Arriving home, I quickly laid in bed before drifting off back to Vesperia. Without hesitation, I flew back to the dungeon.

While on my way, I spotted something. It was a bullfrog, except it was covered in jade-like scales.

Immediately, its strange appearance caught my attention as we both made eye contact. I quickly readied myself to attack, but before I could, the frog attacked first. Its long, slimy tongue exploded out of its mouth towards me, mimicking the speed and precision of a snake.

This caught me by surprise since I was over 6 feet away from the frog. This was clearly not a regular frog.

It was either a magical beast or a creature capable of evolution just like me.

The frog’s attack was fast, but at that moment, I focused 3 of my consciousnesses on comprehending its fast movement. It was a split-second decision that I used my third consciousness to carry out since it was the one focused on skill use.

As the frog’s attack was mere inches away from my face, it suddenly slowed down. Maneuvering myself out of its path, I watched the attack go by. Then, using the opportunity, I pierced the frog’s exposed tongue with my forcipules.

This was much easier than trying to break through its thick scales. It only took a few seconds for the venom to take hold and the frog’s heart to stop.

[You have slain a level 4 frog]

[EXP gained]

Seeing the notification appear in front of me, I didn’t waste a second before splitting the frog open by its stomach. I rummaged around the creature’s insides for a few seconds, and soon it became abundantly clear...

This creature didn’t have a core.

This meant that it wasn’t a monster and instead it was a creature capable of evolution just like me.

This was bad. With the ability to evolve continuously, these creatures could soon be toppling towns and entire kingdoms. I was almost certain that the player association didn’t know that they exist.

If they did, then there would’ve been efforts to wipe them out. They would burn this forest to the ground, and it wouldn’t matter to them since the creatures here didn’t have a core to profit from. This was further proof that something else was responsible for this.

I needed to find whatever it was and wipe them out. I wasn’t comfortable with other creatures being able to evolve. I’d much rather this ability stayed only with me.

What if another player gets awakened into one of these creatures capable of evolution?

Yep, they got to go! This entire forest has to go!

I wasn’t one for sharing. If I found a cheat, then I’ll gatekeep the hell out of it.

Seeing how weak the evolved creatures were, this had to be a new development, and looking at the player ranking, no new player had joined this world after me, so I seemed to be in the clear for now.

But firstly, I had to deal with the F-ranked dungeon.

[25 biomass gained]

After devouring the frog, I continued on my merry way towards the dungeon. I had explored a fair bit of the dungeon, so I had a small map in my mind of the layout, but what I explored was merely a small fraction.

It would take days, possibly weeks, for me to map out this whole dungeon. Skittering across the wall, I used my antennae to pick up on any trace of the dungeon rats. There were plenty, and it didn’t take me long to find a small hair belonging to one of them.

Wanting mor information, I used my Analyze skill.

-Analysis of hair strand-

[Description: Hair strand belonging to a dungeon rat]

At level 1, I was only able to get a basic analysis of the hair, though I was expecting a bit more information. I had skill points I could use to level up the skill, but I’d rather only use it when it’s absolutely necessary. I had to be careful since something like this could spell the difference between life and death during a battle. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

I continued through the dungeon until I happened upon a rather cavernous expanse of the dungeon. The walls were misshapen, and there were several rubbles on the ground. It looked like a small mining operation went on here a while ago. They were probably searching for mana stones.

Because of how spacious this room was, it was perfect for what I had planned. Certain types of centipedes, specifically stone centipedes, had a certain gland on their last four pairs of legs. This gland allowed them to secrete a sticky goo which they used to trap foes.

As I scrolled through the list of evolutions available to me, I spotted this special gland.

-Evolution-

[Telopodal Gland: 15 biomass for a special organ located on the last four pairs of legs. These legs consist of thousands of individual glands that discharge a sticky secretion used to trap prey]

[15 biomass has been spent! Congratulations, you have unlocked the Telopodal Gland]

-New Skill Acquired-

[Lv. 1 Secretion: Allows the user to secrete a sticky goo from their legs]

[20 biomass has been spent to double the function of the Telopodal Gland]

[Secretion has reached Level 2!]

[25 biomass has been spent to double the function of the Telopodal Gland]

[Secretion has reached Level 3!]

[30 biomass has been spent to double the function of the Telopodal Gland]

[Secretion has reached Level 4!]

After purchasing this special evolution, I evolved it 3 times to make sure it was at a level I was comfortable with.

Satisfied, I activated the skill, and immediately a clear solution was secreted from my legs, almost like a spider releasing webs. The secretion was sticky, but it didn’t affect me. The best way to describe it was that it seemed like a combination between rubber and bubblegum.

Soon, the entire floor and walls were covered in this clear solution, and now it was time for me to begin my plan. I quickly skittered up the wall and hid myself perfectly where I wouldn’t be seen.

Dungeon rats were surrounding this area. Most of them were crawling through the tunnels, but none of them had made it here yet.

I waited patiently as my eyes, legs, and antennae kept track of every movement until soon, the first prey arrived.