Creating a Creature.

Outside of a handful of exceptions, once a Small Area reached level 4, it was possible to create a creature that would follow the god's will. The creature’s strength, intelligence, and skills were all influenced by many factors such as the nature of the Small Area, the amount of Faith points invested, the player’s Divinity level, and the resources used. And the abilities of the creature would rise depending on the proportions of these factors.

At this stage of creating a creature for the first time, Sung-Woon currently had all the necessary resources to create a creature with the best abilities possible.

‘At this time, there probably aren’t many players who’ve already created creatures before me.’

This was because Sung-Woon had obtained the Essence of Abomination by killing one, the Ancient Coleoptera.

[Essence of Abomination: Ancient Coleoptera (Abomination Lv.9)

This Essence is used when creating a creature.

Additional Ability: Blessing of the Forgotten God (Unknown)]

‘What kind of ability would it gain? I don’t expect much since it’s my first creature anyways. But I do hope it's a skill.’

As the game progressed, the amount of creatures made would increase. Even for a god, there was a limit to how much they could be aware of at once. Therefore, it was necessary for there to be beings that would carry out the god’s will in their stead, and these creatures that the gods made were no different than errand boys in charge of those duties.

‘But…Is it okay for me to make something like this?’

Sung-Woon paused as he opened the Creature Creation Helper, which was supported by the system. This subwindow was a program that supported and allowed players to create the creatures they wanted using various 3D models. With Creature Creation Helper, it was possible to simply add multiple parts together that were already provided by the program to make a myriad of differently-shaped creatures, and if desired, players could start with a lump and mold it into the shape they wanted.

‘It’s a different feeling from guiding a tribe from behind the scenes.’

There was something about creating a being with one’s own hands that moved Sung-Woon emotionally. However, Sung-Woon shook his head and focused on victory. Being able to push aside his emotions and strictly focusing on achieving the goal was one of the reasons Sung-Woon was able to rank 1st place.

‘Who cares. I’m a real god now.’

Even if the players didn’t have the necessary resources, the Creature Creation Helper allowed players to model creatures in advance, so Sung-Woon’s first creature was already completed appearance-wise. Even the models Sung-Woon had created when he played the game were saved, but he decided to use those later once he gathered more resources.

‘I have to make a new shape from scratch because none of the premade ones would be useful in Small Area: Insects.’

The creature’s outer appearance wasn’t that important though. In fact, appearance didn’t affect the creature’s abilities too much because otherwise there’d be players who got stressed trying to shape the creature in a way that would grant it good abilities. It was also common for players to just use the standard models that were provided as basics, or for players to directly copy and use a model that had a cool appearance made by someone else. But ranked players usually wanted to be appealing to others by creating models that were distinct from others.

‘Or maybe instead of appealing, it’s more about aggro.’

That was why in the ranked games, the player’s creatures would usually belong to three kinds of outer appearances. They would either look funny, bizarre, or cute.

‘Well, that was only a game.’

Sung-Woon actually preferred cuter looking creatures, but he decided not to go with that this time.

‘Even if it’s a slight difference, I need to bet everything on practicality this time.’

When seen in a statistical manner, Sung-Woon knew which outer appearance had the strongest physical capabilities. He added appendages, elytra, and sturdy legs, which would get him some additional abilities, even though not much. For battle, the best form to have was to be standing rather than crawling. He added a mandible, sharp forelegs which could be used as a weapon, antennas to prevent encountering sudden attacks, and big compound eyes which would allow it to see in all directions at once.

‘Now that I’ve finished making it…it looks like a mantis.’

But it was a completely different organism. It wouldn’t be able to fly due to its large size, but it had two more pairs of elytra that would allow it to glide in case of a sudden fall, and even more so for protection. Apart from the forelegs that could be used as weapons, it also had a pair of hand-like body parts that could grasp things when needed or break its opponents.

‘Maybe I should use blue for its accent color since I kept showing a blue butterfly when giving Lakrak hints until now. A little darker shade. Also to make it shine clear and bright under the moonlight…’

The last step was to name it.

“Its name will be…uhh…”

Sung-Woon combined two names that came to mind when he thought of a mantis in the game.

“Maybe Sratis will do.”

***

And like that, Sratis was created from nothing.

***

Auloi cried out with all the remaining strength he had, “The Two-Headed Fiend has come! Everyone, bow down!”

The Frogmen that were standing at the lakeside all bowed down, and Shunen trembled in fear at the sight of the hideous Two-Headed Fiend swaying side to side by the shore.

‘Now all those Lizardmen will die.’

The Two-Headed Fiend was similar to a serpent, which made it a kind of water snake. Serpents were strong enough to be compared to a drake on the ground, and it was fair to call them the top predators underwater. In addition to that, as a fiend that was divine, it had good levels of intelligence and Divinity. However, this fiend wasn’t aware that it had the potential to grow and instead just ate things weaker than itself to satisfy its hunger.

Shunen watched as the Two-Headed Fiend approached the sacrifices. Then it suddenly paused in hesitation.

Krrrrrr…

The Two-Headed Fiend always coveted the sacrifices as if it had been starving for days, but that didn't happen this time. Both its heads were now looking over Shunen’s shoulders.

‘What is it doing? Is it looking at something?’

