1 Chapter 1

In a flowing silvery river, amidst a ruined wasteland. There stood one young man who could be no older than 20 years old. He had plain black hair, and was frantically sifting his hands through the stream. Both of his hands were clustered with calluses and partially bruised. The Young man spent a few minutes reaching through the stream, it's ethereal water shining brightly.

After some time, his hands laid upon a bright and shiny white fish. It's scaled gleamed as if they came from the moon itself. One would normally think to admire such a fish, or to keep it as a pet. The fish itself was a marvelous moon like Koi, it's body flopping violently to get back into the water. But it could not escape the grip of the one who held it.

Yet instead, the young man would grab the fish and swallow it whole. Not even bothering to chew or attempt to cut it at all. With one almost monstrous gulp, the fish had gone down his gullet. It could not struggle, falling effortlessly into his stomach.

"Come on...Any second now!"

The Young man waited, before being interrupted in thought by a loud dinging sound in his mind.

"Ding! User has succeeded in consuming a [COMMON] Level Animal Soul. User due to affinity for Consumption has gained double the merit. Three [GENE] Points added to User's [GENE] total.

A screen appeared in front of the man's face, akin to the ones you would see in fantasy video games. It depicted a perfect image of him across it's cybernetic interface.

User:Daniel Hardy

Class:F

Condition:Normal

Affinity:Swallow

[GENE TOTAL]:9

User must achieve 200 [GENE TOTAL] in order to preform [METAMORPHOSIS].

User Description:You are ordinary in every possible way except for your affinity. Try not to fight anything stronger than you! You'll probably die. And by probably, I mean definitely.

Daniel Hardy had a special power, he was capable of harvesting a greater amount of [GENE POINTS] from whatever he consumed. The catch however, was that he must swallow it whole. If he does not swallow what he consumes whole, he will not gain any points from it.

Unfortunately for Daniel, in the year 2593 wild beasts with unique genetics were everywhere. All of the beasts that he could deal with at his current stage of power, were much bigger than his body. He was reduced to "fishing" in the stream, his only method of attempting to attain Gene Points. Because of his particular method of swallowing, Daniel was unable to make a profit off of the fish he retrieved. If he did so much as take off a single part of the fish, he could not absorb any benefits from swallowing them.

Humanity had been waylaid by several disasters in the past 100 years, with technology needing to evolve to face the mutations that happened in the wildlife around them. Humans unlocked a unique "system" of unknown origins, a system that upon consuming the mutated wildlife allowed them to evolve and transform the genetics within them.

Depending on what someone consumed, this would alter the very "powers" the system gave them. Leading to a almost infinite series of combinations that could manifest within a human being. Combining this with new fashioned technology, Humanity was able to fight back and slowly establish Safe Cities for people to inhabit again.

Daniel was but one young man in one of said cities, forgettable and lacking power. He clenched his fist in frustration. "I need to find more fish. So I can evolve. I can't remain a beggar like this!" Daniel was left with little choice on the matter, even if he wanted to hunt down a beast that was bigger or had more benefits to it. Daniel lacked the money for any kind of weapon or equipment to be able to take one on.

Feeling risky, Daniel took a deep breath. It had taken him several hours to only catch and swallow the three fish that he obtained. He looked into the moonlight like river. The river was one of many, there was nothing special about it beyond it's moonlight shining glow. Daniel decided that nothing could go wrong from him diving inside of it.

He may have more luck scavenging upon a dead fish inside of the river, or something else. He took a stance, and immediately leaped directly into the water. His body collided with a loud splash inside of it. The river was not too deep, making it safe enough for Daniel to begin exploring.

Daniel was not the best swimmer, the weight of the water pushed hard against his limbs. Daniel was able to keep himself steady, but knew he could not stay inside of it for long. The bottom of the river looked barren, outside of a few scattered treasures of some sort.

However, there was a hole in the ground that appeared to lead somewhere. Taking a risk, Daniel immediately began swimming frantically to get inside of the hole and see where it leaded. If he was lucky, there may have been a hidden powerful treasure Daniel could take that would boost his points. Or give him another power that would aid him.

A sharp pain rang through Daniel's senses. His arm was suddenly cut by a nearby very sharp coral that brushed against it. The gash was thick on his right forearm, he clutched it in pain. But he could not afford to hesitate in his swimming. The Hole was starting to lead somewhere with a shimmering light. A surface where he could stop and obtain air.

With the last bits of his strength, Daniel pushed forward and reached the new surface of where he was swimming. Finding himself in a small and derelict cavern, empty and devoid of light beyond the shiny water illuminating it.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Daniel looked around, cautiously analyzing his surroundings for any hidden traps or beasts of any kind. Instead however, Daniel was only greeted by complete and utter silence. He looked forward and saw a gleaming pearl scale of some sort on the ground. "A treasure? This must be a valuable object!" Daniel walked slowly, cautiously towards the object and reached down to grab it.

However, it immediately leaped upon his right hand. Sinking fangs into it and biting him.