Charybdis Gains Sentience

Something changed. 

The malice and violence of humanity that birthed me still burned through my mind and my unquenchable rage was still not extinguished. But, as my physical body crashed to the ground, besides one of the innumerable monster villages that I destroyed, I felt blazing hot. It seems the blue haired dragon in human form can surpass my [Magic Jamming] skill and magically ignite my body. 

An explosion echoed through the forest as a huge crater formed under my gigantic draconic body, though I've heard some lesser monsters calling me more of a shark. 

While trying futilely to regenerate my body with my almost exhausted magicule reserves, I stress my mind to think harder about this weird change. Looking back, I remember years of destruction of diverse monsters and humans and nothing else. The entirety of my existence has been indiscriminate violence fueled by fiery rage. 

"Oh…". A sound comes out of my mouth as I realize what is different. I'm thinking. That hasn't happened before. Also, my perpetual rage has turned cold. It hasn't disappeared, simply becoming more controlled.

"Booom" Another gigantic fireball impacted my back and while [Pain Nullification] removes any pain I might otherwise feel, I understand that if I don't remove myself from this fight and run away from the scary dragon lady immediately, my physical existence will cease to exist. 

I can't let that happen now. Feeling weaker and weaker, my resolve for survival strengthens and I start shrinking myself, trying to achieve a smaller form, like the one of my flying attacker. 

At the same time, I use [Monster Summon] to summon a copy of myself so I can escape aided by the fire's smoke and the confusion my 'clone' would create. 

The monster that penetrated the smoke, rushing in the direction of the confused lady in the sky is abysmally smaller than my draconic form, but it will serve its purpose, since my transformation is now complete.

I immediately start running without looking back. Behind me, I hear another explosion, as the 'Megalodon', as I now know is what it's called, was completely annihilated in one hit, severing our connection.

After what felt like hours running, I found myself surrounded by trees. Looking around, I spotted a small clearing with a lake of pristine water. With nothing better to do with my newfound sentience, I calmly marched to the lake, no longer feeling the oppressive dragon aura from the earlier fight. I might have gotten a little bit too far east, where a gigantic human population lives but I obviously wouldn't dare to intrude in a true dragon's territory. 

Although the great forest of Jura is currently claimed by the storm dragon Veldora, his magicules feel somewhat familiar and there's even a connection of similar nature in my soul, connecting me to a being in the west. I suspect it's Veldora himself, and if so, it would make some of the rumblings and shouts I heard during my massacres about me being his daughter make sense.

I stopped at the edge of the lake, looking into it, and found a tan skinned girl staring back. Her hair was dark purple at the top, changing slightly to a dark blue in a gradient. The one big pale blue eye almost shined in the middle of her head, looking at me in confusion with a furrowed dark blue brow. 

There were zigzagging purple lines coming horizontally from her eye. The half open mouth showed a serrated set of teeth, perfect for a meat eating predator. She was wearing extremely simple clothing that hugged her vast chest tightly. A blue long sleeved shirt and black pants. 

Behind her back, at the base of her spine, grew a thick tail, bifurcating at the end, colored similarly to her hair, ending with two dark purple prongs that resembled her tail in draconic form.

This is me. 

knowing the vile emotions of the humans, never had I ever thought of looking like one. But I also understand the need to have a form similar to most life in the world. 

It seems that the humanoid form is the end point of natural evolution since so many creatures ended up with it. Also, I'm excited to see and explore whatever marvels the different societies I've been trying to destroy my whole life have created and built.

Looking up, there's a relatively small cave that could probably house my real body and not much else. It was wide, but not very deep. It looked comfortable. 

As I started walking in the direction of the cave, I sensed a few presences behind me and froze. They were incredibly weak, like the rabble I used to destroy with the utmost ease. I turned around and waited for them to show up. They were still deep in the forest after all. 

I crossed my arms, mimicking one of the heroes that I remember slaying me once, many years ago, in a stance that commanded the utmost respect. Or at least that was what I was trying to achieve. I glared at the peacefully swaying trees, waiting for the inferior beings to arrive.

A group of five terrified human sized snakes appeared. They had humanoid arms and were standing upright, but otherwise, their form was that of a snake, as colorful scales covered their entire bodies. They were serpentfolk. The one in the front, the only white snake, held a weird sectioned longsword that looked to be made from a sharp spine from some monster in her shaking hands. 

Her jagged snake hood flared up as if she was trying to appear bigger. Her white and light lilac scales glistened in the light. They were wearing almost nothing, except a few simple cloths around the upper part of their serpentine body. The one in the front had a ruby necklace around her 'neck' that complemented her red eyes, focused solely on me. 

One of the snakes behind her, a red colored one, was wearing a bulky metal glove in her right hand, that lightly shone a hot orange in a few weird patterns, barely visible in the daylight, her palm open towards me.

After some tense minutes of staring, the apparent leader of the snake group finally spoke, her voice somewhat calm, in contrast to her quivering body. "Oh, powerful being. May we inquire as to your presence in our forest?". 

