I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel

EP.9

Weak prey, strong predator.

It is only natural for the strong to take from the weak.

【Black Piranha LV8】

The piranha, perceiving me as food, gnawed at my tail.

Without hesitation, I swung my tail like a whip.

The force emanating from my long tail was stronger than I had anticipated, sending the piranha soaring into the sky.

Seizing the opportunity, I gathered strength in my legs.

I was standing on a single lotus leaf.

If I moved too violently, I would inevitably fall into the water.

Of course, that would be the case for an ordinary lizard.

Kicking against the boundary of water and lotus, I leaped into the air.

Even a piranha, known for its biting strength comparable to that of a shark, was just a fish when out of the water.

Moreover, I was not on land, but in the air. It was truly defenseless.

“Gekek!”

I focused all my strength, like a spring, propelling myself towards the piranha’s belly.

If I were to name this attack, it might be called Little Dragon Ascending Step.

Puh-woosh!

The time the creature spent suspended in the air was prolonged.

Its size was equal to mine, and I knew this single attack would not end it.

If things continued like this, it would certainly dive back into the water to escape.

I twisted my body and struck it down with my tail.

Thwack!

A dull thud echoed this time.

It was what one might call a situation of bone impact.

No, it was a fish, so perhaps it was more like hitting bones.

The aim of this attack wasn’t merely to inflict damage.

My goal was to alter its landing point.

Thud!

The piranha was knocked to the ground by my tail.

Still alive, it thrashed about desperately to get back to the water.

Splosh!

However, now that it was on land, it could only suffer under my Little Dragon Ascending Step.

Hah.

What a trifling thing, acting all tough.

I struck the lifeless piranha with my long tail.

It had bitten my tail, causing some wounds, but it didn’t hurt much.

The tail of a Gecko Lizard regenerates on its own. Having become a basilisk, that ability was still retained.

Given that the wall-climbing skill was still present, I knew I could utilize my former traits even with my altered leg structure.

Even if I were to evolve further into a Big Basilisk Saurous hereafter, it meant I could still traverse both the water and the land with ease.

Swish, swish.

After massaging the piranha for a while, I grabbed its fin to pull it towards my lair.

And at that moment, a splash erupted.

Splash!

Piranhas, presumed to be its companions, revealed themselves.

【Black Piranha LV4】

【Black Piranha LV5】

【Black Piranha LV7】

Their levels were lower than the one I had caught, but they numbered many.

There were three in total.

I had already achieved sufficient gain.

There was no reason to fight them.

I intended to give a mild warning and leave.

Guuu.

From the depths of the puddle, I felt a certain energy.

It was similar to the fervent energy that lay within me.

I sensed it instinctively.

Something large was approaching.

Kuwaaa!

As it half-emerged from the surface, an immense amount of water sprayed up.

【Black Piranha LV10(+)】

With all its might, it was just a piranha after all.

“Gekgek.”

I felt a bit disappointed.

I was about to turn away without even giving it a glance.

…Wait a minute, why does it have a + next to its name?

Isn’t that something that was attached before I evolved?

And its form seems a bit odd.

While the others looked like typical piranhas, this one resembled a koi fish more closely.

It wasn’t black at all; it was red.

What is its true identity?

I wanted to yank at its whiskers and ask, but facing four piranhas at once would be too daunting.
I wrapped the piranha I had already caught with my tail.

It seemed the others had caught on to my intent to flee.

Foolish creatures.

Like a small dragon soaring through the sky, I soared above them.

It was the Little Dragon Ascending Step.

“Gekek!”

I let out a satisfied laugh while skipping across the water toward my lair.

*

I arrived at my lair, having meticulously monitored my surroundings.

I could still hear the sound of the piranhas disassembling their prey.

Had I remained on the water’s surface, they might have caught me.

However, I made active use of the terrain to my advantage.

I stepped on the water, climbed onto the reeds.

I leaped into the air and landed back on the water.

It was a path that the Basilisk Lizard could traverse, one that the fish could never follow.

“Gekek!”

Now, the moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

I cast a sly glance at the plump piranha.

Saliva began to drip from my mouth.

As much as I wanted to swallow it whole right away, I was an educated lizard.

Snip.

I carefully removed the piranha’s scales.

In my previous life, I would have solved this with my small beak.

But now, I was no longer a Gecko Lizard; I was a Basilisk Lizard.

While there were many changes from my gecko days, the most noticeable was that I had become elongated overall.

The most apparent difference was my arm.

No, it would be more accurate to refer to it as my foreleg.

In the past, I would have only used it like an actual foreleg.

It was short and stubby, and walking awkwardly was all I could do.

But now, it was different. I could mimic human actions to a certain extent.

I elegantly removed the scales from the piranha’s body.

In truth, removing the scales was a luxury beyond luxuries.

The process of preparing it was anything but easy.

