4 Chapter 4 - Exploring one’s limits

Delving Into what seemed to be the endless hunt for food, Spencer came across a large variety of creatures, some small, while others so large that their steps alone could shake the ground. There were some truly massive creatures out there.

He couldn't help but think about how he would easily outmatch these humongous creatures in strength soon enough. Will his steps cause the earth to shake as well? He was excited just by the mere thought!

To pass the time, he went around hunting the smaller critters, consuming them to make himself just a tiny bit stronger every time he did so, as well as to gain the traits they had accumulated. He had eaten the first couple to quell his hunger, but he mostly stuck to assimilating them into himself.

He had benefited a lot from absorbing these creatures, gaining a noticeable speed boost; he had even adopted a more scaly appearance due to killing another one of those smaller predators he killed first.

One of the first few creatures he came across was a snake, however, calling that monster just a simple snake would be an incredible understatement. Despite its appearance showing it to be one, its sheer size alone contradicted that fact, it was over hundreds of times the size of its modern-day counterpart.

When Spencer had first seen the monstrous creature, he was greatly intimidated, after all, it was much different from that thing he had fought when he first arrived. The snake did not only dwarf it in size but in sheer strength as well, fighting it was the last thing that was on his mind.

But, despite his unwillingness to face this thing, he had no choice as the damn monster looked in his direction and noticed him.

At first, it didn't move, but not too long after spotting its prey, it began to rapidly slither towards Spencer. This had startled him, and before he could do anything it wrapped itself around him, trapping him as it slowly wrapped itself tighter and tighter around his body, squeezing the life out of him.

Spencer was trapped, unable to move, barely able to breathe as it just kept getting tighter, he was becoming frantic, trying to shake himself loose. Sadly, this did nothing but speed up the inevitable.

As a last-ditch effort, Spencer began using his newly acquired battle garment to claw his way out from within the creature's entanglement. This proved fruitless as the scales were too thick for him to puncture. He even used his fangs to bite into it in an attempt to get it to loosen its grip even if it was just a little.

*CRACK!*

Ultimately the sound of bones breaking could be heard.

To Spencer's dismay, the grip on him only tightened. He could feel his lungs collapsing, and as his heart was pierced by one of his broken bones, crushing him in the process, he breathed his last, leading to his second death in this new harsh world.

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.

.

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Some indeterminate amount of time later, Spencer woke up laying on the ground, memories of what happened began to flood his mind, causing him to recollect himself and begin to examine his new body.

"Another one to add to the list of things to kill…" Spencer growled to himself as a cruel smile crept on the edges of his lips.

Picking himself up off the floor, he began to check his body to see what adaptations he had received from his death by the massive snake.

Focusing on his hands, he noticed that his claws had changed, becoming sharper, while also gaining some length as well. His claws seemed to also become more jagged, greatly increasing his cutting potency.

He also noticed that his skin was much thicker than it was before, gaining a more rock-like appearance, rather than the soft look of normal human skin. It also became a slightly darker shade than his previous skin tone.

He also noticed that he was slowly sinking into the soil.

"Hmm... Did I become heavier as well?" He asked in his confusion.

Approaching a nearby tree that seemingly had the same thickness as an elephant's leg he extended his claws.

*SLASH!*

The tree was sliced cleanly into five sections, matching each claw.

*THUD!*

The separated tree trunks fell to the ground at the moment, as he easily, effortlessly cut through.

"Damn, that's incredible!" Spencer whistled in amazement at how sharp his new claws had become.

Remembering the snake, Spencer began to grin.

"Time for round two!" He exclaimed.

Planting his feet, he jumped onto the branch of a nearby tree and began searching for the bastard that had just killed him.

After a while Spencer had found the snake, it was coiled up in a spiral position, appearing to be soundly sleeping after his fulfilling meal.

Seeing this, Spencer jumped down and landed in front of it. The snake seemed to sense this, as it uncoiled itself and looked at Spencer menacingly.

"Boo!" Spencer shouted with the grin still plastered on his face.

Annoyed at the weakling in front of it, the snake launched itself at Spencer bearing its sharp teeth with its mouth agape. However, before it could bite its prey, Spencer jumped back just as it snapped its mouth shut.

Satisfied by his reaction time, Spencer rushed at the monster.

*SLASH!*

He slashed at the snake, leaving a gash on its torso. This caused the snake to begin bleeding profusely.

With visible confusion at the sudden turn of events, the snake backed away from Spencer, not understanding how the prey he just consumed had come back, stronger than before.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Spencer began walking up to the snake with a menacing grin.

Hearing this seemed to have angered the creature greatly, despite its inability to understand Spencer's words.

With a loud hiss, the snake threw itself at Spencer, baring its fangs, hoping to cause him a fatal wound. Sadly, in the eyes of Spencer, the snake might as well be moving in slow motion towards him.

He took a small step to the side, completely evading the creature's assault. As its head passed him, he already had his claws raised into the air.

*SLASH!*

A clean slice cut the snake's head off.

*THUD!*

The head landed on the ground with an audible thud. The snake's eyes dimmed as it slowly succumbed to its inevitable demise. It died unable to understand how it's prey came back so much stronger than before.

Seeing this Spencer smiled, the last thing the sane had seen before the life left it was the face of his prey grinning at it uncontrollably.

Once the snake had moved on, Spencer walked up to its head. As he touched it, it began to liquefy and fuse with him. While this was happening he walked over to the rest of the body and absorbed it as well.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP*

The sound of Spencer's heartbeat could be heard, getting louder and louder.

His body began to heat up, glowing red as steam began to emit from the pores of his body.

*GRUNT*

He felt discomfort all over his body as he began to grow taller. His height increased, his bones became bigger and stronger. His muscles expanded then condensed, his skin became rows and rows of brownish scales, appearing to be unbreakable by normal means. His eyes soon became slits, replicating that of a reptile.

Trying to recollect himself, Spencer examined his changes and became amazed by the boost he gained by absorbing the monstrous creature.

He was now over 9 feet tall, dwarfing over his previous size of 6 feet.

He walked up to a nearby rock about his height. Picking it up with shocking ease, placing it in his right arm, then throwing it full force into a tree a few meters away from him.

*BOOM!*

The rock collided with the tree, causing it to collapse on the ground.

Amazed by his newfound strength, Spencer was speechless. He looked at the splinters that just a moment ago was a proudly standing tree, now shattered remains on the solid ground.

Positioning himself, Spencer launched himself forward, soon vanishing into the deeper parts of the jungle.

Still searching for the giant creature that had killed him when he arrived.

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