Chapter 2: A taste of evolution
Chapter 2: A taste of evolution
I sat in an ambush, unnoticed and unmoving. A juicy piece of a squashed berry lay on the ground under the leaf that I have chosen as my perch. My bait, purposefully brought in there when I could’ve eaten it myself. Its sweet taste, though, was a treat for many creatures, and I hoped that the first one to come to its smell will be something even more delicious.
A movement attracted my attention. With my blurry vision of a slug I couldn’t see what produced it, except that it was something relatively small. It didn’t matter. I tensed my body as the insect moved closer and closer to the point right under me…
‘Full Body Weight Crush!’ I shouted in my thoughts as I let go of the leaf and let gravity do its job.
I plummeted down, the wind stealing precious moisture from my body. My head spun as I tumbled in flight, but almost as soon as it began, my fall was over. My massive (by insect standards) body landed right on top of my prey.
It waved its legs, trying to get under me, but I didn’t let it. I constricted my body, surrounding the tiny creature with it like a snake would. The edges of the prey’s hard carapace poked into my belly, but I ignored the feeling, concentrating only on constricting harder and on producing more and more slime out of my skin.
The tiny insect’s strength was no match for mine. As minutes passed, its resistance became weaker and weaker, until it stopped all movement at last. Only then I relaxed and let it go.
‘Maybe I can drown someone in mucus, after all,’ I mused, as I explored my prey with my feelers. Soon, I was ready to jump in glee. It was some sort of beetle, with wings!
Though, I would’ve eaten it, anyway.
I chewed with great enthusiasm. The bug’s carapace was tasteless, but its meat had a pleasant creamy texture and delicious salty tang to it. Another benefit of my ‘Devourer’ ability—even with a slug’s tiny teeth, made for chewing on grass, I ate through the bug with ease, until not even a trace of it was left.
[Creature devoured. Gained 2 EXP. Gained new evolution options.]
If I had lips, I would’ve smiled. I wolfed the berry that I used as a bait and hid in a shadowed and moist hollow in the ground. There, I opened my character screen, focusing right on ‘Stats’ and ‘Abilities’ this time.
[Stats]
HP: 2/2
EXP: 2
STR: 1.4
DEX: 1.2
CON: 1.4
INT: 8.1
[Abilities]
Devourer (lv MAX) (Evolution options available!)
Mucus (lv 1) (species boon)
Two points of EXP. A small step for a demon, but an enormous step for a slug. Now I could finally use the true power of the ‘Devourer’ ability. ‘Open the evolution menu,’ I thought.
I had a twinge of foolish hope that my long list of devoured abilities didn’t reset after what these bastards that called themselves ‘gods’ did to me. It disappeared before the sight of the harsh reality, when I saw the sad list of my evolving options.
[Coleop Beetle (10 EXP), Flight (2 EXP), Chitinous Carapace (2 EXP)]
I needed eight more EXP to evolve into a beetle. With two EXP I only had a choice between wings and an exoskeleton… Which was an obvious choice, really. I immediately chose flight and prepared for the pain.
It pierced my back as a pair of new limbs broke through my skin, but I’ve never welcomed any pain more than this one. Carefully, I tried to move my new appendages. I’ve never had insect wings before, and my first attempts were awkward, especially in the cramped hole I was in.
I looked outside for movement, and when I saw none, I ventured outside and unfurled my new wings. I wished I had a mirror—and eyes—to see them. They must’ve looked absolutely ridiculous on the slug, though I didn’t care for my beauty nor lack of it for a very long while.
I flapped them once, twice, then tried to remember the manner in which beetles flew. They beat their wings much faster than birds and bats, and I tried to repeat the pattern. A few more attempts later, a dizzying feeling of success engulfed me as my long body slowly left off the ground.
Now that I could fly and my ‘slug python’ tactics proved itself a success, I had many more options for hunting and escaping predators. There were many insects smaller than me, though there was a certain kind that had the most tempting abilities—and was also the most dangerous. Spiders.
I didn’t dare to approach them, yet, but I ate my fill of small beetles, ants and caterpillars by swooping in on them from above. From them I gathered, in total, twenty-eight EXP, as well as ‘Stinger’ and ‘Silk Spinning’ abilities. Besides, of course, various insects to choose from for my next transformation.
It was a great time for it, too, as I had fully grown at last. My current species would offer me no more improvements, not that there were much of those. I crawled into a hole in the ground and opened my evolution menu.
[Coleop Beetle (10 EXP), Colefen Beetle (13 EXP), Erimia Beetle (13 EXP), Jaras Worker Ant (6 EXP), Jaras Soldier Ant (13 EXP), Yulem Caterpillar (23 EXP), Yurenia Caterpillar (18 EXP), Chitinous Carapace (1 EXP), Stinger (2 EXP), Silk Spinning (1 EXP)]
I picked ‘Stinger’ immediately—it was the first weapon option I had. I decided not to pick ‘Silk Spinning’, because it was very hard to get rid of useless abilities later, and they were a hindrance in the long run. As for the carapace, I decided to get it as a species boon.
In the future, I might get much better defensive options, like scales or thick fur. Carapaces were strong, but restrictive and vulnerable for bludgeoning attacks.
And finally, I picked my next form. It was time to stop being a slug. It was time to become something a little greater in power, if smaller in size. As I retracted my eyestalks and let the pain of evolving consume me, I thought about all the creatures I will eat in the near future.