Kaal was still arguing with Kapil about the new skill when a strange sound echoed in the distance.
It wasn't loud at first, but there was something about it that made skin crawl.
He froze.
Then slowly, he stood up and looked around.
Something felt... different.
His height seemed to have increased slightly, and his body felt lighter-almost weightless.
"Is this... because of the system?" he wondered.
But alongside that lightness, there was also a strange weakness in his limbs.
The sound come again, louder this time.
Kaal's eyes darted across the endless dunes-nothing.
Then, the ground beneath his feet trembled.
A moment later, a creature burst out of the sand.
Its body was slick and pale pink, its mouth a perfect circle lined with dozens of jagged teeth arranged like the petals of a monstrous flower.
Thick saliva dripped from its maw, sizzling slightly as it hit the hot sand.
Kaal instinctively stepped back, wiping his eyes as if trying to convince himself it was just an illusion.
"What... what is that?" he muttered.
Kapil's voice rang in his head.
"You're asking me? Why don't you use your skill-'god eyes'?"
But before Kaal could even think about it, the creature lunged forward with terrifying speed.
Acting purely on instinct, he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.
Two... three second passed.
Nothing.
Kapil's voice came again, this time sharper.
"open your eyes... and look."
Hesitantly, Kaal obeyed-and froze.
His two extra arms-the ones granted after his awakening-had moved on their own, wrapping around the monster's body.
Without thinking, he squeezed.
A sickening crunch echoed in the air.
Black, tar like blood sprayed across his face and shoulders.
The stench hit him instantly- a rotting, acrid smell that made him gag.
Then, cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind:
"[You have killed an earth worm. you have absorbed 5% of its strength] "
Kaal's eyes widened.
"Kapil... what was that?!"
"The system's voice," Kapil replied lazily.
"Whenever you kill a datya, you'll gain 5% of its power."
Kaal looked at his hands, flexing them.
"But... I don't feel any change."
"That's because you didn't kill a mahadatya,"
Kapil said with a faint chuckle. "You just crushed the baby of weak Datya."
Kaal blinked.
"B-baby?! If that was a baby, how big is the mother going to be?"
"Don't worry," Kapil muttered. "it's not like she's here-"
The ground shook violently before he could finish.
This time the tremors were stronger, enough to make the sand ripple like waves.
Kaal's stomach dropped.
Suddenly, the sand exploded upward in a towering column, dozens of meters high. Through the haze of dust, a colossal shadow emerged.
When the sandstorm began to clear, Kaal activated God Eyes without hesitation.
[ Name : Earth Worm.
Rank : Mahadatya ]
The creature loomed over him, its monstrous form blotting out the sun.
Its circular mouth, filled with countless fangs, glistened with saliva as it focused on something lying nearby.
Kaal followed its gaze-and his blood ran cold.
It was staring at the corpse of the smaller worm.
The one he had just killed.
A deep, guttural sound rumbled from the beast's throat before it unleashed a screech so loud that Kaal felt his eardrums nearly burst.
She's the mother...
He turned his thoughts toward Kapil, furious.
"This is your 'weak Datya's baby'?! That's a Mahadatya's child! And now its mother is-"
"Not 'our' problem," Kapil interrupted with a hint of amusement. "Its your problem. You killed her baby."
The worm lunged.
Its massive body slammed into the sand, sending a shockwave that nearly threw Kaal off his feet.
instinct took over- his extra arms dug into the ground for balance while his main hands reached for the nearest weapon... except he had none.
The worm's mouth opened wide, the smell of decay and acid pouring out as it rushed toward him.
Kaal sidestepped, rolling through the sand, but a massive tail whipped around, striking the ground where he had been a second ago.
The impact send shards of hardened sand slicing past his face.
He barely had time to breathe before the worm dove underground, disappearing into the dunes.
the ground trembled violently beneath his feet.
Kaal... move, kapil's voice warned.
A split second later, the worm erupted form the sand right beneath him.
kaal jumped back, but not far enough-
One of the creature's teeth scraped across his forearm, tearing through skin like paper.
Pain shot through his arm as blood dripped into the sand.
The worm hissed.
Kaal clenched his fists.
he could feel the system's faint hum inside him ,the 5% strength he'd just stolen... but it wasn't enough.
not against this.
As the beast prepared for another strike, kaal knew one thing-
if he didn't figure out how to use every skill he had, right now...
he wouldn't live to see the nest sunrise.