As I saw my HP bar decline, even just by a few points, it made me angry and upset. What was he attacking me for? Although it didn't hurt, it doesn't feel good to be attacked like that.

«Go easy on him.» Sensei cautioned. «He's just confused. Your scent is familiar but he doesn't quite recognise you. He probably thinks you are a new snake that ate his leader.»

Eh? What kind of stupid reason was that? Clearly I was still the same snake, only bigger.

But then I remembered he was never that smart to begin with.

I slowly released him from my grasp.

The lizard prowled around me, looking for another opportunity to strike. He was so serious about avenging me that I wanted to laugh. How adorable!

I suppose if I did die, I wouldn't mind the lizard going after my killer for revenge, only he was mistaking my identity here! I couldn't wait to get [Telepathy] so I could finally communicate.

I stared down the lizard to show I was unfazed, but I heard a loud roar echo through the forest and the pounding of heavy footsteps.

We both turned towards the sound and to my surprise, I saw a familiar little snake emerge from the foliage.

Wasn't that my male guard? Did he come to welcome me back?

I appraised him just to make sure.

-------------------

Nameless LV7 [Neonate Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 87/87 Defence: 108

MP: 52/52 Intellect: 60

SP: 98/98 Magic: 34

Attack: 80 Agility: 75

Skills:

[Poison Fang: LV7] [Danger Perception: LV2]

[Scent: LV7] [Grip: LV8] [Heat Sense: LV9]

[Bite: LV10] [Steel Skin: LV7] [Stealth: LV6]

[Rugged Scales: LV8] [Determination: LV4]

[Impact Enhancement: LV4] [Leap: LV9]

[Shock Enhancement: LV5] [Solidity: LV4]

[Piercing Enhancement: LV7] [Silence: LV7]

[Strength: LV5] [Motion Perception: LV5]

[Spherical Form: LV6] [Camouflage: LV4]

[Rapid Strike: LV4] [Shockwave: LV3]

[Farsight: LV1] [Persistent: LV1]

[Poison Generation: LV2]

Titles:

[Pit Member] [Captain] [Assassin]

Resistances:

[Piercing Resistance: LV6]

[Pain Resistance: LV10]

[Impact Resistance: LV10]

[Faint Resistance: LV8]

[Shock Resistance: LV10]

[Pain Nullification: LV7]

[Heat Resistance: LV1]

-------------------

And...I wasn't sure it was him after all.

His status was not the same as I remembered. Hadn't he improved a little too much in a mere 11 days?

However, as soon as I saw the monstrous creature chasing after him, I realised he wasn't here for a visit.

The monster was easily ten times larger than him and could easily crush him in seconds. Wasn't this play a little too hardcore?

And he didn't even bother with a greeting before leading the monster towards me then slipping away with a sharp glance.

Don't tell me he didn't recognize me either.

To think I had such high hopes for his intelligence.

It seemed he was too afraid to stop, the poor thing. I appraised the creature chasing him.

-------------------

LV19 Verum Aavrox

Specie: Ailith Felinae

HP: 175/212 Defence: 182

MP: 164/164 Intellect: 110

SP: 176/176 Magic: 125

Attack: 296 Agility: 274

Skills:

[Hit:LV10] [Stealth:LV10] [Night Vision: LV10]

[Anger: LV7] [Scent:LV10] [Roar: LV10]

[?????: LV?] [????:LV??] [??????????:LV?]

-------------------

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Appraisal: LV5』has become『Appraisal: LV6』〛

It had to be because of this overgrown cat!

I stared down the feline creature with rage.

Terrorizing a couple of little snakes…why don't you pick on a snake your size?

With powerful strides, the feline monster stalked forward, seemingly unfazed by our presence. It seemed to be looking down on me simply because of its size.

And the lizard, for whatever reason also turned his attention towards it and went to attack. But the monster let out a harsh roar in its face, as its white mane flared up and its red eyes started glowing.

The might of its roar rattled the trees and stopped the lizard in its tracks, trembling under its intimidation effect.

Any normal creature would've turned tail and scampered for the hills, but surprisingly, the lizard did not retreat despite its obvious fear, and for that I approved. But when the feline's large claws rose to strike him, he was yet to recover, and I quickly moved in, before tackling the feline's midsection to intercept the attack.

The feline seemed startled that I wasn't petrified like the lizard and did not expect my counterattack. I smashed into it with all my newly gained weight, sending it slamming against the thick trunk of a tree with enough force.

With no intention of letting it catch its breath I sped towards it and wrapped myself around its neck in a chokehold.

As it began to suffocate, its claws fought and scraped against my body. I felt their sharp stings against my scales, but they couldn't break through my defence and soon I restricted its limbs in a tangle of my own to prevent it from trying anything else.

