Their skills were all a mess from lack of training, but it shouldn't have depleted their HP and SP to such a low value. They even had their HP slashed by half. Just what had they been doing?

The two snakes were both chattering away with what I assumed was an explanation, but I couldn't understand a word as usual.

«Interesting…» Sensei mused.

"What are they saying? Sensei, quick! Translate for me."

Sensei spoke after listening for a while. «Gibberish mostly. The two are just happy to have 'fixed' Apollo. They're saying how much they wish to heal others like you do.»

Ah…but all I did was use a potion. I couldn't really take credit there.

The two snakes moved in circles around Morgana as they excitedly gave a demonstration of their abilities. Morgana began to glow with a faint light, and I saw her HP increase by two points, while one of the snake's stamina reduced by two points. Then it became dizzy, slumped down and began bleeding from its nose.

Hold on. That didn't seem right. I appraised the fallen snake who had the [Heal] skill.

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[Heal] – Once active, it allows the user to amplify their target's healing process with their own magic. Healing time depends on the strength of the user's magic. For every point of health recovered, stamina from the user is substituted. If the amount of stamina is less than what is required, health points will be substituted. [Heal] cannot restore lost limbs.

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Woah. No way! Wasn't this quite good?

The snake with [Heal] looked up proudly as if sensing my approval.

If [Heal] only amplified his target's healing process, there were bound to be limitations. I couldn't expect it to heal a limb that had already been separated…but, if those two limbs were connected via surgery, surely it could speed up the healing process and fuse the two parts together. It really wasn't bad at all.

However, when I applied the same principle to complex fractures, more problems began to come up. If [Heal] was used on a fracture without setting the bones first, would that limb still work?

If we were only dealing with simple wounds, it was perfectly fine to use, just not on anything else. I could imagine the flesh connecting to close the wound without fixing the shattered bone inside.

Boosting his target's healing abilities did not automatically correct the things that were out of place. I hoped the problems would be resolved as the snake increased his strength and ability.

I appraised the snake with [Cure] next.

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[Cure] – Once active, it is a powerful skill that allows the user to reverse all ailments in close proximity. For every point of health restored, stamina from the user is substituted. If the amount of stamina is less than what is required, health points will be substituted. Successive level increments will increase the range of [Cure].

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Hmm. Wasn't this one a little…broken?

It was also troubling because it seemed to work by range, rather than by target. Did that mean it would heal both enemies and allies? And with each level increasing its range, it didn't seem very worthwhile to use in battle.

However, it didn't mention any limitations like [Heal] did. Did that mean it could be used on broken bones without needing them to be set first? Could it regrow whole limbs too? Surely that couldn't be the case because it would be too powerful a skill. Also who knew what kind of effect it would have on the little snake.

There were too many questions that needed answering!

It was worth testing both [Heal] and [Cure] on a target to see what would happen. But first, I decided to give them names. The two were still busy chattering amongst themselves, seemingly unaffected by my prying eyes and I thought both snakes were interesting.

I decided to name the male snake 'Europa' and the female snake 'Lyra', and for the first time Sensei did not complain.

The nestlings that were on their training break, soon started to gather and they watched us with bright eyes. Among them, there were no other nestlings with depleted HP's aside from the newly awoken Apollo, so he was brought over once more to become our guinea snake.

I appraised Apollo as he came forward, then I had Europa use [Heal] on him.

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Name: Apollo [LV5 Neonate Cerastes] |Starving|

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 21>26/45….Defence: 44

MP: 32/32........Intellect: 31

SP: 19/36...…....Magic: 30

Attack: 35...…...Agility: 34

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Apollo's HP increased by [5] points, and Europa's stamina reduced by the same while his MP also dropped by [7] points.

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Name: Europa [LV3 Small Hatchling Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 28/34......Defence: 34

MP: 33>26/50…Intellect: 42

SP: 13>08/27…..Magic: 38

Attack: 36.......Agility: 30

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I quickly stopped him before his SP drained to nothing. it was only active for a short time, but the speed of his healing meant if he continued, his SP would have depleted into his HP. This really wouldn't be a problem if the snake with [Heal] was a higher level with far more SP to spare.

