Territory Awareness

Roy's Arrow Tail had originally felt fragile and weak to him. Because he lacked the subconscious instinct to protect it, he often ended up with an aching tail.

But now it was different. A feeling of "power surging up from his tail" arose within him...

Knowing the modification had been completed, Roy's heart stirred. As he felt the crackling sounds of bone joints coming from his Tailbone, a savage tail curved upward before his eyes.

It moved as his will commanded, as naturally as an arm, without the slightest hesitation or delay. This was a part of his body!

Roy admired his handiwork with satisfaction. Perhaps because it was matched to his current Body Size, the tail was somewhat less thick, yet it looked more reasonable and balanced. Its color matched Roy's skin as well, both being dark red. Due to the settings Roy had defined at the time, that dark-red color gleamed like a gemstone. Not only was the entire tail unimaginably hard, but whenever it swung, dark-red reflections flowed across it, as though a streak of flame were coursing along its length!

The three blades at the tip opened and closed freely. Most astonishingly, when Roy swung his tail with force, the three blades sliced through the air at high speed, producing a terrifying Whistling Sound!

Roy looked around, then suddenly launched his tail toward the inside of the Tree Hole. In the next instant, the half-meter-thick interior wall of the Tree Hole was pierced through in a single blow!

To his surprise, he found that his tail's range actually exceeded its own length. This was because there were gaps between each Bone Joint of the tail. When fully extended, those joints could stretch apart like springs, extending its reach. The advantages in battle went without saying. If an enemy used Visual Estimation to judge the range of his tail attacks, they would definitely regret it!

Roy was immensely satisfied. He knew the thickness of his tail would grow along with his Body Size, and it would become a very useful weapon.

Opening the System Interface, Roy discovered that not only had his main avatar changed, but his attributes had changed as well. Both his strength and speed had increased by as much as five points!

Roy's attributes were now 21 Strength and 18 Speed. This left him somewhat puzzled. How had modifying his tail caused his attributes to rise?

After studying it for a while, he vaguely guessed that his own muscles had probably been strengthened in order to accommodate the tail. After all, for any living creature, the entire body was a whole; tug one hair, and the entire body was affected.

Roy tried testing his body and found that this was indeed the case. The greatest changes were in the muscle strength around his waist and Legs. The muscle groups there had been enhanced, allowing him to use his tail more effectively.

This made Roy marvel even more at how foolproof the Private Customization System was. Even in areas he had failed to consider, the system could adaptively fill in the gaps for him.

He reached back and Felt Around, discovering that the bones along his spine had protruded as well. Layer upon layer of blade-like Bone Fins made Roy's overall appearance even more terrifying. It also meant that from now on, Roy could forget about sleeping on his back...

Realizing this, Roy was somewhat speechless.

Then, as soon as he thought about sleep, Roy suddenly realized he was a little tired.

Over the past week or so, he had barely slept at all. The Sense of Crisis that had lingered around him ever since he arrived in this unfamiliar environment had never faded. How could Roy possibly sleep under such circumstances? On top of that, his Demon Physique gave him abundant energy, so he had basically spent all his time awake. He was either hunting, hurriedly drawing Modification Material, or cautiously exploring the area around his dwelling. He had not had a moment to rest.

Now, after his first modification was Completed, the increase in strength and the feeling of becoming stronger gave him a considerable sense of security. Once he relaxed a little, drowsiness began to wash over him.

But Roy was in no hurry to sleep. First, he cleared the remains of the Demonic Creature he had eaten earlier out of his cave, dispersing the bloody stench within the Tree Hole. Then he covered the entrance with stones and leaves again. Once he felt that was sufficient, he placed a strange-looking fruit inside the cave, found a comfortable position, lay facedown on the ground, and closed his eyes.

For some reason, Roy felt that this sleep might last quite a while, which was why he had made so many preparations.

There was no distinction between day and night in this underground world. No one knew how much time had passed before Roy slowly woke from his slumber.

He stretched hard, listening to the popping sounds of joints throughout his body, and felt wonderfully comfortable.

Roy discovered that he seemed to have grown taller again. Even his palms were noticeably larger than before he had slept.

How long had he slept? Roy looked doubtfully at the strange fruit he had placed there earlier, only to find that it had long since rotted beyond recognition.

This degree of decay would take at least around two months, wouldn't it? Did that mean he had slept for two months?

Roy had no tools for keeping time, so he could only calculate it this way. Of course, this method would be inaccurate, but Roy did not need precision. In any case, time no longer held any meaning for him now that he was a demon.

It was not like he had to clock in and out of work...

Two months was fine. It was not too long. What Roy feared most was that demonic sleep would be like the dragons in novels, where they slept for years at a time. If that happened, he would lose all motivation and become Slothful.

The Reason Why he worried about becoming lazy was that Roy was a typical Gemini. He was lively by nature and craved novelty. Once the Existential Crisis began to recede, his overflowing curiosity started stirring again. In his view, since he had accepted his identity as a demon, he naturally needed to learn about this Demon World.

Simply put, Roy wanted to go out and explore. He did not like staying in one place for too long. If he really slept for years like a dragon, he felt he would go mad.

After measuring his height, Roy estimated that he had probably surpassed 1.2 meters. He was immediately delighted, but the rumbling in his stomach reminded him that it was time to find food.

He first moved close to the entrance of the Tree Hole and listened sideways for sounds outside. Only after finding nothing unusual did Roy pull aside the stones blocking the entrance and step out of the cave again.

However, after leaving the cave, he was stunned to discover that the area around his Tree Hole had been taken over by sheets of white spiderwebs!

Of course, he knew there was a group of Spider Demons not far away. Every time he returned to his cave before, he had been careful not to disturb those web-spinning hunters. But Roy had never expected that in just two short months, those Spider Demons would extend their hunting range all the way to his dwelling!

He had nearly walked straight into a spiderweb the moment he stepped outside. This won't do!

Roy nearly exploded with rage. How could he allow others to sleep peacefully beside his bed? Even humans had Territory Awareness, let alone demons!

So Roy made his first decision after waking up: to kill those damned Spider Demons that had invaded his territory...