One day of birth, First hunt

Seeing my surroundings I find myself in a green and dense forest, there are also many bushes and the sun is high, so I think than is time to eat, because I am getting hungry, I move aimlessly forward, and quickly I hear a screech a little far to my right, so I decide to follow it, what can go wrong?

I keep moving down the road, when I catch a peculiar smell, in fact, it matches the direction of the screech I hear, so I guess it must be the scent of the creature. I keep moving with my small body covered in dark spots, I guess when I grow up they will disappear, I wobble through the grass, following my instincts.

After arriving at the place of the squeak, I can't see anything... although now I hear many other less intense squeaks in this place, I wander around the place and hear that the squeak does not come from here, or rather, not from up here, but underground, I stand upright with my 4 legs while I look at the ground, trying to sharpen my hearing to find the exact place of the sound, if it is underground, it could be a rodent's nest, I try to find the entrance with my nose, but the whole place smells like rodents and other animals, it is impossible to find the entrance if I don't see them going in or out.

After standing on the exact spot of the soft squeaks, I unfold my short and sharp claws, and try to dig, hehe, I'm not bad at it, I quickly make a hole in the ground and after a few minutes I don't feel any more dirt under my paws. By the way, at this point the squeaks have stopped, I guess they detected me, without much thought I dive into the ground I dug, and going down, thanks to my natural night vision, I see a group of many baby mice, without fur, are stacked on top of each other, while they doze lazily, in front of them is a rat of my size, which has visible front teeth and also has black ears, I see the inside of the cave,it must be about 20 inch tall and 10 inch wide. Hmm, a bit big for these rodents, but who am I to say what their nest should look like?

At this point, I notice another peculiar smell, different from the one I noticed at the entrance. coming from the protective rat, I also notice that her stomach is a little swollen…Is it pregnant? I didn't know that this is pregnant rat smell.

"Screech!" The pregnant rat screeched as a warning, but I couldn't care less, it's just a pregnant rat, and I'm a lion, even though I'm a puppy, I'm still a lion.

"Grrr!" I growl back at her, moving forward a few inches every second. I unconsciously show my teeth, and when I approach the pregnant rat, the rat throws a scratch at me with its front claws, with a small jump backwards I dodge it, and run towards it, it's surprised by that action and back move to generate distance , I take advantage of that opportunity and jump towards her neck, remembering what the lion did to me, when I reach it, I land with my claws on her face, she screams in pain and bites my leg, -Arghh, I think that dislocated me a finger, but it won't let me go. I start scratching it face, and that makes her let go of me and get closer to her pup.

Hmph, this won't stay like this- I mutter in my mind, as I try to plant my paw on the ground, only to receive a stab of pain, rage filling me, as I look at the damn rat. Limping, I approach once more, this time determined to kill it for hurting me, the fucking king of the jungle.

-Screech!-the rat once again makes a warning squeak, but like before, I don't care, I turn around, and with my hind legs, I throw dirt in her face and it falls in its eyes, blinding it for a few seconds, at that moment I took the opportunity to run towards it, limping a little I approached the disoriented mouse, and bit it in the neck. In a few seconds, I could feel a jet of hot blood run down my neck... that brings back memories, Ignoring the deafening squeaks I squeezed my bite harder, ignoring the rat's nails that dig and tear my skin, I was 30 seconds in that state, until the mouse's body fell limp to the ground.

[You have killed the adult black-ears mouse level 5]

[You have gained 30 XP]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[XP needed to level up 5/20]

Hohoho, do deaths give me experience? This is interesting, I wonder what experience is for.

I was very tired, but I couldn't leave these pups out just like that, all this wasted experience because of my negligence, I think how I approach the baby rats, they are all very small… they are bald and sleepy, but I don't pay much attention and start to bite them with my snout, when system notifications start to suffocate me I just ignore them.

[You have killed the level 0 baby black ears mouse]

[You have gained 1 XP]

[You have killed the level 0 baby black ears mouse]

[You have gained 1 XP]

[You have killed the level 0 baby black ears mouse]

[You have gained 1 XP]

…

After slaughtering the litter I read the notifications, 16 XP I gained from the slaughter, 1 XP was given by each pup, so there were 16 babies and there was another pleasant surprise.

[Level up]

[XP needed to level up 0.5/40]

Hmm I've leveled up several times, I should check my status.

Demonic System Tax

[Main information]

Condition: Right front leg hurt.

