Anaxa was currently leisurely wagging his tail while lounging atop a sun-scorched rock, blissfully soaking in the blazing heat of the summer afternoon and letting the warmth seep into his wet skin. The sensation was like the melting of the icebergs, as his semi frozen blood thawed out of hibernation and reawakened every fiber in his body.
"Ahhhh… this is the life." As euphoric streaks of pleasure ran through his spines, Anaxa moaned as such with a soft purr, a wide, toothy grin stretching across his scaly lips, "Bright sunshine. A full belly. No predators on sight. Ahhh… if only this life of mine could always be this smooth. Ahhh…"
Anaxa made the grand wish while squinting up at the furious sun, but the fierce heat quickly forced the black slits to look away.
So he turned to look around his vicinity, instinctively sampling the air with his tongue and then focusing on all the wildlife around him.
He found the whole place to be absolutely bursting- even more than what used to be when he first arrived. But that was also hardly surprising- given the summer heat was in full swing and he was around the only large body of water in the vicinity, this was actually natural.
All types and shapes of birds, animals, and insects swarmed the place- drinking to sate their thirst, and some even bathing to clean themselves and cool off.
Sadly for Anaxa, he did not notice any easy prey among them- most of those present were so enormous that even just their steps were dangerous for him, while the smaller ones that he stood a good chance with were no longer easily seen.
This was because although such critters were not that intelligent, they were not dumb either.
Millions of years of adaptation had taught them exactly the kinds of dangers that lurked there- opportunistic predators on the lookout to catch them at their most vulnerable point.
So, they had all developed various types of techniques to ensure their safety.
"Sigh… forget it! My belly is still full. It seems even this magical pitless hole actually has some limits." Anaxa thus amusedly shook his head as he decided, for now, to give up on searching for his next meal.
He rather turned his attention to his injured limb and by extension, the battle that just took place.
And the replay of the scenes instantly caused the tiny lizard to feel a chilling shiver run across his spine involuntarily, "Sigh! That was a close one. A really… really close one. I really underestimated the danger back then."
When he was fighting, Anaxa was full of adrenaline, so the fear did not quite register.
But now that he could see the whole thing from the benefit of hindsight, he could not help but comment and make all sorts of notes.
"Sigh… there were so many mistakes I made in that fight. Mistakes I could have never made on land. Ahhh… I cannot believe I just blindly chased those guppies without looking anywhere. Ahh… and most of all, I cannot believe I did not think to use my tail as a club. Ahhh…such a thing should have been so simple! My head must have gotten hit by a donkey."
Anaxa particularly ground his teeth at the second example, rebuking himself for becoming too pigeon holed into this 'ranged attack' mentality.
He had only practised that one technique on land because it suited his prey there. But when he was tasked to perform in water, he fatuously decided to transpose his skills exactly as they were in there without making any further considerations.
Of course such a copy paste method was not going to work.
Anaxa thus considered himself extremely lucky that this time his instincts had kicked in at the nick of time, saving him from the jaws of death by the skin of his teeth.
"Tsk! It really shows how inexperienced I am. I need to improve my way of thinking regarding battles. I need to improve my battlefield reflexes. And I cannot afford to become flustered so easily… I will not be so lucky every time."
Finished rebuking himself, Anaxa thus set forth to detect the core issues that led him to such a predicament.
And he was able to quickly detect the problem- his sneaky and ranged way of attacking, although safer and quicker, in turn had also made him a bit of a coward. The moment the enemy closed the gap to a certain distance, his heart would begin to beat unnaturally and his mind would have a hard time deciding on exactly what to do- attack, defend, dodge or run, and how to do it.
Anaxa thus began to realize the shortcomings of such a glass cannon build and promised to improve his other areas as quickly as possible.
"....." The system, which had been quietly listening in, was quite impressed by the deduction. The speed and precision with which he came to this conclusion really went to show Anaxa's capabilities- he might be a bit green on the fighting front, but he was no fool. He simply lacked the time and raw battlefield experience.
The system was a bit less enthusiastic when Anaxa began to further add thoughtfully.
"Hmmm… could it be that is why the system wanted me to hunt a fish? Has it already foreseen my weakness? Hmmm.. this is highly likely. Just look at all the hints it gives me… they are usually very tailored and personal."
Anaxa in this way confidently probed a bit into the system's thoughts, piecing together some scattered odds and bits.
Then with it assembled, took a very bold leap forward, "Hmmm all the various missions the system is handing out, could it be that perhaps they are not random- but more like pieces to a much larger, grander puzzle?"
This suspicion quickly sent a thick cloud descending over his chest, as widening his eyes with both amazement and bitterness, Anaxa bitterly lampooned, "...This might very well be true. *Sigh*... I do not know whether to feel safe or be alarmed."
The concept of safety came from the fact that Anaxa was still in the very early stages of his growth and so presumably still had a lot further to go before he ran out of his usefulness to the system.
While the alarm came from the unknown route he was being taken through.
Thus even though it was keeping him safe for now… as they say, there is no such thing called a free lunch in the world.
So Anaxa wondered what will happen once that 'puzzle' is completed and the system comes asking for its rightful due? If the system asked for something very precious from him?
Will Anaxa be able to refuse? Will Anaxa even be allowed to refuse?
"What does this mysterious voice want with me?" Anaxa at last thought apprehensively about his enigmatic helper.
Now of course all this could also all be just Anaxa overthinking, and the system was an inanimate object there to magically and selflessly help him.
But Anaxa was the type of man to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So he was just about to poke the system regarding this a bit, when suddenly…
"Ding! Host has accumulated enough biomass! Host can evolve!" The system rang with this joyous news at the most crucial time, almost like it could read his mind.
"..." If Anaxa had the strength or any powerful cards to play, he would have definitely not let such a suspicious timing go unprobed. However right now the poor tiny lizard could do nothing but obediently play dumb.
"Would host like to level up?" While the system also pretended to be completely oblivious to its host's raging heart and seeing Anaxa remain silent, once again chirped this alluring offer.
"Yes." This time Anaxa replied with gritted teeth.
He could do little else anyway- pressing the system would certainly get him no result and refusing to improve himself would be suicidal.
"Ding! Leveling up requires 1 karma point! Adequate karma detected point. Permission to use karma point?"
"Yes!"
"Ding!
Host Attritube Window-
Level- 3
Biomass: 50/1200 (micro-units) (once biomass is full, Host can evolve)
Skill Points: 1 (rewarded by the system after the evolution, used to activate and upgrade skills)
Body length: 7 cm ( Increase from original 4 cm by +3 cm)
Tail length- 10 cm (Increase from original 6 cm by +4 cm)
Tail thickness- 3 mm (+1 mm)
Health: 0.4 (Increased to 0.5, currently injured) (+0.2)
Defense: 0.1 (+0.05)
Stamina: 0.4 (+0.2)
Agility: 0.8 (Increased to 1, currently injured) (+0.5)
Spirit: 3 (+2)
Strength: 1 (2.5- bite strength) (Increased by +0.5 on both attributes)
Skill: 1. Dextrous tail- Beginner Level- Proficiency (56/100)
2. Expanded Stomach- Proficiency- ????
Karma- 1 (Your existence has virtually no impact on the world)
Note- Host will soon enter hibernation. Please quickly find a safe place to rest.