It was a crow, and the thing about crows is that they never forget a grudge. It's not like I didn't know that I was eating the egg of a crow, but my predatory instincts got the better of me. The crow opened its mouth wide and spread its wings to appear bigger before lunging forward.
I reacted as quickly as I could and skittered back into the egg for safety, but the crow didn't relent. The bird smashed through the egg easily with its pointed beak. I was trapped, but I managed to do what I had planned from the beginning.
I closed the distance between me and the bird without putting myself in danger. With the bird this close to me, I waited until it pecked at me again before I wriggled out of its path and latched onto the bird's head, pinching the animal between my forcipules.
KAW!
The bird thrashed around, as it tried to shake me off but it was too late. My venom was already in its system, weakening it. A centipede's venom is a neurotoxin.
It disrupts the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. Still, I wasn't sure if it would be strong enough to kill the crow, so I made sure to pump as much as I possibly could into the bird's system.
My goal was to even the playing field, by weakening it so this fight would be at least somewhat fair. The bird continued to thrash violently, and soon I could no longer hold my grip and was thrown off. Luckily, I didn't fall on my back and quickly charged at the bird once again without giving it a chance to recover.
The bird's eyes were disoriented as it pecked at me, but most of its attacks missed, and the ones that were on target, I quickly evaded by twisting my body.
-New Skills Acquired-
[ Lv. 1 Serpentine Evasion: Passive boost to movement speed when moving in a zigzag pattern. Speed increases by 10%.]
I glanced at my screen as I tried desperately to evade the bird's attacks. This was only possible because of the biomass I spent on my brain, giving me the new skill: Divided Consciousness.
One mind was focusing on movement, and the other was planning strategies for facing off against the bird, allowing me to read the system message while dodging attacks.
My movements were similar to that of a snake as I slithered my way closer to the bird. Its beak smashed into my hard shell a few times, but it was only able to create cracks. The bird couldn't penetrate my exoskeleton unless it struck the same place more than once, but with Serpentine Evasion active, it was impossible.
Birds were masters at keeping small prey away with their pointed beaks and long legs, but the crow made a mistake when it charged at me. Seeing its eggs destroyed sent it into a frenzy and caused it to attack without caution.
Now my venom was corroding the animal's senses, making it slower and less accurate. The crow tried to stomp at me with its talons, but by curving my body to the side, I easily evaded. But just then, with a lightning-fast reaction that my eyes and brain couldn't even perceive, the bird switched legs and stomped at me with its other foot.
Its talons easily pierced through my armor and flesh. Yellow blood oozed from my wounds as I instinctively curled into a ball to protect myself. This caused the crow to attack relentlessly, pecking and clawing, but through the assault, I kept myself steadfast.
My exoskeleton was shredded from my skin as yellow blood seeped through the cracks, covering my entire body. Still, no matter the attack, I kept myself covered and waited it out until the crow's attacks finally slowed.
The bird's chest was heaving heavily, and soon one of its wings became as stiff as a rock as its nervous system finally gave out. Seizing the chance, I threw myself towards the crow.
The bird tried to react by stomping at me once again, but it didn't have the same explosive power as before, nor was its attack on target. Its eyes were darting from left to right, which told me the crow was now blinded from the venom.
All its muscles were shutting down, including the one responsible for pumping blood throughout its body.
Its heart.
[Congratulations! You have slain a level 1 crow]
[EXP Gained]
[You have leveled up to Level 2 and gained 2 skill points]
[Strength 15->17]
[Defense 7->9]
[Speed 1->3]
Seeing the notification in front of me, relief washed over me.
Unlike biomass that required you to consume, your level was increased from fighting and killing living creatures. Skill points were also gained from leveling up, which could be used to level up skills.
I decided to put the skill points aside for now and instead focus on the dead prey in front of me. Pinching the crow with my forcipules, I clenched its flesh between my mandibles, but my mandibles were too soft to penetrate the dead bird's flesh.
Seeing this, I sunk my forcipules deep into its flesh while injecting more of my venom into its lifeless body. The venom would soften the flesh, making it easier to consume.
[1 biomass gained]
The moment I gained a biomass, I used it to evolve my mandibles.
[1 biomass spent! Mandible hardness and sharpness has now doubled]
With this, I could now chew through the crow's flesh without injecting my venom into the part I wanted to eat.
[1 biomass gained]
[1 biomass gained]
[1 biomass gained]
As I devoured every inch of the dead crow, I continued to gain biomass. By the time I was done, I ended up with a total of 19 biomass!