Survival of the fittest.

It's only natural for the strong to prey on the weak.

Black Piranha LV8

The piranha, thinking of me as its prey, was biting relentlessly at my tail.

I quickly whipped my tail like a lash.

The force from my tail was stronger than I had anticipated, and the piranha was sent soaring into the air.

I seized the opportunity and strengthened my legs.

I was standing on nothing but a single lotus leaf.

If I made any sudden or violent moves, I’d immediately fall into the water.

Of course, that would be the case if I were just a regular lizard.

I leaped into the air, pushing off the boundary between the water and the lotus leaf.

Even though the piranha was said to have a bite force as strong as a shark, outside the water, it was just another helpless fish.

Moreover, we weren’t on land; we were midair. The creature was completely defenseless.

"Geggek!"

I gathered all the force I’d generated from pushing off the water into a single point.

The target of my attack was the piranha’s belly.

If I had to name it, this move would be called Soaring Dragon Sky Strike.

Thud!

The piranha hovered in midair longer than expected.

Its size was almost the same as mine. I knew that this attack alone wouldn’t be enough to finish it off.

If I left it like this, it would dive back into the water and escape.

I spun my body, moving to strike it again with my tail.

Whack!

This time, a dull sound echoed. I had hit something hard.

They say "hit the bone" when you land a solid blow. In this case, since it was a fish, I suppose I hit its spine.

But the goal of this attack wasn’t just damage.

My aim was to change its landing position.

Thud!

The piranha, driven by my tail strike, was thrown onto the ground.

Still struggling to get back into the water, the fish floundered desperately.

Crack!

But once out of the water, it had no chance against my Soaring Dragon Step technique.

Huff.

What a nuisance for something so insignificant.

I slapped the now-dead piranha with my long tail.

Though it had bitten and gnawed on my tail, leaving some wounds, the pain wasn’t that bad.

The tail of a gecko lizard regenerates on its own. Even as a basilisk now, I still retained that ability.

It appeared I also retained the Wall Climbing skill, meaning that despite my altered limb structure, I could still use some of my previous abilities.

Even if I were to evolve further into something like a Big Basilisk Saurus, I could still run across water and climb walls with ease.

Slap slap.

After giving the piranha a few more slaps for good measure, I grabbed its fins to drag it back to my hideout.

But at that moment, the water suddenly splashed.

Splash!

More piranhas, presumably the dead one’s companions, emerged from the water.

Black Piranha LV4

Black Piranha LV5

Black Piranha LV7

Although their levels were lower than the one I’d just defeated, they had numbers on their side.

There were three of them in total.

I’d already gotten what I wanted.

There was no reason for me to engage in a fight with them.

I was about to intimidate them and leave.

Rumble.

I sensed something deep in the water.

It was a presence similar to the intense energy I had felt within myself.

Instinctively, I knew.

Something big was coming.

Roar!

As the creature partially emerged from the water, an enormous splash followed.

Black Piranha LV10(+)

All that drama for a piranha?

"Geggek."

I was a little disappointed.

I was about to ignore it and leave.

…Wait, but why does it have a "+" next to its level?

Isn't that what I had before I evolved?

And why does it look so different?

Unlike the typical black piranhas, this one looked more like a koi fish.

It wasn’t black at all; it was red.

What is this thing?

I wanted to grab its whiskers and demand answers, but fighting four piranhas at once wasn’t a wise idea.

I wrapped my tail around the piranha I had already caught, securing it.

The others were cutting through the water, charging toward me.

It seemed they had figured out I was trying to escape.

Foolish creatures.

Like a small dragon soaring into the sky, I leapt over them.

It was my Soaring Dragon Sky Step.

"Geggek!"

Letting out a satisfied laugh, I dashed across the water and headed for my hideout.

Arriving at my hideout, I kept a vigilant watch, making sure I wasn’t followed.

The sounds of the piranhas thrashing in the distance were still faintly audible.

Had I stayed on the water, they might’ve caught me.

But I had skillfully utilized the terrain.

I ran across the water, climbed onto reeds, leaped into the air, and ran on water again.

It was a path only the basilisk lizard could traverse—a route the fish could never follow.

"Geggek!"

Now, the moment I’d been waiting for had finally arrived.

I glanced at the plump piranha I had caught.

I could feel myself salivating.

Though I wanted to devour it right away, I’m a lizard of refined taste.

Crack.

Carefully, I began removing the piranha’s scales.

In the past, I would’ve just handled this with my small mouth.

But now, I’m no longer a gecko lizard—I’m a basilisk.

Among the many changes since my evolution, the most noticeable was how much longer my entire body had become.

Most notably, my arms.

Or rather, what used to be just forelegs.

Before, I could only use them as simple limbs—short and stubby, shuffling around awkwardly.

But now, they were different. They were capable of mimicking human movements, albeit clumsily.

