I Hate Systems

The Grassmen waved at him from below, causing him to frown as Compass Carburettor sensed a minute, infinitesimally small Mental Energy stream from them. It was apparent that they were evolving with time, gaining sentience in their new forms.

'If it continues in this fashion, a new race would be generated.' Compass Carburettor thought, "That just means more worry for humans."

After all, the mutated beasts too seemed to be gaining intelligence with an increase in their horns. He wasn't sure of the exact increase, but once they gain five or six horns, they would possess intelligence on par with humans.

From there, things would become tricky. With the Grassmen added into the mix, it would turn pretty chaotic, especially since they didn't seem to be the type to rely on the pearls like humans but were evolving to become more like the mutated beasts.

"If only they were edible, everything would be easier." Compass Carburettor sighed. At present, it seemed humans were the most susceptible to becoming Grassmen.

Followed by them were domesticated animals like cats and dogs. But, the strangest thing was the fact after turning into Grassmen, their bodies began to grandly morph. Finally, they became humanoid too.

It was pretty strange, but Compass Carburettor attributed it to the fact that humans were the first to be turned into the Grassmen on a large scale, so the grass turned that setting into the default.

"Uncle Spirit! I have…evolved!" Suddenly, a loud roar resounded in his mind as Compass Carburettor jolted out of his reverie.

He turned around, digging into his ear when he realised that it was through telepathy, groaning as he spoke, "Alright! Alright! Don't shout!"

"I! Am! Not! Shouting!" It seemed to be on purpose as the cobra relayed even louder through telepathy.

Without any hesitation, Compass Carburettor cut off all communications between them, no longer bothering to hear anything transmitted from it. He then watched a pitiful looking cobra crawl out of its bag and stare at him, shedding tears as its head bobbled weakly.

'Last time I remember, cobras can't do that.' He thought, sighing as he spoke, "Alright, fine. You can talk with me now. But, don't shout."

"I won't!" The cobra seemed excited once again as it slithered towards him, circled his body before coiling around his neck. It then extended itself until its face was before him, speaking as it hissed menacingly, "Hehe, now you have been caught by me, Uncle! Let's see if you can break out of my hold now."

"Alright, try it." Compass Carburettor smiled, watching the cobra's expression turn from confidence to a fluster when it noticed that its body wasn't coiling around his neck but was instead loosening up.

"That's cheating! You shouldn't use any abilities!" It protested, slapping its head on his cheek, pouting humanely.

"Alright, don't mess around too much. What ability have you gained?" He asked, gazing at the tiny horn that jutted out of its forehead.

"Mine's a special ability thanks to all those Skills you've Bestowed upon me. For some reason, they were all used as a template to form this." The cobra said before turning around, gazing at the Grassmen on the ground, asking, "Are those two expendables?"

"Well, yeah. They are just foes that haven't been killed because I was observing their growth. Feel free to use them for target practice." Compass Carburettor patted the cobra's head, watching it tremble in response before opening its mouth.

Just as he thought it was planning to unleash a breath attack, a tiny ring of energy exited the cobra's mouth before flying towards the Grassmen, expanding in the process, alerting the two.

But, the moment they reacted, the ring had already reached a size of five metres in radius, appearing around them instantly shrinking into a dot as it severed their bodies into two.

"That's pretty great. But, just severing them isn't enough to kill the Grassmen." Compass Carburettor retorted.

"There's more!" The cobra shouted smugly as the ring expanded once again, turning around a little as it severed through the Grassmen another time.

Cut into four pieces, each Grassmen fell on the ground, twitching as they were unable to move. As their heads were split into two, they struggled for a couple of minutes before losing all signs of vitality.

After all, not only was it just a burst of force but contained within it was mild venom that began to wilt the grass.

"So, your venom was also fused into this breath attack?" Compass Carburettor asked in surprise.

"This isn't my breath attack. I can also unleash a breath attack like other mutated beasts. This is my special ability that has become emission-based." The cobra said in excitement.

"That's impressive!" Compass Carburettor said honestly, "All mutated beasts only possess refinement-based attacks. Their only emission-based attack is their breath attack. So, your ability is pretty impressive."

"Of course! I'm pretty awesome!" The cobra made a smug expression before slapping his cheek with its head.

"Stop that! It's irritating!" Compass Carburettor said, frowning.

"I won't! What can you do, Uncle Spirit?" The cobra looked at him, smirking as it used its tongue to poke at his nose.

"…" Compass Carburettor severed the telepathic connection, preventing them from conversing mentally.

Immediately, the cobra's smug expression vanished as it pouted, looking at him with a pitiful expression, no different to a dog's. It seemed to have learned it somewhere, using it all the time against him, clearly understanding that it was effective on him.

"Fine," Massaging his forehead, Compass Carburettor reinstated the connection, hearing the cobra chirp constantly. It was like a kid that was excited to brag about every single thing to its parent.

So, there wasn't a moment's silence from the moment it finished evolving. Sighing in response, Compass Carburettor shook his head, watching the severed pieces of the Grassmen on the lawn that had now melted into a puddle, smiling at the potency of the cobra's attacks.

"Impressive…" He muttered, regretting it immediately when the cobra heard it and began to bombard him with so many things that he felt like he was ageing in response.

'Wait, I didn't give her a name yet. She would eat my head once she realises that. And when I name her, I would also be making her realise the same.' He thought, staring at the sky, for a moment envying the clouds.