Chapter 77

Snake Report: Life as a Wanted Criminal, Day 1

"[Voice of Gaia] Tell me my status."

[Level 71]

[TITLE: DIVINE BEAST, LEVIATHAN, GUARDIAN, ENEMY OF MANKIND]

[BRANCH: Divine Being]

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[UNIQUE TRAITS:]

[Toxic] - Toxic Flesh. Dangerous if consumed. [Crystalline scales] - Increased Defense [Omnivore] - Capable of eating non-monster food-stuffs. [Affinity of Flame] - Bonded to the Element. [Legendary] - A rare being. Not often seen, known only to Legend.

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[STATUS: Temporary]

[Mana burn] - Overflow of mana. Result of Mana Crystal consumption.

[WANTED] - Bounty issued for capture or proof of execution.

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[RESISTANCES]

[Poison resistance: Rank XII] [Fire resistance: Rank V] - Affinity* [Mana resistance: Rank 40] [Steel resistance: Rank I] [Iron resistance: Rank I]

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[Skills]

[Healing:] [Passive Healing 38] - Automatically being to recover from injuries. Mana drained as a result. [Heal III] - Third rank of healing. [Flame element] - Affinity* [Leviathan breath VI] - Rare ability. Advanced variation of [Flame Breath] [Fireball X] - A ball of flame, capable of long-range. [Earth element] [Earth Sculpting III] - Second spell rank of [Earth Manipulation] [Water element] [Water Manipulation VII] - Ability to actively mold and shape water. [Knowledge element] [Voice of Gaia IX] - Knowledge embodiment. Spirit of the world. [Divine element] [Royal Spirit of Man] - Acquired. [Ancient Spirit of Depth] - Acquired

I am a criminal.

A wanted snake.

There is a Bounty issued.

For my head in a sack, there is a reward of three-thousand Gold pieces. Dead or alive, it matters little.

From the echoes I've listened to with holes in the dungeon walls, I am known as the Blue Death: A fearsome monsters that wishes to destroy mankind's only footholds of within the Labyrinth of the Dungeons.

The most terrible beast of legend: A Sanctuary Destroyer. The type of creature only rumored to exist in the dusty tomes of ancient books, and never proven. I have taken away the most valuable of resource for humans in this terrible place, all to save a single Paladin.

To make matters worse, according to the passerby of this area, the I ruined was extremely important to the newer adventurers. The ones not quite capable yet of venturing farther into the Dungeon safely. It seems that this Sanctuary was the last "Upper-level" area before the Dungeon dropped into much more dangerous levels.

So there is a reasonable chance my actions will lead to people dying, trade routes faltering, businesses failing...

Guilt.

I feel a lot of guilt.

My own people, or at least, my own mentally-identified species, consider me their enemy. After all this time, hoping beyond hope maybe I could go to the surface and find a way to live outside of this horrible place, my dreams have been crushed.

The Surface is for people: Humans.

Humans hate me.

Sitting here in my new Camp Solitude, I know this because I am listening. Burning out the last of this insane amount of mana, feeling both sick to my stomach and my heart, and eavesdropping very carefully beside the acoustic tunnels that lead back into the regular dungeon.

Listening for adventurers.

There are many of those in this region, hundreds of them. Groups and parties of them walk about, weapons and armor clanking with heavy steps, but from my resting place I'm not interested in what they're carrying: Only what they're talking about.

Needless to say: It's not good.

Almost all the talk in the tunnels that reaches me, is about what I did. There are only a few other topics, and most of those are indirectly related. Issues like "Reconnecting with the cut-off Sanctuaries" or "Passing on word to the newer adventurers and returning safely."

Rescue missions and the like. I've thrown the Network here into total chaos.

Many veterans are patrolling in groups, rounding up inexperienced people and sending them back up towards the surface. A serious sense of Comradery is now palpable in these passageways. Humans against the wanted "Beast of destruction."

The Big-Bad-Monster: who isn't really very big, didn't really intend to be bad, and mentally isn't a monster at all.

If I could talk, I think many things might be clarified.

I still can't talk though.

Not yet.

Missing a crucial number of points.

Hisss...

[Knowledge Element]

[Spirit Attendant] - Bonded Spirit of the Earth, a tool for its master. Known to accompany Divine Beasts of Legend. [8,000 Points]

I have 6,005... I'm a little short.

More than just a little short.

It's troublesome to acknowledge that getting the rest of my needed tallies here won't be coming from leveling. That still only gives me 5, apparently. Not exactly a reliable plan.

But then, there were some other things that gave me points. Killing that Giant Skeleton, and that Megalodon... Those things... well, at least the Megalodon for certain gave me skill points.

So, to get those next 1,995 points...

Hisss... I'm drawing unfortunate conclusions here.

Yes.

I have to earn them. If I ever want to clear my name, grinding the little guys isn't going to cut it.

I'm going to have to go monster hunting.