Morning came and found the snail driving up the rock wall at its maximum pace. The snail’s stamina had fully regenerated and it was feeling optimistic. The rock wall became less even, as though giant claws had ripped up the top of the wall, leaving gouges and missing sections. The snail wall glad to travel through these defects, as that meant a fall would not be all the way to the foot of the rock wall. The moisture-rich succulent plants became more common in the cracks and flat areas where sand had built up.

  When the snail neared the top edge of the wall, Danger sense shouted a warning right before the snail felt a massive pain in its foot. The snail aimed one eye stalk to the rear as it retreated into its shell. A beetle had bitten down on the soft exposed snail flesh.

  “Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!” The snail wailed as it tried to pull its body fully under so it could use Hide in shell. The mouthparts of the beetle sawed a rough wound in the snail’s foot. The snail pushed out mucus and foam in its distress. It managed to pull free and suction to the rock wall so it could wait out this predator. The snail checked its health.

  *ding*

  The beetle’s mouthparts reached under the edge of the snail’s shell and bit into its flesh again. The snail screamed internally and lashed out with the only tool it had. Ensnare coated the head of the beetle with sticky mucus. The beetle struggled for a few tens of seconds before it managed to pull itself free of the snail. The snail whimpered at the pain of its injuries and checked its health again.

  *ding*

  The beetle reached under the shell again and bit into the snail. The snail could do nothing except use Ensnare again, coating the beetle’s head with mucus. The beetle struggled free only to bite again after scraping off the mucus.

  The two creatures battled, back and forth, for several minutes that felt like hours to the snail. The beetle harried the snail, lowering its health, while the snail burned through its stamina to buy time between attacks. The snail could only hope that the beetle would give up or some larger predator would arrive and eat the beetle. The System provided another option.

  *ding*

  

  Ensnare level up: 2

  The next use of Ensnare coated the beetle with even more mucus, catching one of its legs in the sticky substance. The beetle scrabbled its other limbs, trying to pull free as it had done multiple times already. A second limb became stuck in the mucus coating, and the beetle alternated between pulling one way or another. The snail, exhausted and low on health, lost its grip on the rock wall.

  For an endless moment, the beetle held unto the stone with three limbs as the weight of the snail pulled down. The beetle lots its grip and the pair plummeted down, glancing off the stone once before crashing into a flat area without much sand. The glancing collision with the rock wall was the only reason the snail survived–with its greater mass, the snail would have hit first, but the collision caused a spin which moved the beetle between the snail and the stone.

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  *ding*

  

  Corpse: Beetle (lesser). Estimated experience: 5. Absorb experience?

  The snail lay senseless and aching for a long minute before absorbing the experience from the dead beetle. The snail checked its stats.

  *ding*

  The mental pain from so much information was drowned out by the physical pain from the battle. The snail slowly extended its foot and pulled itself upright. When it extended its eye stalks, it saw what had happened to its attacker. The beetle lay on a bare patch of stone. Its body had burst from being crushed between the hard shell of the snail and the unyielding rock. The snail didn’t spare it a second thought and began moving towards the nearest succulent plant.

  *ding*

  

  Hard shell level up: 2

  The snail munched on succulent leaves and rested while its health and stamina regenerated. Night fell before its health was fully restored, and the snail decided to wait until the sun was high in the sky before resuming its journey upwards.

  “Moving at night is impossible without being attacked, and the beetle and bird both attacked during the morning while the rock wall is in shade.” The snail analyzed its climbing experience. “Afternoon, while more hot than I like, has been the safest time to climb.” The snail trusted Camouflage to keep it safe and stayed still until it felt the sun beat down on its shell.

  When the snail extended its eye stalks again, it saw that a group of ants was dismembering the beetle and carrying chunks of it up the wall. The snail turned away from the beetle and the ants and aimed itself up the wall once more.

  The land beyond the rock wall came into view when the sun was low in the sky. The snail sat for several minutes, appreciating a vast green expanse. Rocky outcrops occasionally poked up through the sparse trees and thick underbrush, providing a nice contrast of color. The snail started forwards, using Identify on the plants and looking for a nice tall tree.