coming in. He felt stronger.
Once the noise died down, he crawled out to see what happened.
A giant mantis stood there, its front legs dripping blood. A dead Thornspike Boar lay on the ground, and the iron mantis—about a meter tall—was eating it. The fight must have been brutal. The boar's tusks had cracked the mantis's green shell, and the mantis's scythe like arms had sliced deep into the boar's flesh.
Then a greedy thought popped into his head: If I eat that boar meat, I could get a ton of Gene Points.
But his human brain quickly shot that down. Even if the mantis left scraps, every other predator in the forest would come running. There'd be another bloodbath.
He spotted a green snake hiding in a nearby bush, waiting for the mantis to leave. There have to be other creatures watching too. If I want to steal anything, I have to move first.
Ren dashed toward the boar corpse. The mantis was still eating, taking its time. He went around to the far side and saw that the boar's guts had spilled out. He used Clawed Strike to cut off a palm sized chunk of meat, clamped it in his mouth, and bolted for his hideout—a narrow hole under an old tree's roots. The mantis noticed him but didn't bother chasing. It had already eaten enough.
Back in his underground den, he started eating the meat, piece by piece.
[Thornspike Boar meat consumed - Obtained 2 Gene Points.]
[Thornspike Boar meat consumed - Obtained 1.7 Gene Points.]
By the time he finished, his total Gene Points had hit 9.
He pulled up the panel and commanded: "Develop Grip Jaw ability."
The familiar feeling washed over him. His jaw muscles shifted, his teeth changed shape, and his whole mouth felt stronger. Now he had two abilities.
A heavy, sleepy feeling came over him, and he passed out.
Four hours later, he woke up. His lizard body had grown from palm sized to about the size of two palms—roughly half a meter long, including his tail.
He went outside and found that other predators had already cleaned up the rest of the boar. Good thing I listened to my human brain. That could have been a disaster.
Over the next week, he hunted bugs, ants, and spiders. His Gene Points climbed to 17.
Then, out of nowhere, leaves rustled. A huge centipede—a meter long, with red and black jaws and legs like razor blades—sprinted at him and slammed his tail against a tree trunk, pinning it there.
Ren hissed and squealed. His body thrashed in panic. This is it. A predator is hunting me right now. They don't give you time to grow. Out here, it's kill or be killed, and a little luck.
He pushed down his lizard instincts and let his human mind take over. He made a cold, hard choice: Don't fight. This thing is nothing but weapons—blade legs, sharp fangs. Cut off my tail. Escape. Get revenge later.
His tail was stuck. He couldn't move. Just as the centipede lunged to finish him, Ren used Clawed Strike on his own tail.
His razor sharp claws cut twice. Blood sprayed from the wound, and the severed tail flopped around on the ground. He sprinted toward his hideout without looking back.
The centipede just stood there, confused. What the hell? How did that little lizard get away? But it picked up the bloody, finger sized tail and started munching.
Inside his hideout, Ren tried to calm down. His body was still shaking. He opened the panel.
Gene Upgrade Panel
[Name: Ren]
[Species: Forest Lizard (Juvenile). Required 20 Gene Points to become adult-sized Forest Lizard.]
[Available Gene Points: 17.3]
[Abilities:]
Clawed Strike
Grip Jaw
[Status: Injured. Requires 3 Gene Points to heal the damage.]
He immediately told the panel to heal him.
His points dropped from 17.3 to 14.3.
Slowly, the stub of his tail began to itch, and new flesh grew back. After five minutes, his whole body was whole again.