The Tiers of Ability

Seeing the firelight drawing near in the distance, System immediately hopped to the far side of the tree he was on and hid.

An insect's body was exceedingly nimble, and its reactions were swift.

But his hiding spot was slightly off, and he was still struck by the heat wave radiating from that creature. Half of one antenna had changed color slightly, clearly burned.

Fortunately, aside from his fragile antenna, the rest of System's body had also been hit by the heat wave to some extent, but suffered no obvious injury.

The fire-trailed creature that raced past resembled a wild boar. Before long, four or five green-skinned creatures wielding weapons appeared behind it, somewhat like the goblins or gnomes of fantasy worlds.

The green-skinned monsters shouted as they chased after the boar, quickly vanishing into the dense forest.

The fire-breathing boar and the goblin-like creatures undoubtedly told System that the world he was in was a magical world like those depicted in novels and games from his previous life.

"A magical world, huh..."

System reflected on it briefly before thinking no more about it. For a grasshopper, there was no obvious difference no matter what kind of world it was.

Besides, compared to those powerful creatures capable of wielding mysterious forces, System was more afraid of ordinary birds or lizards that could eat him at any time.

Gently rubbing the discolored antenna atop his head, System found that this antenna, struck by the heat wave, had suffered considerable damage. It could still move, but had almost entirely lost its original function. It would likely take some time for his body to repair it.

With only one antenna left, System's sense of balance worsened somewhat. It was difficult for him to stay steady while hopping. If not for the hooked spines on his legs being sturdy enough, he might very well have fallen to the ground mid-jump.

The ground in the dense forest was very damp, so the fire-releasing boar did not cause a forest fire.

The few patches of flame quickly went out on their own, leaving only a scorched smell drifting through the woods.

The dozens of butterfly chrysalises that had faced the heat wave head-on remained as intact as before. A few of them occasionally wriggled from the suddenly appearing heat wave. It seemed their shells had excellent insulation.

System looked at the chrysalises and shook his head helplessly. For now, he had no way to deal with them.

However, thanks to the sudden appearance of the fire boar, System found a new source of food.

Activating the derived skill [Information Reading], System hopped along the path the fire boar had taken. There was a good chance that some unlucky insects' corpses would be found along this scorched trail.

Just as System had expected, after hopping only a few meters, he found a green katydid lying overturned on the ground, its legs twitching without stop.

Both of the katydid's antennae had been burned black, and half its body had yellowed from burns.

Katydids looked much like grasshoppers, but were somewhat larger, and the mandibles in their mouths were sharper. They were typical omnivorous insects.

The katydid before System was seven or eight centimeters long, around four times the size of his body. If it had not already been dead or gravely injured, System would have given it a wide berth the moment he saw it.

System immediately found the right angle and bit into the vulnerable joint in the katydid's head!

The katydid's legs flailed wildly. Its body still retained some sensation, but those thrashing limbs never touched System.

Before long, System had bitten off the katydid's head completely, declaring its final death.

Only then did System begin to eat without concern. If the katydid had merely been temporarily stunned by the heat wave, and turned on him later, he would be the one to die.

Using his mandibles to slice open the katydid's soft abdomen, System greedily sucked down its flesh and blood. He found dozens of small, oval eggs spilling from its belly.

If not for the fire boar's unexpected appearance, it might have begun laying eggs in a few days.

Katydid meat tasted excellent, much like rich cheese.

These small eggs also tasted quite good, somewhat like banana cream pudding, though they helped his body's growth slightly less than the katydid meat.

Looking over the data from [Self-Information Generation], System estimated that after eating roughly one-third of this katydid, he would rise to Level 6 and gain further growth.

Katydid meat was highly nutritious. After eating for barely more than ten minutes, System's abdomen had already swollen up. Clearly, it was difficult to quickly digest such nutrient-rich food.

System could only keep hopping around the katydid's body to exercise himself and speed up his digestion.

After nearly two hours, System had eaten close to one-third of the katydid's corpse. His abdomen was now swollen to an unbelievable degree, like a grasshopper about to lay eggs.

His experience also reached its threshold once again, and he subsequently leveled up to Level 6.

A sour, numb sensation spread through his entire body. The food in System's abdomen was rapidly digested and absorbed, and his body, nearly 2.5 centimeters long, grew again to 3.2 centimeters. The wing buds on his back extended further, reaching one-third of their full length.

This time, System's Metamorphic Growth talent did not level up, but he could clearly feel the growth of the power in his bloodline. As long as he continued eating nutrient-rich food, the level of Metamorphic Growth would definitely rise.

At the same time, System's Insect Adaptation (9/21) rose another two levels, reaching Insect Adaptation (11/21).

System felt the power of Insect Adaptation in his bloodline become more active, transmitting mysterious images into his mind.

In those images, he transformed into an unfamiliar Green-tailed Grasshopper, following tens of millions of locusts of every kind as they flew over mountains and lakes. They even crossed freezing glacial realms and volcanic mountain ranges blanketed in lava...

Through the images passed down by his bloodline, System witnessed countless dazzling, colorful worlds.

He even felt an impulse to fly alongside those grasshoppers.

When System recovered from the visions brought by Insect Adaptation, all the derived abilities he had gained from Insect Adaptation were enhanced.

[Insect Instinct] (2/5) rose to [Insect Instinct] (3/5); [Limb Regeneration] (2/11) rose to [Limb Regeneration] (4/11); [Dark Vision] (2/5) rose to [Dark Vision] (3/5); [Acid Resistance] (1/4) rose to [Acid Resistance] (2/4).

At some point, the antenna atop his head had already recovered completely, and he had gained a brand-new derived skill, [Fire Resistance] (2/7).

[Fire Resistance] (2/7): Obtained from the Insect Adaptation talent. Passive ability. Grants resistance to fire and high temperatures.

The changes when the Insect Adaptation talent rose to Level 11 were very similar to those when the Metamorphic Growth talent rose to Level 11. Both allowed System to sense inherited information from within his bloodline.

System guessed that reaching Level 11 marked entry into an entirely new realm; otherwise, it could not have brought about such an enormous change in him.

At the same time, once an ability reached Level 11, it became difficult to improve further. The fact that his Molting Growth had long failed to continue growing was probably due to the same reason.

System found no detailed information on [Self-Information Generation]. He guessed that [Self-Information Generation] was too low-level, and therefore could not analyze powers of a higher order.

After a brief moment of thought, System continued devouring the katydid's body.

Because his mandibles had become hard again after leveling up, his chewing speed through the katydid's cartilage increased by nearly another third.

As long as he ate this cartilage, the mandibles and exoskeleton of his body would become even harder. After leveling up again, he would be able to eat sturdier food, such as the hard shell on the katydid's head and thorax.

But System was not given much time to feed. Before he had eaten even half the katydid's corpse, more than a dozen dark-brown ants appeared not far away.

Ants were like hyenas that specialized in stealing cheetahs' food. So long as the bloody scent of a carcass appeared, they would quickly show up and begin snatching it away without the slightest reason.

System could only hop away helplessly. At least leopards had a trick for carrying their prey up into the trees to avoid hyenas, but he currently had no way at all to deal with this swarm of ants...