8 Survival in the Snowy Plains

After a week of traveling through the rough mountains and woods, Versailles finally entered the Great Snowy Plains of the Minu Mountains, north of the Sybil realm. She trudged through the heavy snow, breathing laboriously as she stumbled, falling face-first into the piercing cold ice.

The Snowy Plains never experienced summer or spring, the warm seasons. They did, however, experience snowfalls and snow showers with snowstorms and blizzards occurring every winter season. Here, the pure white mountains stretched as far as the eye could see.

There were no civilized citizens here. Only criminals and crooks that had nowhere to go.

Any other day, Versailles would not have so much as looked towards the direction of this vile plains.

Unfortunately, it wasn't any other day and she now had to take action in order to protect herself.

"Fortunately, I recovered my powers." Sighing with relief, Versailles closed and opened her eyes, taking on her serpentine form.

As cold-blood species, snakes and anacondas' had no fear of the cold and wet, even seeking it out as a place of settlement. Versailles having the ability to take on her snake form to travel was a heaven-sent blessing, making her travels in the snow faster and easier.

Although she could only take the form for a short period of time at the moment, it was enough for her to protect her life.

In the future, once she mastered her powers, her snake form would become her second skin, giving her the freedom to switch forms at any time and retain the form for any length of time she desired.

Wading through the snow, Versailles swung her golden snake tail back and forth, as she rushed towards the plateau in the northeast.

"I need to find a higher vintage point. Then, I can easily locate the region of the teleportation spatial." Her destination, the Nar realm, was not easy to reach. A teleportation was a must.

A long while later, tired and sweating, she stood at the top of the plateau and scanned her surroundings. There were activities in a large clearing. Their two snow mountain peaks would be an aid to her.

Marking the area, she slid down the plateau, her tail anchoring her descend.

Once back on the ground, she shot towards the two mountain peaks in the north.

After two days of continuous travel, Versailles was on the verge of breakdown.

The two mountain peaks were farther than they appeared and the continuous use of her powers to shorten her journey drained her mind.

Every time she transformed, her powers affected her still adjusting body, adding great burden to her mind and spirit. She had to constantly fight drowsiness and dizziness. At other times, she directly fainted.

At the moment, she was out of food and needed to set up camp. Wild beast hunting always replenished her rations.

Spotting a cave on a snow hill, she waddled towards it, falling twice, before reaching her destination.

The tough journeys in her past two lives were enough preparation for such ordeals. And she knew. Only those that directly confronted the fiercest of storms had the possibility of remaining standing.

"Endurance, perseverance, and patience can overcome all trials!" She encouraged herself before entering to shelter from the never-ending snow shower. Her surroundings were damp and dark, a sinister vibe in the air.

Stopping, she wearily scanned the silent cave.

Not finding traces of humans and wild beasts, she cautiously moved about, surveying the place from wall to ceiling. Even though there was nothing, she didn't drop her guard.

The sense of danger she perceived was too great.

"It can't just be my misconception, can it?" Her brows furrowed in confusion, as doubts rose in her mind.

Or maybe her senses were a little off?

That was possible. In the end, she did recover her snake body only recently.

Roar!

Roar!

The deafening roars outside broke her trance, tensing her muscles in apprehension. In comparison to when she arrived, the light was a lot dimmer.

Snow beasts were now prowling around fearlessly. An eerie atmosphere filled the air as their terrifying roars and growls resonated through the mountains.

Suddenly, a miserable cry resounded.

Cautiously peering outside, Versailles witnessed a giant snow-winged eagle capturing a crawling snow seal, its claws piercing deeply into the body of the beast as fresh blood splattered out.

The seal was even larger than the snow-eagle, at least ten times larger, and yet it could not escape the claws of the snow-eagle as it carried it and soared into the sky.

Before leaving, the snow-eagle glanced back at the cave on the snow hill. There was a chilling glare in its eyes, but seeming to find the prey too small in comparison to the seal, it majestically spread its wings and flew away.

"Definitely discovered my presence, but looked down on me. Humph! If it saw me in my snake-form, it won't be acting like that." She sneered disdainfully.

Eagles and snakes were natural enemies. The eagle discovered Versailles, but found the human too puny. If it saw her snake form, even if she was puny, it won't just fly away.

At the moment however, she had no desire to battle a flying enemy. That would just be creating more hurdles for herself, which was the least she needed.

However, the hunt earlier reminded her of her own empty stomach. Deciding it was time to find some prey, she transformed into her snake form, grabbed her bow and slithered out of the cave.

A few moments later, Versailles arrived at a snow valley.

The cold breeze blew harshly in her face carrying traces of killing intent. Behind her, pairs of greenish and sinister eyes of snow bears appeared. With vicious gazes, they walked out from the darkness, filled the entire place, and rounded up Versailles in the middle.

"Finally, something to eat!" Licking her delicate lips, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

In the next instant, the bears in the vicinity swarmed in like bees!

Poof!

Versailles' flipped her hands and slashed with her fire-infused arrows. She slayed the first bear that dashed to her in half. Fresh blood spilled.

Bang!

Flipping her tail, she smashed the skull of another bear with all her might, splitting the latter's brains. This provoked the rage of the remaining bears. Stepping on the corpses of their kin, they continuously pounced on her.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Spinning the arrows in her left hand, she punched with her right that was coated in flames. Dashing across the valley with ease while she attacked and charged.

Howl!

Despite being surrounded and attacked by a pack of snow bears, Versailles still managed to avert the deadly aims and avoid sustaining serious injuries.

A sense of danger enveloped her from behind, the sharp bear claws about to pierce into her head. Without looking, she swung her tail and hurled the bear into the cliffs.

Animals naturally had greater instincts than humans. Versailles, as a half-serpent, half-human shifter, could sense and avert danger without even looking or listening.

In comparison to when she first regained her past life's memories, her methods of attacking and defending became much swifter and smoother.

Perfectly effective on group attacks.

Versailles was not restrained in her styles, using her hands, and magnificent golden tail to slaughter the enemies. These were close combat techniques she honed during her previous lifes' fights.

It was a battle method filled with blood, gore, and massacre.

To better prepare herself for drawn-out battles, she used the skirmishes with wild animals as training sessions.

This way, she built her stamina and facilitated her body's adjustment to her powers, while learning to make use of every limb on her body. This also aided her flexibility in changing between her two forms, until the act itself became as natural as breathing.

Pierce!

A wound appeared on Versailles golden tail, fresh blood dripping from it.

"I need to end this soon, or it will turn into a dangerous situation for me." She said as she looked at the unrelenting bear pack.

Although Versailles had the aid of a powerful flame, her body was gradually weakening under the successive and intense attacks.

Just as she was thinking of spewing a river of flames, she got the desire to rely on her physical body's advantages.

Raising into the air, she coiled her humongous tail around her, shielding against the in-coming attack, before twisting and flipping out of the encirclement. Swinging her tail out in a loop, she set a net.

The bears rushed towards her from one direction. Versailles waited patiently, unmoving, until all of bears were inside the loop and she pulled the snare, strangling them all in a tight, coiling bind.

Soon, the popping sounds of breaking bones, and splattering of blood filled the air.

After five breaths of time, when she uncoiled her blood-soaked golden tail, the ferocious snow bears were reduced to a pile of meat and paste, their crimson blood dying the white snow red.