13 Prehistory beneath the Waves
"An evolution is now available."
So that inquisitor was enough for me to unlock a new evolution, nice. Although I feel like I already know what it is before looking, I will check anyway.
"Currently available evolutions: Adolescent Sea Serpent. Choosing to evolve will cost 1,000kg of biomatter. Warning, as you are not currently at maximum level you will not be granted and bonus base stats upon evolution."
Yep, it's the sea serpent path. I thought that I would need to spend 1,500kg of biomatter to evolve since that was the requirement I saw before, turns out that that requirement is my lifetime biomatter. This makes my future evolutions a little easier. But why haven't I heard of this bonus stat when evolving before? When I was a hatchling I was at the maximum level, but I didn't hear anything about a boost then.
"Inquiry received. Authority level, cleared. Hatchling and Infant monsters do not gain bonus base stats upon evolving into their next stage. This bonus is received by Juveniles, Adolescents, Young, Adults, and Elders."
Now for the real problem at hand, just where the hell did I end up? I was so concerned over getting away from that old man that I didn't pay attention to which direction I went. I didn't think my sense of direction was that bad before, but I've gotten lost a little too much recently.
"Your current location is in the ocean."
... Ok System. Thanks for your non-existent helping hand in the matter. Lifting my head above the water, I think I can just barely see an island far out in the distance. But other than that there isn't anything else insight on the surface. As for whats underwater, no notable landmarks. Even when I go down to the seafloor, there isn't anything special about this area, just some rocks and probably some crustaceans burrowed in the sand. Not even anything I can hunt around here either. If I stay here I'll just starve to death and with a lack of better options that island is probably the best place to move to.
After swimming for almost an entire day I begin to regret my decision as I'm still not even close to the island. And this island is a lot larger than I thought. What I previously saw before my journey here seems to be a mountain so tall that it reaches far into the clouds. Given the size of the mountain, this must be a pretty large island, I may have even found a continent. With hunger creeping up on me I decided to take a deep dive and look for some food. The monsters here are very strange in comparison to everything I've seen so far. As if I'm looking at living fossils. There is an unusually high amount Scyphozoa's around, and when I use Investigate on al the monsters here they all have the description of 'thought to have gone extinct' citing various different time spans from as far back as 500 million years ago. Many of the monsters here around the seafloor feel very primitive with appearances that resemble trilobites and other simple creatures. Between snaking on the plentitude of monsters that can't fight back and avoiding the one's that can put up a fight, I managed to bring my Investigate up to level 9. The individual experience I got from the monsters I killed was rather low, amounting up to a total of 130. Similarly, the biomatter I got was low, but that makes sense considering their size, I only ended up getting 40kg despite consuming a lot, although I did eat up quite a bit of Scyphozoa's for the furnace bonus. With everything I ate today, I got an additional 18 souls bringing my Soul Furnace to +30.
I'm still a little unsatisfied about the small gains though. I feel more confident with the bonus stats from the Soul Furnace, so I think I'll go out for one last hunt before I rest. Something not too strong but big enough to give me a large pool of biomatter and experience. And I think I found my mark. The monster resembles a fossil I once saw in a museum, Sea Scorpions, or something like that. While still smaller than my total size, this thing is still bigger than any human could ever hope to grow to.
Race: Adolescent Eurypterid
Tier: 3
Level: 7
State: Healthy
HP: 116/116 MP: 46/46 SP: 416/416
STR: 69
VIT: 81
DEX: 60
INT: 35
MND: 25
Details: An ancient monster thought to have gone extinct 250 million years ago. Its large stinger is used to inject prey with a paralysis toxin. It will then proceed to grab a hold of its prey and eat it live.
This thing eats its prey live? This thing is more sadistic than I am. At the very least I have standards. As usual, using my dirty tactics, I wait in the shadows until its back is turned before launching my attack. It doesn't take long before it turns, pushing me to action. Once I get close enough that my Acid Beam will hit before it disperses in the water, I strike. What! What a surprise, the sea scorpion both avoided my attack and countered with its own. It extended its tail out causing its stinger to pierce my side and only seconds later my movements began to feel a little sluggish. Thankfully with my large size, it will take a much larger dose to take full effect. But this guy is a lot smarter than I initially thought it was.
