Not fond of reptiles

I am walking towards the center of this place. But it seems to be longer than what it looks like. Because I have been walking for a while. The meal I had has disappeared. I am feeling hungry again.

Why? Am I using too much energy or just that much time has passed since my last meal? This place hasn't chnaged. Not even a bit. The sky is the same as always.

The flames have been getting hotter though. At first it was just small scattered flames. But now it's more like clusters. I drink water from my bottle. But I have to get a refill.

Would I find water again? That's questionable. Besides, water has made this journey possible in the first place. If Keith hadn't given me that bottle, I wouldn't have left that cave so easily.

That weird creature is still on my shoulder. It's been rubbing against my cheek occasionally. I don't mind having a pet. It's a good way to feel not lonely.

I look ahead. There's an opening. Probably a cave by the road. Should I try to look into it?

"What do you say?"

I ask the creature. It looks at the cave and its hair stood up. Probably got scared of something. But I think there's something there.

It's tingling my senses. Maybe I should go inside. I look around. There's nothing here. Not even a monster. Every now and then, I would occasionally see a monster. But here, I see none.

I put down my backpack by the road. There's a big rock here. That should work just fine.

I try to put down that creature as well. But it won't let go of me. Then that's fine.

"I'm gonna go and take a look there."

I point at the cave. It's still shivering but it shook heavily and looked ahead. Its eyes are determined. I guess it has made its mind.

I have every possible weapon with me and my bottle. Water is something I want to have on me all the time.

But extreme temperatures can cause abnormalities in my body. I really need to cool down once.

The cave, it's big. My sense of distance has been skewed. I mean, it looked human size just a bit away from here but now that I am seeing it up close, it's huge.

I think a mammoth can easily go through this opening. What lives in it?

I enter the cave. I shivered instantly. Because the temperature dropped. Like it's cold in here. No, it's like the ambient temperature. Outside is just too hot. But this place smells.

What is this smell? It's rotten, putrid. Kinda sour as well. The air is stagnant. It's suffocating.

I take a sip of water. Now that I am in a colder temperature, I can feel it. The water is actually room temperature water. I guess I was to busy to notice the temperature of water.

It's a bit dark in here. I would have liked a light source but I guess I will make do with what I have. My eyes.

I go furthur in. The more I go, the harder it gets to breath. The air is getting heavy. My lungs are heavy. It's getting really hard to breathe.

My nose is burning. I guess it's poison. What could be so poisonous that the air itself has become poisonous?

"What do you think it is?"

It just looks at me with pitiful eyes. Why am I being pitied by a weird creature?

Anyway, I keep going in. It's basically pitch black in here. However I can feel it. Something is here. There are lots of bones. I have entered a den of a monster.

I pick up a bone and walk the opposite way. Because I can't fight in here.

After getting considerable distance but still in my range, I throw that bone as hard as I could.

It's a thick bone and pretty heavy so it would definitely hit. I didn't wait. I started running for the entrance. I heard noise from the inside. I guess it worked.

I got out and took my position. I drank some water and brought out the rod. I turned it into the two handed sword. I think it's a big snake. Must be.

What came out of the cave? It was a damn snake. But it has 9 heads and one body. It's pitch black with a shining gem on its head. I mean the middle head.

I read about it in a mythology book. It's called Naga and it's seriously dangerous.

It's hissing at me. I have to be careful. Because it's big. I think about 10 meters long. Snakes generally have good reflexes. I can't match those with a human body. No matter how much you train your body, it's virtually impossible.

I have to keep my distance. I can feel its gaze on me. The slim tongue going in and out, it's looking at me like I am a tasty treat.

Who should have the first move? I stare it down. It isn't attacking me so I guess I can have the initiative.

I chnage my sword to the one handed thin sword. A katana I guess. It's light and sharp. Will it break? Let's find out.

I start running towards the snake. But I saw a tail approaching from my left. It's flanking my left. I quickly block it with the katana. But the speed was too great.

I got blown away by the impact. My arms hurt. I hit my back when I hit the rock behind me. It's playing with me. This makes me kinda mad.

I regain my composure and start running again. This time I anticipated the flank and it's approaching. It was prepared before I even started running.

I slid down when the tail came towards me. I barely avoided hitting the tail and turned backwards. It's foolish to show your back to the enemy but I wanted to take a swing at the tail.

I managed to get a solid hit in and the tip was cut off. So, the tip of the tail is gone. The snake hissed loudly. Hmm.. I guess the tail isn't too hard.

I got some distance again. Being closer to a wounded snake is more dangerous than anything else. However, it is wounded. It will try to kill me seriously.

It really got serious. Now it's heading towards me. And it jumped. How can a snake that big with 9 heads, jump?

I dodged the snake barely. The size difference makes it harder to avoid.

It didn't stop there. The head which was closer to me, tried to bite me.

So, those heads can move individually as well. One body and 9 heads, reminds me of the hydra.

This is getting exhausting. I keep dodging without getting a proper hit in. The snake is relentless in its attacks.

It's going nowhere. I am getting tired so I have to wrap this up quickly. I change the sword to a spear. When one of head come closer to me, I shove that spear in that.

It got the head. The spear went from under its mouth to the head. I impaled its head. At least one of it.

However, the atmosphere changed. That snake stopped moving. It didn't move at all. I thought if it was dead. Wishful thinking on my part.

It started glowing and turned into a human. What? It became a human? Could it be a shape shifting snake?

The human body of the snake is androgynous. I can't make it out if it's a male or a female. I think this is about to get real.

I was struck in my stomach. A fist rammed into my stomach. Luckily my stomach was empty. Otherwise I would have thrown up.

I wasn't sent flying but the pain paralyzed me. The human snake is standing closer to me. It holds me by the hair and looks at me.

I guess this is a good chance. I took out the knife from my pocket as fast as I could and shoved into its mouth.

An upward shove. It went straight under its chin and all the way to the nose. Blood splattered on my face a bit. But I didn't stop there. I pushed it back and sat on top of it.

Holding my spear now turned into a cleaver, I cleanly decapitate it. The head was separated from the body. The body was convulsing. I still ain't convinced.

I position myself and stab it in the heart. But I hit something hard. After tearing open the cut, I found a violet colored crystal. It's a cylindrical hexagonal crystal about as big as my hand.

I keep it with me. But I noticed something. My left arm, it turning blue. What a great thing! It even got me. I calm down. I have to drain the blood. Do I dare to cut it open with this bloody knife?

Heck yeah!! I make an inch long cut and push the blood down to that opening. I can't believe what I am seeing.

The blood has become totally black. Thank goodness that I noticed it early. So, the blood is drained. My wound, I poured some water on it.

I can't feel any pain currently due to the adrenaline rush. Once it wears off, it's gonna be a ride to pain city.

I drag the dead body and head to a flame and push it inside. Burning it will probably prevent it from regeneration. Can't take a risk.

Still, I feel rather sleepy. I think I can take over that cave now. The weird creature on my shoulder is licking my cheek. It has been doing so for a while. I guess it's calming me down.

For now, I will just gather my stuff and go to sleep. But I really am not fond of reptiles. Snakes, alligators, lizards all of them are no-no.