If there was one downside about grinding with these snakes, it was how Mana intensive it was, he had used 3/4 of his mana already! But that wasn’t a big deal, he simply retreated back to his tunnel, and started meditating. You know how I mentioned that it was possible to train both Mana Manipulation and Mana Detection at the same time? Well, the way you would do that is to expel some of your mana and absorb ambient mana to replace what you had expelled, doing so is an extremely efficient way of training them. This method can also be used to regen your mana faster, as while you would absorb ambient mana to regen your mana, doing it concisely had a better effect.

It took only about 10 min for him to top up, and then it was back to snake hunting. After going back to the room he was just in, he continued deeper going into the downward sloping tunnel that was at the back of the room. He found a room the same as the last with only a few exceptions, such as how other than the way he got in and another tunnel leading down, there were also three other slopes leading back up on the walls next to the one he came in. As for the occupants of the room, along with 5 snakes, there were also 10 eggs in the room. It didn’t take much to guess that this was there hatchery, did that mean these snakes were the guards? Or were the snakes in the last room the guards, and these the mothers? It wouldn’t impact his plan, but it was interesting to think about.

Despite the eggs, nothing changed about how he handled the snakes. The only difference he could think of is that the snakes would occasionally glance back at the eggs but, other than that, he quickly killed them one at a time.

He didn’t continue down the path on the other side. Instead, he went up one of the others, not wanting to leave himself open to be flanked by the snakes. The room was the same as the first one, and doubling back to the hatchery, he scouted the other rooms finding them the same.

This meant the snakes had four levels so far one for hunting, where they could stick their heads out, the second was for guarding the hatchery (the ones in the hatchery were all lower level than the average, so he could assume they were the mothers) the third was the hatchery itself, and the 4th he had yet to explore.

But he couldn’t think of what’s on the 4th floor, because wouldn’t the snakes prioritize the safety of the eggs over all else? He felt like he was missing a puzzle piece, shaking his head, he went to regen his mana, whatever is on the 4th floor could wait for him to finish killing the other snakes, he refused to pass up the juicy XP.

___________________

He dug out to the surface after he cleared out the last room, and the last rays of light were passing through the trees, the night was but a few tens of minutes away. As he was making his way back to the hatchery, intending to solve the mystery of what the 4th floor was, he double-checked his stats, already having invested his SP from the 2 levels he had gotten.

Status

Name: Daron

Race: Horned rabbit

Titles: ‘Other planer’ ‘prodigy’ ‘spellcaster’ ’Overachiever’ (1 till bonus to lowest stat)' ‘Spell prodigy(Scorching Ray)’

LV: 5/10 > 7/10

XP: 72/90 > 307/90 > 297/145 > 152/235

HP: 30/30 > 40/40

MP: 220/220 > 280/280

Def: 6 > 8

SP: 0 > 4 > 0

Str: 10 > 12 > 14

Vit: 6 > 8

Agi: 10 > 14

Int: 22 > 26 > 28

Only 3 more levels until he can evolve! It was exciting just thinking about it! Not to mention he was overly curious about how it would feel. The Monsters he had talked to about it had explained it, but they were very vague and weren’t able to truly put it into words. But his level wasn’t the only thing that had rapidly increased in level, the spells he used in combat had made great progress as well. Shadow magic had leveled up to level 5 over the course of being in the snake tunnel.

Your skill ‘Horn Attack’ has leveled up to level 2

Your ‘Shadow’ School of Magic has leveled up to level 5

Your spell ‘Bubble’ has leveled up to level 2

Your spell ‘Shield’ has leveled up to level 3

Your spell ‘Dampening Shadow’ has leveled up to level 2

Your spell ‘ShadowBolt’ has leveled up to level 6

He hadn’t intended it but due to using ‘ShadowBolt’ so much he was starting to specialize in Shadow magic, not that this was a bad thing just unexpected. But the sun was setting, so he couldn’t afford to waste his time if he still wanted to attack any snakes down there while they were still asleep.

The next room was much larger than the others and was also the last room of the snake den. What he saw answered all the questions he currently had, from why the tunnels were so large compared to the snakes, and why there were so many snakes compared to what the system estimate was.

It was a huge snake, unlike the rest, this one had dark almost black scales, and for the first time, he felt fear. Something primal was screaming at him, telling him to run, that what he was facing is the personification of death itself! But Daron wasn’t an idiot, he had faced everything from dragons to Demons so why was something, so weak and comparatively small, scaring him this much?

