Because System had been continuously eating the slime's colloid before leveling up, so when he reached Level 10, his [Corrosive Slime] increased yet again.
[Corrosive Slime] (10/15) → [Corrosive Slime] (11/15).
Just like System had speculated all along, Level 10 and Level 11 of an ability were two completely different levels.
Be it the spraying distance, slime capacity, viscosity, or corrosiveness of [Corrosive Slime], all aspects were improved.
Meanwhile, [Corrosive Slime]'s most obvious increase was still the liveliness that appeared only after devouring the slime's colloid.
When its level increased to 11, [Corrosive Slime] secreted from System's gland could really move around. Although it was unable to jump around like the slime, System could control it to crawl on the ground—its speed was similar to that of a snail.
The corrosive slime was like an extension of his body, so System could control it, just like how he moved his limbs.
However, there were quite the limitations for controlling the slime.
The corrosive slime could not be too far from him as he would not be able to control it if it was over 20cm away. Also, the slime would lose its liveliness after it left his throat for over a minute, and he would not be able to control it anymore.
In short, just using the slime's liveliness was not enough for it to become an effective method of attack.
Nevertheless, even if he did not rely on the slime's liveliness, his [Corrosive Slime] could still become his hunting tool.
Through consecutive shots of the slime and the powerful physical jumping abilities of the grasshoppers, which made them agile, System had successfully killed an 8cm piebald spider that had been disguised as a yellowish-white flower.
The hunting process lasted around an hour.
System had been extremely cautious. Normally, each time he would shoot out his slime, he would keep half a meter away from the spider to prevent the spider from attacking him. He would wait until the spider calmed down a little, approach the spider, and shoot out corrosive slime at a radius of 30cm from the spider.
The spider had wanted to battle him at the start, but afterward, it had been running away non-stop. It had even curled up into a ball and pretended to be dead.
Only until an hour passed—the spider showed no reaction to System shooting out his slime a few times and throwing dead branches or small stones toward it—was System certain that the spider had really died.
The spider was resistant toward [Corrosive Slime], so System had wasted a lot of slime just to kill it. Even after eating the spider, it could not make up for his consumption.
Therefore, System only tried once. He decided to concentrate on snatching food from ants instead of hunting spiders. It was an arduous and fruitless process.
System had climbed up the food chain level in this forest, as he was able to kill a poisonous spider unharmed.
…
At noon, System went to take a look at his old friend, the slime, that was resting in the dark corner of the mud.
Then he jumped toward the top of the highest branch on a tree nearby. He estimated the time and took a look at his [Self-Information Generation]. He had 51 days of his lifespan left.
He casually took a look at the other information of his [Self-Information Generation] and realized that his estimated combat power had become 0.8.
From 0.4 when he was Level 9, to 0.7 when he was Level 10, his estimated combat power had increased to 0.8.
As for [Self-Information Generation]'s power index, System didn't find it realistic to doubt its authenticity. In the first place, he did not know how combat power was calculated.
Also, besides himself, he had no idea what others' combat power was at all.
Each time his estimated combat power increased, System only knew that he had grown stronger by a little. As for how much stronger he had become, he was not sure, either.
System shook his head and gazed at the sun in the sky, looking into the distance toward a direction.
'It's coming…'
Three days now, at that time every day, System could always feel a weak aura fluctuation.
Shortly after, System's blood started to tremble slightly.
This time what he felt was much clearer as he was at the top of the tree. It was a strange and familiar sensation, which resonated with his grasshopper blood. It was as if it was summoning him, which made him subconsciously want to fly toward that direction.
"Is it you?"
A familiar figure appeared in System's mind—the grasshopper queen!
System felt something familiar, and it seemed that the grasshopper queen was trying to summon grasshoppers.
She wanted to bring the grasshoppers to fly past high mountains and deep oceans, just like the scenes in the grasshopper's bloodline, and explore this vast world.
System was at the tip of the tree branch, and his compound eyes could see 20-30 blurry figures fly from the nearby trees—they should be of the same kind, other grasshoppers.
Those grasshoppers flew into the sky above the forest, toward the source of that aura.
