First Form: Yellow Scaled Lizard

Swish!

A sharp and pointed serrated tongue darted through the dark, moving at a very fast speed.

"Squeak-!" A muffled scream sounded through the confines of the cave as a small rodent was pinned to a wall. A yellow scaled lizard emerged from the curtain of darkness, walking into the light that was provided by glowing crystals that were scattered randomly around the the path.

The rodent's struggle slowed, eventually stopping as the life was drained from it at a rapid pace. The serrated tongue that was wedged in the wall pulled out, dragging the body of the rodent along with it.

Michael opened his little reptilian mouth as wide as it could go and gobbled up the rodent in one go. His serrated tongue, unique to the Yellow Scaled Lizard bloodline neatly tucked itself under his actual tongue. It took a while to get used to the fact that he had two tongues now, although one was specifically for hunting prey while the other carried out the function of a normal tongue.

'Mm. Yummy.' Michael nodded his tiny head in satisfaction. Although he was still getting used to his new body, he had to say, it was quite handy. His tiny claws scraped over the hard ground as he continued walking into the deep confines of the cave.

[Bloodline detected - Dark Element Rat. New form stored.]

[New Ability Acquired - Dark Cloak.]

A screen of information flickered before Michael. The Ability - Dark Cloak granted the user the ability to blend in with the darkness in an almost seamless manner. The only drawback of the ability was the somewhat high energy expenditure it cost.

As a rank F beast, Michael possessed an overall energy level that was equivalent to the current growth stage of a Yellow Scaled Lizard. At this point in time, he was in the Young Adult stage of a Yellow Scaled Lizard's growth process.

[Yellow Scaled Lizard]

-Rank - F

-Growth Stage 2/3

-Overall Energy Level - 50 units

-Growth Energy - 70 units

-Growth Energy required for evolution - 70/110

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The concept of Growth Energy was a simplified manner of measuring the progress of a Growth Stage. When Michael manages to amass enough energy required for the next Growth Stage, his form would undergo a change, pushing him up to the final Growth Stage of the Yellow Scaled Lizard. So far, he had found out that consuming plants, creatures and other forms of sustenance provided a stable source of Energy for him.

Soon enough, Michael came to a stop at the bank of a flowing river. He looked up the river where the water was coming from and down the river where it eventually turned a corner and out of his line of sight.

'Hmm, I wonder if this river is strong enough to carry me down stream...' The thought flitted through his mind for a second before he banished it. His goal was to venture into the deeper recesses of the cave. There, a mighty treasure that would be of great help to him in his coming ordeals laid in wait.

Michael looked around, trying to find a way to cross over the river. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up a dark and dusty corner in his mind. His eyes trailed up to the ceiling of the cave. There, a cauldron of bats hung overhead. Since this was meant to be a low level area, the bats were in a relatively low number. A devious malformed smile spread across Michael's reptilian face as he came up with a plan.

Stepping back into the shadows at the edges of the lake, he activated an ability he had gained earlier - Dark Cloak. Wisps of shadows rose up around him, swallowing up his tiny yellow form until he ha completely blended in with the darkness. This ability completely masked up his presence. To low level creatures such as the Dark Bats that hung above, he basically didn't exist.

A dark purple serrated tongue appeared from thin air, shooting towards the Dark Bats at a speed faster than they could react. Screeches resounded through the cave as the Dark Bats scattered in every direction. From the midst of the group, an impaled Dark Bat was pulled down to the ground, disappearing within the shadows.

[Bloodline detected - Dark Bat. New form stored.]

Michael's heart soared when he managed to take down one of the bats in one go. Normally, a Yellow Scaled Lizard would have been swarmed by the numerous Dark Bats, but due to the 'Dark Cloak' ability he ha gotten from the Dark Element Rat, he had been able to avoid getting detected by them.

He quickly switched forms to the silvery Slime he had spawned in, Consuming the bat in one go. Within seconds, the bat had broken down to particles, granting him 80 points of growth energy. He then willed for his body to transform into that of a Dark Bat. His silvery body turned black from the inside, resembling a pure water source being slowly polluted. His body shrunk rapidly, gaining a leathery covering as fur sprouted from the top of his head, all the way down his spine.

Michael stretched his wings as information concerning the Dark Bat flowed into his mind. With it came an innate understanding of the nature of a Dark Bat and also how to fly. As smoothly as the information came, Michael wasn't able to adapt so easily. After all, he was still a human at heart.

After several minutes passed, Michael was able to gain a basic understanding of his new body. As nice as it was to realize every human's dream of flight, he wasn't entirely comfortable in the body of a bat.

He took of from the ground, raising a little dust in his wake. The bats from earlier had yet to fully settle down from suddenly being attacked, keeping vigilant and watchful. Luckily for Michael, the form he was in was one of their kind so they completely ignored him.

Michael quickly crossed the river, going deeper into the cave before landing, just for good measure before landing and switching back to his Yellow Scaled Lizard form. So far, he found this form to be the best form he had gotten among the four forms he had.

[New Ability Acquired - Sonic Scramble.]

Michael's mood grew even better when he heard the notification from the game system. An influx of information concerning the Sonic Scramble ability flowed into his brain as he scrambled along the dark floor of the cave.

Through the help of sonic waves that were created from the special vocal chords of the Dark Bat, the mind of its opponent would temporarily enter a 'Chaos' state. The duration of this Chaos state depended on the strength and resistances of the one it was used upon.

He continued thinking about the ability as his tiny reptilian form made its way deeper and deeper into the cave. Distantly, he could hear the faint dripping of water in the depths of the cave. From what he could remember, when he got to the area where the dripping sound originated from, he would be quite close to his goal. And aside from the treasure he had set his eyes upon, there were also some other goodies packed in the cave. He could build up his own arsenal of diverse abilities and also gain many unique forms that could help him adapt to various situations he came across when he left the confines of the cave.

At this same time, at the outskirts of the mountainous regions where the cave Michael was in was located, a gathering of humans was currently chatting casually amongst themselves.

"What do you think we'll find in there? There's nothing of value to be gotten from these mountains. Even the strongest beast is at most a peak E class beast." A dark skinned lady brushed her dark hair behind her ears. She was dressed in a tight fitting robe that hugged her body in all the right places. Beside her, a dazzling staff made of an unknown metal gleamed in the setting sun. The light was caught in the shiny purple orb that was embedded at the head of the staff. She was a mage.

"Who knows? The boss gets the job request and we carry it out. As simple as that. We don't need to go poking our noses in what doesn't concern us." A gruff man replied. He carried a pair of war hammers with him, strapped over each other in an x-shape on his back. Unlike his female companion, he was a martial artist.

"Oh, but it does concern us, Brutus! What exactly does he mean when he says we'll know when we see it? Can't he give us a description at least?" The lady rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"Whatever you say, Eudora. I don't really care. As long as we get paid in the end." The conversation came to a swift end when Eudora saw she wasn't getting anywhere in the argument. She huffed and continued her way forward in the direction of the mountains ahead of them.