A Cold-Blooded POV

*Drip*

*Drip*

The constant sound of water dripping echoed in the cave. The cave was mildly illuminated by the multiple mana crystals that adorned the walls, like a Christmas tree on a winter night.

On the floor of the cave was a reptile that seemly blended with the darkness, making its mossy green colored scales look black.

The lizard, now called Ethoss, opened his eyes weakly. It had been an unknown amount of time that passed since he went into his evolution. He lifted his head off the ground and flicked his tongue out of habit.

Deep inside his abdomen a steamy hot, boiling feeling was slowly fading away, drawing in a dense ball of heat. Most likely his new core.

As he thought about this, a memory of the lake was brought up in his mind. He was sure now, that the lake contained mana, and that was probably the reason why so many monsters drank from the lake.

Due to him drinking from the lake he met the requirement to condense a core. Ethoss stood up, his tail swaying with his body. He curiously opened his status.

Name: Ethoss

Level: 1 (Red Core)

Strength: 30

Toughness: 33

Cunning: 50

Will: 27

HP: 25/25

MP: 10/10

Skills[Attack]: Venomous Bite level 2; Tail Whip level 3, Claw Swipe level 3

Skills[Support]: Dash level 4, Night Vision level 4, Camouflage level 3, Dig level 1

Mutations: Jacobson's organ +2, Legs +1, Eyes +1, Scales +2, Claws +1, Teeth +1

Species: Aeternus Lacerta Hatchling(Male)

Biomass: 1

Skill Point: 2

The lizard hissed. He had gone back to level 1 and none of his stats changed. He knew that the choice he made was the better decision but it still didn't make him feel any better.

Just thinking about the strength he could have had if he took the other evolution made him feel a bit regretful. Yet, as he continued to check out his stats he saw that his MP had changed from 0 to 10.

With this discovery, the once regretful feeling changed into satisfaction. His MP stat may have been low now, but over time it would definitely grow stronger allowing him to become even more versatile in combat.

Not only that, if he thought about it logically, his returning back to the level one wouldn't be that bad. This should mean that he'll be able to evolve again once he reaches level 5 once more, which also meant that he could earn much more skill points while doing so.

Ethoss's tail swung as he thought about the idea of him being, even more, stronger when he reaches level 5 and evolves again. Technically speaking, he would be 2x as strong as any other reptile in his species that was on the same evolution tier as himself.

He had one biomass right now, but he couldn't do anything with it since all his mutations required two biomass or more.

Soon his mind had become fully awake and began to March out of the cave into the tunnel. During this walk, a familiar voice rang in his head.

[Night Vision has reached level 5, upgrade available]

He subconsciously slowed down his movement, coming to a stop then opened his status. It was true, his Night Vision skill had reached level 5. What was this upgrade that he had available?

[Would you like to improve Night Vision to Deep Night Vision? This will cost 1sp]

Oh? He flicked his tongue and his heart began to beat a bit faster, he had wondered what would happen when his skills reached level five.

Since he evolved when he reached level 5 he wondered if his skills were the same, now he could see for himself.

He confirmed, leaving him with one remaining skill point.

His eyes began to glow with the color of his eye turning a multicolored rainbow, then it dimmed and returned to normal. Almost immediately, the cave had changed drastically.

At first, he could see in the cave with his Night Vision but the color was a simple black and white, now he could see color, almost like there was no darkness in the cave at all.

He looked back at the status and checked out his new skill, it had now become a habit of his to look anytime a new update occurred within his status, like when a message came to a phone.

He flicked his tongue, he was excited to see just how all his other skills would develop once they reached level five.

Finishing up with his status, Ethoss left the tunnel and entered the forest expansion. He looked around at the surroundings and then licked the air, leaving his tongue exposed to the mana molecules, booting his awareness of the monsters in his surroundings.

He picked a the whiff of multiple monsters and immediately dashed towards a specific smell that he felt was considered prey.

He moved swiftly, picking his way past strangely twisted trees, huge oversized mushrooms, and a carpet of plant life, finally coming to a stop in front of a large hill.

The hill was made from soil that had been placed over multiple times causing the hill to grow larger with several layers, overtime the hill grew grass over it, giving it a more natural look. He flicked his tongue sensing multiple preys inside of the hill.

Ethoss activated his camouflage skill and began using his new skill: Dig. He dug facing an angle where he could easily dash out of his hole to ambush whatever monster comes from out of the hill.

He wasn't dumb, he knew that charging in any monster's territory was a dangerous move, especially if there was more than one monster. He detected over 100 monsters within the big hill.

He planned to stalk and ambush the monsters as they come out one by one, like a farm. He would be farming these prey and leveling up his skills.

Ethoss knew there was one thing that all monsters had in common regardless if they were prey or predator, they all needed to eat something. And when these monsters come out, he would also eat.