Chapter 24: The Puddle Which Shouldn't Be There

Overjoyed I jumped in the air almost as if I had been celebrating, outsmarting my opponents.

It was then that I noticed a feeling like being watched from afar creeping up on me...

Startled I looked into the direction my intuition told me where it came from, but nothing was there... Nothing but rocks, dirt and creaks...

A notice popped up wanting to inform me by the advancement and increase of accumulated status.

Deciding it was saver to check with both my feet onto the groud, I jumped to the side and landing into the dirt head first.

Some of the dirt had been shoved into my mouth which is why I did my best to cough up as much as possible.

*cough* *squeak* *cough*

Disgusting... having all that dirt in my mouth...

As I came to my senses and had some time to calm down, I finally took the opportunity to check the notice windows.

[Due to enough accumulated experience [Baby Ragnoss lv 4] advances to and gains a level resulting in a experience leap. The user "Mira" is now [Baby Ragnoss lv 6].]

All the accumulated stress and damage that had been inflicted onto my body magically vanished as if it never had been there. At the same time it bevame real easy to move around as all my SP and MP seemed to have been replenished.

As I lost the track of time, my stomach pulled me bsck to reality, with a growl which was out of this world.

*Grrooowlll*

Embarrassed by sound it made I looked around me in the hopes no one heard the embarrassing noices it kept on making. Yet... no one was there...

Quickly I jumoed back on the plstform to fjnd the decapitated head and body of the salamander still laying where I had defeated it. The heat surrounding it had began slow cooking its body, I could see it began to roast ever so slightly.

As I had to chow down as quickly as possible to satisfy my hunger I turned up the heat with my flames. After serveral minutes the body looked well enough prepared to take a bite.

When I did, something magical happened!

My teeth sunk into the meat of the beast as I ripped off a small part of it to satisfy my hunger.

My mouth began to water as I recognized the texture and flavour of the meat, similar to back home... yet...

Far from it, The beast tasted like chicken, but with the texture of that of a medium rare steak.

Unable to hold back my hunger the stomach took the lead as I devoured the beast as a whole, not even leaving the meat on its head for the scavengers.

The only things left when I was done were most of its scales and the though parts which I couldn't pierce...

Man... I haven't enjoyed a meal in this world like this!

They say hard work will bear its fruits, but this time I hid the jackpot as it boar enough meet to last me serveral days!

My <Over-Eating> skill got kicked in and showed that my SP was simple doubled because of this.

As I had finished eating I opened my status window to dee if I had missed some reported advancements during the heat of the battle.

[Ragnoss lv 6

Name: Mira

Title: <Brutalize>

<Messenger of The Celestial Beasts>

Attributes:

HP: 320

MP: 490

SP: 124 (recovery rate 8,43 sp per second)

Armor: 24,5 (+5) (9,8% (+2%) damage reduction)

Physical ATK: 41 - 68

Physical DEF: 32 (+11,3%)

Magical ATK: 24,5

Magical DEF: 24,5 (+11,3%)

STR: 27 (+14)

DEX: 54 (+14) (+1)

VIT: 20 (+44)

INT: 35 (+14)

WIS: 35 (+14)

LUK: 15 (+31)

Attribute Points to spend: 0]

Skills:

Offensive Skills:

<Acid Conjuration lv 4>

<Bite lv 5>

<Bloodlust lv 4>

<Elastic Tongue lv 3>

<Fire Conjuration lv 7>

<Petrification Gaze lv 2>

<Scratch lv 5>

<Stealth lv 8>

<Tail Swipe lv 5>

<Camouflage lv 1>

Defensive Skills:

<Acid Resistance lv 5> (passive)

<Aura Body lv MAX> (passive)

<Burning Resistance lv 3> (passive)

<Explosion Resistance lv 2> (passive)

<Heat Resistance lv 4> (passive)

<Hard Skin lv 2> (passive)

<Poison Resistance lv 7> (passive)

Enviromental Skills:

<Climbing lv 4>

<Cold-Blooded lv 3>

<Heat Vision lv 1>

<Jinsokku lv 4>

<Jump lv 6>

<Night Vision lv 1>

<Observation lv 8>

<Over-Eating lv 3>

<Survivor lv 8>

<Telepathy lv MAX>

Skillpoints to spend: 49]

Is this for real?! I have gained so many skill levels that I practically doubled my points amount! Holy ****!

Not to mention the fact that I am making exponential growth compared to when I first transformed, or... Evolved? It was best to spend my points right away since I had the opportunity to do so, which is why I strenghtened my "Wisdom" and "Intelligence" preparing myself for any hardship which could come in my way. As one could never be to well prepared I checked my progress one last time, before I headed towards the place where I had encountered the unfathomable blob. 

It was dead quite other for the enviromental noices in the background. As I decended into the tunnel from with the entity came from I soon found thst the pathway had led me towards a small puddle.

Upon further inspection it seemed like your ordinary puddle or pond, but what struck me as odd was the fact of water being within a scorching hot area, the only scientific reason for this being here couldn't be found logical as the water needed to be far beyond their cooking point.

Or... Could it be...? A geiser, here? My curiosity got the better of me as I was unable to hold back my body from moving closer.

Knowing this was probably not a good idea,

I now stood in front of the puddle... 

If the puddle would indeed be scorching hot I would be better off burning the tip op my tail instead of putting in my head.

At least... That's what I thought at the time. 

Something inside the puddle was calling to me,

captivating my consiousness... still... unaware of what it was, I slowly inched my tail closer to the water.

I carefully made first contact with the water,

but the sensation I got from it made me even more confused... the water... it wasn't scorching hot like I thought it would be...

Huh?! What is this... something like this shouldn't be possible?! Right?! The water! It's cold!

Quickly I lowered my head to drink my fill of water as I was beginning to give in to the thirst and dehydration.

The second surprise came when I took my first sip of water.

This wasn't normal water, rather... couldn't it be?

Spring Water?! Positively surprised I began gulping down as much as needed, my <Over-Eating> skill also helped with this as my HP, MP and SP all got replenished while getting a bit extra for my reserves.

When I was finally finished replenishing my needs my curiosity began eating away at my consciousness once again. This time... since it did not hurt to put in my tail or mouth... I wanted to see what was in there.

As I couldn't hold back any longer I dipped my head into the seemingly harmless puddle.

But what I saw forever changed my vision of the world. What I saw... couldn't be real...

A whole bother world withing the enviroment of the water could be seen. Thriving with life!

All kinds of luminescence gave off a magical feeling to what I saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all...

A unfathomablely big creature stood face to face with me from the depths of the darkness.

Eyes as red as the morning sky, and theeth bigger than buildings, it roared at me quickly making a move. It was then I lifted my head out od the water and rushed away from the puddle only to feel the ground shake as the creature bashed its head against the small opening.

What... what, was that? Had I seen and found something which shouldn't be there?

It was then that I was ruthlessly reminded about how insignificant my existence really was... I had to stay strong, to survive and quickly find a way out!