Chapter 14- Friction and Growth

"A Lithoscale Lizard, huh? What should I name him?" Scanning his newest friend's body, Jared wonders aloud, pondering what name would be appropriate for the rocky lizard. 

"Ooh! I know! I know! Call him Dumbo, you know, because he's as dumb as a rock!" Cheerful as ever, Char gives her own input, simultaneously insulting the lizard. Apparently, his comment about her looking "tasty", pissed her off. 

"Puny thing, I will crush you!" His eyes glowing yellow, the lizard takes a step toward Char menacingly. Before he could get close, however, Char hopped back onto Jared's head, firing two webs toward his face, blocking his eyesight. 

"Haha, Dumbo! You can't see me, how will you crush me?" Taunting him, Char laughs, dancing as the lizard scrapes the web off his face with his claws. 

*Hisss-*

"Alright, stop you two. Char, be nice, he is our friend now. And you," motioning toward the lizard, Jared continues, "don't threaten to crush your friends, it's not nice." Forcefully mediating, Jared ignores their complaints that "they started it first." 

"Ah! What do you think about Drake? You know, because you're a lizard, and lizards are kind of related to dragons?" Proud of his simple idea, Jared asks the lizard before confirming with the System. 

"Hmm, I'm strong, dragons are strong… I am Drake!" Simpleminded as ever, it was obvious that Drake was more than happy with his new name.

[Confirmed, your newest companion name has been set as: "Drake."]

"Nice! With that out of the way, Drake, why did you want one of these so badly?" Picking up one of the few remaining blue crystals lying around, Jared sets it down in front of Drake, waiting for his response. 

His eyes glowing brighter than ever, Drake couldn't stop the drool from pouring out of his mouth. "I- my body wants it, makes me hungry looking at it." 

Unsatisfied by the answer, but unable to question Drake further than that, Jared pushes the crystal closer to the big lizard. "Alright, well you can eat that then." Noticing the shock and joy in Drakes' eyes, he immediately followed up, dampening his excitement. "But not for free, I'll need your help afterward." 

Watching Drake gulp down the crystal, Jared turns away, not wanting to watch the "mini-seizure" that was bound to follow. Hoping that Drakes' intelligence will improve afterward, Jared starts talking to Char.

"Alright Char, as we are now, there's no way that we can take on that colony of ants. Not to mention Drakes "siblings." We need to get stronger, and there's only one way that I know how." Starting his explanation, Jared tries to explain his reasoning to Char, hoping she could learn to understand the reason behind his decisions, someday even making some of her own. 

"Okay! How can we get stronger?" Unfortunately, it seemed that day wasn't going to be soon.

"Well, you've got three main skills: your webs, your venom, and your exoskeleton. For now, you've got to work on these skills, improving them as much as you can! We can wait on Drake for your exoskeleton skill, but for now, start making as many webs as you can, setting up traps, blocking exits to our cave, whatever you can think of. Meanwhile, as you set up as many webs as you can, try producing venom nonstop." Giving Char her simple instructions, Jared watches as she disappears down the cave, randomly spraying webs everywhere as a green fluid constantly leaks from her fangs. 

'Okay, Chars' working on her skills. While I wait for Drake to wake up, I'll work on my own.' Determined to increase his strength, Jared begins the process of practicing his skills, gradually raising their proficiency. From choosing different boulders to target with his acid shot, to crunching those same boulders with his new "Crushing Bite". Meanwhile, he also secreted pheromones all throughout the cave, leaving messages and threats, warning outsiders to not travel closer to the Mana Pool.

Due to their low level and proficiency, his "Crushing Bite" and "Minor Acid Shot" couldn't do much damage to the boulders at first. The acid bubbled and released steam into the air as the stone would turn black. While "Crushing Bite" would only chip off small pebbles from the boulders, not dealing large damage.

Luckily, neither of these two skills were actually weak, it was instead the boulders that were tougher than normal. Due to the high mana concentration in the air around the pool, the nearby cave walls and boulders were much tougher than normal. It was only the stone in direct contact with the liquid mana that was fragile from overexposure, hence Drakes' body weight being too much for the shoreline to handle.

Occasionally looking over at Drakes' unconscious, trembling body, Jared is surprised. 'Wow, I guess it takes longer for the crystals to work on a larger body. That does make sense though, it can't be easy improving the intelligence of sentient beings.' Making his own hypothesis, Jared takes the chance to name the crystals. 'How about Mind Shards? It's simple enough and quite on the nose.' 

He couldn't think of a way in which to improve his exoskeleton or petrification resistance on his own, so he planned to wait for Drake to wake up before testing another hypothesis of his. With his mana entirely exhausted, Jared received a sudden notification from the System, pleasantly surprising him.

[Due to over-expenditure, Mana Reserves have increased. 1/11.]

'I can increase my mana storage without skills or evolving?!' This new revelation only served to increase Jareds' determination to train harder. While waiting for his mana to recover, he decided to take a look at how his skills have improved, while checking out the descriptions for his more recent skill acquisitions.

[Pheromone Production* (Level 1)

7/10]

[Mutated Exoskeleton* (Level 2)

1/10]

[Hive Control* (Level 1)

4/10]

[Petrification Resistance* (Level 1)

1/10]

[Minor Acid Shot* (Level 1)

6/10]

[A skill brought about through the natural evolution of a species. Most commonly found in weaker species of ants, this skill can also be acquired by those of a higher species. By congealing toxic waste that is produced by the body, along with catalyzing this waste with mana, which is naturally acidic when concentrated, this congealed blob of toxicity can be launched out of the body at high speeds. Excelling at breaking down organic matter, this acid can also break down inorganic matter, although it is much less efficient. The strength and potency of the acid increase proportionally as the proficiency and level of the skill increase. This skill costs one mana per shot.]

[Crushing Bite* (Level 1)

4/10]

[A skill which can be acquired by any species with an affinity for the earth element. This skill imbues the earth element* into the jaws and teeth of the user, temporarily increasing the hardness and bite force. This increase makes it easier to both pierce and crush the target, as well as making the gathering of resources much easier. Bite force and hardness increase proportionally as the proficiency and level of the skill increase. This skill costs one mana per two seconds of activation.]

[Earth Element]

[One of the four foundational and most common elements that can be found throughout the world. This element focuses on hardness, resilience, and power. While imbued into an organism or object, this element can increase the defense and brute force of said organism/object. It is rumored that the four foundational elements are highly related and compatible, but this has yet to be proven in practice.] 

'Earth Element? Affinity? System, can you show me my affinities?' Happy with the quick growth of his skills, Jared is puzzled by the sudden mention of elements and affinities.

 [Error- System can not provide such information. Not enough data on elements or affinities to make proper deductions.]

'Well, I guess the System isn't omnipotent. I wonder though, my "Minor Acid Shot" has got to be water-based, right? I mean, it's a liquid after all, but why doesn't the skill mention anything about that?' Deciding to put this to the side for now, Jared notices that Drake's body has finally stopped shaking, signifying the end of his "transformation."

'Alright, it's time for an intense training montage!'