Chapter 7
【Entity Information】
Name: Nereia
Age: ???
Species: Deep-Sea Mutant Predator
Classification: Mutant
Sex: None
Growth Stage: Growth Form
Predation Rank: Lesser Predator
Threat Rank: Unmeasurable
‘I did it.’
Coming to, Nereia looked at the entity information floating before its eyes and muttered to itself.
Even as it lost consciousness, Nereia had worried that something might have gone wrong, but those worries proved unfounded: its evolution had succeeded without a hitch.
Its species, once a Deep-Sea Unicellular Larva, had become a Deep-Sea Mutant Predator.
It had gone from a larva to a Growth Form, and a new Predation Rank—Lesser Predator—had appeared.
Based on the information displayed in its entity profile, Nereia could tell that it had become a predator in this area.
No, it didn't need to check its entity profile to know that.
Even without the system's help, Nereia could tell instinctively.
It had become incomparably stronger after evolving.
Now, even if the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva came back to life, Nereia could easily kill it.
But—evolution hadn't simply made Nereia stronger.
By becoming a Deep-Sea Mutant Predator, Nereia had finally...
‘I can see.’
It could see things with its own ‘eyes.’
When it had been a Deep-Sea Unicellular Larva, it had sensed its surroundings through Mana Sensitivity and its Primitive Sensory Organ.
Now, it had something primitive, but still recognizable as ‘eyes.’
At the same time, Nereia realized that its eyes could detect the faintest traces of light at the bottom of the deep sea—light invisible to ordinary creatures—as well as the distinctive light of mana.
And the deep-sea ecosystem, viewed through those eyes, was...
‘Beautiful.’
It was indescribably beautiful.
Entranced by the view, Nereia stared blankly at its surroundings for a while, then finally came to its senses and looked over its own body.
Before evolving, Nereia had been a unicellular organism, just as its name suggested.
Though it had acquired various traits and its appearance had become quite bizarre, it had basically retained the form of a unicellular organism.
But now that its evolution was complete, things were different.
First of all, it had grown larger.
It had been barely 2 mm in size, but now it was about 6 cm—more than twice the size of the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva.
A translucent, dark blue outer covering had formed across its body, through which it could glimpse the mana flowing within.
Four flexible appendages, with traits of both fins and tentacles, were attached to either side of its body. When Nereia moved them slightly, they served as fins or tentacles depending on the situation, just as their appearance suggested.
There was also a propulsion organ on its tail fin, similar to the Primitive Propulsion Organ that had saved its life in its battle with the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva, but far more advanced.
Lastly, faintly glowing, blue-green bioluminescent organs had appeared in various places on its body, and Nereia could turn them on and off at will.
Looking over its body, Nereia realized that evolution hadn't caused its existing traits to regress or disappear.
On the contrary, its existing traits had grown stronger or merged, becoming more powerful and versatile.
At any rate.
‘What can I do now, and how far can I go?’
As Nereia looked over its body, it could tell that its current form was so strange that it could hardly be considered an ordinary deep-sea creature.
It wondered if it had become something unusual in this world where it had been reborn, too.
After all, its evolved species name was Deep-Sea Mutant Predator.
That was why Nereia wanted to study its own body.
It wanted to tear itself apart and examine every bone, every scrap of flesh, and even every single cell.
A desire to study deep-sea creatures.
That desire, bordering on madness, was inseparable from Nereia.
But.
‘I can't do that.’
Muttering to itself, Nereia used superhuman self-control to suppress its urge to research, which threatened to make it devour even itself.
It had gone to all the trouble of evolving. It had no intention of throwing its life away by being swept up in its runaway desire to research.
So, for now...
‘I'll be satisfied with experimenting.’
Right. Research didn't have to mean cutting things up, chopping them into pieces, mincing them, and examining every single cell.
Having drawn a line for itself when it came to ‘research,’ Nereia decided the first thing to experiment on was...
‘These fins should do.’
According to the system, they were called 「Multi-Erosion Predation Organs」.
As the name suggested, they were normally used as fins, but could stretch out and be used to attack like Primitive Erosion Tentacles, depending on the situation.
The thorn-like tips could also be driven into an opponent's body to inject an acidic substance, melting and absorbing it from the inside.