I ignored her question completely and said in a firm tone. "What is that glove your minion is wearing?". I was curious after all. I've never seen someone fight with a glove. They stared, confused. Looked at each other, and when the representative looked back at me she flinched at my displeased scowl for having been ignored. 

"I… I am so sorry…" She bowed slightly, her eyes never leaving my form. "Of course… It's a runetech device. By channeling magicules through the runes, they enhance the wearer's abilities or create specific magic phenomena.". That is fascinating. 

I would love to learn more about such devices. "Interesting. Well, going back to your question. I decided that 'your' forest is now my property. I'm claiming it.". 

They all looked at me bemused. After a few seconds of silence, that the snake figurehead used to think, 'like she had some kind of choice', I scoffed in my mind, she reluctantly said, "Then, since you are claiming the domain where we, like many other monsters live, would you be willing to offer us your protection? The Ameld wars between east and west Jura have been hard for all of us."

My eye glowed red as I almost blew them to dust with a [Wicked Light Ray] for the mere suggestion of me participating in some petty inferior's fight. However, thinking slightly deeper about my situation, I decided that adopting these weaker beings could be beneficial in a few ways. 

For example, I can't protect my new territory when exploring the rest of the world, but that also goes for the weaklings in front of me. If this curious 'runetech' that I've never heard of, could be used to highly empower the puny monsters living in my domain, its research would not only satiate my curiosity, but also protect my lands. 

Maybe I could even use them to get more territory if I ever feel the need to. However, I don't want to invade the western side of the Jura forest, as that is where the storm dragon is most active, and the east side of the Ameld river is very close to the biggest human nation. Therefore, if I don't approach this with caution, me and my future minions could be completely obliterated. In the end, I decided to try this protection thing out, while keeping my sentience secret from the rest of the world.

After a few minutes of silence from all of us, I said. "I will put all villages east of the Ameld under my protection, as long as all of them pay me the tribute I deserve. What I want is the research and development of new forms of 'runetech'. I want all the knowledge you have now, and will have in the future, compiled for me to learn. If for some reason, any of the villages is a disappointment, and cannot pay me in rune knowledge, I'll also accept gold...". 

For some reason, just the thought of sleeping in a pile of shiny gold makes me smile, "magic tomes and other artifacts. If even with those generous options they remain useless, I will put them to use in a different way." Of course, with this, I meant to put them to physical work like building a shrine to me or something equivalent so I didn't understand why they gulped as if I would eat them should they fail. Why would I want to destroy my resources? I decided to wait for their response.

After a few long moments of hushed hisses, which I didn't bother focusing on to translate it for me, the white snake stated. "We will serve under you, oh powerful being, pay the tributes we rightfully owe and notify all other villages known to us. How should we refer to you as, great lady?" 

They expect me to be named? I suppose that's understandable. As I thought about my own name, a weird sensation echoed deep within my being that told me my name was the same as what all the fodder used to call me during my past rampages. "My name is Charybdis." 

Their mouths hang open in shock, their bodies frozen as if I had hit them with an [Ice Blizzard]. I figure that talking to a monster they believed to be a mindless destroyer that also threatened the forest several times in the past to be a bit surprising.

They looked absolutely terrified, the runetech glove shining brighter, but with a lighter orange than before, apparently ready to attack and bolt at the slightest move from me. I grinned at them, still a bit annoyed at the long silence they seemed to revel in but finding some entertainment in their frightened faces. After a few more minutes, they finally closed their mouths and the snake in front spoke. 

"Lady Charybdis, we vow to serve you and are grateful for the protection provided by your greatness.". Then, after a deep breath, she calmed down and worriedly spoke. "My lady, forgive my insolence, but your impressive aura is incredibly strong and oppressive. We, normal monsters, can barely stand in your presence.". 

I have never needed to conceal my aura, so I never saw it as a problem. Uncrossing my arms, I strained all my muscles, painfully absorbing my own aura. After a few minutes, realizing I reached my maximum, my emitted aura was reduced to twenty percent what it was before. Still several times that of the monsters around me, but at least now, they looked much more relaxed in my presence.

If I am to rule this part of the forest, I should probably name a subordinate so they can speak for me. I suppose the snake's presence right now is convenient. 

"I decided to give you a name white snake. Be grateful." Her beautiful red eyes widened like she could not believe what was happening. "I give you the name 'Naga'." Her entire body shone for a second, and then she bowed deeply. 

"I appreciate and accept the name you have given me Lady Charybdis. I can already feel my magicules soaring". I looked each of them in the eyes. Any hostility they might have had for me had disappeared. 

They were now looking at Naga with barely disguised envy which made me smirk slightly. 

"Now leave me. I need to rest and recover from my last battle. I want my tribute delivered to this cave where I'm currently taking residence." 

They nodded and left just as I said. I entered the little cave, transformed into my draconic form, deactivating the new skill I gained, [Human Form], and released all of my aura. My wings and scorched scales were reforming slowly and my gigantic eye closed as I slumbered.

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Edited 21/07/2024: Smaller Paragraphs 

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