Chapter 3: Leaving the Nest
Currently, I was rolling my knuckles into my temples in a vain attempt to generate ideas, and, aside from slipping off a scale and smacking my own face, no good ideas had yet to form.
_'I want to increase talent but, then again, danger is certainly dangerous.'_ I thought this with a stone-cold serious expression on my face with my chin cupped in my hand, as if pondering on life with the mightiest of faculties.
_Wait..._
My eyes narrowed.
_Am I dim-witted?_
_No. Certainly not._
However, for a brief moment, I found myself glancing at, and wanting to place all the stat points into, Mind.
_Oh my lord, I'm dim-witted._
For a moment, I found myself biting my nails. But fortunately, a ray of enlightenment shone down upon me.
_I'm just stressed. I mean, there's a headless corpse of a lanky, once six-eyed, monstrosity collapsed in a pool of its own viscous blood after I tore through its face..._
_Who wouldn't be stressed?_
_Why am I so giddy?_
I felt a bit attacked by my emotions right now, like there was some kind of balancing act going on inside my mind.
_OK, breath._
I sat on the ground and slightly crossed my legs. It was a relaxed pose and I let my breathing mimic it as such. Slow and consistent, and after a minute, I felt my thoughts running more smoothly again.
_Was it because I'm an imp? Perhaps I'm not really supposed to have a rationale of my own yet..._
There was this kind of mindless euphoria that came with killing, but my understanding of the danger and awareness of the potential scale of this place didn't allow it to take over.
_Well, at least I'm aware of it now. I'll have to prepare myself in advance and get used to letting it run through me, hopefully without losing control of myself._
I didn't feel like I'd lose control, but it was definitely something worth bearing in mind.
_Hmm, mind... Ah yeah, stat points. This is much more important right now._
_And so, using the complete power of my brain cells, I can deduce one simple truth. That is... you don't need health if you don't get hit._
_Truly brilliant, if I say so myself._
_And now armed with my mastery of reason, I can conclude that 3 points will go into agility, while one goes into both enyin and exyin, thus increasing those sweet, sweet experience gains._
_To be honest, I want to put more into those two, but I don't know enough about these caverns yet. I've only seen one creature, and from that, I can guess they're quite sparse, but that could also only apply nearby._
"Ugh,"
I let out a sound of disgust as I carefully began tip-toeing around the rather vulgar puddle and corpse on the ground.
_And yes, it's just come to my attention that my, believed to be, beautifully articulated speech has been nothing more than disjointed baritone growls this entire time..._
_Maybe I am just a monster. Perhaps we're all walking around down in some boundless abyss, all with our own systems, oddly knowledgeable instincts, and progressively rising delusions of grandeur._
_Nah, I'm super special. Well, if not, then I'll only die._
As if to prove my point, a faint malodour caught my attention, and immediately, my eyes focused towards the entrance. As my attention towards the smell gained clarity, so too did a brownish-red current in my vision.
_Maybe they're not so sparse after all..._
The scent was now clear in my sight. It felt perfectly natural, like I could see these smells all along; I only needed to focus on one of them for it to be relevant enough to see.
Luckily, I managed to get used to curling my toes upwards and avoiding unnecessary friction with the ground. I'm sure it's useful for maintaining the dagger-like nails with pristine sharpness, but right now, I felt it was better to have the element of surprise in most circumstances.
I hugged the side of the cave as I made my way forward, keenly aware of any slight changes in the rot-like smell coming from outside.
Gaining confidence, I picked up my pace until it felt like I was gracefully gliding across its surface.
Actually, my scales blended extremely well with the jagged outcroppings, and my flexible form allowed me to scuttle around the irregular structure with relative ease.
It's almost like I was born here or something.
Anyway, I threw the satisfaction of this newfound technique to the back of my mind as my head reached the opening.
I stilled myself and listened carefully in hopes of being within hearing distance. Whatever it was, it was incredibly silent. Even so, a faint wet-cold slopping sound graced my ears like a deluge of soup mixed with careful intensity.
I grimaced. It was a careful ferocity, but ferocious none the less.
_It must be feasting right now._
_I'm sure I can get a mental image of its location, but I haven't got the experience to predict which scale I should try to fire when I poke my body out._
_I want this to be instantaneous..._
_Well, I have to try. At least I upgraded my agility._
As I peered around, I flinched my shoulder but stopped myself before doing anything.
