I managed to get a fair bit of experimenting done with my storage space. The first thing I managed to work on, with some help from my title, was resizing the door. The door could grow large enough that I could fit a minivan in and still have a little wiggle room. That made for a great combo, since I could move the door to any surface within the space. Meaning I could use it to swallow up folks. The only problem is that I discovered it after using it to swallow a big squirrel creature that was at least two meters long. The creature had smashed a couple of my lovely wine bottles in a panic as it leapt about the place. I put it down using my Void Rend blades. Originally, I used the blades as projectiles, launching them from my arms as I swung them about. That turned out to be a bad idea as I realised the Squirrel critter was fast and I was shit at aiming. I ended up losing another bottle of wine before I decided to do things the old-fashioned way and just opened the door right where the squirrel thing was about to land. It fell through the doorway and ran off far too quickly for me to follow.

  ?

  That was my first experiment. As the rest of the day wore on, I wisely put all my important stuff on one shelf and moved it to the wall furthest back. I learnt my second lesson when, after tidying up the place, I left the place and went hunting to practice my Void Rend. My blades were amazingly devastating, but they were not a true long-range option. The blades lost power and control after about thirty feet. I would love to say I found loads of things to practice against, but the truth was the Jungle was a lot quieter since the temple'temple'slation. I suppose everything else in these bits had more sense than I to stick around.

  ?

  I made the most of the quiet by practising on the smaller trees around me for a few hours before switching my attention to grabbing as much edible stuff as possible. Being able to get descriptions of all the fruits around me was a real boon, as I came to a harrowing realisation. This Jungle was far more deadly than I could have guessed. There were so many toxic plants, all of which killed those who ate or, in some cases, even touched them, in the most horrific ways. I had never been gladder for my scales, especially when I read the description of a set of green vines that appeared almost like Jelly.

  ?

  Caustic Wrangler: This plant is covered in microscopic harpoons. Each harpoon contains a deadly cocktail of magically enhanced venom designed to slow down the sensation of time for the victim as they'rethey'rearalysed. The victim is then slowly digested alive by the plant, which uses its healing properties to sustain the victim and produce magical energies.

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  There were so many other, more gruesome ways the beautiful plants of this alien Jungle would try to kill you. I wondered how the humans were ever going to survive when they came back from whatever tutorial they'd done. That got me thinking; inevitably, I was going to have to clash with humans. There might be some who wouldn't, but I knew people, and there was no way I could trust a member of my former species ever again. I felt a pang of sadness at the thought. I didn't realise how much human companionship really meant to me. I never managed to make any real connections in my former life owing to my occupation. I had hoped that one day I might get some real friends. People I could confide in and go down to the local with and have a genuine chat: no egos, no bravado, just some good quality friendship shit. Unfortunately, until I did my thing as progenitor and made myself a friend, I guess I was going to lead a lonely existence.

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  That giant squirrel creature reappeared then. He hadn't been paying attention to me. In fact, it looked like he was hiding. He was up in a tree about four meters ahead and was huddled down with his back to me, his little snout rising to sniff the air now and then. I cast my Tremor Sense spell, seeking out what had got him so jittery. It did not take long for me to get a response. Something big was moving within the trees up ahead. It was moving fast. My first instinct was to step out my door and make a run for it, but I stopped myself. I had grown stronger and was a monster in my own right. I grit my teeth and stood my ground. I needed this. I wasn't the guy who was left for dead in an abandoned building. I had fangs!

  ?

  The creature burst into view, flattening a few smaller trees as it stopped and sniffed the air. The thing was big, about the size of a small bus. It had the general body plan and proportions of a bear. Only its head was far smaller and looked like that of an anteater. Across its back were several hardened plates. I stood still, not moving, just analysing my opponent.

  ?

  Caustic Slurper: This creature is ordinarily an ambush hunter using its harpoon-like tongue coated in caustic saliva to restrain prey until it can bring its huge claws to bear. This individual is a male in a heightened rage, triggered by flooding that has entered the mating season.

