Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

King James Bible, Proverbs 27:17

****

It had taken longer than Nero had hoped for the tailor to finish up his request. A few days had stretched into almost an entire week, and Nero was set to leave on the expedition tomorrow morning.

While there was no real rush and he could always try his idea when he returned the following day, Nero liked to get things done ahead of time.

Still, he thought as he walked into the shop with Jorry on his shoulder, Kaesar had enough time to accomplish his mission if she had it available now. Otherwise, he would resign himself to waiting for next week.

"Sorry for the wait," the shopkeeper said as she noticed her customer. "There were a few false starts, I have never tried to make something like this before."

"So its ready then?" Nero asked.

"Yep, one stuffed snake ready to go. How does it look?" She put her creation on the counter for inspection.

It was probably not going to win any contests nor did it look like anything he had seen in the real world. Granted he did not know much about children toys. The thing was made from what seemed to be genuine snakeskin, though it could be something else, and was a dark green bordering on brown. The eyes were some yellow-green buttons.

"That looks good." He picked it up easily as it wasn't big, a little bigger than Jorry. That was okay though.

"This is actually my second one. My kid took a liking to the first one, so I decided to make another. You only need to pay for this one. Including the materials and time, adding the fact that I have never made something like this and it comes to a total of thirty-three silvers. I'll round it down to thirty since my son has been having a good time."

"Here you go." He handed her the money. "You did good work, I'll come see you if I need anything else."

"No problem, it was a fun change of pace, and I could always use more regulars. Have a beautiful day and tell your friends where to find if they need to stock up for winter."

It's incredible what some subtle flattery can get you. If you are too overt, then it can backfire, but the next time Nero came to this shop there was a good chance that he could get another discount. That is why he hadn't haggled for more money off, too many times people sacrificed long-term investment for short-term gain. It is one thing if you are just passing through a town but since Nero estimated his sisters were at least a month away, he was going to be staying in the Keep for a while yet.

All Nero had left to do was to go get the stuffed animal enchanted, and then he would be all set. It would wipe out the majority of his money, and he would be left with a few silvers but apart from food and other basic necessities he did not spend too much money anyway.

****

It was a beautiful day. It was getting on the year and winter was coming, but the weather had decided to ignore that fact. The sun was beating down from overhead, but it was not too hot. Any discomfort felt by the fall heat was brushed aside by a cooling breeze.

This was the type of day that was so idyllic that it appeared in commercials and postcards. Nero thought it was a waste to spend it inside the bookstore. So here he was, once more in that little park that he often returned to.

He was laying against a tree and using his pack as a pillow as he took a nap. His jacket was removed and hung from a tree branch above him, blocking the sun from his eyes. It had been a few days since he had slept and with the expedition coming up tomorrow he wanted to be in top shape.

Truthfully this is what Nero imaged a vacation would feel like, laying in the sun and not thinking about anything in particular as he let his mind drift off to sleep. His little snake was curled on his chest and absorbing the ultraviolet rays of the sun, its tongue flickering in and out as it lay still. Occasionally it would open its eyes and look around before once more laying down to rest.

Eventually, Nero was woken up by the sunlight in his eyes. It had moved from its earlier position in the sky and was now glaring down at him. Seeing no reason to remain to lay there if he wasn't going to get any more sleep, Nero stood up and stretched. He still had some stuff to do before he made his way to Ground Sheer for the evening, so he grabbed his bag and walked off.

Nero had not been gone long when there was movement in the grass. A small serpent's head looked around the park for a few moments in confusion. It had fallen off Nero's chest while he slept and had not climbed back on as he left. Without the human around it watched the area warily. It tasted the air a few times and, not liking what it discovered, had curled up to make itself a smaller profile.

It stayed that way for a few minutes, hidden in the grass in the shade of the jacket that had been forgotten as well. After about ten minutes it peaked its head up and looked towards the entrance to the park. There was Nero, returning casually to pick up what he had left behind.

