When Henry regained his consciousness, he felt a great itch going wild on his back. It was like hundreds of reeds brushing across his skin. Instead of his limbs, his tail moved to scratch the itch away on his back. However, as his tail came close to touching his back the itch disappeared, accompanied by sounds of wings flapping and birds cooing. There was no real itch. It was just the birds perching on top of him. Like before, the small animals had taken the liberty to use his still unmoving body as their place of respite. As there was no harm done, Henry didn’t mind it too much. In fact, it was a good thing. The birds and the other small animals’ presence only served to enhance his concealment while he remained motionless, protecting him from other creatures and monsters.

He opened his eyes then and let the light spilt into his vision. The rain had stopped and the sun was out in its whole glory. The sun was not setting but rising. He realised he had slept straight through the night. He stretched out his limbs and let out a yawn. He looked around after that, surveying his surroundings. He saw large barks strewn about in the proximity. He then remembered he had slept in the cover of a hollow log but the log was nowhere to be found. Or rather, the log was everywhere, in pieces.

Henry cast his gaze down, staring at his forelimbs. He uttered a gasp of awe. His limbs and claws were definitely bigger now. Suffice to say, it was the same for his entire physique. His whole body had grown a size larger or maybe two. Most interesting of all, the meaningful tattoos appeared to have spread to his limbs too. He touched his head and back. His horns and spikes were also longer and bigger. Unfortunately, he had yet to grow a pair of wings.

Hmm?

Henry discovered something curious when he appraised the changes that happened to his tail. The spikes were shorter and duller. The tip was no longer barbed and also shorter and duller. Just as he thought about the reason for his seemingly de-evolution, the spikes on his tail extended and the tip turned barb. Henry whistled in fascination at the new feature of his body. Of course, he didn’t actually whistle. He was just imitating the feeling of whistling and what came out from that attempt was the sound of a balloon deflating. He checked whether the same could be done for his claws and the spikes on his back but unfortunately, the feature was limited only to his tail.

Next on the list to be assessed was his combat capabilities. It was could be said that this was the most anticipated aspect of his evolution. After making sure no other monsters or creatures were around, he coiled his claws into a fist and punched the ground with all his strength. At the same time, the tattoos on his limbs glowed. The ground trembled against his might and his fist sank right into the soil. As he didn’t expect this much strength from his punch, he was pulled in by his reckless strength and his arm was buried until his shoulder. He quickly pulled his arm back out and assessed the damage done to his arm and the ground. His arm was unharmed, with not a chip or scratch on his scales. As for the hole in the ground, there were cracks around it. He peered into the hole he made with that single punch. He didn’t just punch through dirt and soil but also rocks and stone. His physical strength was tripled if he had to guess.

He directed his attention to a boulder nearby and threw an Aura Blade. His attack spell completely shattered the boulder into fragments in a tiny explosion that raised small clouds of dust. He threw one again at a tree. The tree was felled with a clean cut. The aura blade didn’t just increase in strength but also its sharpness. Henry had to blink a few times to verify if he seeing things properly as he couldn’t believe how smooth the cut was.

He tips his head up to the sky and unleashed a blazing roar. The flames brightened the swamp more than the sun already had. Monsters and creatures could be heard shrieking and scuttling away. Even as the one spewing the flames, Henry could feel the intense heat radiating from his fire breath. Smoke was puffing out of his mouth after he ran out of breath and the flames receded. The stream was definitely bigger than before and also a tad longer in its reach. He recollected his breath and breathed deep. He expelled his breath with a shout, unleashing a bolt of condensed fire in a direction with the fewest trees and plants. The world shook as the firebolt transformed into an explosion upon collision with a random log strewn on the ground. The shockwave could be felt even from where Henry stood.

Fortunately, the explosion did not leave any burning flames in its wake. Most likely the shockwave had extinguished the remaining flames of the explosion’s aftermath. Henry heaved a sigh of relief. He was not looking forward to cleaning up the mess that could be a forest fire. Lastly, he inspected the other only spell he knew, the translucent barrier that blocks only magical attacks. The barrier had expanded in size but was still nowhere near the level of the tiger, who was capable of caging himself in that barrier.

Henry resumed his journey after feasting on some fish. He didn’t catch the fish from a lake or a river. He found them dead in a small puddle of water, most likely washed ashore during the downpour or they could have been left here after the water level receded. Though they were already dead, the fleshes were still fresh. As he walked further, he came across more fish on land. The amount left barely any place for Henry to tread on. The storm flood must have been quite severe. Henry was thankful that he had slept at a high elevation. He didn’t know if it was possible for him to wake up while he was undergoing his evolution and if it wasn’t possible, he would surely drown.

