Nom, nom, nom.
Munch munch munch.
Ah, it tastes bad.
Even though I’ve become a kind snake that eats anything, it doesn’t mean I don’t have taste buds.
And the Cockatrice was really on the unpalatable side.
──────────────
[Cockatrice Corpse]
──────────────
Of course it’s a corpse.
When I relaxed my eyes, the floating window disappeared.
It’s the power of the centipede’s inner dan. I can now see things that were invisible before.
As expected, spiritual beasts are different.
I ate the Cockatrice diligently.
As I’ve always thought, my body has become inefficient.
If compared to a car, it’s no different from gas-guzzlers like Ferrari or Lamborghini.
When I move around vigorously or use skills, I get hungry in no time.
Come to think of it, I used to suffer from acid reflux every day.
Maybe it’s better than having indigestion.
The Cockatrice’s muscles were as tough as steel wire.
Ouch, one of my teeth broke.
It broke last time too, but fortunately, new teeth grow every time they fall out.
Just like a shark. They say shark teeth keep growing when they break.
Let’s eat without worry!
「You’ve been poisoned. Poison Resistance skill proficiency increases.」
Oh well.
How come even the meat of this creature contains poison?
It’s not like it’s a pufferfish or something.
My stomach started to ache a little.
But there was no need to worry. I wasn’t bitten or stabbed by its claws.
「Poison Resistance lv3 has become Poison Resistance lv4.」
My poison resistance increased.
As the strongest venomous snake, I can withstand poison that’s permeated into the flesh.
As I diligently filled my stomach, I was finally able to burrow into the area around the creature’s heart.
I carefully moved my jaw.
After repeatedly chewing, my mouth became as red as a child who had eaten tomato pasta.
And finally, I found it.
Crunch.
There was something like a stone.
It was exactly the same as when I found the magic stone in the Horn Jaguar’s heart.
Back then, I hesitated to eat it, unsure if it was a kidney stone or something, but now I was overjoyed.
I came out holding the magic stone in my mouth.
After wiping the blood from my face with my tail, I focused my eyes.
──────────────
[Cockatrice Magic Stone: Grade 2]
──────────────
It was indeed a magic stone!
The only slightly disappointing thing was its grade.
The one I got back then was a Grade 3 magic stone. And now it’s Grade 2.
It seems the Cockatrice was probably weaker than the Horn Jaguar.
Even now, I think it was extremely lucky that I managed to fight and win against that creature from inside its body.
Well then, I’ll eat it gratefully.
Having a magic stone for dessert after a meal is truly luxurious.
I swallowed the magic stone. Somehow, it felt sweet like candy.
「You’ve consumed a Grade 2 magic stone.」
When I ate the Horn Jaguar’s Grade 3 magic stone.
Surprisingly, nothing much happened.
I thought it would be the same this time, but…
「Your body is imbued with a slight magical nature.」
「Your rank increases slightly.」
「Your body becomes more robust and your magical power becomes abundant.」
Oh, what’s this!
An unfamiliar sensation spread throughout my body.
It was different from the pleasant warmth felt when leveling up.
Like drinking strong alcohol, or eating a peppermint candy, a burning sensation spread from my stomach.
The magical nature that has taken root in my body.
And the magical power that has become abundant.
I certainly feel like the amount of power I use when using skills like Billy’s Horn has increased.
I have grown.
Hunting the Cockatrice has brought me that much reward.
Then it’s time to check my status window.
──────────────
[White Horn Snake lv5]
[Traits]
[Indomitable], [Perseverance], [Horn]
[Skills]
[Billy’s Horn lv2]: Magic Detection lv1
[Venomous Fang lv4], [Breath Holding lv4], [Devouring lv3], [Biting lv4], [Poison Resistance lv4], [Bleeding Resistance lv2], [Pain Resistance lv4], [Heat Resistance lv2], [Survival Instinct lv4], [Leap lv2], [Stealth lv2]
…
──────────────
I certainly have a lot of skills.
Even more than the Cockatrice, which was clearly much stronger than me.
