In the misty spread of forest where no light could penetrate, the raw scent of earth and the crisp dew of fresh foliage felt like a soothing balm on my nerves.

I'm finally out of the hive! I wanted to scream with joy but it would alert the other dangerous creatures nearby so I kept quiet

However, up in the misty canopies where birds should have been chirping in melodious tunes, the excruciating offkey screeches of monstrosities was heard. And in the lush vegetation below, distorted low growls from every corner from what sounded like rabid animals.

But I smiled and paid it no mind - thinking happy thoughts. Just how wonderful was it to finally be out in the open - to see the sights and sounds of the forest. My body coursed with a strange exhilaration.

At first, the sudden onslaught of sensation had been overwhelming, but as I curled up comfortably on the raised platform at the entrance to the scary wasp's hive, I was able to experience it all without getting disturbed.

Behind me was the large rock formation of reddish earth that the hive was located in. It was a real stronghold that stood like an impenetrable fortress, and none of the shadowy creatures I glimpsed through the mist in the dense forest below, dared to come close.

The scary wasp had already gained the loyalty of all the wasps in the hive and kept his word to me as well.

None of the wasps passing to and from the hive's entrance attacked me, as all they did was spare me a few glances before buzzing away. It was like I had become some sort of important figure in the wasp community overnight - such a difference from before when I had to sneak around in the hive, trying to avoid all creatures. It was a great and welcome change.

I couldn't help but smile - what a good wasp.

Although I was a little worried about the wasps that had fled the hive before he gave his instructions - I was confident he could wrangle them all back, either dead or alive, with the assistance of his new captains.

Feeling satisfied, I made my way down to enter the dense forest and cloaked myself with [Shadow Shroud] as a precaution.

Better safe than getting abducted again, right?

A deep green carpet of small plants spread under my curls, and the colourful spores of luminous lichen carried in the wind by the ever present cloudy mist, lit up my path through the forest that concealed untold dangers and many more adventures.

It was such a relief to breathe the cold crisp air and feel the cool sensation of earth under my scales. I wanted to say hello to all the ravenous monsters, the weird looking plants and even the nasty bottom feeder bugs that crawled all over the place.

It was just that good it was to be outside!

Unfortunately, my mood was spoiled when I heard the snap of a twig behind me. I looked back and glimpsed a familiar shadow moving quickly between the trees and I frowned.

How long was he going to keep this up?

I was surprised it could still track me even when I was under [Shadow Shroud] - just how good was its sense of smell?

I'm back outside and all was right in the world again. But there was still one stubborn, persistent and, annoying problem - the lizard.

Right now, it was quietly stalking me with a rather sloppy [Stealth]. I could hear its footsteps on the crushed leaves, and I sighed - you are doing it wrong, brat!

When I returned to the host graveyard after my 'talk' with the scary wasp, he was nowhere to be found.

Of course, I thought the wasps must have captured him again, so I searched all over the place to no avail. It was only after coming outside that I realised he ran away by himself, and then for some reason decided to follow me instead of going his way.

And to make matters worse, when I tried to approach him, he bit me and took off into the trees like a startled fawn. That dumb lizard.

What was wrong with him?

I wondered why he suddenly attacked me and, yet still continued to follow me. I could only conclude he was trying an another-world-lizard-version of playing hard to get.

I didn't want to think too hard when I already have too many things to worry about.

Firstly, the snake king mentioned by the scary wasp.

I had guessed there were other snakes besides my nestlings, but his words provided conclusive evidence. If there was a king, there had to be a larger community of snakes somewhere, perhaps even on the same scale as the wasps.

Yet, of all the snakes I'd encountered so far, none were any bigger than my neonate form. I would have asked him more about them and where I could find them but doing so would have revealed I wasn't with them like I led him to believe. And for that, I regretted lying but at that time, it seemed like the best way to save my life.

Perhaps the nestlings and I were intended to grow up isolated and eventually join the larger snake colony?

From what I'd observed so far, with each stage of evolution, the intelligence and abilities of the monster also increased. If the scary wasp's level was an example, I guessed there were one or two more evolutions left before I got the telepathy-like skill.

So I couldn't rule out thoughts of a snake hive mind with higher intelligence existing somewhere.

But then again, did I really want to merge with such high numbers? Thirty was already too much for me. And any organised colony would already have its own leaders like the snake king, with lesser hierarchies and annoying rules to follow.

Somehow, the idea of blending in with snakes to fit an ideal mould did not appeal to me and besides - I had already formed my own [Pit]. To join theirs would be a little...odd - I might even get killed or something, depending on how strict they were with rules.

Also, how was I to explain the disrespectful lizard that was part of my pit but did not listen to me, and was also not a snake?

How did these things work anyway? There were way too many questions!

For my safety and peace of mind - it was better not to join them at all!

Ahh…much better. With a decision made, my thoughts were finally clear.

I pulled up the system's menu displaying the [Labyrinth Atlas] to figure out how to get home.

At first I was impressed as it showed the entirety of the labyrinth's upper stratum on a single large plane in 3D. I could make out sections of lush forest, with steep tops that looked like mountains, many rivers crisscrossing the landscape like a tapestry and even Ekharkai's hive behind me.

Until it zoomed out, and to my surprise, showed a much wider space that was entirely dark with no definition like it had been sloshed with black ink. I realised, what I was seeing was only a small portion of the real upper stratum, and worse, under the visible first layer were six more planes of landscape that were entirely dark.

Rather than show me the full map, everything apart from the small corner I was in was pitch black and outlined in inky shadow. Only the places I'd visited before showed up in full colour, with myself indicated within the landscape as a small snake, no different from a squiggly line.

I grimaced. Which five year old made this?

The middle and lower stratum that I most wanted to see, was just a plane of inky black silhouette with no distinction whatsoever. I couldn't even tell what a tree was from a river.

What kind of knock off map was this, that didn't even show everything? For something so expensive, it was about as useful as a bag of hot air.

«Very detailed, isn't it?» I heard Sensei gush. «You can unlock a new section of the Atlas by visiting the area, or by paying a small starting price of [300XP]...»

300XP is a small starting price? Isn't that what I bought the damn thing for?

"You! You tricked me!"

I could see the bag of coins flying away in my head. Just how much [XP] would I need to spend to unlock the whole thing?

I regretted ever trusting in Sensei. He was nothing more than a pariah and snake oil salesman!

«How did I trick you? Isn't it a detailed map? You come from a modern world - so why are you surprised by a pay per use system?»

That he could scold me even after swindling me out of [XP], just showed how shameless to the core he was.

"Why should I pay even after I already bought it? This is robbery." I retorted as I focused on reading the atlas.

There was a straight path through the forest from my original territory to the hive. I assumed this was because the wasp that carried me had been flying in the air.

Following it on land, was a much tracker issue. Aside from my lizard stalker, I encountered many more creatures along the trail, and each time I had to change course to avoid them.

It helped that my eyesight was much better than before, and I could spot them early.

It wasn't that I was afraid of facing any monsters - I simply wanted to get back as quickly as I could after being gone for so long.

I followed the path with haste and before long, I began to see familiar places. I passed by the tall field of grass where I was taken, and the trail stopped.

Fortunately, I knew the rest of the way back. I even stopped for a while to give the lizard a chance to catch up. But rather than thank me, the ungrateful lizard leapt out of the tall grass, and attacked me out of nowhere.

In my carelessness, he actually managed to land a bite, and in that same arrogant demeanour of his, I saw the delightful glint in his eyes, like he was proud of landing a hit on me.

That's it!

I'm done playing your stupid game.

I quickly swerved around and grasped him in my constriction hold before he could run away again.