If I were another type of lizard, I might have opted to create a small hole and start eating from there. A slightly larger creature would likely be swallowed whole.

But I was a dignified, intelligent lizard.

The ingredient before me was a fish.

It was a far cry from the crunch of spider legs or the explosive texture of insect sashimi.

Cooking it with plenty of spicy sauce or braising it with radishes would taste wonderful. Frying it crisply in clean oil to make fish fritters would be absolutely delightful.

And if I added fries to that…

…that kind of option was no longer available to me now.

The only choice that remained was to eat it raw.

Even so, fish could still be enjoyed raw as sashimi.

I lifted the scaled piranha with both hands.

Thump.

I opened my mouth wide and took a huge bite of the flesh.

Munch, munch.

“Gek!”

I let out a scream I didn’t even realize I was making.

Was this really the taste of fish?

A subtle sweetness from the flesh.

The taste was reminiscent of the red flesh of meat.

Perhaps because it was a carnivorous fish, there was not a hint of the muddy taste often associated with freshwater fish.

It was chewy and sweet.

Biting into the fish certainly added to the flavor enjoyment.

Thump.

The satisfaction I felt could not be compared to thinly sliced sashimi.

Crunch!

In the blink of an eye, I devoured the entire piranha.

[Your level has increased!]

The level-up was just an added bonus.

I felt a bit disappointed that I didn’t have dipping sauce or wasabi, but it was a taste that couldn’t be compared to bugs in any regard.

[You have acquired “Gourmet LV1”!]

“Gourmet LV1”

The more delicious food you consume, the easier it becomes to gain inspiration.

They really are handing out all sorts of things nowadays.

Inspiration, is that something akin to enlightenment?

I scratched my head with my long tail.

Having filled my belly, it was time to put whatever inspiration I had into action.

Let’s sum up the situation.

First of all, this world is filled with dinosaurs.
At first, I thought I had fallen into the Paleozoic Era, but that wasn’t the case. There were creatures here that did not exist during that time. It was a fantasy world with dinosaurs.

Given that I had a status window and skills, I thought it was likely. However, that didn’t seem to be the whole story. The low qi the spider had fed me and the technique called Little Dragon Ascending Step—when I put these together, it became clear that this world was a martial arts realm.

Scratch.

I scratched my clever head with my tail. So, what can I do?

After pondering deeply, I couldn’t come up with an immediate answer. What did it matter whether this world was fantasy or martial arts? Right now, I was merely a lizard. A very small and fragile lizard, at that.

Considering what this world was could wait until I became stronger. And I knew how to grow stronger in this place.

Leveling up.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. More important than leveling up was evolution. I had already evolved one step from a Gecko Lizard, and it had made things so much easier.

Although my evolution was not a typical one. It was a special evolution, unlocked when certain conditions were met.

Special evolution.

I needed to dig deeper into this. Just as the skill Sprint was a condition for the Basilisk’s evolution, other skills likely represented the evolution conditions for other creatures. Current me was in a period where I needed to learn as many skills as possible.

The more options I had, the better.

If I could catch and consume a lot of poisonous insects to gain related skills, I might evolve into something like a Komodo Dragon.

To achieve special evolution, I needed to learn skills.

That meant I had to gain as much experience as I could within my means.

I had set some rough guidelines for my activities. Now, one dilemma remained.

That was the low qi.

Even if I reached the maximum level, evolution wouldn’t happen immediately.

“The important energy will reside within your body.”

I would only be able to evolve after seeing that phrase. In other words, something like the low qi needed to be consumed to move to the next stage.

That was the problem.

I didn’t know where that spider found such things, but fundamentally, the low qi was a rare item. There was a high likelihood I wouldn’t be able to find it until this lizard’s lifespan ran out.

Phew.

Where on earth could I get some low qi?

Splosh!

The piranhas I had seen earlier were still agitated, swimming vigorously in the distance.

I envied them. They could just swim around thoughtlessly.

They wouldn’t understand the struggles of a higher lizard like me.

Gugoo!

Now, they were causing quite a commotion, creating whirlpools in the water.

What did they think they were, dragons?

“Kwaaack!”

A loud noise rang out.

I looked up to see a toad hopping around energetically.

“Gekek!”

You’d best leave while I’m still being polite. Unless you want to incur the wrath of the Green Basilisk LV2.

If I hadn’t just eaten and was filled, I would have hunted that toad down immediately.

“Kwaaack!”

I was holding back because it oddly looked unappetizing, with its golden hue.

Ugh.

“Geruuhng!”

What now?

On the opposite side of the toad, a large golden turtle was crawling around.

It was rolling around clumsily, poking at various spots.

Had I chosen the wrong hiding spot?

“Gek gekek!”

Let’s keep it down, shall we?

How am I supposed to live next to creatures like that?

My luck was terrible.

Sigh.

I let out a long sigh.

Was there anywhere I could find even a little low qi?