This also seemed to be an effect of having 20 potential.
Come to think of it, how amazing was my brother (Little Green Snake lv3, died from falling) who had more impressive skills than me?
If he had survived, he might have become a great snake surpassing our mother someday.
However, it’s not the strong who survive, but those who survive become strong.
I read more of the status window.
──────────────
※Evolution available:
[Quick Crawling lv10]
[Status]
[Magical Power Saturation], [Satisfaction]
──────────────
Something has changed!
What’s this about evolution being possible!
Quick Crawling has somehow reached lv10.
This is the first skill to reach level 10.
My heart was pounding.
Just as I became a majestic horned snake, will Quick Crawling also undergo a dramatic transformation?
There was no reason to hesitate.
Quick Crawling was the skill I utilized the most.
Evolve!
The majestic Digimon evolution BGM played in my mind.
「Consuming magical nature to evolve the skill.」
It wasn’t free, apparently.
Ugh, I’m losing strength.
I felt dizzy, like when I used Billy’s Horn multiple times.
My stomach was full, but I felt empty inside.
I had a feeling that if I hadn’t eaten the Cockatrice’s magic stone, I wouldn’t have been able to evolve the skill.
「Quick Crawling evolves into a higher-level skill.」
Yes, may the new skill be more valuable than my magical nature.
「Quick Crawling lv10 has become Acceleration lv1.」
Huh.
Ah, what?
I pondered for a moment.
The result was a bit ambiguous.
Acceleration was a skill that the Galloper Hawk had.
But Quick Crawling was already quite fast, so how good is Acceleration?
After thinking for a while, I decided to test it out.
I crouched down.
Putting strength into my whole body, I jumped up.
I used Leap, which I had fully learned from Billy’s Horn.
And then, Acceleration.
「Using Acceleration lv1.」
Whoosh, my face felt cool.
I cut through the wind.
Like Billy’s Horn, it was a type of skill that used magical power.
I shot out like an arrow and landed gracefully.
Now I was certain of my judgment.
This is amazing!
Acceleration was definitely a superior skill to Quick Crawling.
My often-used Stealth-Leap combo hunting method could be rendered useless if the opponent noticed me.
Even if I leaped, if the opponent simply dodged, that would be the end of it.
But a leap combined with Acceleration was so fast that it would be difficult to avoid even if seen.
And it seems this could be utilized in countless ways, not just with Leap.
I imagined receiving an attack from the Cockatrice.
If it tried to peck at me with its large beak.
Whoosh, like this, Ha! Like that!
I could dodge sideways. Huff huff.
The fact that evasive maneuvers became possible was already an amazing skill.
It would be great if other skills could evolve like this too.
I wanted to test it more, but now I really lacked magical power.
After catching my breath, I looked at the shattered remains of the centipede husband.
It’s all thanks to the new groom.
Without the centipede’s inner dan, it would have been difficult to hunt the Cockatrice.
I used my tail to gather the pieces of the centipede husband.
Then I sprinkled soil over them.
This much should make a decent grave, right?
Hmm, it’s too plain without any decorations.
Instead of a memorial tablet, I looked around.
And I placed a random golden crown that was rolling around on top of the grave.
…What’s this!
Only then did I notice the miscellaneous items scattered around.
This crazy magical beast.
There was a trait called ‘Treasure Maniac’ in the Cockatrice’s characteristics.
I wondered what that meant, but there were miscellaneous items that it had collected scattered all around this area.
Rotten branches, seashells from who knows where.
If that was all, it would be understandable, but there were also gold coins and jewels.
There were even armor and weapons.
Although they were all rusted, some warrior from long ago must have come wearing them and died here.
I’m rich now!
But it’s too early to be happy because they’re all useless things.
What am I supposed to do with gold coins? It’s not like I can throw Mesos like in MapXe Story.
If there was a bag, I could at least keep the valuable things, and maybe they’d be useful someday.
There might even be vending machines in this world that accept coins.
I put aside these useless thoughts and looked around.
The centipede’s inner dan allowed me to see things that were previously invisible.
