Level Up The Colony-Chapter 105: Unexpected

The suffocating sensation of being crushed and dragged downward into a toxic, airless void was, Timothy decided, one of the most unpleasant ways to die.

Only this time, he was oddly relieved.

He'd been eaten By a serpent.

The thought almost made him laugh if he'd had the breath to do so.

He hadn't managed to inhale much before being tossed into the air and swallowed whole, so now his lungs burned as he clung desperately to the last scraps of oxygen.

At least he wasn't dissolving yet.

The serpent's stomach acid didn't burn; it just coated everything in a vile, slippery sheen.

Combined with the pitch-black darkness, it was impossible to gauge the creature's size or orientation.

His clothing dissolved quickly, turning to mush as he slid deeper into the slick interior.

Timothy fought to anchor himself in the upper stomach, summoning his machete in a burst of instinct. His first strike glanced off the inner wall, and the slip cost him his footing. He slid further down, panic clawing at him.

The second strike was fueled with mana, and this time the blade sank in, stopping his fall.

He hung there, clinging to the embedded weapon, his lungs screaming for air.

He reflexively inhaled and nearly retched as acrid, toxic fumes seared his nostrils.

He forced himself to hold his breath again.

Then the serpent moved.

The muscular walls around him convulsed once, twice, three times, trying to crush him.

The third pulse was followed by a violent slam that shifted his center of gravity.

Another slam came sideways, hard enough to rattle his teeth.

It's rolling, Timothy realized.

'It's trying to shake me loose' he thought

The machete slipped slightly in his grip, and the serpent seemed to sense it, doubling down with savage rolls and bone-rattling impacts.

Vertigo clawed at his mind as each slam pried his weapon free millimeter by millimeter.

He'd been saving mana, rationing it carefully in this mana-starved world.

But these creatures weren't giving him the luxury.

He waited, timing the serpent's movement, then channeled a surge of mana through the machete just as the beast whipped him sideways again.

The blade bit deep.

The serpent jerked in pain, momentarily stunned.

Timothy drove the weapon further, burying it to the hilt until it struck something solid, a rib or spine.

The creature spasmed violently, then went slack.

He withdrew his mana flow, panting through the stinging fumes, and for the first time pictured the serpent's size.

Seven feet wide, at least, and easily five times longer than his estimate.

It could compress its body to a third of that width, which explained its uncanny speed.

Timothy drew in another breath, this time the stench didn't sting as sharply.

Maybe he was adapting.

Maybe he was dying.

Either way, he couldn't stay here.

'They'll use me as bait again' he thought bitterly.

'Because I'm weak. Because I'm disposable. Why am I even listening to them?'

His frustration hardened into resolve.

He flooded his blade with mana once more, carving upward in a brutal arc. The serpent's flesh parted like wet paper.

With a final heave, he tore his way free.

Timothy emerged into the forest, naked, slick with gore, and gasping for clean air.

Compared to the oppressive blackness inside the beast, this was paradise, even if the forest remained shadowy and grim.

The serpent's carcass lay bleeding beside him, its massive body still twitching.

He glanced toward a nearby pond in this darkness, its surface deceptively calm and small.

That must have been its path of escape, a portal in liquid form.

Timothy was weighing his options when a sound he hadn't heard in far too long chimed in his ears.

A system notification.

[You have killed an Old Ophidian]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have reached Level 35]

Timothy froze.

Then the meaning hit him, and a giddy laugh almost escaped his lips.

He had leveled up.

Here, in this hellhole.

Against all odds, he'd not only survived but grown stronger.

He didn't waste a second and immediately summoned his system panel.

---

Name: Timothy Walter [Evolution: Unavailable]

Title: Goblin Slayer, Mount, A Hardworking Man

Trait: Hybrid (Unstable) 4%

Level: 36

HP: 8,700

MP: 200

Fatigue: 60

Strength: 60

Stamina: 100

Agility: 75

Intelligence: 100

Perception: 75

Free Stat Points: 17

---

[Skills]

King <Unknown> – Lv. Max

Dash – Lv. 2

Pheromones <Passive> – Lv. 4

Armament <Enhanced> – Lv. 1

Tenacity <Passive> – Lv. 1

Colony Genesis <Active> – Lv. 2

Force <Passive> – Lv. 1

Mana Control <Passive> – Lv. 1

Escape <Passive> – Lv. 1

[Colony] (6)

Black Widow Arachnid (Arachnephora Nyx'Thelan) – [Symbiotic Bond]

Silverback Termite (Gray) – Lv. 34 [Evolving: 25 Days]

Silverback Termite (Rex) – Lv. 9

Silverback Termite (Vox) – Lv. 9

Silverback Termite (Pax) – Lv. 9

Silverback Termite (Lux) – Lv. 9

---

Timothy scrolled through the glowing panel, scanning for changes.

