Well, no time to think about that now. If I stood here any longer I’d risk getting zapped by the dungeon again, it was time to show of a bit. I bunched up my tail behind me and took aim for the nearest tree, bracing myself, I extended it rapidly which made me fly towards my target in a long jump. I brought my tail in front of me in the air and wrapped it around the trunk as soon as I hit the tree. I slithered around the trunk and up the tree until I was at the top, using this method I jumped from tree to tree until I found the tallest one in the area. I used it to look around, trying to spot the lake I was supposed to find. ‘What was it the crystal had said? to the south-west of here, whatever that meant’ I might not know what it means, but Lubus is a mainlander, she should know something about it.

Hey Lubus, do you know what south-west means? Are they some sort of direction or something?

Hm, oh yes indeed they are. If the northern mountain range is to the north, then south-west would mean you have the mountains behind you and turn to your right a bit, as I heard the instructions I turned myself in the direction specified by Lubus. Yes, that’s enough, now just go in that direction, and you should be there soon enough. Now that I was facing the right direction I started hopping from tree to tree again. I periodically stopped to taste the air and eventually I could make out the smell of water, this encouraged me that I was going it the right direction and finally I could make out the lake the dungeon must be referring to. I was unlucky in that as I arrived near the lake the trees thinned out and I emerged on a cliff my tree was growing on above the waters. I didn’t fancy having to climb down to the ground to be zapped by the dungeon just to find a safe approach down to the lake. I would just have to hope the waters were deep enough and then I made the last jump out of my current tree and the cliff into the calm waters of the lake. I landed with a splash, and I suddenly wondered if there were any dangerous predators in these waters. I should have asked Lubus before jumping, but I could do little about it now.

I resurfaced and had a look around, I couldn't see anything that could potentially pose a threat only various birds that either dived towards the water or flew along its surface using their strange beaks to catch what looked like fish. There might not be anything threatening above water, but I didn’t know anything about under the water I reminded myself as I used my powerful tail to swim around the cliff side, looking for an inlet or a beach or something where I could get back on land. Around the next bend, there was a rocky beach clearing where I got back on dry land. As I got out of the water, I looked behind me to see a large shadow of something swimming away, ‘did that thing follow me the whole time?’ I wondered as unease spread through me, it wasn’t that I was afraid, whatever it was if it decided to attack me it would find itself on the losing side most likely. I reminded my self that I was in an unfamiliar environment with new creatures and monsters, I was out of my element.

What was that, in the water just now? Did you see it? I asked Lubus as I basked in the warm sunlight to dry myself and to absorb some heat.

Yes, I saw it, probably a giant catfish or something similar. They usually are not dangerous, it has probably not seen anything like you before and wanted to investigate. What would a creature like that look like, were they some sort of fish mixed with a cat? I thought that was unlikely since cats didn’t normally like water. Well, maybe they were, I had no idea what to expect from the wildlife on the mainland.

Ok, so they’re not dangerous then?

Oh, they can be, but if you leave them alone, they won’t bother you, usually. What you really have to look out for in these parts are the mountain trolls, but you are already familiar with them. They stay in the mountains during the summer where it’s nice and cold for them, they come down during the winter sometimes but rarely. There’s also bears, pumas, panthers, goblins, wolves, various poisonous plants, boars, harpy eagles… Lubus went on, and she seemed to be at a risk of going off on a tangent, I was actually a bit excited to see all these new animals and monsters. I had grown comfortable back on the island, some of these things Lubus was mentioning sounded like they would be a challenge. Lubus had said something before going on her rant, and I tuned back into her list of dangerous animals. There are cyclopses, gorgons, kobolds and slimes and dragons in the far south of course.

Stop, stop, stop Lubus. What was that you said before, winter, what’s that?

It’s part of the four seasons, you know, Summer, fall, winter, and spring. There was a pause and when I didn’t answer Lubus continued. You seriously don’t know what winter is?

Um, no, you’ve still not explained it either.

Winter is the part of the year when it becomes very cold, so cold in fact that rain freezes and turns to snow. It covers the land until it becomes warmer in the spring and then becomes summer like now. Where are you from that you haven’t even heard tell of it? This winter thing sounded horrible to me, we didn’t have anything like it back on the island where temperatures remained warm throughout the year. I had seen snow before, but from a distance, the elders sad the white peaks of Bone tip mountain were caused by snow. But for it to become so cold that snow and ice would cover the land was unthinkable to me, how did these people survive in such harsh conditions?

I’m from an island in the sea, I came in on a catamaran to crash on the coast near Yhester. There’s something I’ve been meaning to mention actually, and now that we can understand each other it’s finally a good time.

An island off the coast of Yhester, but I’ve seen maps of the ocean there, and I could find no islands listed… Lubus continued to mumble to herself and before I had a chance to interrupt words hovered in my vision again.

Objectives updated

Get to the lake without touching the ground

Complete, agility calibrated, abilities updated

Hunt and kill a horned deer without it spotting you

Failure will result in pain

Clear mental test. When ready say ‘mental test’ to start the trial

Failure will result in pain

Lubus continued to yammer on in my head, and I decided to let her, so I tuned her out and focused on my next task, I could ask her later she was stuck with me now for the foreseeable future I just hoped that the people back on the island were doing alright. Now then how would I go about this next “objective”? It said I had to hunt and kill one of those horned deer without it spotting me. I could try to summon a bow and shoot it from a distance but then I risked missing, and it would definitely notice me then. I may be a great shot, but you never knew what could happen when dealing with wild animals and I’d rather not take any risks and get zapped again.

