A Cold-Blooded POV

Hissss

Ethoss's body relaxed. Each time he mutated, it was like a therapeutic stimulation. The refrigerating energy roamed his body slightly, where the chilling sensation truly was, was in his claws and in his mouth. An oily mint flavor leaped onto his tongue, and with each breath it felt as he was breathing ice itself.

Soon the mutations were over. Ethoss looked down at his claws, to inspect them and see the changes. His claws had grew in a way that reminded him of a hook, they curved with the pointer as sharp as a needle. Additionally, the claws were much more thicker and the edges became whetted, making it so each time he attacked he could not only pierce but also tear and rip flesh like a knife or a sword, while simultaneously holding onto his prey by their flesh itself. This would undoubtedly be extremely painful, and Ethoss loved it.

Looking closely, he could see a clear liquid ploddingly sliding down his claws, grabbing at every dry spot. This was most likely venom.

His teeth also grew longer. Not only that, each and every one of them resembled fangs. They curved in a way that was designed to slice through flesh. He would need to be very careful if he didn't want to bite his own tongue off. He opened his mouth and watched as saliva dropped onto the ground. Mixed in with that saliva, just as he predicted, he could see the clear venom. Comparing it to his saliva, made it more visible since it was a bit more white in color.

Now, finished with his mutations, Ethoss decided to look through his skills. It had been a very long time since he checked out what skills he had. In fact, he hadn't looked at his skill list since he evolved, there were bound to be skills that were new, now that he completed an evolution.

[Skills available for purchase:

Acid Spit: cost 1 skill point, allows you the ability to spit acidic saliva

Grip: cost 1 skill point, ability to hold onto surfaces and objects without letting go. For ex: walking on walls

Armor: cost 1 skill point, a passive skill where the body becomes more durable to physical attacks

Evasion: cost 1 skill point, ability aids to effectively evade attacks.

Strength: cost 1 skill point, ability drains stamina and strengthens ones body and muscles

Tunnel sense: improves sense of direction when underground

Etc.]

Ethoss listened to the voice in his head give a rundown on all the skills available to him at the moment. Unsurprisingly, there were older skills that have been there since he first look at the skill list, however, there were also new skills, ones he hadn't seen before.

Currently, he had 4 skill points but he only wanted to use 2 out those, because he never knew when he would need more skill points. His progress had been really slow recently because of being stuck within the confines of these caves, he figured it would be beneficial to have some skill points available for use whenever he needed them.

Now looking at these skills, Ethoss liked all of the new skills, unfortunately, he didn't have more skill points. He needed to get the skills that would be most beneficial for him at this current moment in time.

Tunnel sense was something that like definitely help him in his endeavors to escape these caverns. Perhaps he could even make it back to the forest expanse in the Great Aeternus Labyrinth when he got stronger.

Immediately he decided that this would be one of the two skills he would purchase. Looking at the others, they all were worthwhile to purchase. Armor gave him a passive armor that would give him a even greater defense than he already had.

He could already imagine other monsters trying to tear his body with their claws while he causally ignored their puny attacks, other predators such as himself would also have a hard time lethally ambushing him.

Strength also stood out to Ethoss. He was a firm believer that strength was the key to everything, so seeing a skill that was literally named after it was tempting. Still, the draw back on stamina wasn't something that he needed right now, his rapid dash skill already took so much stamina from him. Besides, his strength so far as been highly successful for him so far.

Looking at the Evasion skill, a traumatizing memory resurfaced in Ethoss's mind. The memory of everything moving in slow motion as he tried to escape that black knight's giant sword haunted him.

He vividly remembered hearing all the different sounds and looking directly at those red eyes behind the abyssal skull helmet that adorned the knight. His life had narrowly been reaped by that human, and it was all because of his inability to dodge his attack. Ethoss had made up his mind.

Soon the mechanical voice entered his mind for confirmation on his decision.

[Would you like to purchase the skills Tunnel Sense and Evasion? This will cost two skill points]

He confirmed.

As always, his habit of checking his status right after a update to it fell through. As he spotted the two new skills showcased on his status he felt satisfied. It wouldn't be long before he came back to the skill list for even more skills.

Almost instantly after checking his status, a new feeling ran through his body, making him feel tingly slightly. A map had appeared in his brain, showcasing all the places he had traveled, and he instinctively knew where places he busted were. He could see where the cave he ceased from the goblins were, along with the cavern he was born into.

The forest expanse also showed on the map, and the miracle lake wasn't far from it. Ethoss could see the tunnel routes he had taken to even reach where he was right now. Everything else was blocked off from his visualization, almost like there would be a thick fog there until he visited those places.

​ This was great! He already knew that this was his new skill Tunnel Sense at work. With this Ethoss was sure he would be able to escape this place. Flicking his tongue in anticipation, he stood up onto his 5 legs, he had gotten so used to his missing limb that he even forgot it was there before.

He looked around the cavern before moving along the tunnel route. He was going to go back to the entrance he came from to enter these caverns, he still hadn't forgotten those slits of mana. They obviously moved toward something, that was his only clue out of this place at the moment, so he decided to follow it.