There was something that had been bothering me the most since I came in here.
That stone door.
──────────────
[Dungeon: Fairy Magician Pelerian’s Temporary Residence]
──────────────
Yes, this place was a dungeon.
Where there are magical beasts, there will be adventures and dungeons.
Moreover, a fairy magician. Are there elves in this world too?
Judging by the traps plastered all over this place, it must be one of two things.
Either something precious is hidden, or that magician has a cruel personality.
Or maybe both?
Turning back now without knowing anything would be unmanly.
Barging in demanding the dungeon’s treasure would be overly macho.
Since I’m somewhere in between, I first carefully examined the stone door and its surroundings.
「Using Magic Detection lv1.」
It’s fortunate that I borrowed this skill from the now-dead Cockatrice.
Areas that shouldn’t be touched appeared red.
Actually, it’s not warning of danger, but rather showing parts where magical power is gathered.
In other words, they could be traps or mechanisms to open the door.
…Come to think of it, it was a bit dangerous earlier.
I thought the suspicious hole in the ceiling was a trap, but if it had been a doorbell, I might have been eaten with a ding-dong sound.
Even after carefully scanning the surroundings, nothing was visible.
I deactivated the skill as my magical power was running low.
Can’t I open this?
Just as I thought that.
There was writing on the upper part of the intricately decorated stone door.
I was surprised when I could understand human speech, but it seems I can read writing too.
[Fairies who can read this, knock on the door seven times.]
I’m not a fairy, I’m a snake.
Come to think of it, they said the magician was a fairy.
…Could it be that this is fairy script?
I could read and understand it, but I didn’t know if it was human writing or fairy writing.
Since I don’t know, I might as well try.
Knock.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.
Then it should open.
Grrrrr.
It must have been an automatic door.
The door opened.
The stone door was thicker than a human fist.
Even if you brought a gun and fired at it, it would probably be difficult to break the stone door.
Why is it so heavily fortified for a temporary residence?
What kind of treasure are you hiding!
I cautiously entered.
Ugh, the smell of dust.
I don’t know how long it had been abandoned.
From what I could see, it must have been at least hundreds of years.
During that time, there must have been an earthquake or something, as the statues in the hallway were broken.
I crawled over the head of one of the statues.
Seeing it up close, the statue had long ears, so fairies must indeed be elves.
As the saying goes, elves don’t age and are all beautiful men and women.
My heart is pounding.
I crawled, covering my entire body in dust.
I carefully observed the surroundings using Magic Detection.
I thought there might be traps, but throughout the corridor, no traps were visible.
It’s so dark that without a night vision skill like mine, it would be impossible to pass through.
After passing through the corridor, a large room appeared.
In the center of the room was a crystal ball.
It looks expensive at a glance.
And the moment I approached it, light began to emanate from the crystal ball.
Oh, magical power is gathering.
The light emitting from the crystal ball took the shape of a person, no, a fairy.
“Welcome, stranger.”
The voice isn’t that good.
That’s because it was an old man who seemed quite aged.
I thought all elves were young, but this old man looked completely weathered.
He didn’t look handsome at all, rather he seemed full of mischief.
If his ears weren’t pointed, I wouldn’t have known he was an elf.
“This is the laboratory of I, the great magician Pelerian. You must have had a hard time getting here.”
But his tone is gentle.
You shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.
“If you opened the door and entered, you must be one of our excellent and pure kin.”
The moment those words ended, the fairy’s image suddenly spoke in a different language.
“If you’re not one of the other dirty inferior races but a pureblood fairy, you should know the ancient fairy language. Bow your head immediately, now!”
What’s with this old man?
It seems I can understand various languages.
There was no need to bow my head.
I was already stuck to the ground anyway.
And then from somewhere, a spear flew by, piercing the air above my head.
Whoosh- Bang!
This old man seems to really like those traps. Especially the ones that shoot spears.
The fairy old man completely removed his gentle smile and said.
“Glory to the World Tree. Welcome, fellow kin.”
Racist elf, this one.