"And they worshiped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"

-King James Bible "Authorized Version," Cambridge Edition, Book of Revelation, 13:4

****

Vacation.

The word has many connotations, and for the most part, they are good ones. Most people take it to mean time off work or studies, time for leisurely activities or trips to exotic destinations. It conjures images of white sandy beaches and palm trees, of cruise lines and foreign countries.

When his sisters told him to treat his time in Gods' Nature like a vacation, she probably meant for him to be playing the game, going out and killing monsters to level and doing exciting quests that would take him to marvelous locals.

They probably didn't intend for him to be sitting in the dark of a dusty shop reading books.

Granted, Nero knew both his sisters were not opposed to an enjoyable book after a long day but their first stop once arriving in a magical fantasy land probably wouldn't be the library. He wasn't in a library now, but he was in this world's closest equivalent.

From what Nero had read so far about this world he realized that he had been right that magic would have an effect on society but he hadn't understood the impact that is having a game system alongside it would have as well.

For example, say a farmer has three kids. In the real middle ages, before modern medicine, only one of the three were likely to survive to the age of one, if they were lucky. The environment around was too unhygienic, food wasn't as available, and they did not have access to medical facilities, so survival was not likely. It was rare for children to be named before they were a few years old because they might not survive to an appropriate age to need a name. By contrast, in Gods' Nature, there was very little reason for an infant to die young.

These problems just were not present when your life regulates itself with a health bar. Unless monsters attack or a case of criminal negligence, children were almost guaranteed to make it to the age of 10. The reason was the sheer availability of food.

There were two primary sources of food for the people of this world, farm-grown products, and monster meat. Monsters endlessly respawn, meaning a general endless supply of meat. A complete violation of the law of entropy but useful none the less.

High-level monsters were too tricky for the average farmer to kill, but rabbits and such were plentiful. Even then farmers did not need to hunt because they produced on average more food than their family could eat. The reason for this was the existence of skills.

In the real world, no matter how good you are as a farmer, there is a set limit to how much food you can produce per piece of land. This limit presents itself due to the quality of the soil, seasons, and other such factors. All a worker could do is increase his efficiency using better techniques or technology, but there is still a limit to the land. In Gods' Nature, however, there existed skills and skill levels.

Once someone reached level 10 in the core farming skill they could automatically double the output of crops, i.e., one corn stalk produces twice as much corn. That was just level ten if somebody with only average talent worked as a farmer till the end of their lives they would still get over level 50 and produce enough food for an entire village with just their farms by themselves.

Not just that but skills improve better if learned either alone or under a direct apprenticeship. This situation meant that universal education, school, didn't exist for the most part. The closest Nero had found what was called training programs. They were not long, few months to a year, and all they did was teach people skills for their chosen vocation.

This also leads to diverging paths when it came to knowledge distribution in general. Books existed, but they were luxuries as most skills could be learned just through trial and error. Not only that but the printing press didn't exist in Gods' Nature. Not because of technological deficiencies but because there was simply no need for them. Instead, shops, like the one Nero was in right now, purchased books and copies of books in text format, likely handwritten. Then they ‘rented' them out to whoever wanted them.

This was done through a simple tier 1 spell that even novices could learn. ‘Copy Construct' could create what was primarily a hard light construct of an object. It couldn't copy enchanted items nor anything too substantial, and it wasn't also durable, but for books, it worked perfectly fine. The length of its existence was dependant on the amount of magic put into it so people could rent a text for up to two weeks at a time.

Of course, as a beginner, Nero was flat broke and so could only sit in the back of the store to read.

The shop owner seemed alright with it, an old man who spent his time behind a wooden counter near the entrance reading his own book in the sun. When the newbie had first arrived at the shop out of curiosity from his wanderings, he had spared a brief nod to the owner before diving right into a pile of volumes on the history and culture of this new world.