Unfortunately, that moment of inattention proved to be a fatal mistake. While Kaesar was still at the entrance, some twenty meters away, a shadow covered the small snake. Talons gripped it tightly, and a beak came down on the tiny head, piercing it in brutally quick manner.

It was the falcon that called this park home, the same one who had repeatedly killed Jorry for who knew how long.

While nowhere near sentient, there was intelligence in the bird. It had no desire to tangle with Nero, who was significantly larger than it, over a single Gardner snake when it could find prey elsewhere. The only reason it kept hunting Jorry was that he continued to respawn near the bird's nest and was an easy catch. Once the snake had left with the human, it had been no skin of the bird's beak, though it meant searching further for meals.

It had seen the serpent a few times over the last few weeks and kept an eye on it. But it had made no move with Nero so near. Once the human had forgotten the small serpent, however, it held its sights on the potential prey. Its instincts were those of a hunter and scavenger, always on the lookout for opportunities for lonely morsels.

Its intelligence, rudimentary that it was, kept it from attacking right away. The wariness of the snake meant that if it exposed itself too soon, then there was a chance it could dodge the bird's initial dive and hideaway. So it waited. The opportunity came when the human started walking back into the park. The serpent's attention turned to its companion and the pressure on the bird skyrocketed.

Thankfully for the falcon, it managed to get the kill quickly and was going to be able to take off with its prize before the human got near.

Unfortunately for the triumphant hunter of the sky, it never thought about danger coming from above. There were, of course, more dangerous flyers in the world, but they were not present in Sarra Keep, so a bird of prey like the raptor had very few natural predators in the area. It stayed on the ground for no more than two seconds, but that was enough.

A shadow fell on the bird as it had on the snake. This one was thin and hit the falcon on the back as it delivered the killing blow to the serpent in its claws. It was pushed to the ground by the unexpected weight, and that meant it was over.

Nero smiled as he saw Jorry fall out of his jacket on his once tormentor. The bird was doomed now. Jorry was small and could not wrap around the entirety of the hunter's body, but he did not need to.

Birds had three ways to fight, all things considered. They could use their wings to bat and their foes, though this was not very efficient. Their real danger lay in their razor-sharp claws and beaks. But when you have a snake wrapped around your neck and strangling you to death, neither of those could come into play. Birds were not flexible enough to bring their claws so high up, and its head was locked into place.

It only took a minute for the falcon to die in Jorry's grasp. Nero's plan had worked flawlessly.

All things considered, it had been relatively simple in nature. Nero got the idea from an old documentary he had watched a few years ago. Called 'exotic hunters' or something along those lines, it talked about the strange hunting techniques of individual animals.

One part of it had been dedicated to specific snakes. These would hang from trees in the forest and drop on prey when it passed under them. It had talked about a cave where hundreds of serpents hung from the ceiling, waiting to fall on bats as they passed by.

While the idea of so many serpents above you, waiting to fall on your head, was terrifying it provided a guideline on how a landlocked reptile could kill a bird quickly.

The plan had been simple, a fake snake was enchanted to look and act like a real one for a few hours and would not move from its spot under the jacket. The jacket would provide cover for Jorry as he hung in wait. Nero would leave, the bird would take the bait and Jorry would drop on it and wrap around it.

Two things could have gone wrong. The first was that the bird would just not take the bait. Nero had no idea about its intelligence level, but Jorry had proven smarter than the average snake so it was a worry that the plan could be seen through for some reason. Kaesar had thought this had happened when he returned to the park and there was no sign of the bird attacking. Thankfully it fell for it.

The other was that Jorry would miss when he fell. This was the most worrying as it would leave the snake exposed without Nero nearby to save it. This outcome was a genuine possibility as, though the two had repeatedly practiced ambushes of the sort, it had always been against rats and not birds. The two seconds the falcon was on the ground was enough though.

Quite frankly there was no real reason to do this, it would at most give satisfaction to Jorry. Perhaps it had merely been Kaesar remembering the poem he had told his companion at their first meeting and wanting to help a friend overcome a problematic past. Maybe it was Nero desire to see constant self-improvement in himself and those close to him. It could have been merely a way to motivate and foster loyalty in an underling. It also was an excellent opportunity to teach a tactic that could come on hand in the future.