His emotions tangled with relief, confusion, and dread.

Gray's evolution timer had dropped to twenty-five days.

That didn't make sense.

Barely three days had passed.

A glitch? Time dilation? He couldn't figure it out, and the uncertainty gnawed at him.

At least the others were one step closer to their own evolutions.

That was good news, right?

"Speaking of rewards…" Timothy muttered, frowning. "Where's my Level 35 reward?"

[All rewards will be granted at the exit of the dungeon.]

His shoulders slumped.

"Figures. That's annoying."

He flicked his eyes back up to his Hybrid (Unstable) trait. That was new.

And worse, the percentage had doubled.

It used to be at a stagnant 2%. Now it read 4%.

"What…?" His mind raced.

"Why?"

He mentally retraced his steps.

The serpent.

The toxins.

His first near-death encounter with the goblin and its venom came flooding back.

He remembered the aftermath: waking up altered, his body forcibly changed.

He dug through the system logs.

Notifications scrolled like a flood of memories until he found the highlighted entries:

---

[Stasis Deactivated]

[You have survived Variant Monster Toxin]

[Warning: Irreversible Changes Detected]

[Level 20 Reward Lost]

(Your original reward has been negated due to forced adaptation. No combat skills or growth bonuses granted.)

[King (Unknown) has reacted to foreign contamination.]

[New Racial Trait Acquired: Hybrid]

(Your body has fused with external influences, creating a unique physiology. This grants potential but leaves you unstable.)

[Penalty: Instability]

(Your body is not fully synchronized. Under stress, you may experience involuntary mutations, loss of control, or organ failure. Extended instability could be fatal.)

---

Timothy exhaled slowly.

So that was it.

"Potential for growth," he muttered.

"Or potential for self-destruction."

He stared at the 4% instability with a strange sense of calm.

This world wanted him dead? Fine.

But if he was going to die, he wouldn't go quietly.

And deep down, he had a sinking suspicion this was only the beginning.

Timothy didn't even want to think about instability right now.

So far, he'd only discovered two practical uses for his Hybrid trait:

A Toxin immunity which is A passive lifesaver.

A Forced transformation, A double-edged sword though

Two game-changing abilities, but the system hadn't even bothered to explain them, nor their risks.

He figured He'd leave that conversation for another day.

What caught his attention was the good news: his free stat points had jumped.

Seventeen points alone wouldn't change his life.

But with his growth curve accelerating and his level spiking, he suddenly saw a path forward.

His fear of the Darvani had always been rooted in one thing: he was weak.

If he could catch up,

just a little everything changed. Training was inevitable, but now… now there was momentum.

Still, he had glaring weaknesses.

Blindness in this oppressive forest.

Perception so limited he'd been nearly eaten alive.

Without vision, he couldn't strategize, control terrain, or even anticipate attacks.

Timothy turned back toward the serpent's carcass to continue to harvest its mana core, only for his instincts to spike like an alarm.

He bolted sideways, relying entirely on instinct.

The sound of something heavy slamming into the earth followed.

Four-legged, definitely Massive.

Timothy drew his machete into a reverse grip for defense, crouching low.

The beast prowled in the dark, hidden from his senses.

'System, assign all attributes to Perception.'

[Perception: 75 > 92]

The surge was immediate, but still no clarity.

Just darkness.

Minutes dragged by as Timothy remained still, every muscle coiled.

When no attack came, he eased toward the serpent's corpse.

He needed that core, even if it meant blood in the water attracting more predators.

That thought had barely formed when the next attack came, this time from behind.

Timothy didn't dodge.

Mana surged into his machete as he swung directly into the distortion of air.

The blade bit deep, followed by the wet tear of flesh and the crack of breaking bone.

Claws raked his arm even as the creature died, its grip iron-strong in death.

Pain flared as a sharp and invasive poison entered him and immediately dissolved

[You have killed a Lupine]

[You have leveled up]

The corpse collapsed at his feet.

"So, poison claws," he muttered, grimacing.

"Stealthy but dumb."

A low growl rolled through the darkness.

Then another. Dozens.

"Well," Timothy said, tightening his grip on the machete, "this is unexpected."