Training 1

I awake in a hurry, ready to start the day. Today is not a day to Explore like I have been, but a day to hunt. My physical stats have started to fall behind my mental stats by a large league, though magic is over powered if I have to get into physical combat I would be screwed.

My goal for today is to level up! I quickly go find some basic field mice which are easily eaten with my superior stamina, but I only get 30 EXP in total. I need something bigger to make any real gains. I still drool thinking about that sitting duck of a tortoise back there. If only I could get something like that again, without the whole Giant turtle thing going on of coarse.

I start to go through the forest in search for something bigger and I find it. I killed a bear awhile back and though I haven't seen many since I can clearly see one a bit off from my main camp. This little bugger is intruding on this snakes territory, who does he think he is, the Giant Bear Guardian of the forest. I doubt thats even possible seeing as how stupid bears are. After a little bit of reconnaissance I can clearly tell that the bear is looking for food.

I climb up into a tree and quickly start to prep my mana ball, but after a few seconds I get an idea. The Energy Manipulation ability had more than one form, there was spike and wall as well.

Spike: Turns your mana into a spike that can be used to attack

Wall: Turns your mana into a wall that can be used to defend.

Maybe that's why I'm not getting any level ups in Energy Manipulation, because I haven't even been using the entirety of the ability. I slowly prep a spike, though it takes me a little bit longer since it's my first time using the spell I still get it done in about 2 minutes. I see this blue mana spike appear right in front of me and then after I finish forming it, it blasts off at lightning pace, much faster than the sphere. The spike penetrates thick into the back of the bear leaving a nasty looking gash as I ready myself for physical combat.

Though this bear is injured that doesn't mean this is gonna be easy. My agility has been lowered by quite a bit, and that means it will be quite a bit harder to land any hits. The Bear turns around in fury as it start to bellow and move forward. I quickly activate stealth and try to slip away and behind the bear to see if I could get a bite on the wound I already cause. After a bit of preparation i'm in position. I lunge forward but something surprised me greatly. A thin layer of stone covered the bear, almost like protective armor. This protective layer greatly reduces the effect of my bite, but I barely manage to break through to the wound. After locking on to the wound I let my poison do the work.

After a few moments the bear starts to feel woozy and starts swinging me around. He hits me a few times against a tree then does something I hadn't even thought about. The bear laid down. Directly on top of me. A crunching feeling came as I felt the oxygen being squeezed out of me. 'GET OFF OF ME YOU BIG FAT BEAR'. I was angry now. After a few moments I realize the bear is dead from the poison. But I'm still stuck underneath him. After a lot of biting and some eating I manage to get out from underneath the bear and look at the system notification.

<Congratulations user on successfully defeating Tier 3 Stone bear LV 12, you have been awarded 120 EXP, 300% bonus addition , total amount of EXP gained is 360>

<Congratulations on leveling up to level 8>

Yes, I leveled up. But that's not enough, I need to level up a few times if I want to fight in a physical battle again. Seriously that fight was so exhausting and I only fought a little bit. The only thing that has been saving me is my poison and that won't work all the time. After putting the two AP points into Agility I leave the 1 Evolution point for later. Its time to rest and then its time to hunt. After I finish resting and testing out the spike spell a couple of times I get a notification.

<Congratulations user has leveled up Energy Manipulations to level 2>

Yes! I quickly check the skill to see how much it improved by.

Energy Manipulation LV 2:

This skill allows the user to use mana in various ways in which the user imagines. The most basic manipulations require 8 mana. Leveling up allows decrease in mana and increase in ways of control.

Current controls known:

Ball: Turns your mana into a spherical orb that can be used to attack or defend.

Spike: Turns your mana into a spike that can be used to attack

Wall: Turns your mana into a wall that can be used to defend.

YES!! This is just perfect for combat. I can now test how the Mental Boost ability works with Energy Manipulation. It should make magic actually viable during combat. I meditate a little bit and then head out on the hunt once more. I move out to the forest for a little exploring and hunting. After a while I get this ominous feeling as if someone is watching.

I activate stealth as I dash through the forest. The feeling almost feels to be stronger, I start to feel a little bit of vibration in the ground as I steal a glance behind me. A burly human with no shirt on is charging at me as if his life depends upon it. His speed far out paces any other creatures I have seen in this forest. I try to move forward as fast as possible but he starts to catch up.