That had been hours ago and now that the sun was beginning to set Nero finished the text in his hand. Minor Monstrosities: A beginners guide to the Wild had been somewhat unusual for such a dense book. While it was a bit too verbose and prone to over embellishment through the use of similes he had found a lot of valid information. It read like a mixture of a biology textbook and a survival manual.

Its primary focus was describing a variety of low-level monsters, their habits, and habitats, some skills that they are known to possess and their dangers. It had been used to get a grasp on the environment of Gods' Nature, limited though the text was limited to localized regions, the main benefit Nero had received had been in the form of two passages that gave him valuable clues as to how this world worked.

The first had appeared in the preface of the book and ran like this;

"… This work is not to be taken as a complete record of all information on the beings held within. Because of the ability of creatures to level up and gain power like the sapient races of the world. It is entirely possible and has been known to occur when a seemingly lowly monster has risen its level to a significant factor to pose a major threat to the unaware adventurer. I would caution everybody to remember the tale of Raven and the Rabid Rabbit…"

The story in question had been a minor folk tale about a young girl who enjoyed toying with a small bunny before the rabbit grew strong enough to destroy the town. It was slightly amusing but not really relevant. The essential part of that passage had been the notion that monsters and creatures could level up at all.

Nero wondered how that would work, did they get more powerful by defeating other monsters? Beating adventurers? Or were they able to accept quests and level up that way? It was an exciting concept because it introduced the idea that animals might have the desire to grow stronger. If they did then did that mean they had other hopes that remained unknown? Were they sapient in their own way?

The next passage had been a footnote of the author as he explained a way to use a particular skill to get past a monster's defense;

"3. Due to monster's ability to respawn after a certain amount of time, it is possible but rare to encounter the same creature multiple times. While this technique may work the first time and the second, it is recommended that new skills are used for the third encounter onwards, though such an occurrence is doubtful to happen."

A sound piece of advice but when paired with the passage from the preface it painted a unique picture. Functionally monsters were like players and NPCs, they were fundamentally immortal, they would respawn after death in a particular location depending on a variety of factors.

So if monsters could get stronger and they never died, how come there were so many low-level monsters. From what Nero overheard in a discussion between his sisters then level did not go down upon death. It would only reset to a zero completion experience bar, and skills proficiency would do the same, there would also be a chance to lose items that players were carrying around.

Was it the same for monsters and NPC's? Or was there a different system for them?

Nero ran through a thought experiment for a moment.

If a level one player and a level one Slime are equally as strong, or at least comparable to each other and they were to fight, then it would be theoretically possible for either side to win. If the player wins then life goes on as expected, the player might level up and decided to go face stronger monsters, and the Slime respawns with nothing having been changed. Another player meets the Slime and losses, possibly because they do not know how to use a weapon, maybe because they trip or some other unforeseen reason.

A certain Slime gets lucky and kills a few players in a row without dying. The Slime is now level two and will remain at least level two forever. Now that it is level two it has a better chance at beating level one players, it does not matter if the Slime dies another fifty times, it will eventually reach level three, then four and so on. Let's say that around level ten it has to leave the area it had inhabited because players and NPC's are not giving it enough experience and it wants to grow stronger. It chooses a random direction, because it is a Slime and not really intelligent, and sets off.

It is then killed immediately by some high-level monster or player. It does not really matter because the slime is still level 10 after it respawns, and so it keeps going and dying until it finally reaches level eleven, then twelve and so on. Eventually, the level one slime has come to the level a hundred, then two hundred, what is to stop it from going to level a thousand?

If this could happen to a level one slime then what is to prevent this from happening to all monsters? It is not like players or NPC's never die to monsters thus it was theoretically possible for monsters to level up. Even if a creature only levels up once for every time a player levels up ten times then because they were functionally immortal, they could keep going to the infinite.

If that thought experiment could prove right in God's Nature then how come there were so many low-level monsters all the time? Shouldn't they have risen their degree by now? If they did then how come the upper bracket of creatures wasn't full to bursting? If no animal ever permanently died and could grow stronger continuously then how come there were not millions of level one thousand beings around everywhere.

