CHAPTER 5: CHAPTER 5: FAR FROM HOME

Note: Thanks to Talvin_Shiji’s suggestion I will be using "double quotes" for dialogue and ’single quote’ for inner monologue/thought. Talking to the system by the way will be treated as inner monologue since it in his head. Also English is not my first language so If you see errors please tell me

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’ Herculean strength? System, is there a way to check how a trait works before absorbing it?’ ( Host can check Trait definition’Alright let do that’

( Herculean strength- Original organism( Onthophagus Taurus) can wield strength over 1000 times their body weight, due to difference in body structure, trait might be altered to fit host)

’ Over 1000x, I didn’t know beetles were that overpowered, okay absorb trait’ ( Affirmative, absorbing trait) He felt his muscles squirm and change.

His scales and bones itched which was super uncomfortable since he couldn’t scratch them. The transformation ended a few minutes later but he couldn’t feel anything different about himself.

To test if his strength had increased he stomped on a rock and it shattered into tiny fragments, he looked at his claw in surprise, this was way more power than he had expected and crushing the rock did not even hurt.

He was too excited to go back to his hole, he had to test more of his new found strength. He started stomping the ground and leaving deep foot prints on it.

He went to a tree the thickness of a grown adult, he ran his claw on it and put a little strength behind it and it cut through the hard tree trunk like it was soft butter.

He turned around as if to leave then his tail snapped like a whip and hit the tree, the tiny spikes on it cut through the bark like a chainsaw and the tree snapped and fell.

Excitement bubbled inside him, he couldn’t believe he wielded that much power. He doubted even a tiger could match his magnificent might.

’ System, I have thought of a perfect name, Ved Zhakrii AKA The black sword’ ( Noted, does host wish to assign himself the name "Ved Zhakrii AKA The black sword"?) ’ What? No, it just Ved Zhakrii’

( Is host certain he wishes to assign himself the name "It just Ved Zhakrii"?)

’ okay now I know you just doing that on purpose. The name is Ved Zhakrii’

( Does host wish to assign himself the name Ved Zhakrii?) ’ yes please’ ( Noted, assigning true name. True name Ved Zhakrii assigned to host. The world recognise and acknowledge your name. Warning: Names hold power.)

’ Ahahahaha, even the world cowers at the greatness of thys name. Thys name, am I using that correctly? Doesn’t matter because I’m the GREAT DRAGON VED ZHAKRIIIIIIIIIII’

He was very satisfied ’What does the last sentence even mean though? Words hold power, sounds like mystical shenanigans, better forget about it’

He happily ran back to his hole, even his speed had increased slightly. ’ Status’ a screen appeared in his head.

Name: Ved Zhakrii

Species: Poison lizard ( 0/223 years)( 32,6 cm/100 cm)

Rank: 1

Abilities(1/1): Traits assimilation

Traits(2/3): Poison secretion, Herculean strength( 350x)

Evolution points:(0.06/10)

The beetle didn’t give him any evolution points but he had still grown by 6mm. The 350x next to Herculean strength caught him off guard.

’ System, could you please explain the 350x’ ( Host can exert a force 350x his own body weight) ’Well that disappointing, I knew the trait would change but to drop by this much is just unfair. Can I atleast see my weight on the status screen?’

( Negative, the system cannot accurately calculate host weight but can give you an estimate, however the status screen cannot be altered so no, host cannot see his own weight)

’ Another disappointment, well nothing can be done about it. Fine, what my estimated weight?’ ( Considering host species and size, the estimated weight is between 4-4 5kg)

’ Doesn’t that mean I can exert over a ton of force? That really broken, how strong will I be when I’m the size of a mountain, man I can’t wait’

At night he went out to hunt again, this time he was lucky enough to catch a single rat. Time passed and in a blink of eye 4 months had gone by.

In these four months he had to survive on berries and poison mushrooms because not only were animals scarce around here but catching them was hard.

They knew how to use their small size to their advantage. So in the past four months he had yet to even accumulate 1 evolution point but he was close.

And most of those came from birds, ironically. In his second week after evolving he learnt how to shoot poison blobs from his mouth.

With his herculean strength he could shoot them at the speed of arrows. Most birds were actually killed by the force of the blob rather than poisoning.

But even they were becoming scarce. Having killed so many they naturally learnt that place was dangerous. So last night he has decided to venture out as soon as the sun rises.

He couldn’t remain in his safe zone forever, not if he wished to see his dream of being a true dragon realised. So here he was running through the forest moving further and further away from his home.

He would be lying if he said he was not nervous, even with his strength he doesn’t know what kind of magical creatures live in this world.

Every now and then he would run and hide whenever he heard a noise and only come out when he figured it was not dangerous. Hours turned into days.

He had found a few mushrooms, berries and small animals along the way to satisfy his hunger. Infact the number of living creatures grew the further from his home he got.

It been five days since he left and during this time he had been lucky enough to encounter a few squirrels,rats and even snakes who delivered themselves to him, ofcourse as the polite dragon he was, he happily feasted on them and finally he had reached the 1 evolution point milestone.

Now he was standing infront of a tiny stream, watching a school of fish swimming freely, then a idea struck him.