Level up spree

The rabbit's fangs go through my scales like paper. The pain is immense but I keep constricting the one I've got ahold of. Another bite sinks into my flesh and finally, the rabbit stops moving in my deadly embrace. I let go of the corpse and face the other one.

The rabbit panics a little and pulls back. Then I discover that my wounds are already halfway closed. And the energy that my body uses to heal... Is it from the blood I extracted during blood-stealing constriction?

An ability that both deals damage and heals me! My joy is short-lived since the energy within me quickly fades and the rabbit has regained its courage.

I rush it at the expense of another wound and hit it with my lethal combo. As I had speculated my wounds begin to heal as that energy inside me is replenished. The rabbit alone can only struggle in my hold but when I look over to the centipede versus hawk battle I discover that most of the centipedes have been wiped out already.

This is certainly not going to be pleasant. A group of three hawks splits from the rest and dive bomb me. Thankfully the tunnel isn't all that high so they can't gain a lot of momentum.

I lift my head of the ground and tense my muscles to prepare for an optimal evasion. When they get close enough to me the hawks swipe at me with their claws in a grabbing manner. I manage to perfectly evade the first two by catapulting my body to the side but the third one manages to sink his claws into my scales.

I still have some healing energy left from the rabbit I just killed so I'm not too worried about the scratches but I have no way of dealing with avian opponents. The hawks repeat the same maneuver and I can feel my healing energy run out. I am frustrated by my inability to get them. On their next dive, I try to throw myself at them and sink my teeth into one of them.

They flap their wings and I fly past them. My frustration begins to mount as they dive at me again. I close my eyes in anger and bite the air in front of me in a threatening but useless manner.

I feel energy flow from my fangs and quickly open my eyes. A set of fangs made of reddish energy has appeared before me and bites down on one of the hawks' wings.

Is this like my old skill energy sword? It would be called energy fang now, right?

I don't have much time to think about my new skill since I'll never get a better chance than this one. I lunge at the hawk with an injured wing and hit it with my deadly combo. The bird struggles much more than my previous prey but I hold on.

The other two hawks cry out with anxiety and attack me frantically. I simply ignore them and concentrate on crushing the first hawk. Blood-stealing constriction makes me nearly invincible as long as the opponent can't inflict heavy damage on me in a short period of time.

I may be doing great but it's still painful. At least it's better than dying. As I think that, I latch onto one of the two remaining hawks that are clawing at me. The other one seems to notice the futility of their action and distances himself calling for the others.

It's a wonder that the adventurers haven't been woken up yet by all the noise. Though I guess they got used to their pets being noisy while dealing with random attacks from dungeon monsters.

Now the whole hawk group flies over. Thankfully, the hawk in my grasp dies before the group reaches me and Navi's sweet sweet voice intones into my mind.

My stats grow with every level and gods know I need everything I can get. The hawks keep a distance from me and fly circles around me. The sight of their two dead brethren beside me is likely making them act cautious. Not a bad thing for me.

I use energy fang to snap at them and give some superficial wounds while they hesitate to attack. Then they seem to come to a decision and swoop down at me all at once. Instantly I'm forced into a bloody battle where my only strategy for survival is to tank hits while constricting one bird after another.

By the end, my mind is barely functional anymore but I have emerged victories.

No way in hell, I didn't just suffer through all this to just retreat without getting anything out of this.

Time to go for those carriers! I sneak towards one of them and carefully inspect him. Preferably, I'd like to kill him without making a racket so I can go for the other one without the adventurers jumping out of that tent and skewering me.

After my recent level-ups, my stats are now high enough to make my sanguine boost have an effect. I activate it and coil myself around his neck tensing my muscles as hard as I can. Fortunately, my strength was sufficiently high to directly crush the carrier's windpipe.

I frolic over to the other carrier. As much as a snake can frolic anyway. Same procedure as before and the carrier dies without being able to make a sound.

<Congratulations, you have killed two carriers and received a staggering amount of EXP. You have leveled up twice. You have reached level 10, the first milestone in your journey of evolution. Please return to HQ for a meeting with Darwin to discuss your future evolution.>