Unless… Unless growth only started once the game was launched!

That made sense, players would grow, and if monsters did too then, it would add a bit of challenge to later part of the game. Besides that, from what Nero understood of Gods' Nature, the game allowed the world to grow organically, i.e., without player input. But if it started building before players arrived then users would find themselves woefully behind the rest of the world and be unlikely to enjoy playing such a game.

That was probably the best reason for the monster growth system, at least according to the knowledge that Nero had at hand.

So lost in thought was he that he did not even notice when the shop owner walked over and stood in front of his seated form. He did take notice however when the same old man spoke to him.

"I do not care where you go boy, but you have to leave!" The voice was gruff, the type you would expect from an old man.

Looking up Nero realized that the sun had set entirely some time ago and the shop was now dark save for a light on the counter near the entrance. The store was likely closing. So with a murmured ‘All right' to the owner Kaesar set about standing up to leave. As he did so, he noticed the somewhat disorganized pile of books that surrounded his spot on the floor. With a shrug, he set about picking them up, intent on putting them back in their proper place.

"Leave ‘em! Get out!" The response was brusque and short, but not angry.

"Goodnight then." It never hurt to be polite, especially since Nero was intent on returning to the shop in the morning.

"'Night," With that Nero left the shop, allowing its owner to pick up his mess.

As he stepped into the refreshing night air, he realized he really had nothing to do now. Nero doubted any other store would be open at this time of night in the game, save for those of a more unsavory nature. He was not the type of man to enjoy a city's nightlife. Not that he knew anything about this city's nightlife. Indeed, the only lights on the streets now were those of the torches that the guards carried as they did their rounds in the night.

At the same time, he was not really tired. This avatar, though realistic, was merely a creation of ones and zeroes. Fatigue did not build up the same way it did with his real body. Not only that but despite a significant amount of time had passed in the game, in real life, it had probably been less than two hours, and Augustus did not have to wake up for another three for his checkup.

Shrugging to himself once more, Kaesar set about doing the same thing he had done before finding the bookshop.

Wander aimlessly until something caught his interest.

With that, the man who would one day be a god set off to combat mankind's most dreaded foe, boredom!

****

His wandering had unconsciously taken him back to the park he had found earlier.

It was an excellent location, set facing the north of the city, the buildings in front and below it on the hill that was the city were somewhat short which meant it offered a rather good view of the lower regions of the city and the night sky.

The night sky that had two moons hanging over it.

The first, Nero had noticed, was similar in size and color to the one in the real world. A half full ball of an off-white color that hung over the horizon.

The other was significantly weirder.

It was huge!

Easily ten times the size of its counterpart, it hung in the center of the sky entirely full. It was white, a white so pure that the contrast between it and the velvet of the night sky was incredibly stark.

It also lacked the impacts and craters of its companion. With one exception. The massive black circle in its center. Unlike the sky, which could be a dark blue, the ring was entirely black, not one iota of light reflected on it.

It was like somebody had taken a giant ball of white light and shoved a black hole in its center.

Idly Nero wondered how such a mass could remain in orbit, it should have crashed into the planet. That was if it was actually there and not painted on the 'roof' of the game. It was really up in the sky then how did stay there?

Magic probably.

That seemed to be the key to understanding this world, understanding that with magic everything was possible. Yet magic appeared to have its own rules, at least according to what Kaesar had read. Controls that Nero remained completely unaware of.

Maybe he should learn magic?

Someday Nero would have to enter combat in Gods' Nature. If not of his own choice then when his sisters arrived in a few months they would make him at least try it. Augustus had never been in a fight his whole life and thus had no idea how he wanted to fight. He didn't even know if he what he would enjoy.

Isn't that why he had created the Beast Nature, so he could try everything and decide what he liked?

The best way to learn would probably be to join one of those training programs he had read about, he had a few months to spare anyway as Claudia and Octavia finished whatever they were doing before making their way here.