Since the sea scorpion has no way of fighting from a distance I began to charge in my direction. I swing my lower body around with the intention to smack it around but to my surprise, it doesn't decide to dodge but takes that hit and grabs onto my body repeatedly stabbing me. However, with all my bonuses I am far harder to take down than any other sea snake, as I still have 153 HP left despite all of its attacks. Moreover the longer it holds onto me the more damage it takes from my Toxic Scales. With it steadily holding onto my I prepare another Acid Beam and coil my tail around the sea scorpion to prevent its movement, but the toxin is starting to get to me as it lets go and dodges the Acid Beam again. Perhaps my luck is moving up though as the only escape option was towards the upper half of my body. With its attention focused on the Acid Beam and my tail, I lunge forward for a Venomous Bite. At long last, I manage a direct hit, bringing the scorpions health to around 40%. Giving it a taste of its own medicine I proceed to swallow the sea scorpion while it's still alive. Before I am given the chance to bask in the irony eating it still live, I feel the damn thing poke around at my insides for a few minutes before it finally dies. Surrounded by a horrendous amount of blood, the waters begin to stir, but I don't give it much attention as I listen to the System.
"You have slain a Level 7 Adolescent Eurypterid. You have gained 179 EXP. Because you have slain a monster of a higher tier, you have gained and an additional 10%(17) EXP. Because you have slain a monster of a higher evolutionary state, your total EXP has doubled. You have gained a total of 392 EXP and 137kg biomatter."
Name: Cordelia Auspin
Race: Elite Juvenile Sea Snake (Talonian Regional Variant)
Tier: 2
Titles: Provoking Giants (-5 INT), Coward, A Fool, Immortal Slayer, Soul Eater, Seed of Calamity
Level: 8
EXP: 585/1255
HP: 107/148 (+31) MP: 17/23 (+31) SP: 321/353 (+31)
STR: 59 (+31)
VIT: 68 (+31)
DEX: 35 (+31)
INT: 69 (+26)
WIS: 47 (+31)
MND: 19 (+31)
CHA: 11
LUCK: 5
Acquired Skills: Investigate (9)
Innate Skills: Acid Beam (3), Tail Swipe (6), Venomous Bite (6)
Natural Mutations: Toxic Scales, Soul Furnace (+31)
Mutations: Superior Eyes, Enhanced Size
Current Biomatter: 1,219kg
Lifetime Biomatter: 1,719kg
Available Evolutions: Adolescent Sea Serpent
Details: A reincarnated Talonian Sea Snake. Some stats have been altered to accommodate for the previous life's attributes. As an Elite monster, you gain a bonus to all stats, current bonus +5. An unusual Juvenile Sea Snake that's only slightly smaller than an Adult Sea Serpent. Hehehe.
I'm almost halfway to level 8 and I'm getting really close to the required biomatter for the Sea Drake. But even if I get the required amount, I'm going to hold off until I reach the maximum level for my current species for the extra bonuses. It's also nice to see that the degrading final line isn't there for once, but that laughter is somewhat unsettling. Regardless I can barely move thanks to the paralysis toxin of the Eurypterid.
After a few minutes pass the waters continue to stir, getting rougher as time passes. The previous weak and abundant sea life are no longer anywhere in sight. When I first felt the waters unusual movement I thought it was just a natural fluctuation in the currents, but now I see that this is in no way natural. At long last, the toxins begin to fade as I make the decision to get away from here as fast as possible.
With half an hour, although far, I can visibly see the island in the distance. Just like I previously thought the island is incredibly large, although it doesn't appear to be a continent. Just as I dive beneath the waves to swim closer I see it. The reason for the laughter, the reason for the churning of the water. And it's coming.
