Curiosity For The Unknown

'So that's why he is different from the other deers, that guy has probably already undergone his third evolution!' Matthew thought in his mind while nodding his head.

Matthew then looked at the other deer that he had killed earlier by crushing its neck bones, the notification about the deer's death already sounded on Matthew's mind after he heard the cracking sound from the bones breaking, but Matthew was too focused on the aura-using deer, that he didn't pay attention to it.

'I wonder what level that deer is, system, can you please open the notification log?'

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Notification Log

-Level 15 Brown-Tailed Deer Killed-

-Level 11 Brown-Tailed Deer Killed-

-Congratulations, you've reached Level 15, you can now evolve-

-Level 13 Macaque Monkey killed-

-Level 11 Macaque Monkey killed-

-Level 13 Macaque Monkey killed-

…

...

-Level 14 Macaque Monkey killed-

-Level 14 Macaque Monkey killed-

-Congratulations, you've reached Level 14-

-Level 15 Porosus Crocodile Killed-

-Level 13 Porosus Crocodile Killed-

-Congratulations, you've reached Level 13-

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Matthew gave the whole list a quick glance, before looking at the top of the list to see the level of the other deer.

'The other guy is only at level 11, and it didn't seem the deers were able to use aura ability even at level 11. Or maybe I killed it so quickly that it didn't know what happened before it died.'

'That level 15 deer earlier is really something else though, its reflexes and intelligence are way above the other deers that I've met before.'

Matthew then looked in the direction of where the other surviving deers ran and it led to another part of the forest where Matthew had never explored before.

'There are 3 other deers who ran away earlier, but I guess that they're also maybe above level 10 on average? Does that mean the deeper I go into the forest, the stronger my opponents will be?'

'But the bear in the opposite direction from this part of the forest is clearly way stronger than this deer, how does this forest work exactly?'

Looking at the unexplored part of the forest, Matthew wonders,

'If I go deeper, will I meet another wolf pack that is stronger than before? Or will I meet level 25 deers that are so big that my current whole body is only as big as one of its legs? What else is inside the forest…?'

Matthew had the urge to just barge in swinging and see all the interesting things inside the forest could offer with his own eyes, but Matthew was fortunately smart enough to not do that since he knew there would be dangers included if he decided to do that.

Matthew had already traveled the forest a little, and although it was only a small little portion of the forest, he already met a group of monkeys that clearly had the capabilities to end his life if Matthew underestimated them. Matthew had also met snakes that could detect his whereabouts and it also had its own venom that was not any less dangerous than the spider's venom. Matthew had also met a bear that could chop down trees in a few hits. Matthew met all of these things from only exploring a small portion of the forest.

Even Matthew couldn't think of what dangers he would meet if he decided to carelessly barge in without being careful.

The level 15 deer earlier was only a small little taste of what the forest could offer, and Matthew thought of it as a teaser of what he should expect if he does go deeper into the forest.

His fight earlier with the level 15 deer served as a little bit of an eye-opener for Matthew. Matthew knew that he could fight these level 15 deers one on one anytime, and he could even win without using his aura ability at all.

But that's only the case if there is only one level 15 deer. If the whole pack of deers is level 15 on average, then Matthew has to revert back to his old methods of waiting for the perfect moment before using sneak attacks if he wants a guaranteed, sure-fire way to win against a group of level 15 deers.

'Heck, I could even meet level 20 boars if even the deers have reached level 15!'

After considering all the available factors, Matthew decided to not go into that direction of the forest yet, he wanted to know if he went past the bear's territory, will he meet stronger creatures or weaker creatures.

Because his hypothesis for the situation regarding the forest is that the deeper you go inside the forest, the stronger the creatures you will run into. But the appearance of the bear in the opposite direction is making Matthew's hypothesis somewhat wrong, and he wanted to see it for himself.

'But that is a problem for tomorrow. I haven't eaten anything since I woke up from my third evolution, and I'm so hungry that I could maybe eat a pack of wolves in one go!'

'Wait, with my appetite continuing to double after each evolution, I might really be able to eat a pack of wolves in one sitting…I could even eat 2 deers back to back before, I don't think these two deers will be enough to fill my stomach now...'

'It's no use to think about it, let's eat them first!'

Matthew then proceeds to start his lunch for the day by starting from the level 11 deer. With his bigger mouth, it only took Matthew about much or less 10 minutes to finish eating the level 11 deer.

And the level 15 deer was only eaten after he finished with the level 11 deer because Matthew kind of hoped that the level 15 deer meat will have a higher quality compared to the level 11, but Matthew was quite disappointed to find that the level 15 deer meat tasted pretty much the same with the level 11 deer meat after he took his first bite.