Deciding to look around and see if he could find the location of a program, even if they weren't open at this time of night, Nero got up from the bench he had been sitting on. As he did so, he noticed movement in the grass to his right.

Turning slightly to get a better look at what had disturbed the grass, his eyes fell on a small serpent. A garter snake if he was not mistaken, it was little and well hidden in the lawn of the park.

For a moment its head had turned towards him as he had stood up and their eyes met. They stared at each other, both a bit surprised for a moment at the other's existence.

Then the moment ended with a bird's cry.

Seemingly from nowhere a rather large bird had descended on the snake and grasped it in its talons. The snake tried to struggle for a few seconds but trapped as it was under the bird it couldn't do much before the bird pecked its neck with its beak, killing it.

The bird gave it a few more bites to make sure it was dead before taking off once more, the little snake's body firmly grasped in its talons.

Nero blinked at the unusual scene for a moment, giving an uncaring shrug he turned to leave once more.

What did he care that a bird had succeeded in its meal for the night?

*****

All things considered, it wasn't too hard to find the Training Hall, Nero had just asked one of the patrolling guards, themselves easy to find due to their lit torches they carried along on their patrol.

The building Kaesar stood in front of now was a little underwhelming. Shaped like a rectangle, two stories tall and made out of wood, the only reason it stood out was the rather large yard fenced in behind it.

It was surprisingly lively for this time of night. Where its neighbors were dark and quiet, lights still flickered in the back of the building, and the occasional shout and groan of pain sometimes drifted on the night air.

Though he had knocked on the front door, nobody had answered in a few minutes.

Deciding it was probably better to ask for forgiveness than permission, Kaesar tried the door handle and, discovering it was unlocked, let himself into the building.

The inside was to be expected, looking like a cross between a modern lounge and the classic medieval tavern. A few chairs dotted the room, but the primary focus was a rather large desk in front of the door. That same bureau was currently unoccupied.

Looking around for anybody in the vicinity, or perhaps a bell to ring, Kaesar found nothing and nobody in particular. The sounds of people was a bit muffled now that he was inside, but they were still present, which meant that somebody was currently awake.

Rather than wasting the trip, Nero decided that it would be better to directly get the information he needed now rather than come back later.

Bypassing the front desk, Nero walked down the hall behind it, looking around for anybody he could talk to. He decided to ignore the branches of the hallway as he passed, heading instead to the voices that grew louder as he neared.

It did not take him long to reach the end, another door lay slightly ajar, leading to the backyard of the facility. Stepping through it, Nero got his first look at what had caused the only real noise of the night.

It was a squarish yard, around a hundred feet or so in depth and twice that in length. The floor was covered in sand, but it only served to pad some sort of harder surface under it, possibly stone or a form of concrete. It was surrounded by ten-foot walls made of brick.

Off to one side were a variety of dummies, some nothing more than massive logs and others shaped to vaguely form human shapes and covered in armor.

The sounds Kaesar had heard were from the group of around twenty or so people that seemed to be engaged in mock combat. There appeared to be two main groups squared off against each other, at times joining the other side with wooden weapons of choice. Kaesar saw a few wooden rods or spears and even a wooden club, but for the most part, the performance was a short wooden sword.

Off to one side stood three men of middle age watching the exchange, occasionally talking to each other in voices lost over the din of mock battle. Nero decided these three were probably who he needed to talk to.

Carefully walking around the confusing melee, he made his way to the group. It did not take long for the men to notice him and apart from shooting him some confused looks, didn't react in any way.

It didn't take long to arrive at their sides, though he had to duck under a wooden shield that barely missed his head to get there.

"And who the hell are you?" The middle one asked. He was slightly older and more massive than his two compatriots, though Nero noted he couldn't be more than three hundred at most, still in the prime of life. He had wild black hair and an impressively bushy beard. He gave off the air of a no-nonsense kind of man.