_Hehe, what an idiot. This month-old looking monster isn't even smart enough to face my direction. Surely it can smell the fresh fleshy corpse behind me..._
_Oh, or maybe it thinks its current mutilated feast was the killer and is now guarding against any who were drawn here in the same fashion as himself... Damn, this month old monster is a genius, and unfortunately for them, I just magically appeared from a dead-end._
With a devilish grin, I hunched forward and acutely aimed my shoulder towards its back-side.
_I can't afford to take any risks_.
At least, that's what I told myself whilst ignoring the slightly sadistic urges in the back of my mind.
In a mere moment, the scale launched forward, and this time I had braced myself for the kickback. I watched unblinking as the scale tore directly through the creature's thin tail and into its fleshy hind. With no protection, I saw the scale pierce directly through its body and chest, scattering across the floor below like a stone skipping across water.
The reptilian-esc creature lurched the contents of its stomach outward, splattering flesh and bile on the surrounding walls before collapsing over the other carcass without another sound.
I was a little grossed out and went to step forward, but a sudden shiver of electricity ran up my spine. Quite literally, it felt as if the scales on my back were rattling like leaves in the wind upon the sudden onset of autumn.
Before even a faint breeze could brush my ass, I launched several scales from my back with as much force as I could muster. I heard something, but before I could confirm anything, I felt a wet tendril grasp my leg.
"Shit."
I felt my feet fling out from under me and I fell to the ground while grinding across its surface. Sparks flew from around my face and arms, and I could barely make out my surroundings in the turbulent chaos.
Inspiration struck, and I grasped hold of the tentacle using my other clawed foot.
In response, it flung me into the air, but as it did so, I slammed my palm into the ground and spun around, slicing apart its slithering appendage in return.
I flew towards the ceiling and the sound of its cries and stone scattering around the cave echoed outwards. A cloud of dust gripped the ceiling and began drifting downwards like some miniature pyroclastic flow.
I gripped the ceiling and began scuttling through the outcroppings, towards the cry I had heard.
The whistling of its arms flinging through the air and the occasional whip-like crack on the shattering rocks around me made me flinch and dart from surface to surface, gripping at the stone with a dexterity I didn't think I had.
Before the dust could disperse, I dove downwards, using gravity to aid in my momentum.
I watched the creature elasticate its arms and fling them forwards with a furious rage, but I sliced them apart in the air and a rain of blood followed me down--It clearly wasn't adapted for direct conflict.
I tore into the creature's back with both arms and split it open. I fell right in and seemingly flailed my limbs to tear apart its organs; but they were, of course, calculated movements.
The slimy sensations of its flesh against my scales forced me to hold my breath in abject disgust. Its muscles were tensing from all sides as it flailed in panic and confusion.
However, its strength quickly drained.
_It wasn't a graceful kill, but it didn't need to be._
Cutting my way out of the now deformed mass, I decided to try rattling my scales in a vague attempt to shake away the blood. It was a somewhat fruitful endeavour, but it didn't do much to remove the horrid scent and sensations afflicting me.
But my mood perked up when a window popped up beside me.
[[exp +11 +44]
[Level: 2 --> 4]
[Health: 47 --> 53]
[Mana: 15 --> 21]
[Stat Points: 0 --> 10]
[Abilities: [Scratch lvl1 --> lvl2] [Scale Cast lvl1 --> lvl2]]
+[Stealth lvl1] +[Ambidextrous Manoeuvring lvl1] ]
I stood there, stunned into forgetting my bloodied form.
_This is it. I'm invincible. Maybe._
[Remnant of the One: System Interface
[Name: Syrin] [Level: 4/10 (5/80 exp)]
[Health: 53] [Mana: 21]
[Bloodline: Imp]
[Soul-type: Inner-world (Unawakened)]
[Class: None]
[Special Class: Contractor]
[Stat Points: 10
[Strength: 3]
[Agility: 8]
[Mind: 3]
[Enyin: 6]
[Exyin: 6]
[Abilities:
[Scratch lvl2] [Scale-cast lvl2] [Aphantic Mana Sense lvl1] [Stealth lvl1] [Ambidextrous Manoeuvring lvl1]]
[Titles:
[Synesthesic] ] ]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shiyayori
Shiyayori Thanks for reading :)
Let me know what you think of the humour.
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