Snakes

A/N - I forgot to add [Flood] to Lucy's skill thing so I did that… yeah.

*****

As I was searching for a dungeon, I got a text from Mia. It was an interesting text that made me question myself.

"Do you have split personalities? What you showed me yesterday and the day before seemed much nicer and cuter compared to when you're fighting. No offense, but you're kind of crazy when you're in battle," I read out loud.

Hmmm… To be honest I don't know how to answer that. I haven't paid much attention to my change in personality. It's probably warped at least 3 times in less than a month.

First, it was cowardly and nice. Then it was fearful and anxious. Then it was cold and merciless. It stayed like that for "a while" until I met Auntie which is then warped into an anxious and unstable mess.

Quotations around that "a while" since it was just a couple more days than normal.

After adjusting to Auntie, I became much more open to change. I tried making friends but obviously, I got betrayed in the end… but I then kind of forced them to be my friend. So I'd call myself during that time… maybe accessible but cold at the same time.

Uh, what even was I doing at that point. I made absolutely no sense and my mind changed so quickly.

After meeting Tolf, I became much more open despite me knowing they're only nice to me since I'm strong… I felt emotions I hadn't felt in a while and that became even stronger once I went on a date with Mia.

… There's also the possibility that my [Royal Ice Crown] skill has lingering effects. Maybe?

"I guess I made much less progress than I thought. I was just resetting my mentality and starting anew towards a different direction,"

Looking down at my phone, I send her a few messages. It just consisted of me denying that I have split personalities and I just had fun while fighting when I didn't extinguish my emotions.

Okay, let's speed this up.

Going into an alleyway, I scale the wall with pure agility and strength. Whenever my feet touched the wall, it would slightly cave in, serving as a foothold for me to jump higher.

After about 14 steps, I had reached the top of the 15 story building. I looked down at the bustling streets of New York. My eyes scanned the city, looking for the slightest hint of a portal.

It was much harder than I thought but after about 20 minutes, I saw an already open portal. The government had already bordered it off, but with my speed, they won't even be able to sense me.

I immediately dash in its direction. Judging from the amount of mana it was emitting, it was at least a B-rank gate. No party or raid team was in front of the portal, so I assumed they had already entered.

Before I slipped into the portal, I texted the number Auntie gave me. She replied immediately, confirming that I could enter if I felt like I could handle it… Which I obviously could.

Like wind slipping through blades of grass, I silently made my way into the portal. The guards didn't even suspect a thing.

When my vision finished distorting, I appeared in a swamp. My ankles and below were submerged in murky brown water. There was a lingering stench of something rotting in the far distance.

Before I proceeded any farther, I activated [Ancient Sacrifice].

[Number of Souls Sacrificed: 0]

Alright… let's go.

When I slowly walked towards it. The smell got even stronger and not long after that, I saw it. 12 corpses of strong dungeon runners. Their equipment hadn't been damaged in the slightest, probably due to them being infused with mana. But, the actual bodies were a different story…

Rainbow-colored fire exploded from my mouth, instantly burning the corpses into ash which then got dispersed into the murky water.

Suddenly, I heard a slight hissing from behind me. When I snapped my head back, the fangs and jaw of a massive snake were about to eat me whole.

I stumbled backward while opening my inventory and pulling out Frostbite. I forgot to put on my Abyss Drake armor, so if I got bit once, it would go straight into my skin.

I also activate [Royal Ice Crown], allowing me to turn the murky water into brown ice that served as a temporary foothold. The brown snake with black spots turns its head around, then lunges at me once more.

With a few swift swings, my sword had cut the snake in half. Both sides dropped to the ground, blood pouring from its frostbitten body.

[5 XP gained]

"Hmmm… these are going to be troublesome if they come in a pack. They're like beta centipedes,"

I summon my bone snakes and order for 10 to be with me at all times and the rest to go scout and kill anything I deem a threat.

"Wait… summoning… Summon… Fear, that's right I still haven't used [Fear] yet,"

As soon as I said that, a black wind swirled around me. It got even faster and faster until I couldn't see outside the black wind.

SCREECH

I jolt my head up and see a black bird. It was massive, about 16 feet tall. Pitch black feathers, pitch-black eyes that seemed soulless, and pitch-black goat horns, protruding from the top of its head.

The description on the paper said something about a passive skill that induces fear, but I feel absolutely nothing. It was easy to assume though, that it was because I was its master.

The blackbird landed on the ice in front of me. I had to reinforce the ice just to keep it from breaking under all the weight.

"Stay high in the sky so your passive skill doesn't scare away any monsters," I say.

The bird nods its head before flapping its wings. A gust of air almost knocked me over as it flew up into the sky.

The next few hours consisted of me finding one snake, increasing the proficiency with my skills, then killing the snake.

I haven't been able to use [Lesser Quetzalcoatl's Ancient Fire (Acid)] for a long time so I took this chance to use it as much as possible. It took quite a lot of trial and error to form a single spear made from rainbow fire… but it ended up shattering as soon as I tried to kill a snake with it.

Once and a while I tried to manipulate it into weapons to try and improve my proficiency with it, but I mainly just blasted the snakes with fire. They would instantly get burned and the acid attribute would melt the parts that hadn't been turned to ash.

[Level: 17/50] (15/100) XP Needed

"Oh, the first group of snakes," I mutter before taking a fighting stance.

In front of me was a group of 6 snakes. They were curled around the biggest tree I had seen so far. There were no leaves on it and the snakes seemed to blend with the hundreds of branches sticking out of the trunk.

Once they noticed me, they stalked me. They were waiting for me to drop my guard so I turned around, lowered my sword, and waited for the bloodlust…

SHING

My first swing cut one of the snakes in half. I ducked under 2 more snakes before pushing back one with frostbite, held within its mouth. It seemed unaffected by the frost slowly forming down its throat and mouth…

This bastard is trying to hold me in place…

Bloodlust shoots out from the remaining 5 snakes as they quickly lunge towards me. Their jaws were wide open and poison was dripping from their, white, massive fangs.

tsk

I was forced to let go of frostbite and backflip out of the way. The snakes weren't as smart as I thought, since once I dodged them, they all collided into each other, becoming a tangled mess.

I smirked as I gathered fire within my throat and spit it towards the scaly mess in front of me.

The snakes went up in flames and some let out a dying hiss before turning to ash.

[5 XP gained]

[5 XP gained]

[5 XP gained]

[5 XP gained]

[5 XP gained]

[5 XP gained]

Frostbite drops into the water, creating a cocoon of ice around itself. But before it could sink any further, I grabbed the icy sphere and threw it out of the water.

The ice shattered upon coming into contact with my ice, so I picked up the sword and turned around.

I could feel it. This bloodlust. This overwhelming presence. The faintest of poison scent within the air. But… There were 2 of them.

When I turned around, I saw two massive snakes. Their pink tongues were quadruple the size of my body. Their brown body scattered with golden scales glittered from the shining sun that poked through the clouds.

And those golden eyes. A famous material that is most known for reinforcing the bones when you crush it up and swallow it…

The Golden Sun Pupil of the Stalking Swamps Boss.