NOVEL WEB Chapter 5: Build up steadily
Arthur's body was now roughly the size of a basketball, with a long, skinny tail even thicker than a pen—a massive change compared to when he first arrived.
But as he grew, so did his appetite. Ants and mosquitoes no longer did much to keep him full.
Crawling carefully, Arthur kept an eye out for food. He encountered a few moths along the way and swallowed them all, but they barely bumped his satiety upward—each moth provided only two measly points.
At one point, he spotted a large ant nest under a rock. He managed to gulp down more than a dozen ants at once, and after half an hour of mindless chomping, he'd only gained three total points. The payoff was too low, so he turned and left, wandering the forest as he mulled over a new strategy.
"It's that whole big-fish-eats-little-fish vibe," he thought. "If I really want to power up fast and stay full, I can't waste time on tiny critters with no real defense. I need to go after prey around my own size."
But where was he supposed to find something of a suitable size lurking in this enormous forest?
Just then, he noticed a sudden movement in a patch of grass below.
"What was that?"
He hurried after it.
"Ribbit!"
Sure enough, a brown frog leapt onto a pile of dried leaves. Its big eyes swiveled around, tongue flashing out to snatch a passing ladybug and swallow it in one go.
Arthur's eyes lit up.
That brown frog looked about a third his size—still manageable for him to eat.
He crept around behind it and waited patiently. Although he'd studied a bit of biology in the past, there were way too many species in this forest to recognize them all. He had no clue if a mysterious creature like this was poisonous. Then again, there were tons of unknowns out here, and he'd starve if he kept hesitating at every creature he didn't recognize.
Gritting his teeth, Arthur seized his chance the moment the frog hopped up to catch another ladybug. He pounced, flicking out his tongue and clamping down on the startled amphibian.
The poor thing never expected to be ambushed. Its four legs kicked frantically as it struggled, but Arthur refused to let go. He held on for dear life, thrashing his head side to side, slamming the frog against the ground. The tactic worked like a charm—before long, it quit fighting.
Not taking any chances, Arthur waited until it went stiff, then pinned the carcass with his claws and tore into it bit by bit. A creature this size wasn't like an insect you could swallow whole.
On the bright side, the payoff was obvious: after gnawing on it for half an hour, Arthur's satiety rose to 95 points. That frog alone had provided 75! He only needed a few more bugs and he'd be full, ready to digest and level up again.
Brimming with experience by now, Arthur quickly found a nearby spot swarming with insects and polished off the remaining five points to hit 100/100.
"Burp. Man, being stuffed feels fantastic."
Arthur wiped his mouth on a broad leaf. Even as a gecko, he refused to ignore hygiene. Then he picked a random secluded hollow as a temporary hideout and began to digest.
This time, the digestion seemed to go faster. By the time he opened his eyes, it was still night outside. Thankfully, geckos have decent night vision, so darkness didn't cramp his style.
He decided to check his status first:
[Mutant Gecko · SSS]
[Strength: 13 → 16]
[Agility: 7 → 8]
[Defense: 2 → 4]
[Evolution Points: 17/100]
[Status: Hungry (0/100)]
[Description: You remain extremely weak, and 93% of this forest's creatures can easily kill you.]
This time, he'd only scored 6 stat points and nudged his survival rate up 2%. Could it be tied to the food choice, or maybe the level of danger he faced?
Arthur had a hunch. He was sure his devour-evolution talent was incredibly powerful, but usually the more powerful something is, the higher the bar for progress.
Maybe the frog just hadn't been challenging enough, or maybe its innate qualities were too low. Yes, it boosted his hunger meter, but didn't offer as many stat gains. He'd probably need a real fight against stronger prey if he wanted bigger gains.
Still, going on reckless hunts in a place where 93% of the creatures could stomp him flat was pretty dumb.
"I'll just take it one step at a time," he told himself. "Right now, I'm still too puny. If I run into any serious predator, I'll be a gooey smear. Gotta build up steadily."
He calmed his nerves and resumed his usual tactics, slowly developing his strength.
This forest was huge—after three days, Arthur hadn't covered much ground. But those three days had shown him countless species and shattered everything he thought he knew.
Turns out not all bright colors are dangerous, and being dull-colored doesn't guarantee safety—some of the deadliest animals were the most inconspicuous.
Arthur had experienced that lesson firsthand. He once bit into something that looked harmless, only to feel his throat burning with poisonous blood.
If he'd taken a big, careless chomp, he might have ended up back in the Arch God Space, or maybe not even get a second chance at all.
From that episode on, Arthur grew drastically more cautious. Even after killing prey, he'd pick it over multiple times, looking for any sign of poison. Only then would he eat.
"Man, I wish I had fire. At least then I could cook it. Even if it's got poison, I'd mostly kill the toxins by grilling it. And if I still got sick, that'd just mean I didn't cook it enough."
Arthur muttered under his breath, clinging to a tree trunk. He was currently eyeing a nest. A female bird was diligently warming her eggs.
Right now, Arthur's evolution points had reached 48/100, and he was roughly the size of a grown wolf—light years from where he'd started three days ago.
Yet his Camouflage talent remained a game-changer. Even though he was so big now, he blended in perfectly with the bark, not leaving the slightest hint of where he was.
He was waiting for the male bird—currently out hunting for food—to come back. According to his own observations, that female, about the size of a soccer ball, wouldn't give him much energy points.
She wasn't his real target. Arthur just wanted payback.
Yesterday, the male had snatched prey that Arthur had stalked for over an hour—a rabbit that was practically already in his mouth. Arthur, who couldn't fly, could only watch it get carried away, helpless.
Seeing his dinner stolen at the last second had pissed him off big time, so he tracked the bird's flight path all the way here.