After walking for a while, Lizarius saw several Lightning Rats being hunted by a black snake with sharp, golden scales lining its tail.
The snake launched the golden scales from its tail, piercing through multiple Lightning Rats.
Lizarius hid in a nearby bush and asked the system about the snake.
“This is a Rank 2 Low Tier Beast called a Black Viper,” the system replied.
“They use the poisonous golden scales on their tails, which they can regrow quickly.
They are known for preying on Lightning Rats.”
*I need to kill it before it eats the rats,* Lizarius thought.
He slowly moved toward the snake.
But the snake suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the bush where Lizarius was hiding.
It immediately launched its golden scales toward the bush.
Lizarius became visible as the scales flew toward him.
He tried to dodge.
But the scales were too fast.
They struck his body.
**CLANG!**
The impact felt like being struck by iron, leaving small wounds at the points of contact.
The poison on the scales quickly took effect.
Lizarius began to feel weak.
His body became heavy, and he collapsed to the ground.
The snake slowly crawled toward him.
Lizarius forced himself to remain conscious.
“How many points do I have left?” he asked the system.
“You have 80 points,” the system replied.
“Use them all to evolve my horns,” Lizarius commanded.
A throbbing pain suddenly spread through his head.
His horns began to grow longer.
The pain continued for several moments before finally subsiding.
“Evolution complete,” the system announced.
Just before the snake reached him, Lizarius turned invisible.
The snake arrived at the spot where Lizarius had fallen.
But there was nothing there.
It paused, seemingly confused.
Lizarius, now invisible, was standing close to the snake.
He focused his energy.
His body slowly became visible as electricity gathered around his horns.
**Zzzzt!**
The electricity continued building.
Then—
**BOOM!**
Lizarius unleashed a streak of lightning toward the snake.
The snake was too slow to react.
The lightning struck it directly.
**CRACK!**
The Black Viper’s body convulsed from the powerful attack.
It couldn’t withstand the lightning and fainted.
The moment the snake collapsed, Lizarius, still weakened by the poison, struggled to move.
He forced himself toward the snake’s head.
Then he opened his mouth and sank his teeth into it.
The system announced,
**[You gained 40 Evolution Points, the Black Viper Gene, and 1 Gene Point.]**
Lizarius continued eating.
When he finished, he looked at the remaining body.
Then he told the system,
“Fuse the Gene.”
A tingling sensation spread through his tail.
One golden scale emerged.
“Evolution complete,” the system announced.
After finishing his meal, the system announced,
**[You gained 60 Evolution Points and 2 Black Viper Gene Points.]**
Lizarius paused.
“I didn’t know I could get more than one Gene from a beast.”
“The higher the rank of the beast, the more Genes it can potentially provide,” the system explained.
“And you can only get the same Gene once.
Anytime you obtain it again, it becomes a Gene Point that can be used to evolve the same Gene.”
Lizarius understood.
*So that’s how it works.*
“Fuse the Genes,” Lizarius commanded.
Two more golden scales grew on his tail.
Lizarius moved his tail experimentally.
He could now move it more easily.
*I guess the poison has no effect on me anymore since I fused the Gene.*
His yellow eyes glanced toward the corpse of the Black Viper.
*If I hadn’t acted quickly, I would be dead.*
He paused for a moment.
*And what the system just said about the Gene isn’t much different from how I thought it worked.*
Lizarius then turned his attention toward his remaining Evolution Points.
“Use all my remaining points to evolve my scales.”
A tingling sensation spread across his entire body.
The injuries caused by the poisonous scales slowly began to heal.
The wounds closed, and his strength gradually returned.
Once Lizarius had completely recovered, he walked toward the four Lightning Rats that had been killed by the Black Viper.
He opened his mouth and began eating them one after another.
After he finished, the system announced,
**[You gained 160 Evolution Points and 4 Lightning Rat Gene Points.]**
Lizarius looked around the area.
*The Lightning Rats’ nest must be somewhere around here.*
He began searching.
After looking for a while, he finally found it.
The nest was hidden beneath a large tree.
Lizarius turned invisible and attempted to enter through the narrow opening.
But he was too large to fit through.
Lizarius paused.
Then he forced his way inside.
To his surprise, the nest was much larger on the inside than it appeared from the entrance.
His yellow eyes scanned the interior.
Inside, he saw a Rank 2 Mid Tier Lightning Rat fighting two Rank 2 Low Tier Black Vipers.
Scattered around the nest were the corpses of multiple Lightning Rats and four Black Vipers.
The Rank 2 Lightning Rat charged its body with electricity.
**Zzzzt!**
It suddenly rushed toward one of the Black Vipers.
The Lightning Rat rammed its horn directly into the Black Viper’s head.
**CRACK!**
The Black Viper was killed instantly.
The remaining Black Viper reacted quickly.
It swung its tail.
Multiple golden scales shot toward the Lightning Rat.
The Lightning Rat dodged most of them.
However, one of the scales grazed its side, leaving a small wound.
The Black Viper’s poison quickly took effect.
The Lightning Rat’s body began trembling.
It collapsed to the ground, twitching.
The remaining Black Viper slowly crawled toward the fallen Lightning Rat.
Lizarius had been observing the battle from nearby.
He slowly became visible behind the snake.
His yellow eyes glowed as electricity gathered around his horns.
**Zzzzt!**
The energy continued building.
Then Lizarius unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning.
**BOOM!**
The lightning struck the Black Viper directly.
Its body was instantly roasted by the powerful electricity before it collapsed unconscious onto the ground.
Lizarius didn’t waste any time.
He moved toward the Black Viper and bit down on its head.
Afterward, he turned toward the injured Lightning Rat.
*I should finish this before I start eating.*
Lizarius opened his mouth and bit down on the Lightning Rat, killing it.
He then began devouring the corpses.
He continued eating without stopping.
One corpse after another disappeared.
After several hours of non-stop eating, the system finally notified him that he was finished.
Lizarius paused and asked,
“How many points do I have?”
The system replied,
**[You have 940 Evolution Points, 35 Lightning Rat Gene Points, and 5 Black Viper Gene Points.]**
Lizarius’s yellow eyes gleamed.
“Fuse all the Genes and use all the evolution points to evolve every part of my body.”
A powerful shock suddenly ran through his entire body.
**Zzzzt!**
The energy surged through him.
Lizarius’s body trembled as the evolution began.
The overwhelming sensation quickly became too much for him to endure.
His vision blurred.
Then—
Everything went dark.
Lizarius lost consciousness.