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  Oh! Okay, me versus the horny bear anteater. I could do this! I was about to take a step out into the open when the squirrel creature'creature'sroke, and it ran across the treetops in my general direction, causing the Caustic Slurper to turn. Turn and look me dead in the eyes. The monster didn't launch its long tongue like a missile, green globules flying from it as it sizzled on impact with the alien flora. The tongue was fast, but I was faster, and having anticipated the thing, I used my Void Rend to sever the tip of the monster'smonster'scausing it to yank it back in pain and spray a deluge of blood mixed with the caustic liquid. I easily avoided most of it, with only a few drops landing on my scales, causing minimal effect. I couldn't thdidn'tcould take a sustained attack of the stuff, but my scales would hold up against smaller attacks. As the tongue was pulled back, I charged forward; it was time to see what my new toy could do. I pulled the Prismatic Channeler from its sheath in one quick motion as I ducked beneath the behemoth, narrowly avoiding the strike, ducking low and bringing my glass sabre up. I was praying the whole time that the blade would not shatter again, and it did not disappoint. Having fed on my mana, the weapons were long gone. The blade sliced across the Caustic Slurper's cutting from its wrist to its elbow and exposing the white of bone. The beast stumbled back, rising on its hind legs and cradling the damaged limb. Its tongue launched back out of its mouth, aimed right at my head. The thing leaked the caustic liquid everywhere like a hose gone wild. I used my Void Rend to unleash a barrage of blades. They sliced the tongue apart and removed both the beast's slow, allowing me to rush in and decapitate the monster with a single swing of my sabre. Just like that, the fight was over.

  ?

  I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. That fight had been surprisingly easy. I felt I could have killed the creature without using any of my new stuff. A grin cracked on my face as I felt confidence well up inside me. I was no longer at the bottom of the food chain. Still smiling like a lunatic, I sliced open the monster and removed its core. It was a reddish-brown colour and oddly smelled of cinnamon. I popped it into my mouth all the same. The core dissolved on my tongue in that satisfying way they did.

  ?

  The core reminded me of the Lava Skill Core. I searched my pockets, praying I hadn't lost anything in all my adventuring. Thankfully, it was still there. I pulled out the weird metallic dodecahedron. I was tempted to try for a Lava skill, but I wasn't sure I was ready to risk it yet. I had so many other avenues to grow my strength that risking my life for a lava skill didn't seem it. That was until I thought about that beetle's beetle'sava beam; that attack had been so devastating, and I would love to have something like that. Still, I wouldn't risk my life for it, not yet anyway.

  ?

  It was time for me to consolidate my strength before I began my journey to the mountain. I summoned the door to my secret base beneath me and willed it open, dropping me straight into the centre of the room. I grinned as I thought about how badass that would have looked if there were any people in the room.

  ?

  Ridding my mind of my stupid thoughts, I sat on the stone floor, really wishing that the Serpent Prince had stored some sofas in this place. Maybe I would be able to steal one from the goblin village. I wondered how those guys were doing. We'd got on the wrong foot, and I was probably going to clash with them regularly in the future, but I wondered what they'd think when they noticed the temple had vanished. Would they spread to this side of the island, or would it scare them to stay put? I hoped it was the latter. I didn't like goblins, but even though I'd killed a couple already, a small part of me felt uncomfortable killing sentient life. Something I knew was going to be inevitable in my new life, especially when the humans returned. I wondered what that was going to be like for a moment before I returned my attention to the task at hand. There was no point in thinking about things I had no control over.

  ?

  I checked my status, looking to see what my EP was like. I felt my body brimming with energy, and I didn't know how much more it could take.

  ?

  Name: Rakim Cisse

  Race: Saheljin - (Progenitor)

  Monster Type: Unique

  Rank: E, 90% evolution points (EP) to Rank: D

  Cores consumed:- 4

  ?

  Stats:-

  ?

  ?

  Ninety per cent was incredible, I hadn't thought it was that high! I still had a couple of snuffler cores and wondered if using them would push me to 100%? Want to use my greater cores, as they were much more flexible. Shrugging, I decided to leave them for the moment. I would probably use them at some point, but I would allocate my ninety per cent first. The question was where to pop them.

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  Ninety per cent translated into nine upgrades, either to my stats or to my skills. I kept looking at my intelligence stat and decided that it needed to be rectified. I took twI took 20% of my EP and used it to raise my intelligence by 2 points. When the system sent me a message, I stopped and took a deep breath.

  ?

  Congratulations! As a sentient life form having reached an intelligence of 10, you can now unlock the universal skill Identify. This skill will let you uncover a creature's name. With levelling, this can lead to the discovery of new information.

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  I had been wanting this stupid ability the whole time, and now that I got a god-tier version, the stupid system offers it to me because I was too stupid earlier! I moved on to the next choice. I had wasted enough time on intelligence, even if I did feel a slight improvement in my thinking speed. I had seven upgrades left, and I did not want to waste them. Battle Focus was my most impactful racial ability. It had allowed me to keep fighting when my cowardly arse should have been hyperventilating. I put 50% into it, hoping I wasn't making a mistake.

  ?

  ?

  I had maxxed it out, which should definitely make a huge difference in combat, something I was excited to test. The remaining 20% went into my scales. They'd beThey'dtrumental in helping me avoid injury.

  ?

  ?

  That was all the upgrades I had planned. I was going to get some rest on the uncomfortable stone floor and begin my travel to the mountain when I awoke.