I had caught one before, so I knew their scent, while I flicked my tongue out to find the smell I followed the edge of the lake to find a spot where many of them stopped to drink. It took me some time, but I eventually found a game trail leading back into the woods, the smell was fresh, so it was probably still in use by the animals. Why did it need to be specifically a horned deer anyway? I had found plenty of other smells on my way here, I didn’t recognize many of them, but surely one of them would do just as nicely if the dungeon wanted to test my strengths.

I decided to do the same thing I had done when I got here, or at least similar. First I removed my clothes and lay them out to dry far away from the trail so that my prey wouldn’t smell them. Then I went to the lake and brought out some mud to cover my whole body in it, once I was sufficiently covered I laid down with my tail across the path. Hopefully, I would look like a mound of dirt or a big tree root to any passing animals. I also closed my eyes, I would be relying on my heat sense and hearing to spot any animal that walked over me. It was pretty boring just laying there waiting for something to happen, so I decided to try to ask Lubus again now that I had nothing better to do.

Hey Lubus, there was something I wanted to ask you, remember? Lubus had stopped ranting, but she still sounded distracted as she answered me.

Huh, oh yes, I remember. Sorry for going off like that, it’s very unlike me, anyway what did you want to talk about?

Well, you see back on my island, life was good, and we never had any problems with protecting ourselves, the Naga I mean. Until the goblins discovered how to create ice out of thin air that is. We don’t really have a way of defending ourselves against something like that, so they sent me to the mainland to try and find a way to deal with it. I think I have found the solution, that solution being you. My question is, would you come with me back to my island and teach us how to deal with this new threat we have never faced before?

Hm, sounds like magic, I could teach you some ways of dealing with it, and I could even see if some of your people have the potential to learn to wield magic. But I would like to get my body back, on the other hand, I could still work on that problem on your island. I want to visit actually, an island that no one knows about sounds exciting and I am kind of a wanted man here not to mention that the judge won't be happy with me, maybe some time away to let things cool off would be a good idea. I agree, but we need to find a way to deal with the dungeon first or get it to allow us to go on this journey. I have a few ideas about that actually, but let's finish these objectives first. Lubus could really go on and on now that she wasn’t stuttering as she called it, but I was still happy about her agreeing to come with me.

Just then my senses told me that something was coming and I slowed my breathing not to give myself away. Whatever it was was walking up the path at a slow, unhurried pace, it had four legs by the sound of it, so hopefully, it was the right kind of animal. When it stepped over me, I could tell exactly where it was by the heat of it and I snapped my tail up and wrapped myself around my prey when it had its two front legs past me. I could see now that I had caught what I had hoped for, but this horned deer was much bigger than the last one I had killed. The horn on its snout was taller than its head and looked very intimidating, it struggled mightily to try and get free, but I had caught it in a firm grip so it couldn’t get away. Instead, it moved its head around, doubtless trying to stab me with it. We could not have that, so I quickly bit it in the neck from behind injecting it with my venom. Soon all its muscles seized up, and it stopped struggling, it breathed still, but in short, panicked breaths which I took advantage of. Every time it breathed out I would squeeze it a little harder until I had it in such a tight grip that it couldn’t take another breath. It died a moment later when It couldn’t get enough air I held it for a couple more moments to make sure it was really dead. Then I let go to watch the carcass flop lifelessly on the ground.

What would I do with all this meat now, it was a waste to leave it here to rot, but I had no tools to skin it and take care of all its resources.

Request granted

Forming command prase

Think the word ‘Hunting knife’ clearly in your mind to spawn a small hunting dagger

Further spawning will have to be supplemented with additional resources

‘Well that’s convenient’ I thought, and then I said the new phrase in my head and the little knife appeared in front of me. I skinned the dear and cut all the meat into strips, then I decided to have the dungeon absorb it. It agreed as it considered the meat and skin resources. I stood up and slithered into the water to wash away all the blood and mud that covered my body. The sun was high in the sky by the time I was done, and I basked in its warmth again for a while. I found my clothes again and put them on to be greeted by the now familiar floating words.

Objectives updated

Get to the lake without touching the ground

Complete, agility calibrated, abilities updated

Hunt and kill a horned deer without it spotting you

Complete, perception calibrated, abilities updated

Clear mental test. When ready say ‘mental test’ to start the trial

Failure will result in pain

Status report

Name: Eshanai Species: Naga Gender: Female Age: Unknown

Attributes

Strength: 25 Endurance: 20 Constitution: Unknown

Dexterity: Unknown Agility: 18 Perception: 22

Intelligence: Unknown Willpower: 25 Charisma: Unknown

Mana: N/A

Inherent abilities

Enormous snake tail: The vessel is able to use the appendage in various ways such as jumping large distances, climbing, navigating terrain, and constricting prey. Strength +10 Agility +5

Paralytic venom: The vessel can inject venom into its prey from retractable fangs. The venom causes the muscles of the prey to stop responding. May take longer to take effect depending on the prey’s size.

Snake tongue: Vessel has enhanced smell, picks out particles in the air by flicking tongue through it. Perception +7

Heat sense: Vessel possesses the ability to sense fluctuations in the temperature in the environment around it. The closer the fluctuation is to the vessel the more accurate it becomes. Perception +5

Cold blooded: Vessel gains heat from the environment. Vulnerable to cold-based attacks.

Notable skills:

Vessel skilled in combat, observed using a spear and shield effectively.

Vessel seems comfortable with wearing heavy armor.

Vessel is an experienced hunter.

Now I only had that mental test left to do. I hoped Lubus had a way of freeing us so we could go help my people as soon as possible.