Name: Undetermined

Species: Panthera leo (Level 3)

Age: Newborn

Gender: Male

Length: 16 in (head and body)

Height: 6 in (to shoulder)

Weight: 3 lbs

[Status]/[Hidden Details]

Health: 18

Stamina: ~100%

Mana: 0% (Not Compatible)

Strength: 0.1

Defense: 0.2

Agility: 0.1

Endurance: 0.2

Vitality: 0.1

Intelligence :1.2

[Titles]/[Hidden Details]

[The Devil's Champion] [Hunter's Command] [Unique]

[Skills]/[Hidden Details]

--

[Features]/[Hidden Details]

--

Hmm, I've gained some points for leveling up, but just in intelligence, I'd like to see the hidden details of the system and find out why the other stats didn't increase.

[Status]/[Details]

Health: 18

Stamina: ~100%

Mana: 0% (Not Compatible)

Strength: 0.122

Defense: 0.244

Agility: 0.122

Endurance: 0.244

Vitality: 0.122

Intelligence :1,222

[Each level grants +10% to all stats, once leveled up experience is worth half of that it was worth before]

Oh wow, that explains a lot, anyway, I'm hungry, I'll eat these little ones, they're like having a lot of snacks.

-

*sigh*, I've never eaten raw meat, but I'm so hungry that seeing the little ones makes me salivate, I lower my head near one of the babies and take a bite, surprisingly, it doesn't taste bad, I'd say, if not I have another option, I would gladly accept this meat, but if it is not necessary...

I eat the whole baby, due to how small they are, I also get another pleasant surprise.

[you have acquired 5 biomass]

Biomass? What is that for?... When I don't receive a response from the system, I just sigh inside, I guess I'll find out later. I keep eating and soon discover that I have accumulated the amount of 80 biomass. I wonder how much the mother mouse will give me, I think that, but I quickly discard the idea, because I filled myself with those snacks, I'll eat it tomorrow, because now... I'm very... sleepy, I yawn deeply and lie down where the pups were, I hope that nobody comes in here, I thought as I closed my eyes, zzzz.

….

The next morning I wake up and everything is the same as yesterday, only I can already smell a little peculiar smell coming from the rat's carcass, I guess it's already started to decompose, I'd better eat it as soon as possible.

I limp slowly towards the mother mouse to eat her, when I reach out and bite her, I notice that the meat is tough, and the body is stiff, yes, this is rigor mortis, I saw it several times when I was on duty at the army and in the organization. I manage to cut the meat with my sharp little fangs, I start hearing system notifications, it's annoying, so I immediately think to stop it and the sound stops, but now I hear a new sound, and it's a growl coming from the entrance of the cave that is 20 meters from me, in the hole, I see a large rat that covers the entire cavity of the hole, it also has bright red eyes, it seems furious, wait, don't tell me... this was his family , I think I screwed up, I already ate three bites of the mother of the little mice, each piece gave me 10 biomass, so I had high hopes for this meal. Tensing my whole body, I think of a way to face the creature that is rapidly approaching me, but seeing its size I immediately put that idea aside and look around me desperately looking for a solution to my problem, when I notice the hole that I dug to get in here. I approach the hole, and I jump to get out of this place, but I miss and fall back to the nest, -Ah, the pain makes me let out a low moan, the hole is a little high, I look in front of me and I notice that the big rat is very close to me, only 6 meters away, I try again, the pain floods me again, but I don't care and I hold on tight, I manage to climb slowly, only to feel a burning in the tail, did he pour acid on me?, I wonder internally, when I come out of the hole it's dark, it's night, but I can see perfectly, I see the tail and it's gone, I just see a stump on my butt.

Are you kidding me? I curse inwardly angrily, but I don't forget to walk away from this place, after all, that damn giant rat is down there.

Just when I think that, I see the damn rat trying to forcefully get out of the hole I made, it shakes the earth, and a mound of earth begins to form, it seems that you won't give up easily.

without much thought I run away to the undergrowth, I need to hide, from that I saw down there, that rat is faster than me.

[Hunter's Command]

I read the notification, and in that moment I remember the negative passive of the commandment, *sigh*, I hope the rat doesn't see me, I look back and the rat has managed to get its head out of the hole and is glaring at me, it is squirming to leave.

I don't have much time, I must lose track of him and go! Just when I think about it at that moment I hear a Thunderous scream behind me, I turn my head slightly to see what that was, and I see the giant rat covered with a red aura and also jumped out of the hole, half a meter his body, and his tail was one meter too, damn it, how could he reproduce with that mouse? I run frantically and turn to see the rat, the damn rat had already covered half the distance that separated us. this damn will catch up with me soon! I search for a solution in my head, while I look around, praying to find a hole to get into, but I couldn't see it, so I decide to climb a tree. Yes, I know what you're thinking, that lions can't climb trees, and let me tell you, you're a little wrong, just a little. Because lions rarely climb trees and if they do, they can hurt themselves later going down, so they can, but it's unnecessary and dangerous.

