Chapter 5 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

[Limb Regeneration]’s healing ability was extremely effective. As System continued devouring the eggs, the scorching pain in his foreleg from the ant’s acid was gradually reducing. In less than 20 minutes, his severed foreleg had stopped bleeding and had congealed into an off-white scab.

With [Limb Regeneration], System did not worry that he would become a limp grasshopper. What he was really worried about was that his severed limb’s healing speed was too slow.

If the severed limb did not heal as fast as possible, the scent of blood from his injury would undoubtedly attract countless insect hunters and put him in a dangerous position.

Upon seeing that his injury had clotted into a scab, System was relieved and concentrated on eating the eggs while constantly on guard, observing the surroundings.

…

In the end, the dark red ant that System had kicked away did not return. It was unknown if it had forgotten the way there or was carrying System’s limb back to the ant nest, completing its task of looking for food.

After eating almost 20 eggs consecutively, System’s body increased to 1.2cm, and once again, he leveled up.

His body increased from 1.2cm to 1.6cm, while his exoskeleton and mandibles became much sturdier.

However, as compared to the huge change in his physical body, the increase in his blood strength was not as obvious as when he had raised his level from 3 to 4.

[Insect Adaptability] (8/21) → [Insect Adaptability] (9/21)

System’s [Insect Adaptability] may have been the only one that increased, but he also obtained another Derived Skill [Acid Resistance]. It should be related to the acid released by the ant when it was bitting him.

…

[Acid Resistance] (1/4): A derived ability obtained from [Insect Adaptability]. Passive ability. One would have a certain resistance to acidic substances.

…

As for the talent [Molting Growth], which System was most concerned about, there were no changes at all. System could only feel that his bloodline had become a little thicker and denser—the increase was far from his previous level-up.

After leveling up these few times, System had some speculations about the growth pattern of his body.

His derived skills were basically obtained from the talent [Insect Adaptability]. Besides the [Green Camouflage], [Limb Regeneration], and [Insect Instinct] that he originally had, he had obtained [Dark Vision] and [Acid Resistance] in the recent two level-ups.

The former was because he had gazed at the dim scenery between the gaps of the dead leaf for a night before he had leveled up, while the latter was due to the ant’s acid that corroded his leg before he had leveled up.

Evidently, the derived skills obtained through [Insect Adaptability] were related to his experience before he leveled up.

As for the way to leveling up [Molting Growth] and [Insect Adaptability], although System was uncertain, it should be related to the food he ate. As long as he ate food with more nutrients or a larger variety of food, there should be an obvious increase in those two abilities.

…

After a short period of thinking, System resumed devouring the fresh and delicious insect eggs due to the intense hunger from leveling up.

System grew bigger after raising his level, so his eating speed increased once again, and in just 10 minutes, he swallowed four to five eggs. According to this speed, he would finish eating all those eggs before nighttime arrived.

However, just as he was eating the eggs, System’s hunger suddenly disappeared, and the strength of [Molting Growth] from his bloodline filled his whole body.

The blood in his body was restless—it was telling him it was time for the first molting!

System endured the urge to molt and tried his best to eat more eggs.

The feeling from his bloodline and information from [Self-Information Generation] were telling him that his body would enter a temporary weakened state. He would need to replenish a large amount of energy after molting. Therefore, his [Self-Information Generation] warned him to accumulate and store as much as possible food in his body to allow his molting to be more successful.

Molting was not better the faster it happened.