He returned back to the lakeside but he stood at least twenty metres away from the lake. He scoured his vicinity for any signs of Ruguths. As far as he could tell with his senses, no Ruguths or any sort of hostile were in the area but that was only on land. His senses could not span into the water.

Maybe this quest is just plain impossible for me and I’m only grasping at straws here.

There was no way across the lake other than to swim. Flying was an option but he couldn’t, not yet at least. He looked around once more to see if he had missed anything. There were a lot of logs drifting gently on the lake. He figured he could hop across the lake using the logs but that was only providing the logs were properly aligned. As he began to contemplate going around the lake no matter the time it would take, a large ripple was forming on the surface of the lake. The rippling was close to the shore.

Right on cue. I was just looking for something to vent my frustrations.

He braced himself for his imminent foe. He half-expected the tentacle monster to finally show itself but that didn’t fit its hunting behaviour. Animals and monsters weren’t the types to change their nature on the fly unless something significant happened or they had high intelligence. The next candidate on the list of possibilities was a Blue Ruguth. More specifically, the alpha of the nest. He did kill a lot of Ruguths and they didn’t look like the sort to let grudges go.

The surface broke and the water parted as a large figure emerged from the depth. True to Henry’s guess, it was indeed a Blue Ruguth. Just from the upper body alone, Henry could tell it was as big as him or maybe even a little bigger. No doubt the leader of the Ruguths from yesterday. It had come to seek revenge for its fallen kin. Aside from its larger physique, its scales were a deeper shade of blue and it had a pair of curved horns sprouting from the top of its head. It crawled out of the lake slowly, its gaze constantly staying on Henry. The rage was apparent in its eyes but it did not let it control its action. There was also confusion in its eyes. Perhaps it was doubting whether Henry was truly the one that massacred its kin. It seemed to make its conclusion a few seconds later. It snarled at Henry. It had decided that Henry was indeed the one.

Run, said the voice in Henry’s head but he refused to, for one particular reason. He faced the Alpha Ruguth with a smirk. Though he was smirking, he wasn’t that confident in his chances. He could feel the tremendous amount of Mana in the Alpha Ruguth. Despite how far he had grown, he was still oppressed by the Alpha’s aura but at least it wasn’t at the crippling level. He wagered that if he had not undergone an evolution, this confrontation would have ended quickly and badly for him. The abundant amount of scars littering the Alpha’s body was a testimony to its strength and prowess. It had survived and triumphed in many conflicts. Henry took a step back and the Alpha took that as a sign to start its assault. Henry felt its Mana surge and water spears were formed from the water of the lake.

What the fuck…? You got to be kidding me…

Henry put up the translucent in a hurry as the water spears flew towards him. The first two water spears shattered the barrier in a mutual fashion and the rest flew on. Henry managed to dodge all but one water spear that grazed his right shoulder. Blood was drawn at the first attack from the Alpha Ruguth. It grinned at the blood it drew from its enemy. Henry returned a growl and unleashed a firebolt. The water formed a shield in front of the Ruguth and absorbed the firebolt without an explosion going off. The water shield then morphed into a large spear and flew towards Henry like an arrow. Henry dove aside and the water spear plunged deep into the ground before dispersing into a puddle of water.

How am I going to win?

Before any ideas came, the Alpha Ruguth was preparing its next round of attacks. Henry retaliated with his Aura Blades but the water spears intercepted every last one of the Aura Blades. Henry used his fire breath but the water shield completely negated that attack.

This is absurd… I am not its match.

Henry still had his claws and fangs but with its size, it could easily drag Henry into the lake and that would be the end of him. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself. He had wanted to use his foe as the punching bag but he had become the punching bag instead. Seeing that Henry wasn’t retaliating but simply standing around in a daze, the Alpha Ruguth took the liberty to attack him. Orbs of water were launched at Henry. He snapped out of his daze and ran from the water orbs that exploded upon making contact with any surfaces.

Do I truly have to run instead of fight?

He kept asking himself that question as he ran from the Alpha Ruguth’s bombardment of spells. The situation reminded him of the war movies he had watched. He felt like he was experiencing those situations first-hand with the Alpha Ruguth’s volleys of water bombs. Due to the recent rain, there was plenty of water for the Alpha to draw from the land even though it had run far from the lake. Grounds were cratered and trees were felled by the Ruguth’s attacks. Even some of the monsters were unfortunate to get caught up in the bombardment. It was then an idea struck Henry. He pounced on the nearest monster which appeared to be a dog-sized iguana. He grabbed that monster and tossed it at the Alpha Ruguth. It smacked the poor iguana aside with its claws, turning it into a pulp. Henry stumbled upon more monsters who were all running from the battle that was constantly changing fields. He kept grabbing any monsters he could and tossed them at the Alpha Ruguth. It smacked away some but also swallowed some. Henry noticed it ate only the frog-like monsters. The next frog-like monster he encountered, he sank his teeth into the monster and flung it to the Alpha Ruguth. It opened its mouth to let the frog monster fall into its jaws. 