Right.
‘Like this.’
Swoosh-!
The four tentacles moved swiftly, attacking the deep-sea creatures swimming nearby.
Some tentacles curled around the swimming creatures as if snaring them.
Others drove their thorns into the creatures' bodies, injected an acidic substance, and dissolved and absorbed them.
After testing them, Nereia found that the Multi-Erosion Predation Organs were incomparably faster than the Primitive Erosion Tentacle,
and so powerful that Nereia felt almost no resistance, even when moving against the deep-sea currents.
Best of all, the number of tentacles had increased to four.
Thanks to that, Nereia could use them in more complex and varied ways.
It could have one tentacle go straight for its prey while the other three blocked its escape routes. Or it could attack from four different directions, leaving its opponent unable to block or dodge.
Crunch, crunch.
‘It's been a long time since I ate something with my mouth.’
After finishing its experiment with the Multi-Erosion Predation Organs, Nereia chewed up the deep-sea creature it had caught and decided to test its tail next.
More precisely, it would test the new propulsion organ attached to its tail.
According to the system, it was called the 「Mutant Propulsion Sac」.
The Mutant Propulsion Sac was a trait created by combining multiple traits around the Primitive Propulsion Organ.
‘It said it had more thrust than the Primitive Propulsion Organ—and was more efficient, right?’
That was certainly what the system's description said.
But Nereia couldn't know exactly how well it worked just by reading the text.
Even with the fine cilia, the system had said that underwater movement efficiency increased ‘slightly,’ but when Nereia had actually tried them, their effect had been far too great to call it a mere ‘slight increase.’
No sooner had Nereia gathered its thoughts and infused the Mutant Propulsion Sac with mana than...
Boom-!
The explosive thrust from the Mutant Propulsion Sac sent Nereia shooting several meters before its body slammed into a rock on the seafloor.
And not into a rock in the direction it had intended to go, but into one lying in a completely different direction.
Amid the fragments of the rock shattered by the sudden collision, Nereia thought in stunned disbelief.
Surely...
‘I only put in about as much mana as I did when using the Primitive Propulsion Organ.’
And to think that was the result.
Its performance was so exceptional that it couldn't be described as merely more efficient.
At the same time, Nereia muttered to itself.
‘This is why you have to experiment with things yourself.’
If Nereia had simply read the system's description and left it at that,
it wouldn't have been strange if, later, it had used the organ to flee a predator it encountered by chance, only to end up inside the predator's mouth instead.
That was why Nereia continued its experiments.
It adjusted the amount of mana,
and adjusted the strength of the thrust produced by the Mutant Propulsion Sac.
As a result, Nereia grew accustomed to the Mutant Propulsion Sac, to the point that it could move in the direction and at the speed it wanted.
During the process, Nereia also learned just how sturdy its translucent outer covering, gained through evolution, was.
After repeated experiments had given it a decent understanding of its evolved body, Nereia looked toward the hydrothermal vent beyond the turbulent current.
The hydrothermal vent was quite beautiful, with the faint light of the minerals scattered throughout it. At the bottom lay the shriveled corpse of the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva.
Looking at the shriveled corpse of the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva, Nereia thought.
‘When I first saw it, I thought, what kind of absurd monster is that?’
As Nereia kept looking at the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva's corpse, it recalled all sorts of things.
Everything from the fear of death it had felt when they first met, to the despair when its opening ambush failed at the start of its revenge, to the rush of pleasure when it finally won.
But—Nereia had no intention of settling for this.
To Nereia, the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva was nothing more than the starting line.
The starting line marking the beginning of its life in this vast deep sea. Or perhaps a tutorial.
So...
‘It's time to start exploring in earnest.’
Just how vast this deep sea was.
And how many different creatures swarmed in its deepest depths.
Nereia would see all of it with its own eyes.
And...
‘Fight. Win. Devour.’
Nereia would study an even wider variety of deep-sea creatures, acquire an even wider variety of traits, and become stronger than it was now.
Having steeled its resolve, Nereia...
‘Thank you.’
Before embarking on its life in the deep sea in earnest, Nereia murmured those words to the corpse of the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva, which had helped it adapt to this life and steel its resolve, then moved forward.