∼ Day 163 ∼ Skill list Name Tiers LVL -Codex- 4 3/20 ⇒ 5/20 -Dominion Mastery- 4 1/20 ⇒ 4/20 -Blood Plague- 3 6/15 ⇒ 7/15 -Blood Lord- 4 1/20 ⇒ 3/20 -Blitz- 3 5/15 ⇒ 9/15 -Flesh Rupture- 4 1/20 - NEW -Ambrosial Senses- 3 8/15 ⇒ 12/15 -Greater Mana Mending- 3 1/15 ⇒ 3/15 -Onyx Incarnate- 4 1/20 - NEW -Mana Mastery- 4 1/20 - NEW -Stealth- 3 10/15 ⇒ 13/15 -Formation Constructs- 4 1/20 ⇒ 3/20 -Blood Conversion- 1 5/5 -Blood Born- 3 12/15 ⇒ 13/15 -Lesser Eldritch Vitality-

3 11/15 ⇒ 13/15 -Shadow Lord- 4 1/20 - NEW -Stygian Transformation- 3 4/15 -Mana Condensation- 3 8/15 ⇒ 12/15 -Greater Elemental Resistance- 3 1/15 ⇒ 3/15 -Petrifying Gaze- 4 1/20 -Synergize- 1 1/1

All the changes to my skill levels since Ebongrave had been substantial, to say the least.

Before, I knew that having a such massive repertoire of skills to pick and choose from gave me a significant advantage against those who should've been equal to me in power. But now... the trait Skill Shop has proven just how potentially powerful it was. With this many 4-tiered skills who all on their own could've been the ace or magnum opus of any fighter's power, I could punch way above my own paygrade.

"Sigh..." I let out as I got to my feet, stopping my meditation with what little amount of mana I had regained.

Giving the dead snake another scanning gaze, I shook my head ruefully. It was a disappointment honestly, that I could not make use of the beast's body. Not only would I have to leave behind a great deal of its blood, but also the precious materials of its body. Its scales had been nigh indestructible, forcing my blood puppets to land all their attacks in between the segments where it was most vulnerable. Otherwise, the constructs wouldn't have been able to penetrate at all.

But besides just the scales, even the fangs and bones of the beast should be useful in any making of tools, weaponry, and armor. Hell, even structures. The problem though was that harvesting this massive king of the jungle beast was infeasible.

Let alone getting a worker crew almost all the way into the core of the wild, they would need weeks, if not months to properly pick it apart.

Enter the rest of the wild, dangerous, and very hungry, jungle denizens.

Even now, I could already see various shapes and shadows prowling the shadows from the outskirts of the grotto clearing, like vultures scouting the battle scene for any more danger and any scrap of food they may find as a result. Before long, this clearing will become ground zero for a battle amongst the lesser beasts of the jungle, if not for the right of being king, then just the savory flesh of a once powerful sovereign.

Not wanting to stay here anymore, I set out to check one last thing before I left and returned home.

By conjuring my wings, it took me no time to descend into the gloomy grotto that quickly revealed itself to burrow down underneath the watery surface. I had never been a fan of dark and unknown waters, but my curiosity won out against my slight phobia. Diving down into the large body of water, I came upon a massive opening that was formed like that of an underwater cave, more than enough to fit even the giant basilisk by several magnitudes.

The opening quickly revealed itself to be an entrance to a huge cavern below the grotto itself, and as I bopped above the water to lay eyes on the dark inside, I saw that the cavern's only ground to be found was that of an island in the middle of the water. Formed of grey gravel, sand, and dirt.

Atop the island, however, was the thing that attracted all my attention.

Besides just the many massive shed snake skins making up most of what could be seen on the island, was a nest, occupied by eight eggs each big enough to rival the size of a large car.

Eyes gleaming with opportunity, I hastily made my way to the island, avoiding the transparent snake skins that were so long and many of them that I did not know where some ended or if they were actually just one singular long snakeskin.

I stood before the serpentine eggs, looking at the rough white stone-like exterior of their shells. I didn't need to be any zoologist to know that these eggs bore life as I could easily feel the young embryos within each of them. Stretching out of my palm to touch one of them, my entire body suddenly stiffened with the entering of one bone-chilling thought that crashed through my mind.

"The basilisk was a male... wasn't he?"

