Anaxa floated under the pristine, clear water with a graceful, serene sensation, the cool, flowing currents gently lapping over his scaly body.
He had no problem seeing throug the water, as the black slits in his eyes had automatically sharpened to soak in all the sunlight filtering from his above. Similarly, his ears perked up to such an extent that he was able to easily distinguish between the subtle sound of a fish swimming and the low, rhythmic hum of the soft rush of water.
Even Anaxa was surprised by how sharp his senses had become- he never noticed this before.
His human nature made him averse to spending much time in water and he only went there out of necessity- to cool down, bathe, drink, etc. but never to hunt.
It was also because of this that initially, after Anaxa submerged himself, he was a bit confused about how he should exactly proceed- the wide, blue 'field' appeared a bit disorientating for him.
"Where do I go? Left? Right? Front? Do I dive close to the bed? Or float as close to the water surface for warmth?"
One other reason why Anaxa disliked hunting in water was because of this- the rapid loss of warmth- such that after each time he got out, he would need to bask in the sun for quite some time to regain full control of his limbs. And during that whole time, the man would be left extremely vulnerable.
"Ahhh! Let's get going! I cannot keep wasting time!" Knowing he was on the clock, Anaxa finally forced all these distracting thoughts out of his mind and decided to just start swimming. He was just going to try and figure it out on the way.
As soon as Anaxa made that decision and began to swim, he found all his confusion melting away- everything began to become so apparent, like his body just knew exactly what to do.
Anaxa understood his natural born instinct had kicked in. Thus he did not resist this feeling, but simply let the autopilot take over.
He shot forward with powerful flaps on his tails, cutting through the water like a knife through butter, while his limbs helped his body keep its balance, constantly making all kinds of small adjustments all by themselves.
This rush of water brushing past him felt exceptional to him, such that after a bit, Anaxa could not help but curve his scaly lips into a slight grin, "Mmm… swimming like this once in a while is not actually that bad. I should try it. Okay, let me find what I can really do. I can try out new things from tomorrow."
Deciding on his goals, Anaxa then quickly swerved around, beeling towards a distinct sound a bit in the distance- his animalistic instinct told him there was prey there.
And indeed- Anaxa keen's eyesight soon spotted a tiny school of fish, grouped along the bed of the lake.
Small, with a silvery body and long, colorful tail, they were guppies- a species of fish favorite among aquarium owners, that lived mainly off feeding on the scraps of other animals, and the moss and weeds that grew on the pond bed.
Anaxa instantly recognised them and his mouth started to drool. His species naturally loved to eat these critters.
"Ding! Target spotted- Guppies! Biomass- 8 micro-units. Threat- None. Note- Really...guppies?"
Hence he turned a blind eye towards the system's sassy remark, and simply dove forward, quickly picking up great speed using his tails,
"Let me see how this body hunts."
As Anaxa moved, his world turned into a blur of greens and blues, only the prize remaining crystal clear in his retina- he had locked on to the guppies like a hawk, not losing sight of them for even a split second.
It took the eager lizard only a few seconds to cross the short distance, his huge maw soon towering above the innocent prey.
And then, even before their tiny brains could comprehend what was going on- snap!
Anaxa's unnaturally huge bite, combined with a 2 strength, split the small fish clearly in half even before the signals from its nerves could travel to the brain and let it understand what had happened.
"Ding! 8 micro-unit of biomass consumed."
Despite the meager reward, Anaxa's stomach rejoiced, finding the raw, warm blood and the soft, chewy flesh an exquisite delicacy. He gulped down the whole thing in a single go, and felt a deep, quiet satisfaction spread through him- it was like his body was telling him that this was what he was made for- to hunt and kill.
Eager to pursue this primal urge, Anaxa thus began to quickly chase after the other fleeing guppies as well, using his long powerful tail to catch up to them and picking each out one by one.
"Ding!"
"Ding!"
"Ding!"
Anaxa's powerful stomach acid had no problem in digesting the mellow flesh almost as soon as it entered it, letting the tiny lizard's ears ring with a chorus of notification. And energised by this rhythmic music in the background, Anaxa sped faster and faster, to the point he almost began to become blind to his surroundings.
His animalistic instinct seemed to have taken over here, and right now, he only cared about letting his nose chase the smell of blood and chomp down on the beautiful fish.
Anaxa was in such a heedless state that it was only natural that an accident would occur.
It happened right when Anaxa was chasing a particular fleeing guppy- the poor fish was flapping its long tail as fast as it could while keeping itself as close to the pond floor as possible, trying to lose itself amidst the muddy water.
However Anaxa's razor sharp eyes always kept its target in check and with the aid of its dextrous tail, quickly closed in on the distance.
Until the meal appeared basically cooked and ready for him.
Anaxa was just about to open wide… when suddenly, a shadowy serpentine head poked out of a nearby undergrowth without any warning!
This emerald colored snake had been hiding amidst the thin grass for who knows how long, patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity. And its efforts seemed to have at last paid off.
Two foolish prey barged right into its mouth without even needing an invitation!
The slithering animal thus wasted no time and launched itself out of its hiding place like a spring coil, its movement so fluid that it caused only the slightest bending of the surrounding reeds.
It snapped open and then closed his mouth in the blink of an eye, swallowing the meal in a single gulp. The poor guppy probably did not even comprehend that it had died, much less realize how.
On the other side, the opportunistic attacker did not even remember its quarry for a split second, instead, feeling dissatisfied by the tiny snack, it quickly turned its attention to its next meal- the nearby chinese water dragon.
"Shit!" Anaxa, facing this completely unexpected ambush, could only let out this bitter, mournful curse. He was going too fast to stop, or even just try and swerve around. The momentum simply kept him hurling straight towards his attacker's mouth, seemingly sealing his fate.
The only silver lining in this disaster was that Anaxa at least got to get a good look at his attacker before the sharp fangs got to pierce his body into two.
His slitted eyes directly met the water snake's small, beady ones- and as soon as they made contact, it sent shivers down his spine.
Cold, emotionless and gleaming with a chilly glint, the sight made Anaxa recall that snakes were one of his natural predators. This knowledge sent another, far greater chill running down his spine.
Because Anaxa just realized that in a pure one on one, he was absolutely outmatched with virtually no chance of winning.
Conversely, the attacking snake's mouth drooled looking at Anaxa- a juvenile water lizard was not a shabby prize- it was certainly many times better than a mere guppy.
On top of that, this adult male snake was experienced enough to be able to spot the subtle difference between Anaxa and all the other regular water dragons.
Clearly much bigger and fatter than its brothers, the sight thus made the snake flick out its forked tongue with great alacrity- it would not have to eat for at least two to three days after this meal.
It did not think it was going to get so lucky today given Anaxa's species was not that common around here.
So as Anaxa approached his written destiny, the emerald snake, wanting to be a good host, did not wait, but also shot forward in a curving, snaking motion, wanting to greet its prey with wide and open fangs.
"Ding!"
Prey/Predator confirmed- Green Water Snake
Species- Nerodia cyclopion
Biomass- 130 micro units.
Spirit- 0.01
Karma- 1
Threat- Hehehe…what do you think?
Tip- Use your tail, you fool!