Idiot.

The moment the Alpha Ruguth started chewing on the frog monster, it instantly spat it out and glared at Henry with an enhanced fury in its eyes. There was also a tinge of fear present. It realised it had fallen for Henry’s trick. It realised it had consumed venom. It stopped chasing after Henry. It began gathering water to its body as its body started shimmering. It didn’t take long for Henry to figure out it was trying to purify the venom inside of its veins. Henry quickly turned around and dashed towards the Alpha Ruguth. This was his chance. The bombardment had stopped.

The Alpha Ruguth flashed Henry a glare. The shimmering on its body disappeared and the water rose from its body, morphing into spears. A trap, Henry cursed but he didn’t stop in his tracks. He was far too close to give up or run. He pressed forward in his dash. The water spears were released from the proverbial strings. Henry conjured the translucent barrier and as soon as it shattered, he quickly conjured another one. Unlike his fire breath, he didn’t need to be still or gather his breath. He only needed to imagine it but it was harder than it sounded. Every time the barrier shattered, he felt like something dense and soft was thrown against his head. A couple of times were fine but as it continued incessantly, that could give anyone a concussion. However, the flurry of water spears ceased all of a sudden. Looking ahead, Henry saw the Alpha Ruguth curling into its barely with a pained expression. His venom was taking effect.

Henry smirked with the edge of his lips touching his eyes. He leapt at the Alpha Ruguth and swung his claws down at its head. It dodged Henry’s strike and lashed at him with its jaws. He backhanded the Ruguth’s mouth away and tossed himself at the lizard-dog. They struggled against each others’ weight and they went tumbling to the ground. The Ruguth ended up getting on top of Henry but he promptly kicked it off of him. He bounced back up and charged at the Ruguth who was still scrambling to its feet. He nearly bit down on the Ruguth’s neck as it steered its head away at the last second. It lunged in retaliation but Henry caught it by its lower jaw and slammed its head to the ground. Before Henry could slam its head again, the Ruguth forced him back with a claw swipe. The claw scratched his face. It left not a scar on his hide but he still felt the scratch. It still stung. He returned that favour with a short and point-blank fire breath. The Ruguth tried to stop him but it ultimately decided to dodge instead. The flames grazed over its head as it ducked. When the flames faded, it pounced at Henry. He received the Ruguth’s tackle by grabbing its head, swinging it around, and finally slamming it to the ground. The Alpha Ruguth cried out its pain in a howl.

Henry went in for the kill but the Alpha Ruguth retained enough of its strength and will to resist him. It lunged straight at Henry with its sharp teeth and claws but it was all in vain as none of those weapons of the Ruguth did any actual harm to Henry. Still, it was persistent and kept scratching and biting despite the futility. Henry grabbed its flailing forelimbs and gave them a good squeeze. The Ruguth’s bones could be cracking and it let out an agonising shriek. Henry ended its suffering with a deep and sure bite to its throat. It gasped and gagged on its final breath before its soul left its body and its spirit left its eyes. The Ruguth went limp in Henry’s mouth and dangled in his jaws.

Henry spat the dead Alpha Ruguth out of his mouth and rubbed his lips with the back of his hand. Or rather, his claws. The flesh didn’t taste foul but it was from being decent. It was just at the level of being bearable. In a way, it was a good thing. If the Ruguths had tasted good, not even his sanity could prevent him from hunting the Ruguths down for the sake of satiating his appetite. 

Now the hard part was over, he got down to business, the reason why he refused to run. He flipped the dead Ruguth to its back and cut open its torso. He stuck his forelimb into its body and rummaged through the organs and bones. He could see how well his venom was working from the blackening of all the organs. He tried his best to ignore all those horrifying details. After a short search, he found it. With a firm tug, he pulled the Mana Heart of the Alpha Ruguth out of its body. It was surprisingly slightly smaller than the tiger’s Mana Heart the surface was smoother. It was also red in colour like all the Mana Heart he had consumed so far.

Henry beamed into a smile at the crystal cluster in his palm. He popped it into his mouth without any hesitation. Though it was tasteless, he savoured it like it was the most delectable dish he had ever eaten. Once the crystal had completely melted in his mouth, he gasped in delight as if he just had a refreshing drink. In a way, it was refreshing. With this, he would no longer have any problem with traversing deep waters, he hoped.