R:IX "Devouring Tyrant "

"Those who resist change are left behind. Those who embrace it, become something greater."

Ryuxian curled and uncurled his silver tail, the highly polished scales glimmering in the faint light, still getting used to the unfamiliar feeling of contractions of his muscles running the length of his elongated form. Each action was unnatural, yet somehow intuitive—like discovering long-forgotten instincts rooted deep in his genetic makeup.

But something drove him, an animalistic compulsion that smothered everything else.

He had to feed.

Not only as a passing consideration—his very existence cried out for it. The hunger was intense, gut-twisting, unlike the occasional belly rumblings of his former human existence. It was raw, a hunger that tasted… perilous, a driving need that must be served instantly.

He darted his tongue, and the world came alive in ways he never had known before.

Flickers of minute vibrations in the ground, the gentle tremor of a tunnel-digging insect. The warm pheromone trail carried in the air, the smell of a small mammal's musk. The quiet, rhythmic beat of a small heartbeat in the distance, the fragile pulse of life.

Prey.

His body ahead of his mind to catch up, he glided toward the smell with a hunter's stealth he never knew he had. The scales on his belly slid silently over the rock, the motion so quiet. Then he saw it—a chubby rodent, munching on some moss, its whiskers quivering, having no idea the threat was right next to it.

Ryuxian stiffened, his coils flexing. How did snakes attack? He had no fangs, no claws, no—

Instinct came into play. Strike. Coil. Squeeze.

It was over in a flash. One moment, the rodent was loose, its small eyes shining and watchful. The next, Ryuxian had coiled around it, his body contracting like living steel, the muscles flexing with astonishing power. The creature squeaked, struggled—then went limp, its life gone.

Silence fell, punctuated only by Ryuxian's hasty, staccato breathing.

His heart thudded, the beat a wild drumming against his scales.

"I… just did that. Holy crap, I actually…?"

But hunger did not give him time to hesitate for long. He opened his mouth, much farther than any human ever should, the jaw dislocating with unnatural ease, and swallowed the rodent whole.

As soon as it slid down his throat, a rush of energy flooded his body, warming him from the inside out.

A familiar whisper echoed in his mind, a faint, ethereal voice:

「Basic Prey Consumed. Minor Stat Increase Achieved. Strength and Senses increased.」

Ryuxian froze, his body rigid.

Stats? Strength and Senses?

This just got a lot more interesting.

When the rodent went down his throat, a strange warmth pervaded his body. It was not merely the satisfaction of fullness—it was something more, a cellular renewal. His muscles were slightly more potent, his senses heightened, the world itself more vibrant.

And then, as a breath carried on the breeze, something awakened within him:

「Prey Assimilated… Cellular Adaptation in Progress.」

A shiver went down his iridescent silver scales.

".What the hell was that?"

No flash menus. No status screens. Only a sense, like his body was reorganizing itself, changing and growing in response to what he'd just ingested.

As he was dealing with the bizarre sense of his body adjusting, there was a vibration through the earth. Getting louder, starting slow but getting closer with each moment. Footsteps.

Something massive was coming.

Ryuxian stiffened, his coils tensing, his body rigid. He instinctively lashed out with his tongue, sampling the air, and interpreting scents. Metal, the metallic bite of steel. Sweat, the scent of physical effort and musky flesh. Wood, the scent of worked timber and the earth. And. blood? A light, metallic odor that hung in the air.

And then, out of the entrance to the cave, a figure appeared.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. A battered axe, handle bound in scuffed leather, held firmly in one hand. His attire was of coarse-spun fabric, soiled with grime and the evidence of hard toil.

Most animals shunned snakes. They winced, shrank away, or struck on sight. But this fellow? He didn't even retreat. Instead, his eyes fastened on Ryuxian's silver-white body, and something peculiar danced in his eyes.

Curiosity, combined with a touch of… familiarity?

Wordlessly, the man plunged into a pouch, pulled out raw flesh, and deposited it on the floor. And without devouring or moving a step closer to him, turned around and walked away from the cave, the only sound echoing within the quiet.

Ryuxian remained immobile. He was frozen in place.

That. wasn't exactly expected, by any measure.

His tongue darted out once more, sampling the residual fragrance of the man, the disappearing scent of his being.

What the devil was that all about?

Ryuxian tensed further, remaining in the shadows. He was still diminutive, comparatively frail, and unarmed. If the man had decided to attack, he would not have stood a chance.

The heat from his previous meal still thrummed faintly within him, as if something just below the surface was in waiting…

And then, it occurred.

「Awakening Progressing…」

His silver scales glimmered dully, reflecting the faint light. A primeval urge flared in his mind, a feeling of transformation.

Something was evolving, changing.

Serpent Awakening: Advanced Sensory Evolution

When the man exited the cave, Ryuxian stayed coiled, his senses screaming at him to remain still, to hide. But something was… evolving, and changing.

A bizarre heat coursed through his veins, and the world seemed to move, to come into focus.

He could sense it.

Not merely see or hear, but sense the world around him in a way that had been impossible previously, a multi-faceted sense experience.

* Vibration Sense (Tremor Perception): The ground beneath him became his friend. Any movement, any step, even the slightest twitch of an insect's legs charted a picture in his head, a bodily representation of where he was. He could "see" without seeing.

* Heat Vision (Infrared Sight): His eyes constricted, and his vision faltered—then he saw it. A path of heat signatures, diminishing footprints of the man's body heat, remaining where he had been. The air itself bore temperature variations, causing all living things to radiate softly in his vision, a range of thermal energy.

* Life Pulse Detection: The creepiest but most interesting transformation. He felt the pulse of animals around him. Not a slow thudding—he felt their mood by their pulse, the minute fluctuations in rhythm. A rabbit outside had a rapid, nervous beat. Insects had weak, jumpy pulses. And the man…

The man outside had a firm, steady pulse. Slow, calm. He wasn't afraid, but he was watchful.

This. this is crazy.

Ryuxian lashed his tongue, and a flood of new smells filled his head, piling on top of the other senses, building a three-dimensional understanding of his world.

For the first time, he didn't feel powerless.

Instead, he felt powerful, and attuned to the world around him in a deep way.

And this. was only the start, a taste of the power that waited inside of him.

"Nature does not wait for understanding—only action. Survive first, question later."

"Strength is not in limbs or weapons, but in the mind that wields them."

「Serpent Code Recognition: Unusual interaction detected.」

「Analyzing…」