I realize that he his right behind me. After activating Mind Boost I start casting mana wall trying to see it work, though I never use it I cast if quickly with Mind Boost activated. A large wall appears in front of him, which caught him completely off guard as he dives face first into the barrier. He hits it and stumbles back, a red mark on the front side of his body after that high speed collision. He falls on his butt and looks dazed at the blue energy wall.

After a few minutes I make it into a hiding spot and look at the notifications I got from the system during the chase. It was a close call I ought to be more careful when I'm going through the forest, I not only have to worry about strong beasts, but I also have to worry about those freakishly fast humans.

<Congratulations you have leveled up Mental Boost to LV 2>

<Congratulations you have leveled up Stealth to LV 3>

Nice I check out the upgrades and nod in satisfaction, the only way to level up these skills is to push them to there limits and it seems that's what I did with hose two skills. I rest for a few hours and head out once more, this time being incredibly careful of any humans lurking about. One things for certain though, those humans are hunting snakes, and even though I used to be a human, I'm a snake now, and that means those humans can only be trouble with me. They need to be dealt with sometime sooner or later.

After a crawl through the forest I see another red energy signal with my infrared vision. It seems some type of bug I haven't fought yet. A little while longer and I find a huge Beetle with Steel like pincers slowly traveling through the forest. I look for an opening in the shell of this thing but find none as I slowly prep a spike to attack. The spike goes and pierces through the exoskeleton of the beetle. A large hole remains as the creature shrieks and swivels viciously. The beetle darts to a nearby bush and starts mangling it with it's pincers. This creature holds surprising power in those pincer as it rips the push and wood around it to shreds.

I quickly position myself behind the beetle and make a dashing attack and quickly dig into it's flesh. After a few minutes the beetle is dead assassin style as I enjoy a good meal and a notification from the system.

<Congratulations on killing a Tier 3 Giant Beetle LV: 17, you have gained 170 EXP, 300% bonus addition, total amount of EXP gained is 510>

Dang that beetle was pretty juicy for sure. How the heck could that thing be such a high level when it was so much easier than the bear? Maybe it's because the exoskeleton, but up against my magic, that puny exoskeleton is nothing.

I go home and enjoy a nap before looking at my status.

<The Evolution System>

Name: Alex

Level: 8 (590/1000)

Species : Intelligence New Born Snake (Tier 2)

Bloodline: none

HP 92/120

MP 0/10

SP 9/40

<Stats>

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Endurance: 5

Intelligence: 22 ( +10% casting speed)

Wisdom: 15

Willpower: 14

AP: 0

<Evolution>

Infrared Vision: LV 3

Stealth: LV 3

Dash: LV 1

Climbing: LV 1

Venom Strike: LV 2

Improved Venom: LV 1

Iron Jaw: LV 1

Sharpened Teeth: LV 1

Recurved Teeth: LV 1

Energy Manipulation: LV 2

Meditation: LV 1

Mental Boost: LV 2

Mental Strength: LV 1

Mental Speed: LV 1

Forest Guardians Candidate: LV MAX

The Great Turtles Disciple: LV MAX

Evolution Points: 1

<Quests>

*Exploration* Completion Rate (17%/100%) 1 weeks and 6 days remaining before time expires

I quickly open up the Evolution menu to spend my point.

<Evolution Menu>

Tough Scales LV:1 / cost 1

Evasive Movement LV:1 / cost 2

Skin Shed LV:1 / cost 3

Vicious Bite LV:1 / cost 3

Mana Efficiency LV:1 / cost 5

Mana Absorption LV1 / cost 5

Tunneling LV:1 / cost 5

Steel Bite LV:1 / cost 5

Mana formation LV:1 / cost 5

Gliding LV:1 / cost 10

Steel Fangs LV:1 / cost 10

Only two new abilities, and all of the new abilities just keep getting more and more expensive. What are these shenanigans system?!?! Well I guess I'll spend it on the only one I can buy, Tough Scales, all it does is prevent some real minor damage. I quickly lower my head to rest, I dream about the one thing that matters right now. Getting Stronger!