Currently, it was now evening as the sun was about to set. I could tell not by looking up at the sky but by the subtle change in the environment. This was good since centipedes were nocturnal creatures.
Looking at the remains of the crow, an idea began to form in my mind. I acted quickly and threw the remains out of the nest. The bones and feathers fell to the base of the tree, and I quickly descended the tree.
Another benefit of this exoskeleton is that it was pitch black, meaning at night I would be completely invisible.
I perfectly camouflaged myself in the grass as I watched the crow's remains intently. A dead animal attracts scavengers. Instead of actively going out to hunt, I decided to use the crow's corpse as bait to catch other preys.
Soon after night fell and the entire area descended into darkness, I finally sensed something. My antennae picked up movements and a scent. It was a scouting ant. The ant examined the bird's remains before quickly retreating back to its nest.
Slowly and stealthily, I followed the ant back to its nest. Generally, ants were one of those insects you wouldn't want to mess with. Centipedes and other insects were normally helpless if attacked by a swarm of thousands of ants.
But with my new exoskeleton, I felt confident. Being careful not to alert the scouting ant, I followed it until we finally arrived at an ant hill. The ant hill looked like a well-guarded fortress with sophisticated tunnels running deep underground.
The scout entered the fortress, and soon a line of ants were now heading towards the crow's remains.
Using the element of surprise, I charged at the ants like a bull, crashing into them. The sharp edges of my obsidian exoskeleton sliced them in half.
[EXP Gained]
In that one attack, I only managed to kill two ants, gaining EXP in the process. I would have to wait until after I consumed them and before I gained biomass.
Immediately, the line of ants attacked me. With my forcipules now made of obsidian, they were like surgical scalpels, allowing me to slice clean through the ants as they approached, and with legs equally as sharp, I could trample over them and pierce them as I moved.
Using swarm tactics, they climbed on top of my exoskeleton. A few of them were impaled by the spikes and sliced by the jagged edges of my shell, but still a few were able to squeeze through the gaps between my segments and bite my flesh with their mandibles.
The pain was almost unbearable, but nonetheless, I still managed to shake them off by activating 'Serpentine Evasion'.
It was as if they were fighting an armored tank that could easily cut through their carapace.
In desperation, the ants aimed their butts at me and sprayed me with acid, but it was to no avail since this shell already had a resistance to acid. This is part of the reason why I picked this shell and decided to target the ants in the first place.
After about an hour of struggle, I managed to eliminate all the ants that came after the crow's remains. Still, there was a problem as a few of them had managed to run off back to the nest, and more would be coming soon.
A few ants I could handle, but an entire nest was just too much.
[EXP Gained!]
[You have ascended to level 3]
[You have gained 3 skill points]
[Strength 22 -> 25]
[Speed 10 -> 13]
[Defense 23 -> 26]
Looking at my power increase, I couldn't help but feel satisfied.
Putting it aside for now, I then turned my attention to the ants that I had killed. Knowing that more ants were on the way, I quickly devoured them.
[1 biomass gained!]
[1 biomass gained!]
For every 5 ants I consumed, I gained 1 biomass. In total, I managed to gain 12 biomass, and adding the 2 that I had before, this meant I had a total of 14 biomass available.
[Conditions have been met! A new evolution is now available for purchase. Would you like to view?][Y/N]
-Evolution-
[Acid Gland and Sac: 10 biomass to store acid in a sac inside of the abdomen and shoot it out like a jet through a special acid gland located in the mouth.]
It seemed this evolution was made available because I targeted the ants. This gland was similar to the ones ants had.
Does this mean if I hunt a specific kind of creature, I would unlock evolutionary paths from that creature?
That seemed to be the case. Earlier, when the ants attacked, I had no way of keeping them back. This body limits me to close-quarters combat, but if I'm facing larger creatures or creatures that fight in swarms, then I would be at a disadvantage.
For this, a long distant attack like spraying acid would be extremely convenient which is why I decided to spend on the purchase.
[10 biomass has been spent on acid gland and sac!]
-New Skill Acquired-
[Lv. 1 Acid Shot: Allows you to spray acid from the special gland in your mouth]
A new skill was gained as a result. I was almost ready to test it out, but just then, I picked up on another swarm of ants coming my way. Injured and tired, I quickly made an escape.
I returned back to the tree, where I was met with another pleasant surprise. Another creature had set its eyes on the bird's remains.
Flies…
This offered me the perfect opportunity to test out my new skill. Opening my mouth, I aimed the acid gland directly at the flies swarming over the dead remains. The darkness provided the perfect cover so I remained undetected.
Immediately as the skill was activated, a jet of yellow liquid sprayed from my mouth and covered the flies. It melted through their wings and bodies easily. At this level, it wasn't enough to kill them, but it certainly was strong enough to stop their escape.
From there I could easily pick them off one by one.
[EXP Gained!]
[You have ascended to level 4]
[You have gained 3 skill points]
[Strength 25 -> 29]
[Speed 13 -> 17]
[Defense 26 -> 30]
A few of them tried to fly off, but I perfectly aimed at them and shot them down from the air, though a few of them managed to get away. Using this new organ felt instinctual. I didn't even need to practice; it all came naturally.
As the flies dropped, I skittered towards them and lunged at them, emerging from the darkness like an omen of death.
[1 biomass gained!]
[1 biomass gained!]
[1 biomass gained!]
[Conditions have been met! A new evolution is now available for purchase. Would you like to view?][Y/N]