Chapter 12: Survivors in the Belly of the Snake

EeDeChi's massive sword was blunt on both sides, incapable of cutting anything, so swinging it was akin to wielding a giant flat iron rod.

Barrett once asked EeDeChi why she didn't sharpen the sword, to which EeDeChi replied with a phrase Barrett couldn't comprehend: "A heavy sword needs no edge; mastery comes without the fine workings."

The Titan Python shook its head, staggering like a drunk, clearly dazed by the previous sword strike. It twisted its body, turned its head, and lunged at EeDeChi again with its gaping mouth.

EeDeChi, holding the disproportionately large sword with one hand, nimbly stepped aside like a cat, dodging the attack. She then launched a Second Tier fireball spell, which exploded on the python's scales, leaving only a black mark—evidence of the High-tier monster's not only tough but also magic-resistant scales.

Seeing her magical attack fail, EeDeChi shook her head and delivered another sword strike to the python's head. This strike was heavier than the last, sending the snake's massive, triangular head bouncing off like a ball, crashing through one thick tree after another and causing the entire body of the snake to tumble several times.

EeDeChi leaped closer to the still-wriggling Titan Python and, with a swat akin to slapping a fly, she slammed her heavy sword down on its head, cleanly ending the fight. The snake's body shuddered under the impact of the sword and then lay motionless.

For an adventurer, a Titan Python that couldn't move was a treasure trove of gold, especially a mature high-tier monster like this one. Its fangs, venom sacs, scales, and bones could all fetch a handsome price.

Humming a tune under the dim light of a night lamp, Barrett began to dismember the giant python. EeDeChi, on the other hand, started a campfire and set up a pot to boil water for a "health preservation" potion.

Barrett didn't stop her; having witnessed the girl's prowess in battle, he believed that even if the master of Mistwood—the Forbidden Grizzly—were to come looking for trouble, it would just be bringing them more gold.

Unfortunately, the Forbidden Grizzly only moved about during the day and was not attracted to firelight, a fact that Barrett somewhat regretted.

After an hour of work and stripping off several large intact scales, Barrett used an obsidian scimitar to slice open the Titan Python's belly. He reached inside and groped around in the slippery stomach, feeling something the size of a human head.

Barrett shivered, his humming stopped, and he pulled his hand back to cut a larger opening in the python's belly...

...

"Come take a look at our spoils," Barrett called twenty minutes later, wiping the sweat from his brow, to EeDeChi who was lounging on a treehouse branch.

EeDeChi jumped down from the tree and scanned the neatly arranged fangs, spinal bones, and stacked skins. She nodded and remarked, "Your dissection skills are impressive, but the skinned snake looks too bloody, not suitable for minors to see."

She then pointed at two human-shaped objects wrapped in slime on the ground and asked, "What part of the snake is this? They look quite unusual; how much could they sell for?"

Barrett shook his head, "Those aren't snake organs, those are two living people. Didn't you hear distant cries for help and the sounds of a fight earlier? It seems an adventurer team encountered this Titan Python before us and got swallowed whole; these two are the only survivors I just pulled out of its stomach."

The Mistwood forest was silent deep at night, the fog meandering and slightly blurred under the yellowish night light. EeDeChi stood by a stack of neatly arranged black snake scales, a look of disbelief on her face as she exhaled softly.

In the same Mistwood, not far from them, an entire adventurer team was annihilated. The same Titan Python that EeDeChi had killed with three strikes had recently swallowed several adventurers alive.

"There's no way around it in this dog-eat-dog world; weakness is the original sin," Barrett sighed, examining four medals coated in slime—two silver, one gold, and one platinum.

These were adventurer medals he found among the snake's stomach contents along with some rotting flesh and broken limbs, and from these, he gauged the strength of the team, which seemed to be at a "Gold" adventurer level overall.

Such a small and weak adventurer team venturing deep into the Mistwood was a recipe for disaster. But there are always a few naive souls in the world who, lured by the high rewards of difficult tasks, take such risks and end up with a tragic end.

(Note: Adventurer levels from low to high are: Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril, Orichalcum, Adamantite)

EeDeChi and Barrett rinsed the two survivors with warm water to remove the slime, dried them by the fire, dressed them in clean spare clothes, and administered healing potions and Low-tier vitality potions. As dawn began to lighten the sky, the two survivors finally woke up.