Chapter 234 - To consume the Beast (Patreon)

Turns out, letting  a giant Crocodile take a sizeable chunk out of your business district is  exceedingly painful. Like, it hurts a frickin' lot.

FTAGN!

MY ASS!

Is this a hostile  takeover of my commercial operations!? What the hell, Croc?!

In that one strike  my Hp has plunged perilously low. I activate my regen gland once again to let  whatever regeneration that has accumulated up to this point flow into my  system and pull me back from the brink.

[Deep Meditation  has reached level 2]

I bet it has.

[Cerebral Endurance  has reached level 4]

If the brain is a  muscle then I've pumped the heck out of mine. I'm certain its sprained. Thank  goodness for meditation keeping my mind relatively calm in this moment. It  isn't stopping me from rolling around on the ground in agony as I contemplate  life without a backside, but it is  allowing me the freedom of thought to openly mock myself. So that's something.

The Croc isn't  doing any better than me thankfully. I fired both barrels of acid straight  into his open mouth. I'm assuming that both sets of jaws share one throat, so  the poor sucker has little hope of getting anything out of his mouths. The  sticky acid will be hardening and gumming up his pipes just as fast as it  burns through that soft, soft inner flesh.

"HSSSSSS!  HARRAAAARRR!" the Croc gurgles and hisses as it struggles, falling to the  ground as it thrashes about and throws itself off balance due to its one extra  heavy leg.

CRASH.

The enormous beast  falls heavily into the dirt. It raises all of its available claws to rip and  tear at its own neck, ripping away scales and skin with its own hands.

Wait a sec. Is what  I think it is? Is it just me or is that Croc turning a little blue?

Sure enough, the  Croc is choking. The acid has solidified and blocked its throat, forbidding  the passage of air. Even more than the burning effect, the lack of air is  really starting to tell on the Croc.

I lie panting as my  body slowly tries to regenerate itself. A huge chunk has been ripped out of my  carapace and my insides have been exposed to the world. I barely want to move  as I watch the Croc gradually struggle less and less, growing more feeble with  the passage of time, until finally.

[You have slain  level 53 Garralosh Praeceptorem]

[You have gained  experience]

[You have reached  level 15]

[You have reached  level 16]

[You have reached  level 17]

[You have reached  level 18]

[You have reached  level 19]

…… what?

Five levels? Just  like that? And level fifty three?! Just how evolved was this monster? If I think about it, my max level should be  forty right now. So this monster is at least  one evolution beyond me. There's a chance that it's more though. A strong  chance.

Holy crap. We took  on something like that and survived? What the hell  was I thinking?! Just because we evolved once more I thought I was the bees  knees, cock of the walk, the big cheese! There's still a long way to go before  I'm truly strong.

Not that I think  monsters this powerful are common. Not at this level. Unless I miss my guess,  this big fellow must have been fairly old. Old enough to pile up a ton of  levels and Biomass …

Biomass.

Just how much  Biomass will we be able to get out of this thing?

…

  *Gulp*

[Tiny, are you able  to move?]

He just grunts in  reply, his eyes still on the fallen Croc.

[Get over here and  eat. You need to regrow your leg]

As he starts to  pull himself forward with his hands once again I look about for Crinis.

[Crinis? Are you  all right? Where are you?]

[I'm here, Master]  her voice echoes weakly in my mind as I see a tired tentacle wobble into the  air a few metres away from me.

I drag myself over  and find a withered bundle of tentacles collapsed in a heap around her  spherical main body. She's badly burnt.

[Here, grab a hold  of my antennae and I'll take you to the food]

[Is the enemy  defeated?] she asks.

[He's done for it.  Eat and heal yourself. We can talk later]

I feel slightly  ashamed as her tentacles tremble as she reaches up to grasp my antennae. Her  grip is feather light, nothing like the strength she should be able to exert.  I carefully use my antennae to lift her off the ground and carry her towards  the Croc before letting her down.

"Time to eat,  senior?" Vibrant asks cheerfully.

I sigh.

"Yes Vibrant,  time to eat."

Out of all of us,  it's Vibrant who came out the least hurt. Mind you, she still has a long crack  in the side of her carapace that is yet to heal. At least the wound is no  longer deep enough that I can see the muscle attached to the inside of her  exo-skeleton. 

Weary to the bone,  the four of us crawl to the still remains of the massive Croca. How much  Biomass would a creature of this age and evolutionary level contain? 

Tentatively, I  reach forward to take a bite.

[You have consumed  a new source of Biomass, Garralosh Praeceptorem. One Biomass awarded]

[You have unlocked  the basic profile of Garralosh Praeceptorem]

[Garralosh  Praeceptorem, Garralosh Commander. Among the oldest of Garralosh' children,  the commanders are powerful melee combatants. They feature two fire glands  which are often mutated in complementary ways. Beware their powerful  regenerative abilities and incredible physical strength. These creatures were  personally reared by their parent to be leaders of her offspring and carry  potent auras. Approach with caution]

Among the oldest of  the children? So not necessarily the oldest? And what else is this? Personally  reared by the big Croc itself? I guess that explains why the thing is so  though, if it had a big bad monster looking out for it from a young age.

Does that mean that  Garralosh is going to come here for revenge is it? Surely not!

Please for the love  of Gandalf let that not happen.

Suddenly nervous, I  tuck into my food with increased gusto, chowing down vigorously in the hopes  of healing my physical wounds and dispelling my nervousness. As I eat,  something remarkable begins to happen.

[you have gained  one Biomass]

[you have gained  one Biomass]

[You have gained  one Biomass]

…..

So fast!

I can feel it as  well. As the food is consumed it feels heavy, dense even, inside my stomachs.  Whatever magical process goes on in there, the pure essence, whatever it is  that creates Biomass, is flooding into my body with every bite.

This isn't food.  It's gold!

Pure gold.

Greedily now I chow  down and notice the frenzy with which the others are eating has also increased  tenfold. Even Crinis, a withered husk of herself only moments ago, is now  tearing huge chunks of food off with every bite.

Oh no you don't!

With the mana I  have in my core I activate infused mandibles to enable me to cut off larger  chunks of food and increase my eating speed. 

I won't be outdone!  Gimme dat Biomass!

OM NOM NOM.