My first target was, of course, the baboons. These creatures were clearly intelligent, and I didn’t want to give them a chance to plan a defense strategy.

The only sound around me was the whistle of the air as I plummeted to the ground.

The moment my body crashed into the ground, I activated my eruption spell. The ground immediately popped and spat piping-hot magma over the baboons.

The bright orange liquid covered their armor and their skin in the hot substance.

Chaos erupted. The baboons screamed and flailed about intemperate insanity caused from being covered in magma. Some jumped into the river to soothe their burns, but that only left them vulnerable to the crocodiles.

My body snapped forward like a snake and in an instant, I had one of the baboons between my mandibles, ready to swallow the creature whole.

The baboon struck at me with its steel-forged battleaxe, but it only managed to create a small chip in my exoskeleton.

Immediately after the baboon’s failed attempt, thick green acid sprayed from the gland in my mouth, desolving the creature whole before I devoured it.

[You have slain a D-ranked Mankrill Baboon]

[You have gained 130 biomass]

Without hesitation, I turned my attention to the other baboons. Seeing that they had regained themselves despite being covered in magma, they charged at me with their weapons raised.

For a moment, a bright orange energy could be seen beneath my exoskeleton as energy traveled through the different segments of my body until it exited through my mouth.

[Firebolt!]

[Firebolt!]

[Firebolt!]

Powerful compact bolts of fire shot from my mouth and struck the baboons with pinpoint accuracy.

The firebolts weren’t enough to rip through their bodies. The attack only managed to knock them down to the ground, but that gave me the perfect opportunity.

I smashed my body into the ground and immediately magma spread out from where I stood, like a river slowly washing over everything, until it swelled thw baboons laying helpless on thw ground.

The sound of their screams was haunting and you couldn’t never imagine that monsters would scream like that before their death.

[You have slain 3 D-ranked Mankrill Baboons]

[You have gained 390 biomass]

I quickly turned my head to look for the other baboons who had run to the river to soothe their burns, but they were gone, and the murky river was now dyed in their blood.

I had no time to contemplate my next move as the already agitated pride of flaming lions charged at me.

These lions were roughly the size of a horse.

[Quicksand]

The ground in front of the first lion softened. Unaware, the lion fell into the deadly trap and was swallowed by the ground itself.

[You have slain a D-ranked Nemean Lion]

The other lions quickly realized the trap and leaped over the pool of quicksand.

In response, I used my earth control skill to create spikes on the ground. The large spikes shot up out of the ground, but it only impaled one of the lions before the others quickly learned and used their agility to evade the spikes as they shot up out of the ground.

[You have slain a D-ranked nemean lion]

Their agility was simply unreal, along with how smart these creatures were. It was hard to hit them with the same trick more than once.

They were constantly learning from each other’s mistakes.

The pride closed the distance between us in a matter of seconds. Using its incredible jumping ability, one of the lions jumped onto my back and clawed at my carapace. I thrashed to shake the creature off but its claws were latched in.

Activating my mold skill, an obsidian spike shot from my exoskeleton and impaled the creature in its head.

[You have slain a D-ranked Nemean Lion]

I easily circled around the pride of lions, my body moving with the gracefulness of a snake, before my head jolted forward and pierced into their flesh with my forcipules.

The attack was so fast and precise that the creatures didn’t even realize they had been hit until they were rendered paralyzed and helpless on the ground from my venom.

One by one, I struct them down with quick speed and reflexes until entire pride laid lifelessly around me on the ground.

[You have reached Level 29]

After devouring the lions, I gained a total of 1,950 biomass. But before I even had the chance to celebrate, something hard pierced through my exoskeleton.

A sharp pain coursed through my entire body. Underneath my exoskeleton was a softer exoskeleton, slowly hardening over time until it was time for me to molt. Beneath it were my vital organs, muscles, and hemolymph, which acts as my blood.

Looking down, I saw one of the elk monsters with their horns embedded into my exoskeleton.

The elks rammed their sharp horns into my exoskeleton, breaking through obsidian like glass.

In retaliation, I sprayed them with acid. The elk bugled in pain as my acid melted through their skin.

Yet the acid didn’t affect their antlers, even though they were covered in my acid.

What is that thing made out of?

I was surprised their horns could penetrate my exoskeleton since it was much harder than regular obsidian.

Though curious, I pushed the question aside and raised my pointed legs in the air before slamming them down on the elk’s body.

My legs pierced through their soft flesh with ease, killing them instantly.

[You have slain 5 demonic elks]

At the same time, the blood and bodies began attracting the crocodiles. The cunning creatures began crawling out of the river with their mouths opened wide.

The millipedes also began hissing at me, though they still remained entangled and didn’t move an inch closer.

It was as if they were daring me to come closer.

Suspicious about the ominous spikes on their bodies, I kept my distance and activated my earth control spell.

The ground immediately began to vibrate violently as several cracks began to appear.

It felt as if my entire body was being crushed as I ripped a massive slab of earth from the ground and raised it into the air.

My body should from the amount of mana it required to raise the massive slab of earth but I made sure the massive slab lined up perfectly above the millipedes before I slammed it down over the monsters.

BOOM!

[You have slain 7 venomous millipedes]