With these arms, I delicately removed the scales from the piranha.

To be honest, this was a luxury.

The process of scaling a fish was not easy.

Most lizards would probably just make a small hole, digging in to eat, or if they were bigger, they’d swallow it whole.

But I am a sophisticated and elegant lizard.

The creature before me was no mere insect or dried-out spider jerky.

This was fish.

Imagine cooking it in spicy stew with plenty of chili paste. Or simmering it with radishes for a delicious braised dish. Or deep-frying it into crispy fish cutlets and pairing it with fries.

...But, alas, none of those options were available to me now.

All that was left for me was to eat it raw.

Still, raw fish is like sashimi, right?

I lifted the scaled piranha with both hands.

Chomp.

I opened my jaws wide and took a big bite of its flesh.

Chew chew.

“Gegk!”

I let out an involuntary shout.

Was this really what fish was supposed to taste like?

A subtle sweetness permeated the meat.

The taste was similar to that of red-fleshed fish, with a flavor reminiscent of meat.

Being a carnivorous fish, there was no trace of the earthy taste typical of freshwater fish.

It was tender and sweet.

Taking such a big bite also contributed to the satisfaction.

Chomp.

It couldn’t compare to thinly sliced sashimi.

In no time, I devoured the entire piranha.

[Level up!]

The level-up was a bonus.

Though I longed for some chili paste or wasabi, this meal far surpassed any insect I’d eaten.

[You have acquired the skill Gourmet LV1!]

Gourmet LV1

The more delicious food you eat, the easier it is to gain inspiration.

Now they’re giving me all sorts of things.

Inspiration? Does that mean something like enlightenment?

I scratched my head with my long tail.

Now that I was full, it was time to make use of this "inspiration" or whatever it was.

Let’s review the situation.

First off, this world is full of dinosaurs.

At first, I thought I had landed in the Paleozoic Era, but that’s not the case.

There are creatures here that didn’t exist back then.

It’s a fantasy world filled with dinosaurs.

Considering I have a status window and skills, it seemed like a strong possibility.

But now, I’m not so sure.

The cores the spider gave me, and this footwork technique called Soaring Dragon Sky Step...

Taking all that into account, it seems like I’m in a martial arts world.

Scratch.

I scratched my smart head with my tail.

So what can I do?

Even after thinking for a while, I couldn’t come up with an immediate answer.

Whether this world was a fantasy or a martial arts setting didn’t matter much.

For now, I was just a single lizard.

A very small and weak lizard.

I can think about the nature of this world once I’ve become stronger.

And I know how to get stronger here.

By leveling up.

But that’s not the end goal.

More important than leveling up is evolving.

I’ve only evolved once, from a gecko lizard, and it’s already made my life much easier.

Of course, my evolution wasn’t a normal one.

It was a special evolution, unlocked when I met certain conditions.

Special evolution.

I need to explore that further.

Just like how the Sprint skill was the requirement for evolving into a basilisk, other skills might unlock other forms of evolution. Right now, I need to acquire as many skills as possible.

The more options, the better.

If I ate enough poisonous insects and gained poison-related skills, I might even evolve into something like a Komodo dragon.

To achieve special evolutions, I need to learn skills.

In other words, I need to experience as much as I can and gain skills wherever possible.

I’ve roughly settled on a course of action.

Now, there’s only one problem left.

That’s the matter of cores.

Even if I reach the maximum level, I won’t be able to evolve right away.

I had only been able to evolve after seeing the message "The mystical energy has settled in your body."

In other words, I need to consume something like a core to proceed to the next stage.

That’s the real issue.

I have no idea where that spider got all those cores, but cores are typically rare and valuable. I could search for my entire life and never find one.

Sigh.

Where in the world am I supposed to get a core?

Splash!

The piranhas I had seen earlier were still thrashing angrily in the distance.

Lucky them.

All they have to do is swim around without a care.

They couldn’t possibly understand the struggles of an advanced lizard like me.

Rumble.

Now they were even creating whirlpools, throwing a full-blown tantrum.

Do they think they’re some kind of dragon?

“Screeee!”

A loud sound caught my attention.

I looked up to see a giant toad hopping around nearby.

“Geggek!”

Get out of here while I’m being nice.

You don’t want to make Green Basilisk LV2 angry.

If I weren’t so full from eating that fish, I would’ve hunted that toad on the spot.

"Screeee!"

It looks kind of golden, though—probably doesn’t taste good.

Sigh.

“Grrrooo!”

Now what?

On the other side of the toad, a large golden turtle was lumbering around.

It was rolling its body as it rummaged through the area.

Did I choose the wrong hideout?

“Geggek!”

Can you all just quiet down already?!

Having neighbors like these...

What terrible luck.

Sigh.

I heaved a long sigh.

If only a core would just fall into my lap.