Splitting the air and causing the entire underground carven to shake, a shrieking hiss rattled my ears and made my heart sink.

"Ah - fuck me..." I muttered drily.

Feeling the presence of some terrible beast descend down upon the cavern from outside, my body moved on its own accord, disappearing into the shadows with barely the slightest flicker of my figure.

In the deep and dank underground grotto, it was dead silent once again but my heart raced with loud thuds in my ear before I forcefully calmed myself down. Feeling that presence come ever closer until the waters finally stirred, ripples that spread in every direction as the calm of the surface broke to reveal whatever had just made the shriek.

Slowly, but surely, the scaled top of an albino head grew and grew as more was revealed. Very much the picture of the King Basilisk, this one shared almost all the same features as its male counterpart, except two startling differences.

First, its size was incomparable as it practically doubled if not close to tripled the size of the king. And second, within those eyes was not just the dangerous glint of cunning that the male, but also the icy chill of malice.

-Codex!-

Appraisal - Matriarch Basilisk

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "???" STR ??? Skills ??? -Race- Matriarch Basilisk VIT ??? Traits ??? -Sex- Female AGI 301 Titles ??? -Rank- C DEX ??? Resistances

-Level- 75/75 INT ??? Health 3412/3412 CHR ??? Physical Resistance ??? Stamina 1638/1996 WILL ??? Magical Resistance ??? Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ???

Reading that status, I realized that I had been wholly wrong in my dubbing the male basilisk; The King of the Jungle.

Very wrong.

When that animal-lover of an uncle I had from back in my old life told me that the females of snakes were badder and meaner than any male, he hadn't been joking - alright.

The beyond gargantuan serpent scanned the surroundings for any intruder or whoever might've killed its mate, and I could do nothing but hide myself in the darkness of the shadows the best I possibly could.

Although I was confident in my ability to stay hidden, being able to practically wiping my aura's presence off the face of the earth whenever I wanted to, my almost heart came to a stop when the monster's gaze slid over where I was hidden.

To my fortune, and most likely otherwise very short life, Matriarch Basilisk didn't find me.

Encourage by this development, I began moving towards the exit as the Queen of the Jungle approached its eggs.

It was then I realized that the wisened skin taking up most of the space on the island was not multiple shed skins of the King Basilisk, but had in fact just one of the Matriarch's skins, I cursed inwardly. Barely containing a shiver of how close I had come to death, with not only how drained I was but also with how much more powerful the female basilisk was, I got as quickly out of the cavern as I could without alerting her to my presence.

And before I knew it, I was flashing through the jungle, dashing through the gloom and darkness wherever I could.

It was only with disappointment that I gave up on getting me some small basilisk pets, glancing regretfully back from whence I fled.

Or at least - for now...

***

Getting back to the settlement just before midnight, I was hit with the dulled sounds of the workday coming to an end and the savory smells of food cooking in the air.

While it was disconcerting that such a dangerous beast as the Matriach Basilisk lived just within the jungle that our budding new settlement laid up against, I wasn't afraid of it coming all the way out here.

Unless it actually knew of this settlement's and my own existence, including the offense I had committed against it, there was absolutely no reason for it to come all the way out here. Besides, it still had its eggs to protect, one of the reasons why I hadn't just stolen some and dipped.

Otherwise, it might very well then have a reason to go out of its prime hunting grounds and wreak havoc on everything outside the jungle.

With those sobering thoughts in mind, I made my way down to a large building that was still under construction with only its main front having been finished.

It almost looked like a mansion, very much like the architecture of the Ebongrave house, and no doubt the handy work of Mar'v. It was amazing what a master craftsman with the help of thousands of monsters strong enough to count for hundreds of men alone, could do.

Although I should've probably visited Darkan and other individuals who had been put in charge to get a report as I had promised as soon as I got home, I was just too tired.

And as I opened the doors to my chambers, a room basically just one giant bed of pillows and blankets, I quickly came to not regretting putting off checking up with Darkan at all.

Laying within those lavish furs, pillows, and blankets, were the furry figures of three feline cats snuggly cuddled up to two scantily clad and sleeping beauties. Lily and Mia.

I wanted to make a bad joke about that being a 'whole lotta pussy', but I stopped myself before doing so - if only barely.

Undressing, I wanted nothing more than to join the two, sore muscles and fraught nerves already beginning to calm down.

Fighting was all good and fun, but damn this was even better.