"...!"
Caesar stared intently at the black Rock Lizard licking moss.
The prompt of [Experience: 5] on the panel made him instinctively salivate.
This thing was experience!
It was energy!
It was his hope for survival!
He lowered his body, mimicking the hunting stance of felines from his memory, digging his four short claws deep into the ground, his muscles tensing little by little.
Charging directly wouldn't work; with his short legs, he ran like a rolling sweet potato, and he had already made a fool of himself once.
That lizard's reaction speed was clearly higher than the coordination of his current body.
Must ambush!
One-hit kill!
Caesar moved cautiously, using a protruding rock to shield his body, gradually closing the distance.
His brain was calculating frantically.
Distance, angle, his burst speed, the opponent's possible escape routes... every variable formed a fuzzy model in his mind.
This was a player's instinct, etched into his bones.
Now!
Ambush!
Caesar's hind legs pushed off the ground, and his entire body shot out like a small gray cannonball!
Puff!
He opened his large mouth without hesitation and bit into the lizard's body!
Screech—!
The Rock Lizard let out a sharp shriek of agony, struggling violently, its tail wildly lashing at Caesar's face.
My teeth... it's hard as a rock!
Caesar felt his mouth fill with an earthy taste, his teeth feeling like they were biting into stone.
But he didn't let go.
This was his first meal, his first meat for survival; he absolutely could not let go!
The Gible used all his strength and violently shook his head!
Crack!
A crisp sound of bones breaking rang out, and the Rock Lizard's struggles instantly ceased, its body limply slumping down.
Success!
The Gible released his bite, looking at the dead Rock Lizard on the ground, an unprecedented sense of accomplishment welling up in his heart.
He, Caesar, had completed his first hunt in this world with his own wisdom and strength!
The cramping in his stomach grew more intense, and he eagerly lowered his head, preparing to enjoy his spoils.
Just then, a huge shadow completely enveloped him.
A foul stench, mixed with rotting meat and dirt, assailed him, making him almost vomit.
The Gible suddenly looked up.
A monster, twice his size, had appeared before him at some unknown time.
This thing resembled an incompletely evolved crocodile, covered in dirty brown scales, with a pair of cloudy and greedy eyes on its massive head.
It was staring intently at the Rock Lizard by Caesar's mouth, a low "gurgling" growl rumbling in its throat, and viscous drool dripped from the corners of its mouth onto the ground, corroding it with faint "sizzling" sounds.
Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon.
A distant relative of the Earth Dragon, a low-level Dragon Clan creature whose brain was only focused on eating and mating, a common predator in this cave.
Fragments of memory from this body instantly flashed in Caesar's mind.
"Holy crap..."
Caesar cursed inwardly.
"Running into an Elite Mob right outside the newbie village?"
This Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon was about to leave its juvenile stage and was clearly attracted by the scent of blood.
Its gaze was blatant, filled with undisguised threat and warning, as if saying: Drop the food and scram.
If it were any other newly hatched Little Earth Dragon cub, it would probably have been scared witless and obediently handed over its prey.
But Caesar wasn't.
He was a Free-to-Play Pokémon Master, the future Garchomp!
Let him hand over the experience points he had painstakingly earned?
Dream on!
Instead of retreating, the Gible took a step forward, using his small body to shield the Rock Lizard, letting out a childish but fierce hiss at the other party.
"Aoo!"
This was a provocation!
A flicker of surprise, quickly replaced by fury, crossed the Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon's cloudy eyes.
A mere Little Earth Dragon cub, just out of its shell, dared to provoke it?
Roar!!!
A roar, far louder and more oppressive than Caesar's, erupted from the Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon's throat!
The sound wave, carrying a foul, bloody wind, almost made Caesar lose his footing.
The opponent's size advantage was too great; those thick limbs, muscular body, and that huge mouth that could easily bite him in half... fighting head-on was suicide.
Caesar's brain spun rapidly.
What to do?
He only knew two skills now: Tackle and Sand Attack.
Tackle?
Using his small body to Tackle that iron-clad scaled body?
That was no different from courting death.
Then there was only... Sand Attack!
A flash of inspiration struck Caesar's mind.
In the game, the effect of Sand Attack was to lower the opponent's accuracy.
This effect had always been criticized by players as useless, far less reliable than Flash.
But this was the real world!
What was the effect of throwing sand in someone's eyes?
It was blinding!
It was a forced deprivation of vision!
A daring tactic instantly formed in Caesar's mind.