Simultaneously, with a few ear-piercing shrieks, a large reddish-brown bird flew out of the forest and started chasing the flying grasshoppers.
…
"Is it really worth it? To explore the world even like this…"
Upon seeing those of the same kind escaping the bird's chase, System silently jumped down from the tip of the tree branch. He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
However, specifically, where it was uncomfortable, System himself could not say it clearly.
After jumping down from the branch, System continued snatching food from ants. It seemed like snatching could make him feel better…
Two days ago, System had discovered a tree hole high up on a relatively thicker tree. The tree hole was not very big and was unable to fit his whole body.
However, as the tree hole was relatively high from the ground, few ants would pass by there. Hence, that tree hole had become the warehouse where System stored his food.
Normally, after he snatched some food that would not easily rot, System would store it inside the tree hole. Then he would use plants' leaves and his slime to cover up the hole in case of emergency.
These days, the weather had started to turn colder, and System could see tree leaves falling within the forest.
Autumn was coming.
System realized that the plants in this forest were peculiar, some were obviously tropical plants, but there were also some sub-tropical plants. Thus, he was unable to deduce how the climate was like in the forest and whether it would snow in winter.
System had to make more preparations, or else even if he completed his third molting, he who was cold-blooded would turn into a block of ice in the world of snow.
The method System thought of was to dig a hole underground. As long as he had a hole underground, two meters deep, it would be effective against the severe cold of winter.
Although grasshoppers could not hibernate in winter, insects' inborn dormant state was not bad either. By then, if he brought some food into the underground hole, it should not be a problem to survive the winter.
If it did not snow in this forest during the winter, it would be the best-case scenario. He could continue going out to look for food in the winter, too.
…
System would often analyze the ant nest's structure during his free time. It was all in preparation to pick a suitable position to dig an underground hole and survive the winter.
Five days had passed, and as [Moulting Growth] was already at maximum level, System was no longer nit-picky with his food.
His EXP bar had increased by half, and most probably, he would advance to Level 11 in another five days.
The only regretful thing was that his old friend, the slime he had gotten to know for more than 19 days, had finally broken down into pieces in the midst of battle. The ants had surged out from their nest, completely killing it.
Also, in these five days, the special aura sent by the grasshopper queen became much stronger.
…
At dawn, System realized that the grasshopper queen had flown near him when he was snatching food from ants.
After ten days or so, the grasshopper queen's appearance had not changed at all—her color was still withered yellow, and her antennae were slender.
"Is that… a cricket?"
The grasshopper queen stared at what System was chewing, sending out her unique spirit waves.
After a dozen days, System found that the grasshopper queen's language proficiency had greatly improved.
Though unable to reach his level of proficiency, System heard many changes in tone from her words. It seemed that the grasshopper queen had kept practicing over these few days. Otherwise, she couldn't have made such a big improvement.
"Yes, do you want some?"
System stopped eating and handed the food to the grasshopper queen naturally, as if they were old friends for years.
"No, I don't like to eat… meat."
The grasshopper queen sent a message and rejected System. She bit off a leaf nearby using her mandibles and started chewing.
Polite greetings were not needed when talking to the grasshopper queen, so System asked directly, "These days, that special scent, is that from you?"
"Yes, it was… me." The grasshopper queen shook her antennae and continued to deliver the message to System. "You… did not come."
System stared at the grasshopper queen for a moment and said, "You know that I won't go."
The grasshopper queen touched System's antennae with hers, and said again with her unique and gentle spirit waves, "I knew… you won't come, so I came back… to you."
"I miss you…"
The grasshopper queen's message contained many thoughts, but System had no idea how to respond to that.
System had to use his human intelligence to change the subject. "Are you still going to explore the world? Like those images shown in the bloodline?"
The grasshopper queen looked up at the sky and replied to System, "Yes, I'm going… with them."
"Them? Are there a lot of grasshoppers going with you?"
"Yes…" The grasshopper queen continued to look up at the sky. She stared at a cloud from a gap of the dense forest and asked System, "Do you know… what is that?"
His insect compound eyes could not see faraway things clearly, but looking at the white-colored mass in the sky, System knew what the grasshopper queen was referring to.
System answered, "That's a cloud, a form of water."