"Nero," he answered. "I was looking for the training hall. I had some questions, and I couldn't find anybody up front, so I just followed the voices back here."

The man on the left, a gaunt fellow with straw hair leaning on a cane, let out a groan and said something under his breath that sounded vaguely like 'hazy bastard.' The leader only brought a hand to his head and massaged his temples, as if to stave off a headache.

"Alright follow me then," He turned to his third compatriot. "Watch them would you, Dode. Put them on the course once they finish. This shouldn't take too long."

The man who he addressed nodded his head slightly, his face set in a perpetual grimace. He turned to the group of combatants who had stopped fighting to watch the new arrival in curiosity.

"Did we say stop!? Get back to it you worms! The next person who throws away their shield is on latrine duty for the week!"

The crowd started as one before the melee began once more in earnest.

"Follow me." The leader ordered and set off into the building, Nero and the instructor with the cane following along behind.

They did not talk to each other, either due to awkwardness or only not seeing the need to and so followed in silence. The bearded man took them inside the building before making a right into one of the hallways Nero had passed on his way to the courtyard. They went up a flight of stairs and then took a left before stopping in front of a door.

The leader opened it and entered without ceremony, though he didn't go far, only stopping at the entrance.

"WAKE UP YOU MAGGOT!" He shouted, the walls practically reverberating with his deep voice. "GET OUT OF BED BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT!"

"Uh...?"

"UP!"

"Fine, fine, I'm up, I'm up. What'chu gotta be yelling for? Its'a middle of the night." A heavily accented voice answered from inside the room.

"Exactly, you are supposed to be at work! Why aren't you at your desk you old fart?"

"Come'on, ain't nobody comin' in this late. Might as 'ell get some shut-eye."

"Well somebody did, so get dressed and do your damn job before I kick you out on the street you worthless dog."

"Fine, I'm up. What's somebody doin' here at this time?"

"You would know if you didn't leave your desk, wouldn't you? Don't let me catch you doing it again!"

And with that, the leader left the room, and Nero caught a glimpse of the interior for a moment. It was a simple affair with a bed, dresser, and window. Its only occupant was a somewhat frail old man who was getting out of bed and walking to the furniture.

"Talk to him would you, see if you can get through that bony skull of his." The bearded man said to his companion who nodded in return and entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Follow me," he once more ordered Kaesar.

They only went a few more doors down the hall before stopping and entering an office of sorts. It was dominated by a work desk covered in papers behind which was a simple leather chair. Two more chairs were placed in front of it for guests.

"Have a seat." Kaesar did as told while his host took the seat behind the desk and got straight to the point. "Nero was it? I am Ken, and this is my training hall. What do you want to know?"

"What do you teach?"

"How to fight. How to survive." The response was automatic as if said countless times. It was probably a slogan of some sort.

"I was more curious about what the content of this training hall in particular is. Do you only teach physical combat? What weapons are available? Do we learn magic or how to wield a bow? What about other forms of combat like cavalry and such?"

Ken looked at the before him for a moment, blinking in surprise before answering.

"Not one of those muscleheads that just want to hit stuff harder, are you?" He chuckled to himself slightly while leaning back in his chair. "For the most part, here at Ground Sheer, we are a general course on three months rotation. In the spring and fall we hold physical classes, in winter we teach necessary magic and theory and how to counter it and in the summer we teach survival skills. We just started our physical class for the fall last week, so if you want to join, you won't be too far behind.

"As I said, Ground Sheer is a general hall. We provide the basics and then if you want to know more you go to a specialized one. We cover a bit of bow work in the survival skills session in the summer, but that is mainly for hunting. If you want to learn cavalry and knight skills, then I would recommend Chevalier Santos on the other side of the city.

Do not get me wrong, we are probably the best when it comes to the basics, at least in Sara. But if you want to be the best at something then you have to give up being good at everything?"

