Endless Evolution as a Centipede in a Game-Like World

"This isn’t important right now. We have to prepare ourselves!"

Amanda stared at me and tilted her head in confusion.

"Prepare ourselves for what?" She asked.

I began telling her about the fishmen and the giant sea woman I saw. I detailed everything from the piranhas up to how I encountered them.

"She looked like a mermaid, only her tail was black, while her skin and the rest of her was ashen. She gave off a strong demonic aura," I explained.

"So a Siren?"

"I think so, probably."

The only other human-like sea monster are sea Nymphs but the two are notorious for being enemies. Even going as far as to wage war against each other.

Amanda paused for a moment, looking as if she was deep in thought. The reason I was so alarmed by this was because monsters who possessed human-like traits, like the ones I encountered, are usually high-ranking monsters.

Just the fact that they possess some sort of intelligence made them far superior to other monsters in the same rank. After a few seconds, Amanda finally spoke.

"Sirens are B-ranked threats. They are also known for being tyrants, so the fishmen you encountered are most likely her subjects."

"Figured that was the case."

"And of course, the biggest problem with these creatures is that they possess high intelligence," she sighed, as she fell on her back and stared at the endless darkness above us.

Sunlight didn’t reach us all the way down here in the void, so our only source of light were the bioluminescent vines growing on the wall of the cliff.

It had a strange beauty to it, as it enveloped the space in bright cyan lights. Amanda and I sat in the soothing lights as we thought about a solution to our problem. To get out of here, I would have to carry Amanda on my back and swim along the surface of the water, but if we were attacked while I was carrying her, then we would have no way of protecting ourselves.

"The best option is for me to find land before we attempt to move." I suggested.

Amanda nodded in agreement, before letting out a hefty sigh. It felt as if the longer we stayed here, the more likely it was for us to get killed, but, seeing that we didn’t have a choice, we had to make it work.

The days went by, and I would spend the day venturing out further and further. My tunnel sense skill worked perfectly in allowing me to make a mental map of the places I already went. Luckily, I didn’t encounter the siren or the fishmen since I mostly kept myself hidden and hunted only the weaker creatures, steadily increasing my strength while gaining biomass.

As I waited patiently underneath the sand, I stared down a monster that looked like a dolphin, only it had a long mouth and rows of teeth that made it look like a crocodile.

I’ve watched several territorial battles between this monster and the piranhas. Most of the time, the dolphin-like creatures are the ones who ended up winning, but by observing their fight, I could estimate that the dolphins were at least C-ranked.

I also knew its attacks and how to defeat it.

After being here for a while, I realized something: it’s a lot easier to control the chaos magic underwater since I didn’t have to worry about damaging the surroundings.

I could study the magic better and made fine tunings to it. Even if it was just a small change. For example, making my firebolt spell more powerful or weakening it so that it couldn’t even put a dent in a rock.

But after so long, all I could achieve was making it so that I didn’t fire a wave of firebolt every time I activated the spell.

This time, though, I wanted to focus the intensity of the attack so it would rip through the dolphin’s stomach like a laser. With that in mind, I waited until the dolphin was lined up perfectly in front of me before I fired the spell.

The powerful blast ripped through the air, evaporating the water around it as it moved at a speed comparable to light. I watched with anticipation as the firebolt struck the dolphin, but instead of burning a hole straight through the monster’s body, it did the opposite.

The firebolt ricocheted off the dolphin’s skin like a laser hitting a mirror. The firebolt was redirected to a rock, but the moment it touched the rock, it ricocheted off it too. This continued for a few seconds as the firebolt continued to ricochet off different surfaces until it finally evaporated into nothing.

’What the hell?’

Though a bit impressed, the spell did the exact opposite of what I intended. This was just something else that would be useful if I could control it.

The mishap startled the dolphin, causing the creature to begin looking around frantically, before its eyes finally met me.

Opening its mouth, the dolphin released a powerful sonic blast that ripped through the water.

Having seen this attack used against the piranhas multiple times, I was already prepared for it.

Seeing that there wasn’t any way to evade the attack, I swam through it, undulating my back and forth like an eel as I propelled myself forward.

My exoskeleton absorbed the attack with ease as I crashed into the dolphin.

My forcipules pierced through the monster’s abdomen as I wrapped my elongated body around it. All 114 of my legs piercing through the monster’s skin as it thrashed and fought to escape.

It was as if he was being pierced by 114 needles, while my venom slowly worked its way into its internal organs.

Still, the dolphin fought vehemently as it began hitting itself on rocks in an effort to get me off.

But at this point, my exoskeleton was harder than diamonds and far stronger than tungsten.

My defense tripled every single day due to my molting. This allowed me to carry myself like a tank since I can tank attacks from high-ranking monsters, even if I’m not able to kill them.

Soon, the dolphin’s movements began to slow until it stopped moving completely.

[You have slain D-ranked Gatorfin]

Instead of devouring the monster right here, I added it to my storage space to carry back. It would be a meal for Amanda and I.

Now that the monster was dead, I swam back up to the surface of the water, where I found the very thing I had been searching for.

It was the outline of a land mass sitting at the edge of the horizon.