I dig my nails into the wood, and start to climb the tree very slowly.

-Screech!- I could swear that the sound was heard very close to me, I climb a little higher up the tree and suddenly I feel a burning sensation in the lower part of my body, I look down and… I have… nothing, literally.

My lower body is gone, my legs and part of my waist are gone, immediately I feel very weak, but the adrenaline is the only thing that keeps me hanging on.

Health: 3 (Critical Health Status, -0.2 health per second)

I check my health with the system and it's not too surprising how low my health is. It seems that I will really die again… I take a look at the mouse that has lost its red aura and only looks at me expectantly, anger fills me, but not towards the mouse, but towards me for wasting this second chance.

I let go of the tree and open my jaws to give him a good parting bite. I fall on the rat and bite its nose, the rat tries to get me out of its face, but I cling on no matter that it destroys my body with its nails, suddenly I hear a creaking sound through the air, I don't give it importance, because I already have one foot in another world, I close my eyes and tighten my bite, until I hear a Boom! And a system notification.

[You have killed the Level 8 Adult Berserk Black-Ears Mouse]

[You have gained 200 xp]

[level up]

[level up]

[Starting emergency evolution]

Those were the notifications I was able to hear before falling into a deep sleep…

[You have reached level 5, congratulations, you can evolve!]

-Hmm?-I ask myself confused, because now everything is dark, the only thing visible here are the words of the system, I feel very strange, as if I were…floating.

[The host is advised to choose their evolutionary path soon]

I was a little confused, but after the system's warning I prefer to leave my doubts for later and first think about the evolution.

[Panthera leo] (Advance)

[Grand Panthera leo]

[Panthera leo climber]

-oh?, so the improvements are a kind of… improvement of the race?, well, I can't waste time, let's see the details of each one.

[Panthera leo] (young)

Lion breed with the special characteristic "young", this characteristic is only available for small lion cubs that have managed to evolve and give them an advantage over their brothers, as they advance several steps on their way to adulthood.

[Grand Panthera leo]

Improved version of Panthera leo that improves the physical abilities of the individual, focuses on strength, agility and vitality

[Panthera leo climber]

Version of Panthera leo that has managed to embark on the path of climbing trees and structures, they have claws more oriented to this purpose, and they gain balance to facilitate the descent and ascent of them.

-Mmm, interesting is the least I can say, let's see let's do it for discard, the climbing version, it has its own, but it's not the style of a lion, I don't want to look like a leopard, living in trees, and riding its prey there, The young version of lion, it would be very advantageous for me at the moment, it also follows the evolutionary path of the lion, but, the big lion option has something special apart from the name, it improves the statistics, that is also advantageous. Uff this decision makes my head hurt.

[The host is advised to choose their evolutionary path promptly]

-Yes, yes damn it, I already heard, *sigh* I will do what my intuition tells me… I choose Great Panthera leo as my evolution.

[Understood, initializing evolution]

[Biomass has been detected in the host's inventory, would you like to see the features catalog to purchase for biomass?]

-yes- it is a pleasant surprise to know that biomass has utility, features, that is a somewhat broad concept, what do you mean for that?

[Biomass 110]

[1 attribute point: 50 biomass] (Passive)

[Buff Ligaments, +5% Speed: 100 Biomass] (Passive)

[Cutting Claws, +10% damage when attacking with claws: 105 Biomass] (Passive)

[Muscle Enhancement, +5% Strength: 100 Biomass] (Passive)

[Bite Enhancement, +10% Damage When Bite: 105 Biomass] (Passive)

-Woah, these options are… quite good, I would say that 1 point of attributes is quite useful, if I see that objectively, that is the best option currently, because my stats aren't very high, 1 point could double the stat, now the other options , are options that are better to have when you are already strong, since 5% of a high stat is better than 1 attribute point. Although I have a doubt, what does passive mean?

-[A passive is a quality or ability, which is applied automatically]

-oh, now I understand, I suppose that, if there are passive skills, there are also skills that are not automatic.

-[Yes, the host is right, there are active skills, which are the ones that must be used consciously by the host, the passive skills are housed in the "Features" section, and the active ones in "Skills"]

-Ok, that information is very useful, I guess I should choose quickly, Hmm, like I said, the best option currently is stat points, so I choose attribute points.

-[1 attribute point, 50 biomass] [Say ok if you want to use the biomass points]

"I want 2 attribute points," I quickly corrected.

-[2 attribute points, 100 biomass] [Say "Accept" if you want to use the biomass points]

-Accept

-[100 attribute points used] [You have obtained 2 attribute points] [Starting evolution]