The grasshopper queen showed a regretful expression as she stared at the sky. "I can't… fly that high, but I can… fly… far."
The grasshopper queen lowered her head and continued saying to System, "I… have a name, do you know… what is name?"
System showed a puzzled look and said, "Name? Have you given yourself a name? My name is System."
The grasshopper queen replied, "Sys… tem, Quin, my name, given to me by… Shadow."
System pursued, "Shadow? Who is that?"
"A bug."
…
Not long after the conversation with the grasshopper queen, a 5-centimeter-sized green grasshopper landed not far from System and the grasshopper queen with the distinctive sound of flapping wings.
After a short while, another grasshopper flew over, then two, three, a dozen, hundreds of grasshoppers…
More and more grasshoppers gathered around him and the grasshopper queen, and after about ten minutes, thousands of grasshoppers of all kinds had gathered in his vicinity.
And there were more joining.
The calm forest became noisy as the grasshoppers flapped their wings to fly around. Some leaped into the grass nearby to bite on the plants, while some others flew to the treetops to bask in the sun.
Due to the arrival of the grasshoppers, many ants swarmed out of their nest. They attacked at the grasshoppers around, wanting to catch and eat the ones that had disturbed their peace.
However, grasshoppers were not ant food, and this was even truer for adult grasshoppers, which could destroy the ants' efforts with a gentle jump.
…
Countless grasshoppers kept clustering around him and the grasshopper queen. System could not count the exact number of grasshoppers, but there were at least tens of thousands of them.
There was an empty space half a meter around the grasshopper queen, and apart from System, there were no other grasshoppers in this area.
System guessed that this was a manifestation of the grasshoppers' class status, and the grasshopper that had undergone the third molting would naturally become the leader.
While the number of grasshoppers continued to increase, the gathered locusts had even blocked the sun in the sky, making the forest a little gloomy.
Upon looking at this scene, System was reminded of a natural disaster in his previous life—locust plague.
No grass would be left after the locusts crossed!
System had not experienced a locust plague in his previous life, but he had seen it in some documentaries. He could not help but be shocked when he watched the locust plague scene for the first time.
The locusts that blotted out the sun would eat everything green on their way.
Although the number of locusts in front of System was smaller, essentially about the same as a locust plague, they ate the plants in the forest at breakneck speed.
The gathered grasshoppers' sizes were generally small, ranging from 3 to 8 centimeters, and System saw many of his fellow green-tailed grasshoppers among them.
The arrival of these densely packed locusts did not bring discomfort to System, but rather some intimacy.
The grasshoppers gathered together and emitted a special scent, which made System's body very hyper. He even had an urge to fly through the sky together with them.
"Really… not going with us?" The grasshopper queen seemed to sense System's excitement and sent another message as she looked at him.
After a short period of hesitation, System rejected her again, "Yes, I'm not."
A long sigh seemed to escape from the grasshopper queen…
…
The grasshoppers' revelry continued as they jumped and gave off a joyful scent, while many grasshoppers began to find mates and started mating.
Due to his sturdy size among the grasshoppers, System also attracted several female grasshoppers. But as long as he hid near the grasshopper queen, the females would not come and bother him.
The grasshoppers that chose to mate were still the minority. Most of them were just flying in the air haphazardly and seemed to be playing with their kind.
A few birds flew into the locust crowd at the right time to feed on the locusts, but there were too many locusts. The birds also disappeared after they were full.
By noon, there were millions of gathered grasshoppers.
At that moment, as there were no more grasshoppers joining, the grasshopper revelry peaked!
At the center, the grasshopper queen once again exuded a special scent, and System felt as if his blood was boiling.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Millions of grasshoppers jumped up and spread out their wings simultaneously. For a moment, the bright midday sun was blocked by the dense crowd of grasshoppers and the forest became dark.
Countless grasshoppers started flying in the same direction.
The grasshopper queen looked at System for a long time, and after touching System's antennae, she spread her wings and flew with the others.
Likewise, System spread his wings and followed behind the queen.
"Are you… coming with me?"
Once again, the grasshopper queen delivered a message which was filled with expectations.
"No, I just want to send you off. We might not have a chance to meet again after this…"
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT