Chapter 4

I run for several minutes until I deemed it sufficient.

"Panting I must be more careful. Now that I'm bigger, monsters will find me more appetizing than before. Although, being bigger still has more benefits than drawbacks."

I looked at the sky. It seemed I had spent more time in the cocoon than I thought since it looked even earlier than before. I suppose I've been in this world for more than a day now.

"Well… I don't know how long it'll take me to grow fully, but I should find a shelter."

And so began my hopefully short journey to find shelter.

…

"This is unexpected but welcome," I said to myself while looking at a mineral vein in a clearing surrounded by various plants I recognized as materials from the game. It felt strange to see such a large concentration of these elements, but then I remembered what world I was in, and the thought passed.

I tried to pull out the mineral to eat it but couldn't, so I just dug around it. Then, I picked several plants I recognized: Herb, Blue Mushroom, Nitroshroom, and Might Seed. I ate the mineral first and then the plants.

[Abilities obtained: Iron Skin, Photosynthesis, Healing Properties, Antidote Properties, Gunpowder Creation, Strength Increase

Accept: YES/NO]

Then came the now-familiar burning sensation, this time all over my body, both externally and internally.

When I checked my status, I saw what my new abilities did. First, Iron Skin improves my skin's resistance. Photosynthesis allows me to receive nutrients from sunlight. Healing Properties and Antidote Properties make my blood possess those characteristics, which technically aren't regeneration or poison resistance but still affect my body as if they were. These are passive abilities.

Gunpowder Creation allows me to produce natural gunpowder by using stamina, which, when used correctly, adds a nitro state to my attacks. Strength Increase uses stamina to increase, well, my physical strength. Both of these abilities are active.

And as if this moment couldn't get better, after about five minutes of walking, I found a small cave. Its entrance was hidden behind some bushes, making it quite discreet. I entered, having to crouch.

The cave had little light, but Luminisects illuminated the place. I didn't hesitate to grab one and eat it.

[Abilities obtained: Bioluminescence, Flash

Accept: YES/NO]

After the burning sensation, from my shoulders to my hands and feet, dark red glowing lines resembling veins appeared across my body. After some tests, I discovered that I could control the brightness or turn them off, making them very useful.

"What's my status now?"

[Name: Chryssia

Abilities:

Special: Devour, Synthesis, World Travel

Body: Climbing Claws, Tail Detachment, Ant Strength, 360 Vision, Jaw Dislocation, Long Tongue, Jumping Legs, Scent-Tasting Tongue, Ripping Mandibles, Bioluminescence (10/12)

Offensive: Bite Strength, Formic Acid Launcher, Venomous Bite, Quick Charge, Gunpowder Creation, Strength Increase (6/6)

Defensive: Chitin Shield, Paralysis Cloud, Elastic Skin, Iron Skin, Flash (5/6)

Social: Pheromone Detection, Intimidating Hood (2/6)

Survival: Burrowing, Photosynthesis, Healing Properties, Antidote Properties (4/6)

Evolution: Greater Muscle Mass (Body)

Events: (New) First Steps]

"I've unlocked an event? Great." I clicked on the event, and a new tab appeared.

[Event: First Steps

Hunt your first large monster

Reward: Random ability]

"So events are like missions; they give you a goal and a reward… I guess now is as good a time as any to evolve."

…

Once again, I emerged from the cocoon, but this time without surprises and in a safe environment. I checked my status, and for the next offensive evolution, I needed twelve abilities of the same type. The evolution ability I obtained was Cloud, which lets me create large quantities of any substance my body generates, such as gunpowder or paralysis gas. The only downside is that it takes a long time to charge, and I need to stay still to use it.

"It seems all evolution abilities are good in one way or another, and these are just the first of their kind."

Since I fell asleep during the evolution process, and it seems to be daytime outside, I'll head out to explore.

…

Shortly after leaving, I noticed I was taller. I think I'm just over one and a half meters tall now. I suppose evolutions speed up my growth or something like that. Anyway, I encountered a herd of six female Kestodons and one male.

I noticed the wind was blowing from me toward them, so I wanted to test my new ability. I created a cloud of gunpowder that moved with the wind. It had a diameter of about four meters and slowly but surely drifted toward the herd. However, I realized two small problems at that moment.

First, it consumed more energy than I thought; I could barely avoid collapsing from exhaustion. Second, I had no way to ignite the gunpowder.

"Well… time to improvise." I grabbed a rock from the ground and, gathering all the strength I could, threw it at the center of the gunpowder cloud in the middle of the Kestodon herd, which had started to sense something was wrong.

When the rock hit the ground and created a small spark, I realized something I had previously ignored—I had no resistance to explosions. So, when the rock hit the ground and caused a small spark, I was sent flying several meters.

It took me several seconds to regain consciousness, and even then, my vision was blurry, and my ears were ringing. It took me about a minute to recover enough to walk, and what I saw was quite shocking.

Out of the seven Kestodons, only three remained: the male, who was missing half his body, and two females missing one or two limbs, with their bodies completely burned.

Knowing the explosion had caused a lot of noise and would definitely attract attention, I grabbed the male's body and one of the females' and ran away.

I genuinely appreciate all the support this story has been receiving; thank you so much. I would also greatly appreciate any comments, reviews, or recommendations you'd like to leave, as well as any worlds you'd like the protagonist to visit in the future.