Chapter 12
‘I... survived.’
Nereia opened its eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
Honestly, it had really thought it was going to die this time.
It had barely managed to escape that monster, and its body was in terrible shape.
Its outer shell had shattered to pieces.
Its mana had run dry.
As if that weren’t enough, it had lost consciousness in this dangerous deep sea. It wouldn’t have been strange if it had died—not just to another Lesser Predator, but even to a Deep-Sea Unicellular Larva like the one it had been when it first awoke.
Still.
‘As long as I survived, that’s enough.’
Let’s look on the bright side.
Though it had been dangerous, the experience had made it stronger.
So.
‘Let’s see how much I’ve changed.’
After opening its status for the first time in a while and checking its traits, Nereia nodded.
‘As expected. I thought this might happen, but a lot has changed.’
The four traits that had changed the most stood out.
Primitive Mana Organ. Primitive Mutant Carapace. Multi-Erosion Predation Organs. Mutant Propulsion Sac.
Those four traits had become High-Density Mutant Mana Organ, Mutant Regenerative Carapace, Multi-Erosion Predation Arms, and High-Speed Multi-Axis Propulsion Sac.
All four were core traits for Nereia, and all had adapted to the high concentration of mana and mutated after it obtained the higher-level entity’s biological-core fragment.
Of course, reading about them was still no substitute for knowing what they could really do.
Also, although it had made the most of its mutated traits while fleeing from that monster, its memories of the experience were incredibly hazy—probably because it had been terrified of dying.
So.
‘I should test them out.’
Having decided to find out just how much they had changed by moving and using them directly, Nereia started with its Multi-Erosion Predation Arms.
The Multi-Erosion Predation Arms had mutated from the Multi-Erosion Predation Organs.
The only difference in the name was that the character for “organ” had changed to the one for “arm.” Looking at them, their shape hadn’t changed; they still looked like a mix of fins and tentacles.
If that was all...
‘Then why call them predation arms?’
But Nereia couldn’t help wondering.
Why had the character for “organ” in Multi-Erosion Predation Organs changed to the character for “arm”?
Nereia found the answer by lightly moving its tentacles.
The moment it applied a little force, the tips of its tentacles split apart.
When they had been Multi-Erosion Predation Organs, the tentacles had blunt tips. All they did was drive the sharp spines growing at their ends into an opponent’s body, inject digestive fluid, and suck up what had melted inside.
Of course, that alone had made them powerful enough, but now things were completely different.
The blunt tips of the tentacles split into five parts, like human fingers.
Sharp, sawtooth-like edges lined their tips, and the five-pronged tentacles could perform all sorts of actions, just like a hand.
At this rate, calling them “hands” rather than “arms” would have been more fitting.
‘Well, the name doesn’t really matter. More importantly, they’re stronger now.’
For a moment, Nereia watched in awe as it lightly closed one around a nearby rock that looked solid, crushing it to dust.
Then Nereia tested the other three mutated traits besides the Multi-Erosion Predation Arms.
The High-Density Mutant Mana Organ could store even more mana, and the mana it held was in a completely different league from before.
The Mutant Regenerative Carapace was tougher than the original. And, as its name suggested, it could repair damaged areas with only a tiny amount of mana.
The last trait, the High-Speed Multi-Axis Propulsion Sac, had changed even more than the previous three.
Its thrust had increased, making Nereia faster. It could also make sharp turns, surge upward or plunge downward, and even perform acrobatic movements like spinning its body.
And it could do all that without slowing down at all.
Considering that the original Mutant Propulsion Sac had to slow down and readjust its angle to perform those movements, this was nothing short of evolution.
Even so, it was hard to believe that a fragment of a higher-level entity’s biological core could do so much.
‘It’s only a fragment, but this much has changed? How much stronger would I have gotten if I’d eaten an intact core? Would I have evolved?’
While marveling at how much its body had changed, Nereia felt a faint pang of greed as it wondered how much stronger it would have become if it had eaten an intact biological core.
Of course.
‘Well, if I’d eaten an intact one, I’d have died right away, system or no system.’
It knew perfectly well that it wouldn’t have survived if it had eaten an intact biological core, so it easily let go of that desire.
More importantly...
‘I’ve more or less finished checking the mutated traits. Shall I take a look at the new trait I gained this time?’
Eating the biological-core fragment hadn’t just changed Nereia’s existing traits.
Though it was only one, Nereia had also gained a new trait from the fragment.
The trait it had gained was:
【Skeletal Proliferation】
＊Uses the body’s minerals and mana to form high-density skeletal tissue.
＊Can temporarily harden parts of the body.
＊Can create various forms of skeletal tissue by combining with existing traits.
The name of the new trait Nereia had gained was Skeletal Proliferation.
The explanation was complicated, but simply put, it could create structures of various shapes made from hard bone.
When Nereia tried using it, hard bone grew from the end of one tentacle, taking the shape of a sharp spear.
Slash-!
When it moved the tentacle slightly, a sharp sound rang out as it sliced through the water.
This...
‘Not bad.’
The bone was obviously hard, and even the sound alone told it that the point was quite sharp.
Having finished examining Skeletal Proliferation, another weapon in its arsenal, Nereia looked around.
‘Where am I, anyway?’
Nereia murmured inwardly as it checked its surroundings.
With only a quick glance around, Nereia could spot countless mana reactions through its eyes.
However, those mana reactions...