But after taking a few more bites out of the level 15 deer meat, Matthew started to feel that the meat actually felt slightly different 'Wait, maybe the level 15 deer meat does taste a little bit juicier than the level 11 meat! Or maybe it's all only my brain playing tricks on me because I hoped that it would taste better…'

Matthew kept on taking more bites and chewing the meat with his eyes closed to focus more on his sense of taste. Matthew tried to focus hard on remembering the exact texture of the level 11 meat and the level 15 meat actually feel different for him.

'I'm pretty sure they are different, but what effect does it give me, and is the tastier meat more beneficial for me?'

'Well, I have no way to prove all that, but at least I will be able to know how much bionutrients I get from eating them. Will I get more bionutrients from eating higher leveled creatures?'

Matthew then finished eating both of the deers before saying,

'System, open the info tab please!'

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Name: Matthew

Race : Chameleon Chimera

Level : 15

Bionutrients : 782

Monster Data Collected:

-Common Wandering Spider (100%)

-Brown-Tailed Deer (100%)

-Lupus Wolf (100%)

-Scrofa Boar (12%)

-Porosus Crocodile (100%)

-Boa Dendroaspis (100%)

-Macaque Monkey (100%)

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Ignoring the monster data section, Matthew looked straight at his new race name and the bionutrients he got from eating the 2 deers.

'It seems that my race changed from Altered Veiled Chameleon into Chameleon Chimera, well I guess when I think about it, the only remaining chameleon parts on my body are a pair of eyes, the long tongue, tail, and the color-changing skin. And there are even 4 different animal body parts on my body, it does make sense that I'm more of a chimera than just an 'altered' chameleon.'

'It's not something to be sad about though, God clearly gave me the special evolutionary feature for me to do this, and even though I might not look like a chameleon at all in the future… or even now, I will never forget my chameleon roots.' Matthew thought as he put his right hand on his left chest.

'Alright, enough with the identity crisis Matthew, don't let it make you forget the fact that you got more bionutrients than you're supposed to!'

Matthew counted the bionutrients that he just got earlier and the leftover from the third evolution, the leftover was 11 bionutrients while the 2 deers he ate earlier gave him 771 bionutrients. Which is more than he should have gotten!

Matthew remembered that one deer gave him about 350 to 360 bionutrients, but if he divides 771 by 2, then that means each deer gave him about 385 bionutrients which is way over 360! Although 25 bionutrients didn't seem like a lot. Matthew could get an extra 100 bionutrients from eating 4 deers.

'Then the theory about higher leveled creatures giving me more bionutrients is confirmed although the difference is not that significant, they are still quite considerable in the long run.'

'And that's it for today's math session! I was too caught up in testing the limits of my new body's raw physical strength that I forgot to also test out the aura abilities.'

Leaving the 2 deer carcasses, Matthew climbed up a tree before he started swinging back to his nest because it is the only place that he felt was safe enough for him to mess around and test if there's a change in his new aura ability after the evolution.

Matthew was actually not quite sure about his chameleon abilities since instead of the scales that he used to have is now turned to crocodile scutes.

Although the system had reassured him that the chromatophores that are used to change his scales color is already added to the crocodile scutes and Matthew already check them out and they are indeed working just fine in changing color, Matthew didn't want his activation speed to be nerfed and training them again will take some more time.

At last, Matthew first started with the wolf's aura ability because its activation sequence wouldn't change much after the third evolution.

Matthew still needed to channel the aura only from his head to cover his whole body just like before. And the result is quite satisfying for Matthew because it only takes him 3 seconds longer than last time because Matthew's size increase also affected how much area the aura has to cover to activate the ability.

Now for the moment that Matthew was quite nervous about, he started slowly by using the same visualization as before, where the aura was only controlled to freely move out of his body without much control.

And the result is, although already expected by Matthew, it still annoys him nonetheless. The activation time is now bumped up to about 3 seconds from the initial 1 second.

But the good thing is, Matthew could somewhat guess what happened to his body. Before his third evolution, the chameleon body parts are the majority in Matthew's body, including his whole body to his tail and his 4 limbs are all chameleon body parts. But now that they belong to other animals' body parts and the aura that was traveling through those animal body parts didn't help activating the aura ability. To activate the chameleon's aura ability, Matthew's aura has to travel through the chromatophores that, fortunately, also covered all his body.

Matthew then tried again for the second time. This time, he didn't use the usual visualization, but instead, he visualizes the aura to only go through the chromatophores on his body rather than the actual body parts that belonged to other animals.

And the result elated him! The 3 seconds time suddenly lessened by a second. With only this change in visualization, Matthew shaved off a full precious second to the activation time, and with more practice, Matthew is sure able to bring back the activation time to the initial 1 second prior to the third evolution.