First Fight

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The distant echo of dripping water resounded steadily as Michael kept up his pace through the cave. The pitter patter of his tiny feet kept him company through his journey.

[Growth Energy has reached the required amount to evolve your Yellow Scaled Lizard to its final stage. Begin evolution process?]

Michael stopped in his steps as the notification popped up.

'Oh yeah. The energy from the Dark Bat must have finished processing.' He called up his status bar to check out how much growth energy he had.

[Yellow Scaled Lizard]

-Rank - F

-Growth Stage - 2/3

-Overall Energy Level - 50 units

-Growth Energy - 150 units

-Growth Energy required for evolution - 150/110

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'Hmm, alright. Begin evolution process.' He mentally commanded. A flood of energy suddenly poured into his body, threatening to overflow. This was the growth energy that he had accumulated over the course of the day. Normally, an overflow of energy wasn't possible, but due to the special circumstances that he was in where he was able to accumulate growth energy and evolve instantly, the channeling of all that growth energy made it feel like the energy in his body was going to overflow.

Light swirled in Michael's vision as his body began to undergo a qualitative change. His body doubled in size and his scales flashed. They grew rigid for a second, raising from his skin and giving him a menacing look before slowly settling back in place.

This change took just a few scant moments before subsiding. Michael's scales shone with a golden luster in the dim lighting. His body felt full of energy. Just from the feeling alone, he was almost tempted to return to the river an take on the remaining Dark Bats at once. He quickly squashed that thought before it could gain a firm footing in his mind. He could still remember that the only reason he was able to kill one of them off so easily was because the circumstances were in his favor. The bats would most likely be more alert now and would easily spot him.

[Evolution complete. Basic Ability acquired - Rigid Fortress.]

Michael nodded his head as he took in the information concerning this Basic Ability. The Rigid Fortress sacrificed all mobility, turning his scales into pointed tips that inflicted damage back on any enemy that sought to physically hurt him. While this might sound like a decent ability, the downsides were also quite glaring.

Firstly, sacrificing mobility might not necessarily save him in some situations, like when he might be facing stronger enemies that could simply crush him.

Another point was that, even as he inflicted damage upon any enemy that tried to inflict physical harm on him, part of that damage was reflected back on him. Depending on the situation, this downside could render the ability useless.

Lastly, was the point that non-physical attacks like the Sonic Scramble unique to the Dark Bats could entirely bypass the Rigid Fortress.

With these points, the Rigid Fortress was only a situational ability that could not be used willy-nilly.

After getting familiar with the new found powers of his body, Michael continued on his path, scurrying through the darkness like a yellow flash. He could tell that he was very close to his goal.

Soon enough, he emerged at the end of the long tunnel. The tunnel opened up to a massive cave. It was so large that the time it took to traverse the whole cave in his lizard form could be compared to the time it took him to travel here from the entrance of the tunnel where he spawned!

'Haha, I've finally gotten here! Took long enough.' Michael did a small jubilatory dance, wagging his tail around an lifting his feet in awkward motions. He soon got himself under control as he thought of what he should do. If things were as he remembered, then the treasure he sought should lie at the far end of the cave.

Just as he took a step forward, he heard a sharp hiss sting his ears. He turned to his left to see a group of Yellow Scaled Lizards closing in on him. He turned to his right to see the same thing. He was being cornered by a tribe of Yellow Scaled Lizards!

All of a sudden, his senses as a Yellow Scaled Lizard flared. His instincts urged him to turn forward. As soon as he did, the first thing he saw was a purple serrated tongue darting his way. He acted quickly, using his powerful limbs to push himself to the side.

The action most probably saved his life because as soon as he dodged, the serrated tongue struck his former position, firmly embedding itself in the ground. The tongue pulled itself out of the ground in a slow manner, making it look deceptively soft. In truth, that tongue was strong enough to break through Michael's scales at any time!

Michael's eyes followed the tongue back in the direction it led, coming to a stop on a lizard that was roughly the same size at him, albeit a bit smaller. Along this lizard's back ran a jagged line. It was obviously a breech in its hardy scales which it had gotten in a past battle.

"Hiss-" The lizard hissed menacingly at him, beckoning him to attack it. Without thinking too much, Michael could already figure out what was going on. He had trespassed onto the territory of this Yellow Scaled Lizard tribe and its leader was challenging him. If he managed to defeat it, he would automatically become the new head of the tribe.

He was surrounded on all sides by the lizards so he had no choice but to fight the tribe's head. All in all, if he considered his abilities, it wouldn't be too difficult to take down the lizard. They were both top tiered lizards, but he had the advantage in abilities.

Michael's main tongue stuck to the top of his mouth as he exposed his serrated tongue. The purple tongue caught the dim light as a drop of purple liquid dripped from the tip of his tongue. The tribe head hissed at him once more before lashing its tongue at him once more. Michael dodged, lashing his own tongue at his opponent at the same time.

The tribe leader acted accordingly. After honing its senses through numerous battles, it had become incredibly sensitive to every move its opponent made. Its serrated tongue twisted midair, tailing after Michael.

Michael could only barely dodge the last minute move, scrambling for purchase on the slippery rocks beneath his feet.

'Damn. I underestimated it.' His tiny face scrunched up, displaying his annoyance. His serrated tongue hung before him, swaying ever so slightly. 'Seems I'll have to go all out.' With a final thought, Michael sent his tongue lashing out at the tribe head once again. like before, it swiftly dodged, only that this time, a surprise was waiting from it.

Screech!

A high pitched sonic wave slammed into the lizard tribe head's mind, instantly throwing it into chaos. Immediately after, a dark purple serrated tongue tore through the scales of the lizard, digging into soft flesh.

It shrieked out loud, flailing its tongue and tail randomly as it felt poison run through its veins like hot lava. Another lash of Michael's serrated tongue sent it tongue plunging straight through the back of the tribe head, pinning it to the wet ground.

Its tongue lashed out, striking the ground all around it, tying itself around Michael's tongue and untying it right away to continue lashing at its surroundings. This went on for some time, accompanied by then high pitched screeching of the lizard.

As they were of the same kind, the lizard had developed quite a resistance to the poison that was unique to its kind. That, coupled with the several times it ha been poisoned during former battles gave it an immunity that was above average. Not even Michael thought he could beat it in terms of immunity.

Soon enough, the struggles of the lizard grew muted and it succumbed to Michael's poison. Michael walked over to the corpse of the lizard and placed a foot over its head, triumphantly showing off his victory.

The surrounding lizards all raised their heads and screeched to the sky, acknowledging their new leader.

[Milestone requirement reached - First Fight.]