The next morning, I woke up because of a huge commotion outside—beast roars, shrieks, and the sound of the ground being hammered like a mini earthquake.
Thanks to yesterday's feast, my body had grown a few centimeters, and my teeth were also growing. My body now felt stronger.
After the sounds subsided, I came outside to see what had happened, moving my reptile body agilely.
A giant mantis stood victorious, its forelimbs dripping crimson. There I found a dead Thornspike Boar, and that iron mantis—one meter tall—was eating its corpse. The clash must have been savage. The boar's tusks had gouged the mantis's carapace, cracking green chitin, while the mantis's scythes had carved deep into flesh.
Then a greedy thought flashed through my mind: If I eat that boar's flesh, I can obtain a lot of Gene Points.
But my rational human mind quickly stopped that suicidal thought. Even if the iron mantis left any leftovers, the remaining predators in the forest wouldn't stay silent, and another small-scale hunt would likely break out.
I noticed a green snake coiling in a nearby bush, waiting patiently for the iron mantis to leave. There must be other creatures nearby. If I wanted to steal anything, I had to act first, or I wouldn't find any.
I sprinted toward the Thornspike Boar corpse. The mantis was still eating leisurely. I went to the opposite side of the corpse and noticed that the boar's guts had spilled out. I cut a palm-sized piece of flesh using my Clawed Strike ability, latched it into my mouth, and ran to my hideout, burrowing into a narrow root hole of an old tree. The iron mantis noticed me but didn't move—it had already eaten its fill.
After reaching my underground hideout, I began consuming the flesh piece by piece.
[Thornspike Boar meat consumed - Obtained 2 Gene Points.]
[Thornspike Boar meat consumed - Obtained 1.7 Gene Points.]
By the time I finished eating, my total Gene Points had reached 9.
I opened my panel and immediately commanded it: "Develop Grip Jaw ability."
Then the familiar feeling washed over me. My jaw muscles rearranged themselves, my teeth shaped into a new pattern, and overall my mouth had been strengthened. Now I had two abilities.
A heavy, sleepy feeling enveloped me, and I drifted off.
Four hours later, I woke up and noticed that my lizard body had grown from palm-sized to roughly two palms in size—about half a meter in length, including my tail.
After that, I went outside and found that the remaining Thornspike Boar parts had been consumed by other predators. I thanked my rational human mind for avoiding a disaster.
Over the next week, I hunted several bugs, ants, and spiders. My Gene Points reached 17.
Then, suddenly, a rustle of leaves. A large, meter-long centipede with red and black mandibles and razor-like legs sprinted toward me and struck my tail, pinning it to a tree trunk on the side.
I hissed and squealed. My body writhed with panic. My nightmare had come true—a predator was hunting me right now. They didn't give me a chance to grow. All creatures in this forest survived on survival of the fittest and a little luck.
Ignoring my panicking lizard body's reactions, my human mind took over the thought process. I immediately made a cold, ruthless decision: not to fight the centipede—its entire body was weaponized with blade-like legs and sharp mandibles—but to cut off my own tail to escape death and seek revenge in the future. My tail was pinned to the tree trunk; I couldn't move. Just as the centipede tried to finish me off and eat me for lunch, I used my Clawed Strike ability to sever my own tail.
My razor-sharp claws struck the tail twice. Immediately, red blood ejected from the tailless wound, and my tail began twitching left and right. I sprinted toward my underground hideout without waiting to mourn my missing tail.
The centipede looked confused, as if wondering what just happened? How did this little lizard escape me? But it took the blood-soaked, finger-sized tail toward its mouth and began eating.
In the underground hideout, I tried to stop my thrashing body and opened the panel to check my status.
Gene Upgrade Panel
[Name: Ren]
[Species: Forest Lizard (Juvenile). Required 20 Gene Points to become adult-sized Forest Lizard.]
[Available Gene Points: 17.3]
[Abilities:]
- Clawed Strike
- Grip Jaw
[Status: Injured. Requires 3 Gene Points to heal the damage.]
I immediately commanded the panel to heal me.
My available Gene Points decreased from 17.3 to 14.3.
Slowly, my injured tail stump began itching, and the wounded flesh started regenerating. After five minutes, my entire lizard body was back to whole again.