That sounded good to Nero. He was self-aware enough to know that he would probably not be too good in combat as he was now. He also had a few months to kill before his sisters showed up and learning how to fight was probably going to be useful in a game where one of the leading attractions is fighting monsters.

"How do the classes work though?"

"Classes start at six in the evening and go to midnight six days a week with a break on Sunday. This lets people attend after they are done work for the day and allows them to rest for tomorrow. Right now we are still at the beginning of this season, so we are focusing on getting a feel for where people are with their chosen weapon."

"And people can use any weapon?"

"So long as it isn't projectile based. We do not actually teach skills in the spring or fall, we teach people how to fight. So you will see a lot of people trying out different weapons until they find what they are comfortable with. Or no weapon at all. I am partial to unarmed fighting myself."

"And how much does this cost?" Nero finally asked, deciding he was interested.

"Ah, the dull side." Ken frowned in thought and tapped a finger on his desk. "We have two main ways to pay. The first is an upfront sum at the beginning of the season. This is the cheaper option in the long run but also the most unused. It is still somewhat expensive, and people who have that kind of money laying around generally prefer going to specialized halls or hiring private tutors.

Our second option is more common. You provide us your mercenary and adventure guild cards, and we take a portion of your earnings till you pay off the debt. This is more expensive in the long run because you have to pay the interest as well as the risk that somebody tries to wiggle out of it. It is pretty rare, but it does happen, and then we have to send bounty hunters, and those guys can get pretty expensive."

Now it was Kaesar's turn to frown in thought. Both options were unviable to him at the moment. He did not have any money nor did he have cards from guilds. Besides, he wasn't even confident that he would enjoy combat and didn't want to have to deal with bounty hunters down the line. It made no sense to lock himself into a commitment that he might find he did not enjoy in the future. That was the entire point of the Beast, it gave him the option to try everything until he saw something he liked.

Seeing Nero's hesitation, Ken spoke up once more.

"If that doesn't work for you we have students who do work for us to pay for their courses. You basically do chores and the like and get room and board for it. Some people attend classes between their job to learn. I didn't mention this earlier because we are full at the moment, but if you want to come back in the spring, we might have an opening."

"Workers? Like that man who was supposed to be manning the desk?" Nero asked, an idea starting to form in his mind.

"That is a different case," Ken grimaced slightly. "Though he is a lazy bastard, Furu is probably the oldest man here. He's been working in Ground Sheer for longer than most of us have been alive. Though he doesn't know it, one of the conditions for taking over was that I had to promise not to fire him. So until he dies on us, then we're stuck with his old boney ass. Besides, when he is not lazing around, he does good work, so I'm not about to give you his job."

"I wasn't thinking about taking his job." Slightly untrue but not entirely false either. "How about this; I work here every other day and help the old timer out, and you let me attend the course. I do not need room and board."

It was technically correct, as a player, he did not need to sleep in the game, though he could if he wanted to. All he would need to do is take care of food, and he would be set.

The trainer thought about the proposition for a moment. One more student out of twenty wouldn't make too much of a difference. And Furu was actually getting on in years, he was one of the oldest humans in Sara. Besides, it wouldn't actually cost him anything.

"Alright, we'll try it your way for a while. If I find you lazing about when you are supposed to be working, then I'm going to kick ya to the curb, but otherwise, there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Come back here at six tomorrow, and we'll show you the ropes."

"Alright," Nero said, getting up from his chair and reaching out to shake the man's hand. "It has been a pleasure meeting you. Have a good evening."

A little put off by the sudden show of manners, the trainer nevertheless shook his hand with a small 'You as well.'

*****

Once more Nero found himself on his bench in the little park, this time watching the sunrise. After his meeting at Ground Sheer, the training hall, he had spent the night wandering the city. Apart from some more unsavory establishments, everything had been closed for the evening, so he was left mostly to fend for himself.

He had talked to a few guards as they made their rounds and had gotten a feel for the city. From what he understood of the place, while you were within the walls, that is on Sara hill and the city that covered it, security was relatively tight. At least you weren't in danger of being robbed or murdered in an alleyway.