Next I had Lyra use [Cure]. I was unsure how far its range was at LV2, but I had all the nestlings stay far away from her, aside from Apollo.

However as she started, I was quickly made aware of its devastating effect. Lyra's MP instantly dropped to [0], and her stamina also took an abrupt plunge, followed quickly by her HP. It all happened so fast and I commanded her to stop before too much damage was done.

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Name: Lyra [LV3 Small Hatchling Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 23>11/34…Defence: 28

MP: 24>0/55.…Intellect: 46

SP: 22>0/27.…..Magic: 40

Attack: 26........Agility: 25

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Lyra was freely bleeding from the nose, but she still looked excited as she stared at me with sparkling eyes. Apollo on the other hand, looked fully refreshed with his stats restored and he was no longer starving either. And even the faint scars on his body had disappeared.

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Name: Apollo [LV5 Neonate Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 26>45/45….Defence: 44

MP: 32/32......Intellect: 31

SP: 19>36/36…..Magic: 30

Attack: 35...…...Agility: 34

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I was horrified.

What the heck! These two snakes didn't have nearly enough mana or stamina to be playing around with such dangerous skills! Lyra was at the point of dropping dead so I quickly fed her some [Healing Potion] and for Europa, a potion to recover his stamina.

These two were walking hazards!

In no situation were they allowed to use their skills unless in extraordinary circumstances, especially Lyra. And for heaven's sake, they have to increase their HP and SP levels before they try to improve the skills itself.

But what if I took my eyes off them and they went and healed something and ended up dead?

NO!

They both looked at me with two large snake grins and I resisted the urge to smack them with my tail. But they were so weak, doing so would probably kill them too!

Seeing my panicked state, Typhon appeared with Ophelia and I quickly gave them instructions. They were to keep an eye on the two at all times and stop them from healing anyone without my direct order.

Also they were to train them until they had every defensive skill, to increase their stamina to the maximum. Even if they dropped from exhaustion in the process!

With their break over, the snakes soon dispersed, and I witnessed Lyra and Europa stare at me with pleading eyes as they got taken away by Morgana, whom they were too weak to resist.

It was for their own good and I hoped their training would prove to be effective! I was looking forward to seeing some good results later.

These nestlings were far too stressful to handle, it was a good thing I had other things to distract my mind.

I pulled up the system menu showing the contents of my [Dimensional Box].

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Rankhor Corpse [5], Ignis Formica Corpse [3], Lignum Corpse [4], Lapin Corpse [8], Adavaak Corpse [59], Jewellery [54], Pelagian Armour [8], Thieves Light Armour [3], Thieves Hood [2], Pelagian Laurels [120], Clearstone Crystals [40], Milia Pellis Corpse [82], Hive Debris [6], Hesperia Corpse [68], Feligre Corpse [1], Ostium Nervorum [42], Funus Amanita [42], Miscellaneous Supply Bag [3].

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Ohoho. It was getting a little crowded.

But I felt like a kid in a candy store with so much to choose from.

I retrieved one supply bag first. It was a leather backpack with a bunch of survivor items inside like ropes, torches, a dagger, a leather map. There was even a change of clothes and what looked like whisky. Where was the food?

I quickly moved on to the next supply bag.

Inside was a mix of dry meat, hard bread, some dry fruits, and a pot of what looked like…honey?!

Ahhh! No way!

To taste something sweet after all this time was too amazing!

I tipped the pot over, savouring the taste until every last drop of honey was gone. Feeling drunk on sugar I checked the next supply bag, but it contained food without any honey and I wanted to cry.

It was nice while it lasted. I paced around the empty honey pot, feeling sad.

But wait…If there were monster wasps…surely they were monster bees as well?

Ohohoho. Maybe I'll get to eat some monster honey soon.

Next, I began to eat the cores of the monsters I'd 'borrowed' from the huntsman. There were 20 in total and I was curious what kind of cores they contained.

I started from the highest level monster, hoping to get a high grade core.

〚You have consumed a medium grade core〛

〚Status: Complete〛

〚Magic: +15〛〚Attack: +30〛

〚Agility: +35〛〚Defence: +35〛

Well, that was encouraging. I happily went on to eat the next.