- My little system

I spend the rest of the night hunting more coyotes than I even saw as a human. The amount of energy I gain from these goes down with every level, as if the system is telling me to stop bullying the weak. I do gain a good amount of levels though, 6 to be exact.

"Alright, I should be ready now, right?"

[Indeed, the mountain lion should be relatively easy for you to kill with your current level]

"Alright, mark one on the map!"

I see a red blip pop up about 3 km away from me and start bolting towards it. As I get closer, the mark also starts moving toward me. It's probably smelling the blood on me, thinking I'm injured. We get to the point we can see eachother, and the thing jumps as if it didn't expect to see me so soon. Taking this small opportunity, I lunge forward and claw its front leg deeply but not enough to sever it.

The mountain lion looks at me and scrunches up its face while growling. It then lunges toward me with its paws, attempting to return the favor and claw me. I dodge to the side with my vastly superior speed and claw the side of its chest, cutting many ribs clean off and hitting its lungs. It starts to cough up blood and very quickly reorients itself to try to cat-slap me. I wasn't able to see this because I'm looking away from the creature and I get cat-slapped right on the tail. Luckily I have the fur mutation, which turned into scale mutation as a reptile, and barely got scratched.

I learn from my mistakes and start facing my enemy, barely ever letting it out of my view. The cougar starts lunging toward me again, attempting to bite me. When I see it start its lunge, I also move forward, hitting it underneath the chin and cutting through its mouth. I then rip my claws out of its mouth, through its chin, cutting it in half. The creature yelps in pain as it tries one last time to smack me with its paws, to which I answer with cutting off its already injured leg. As it falls back down, it leans to the side before falling completely. Not wanting to give it a chance to stand back up, I slice my claws through the back of its neck and out the front, completely decapitating it.

I start cutting up its meat with my claws before putting a piece into my mouth.

"WHOA! IT TASTES LIKE FILET MIGNON!"

[Mountain Lion killed and ingested]

[Level up x2]

[Converting extra energy into modification points]

[10 Modification points awarded]

[Quest completed!]

[2 Modification points awarded]

[New Mutations unlocked!]

-------------------------

[First Mana heart]

[Steel skin]

[High quality stomach]

[Secondary brain]

--------------------------

"W-wait a second… Mana? As in magic?"

[Indeed. However, I do not recommend gaining this mutation as of now. You should wait and build up your strength before selecting that mutation, as that will also make it more powerful]

"You can't just dangle magic in front of a nerd and not expect them to pick it!"

[I strongly advise against such a choice. I do not understand why Gaia gave you this choice, but you are not ready to use it!]

"Ugh… but... "

[Please.]

"..."

"Fine…"

I feel dejected. Something that has limitless possibilities was dangled in front of me, begging me to choose it, and I have to ignore it. I learned from my mistakes though, and I choose to trust the system. I don't know who this gaia is but I'm guessing it's Earth or something. If it gave me the choice it must have a reason for it. Maybe it's a test or something? It still hurts to not choose it though.

"What's the descriptions for the other three?"

[Steel Skin: Unlike Strong Fur/Scales, Steel skin affects the skin underneath these, raising their hardness by many levels.]

[High Quality Stomach: You gain the ability to assimilate other creatures skills as your own after digesting them. You also gain immunity to all poison on Gaia so long as it is ingested and not sent directly into your bloodstream.]

[Secondary brain: You gain a secondary brain that is attached to your current brain. This brain is not capable of higher thought and only serves to increase your thought processing.]

"Give me all of them and raise them to level 2."

"Also raise the rest of them to level two if they aren't"

[Administering anesthesia.]

I feel my body go numb, falling to the ground. After a few seconds, I start moving again and notice that my body has changed in many ways. My claws are now half as long as my arm, and sharper enough that I feel like I can cut into glass with ease. My jaw feels strong enough to chomp through a solid lead pipe. My skin feels like it could deflect bullets, and I feel like I can think of fifty different things at the same time and fully understand everything!

"Holy shit…"

I immediately stand up and start running, disappearing from where the bloody bones of the cougar lay. I'm so fast! I feel like if I get any faster I'll be going the speed of sound! I almost wish my next evolution was a blue hedgehog!

[No. You will need many more evolutions before you can go that fast. And from your memories I have determined that an Italian plumber is faster than this hedgehog!]

"Nice reference."

I jump up into the air, landing on the side of a tree. I dig my claw into it with ease and start climbing until I reach the top. I look out over the forest and see just how small it actually is. I can see large clearings in it, presumably where there are roads or other things people have built. As I'm admiring the beautiful view, I get a message from the system that rudely blocks my view.

[You should find a-]

"Yes, I know, but that little den will be too small for me so I'll have to dig it deeper."

[...]

I feel as though I just interrupted my mother and instinctively frown deeply.

[Very well then. I guess you don't need my guidance. Find the den on your own!]

"N-No! I'm sorry! I was just annoyed because I was appreciated the view! Please don't leave me to my own devices! I have no sense of direction!"

[...]

"Y-You're the most beautiful system I've ever seen!"

[I am the only system you've ever seen. But whatever, it's marked on the map.]

I feel like it's getting more and more human as time goes on. Maybe it's about time I start calling 'it' a 'her'.

"Hey, system, do you have a name?"

[No, I am a system. However, a naming system is in place so you can call me whatever you like.]

"Well… Are you a boy or are you a girl?"

I ask with a question mark above my head.

[My current voice selected is female. So I suppose I am female.]

"Alrighty! Then I have a name!"

[Very well.]

"Ellie! It's what Brooke and I were gonna name one of our kids if they were a girl! Do you like it?"

[...]

[Y-yes. I do. It is the pet form of the name Eleanor which means 'God is my light.' However, I believe you were atheist? Why did you choose a name with religious meanings?]

"Ah, is that what it means? I just chose it because I thought it sounded pretty. As for the religious meanings, nobody really chooses names for their meanings anymore."

[Is that so… I will keep that in mind in the future.]

"My little system is growing! Awwwww!"

[...]

[I suggest you hurry up and evolve as the next evolution will be the first big one, allowing for many powerful species to be chosen.]

"Hehe, alrighty. Let's head back to the den."