A Cold-Blooded POV

Blood leaked and dripped from Ethoss's maw, falling on the hard rock ground. The unemotional voice echoed in his mind, it's familiar tone sort of comforted him, like praise a child gets from its mother.

He had just leveled up and received a skill point, nevertheless, he still wasn't finished with his fight. Turning around he swung his tail, aiming for the legs of two of the goblins then he rushed the third goblin that stabbed him.

Claw Swipe!

Claw Swipe!

"Grauh!!" the goblin cried.

He clawed the torso of the goblin twice, tearing the unkept clothing that adorned its upper body area; its cry of pain refreshed his ears, giving him confirmation that his attacks were a success.

The goblin suddenly slung its arms, holding the shard with both hands attempting to slice him, but with Ethoss's new Rapid Dash skill his speed was much faster than any of the goblins here. He easily dodged the shard and countered with a Venomous Bite to the goblin's arm.

The venom entered its arm immediately, causing the goblin cried out in pain once again. The other two goblins tried to flank him from the back off guard, however, Ethoss had already been two steps ahead of them, he used his powerful jaws and threw the bitten goblin at the two flanking him. After this, he activated his Camouflage and disappeared from their sight.

The two unharmed goblins stood up abruptly, looking around and swinging their wooden clubs at any sounds they picked up. Yet none of their swings touched him.

Suddenly, one of them was grabbed by the legs and slung toward the wall, knocking all the air out of their lungs. Ethoss's strength was superior to the goblins by a large margin; he then attacked the last remaining standing goblin, he jumped on it, pressing his heavy weight down causing it to fall on the ground.

Then he repeatedly used Claw Swipe, clawing the goblin's face until it was unrecognizable. Blood splattered everywhere decorating the cave walls like 'throw paint', with drips even falling on the sleeping offspring of the goblins.

[You have defeated level 3 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

The sound of the metallic voice brought joy to Ethoss. He then glanced at the last two goblins, one still recovering from being launched against the wall, and the other on the ground suffering from deep claw wounds on it's stomach and venom eating away at its insides.

He quickly concluded to go after the goblin that was thrown against the wall, it was the one that could be more of a threat to him out of the two.

It was on the ground gasping for air, looking up in horror, it watched as the giant lizard rush toward it, it's club was halfway across the cave so it couldn't reach it to defend itself. Ethoss opened his maw wide...

Venomous Bite!

Venomous Bite!

Venomous Bite!

Venomous Bite!

[You have defeated level 2 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

[Venomous Bite has reached level 5, upgrade available]

[Would you like to improve Venomous Bite to Lethal Venomous Bite? This will cost 1sp]

With each bite, the sound of squelching meat and bones being crushed accompanied it. The voice in Ethoss's mind alerted him of the death of the goblin, however, the lizard never stopped biting into its stomach.

He had felt that something was odd about this goblin's stomach that he hadn't realized earlier. As he got deeper into the meaty insides of the belly he noticed a tiny little head that wasn't completely formed. It was a bloody pink color curled up like a ball. Curiosity grew more and more until, finally, he bit into it.

[You have consumed a new source of Biomass: Tenebris Cobalorum Infantium, you are rewarded one Biomass]

[Basic profile of the Tenebris Cobalorum Infantium unlocked]

The goblin was a few weeks old pregnant, it was probably going to give birth to the infant in a couple more days if it were still alive, alas, it had encountered Ethoss.

He continued to munch on the dead infant inside of the goblin's stomach, and it wasn't much longer until his ears were greeted by the unemotional voice once again.

[You have defeated level 3 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

[You have achieved level 4, One skill point awarded]

The goblin that was suffering from his venom had died while he was eating, causing him to level up again. He was one level away from being able to evolve once more, which made him internally excited. He could already feel the new strength he would have once he evolved.

It had taken him exactly six minutes to kill all four of the goblins that were in the cave room. He flicked his tongue he could still sense other goblins inside the cave, and they were getting closer to his location.

He could sense six goblins in total running towards this cave roll where he was. He walked towards the exit, the goblins were a bit far from his location so he had plenty of time to test out what he had planned.

Ethoss opened his mouth and concentrated, moments later the temperature dropped and large ice crystals began to materialize. He was imbuing all his mana into these ice shards so that they would be as potent and lethal as possible. After completing the spell, he held onto it, waiting for the six incoming goblins to get within his spell's range.

As soon as they got in range he released his hold and fired the spell. Over fifteen large ice shards zoomed toward the group of goblins, the I shards cleanly pierced through their flesh like butter.

Not only did it pierce through their flesh of them, but it also moved throughout their bodies like a bullet, no stopping, entering one side and exiting the other side of their bodies. Then the voice returned

[You have defeated level 2 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

[You have defeated level 2 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

[You have defeated level 3 Tenebrae Cobolorum]

[You have gained XP]

[You have defeated level 4 Tenebrae Cobolorum]....

[You have achieved level 5, One skill point awarded]

[You have reached the level cap, evolution menu available]

Ethoss was surprised, though he put all his mana into that spell, he didn't expect to kill all six of the goblins with one magic attack. He was starting to realize now just how strong magic could be. He was now more determined than ever to level up his Mana Manipulation to level 5.

Now that he'd cleared the whole cave all that was left was to eat his fill and collect his biomass. There was a lot to eat, however, luckily for him he was a species of lizard that specialized in eating multiple times more than its body size. Without a moment to waste, he started his ʼall you can eat buffet', not even sparing the offspring.

...

The cave drowned in the smell of iron. Blood was everywhere you looked with even some leftover intestines here and there. Yet Ethoss paid no mind to any of that, he lay on the ground lazily.

His stomach was fat and chubby from all the food he ate, it hung low scrapping the floor from its size. He had eaten everything that was in the cave, even stuffing himself with the offspring of the goblins.

He had acquired a huge haul of 31 biomass from all his eating. He also earned 3 skill points from leveling up three times, now all he had to do was evolve.

***

Monster profile:

[Tenebris Cobalorum Infantium: Dark Goblin Infant. The offspring of Dark goblins, they are usually kept safe with the female goblins in caves and/or huts, away from danger. After 7-10 days the infants will grow into goblins that can fend for themselves. Found in multiple areas including the first Stratum of the Great Aeternus Labyrinth, the Dark Plains, and the Aloey Dungeon]