Once you left the walls, you were at more risk due to fewer guards and a broader area that made up the neighboorhood that had grown outside the palisade. It wasn't lawless per say, more like only unkempt, with no unified design that was the central Sara Keep.

After a while of merely wandering and the occasional discussion with players found on the street, Nero returned to the park as the first hints of the sun started to peek over the horizon to his right.

As he was watching the colors of morning start to appear on the horizon, he saw a small shimmer of light out of the corner of his eye. Typically it would not have been visible but it emerged in the still somewhat deep shadow of the bench he was sitting on.

What emerged was a small snake. It looked to be a gardener or something similar. It seemed dazed as it looked around in apparent confusion. So stunned was it that it barely reacted when Nero reached down to pick it up.

It looked just like the small serpent from the evening before. In fact, it probably was. Nero knew that NPCs, both monsters, and humanoids, respawned like players. They apparently did it differently, but it was the same principle.

Looking around, it took Nero a minute to find the bird from last night. Eventually, he spotted it asleep on one of the higher branches of the most massive tree in the park.

Looking back towards the small snake in his hands, Nero noticed it had followed his eyes and was watching the bird vigilantly. Last night probably hadn't been the first time it had been killed by the falcon. Immortality was perhaps more of a curse than a blessing for the small creature as it was helplessly devoured every time it was reborn.

Setting the snake beside him on the bench so it could leave if it wanted to, Nero's mind turned to what he would do if he were in the snake's place. To fight the bird, he would need a bow or gun, a stone to throw at least. Something that could knock it out of the air. Otherwise, he would have to try and sneak up on it while it was on the ground, easier said than done.

All that wouldn't be possible with a snake's body, laking as it did the hands to use tools.

As he was thinking this, the small serpent had decided it liked the idea of hands as well, it had slithered its way up the bench and further up his arm before entering his sleeve altogether. Its little head peeked out of his shoulder to keep an eye on the bird, its tongue flickering in and out of its mouth as it tasted the air.

It was adorable.

Nero knew garter snakes were harmless and this one was barely three times the length of his most extended finger. So its small head swaying back and forth was extremely cute to him.

"Don't like it do you, little guy?" The snake certainly couldn't understand him though it did turn to face him at the sound of his voice.

Nero didn't know what it was, perhaps it was only a stray thought? Maybe it was the idea of trying to live as a snake with no limbs? Maybe it was because the game was called Gods' Nature and that gotten him thinking about religion. It could have been a combination of some unknown factors.

For some reason, his thoughts turned to a poem he had read years ago. Before he had dropped out of high school to take care of his sisters, he had intended to become certified in history and culture. To that effect, he had read up a lot on various religions. It was partially the reason he had chosen his character of NRVN QSR, and it had inspired the Beast Nature.

One book he had read had been a bit outdated, over a century old. It had been about various uses of mythological figures in modern entertainment and how it had evolved throughout the centuries. At one point the author had been on the subject of Norse creatures in media. He had included a modern reinterpretation of a Norse poetic that had stuck with Augustus, though he did not know from which media source it originated.

"Though I may devour the five continents

And swallow the three seas

A body with neither wings,

Nor hands,

Nor feet,

Is helpless against the sky.

I am the world serpent

My name is Jormungandr."

The small snake just blinked in response, its tongue flicking out once more. Nero chuckled to himself for a moment. That poem had seemed appropriate about being helpless against the sky, but this little garter snake was no world serpent.

You are weak with hunger. Maximum health falls by 20%

Looking at the message for a moment, Nero decided he had to make some money if he wanted to eat. And looking at the little snake beside him, he had just the idea of how they were both going to get a meal.

*****

I fight a battle every day

Against discouragement and fear;

Some foe stands always in my way,

The path ahead is never clear!

'The Fighter' Samuel Ellsworth Kiser