Any of these or all of them could be used to justify his actions. What was fact was that he had emptied his wallet, spent weeks worth of time and effort to kill a little bird that posed no threat. And there would be no physical reward.

So it was a surprise when he was flooded with messages once the falcon died.

Congratulations! You have created and completed the Secret Nest Quest(?) 'Revenge against the Sky.' Attunement to Nature has deepened. The Nest 1->2 The number of nestmates has increased to two. Stat boost to all nestmates has risen from 0.01% to 0.02%. Assimilation 1->2 Assimilation of 'Jorry's taste buds' is complete. A new aspect can be assimilation. You have learned 'Beast tongue.'(?) Nestmate Jorry is now evolving(?) from 'Gardner Snake' to 'Black Rat Snake.' Evolution will be complete in 10 minutes.

Nero was surprised at the popups for a moment before his eyes fell on Jorry who was covered in a light that obscured his form. Nero wanted to deadpan for a moment. Did the game think that Jorry was a Pocket Monster or something?

Still, it gave him time to look over the notifications. The first thing Nero did was click on the (?) about the Secret Nest Quest.

Everybody has their own desires and ambitions. Secret Nest Quests are your responses to these. Succeeding means achieving a greater harmony with your nestmates. Failing says you are not attuned to their desires and Nature.

So basically it meant quests related to nestmates without popups until they were finished, one way or the other. What was really interesting was the first popup said Nero had 'created' the quest. It likely meant that it was either his talking to Jorry about the poem or it could have been because the entire thing had been his idea.

The leveling of the two Nature skills was self-explanatory. The Nest would provide a slightly higher bonus, and he could now recruit another animal into The Nest. Kaesar had not really kept track of the progress of Assimilation, so he did not know how much more had been left when he completed the Secret Nest Quest. Still, it was nice that he could now assimilate a new trait, and he had an idea of what to choose.

Which brought him to the next notification.

Beast Tongue "May all the beasts of the land, the birds in the sky and the fish in sea hear my words." A passive skill that allows for the understanding of animals and monsters of all sorts. Only those who identify as, and help, beasts can learn this skill.

That was interesting. There was no level of the skill, it likely would not level up in the future. Did this mean that Nero could talk to animals now? If so it opened up a lot of possibilities. It probably wasn't an ordinary skill, at least Nero hadn't heard of it yet in his study of the game. The ramifications were intense, however.

Nero could now communicate with animals. Learn what they know and accept quests from them like he did humans. Of course, it required testing, but it could prove to be a game changer.

The last notification wasn't too much of a mystery, but Kaesar pressed on the question mark just to be sure.

Evolution is the process by which animals and monsters advance. They have no Nature to deepen. Instead, their bodies are shaped by their actions. Once specific requirements are met, such as a high enough level, completion of specific quests or ingestion of particular substances, they will evolve into a new being. Actions taken before evolution as well as species will decide the outcome.

That was pretty much what Nero had already read about, though it was a bit more clear here. He decided to look up 'Black Rat Snake' while he waited for the evolution to finish. After a few minutes of browsing the network and reading, he got a grasp on the breed.

Like the name suggested they were black and were sometimes known merely as black snakes. They hunted mice and rats as well as rabbits, lizards, and occasionally birds. They were native to North America and were helpful to farmers as they got rid of pests. They also grew to be on average four to six feet long.

By the time Nero finished reading, the light around Jorry had received slightly to reveal the changed serpent. It wasn't much larger, only a few inches longer and slightly wider. That could because it had just evolved or because it was still a young snake. Where before it had been a dark green, it was now black with a pale underside.

"How are you feeling?" Nero asked his companion.

"I feel good. Powerful. Thanks." Jorry could be thanking Kaesar for his concern or for his aid in the Secret Nest Quest. Either way, Beast Tongue was working its magic. Though Nero was a little disappointed that there was no lisp on 's' like in popular media when snakes talked.