Solomon looked at the data. He was now rger, over 6 cm long. But still tiny. He was very excited about that perk point, however.

  He saw that a new perk was avaible. He wondered where that came from. Unlike other perks it had no levels. Just spending one point on it would make him completely safe from any chemical that might enter his body. That’s quite powerful. But he didn’t take it. It would not save him from the greatest threat, which was predators.

  He considered taking Vision I. It would help him spot the animals that might want to eat him from a rger distance, and make it easier to see prey as well. But only if they produced heat, which neither the frogs or the insects did. Perhaps the second level of this perk would improve his vision in general. But taking it now would mean no benefit until he could grab the next level of the perk a few weeks ter. He would rather choose something that gave him a benefit now.

  He chose efficiency again. If he could grow faster, he could outgrow the frogs sooner - or at first become too big for them to be swallowed. Of course he would then become food to a bunch of other predators that didn’t pay attention to him now. But that’s a bridge he’d cross once he gets there.

  Efficiency II it is. Three times the growth from the same amount of food, or 50% more than with just Efficiency I.

  He left his ir, now a little bit more powerful than before. He climbed a few pnts searching for insects on the leaves. But he could not find the yellow beetles, or their rvae, or their eggs anymore. He did find, however, a couple of dybugs. Their red shell was distinct enough for him to see at a distance, and once in his mouth, they did not fight as much.

  On his way back he passed by a snail. ‘I’ve got so much more growing to do,’ he thought. ‘They say the snail’s shell is his house. It really looks house-sized for me. Not so much for the snail, it can barely fit in there.’

  And Solomon rested for another week.

  ‘Damn, I wish I could see better,’ the snake thought, pnning to choose the Vision I perk on the next level up. ‘It would make finding food faster.’

  It’s not like there were no small animals around. But Solomon was afraid to eat most of them. Ants, despite being tiny, had mandibles which he feared could pierce his insides if swallowed. Simirly some species of beetles. Spiders he feared would be poisonous, and they were kinda eww anyway. Flies seemed harmless, but they were way too fast. Not to mention that most of these were bck, and thus not well visible for the snake.

  He was going to look for colorado beetles or dybugs on the leaves again, when he saw something moving on the ground. He looked closer. It was… a tiny armadillo. Well, not tiny compared to the tiny snake. Even ants were not really tiny from his perspective. But the armadillo, or as he knew it, a carpenter bug, was a crustacean about a centimeter long. ‘Its shell must be hard, but nothing I couldn’t digest. Or in the worst case, vomit.’

  The carpenter did not try running away, instead rolling up in an armored ball. That only made it easier to swallow. Solomon rummaged through the ground, which was made of rotting bark and leaves here, and found a few more curled-up armadillos, filling his stomach.

  ‘I wish I had found them earlier; they’re the easiest food I had. I didn’t even have to climb any pnts.’

  Despite their shell, the carpenters were digested as any other animal.

  A week ter he intended to hunt carpenters again. He found them not far away from his hideout. In no time his stomach was full again. But then he felt a gush of air, a small rumble of the light organic matter being moved and saw a giant shape in front of him. He could make out it was some kind of bird.

  Solomon thought he was about to be devoured. He could not move fast with his belly full. He watched helplessly as the giant beak moved with an incredible speed in his direction. He was petrified, but there was no time to react anyway.

  The bird’s beak hit the ground a few centimeters away from Solomon, sending pieces of the ground flying. Some of it nded on top of him, pieces of decomposing bark and leaves. That probably saved his life, as it covered most of his body, hiding him from the bird’s view. He could see an earthworm in the bird’s beak as it rose up again.

  The bird left, but Solomon stayed in pce for some time before returning to his burrow. He considered burrowing right there at first, but soon he realized that the dampness there would make him cold and stiff. He had to move to his proven pce.

  Another week passed. It has been almost two months now since he woke up as a snake. The moment the carpenters in his stomach disappeared completely he felt another surge of power - and size.

  Solomon felt his body stretch, as well as thicken, entire millimeters being added to his length. He liked the feeling. It wasn’t much, but it reminded him that he was on a good path.

  Solomon looked at his stats. To his surprise, he was level 5 already. He must have missed his previous level up somehow. But nothing was lost. He had two perk points to spend now.

  Name: Solomon

  Level: 5

  Length: 84.1 mm

  Weight: 345 mg

  Perk points: 2

  Avaible perks:

  Efficiency III

  Digestion I

  Poison immunity

  Venom I

  Vision I