Kaelen's jaw snapped back into place with an unsettling pop. Swallowing the massive Copper-Plated Pincer Beetle had been a grotesque, agonizing process that stretched his serpentine anatomy to its absolute limits. His midsection was now grotesquely bloated, anchoring him heavily to the damp earth beneath the rotting branch.
He was incredibly vulnerable, but the glowing blue text hovering in his vision commanded his full attention.
[Notice: Host has ingested Copper-Carapace. Would you like to extract the genetic trait?]
Extract a trait? Kaelen pondered, his brilliant mind analyzing the implications. In the Royal Menagerie of Aethelgard, breeders spent decades trying to crossbreed war-hounds for thicker coats. This System offers genetic manipulation upon ingestion. Fascinating... and highly efficient.
"Yes," he hissed mentally.
[Processing Extraction. Warning: Host body must undergo rapid cellular restructuring. Pain threshold will be tested.]
Pain threshold? Kaelen barely had time to scoff before a sensation like boiling oil flooded his veins.
He thrashed wildly against the moss, a silent scream dying in his throat. It felt as though a blacksmith was taking a hammer and anvil to every individual scale on his body. The agonizing heat radiated from his stomach outward, concentrating along his spine and the top of his head.
As quickly as the fire ignited, it vanished, leaving him gasping for air. His emerald scales felt suffocatingly tight. An unbearable itch crawled over his entire body. Instinct overrode intellect—Kaelen dragged his snout against the rough bark of the fallen branch, snagging the tip of his nose on a splinter.
With a forceful push, he slithered forward. The outer layer of his skin caught on the bark and began to peel backward. It was his first shedding. He pulled himself out of his old skin, leaving behind a translucent, ghostly husk of his former self.
He felt entirely reborn. He coiled himself tightly and inspected his new form.
His once bright, fragile emerald scales now bore a distinct, metallic sheen. Fine, copper-colored veins spiderwebbed across his back, hardening the scales into interlocking plates that felt rigid and secure.
[Extraction Complete. Host has gained passive trait: Minor Carapace (Lv. 1).] [Defense +3. Physical Resistance increased by 10%.]
Kaelen mentally pulled up his status window.
[Status Window]
Name: Kaelen (Soul bound)
Species: Copper-Threaded Emerald Snake (Tier 0)
Level: 2 (5/20 EXP)
HP: 15/15
Stamina: 8/12
Attributes: Strength: 2 | Agility: 4 | Endurance: 4 | Defense: 3 | Intelligence: 85
Skills: [Camouflage Lvl 1], [Heat Sense Lvl 1]
Traits: [Minor Carapace Lvl 1]
He flexed his muscles. He was slightly heavier, but the added defense was worth the marginal loss of speed. He was no longer just a fragile grass snake; he was beginning his ascent.
But the Verdant Labyrinth was vast, and the loud thrashing from his painful evolution had not gone unnoticed.
A heavy, deliberate rustling echoed from the dense ferns to his left. It was not the mindless scurrying of an insect or the fluttering of a bird. These were the measured, bipedal footsteps of something that walked on two legs.
Kaelen instantly activated [Heat Sense Lvl 1].
Through the foliage, a large, humanoid thermal signature glowed bright red and yellow. It was standing just a few yards away, poking at the undergrowth with a long, cold object—a rudimentary spear.
Kaelen dropped his heat vision, his slit pupils narrowing as the creature stepped into a patch of filtered sunlight.
It was a Goblin. But unlike the frail, cowardly pests described in the storybooks of Kaelen's human childhood, this creature was deeply muscular, standing about four feet tall, with mottled gray-green skin and jagged, yellowing tusks. It wore crude leather armor pieced together from the hides of unknown beasts.
The goblin sniffed the air, its beady black eyes darting around the forest floor until they locked onto something.
It was Kaelen's discarded, freshly shed skin.
The goblin grunted in surprise, stepping closer to inspect the translucent husk. It poked the shed skin with the tip of its stone-tipped spear, a greedy glint in its eyes. In a world governed by a System, even the shed skin of a magically altered beast could be a valuable crafting material or a decent snack.
Kaelen remained perfectly still against the dark bark of the root cave, his new copper-threaded camouflage blending flawlessly with the shadows.
A humanoid enemy, Kaelen calculated coldly. Equipped with a weapon and basic armor. A Level 2 snake with minor plating cannot pierce leather armor, nor can it survive a direct stab from a stone spear.
The goblin knelt, reaching a dirty, clawed hand out to scoop up the shed skin.
If Kaelen fled now, the rustling leaves would give away his position, and the goblin's longer legs would easily close the distance. He had to use the one weapon the System couldn't quantify: his mind. He needed a distraction, and he needed it now.