If it didn’t have to do with the snake, then it must have to be him, but as far as he remembered, he’s never had a fear of snakes. Wait he has never had a fear of snakes, but what if horned rabbits did? He wasn’t afraid, it was his instincts.

A sort of pride welled up within himself, he wasn’t as weak as some stupid snake. And how stupid it was because, after he Identified it, he almost immediately came up with a plan to kill it risk-free!

Monster

Race: Tunnel Snake King

Grade: D-

LV. 15-20

A Variant of the Tunnel Snake race, it acts as a leader and protector of the Colonies it presides over, killing anything that dares to hunt its kin. The King is much larger than its kin having sacrificed Agi for Str and Vit

Strongest Stat: Str

Lowest Stat: Agi

Strengths: Powerful jaws making Bites deadly

Weakness: Low Agi and lack of regular Tunnel Snake abilities

Skills: HeatSight (Lv.5) Fang Strike (LV.10)>Powerful Fang Strike (LV.1) Tailwhip (LV.3)

If his little bunny face could smirk, one bigger than the snake in front of him would be plastered on it. He started it with a ‘ShadowBolt’, thwacking it in the face.

______________

The snake king quickly opened its eyes and the cold reptilian eyes almost gave him a heart attack, but he couldn’t stop now! The snake king was obviously confused, after all, what was a little rabbit doing all the way down here? Did one of its minions bring it a morning snack? But the little thing had hit him with something, and it had actually hurt quite a bit!

Another ‘ShadowBolt’ to the face cleared up those thoughts instantly, after all, it could figure out what was going on after it had killed this annoying pest. It chased Its prey, that had started running away, maybe only now having realized how much it had messed up attacking him.

The snake king stopped dead in his tracks when he got to the hatchery. While the king wasn’t sentient, it could easily put two and two together. It didn’t care about how the rabbit did it, all that mattered in his rage consumed mind was that his minions, his kin, his family had been killed. Whatever happens, he was going to get revenge!

________

*thump* *thump* *thump*

He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, so much it felt like it was going to burst. After aggroing the snake he dashed out, the Tunnel Snake King close on his tail. Even if it didn’t specialize in speed it was still 2 grades, and some levels, ahead of him so it wasn’t slower than him while weaving through the tunnels, he quickly came back to his. Jumping into the smaller tunnel, he turned around to face his foe.

The snake king had caught up to him, eyes red, having been consumed with overwhelming rage. Foolishly it slammed into the juncture, shaking it slightly, but still not having enough Str to collapse his tunnel. It worked! Now all he had to do was shave down its health with ‘ShadowBolt’.

As the snake tried to break its way in Daron kept pelting it with ShadowBolt after ShadowBolt. On death’s door, probably with only 1 or 2 HP left and one of its eyes closed shut from all the damage, the Snake King backed up. Had it finally realized its mistakes? That it wouldn’t be able to beat him.

*BOOM*

While he was taking a moment to gloat, the snake king had taken the opportunity to smash the ceiling of the tunnel, breaking into the forest. He had done it again! He had failed to consider all the facts and his plan failed, but he couldn’t stop now! He wouldn’t let it getaway!

Using his powerful hind legs he jumped after the snake, but when he was about to land…

*thwap*

A massive tail as big as his body smashed into him, sending him flying. Ribs most definitely broken, he slammed into a tree coughing up blood. It hadn’t run away? It was a trick? The snake slowly slithered towards him, pure hatred radiating in its eyes. He had been fooled by a snake? Not even a sentient one! No, he wasn’t fooled, he just underestimated the hatred and determination a person could have when trying to get revenge for its family.

He staggered to his feet, his vision was coming in and out of focus, well everything but the snake. No more underestimating, no more plans, he would face this snake with everything he had one desperate, half-dead creature against another. His mind had a strange drunken-like focus, unable to see anything other than his opponent.

His legs kicked off the ground, sending him towards the snake, the snake did the same opening its mouth a powerful glow, stronger than other snakes’ skill, took over its fangs as it lunged at him.

‘Horn Attack’ ‘Shadow Infusion’!

Using a skill and a spell, his horn was covered in a glow right before it was consumed by black shadows, making it come to a jagged sharp point. The snake closed its mouth to bite him. However, maybe because it too was almost dead, but it misjudged. Instead of biting him, the snake swallowed him, practically shoving Daron’s horn into the ceiling of its mouth. The horn broke through the flesh like butter, pressing into its brains, and it collapsed. Daron was barely able to climb out of its mouth before collapsing himself.

His last thoughts weren’t about how he would most likely bleed out, or how even if he didn’t he would be eaten, it was joy at having bested a powerful opponent.