novellaaa Chapter 138 Willing to Take the Bait
Chapter 138 Willing to Take the Bait
Recalling my previous experiences using the Appraisal spell, it seemed that I always had to be very close to activate it successfully. However, the skill description never mentioned anything about distance limitations.
It seems this magic has quite a few hidden conditions… Klein muttered to himself.
Klein flapped his wings, leaped from the branch where he had been perched, moved closer, and landed on another tree just a few meters away from the large piece of meat.
The winged serpent's talons scraped against the branches with a slight sound, and the treetops swayed gently with each landing.
This distance should be enough, right?
Pfft.
Before the thought could be finished, a sticky and wet substance suddenly shot out from below.
Klein's vision was instantly filled with a dark red color. The winged serpent's body was enveloped by something soft and moist. This sensation... was it inside the blood slime?!
wrong.
Click.
That's meat, a lump of meat.
At the same instant it enveloped the pterosaur's body, it tightened abruptly.
The force was astonishing; Klein could even clearly hear the bones of his body howling in pain—his ribs were the first to give way, followed by his wing bones, and the joints were being squeezed and creaking.
He didn't even have time to struggle.
The next second, a tremendous force yanked him off the branch. The world spun around him, the green forest scenery flashed by, and in an instant, it was replaced by a slippery darkness.
Dark, damp, and warm.
These three sensations came almost simultaneously, followed by the stinging pain of having one's scales ripped open by a sharp object, and then a heavy pressure squeezing in from all directions, as if being buried alive in the depths of writhing soil.
What the hell is this thing?!
At the very moment he was swallowed up, Klein's soul had already been transferred.
He switched to another winged serpent dragon, and his vision returned from complete darkness to a wide-open sky.
Klein immediately flapped his wings and left the forest, while ordering all the pterosaurs to take to the air to avoid danger.
All the pterosaurs quickly climbed up, away from the canopy they had just been in.
Klein stabilized his flight in mid-air before turning back to observe the attacking entity below.
Then he froze; the meat was changing color.
It changes from bright red to dark green, and then gradually blends into the colors of the surrounding forest.
The color change was very fast, lasting less than three seconds.
If Klein hadn't seen its location with his own eyes just now, it would probably have taken a lot of effort to find it again amidst the layers of the tree canopy.
It has become one with the forest.
That wasn't a piece of meat at all; Klein had already realized it.
This is a monster. A monster capable of mimicry.
Its bright red color and the incredibly realistic raw meat stench that lingered in the air were all mimicry.
This is likely an elaborate disguise, designed to lure predators drawn by the smell of blood.
Now it has changed shape. Looking down from the air, Klein can vaguely make out a blurry outline slowly stretching out among the shadows of the trees.
Its outline resembled a crouching lizard—a flat body, short, thick limbs, a pair of protruding large eyes, and a large, swaying mouth.
Click, click.
From the forest below came the sound of bones being crushed bit by bit. It was the winged serpent dragon body that Klein had just abandoned being torn apart by this monster.
It is savoring the prey it has obtained so easily.
That's a chameleon... I felt like I was being grabbed by tentacles just now, probably its tongue.
This monster's attack methods, color-changing ability, and even its rapidly projecting tongue were exactly the same as the chameleons he knew from his previous life, except that it was bigger, more elusive, and more deceptive.
Are the chameleons in this world really that big?
No wonder the identification magic didn't work.
Klein suddenly realized that it wasn't a matter of distance at all.
Appraisal is a magic used to identify items. He subconsciously regarded that piece of "meat" as some kind of dropped item, some kind of inanimate object.
But that wasn't an object at all; it was a living, breathing monster. It should have been probed.
But the problem wasn't with using any magic; the act of falling itself was the real mistake.
Klein remained silent among the dragons for a long time, letting the wind pass through his wingtips.
Looking back on my actions, I realize how incredibly stupid I was.
The fact that such a large piece of fresh meat was left in the middle of the forest, with not a single monster around waiting to scavenge it, was the biggest anomaly in itself.
But instead of being alert, he thought it was because the distance for identification was too far, and that he had delivered himself to the chameleon's dinner.
I thought the monsters were hiding because of my winged serpent dragon form, but it seems they were all eaten by this chameleon...
It was such a careless mistake to lose a Pteranodon like that, it's such a loss.
Klein felt a pang of heartache; there weren't many Pteranodons to begin with, and he hadn't expected to lose one so easily.
Unfortunately, it's too late to say anything now, and regret won't help.
Klein mentally reviewed this lesson before turning his gaze back to the outline that had perfectly blended into the colors of the forest.
But then again, isn't a chameleon that can mimic appearances amazing?
This ambush capability is perfect for setting up around the plantation. If we can really make it our own, then any enemy that gets close to the plantation will unknowingly step into the trap, just like I did just now.
Perhaps an upgraded version of the stealth badger.
However, let's check the numbers first...
Activate skill: Detect
Success rate: 80%
Activate skill: Detect
The launch failed... How could it fail with such a low probability?
It took two more tries before it finally succeeded.
Name: None
[Species: Mimicry Dragon]
[Race: Earth Dragon]
[Level: 21]
Age: 7
[Health Volume: 3550/3544]
【Spirit: 317】
[Magic Power: 2143/1457]
【Strength: 36】
[Agility: 20]
【Intelligence: 36】
Individual Abilities:
Visual mimicry: Freely change the color and pattern of your own skin to mimic the appearance of objects you have seen; Light magic [exclusive magic].
Taste mimicry: imitating smells that have been smelled before.
Paralyzing saliva: Saliva has a paralyzing effect and can paralyze a target through the skin.
Weakness: High temperatures can affect mimicry.
Weakness: Damaging the eyes would affect mimicry.
A mimicry dragon? Is its species an earth dragon?
Klein hadn't expected it to be a dragon. He had only seen one earth dragon before, a wingless dragon, which was probably a large lizard.
I don't know what the relationship is between this dragon and Marion's... Just like the Pteranodon is called a dragon but it's not actually a dragon, maybe the Earth Dragon isn't a "dragon" either.