He looked at the encroaching, aggressive Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon, deliberately showing a frightened expression, picking up the Rock Lizard from the ground, and slowly retreating while growling.
Seeing this, the Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon's eyes gleamed with even more ferocity.
It thought the little cub had chickened out and was about to escape with its food.
So it quickened its pace, opening its gaping maw, ready to swallow the Little Earth Dragon and its prey together!
Now!
The moment the Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon closed to less than two meters, Caesar violently flung the Rock Lizard from his mouth!
The muscles in his hind legs instantly burst, all his strength converging on his front claws!
It wasn't just simply kicking up sand.
But rather, it was driving that newly acquired power belonging to a Gible!
"Get lost!"
Whoosh—!
A large handful of gravel, mixed with crushed rock and dust, shot out like it was from a high-pressure air gun, forming a gray-yellow fan that precisely plastered the Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon's huge head!
"Aoo...?!"
The Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon let out an extremely shrill scream!
Countless sharp grains of sand instantly filled its eyes and nostrils!
The intense stinging pain instantly drove it into a frenzy, and its huge head thrashed wildly, trying to get the damned sand out.
Its vision was blurred, leaving only a burning, agonizing pain!
Opportunity!
Caesar didn't hesitate; the moment Sand Attack hit, his body had already launched again!
He gathered all his strength in his head; his hard skull was his strongest weapon right now!
Tackle!
His target wasn't the opponent's tough back scales.
But rather... the soft, undefended gap in the abdominal scales that was exposed when the opponent lifted its upper body due to intense pain!
That was the weakness of all male animals!
Bang!
A dull thud sounded.
Caesar felt like he had hit a resilient wall.
The immense recoil made him dizzy, and his entire body felt like it was falling apart.
But he succeeded.
The Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon's massive body, struck by this forceful Tackle, lost its balance and crashed to its side!
Rumble!
Its heavy body hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The intense pain in its vital parts and the stinging in its eyes plunged this usually tyrannical predator into complete panic.
It didn't know what had happened, only that this inconspicuous little thing was far more dangerous than it appeared!
Its beastly instinct told it to leave immediately!
The Crocodile-form Pseudo-Dragon struggled to get up, not even daring to glance at Caesar again, dragging its heavy steps, fleeing miserably into the depths of the cave.
He won!
Caesar watched the opponent's fleeing back, his taut nerves finally relaxing.
A strong sense of exhaustion instantly swept through his body; he stumbled, almost collapsing to the ground.
That one Tackle had almost completely drained his stamina.
But an indescribable sense of excitement surged from deep within his heart!
He had won!
Challenging above his level!
Overcoming the strong with the weak!
This was what battle was all about!
Just then, the translucent panel reappeared before the Gible's eyes.
[Experience: 50/100]
A light blue experience bar rose from 0 to halfway!
"Combat... also grants experience!"
Caesar understood instantly.
He dragged his tired body to the Rock Lizard he had flung aside and picked it up.
This time, no unobservant fellow dared to disturb him again.
He walked to a relatively safe corner, lay down, and began to devour his spoils.
The Rock Lizard's meat was coarse and shriveled, with a strong earthy taste.
But in his extreme hunger, this was undoubtedly the most delicious food in the world.
As the flesh went down, warm currents began to spread through his body, rapidly replenishing his expended energy.
At the same time, the experience bar before his eyes slowly increased at a visible rate.
[Experience: 51/100]
[Experience: 52/100]
..."So that's it, both combat and eating can grant experience."
Caesar completely grasped the "leveling up" rules of this world.
Combat was the main source of experience, while eating replenished energy and provided a small amount of continuous experience growth.
He quickly devoured the entire Rock Lizard, not even sparing the bones.
Finally, the experience bar stopped at [Experience: 58/100].
One battle, one prey, only yielded less than two-thirds of the experience needed to level up.
Aoo?
This efficiency was a bit slow.
Full and satisfied, his stamina had also largely recovered.
The Gible, "Caesar," stood up and stretched his round body; the soreness from the recoil of the Tackle had significantly lessened.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the dim and massive cave.
Those Pseudo-Dragons roaring in the distance, those small dragon-blooded creatures darting through crevices, those of his kind tearing at each other for scraps... at this moment, they all changed in Caesar's eyes.
They were no longer threats, no longer terrifying monsters, nor pitiful kin.
They were... mobile experience packs!
Caesar's maw split open.
The monsters in the newbie grass have appeared.
So... let's keep grinding!