A Cold-Blooded POV

Chapter 45 [Bonus Chapter] Weakened Monsters?

Ferocious waves of flames bursted from the maw of Ethoss. The heat scorched through the air. As the flames traveled directly down the trench it light up the darkness like a torch. It rubbed against the wall, causing incomplete craters to form. Inside of those craters small flames revived themselves, burning slightly.

The slow moving lizard monster was much too slow to escape the flames. Within a second the burning fire encompassed the monster. The creature didn't even have time to cry out in pain, the flames continued to pour out like water from a hose. In the process of trying flee from the flames it's sticky feet that hung to the wall unstuck and the monster fell into the darkness, burning flames still eating at its body in the process.

In a matter of seconds the heat dissipated into nothing but smoke. The smoke rose straight toward the ledge where two nightly blue glowing eyes stared.

'My biomass…'

Ethoss stared down into the dark void of the trench. Impulsively, he had used his breath attack without thinking of the circumstances and consequences, resulting in him losing potential biomass. Regrettably, he turned around and flicked his tongue to looked for some new prey.

[You have defeated level 2 Spica Chamaeleontis]

[You have gained XP]

'Huh?'

Did the lizard die from the fire instead of from falling from such a high aptitude? If that was the case then how deep was that trench? Ethoss glanced at the trench one last time noting this in his brain.

Another prey had been located and pinpointed using the mana molecules in the air. Ethoss activated his camouflage once again. Ethoss presence disappeared instantly. There was no way any of the monsters here could detect his movements with his skill active. Ethoss moved as quietly as he could, avoiding making his claws tap the ground.

He wanted to move quickly but not so fast that it alerted any monsters. He had to settle with the insect monsters since those were the creatures that mostly inhabited these caverns. The insects usually ran away as soon as they noticed his presence so he paid extra attention to his steps to make them as low as possible.

He didnt travel far before he was close to his prey. Insects were relatively everywhere, the sounds of their clacking mandibles continued to echo off of the rocky walls.

Ethoss flicked his tongue. The target was close, he could sense them. Concentrating, Ethoss's vertical pupil narrowed and shrank thin. He was currently stationed in a position that was by bigger boulders that phased into the wall next to him. The snaking slits that flowed with mana were spaced out away from each other here, regardless, Ethoss could still see the Misty blue hue.

There, in front of him were a line of insects crawling up the walls. They were flat-bodied creatures that were about the size of one of half his leg. Their bodies consisted of two dorsal plates, which were attached at the ends of their triangular heads. Each plate was divided vertically into sections that tapered down to the sides of the head. They wore tiny mouths on either side of the plate.

The legs of each individual were lined with thousands of hairs that made the creature crawl and move around. These hairs weren't like the ones that covered the rest of its body. Instead, they were soft and wispy. They independently waved through the air as these insects moved, almost like they had a mind of their own. The two antennae's on its front waved erratically.

Ethoss took a step then another, followed by one more. Each step he took, a glint of greed shined in his eyes.

Suddenly, Ethoss darted at the insects with a burst of rapid speed. As soon as he got close, he bit into the long body of one of the insects. Surprisingly, his razor sharp teeth literally snapped the body in three pieces with one bite. Green blood drooped soggily and slowly like thick goo onto the ground, while some stained the sides of Ethoss's maw.

Two quarters of the body fell on the ground, while the piece that he bit into, he swallowed whole.

[You have defeated level 1 Hared Diplopoda]

[You have gained XP]

[You have consumed a new source of Biomass: Hared Diplopoda, you are rewarded one Biomass]

[Basic profile of the Hared Diplopoda unlocked]

Not wasting a second, Ethoss raised his only available front claw and ripped into the exoskeleton of another of the insects. Again, the monster's defense was extremely weak, Ethoss's claws cleanly separated the body of the insect.

[You have defeated level 1 Hared Diplopoda]

[You have gained XP]

The last two insects wasn't even facing toward Ethoss yet, as soon as he looked their way the hairs on their legs wiggled crazily and they rushed off before he could get to them.

Ethoss looked down at the remaining pieces of the insects corpses. These monsters in this cavern were weak. Extremely weak. It was almost weird how weak these monster were.

As he thought back, even the Lazard that hung on the wall earlier, it was also weak, dying from flames alone even at such a far distance away which lowed the fire's pressure.

The monsters here seemed immature in terms of mutations, growth and levels. This was further supported by the fact that both of the insects he had just killed were both only at level one.

Regardless, Ethoss ate his full quickly. Swallowing the remains pieces of corpse, he noticed he didn't gain any biomass. Apart from what he automatically earned when consuming a new monster not even one biomass was attained.

***

Monster Profile:

[Hared Diplopoda: Haired Millipede. A blind insect. Being unable to see and living and dark environments, it has mutated hairs all over its body— especially on its legs. These hairs are highly sensitive to vibrations and also allows it to sense its environment so it can maneuver around safely. It's mandibles and exoskeleton are in its early stages of hardening. Only found in #%*! Unnamed]