‘They feel familiar somehow.’
The more it looked around, the more familiar the surroundings seemed.
And there was that mana glow that flashed for an instant and then vanished.
The sense that it had seen all this before made Nereia tilt its head.
Where had I seen that before?
It hadn’t been when it was a Deep-Sea Unicellular Larva, or at the hydrothermal vent.
Then it must have seen it after evolving and leaving the hydrothermal vent.
Mana glow... A mana glow that flashed for an instant and disappeared...
‘Ah!’
As Nereia searched its memory again and again, the recollection suddenly surfaced, and it cried out without meaning to.
It remembered.
It remembered where it had seen that ghostly mana glow.
Could all of those things be...!
‘They were ghost jellyfish!’
Come to think of it, the surroundings also looked a lot like the deep-sea coral where it had previously discovered a colony of ghost jellyfish.
Perhaps the sudden appearance of that monster had been such a shock.
Nereia had forgotten all about the ghost jellyfish for a while.
Still, even so...
‘I even got the Deep-Sea Compendium because of the ghost jellyfish. Forgetting them seems... a little rude to them, doesn’t it?’
At that silly thought, Nereia let out a quiet laugh.
Well, enough joking around.
It had wanted to study the ghost jellyfish more, and now, of all things, it had stumbled upon this good fortune.
Maybe becoming a deep-sea creature really had improved its luck.
With that thought, Nereia moved its Multi-Erosion Predation Arms.
The four limp tentacles moved nimbly, their tips splitting into five prongs.
Using the four hands they had become,
‘Ah, this is convenient.’
Nereia grabbed ghost jellyfish at random and began dismantling them.
‘Still, this is handy.’
Before it had the Predation Arms, Nereia could only study creatures by eating them to gain their traits. It had no way to find out how their bodies were structured or what their insides were made of.
That was why Nereia hadn’t been able to reach a 100% analysis rate for the other deep-sea creatures in the Deep-Sea Compendium, either.
Things were different now.
The four Predation Arms, which were practically hands, let Nereia conduct much more thorough and serious research.
Of course.
‘Let’s not forget to eat them, too.’
Crunch, crunch.
Nereia chewed up and swallowed the neatly dismantled ghost jellyfish in one bite.
Dismantling was good. Observation was good. Learning about their body structure and internal organs was good, too.
But the only way to gain traits was to eat them.
It wasn’t bad.
It could observe them, gain new traits, and fill its stomach.
‘This must be what they call killing three birds with one stone.’
Grab one. Dismantle it. Observe it. Analyze it. Eat it.
Then grab another. Dismantle it. Observe it. Analyze it. Eat it.
How long had it repeated this process on the ghost jellyfish as they fled in alarm?
Along with gaining a new trait, Nereia had brought its analysis of the ghost jellyfish to 100%.
【Deep-Sea Compendium】
＊Ghost Jellyfish
└Analysis: 100%
└Information: Locked.
└Characteristics: Locked.
└Acquired Traits: Mana Concealment Membrane. Optical Distortion Membrane. Bioluminescent Lure Organ.
└Predation Rank: Lowest Predator
Filling the analysis rate to 100% didn’t bring about any particularly special changes.
At most, various details had been added to the Information and Characteristics sections, and a Predation Rank section had appeared. That was about it.
Oh, come to think of it...
‘I feel like I saw a system window saying something had been added to the record when I brushed past that thing.’
Looking at the ghost jellyfish’s Predation Rank, Nereia suddenly remembered that monster.
Maybe it had gained some new information about it.
If so, that might help when it took revenge on the monster someday.
‘Let’s check.’
【Deep-Sea Compendium】
＊???
└Analysis: 0.7%
└Information: ???
└Characteristics: ???
└Acquired Traits: None.
└Unacquired Traits: ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ??….
└Predation Rank: Predator
The record for that monster, which Nereia checked belatedly, hadn’t changed much.
Its analysis rate had only risen from 0.1% to 0.7%, and...
‘Predator...?’
That was about all that had been added: its Predation Rank.
The problem, though, was the monster’s Predation Rank.
Predation Ranks were generally divided into Lowest, Lesser, Intermediate, Greater, and so on.
But the monster’s Predation Rank was different.
It just had the single word “Predator” sitting there.
What on earth...
‘What does this mean?’
Just as Nereia began to wonder about this unfamiliar classification,
【The target’s Predation Rank cannot be determined due to the immense disparity in level.】
【Temporary classification 「Predator」 has been applied.】
A system window appeared before its eyes.
In other words, to explain...
‘The gap between us is so enormous that the system can’t properly determine its Predation Rank? Damn, did I really survive a monster like that?’
Just how strong did something have to be for even the system to be unable to determine its Predation Rank?
And what had possessed Nereia to mess with a monster like that?
Nereia trembled as belated fear surged through it.
Still.
‘At least the fact that it was given the rank “Predator” means I might be able to hunt it someday, doesn’t it? Yeah. If I keep evolving and getting stronger, surely I can.’
Maybe it could study that monster, too.
Even if it wasn’t for revenge, as long as there was even a 0.1% chance that it could study the monster, Nereia wouldn’t give up.
Of course, to do that, it would have to become stronger than it was now—stronger beyond comparison.
So.
‘Let’s eat more deep-sea creatures and study more deep-sea creatures. Then...’
In search of new deep-sea creatures to study and to help it evolve, Nereia swam onward through the darkness of the deep sea.