Chapter 9

Snake Report:

I ate the mushroom, and now I'm dying.

I only ate part of it.

A really tiny part. Without hands it took me a long time to do this. Large effort was expended, and I used a rock.

I even cooked that a bit with [Fire Breath]

Then I ate it.

I'm still dying a pitiful death.

It seems stupidly obvious in hindsight, but there are reasons none of the other creatures here eat the mushrooms.

Poison.

I've cast [Weak Heal] on myself in an effort to survive.

Once. I glowed white, and it worked for a moment. Like something had come and wiped away my pain, everything was better.

But then the feeling came back.

Twice.

It worked... Temporarily.

Three times.

I feel like I'm pouring water into a bucket with holes in the bottom.

Four times.

Oh. That's my limit.

I can't see anything like a mana bar, but I feel like I've drained myself. Instinct tells me politely that if I try to do that again, I might die from it.

But I might die anyways.

The sickening feeling over poison is creeping beneath my scales. I'm hallucinating too. Outside my tiny hole in the ground, shapes are swirling, pillars are bending, shadows are twisting.

It's terrible.

Really, it's the worst feeling.

One more heal. I have to do it, even if it kills me. I'd rather die from that, than die from feeling this terrible.

I call up the magic. [Weak heal]

Five times now.

Oh. I can't move. I feel better, but I can't move.

Hmm. My vision is blurring. I can't move.

Am I dea-

[POISON RESISTANCE: UNLOCKED RANK I]

[WEAK HEALING: UNLOCKED RANK II]

[UNIQUE TRAIT: OMNIVORE UNLOCKED]

[LEVEL UP:]

[Current: Level Two]

[Five Skill points to allocate]

Hisssss...

I'm not dead.

Well then.

Learning experiences, Pushing boundaries: These are very important things in life. Things I did not often do when I was a human.

I ate poison. I used all my tiny-snake magic. I became immobile and unable to do anything but await death and offer up my silent prayers to the tiny-snake-god.

Yet I survived.

More than survive, actually I seem to have been rewarded for it.

[POISON RESISTANCE: RANK I]

[WEAK HEALING: RANK II]

[UNIQUE TRAIT: OMNIVORE]

I can't seem to make these appear again, but I definitely remember seeing them. Eating that mushroom and surviving clearly was beneficial, although it begs the question: What kind of world tries to murder someone on their first meal?

This world.

This world does.

Hisssss... I have survived.

My immobility is entirely gone. I'm willing to believe this is related to leveling up. The moment I saw those words, I felt as though all my strength had been replenished.

I also shed my skin.

It looks really strange, like a snake sleeping-bag. I can't decide if it's creepy or endearing. Regardless, I'm a little bigger now. Not much, but some.

So in summary, RPG elements or no, eating things is beneficial. Surviving dangers is beneficial. There are distinct rewards for this.

Weird. Horrifying. But there is possibility here. I'm a little bigger now. If that were to repeat a few more times, there is a chance I might be able to defend myself from at least some of the creatures in this place.

In short: The longer I survive, the better my chances are for getting out of this cave, and away from the monsters.

Right.

Hisssss...

Right.

...

This really only leaves me one choice though.

Ug.

I'm going to have to finish eating this mushroom.