A Cold-Blooded POV

Trudging.

Ethoss's steps were slow and unhurried. Not because he was injured or tired, he simply had no reason to rush. Now that he had evolved, his appearance struck a sense of caution within other monsters which caused them to stay away. He had gained a considerable amount of size with his most recent evolution, not only that, the area that he was currently in was his own territory.

*Bzzz!*

*Bzzz!*

A bug half the size of his head flew around him repeatedly as if it was trying to make him dizzy. Its wings were loud and when it flew close to his face he could feel the wind pressure it created. Nevertheless, Ethoss ignored it.

He looked down at his legs, it was always a wonder to him how he was able to use his extra limbs so flawlessly. Even when he had first got his extra limbs, he could walk perfectly fine, as if he had six legs from the very beginning. Maybe this was due to the voice in his mind, perhaps during evolution every additional organ or limb's information was sent to his mind. Sort of like instinct.

Flicking his tongue, he took in his surroundings. The green lushes trees were full and thick, and due to the breeze, the trees seemed lifelike, dancing with the current. All the colors in Ethoss's point of view were much more fleshed out and enhanced because of his mutated eyes.

As he walked, the giant mushrooms that loomed over the carpet of grass under him would shrink each time he got close to them, almost like a domino effect. Growing curious, he paused his walking and put his face close to one of the shrunken mushrooms.

Seconds later Ethoss bite the mushroom whole, snatching its entire body from out of the ground. However, immediately a wave of pain encompasses his mouth. Without hesitation, he spit out the mushroom. He quickly peeked at his HP, it seem he had taken small minor damage.

The damage wasn't serious enough for his attention so he looked down, the bitten mushroom was covered in his saliva, nevertheless, he could clearly see a purple sap spilling from out of its openings. As the purple sap slowly ran across the grass, a sizzling sound reached his ears and smoke lightly floated into the atmosphere. Ethoss then looked back at the other mushrooms that had now grown back to their normal sizes now that he was a few feet away from them.

'It seems all of these mushrooms have an acidic ooze within them'. He thought.

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He thought? Ethoss blinked blankly. It happened again. More and more often, he has been having these moments where he could hear a voice in his head other than the robotic voice. Time and time again, he continued to ignore it, focusing on the more important things such as hunting and growing stronger.

Yet, now that he thought about it, it seemed that the unknown voice was always stating what he was feeling. He didn't dislike hearing the other voice, it felt much more like it was a part of him. Perhaps it could actually be him? He never talked nor did he know how to, however, the voice in his head spoke in a deep and low tone.

Ethoss flicked his tongue, if the voice was him then he was satisfied with it, it sounded strong which suited him since he was also strong.

Finished with his experiment, Ethoss turned back around and resumed his walk toward the lake. The different sounds of monster cries continuously ring throughout the forest, it seemed like there were always monsters fighting. The forest was never quiet.

*Bzzz!*

*Bzzz!*

Soon the large insect returned, its wings even louder than before and it was flying much closer to Ethoss. The bug itself was decently large, it's body consisted of a head, abdomen, and thick rear end. In its rear end there was a liquid that glowed blue.

It had thin and long legs with its two wings continuously flapping at a speed untraceable. Its antennae twitched back and forth like electricity, and on its head was a long sharp needle-like beak.

Without warning, as soon as the insect got a few feet by Ethoss's snout he leaped up, standing on four of his six legs then he opened his wide maw and snapped down, swallowing the insect in one clean bite.

[You have defeated level 3 Vita Culex]

[You have gained XP]

[You have consumed a new source of Biomass: Vita Culex, you are rewarded one Biomass]

[Basic profile of the Vita Culex unlocked]

As he swallowed the insect a surge of energy engulfed him for a few seconds, it felt as if he was being refreshed, this odd feeling traveled straight to his monster core. It gave off a notion of his core being filled slightly, however, the energy faded quickly seconds later.

After some time Ethoss finally made it to the lake. Upon his appearance, all the monsters twisted their bodies to look at him. Ethoss didn't stop, he continued to walk closer to the water.

Once he made it to the water he dipped his head inside and drink some of the water, when he retracted his head from the water to look around he noticed that all the monsters that were closer to him seemed to have distanced themselves.

They cautiously eyed him, trying to multitask watching him and drinking water. Seeing this he remembered the fire salamander that also had the same treatment, this must've meant that the salamander was at the same evolution tier as himself.

Speaking of the salamander, he looked sound the lake, and just like the last time, he found the salamander lazily drinking the water from the lake. The other monsters had separated themselves away from it. However, unlike last time, the salamander picked up its wide head and looked directly toward Ethoss.

Ethoss flicked his tongue, he didn't drop his gaze at the salamander, he also watched it just as it watched him. Fortunately, after a few seconds, it dropped its head back on the grass and begin lazily drinking from the water once again.

Perhaps now, Ethoss had grown big and strong enough for its attention unlike before. The salamander never really paid attention to any of the monsters around the lake, simply because it didn't feel the need to, none of the other monsters couldn't truly threaten it. But now that Ethoss had appeared perhaps it felt that Ethoss could injure it.

***

Monster Profile:

[Vita Culex: Mana Mosquito. An insect monster that sucks the vitality and mana from living organisms. Its lower abdomen is usually full of the mana of different monsters, plants, or other creatures. When eaten it gives a very short boost of energy due to the amounts of mana stored within its lower abdomen. Avoid being bit, its sharp beak can easily enter its target without being noticed to suck out as much mana and vitality as it can, sometimes exploding itself on the spot from overeating. Found in the first Stratum of the Great Aeternus Labyrinth]