First Hunt: From Prey to Predator

'Aaack! Why am I even thinking that!'

The creatures emerging from cracks in the ice wall were far larger and more menacing than the hyenas I'd seen in documentaries. Their crimson eyes flashed as they swung their fangs this way and that—fangs that could snap my fragile sprout in half with a single bite.

'S-status window, quick, info...!'

I desperately needed details on the Snow Hyenas. But whether because they were too far away or because I couldn't focus, the status window refused to respond.

'Please... please don't come this way...'

Instinctively, I drove my roots deep into the ground and shrank my sprout as small as possible. Fortunately, the Ice Hyenas ignored me completely. Their gazes were fixed solely on the drake's corpse.

With growls rumbling from their throats, the hyenas eyed each other warily as they slowly approached the carcass. The scrape of their sharp claws against the ice echoed terrifyingly through the cavern.

For now, I seemed safe. But to those monsters, I was just a frail little sprout. All I could do was suppress my presence and quietly survive.

As the hyenas drew closer, the status window finally pinged.

'Phew...'

The info hinting that this was the mid-layers irked me, but right now, what mattered was that their main food source was corpses.

'They'll just eat the drake and leave, right...?'

At first, the Snow Hyenas only growled lowly at each other, keeping their distance. But the moment one tore into the drake's flesh, hell broke loose.

"Kyaaak!"

"Kkiiik!"

In an instant, all three lunged at one another. Claws raked flesh, fangs ripped chunks free. Crimson blood stained the white ice floor.

'Ughhh...'

I didn't want to see it, but my uselessly heightened Detection made every detail vivid—the tearing muscles, the snapping bones.

The LV33 clamped onto the LV28's nape, only for the LV31 to exploit the opening and burrow into its flank. The savage mutual mauling was too gruesome to witness with eyes wide open.

'Ahh... please, just end it...'

I shrank my sprout tighter, praying desperately. What had been flashy skill effects and damage numbers in the game was here a desperate fight for survival.

The blood-soaked brawl dragged on. In the end, the LV31 fell first, followed by the LV28, its throat half-severed, whimpering as it collapsed.

Only the three-star LV33 Snow Hyena remained. I'd predicted it would win, but its state was pitiful—body covered in wounds, one eye blinded, front leg broken.

'Is it... over now...?'

The victorious hyena limped toward the drake's corpse. But that movement felt overwhelmingly threatening to me. My position was too close to the body.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Calm down... it hasn't spotted me yet.'

While the surviving hyena focused on the drake, I cautiously extended my roots. Blood from the fight had seeped into the ice everywhere.

'Good... slowly...'

The hyena was too busy gnawing the drake's flesh to notice, its blind eye failing to scan surroundings, its broken leg making its stance unstable.

Each secret sip of blood made me feel a little stronger.

Absorbing the hyenas' blood had pushed me to level 12, and my HP was fully restored. I eyed the lone survivor.

'In that wounded state... maybe...'

For the first time, I saw it not as a terror, but as prey. Strangely, my mind calmed.

'With poison and Root Protrusion... can I do it?'

I reviewed my arsenal. Root Protrusion had sped up at LV2, and though untested, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had Poison too. Plus, it was already gravely injured.

'Lady Michael... my first hunt...'

A quiet prayer steadied me. I stealthily maneuvered a root toward its leg—the broken front one, most vulnerable.

'Now!'

Thrust!

A sharp, dark-red root pierced the hyena's broken foreleg. Purple venom seeped in, blackening its skin.

"Kyaaak!"

Screaming, it charged me. Its blind eye threw off its aim; fangs merely grazed past.

'Poison, work faster!'

Its foreleg fully blackened, the poison spreading, its movements grew sluggish.

"Grrrl..."

A weakened growl. It could never have imagined an innocent-looking sprout attacking it.

'Die already!'

Toward the poisoned, flailing neck rose my sharpest root.

The thrill of my first kill surged through me. I was now a predator of this labyrinth.

'Mid-layers? Piece of cake.'

A finisher's opportunistic kill, ripe for scorn—but it was strategy. Beneath the cute, harmless sprout lay merciless roots...

'Call me a hunting prodigy.'

Gazing at the fallen hyena, I prepared to absorb ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its blood. No longer the trembling weakling.

...

'Hee! Delicious!'

With all hyenas dead and no need for caution, I savored the freely slurped blood.

'Finally!'

I kept sucking blood while reading the description.

'Oh ho, enhances the original ability. But what does "store blood" mean?'

The vague explanation made the evolved skill's power hard to grasp. Checking my status revealed several changes.

'Huh? Already LV18?'

The kill EXP and massive blood absorption had rocketed my levels. But stranger was the HP display.

'What's this?'

Normally just 84/84, now there was an odd extra number.

'This is... a stamina backup battery!? That's what storing blood means!'

The 11 had built up from absorption. Crimson Reserve's performance seemed incredible. In a world where 0 HP meant death, extra life was the most reliable thing.

'This is totally broken.'

Amazed by the new skill, I drained every last drop of blood here.

The leveled-up Crimson Reserve's expanded battery capacity was impressive, but that wasn't the point.

'Huh... evolvable again? I haven't grown at all though?'

When I'd evolved from seed to sprout, my body had grown automatically, with the notification coming late. But since becoming a sprout, nothing had changed.

Sudden evolution with no signs?

'What the heck? Is this finally the massive transformation I've dreamed of...'

I recalled the exhilarating change at sprout stage. This felt even bigger.

'Yes! Evolve!'

My inner shout echoed, but nothing happened.

'Huh, not it?'

Concentrating deep in my consciousness on evolution—still nothing.

'No! What is it then!'

Disaster. Evolvable, but can't evolve. Then it hit me: I was still just a sprout.

Sprouts only grew longer stems. Had my fixation on a big change blinded me?

'Hmm... but I can't give up on the dream of massive evolution. I don't wanna live as a plant forever!'

'Lady Michael, someday I can become human too, right...?'

Fantasizing holy light enveloping me, transforming into a person, I gathered strength at my stem's tip. Suddenly, my body began growing rapidly.