Shunen went against the submissiveness toward the fiend that had been ingrained in him and turned around, following its gaze. There was a large shadow over the tall trees. Shunen instinctively froze. That thing with large eyes lightly pushed the trees away, and at the sound of the trees getting ripped out of the ground, the Frogmen that were bowing to the Two-Headed Fiend shot up and turned around.

Then someone profanely cried out, “I…it’s a god!”

Lengthwise, the Two-Headed Fiend was similar in size to Sratis, but Sratis standing tall on the ground made all the difference between the presence of the two. Sratis’s exoskeleton shined blue as it reflected the light from the torches. Anyone who saw the Two-Headed Fiend would say it was just a shabby water snake in comparison to Sratis, which looked like a real god.

—Krrrrrr!

The Two-Headed Fiend didn’t know where that thing came from, but knew it couldn’t back away now. That thing had invaded its territory, and if it just let it be, the Two-Headed Fiend would have to give up the savages and the sacrifices that they offered. They belonged to the Two-Headed Fiend. Although the opponent seemed large and strong, the Two-Headed Fiend knew that it itself was a divine being that could rule over all living things.

—Kaaaooo!

The Two-Headed Fiend pushed itself along the shore to slither onto the ground. The sight of the serpent's fifteen-meter-long body emerging from water was very bizarre, but Sratis took his next step forward with no agitation, and another tree fell down.

As a few Frogmen got crushed, the other Frogmen realized these two monsters would collide, and they began to scream and run away. The Two-Headed Fiend squeezed itself through the Frogmen running away and crushed them. Its target was Sratis’s head. The Two-Headed Fiend thought its widened maw would land on Sratis’s head, but that didn’t happen.

—Water snake, you claim to be a god…

Sratis mumbled in a low voice, but that voice was also heard by the Lizardmen from all the way across the lake.

—Kaaoo…alright!

The arms that were folded in front of its body could clench things. Sratis reached out and clenched the head of one of the figures that tried to attack it. The Two-Headed Fiend opened its other mouth as if it had been waiting to do so, but that was also useless. The sharp claw of Sratis’s foreleg squeezed in between the fiend’s tightly shut second mouth.

—Know that you are nothing more than a nonentity…

Sratis grabbed its first head and yanked. The Two-Headed Fiend tried to resist, but couldn’t withstand Sratis’s strength and ended up torn and split in the middle. The two heads fell in either direction. The snout that was the length of Sratis’s arm, which was about ten meters long, was destroyed. The Two-Headed Fiend then toppled backward with its spine revealed.

—Ku, ku, ku, kug…

The Two-Headed Fiend continued to have a convulsion, but was still breathing and alive.

—I will offer you to my creator and help you with your atonement as your stupidity is not a sin…

A proper battle hadn’t even started. Sratis’s next task was nothing but to kill the Two-Headed Fiend completely.

—Your sins shall be forgiven with your blood and flesh. 

Sratis grabbed the fiend and cut a large chunk of its flesh into pieces while it was still alive. The pieces fell all around the Frogmen.

Even Sung-Woon was a little surprised as he watched this happen.

‘I did think it would be a landslide victory for Sratis due to the differences in their levels and abilities, but still… Was it because of its skill?’

[Two-Headed Fiend (Serpent Lv.4, Fiend Lv.3)

Strength 163 (d+2)

Intelligence 32 (d+2)

Sociability 8 (d+2)

Machinations 4

Small Area: (Unknown)

The fiend’s abilities weren’t that bad given fiends were also gods. It had a Small Area, but it was a Minor Small Area rather than a Major Small Area that all the players started with. That was why catching a fiend was a very important factor in the strategy known as Small Area Farming.

‘But the Small Area wasn’t even used in battle. Well, it didn't seem like it even had a chance to use it… Was Sratis too strong?’

[Sratis (Creature Lv.11)

Strength 220 (d+3)

Intelligence 32 (d+3)

Sociability 22 (d+3)

Skill: Supernatural Strength]

A greater ‘d’ modifier made all the difference in terms of abilities. And the skill Sratis came with was indeed an ideal one.

‘Supernatural Strength… This is a tier 1 skill for a creature made for battle. It would dominate the other creatures in the same rank if they fought. It’s unfortunate that creatures made for battle become inferior going into the latter half of the game, but… I hope I didn’t use up all my luck on something weird.’

Sung-Woon decided to think positively about it. His goal of killing the Two-Headed Fiend was achieved, all the Frogmen had run away to the higher rank village in panic, leaving the Lizardmen sacrifices, and all the Lizardmen cheered and cried out to the god in joy.

“Look up to the guardian of the Blue Insect God that came down to save us! Send thanks to the guardian! Glory to the Blue Insect God!”

Lakrak’s warriors bowed to the Blue Insect God in good faith, and the grayish-brown scaled Lizardmen that witnessed the Miracle, especially Owen, collapsed to the ground with tears pouring down their faces.

Sung-Woon was pleased. One of the reasons was the status window that had just popped up.

[The Two-Headed Fiend has been killed!]

[You have received the Essence of Fiend!]

[You have received the Small Area: (Unknown)!]

Just like with an abomination, one could acquire Essence from fiends. Fiends were rarer, but it was more common for Essence from abominations to grant physical advantages. Thus, creating a creature with a fiend’s Essence would require caution.

‘And the most important Small Area for farming…’

[Would you like to check the Small Area: (Unknown)?]

[Yes / No]

Sung-Woon quickly clicked ‘Yes’.