I squeezed out its breath while my stingers freely dug into its skin and injected the [Pain Toxin] to subdue its efforts. And the roars which were filled with fury at first, soon died down into whimpers.

It writhed about pitifully but the more it struggled, the more my hold tightened. And just as I thought it was done, It let out a deafening roar that sent dull tremors through my body.

And then, I heard the system.

〚『Obsidian Horn』has neutralised the effect of『Roar』〛

Otherwise unaffected by its effort, I sunk my fangs into its flesh, feeling my poison coursing through its body. But aside from slowing down a fraction, the feline continued to struggle. I dug into it repeatedly and continued to constrict, as my stingers drew blood as I twisted.

It was only a matter of time before the feline succumbed to my poison.

However, I felt something hot on my body followed by the sound of sizzling. And as I continued to constrict, the burning hot sensation increased and black smoke began to rise from around the feline.

What was happening?

There was no way I was burning, right?

Suddenly bright red flames burst out around me and I hissed in pain. Unable to stand the heat on my scales anymore, I loosened my hold around it and the feline immediately pulled away from me in a desperate break for freedom.

I rolled around on the ground in a bid to try and salvage my body. There were noticeable scorch marks where my scales had been burnt raw. Ouch!

My shiny, beautiful scales!

Ah! And the pain too!

〚Skill『Heat Resistance LV1』has been acquired〛

The feline, groggily rose from the ground, trembled from the effects of my [Pain Toxin], in addition to all the cuts and bruises.

Although the monster could still move, it wasn't as fast as before, but it made up for it with destructiveness. There were now flames all over its lower body, most notably from its paws and they sizzled when in contact with its blood, mingled in the air to create an unusual stench.

It didn't waste time and immediately set out after me, glowing red eyes brimming with rage, as its flames burned the ground and vegetation it came in contact with.

I was still recovering from my burns and my HP had taken a severe hit. Also, I didn't want to come into contact with it anymore, so I adjusted my path to evade it before darting away with [Shadow Shroud].

Unfortunately, the feline had no problems tracking me with its vision as the flames dispersed all shadows.

Although its movements weren't as sleek, it was even angrier than before.

I was able to create distance between us and used that time to form spheres of poison which I aimed at its wounds with the aid of [Heat Seeker]. However, it remained unrelenting in its pursuit and evaded my attacks by leaping from tree to tree.

I compressed my poison spheres to flat discs, whipping them at it much like a wind blade to make up for their slow speed. But my hasty technique was ineffective, as the discs were not thin enough to slice through - all they did was douse the flames on the feline's fur.

I was running out of room to escape. With trees surrounding me from every angle and an angry monster closing in fast, I had no choice but to face the creature head on.

However, as I turned around, I caught a glimpse of the feline's horrible maw, lined with rows of vicious fangs set to bite into my flesh and I immediately activated [Coercion] at the risk of backlash to redirect its path.

My head swam with dizziness but there was no pain - the feline bite missed as it slipped past me to slam into a tree, its aim completely off.

But it recovered quickly and released more flames, as its claws came bearing down on the softer scales of my under belly. But I lunged past it and grasped the monster's neck again. With all my strength and effort into it, There came a loud crack as its neck was broken and it's body went limp. The flames on its paws died out with one final sizzle as it dropped to the ground with its red eyes now lifeless.

〚You have defeated LV19 Verum Aavrox!〛

〚You have earned 180XP〛

〚You have gained a level!〛

I brushed the limp corpse away from me and grimaced at the still stinging burns on my scales.

Water! I needed to find some water quickly to cool off before the burns got worse. I accessed the atlas, searching frantically over the map for a source of water but before I could zoom in, Sensei spoke.

«On your left, behind the line of trees.»

I immediately sped off in that direction, but not before collecting the feline's corpse. Past the line of trees a wide silvery lake appeared and I immediately leapt into it.

Curse that damn cat! To use fire when I wasn't expecting it, how underhanded!

As I relished the cool sensation of water over my scales, I happened to glimpse my reflection in the water.

The little cute snake from before was gone. My scales were now a deep purple with vivid dark markings and a metallic lustre that was much closer to the body of a wasp.

I was covered all over in blades from the wicked curved stingers that rose at the tips of my scales and my obsidian horns were now bloodred to match the deep red hue of my underbelly.

The change was so drastic, I myself was stunned for a long while!

Was that really me?

Damn!

I look so much more cool now. Haha!

Now it made sense why my male guard couldn't recognize me and had run away. He probably thought I was a rival snake and went to protect the other nestlings.

I wanted to cry. I'm a harmless snake, please don't run away.

But then, I heard Sensei exclaim in surprise. «My! What beady black eyes you have!»

I really wanted to deck him.