Exactly how long had I been asleep?

My mind raced at a mile a minute the sight in front of me.

Curled up in a spiral, its lifeless eyes staring blankly, was the body of another little snake. I froze at the sight of it because It looked exactly like one of my nestlings!

--------------

As satisfyingly devoid of predators the graveyard currently was, I knew it wouldn't last for long. If I faced any enemies, it wouldn't end well for me. Also, whatever happened to the mummified corpses was related to a creature or creatures that lived around here.

The staggering amount of dead bodies hinted at a nest or colony and I didn't want to be around when they finally showed themselves. So I had to leave before any of that happened.

This little snake was done enticing danger - I still had two quests to complete!

I glanced around and scanned for gaps in the rough walls, looking for an exit. However, as I looked past the body of the large primate, my eyes fell upon a familiar creature.

It had the same black and white speckled design with miniature horn growths above its eyes, only the lively dark eyes were now clouded over and rigid like all the others. Disturbed by the sight of it, I approached the body, half curious and half dreading my worst fears would come true.

Unmoving, the curls of the dead snake's body appeared to have fused together. Its spiral was perfectly formed, leaving no gaps in its grisly pyramid dome, with its head placed on top like a decorative seal. There was a large hole cut through its spiral pyramid and when I poked it, the brittle scales fell away to nothing, their insides empty.

Was it possible? Had the nestlings fled the nest?

The thought gave me a bad feeling. The bad snakes could have overpowered my two guards and escaped? Not without a struggle of course, but escaped nonetheless, to become victims for the wasps.

Exactly how long had I been asleep?

Remembering the training quest had a timer, I pulled up the system window and it read.

[Quest: Train Nest Mates. [Time Remaining: 132 Hours]]

The display of the system aligned with my doubt.

Observing it, the skin was so shrivelled it was difficult to tell its age, but it was impossible for it to only be days old. It looked to be at least a few weeks.

I left the nest a little over two days ago. No matter how remarkable the resemblance, the timing was too wrong for this to be any of them. But I couldn't help but feel pity for this unfortunate cousin.

Or was it a stepsibling? Hm, snake genetics were twisty.

Still, the sight of it left me restless when I thought of how close I came to my own ending in the same way, bringing me back to the main problem.

My escape.

I checked my status.

__________________________

Name: Aurelia LV4 [Small Hatchling Snake] |Poisoned|

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 34/49 Defence: 32

MP: 08/15 Intellect: 45

SP: 32/43 Magic: 12

Attack: 38 Agility: 45

Skills:

[Bite: LV3] [Poison Fang: LV2] [Grip: LV2]

[Scent: LV1] [Heat Sense: LV4] [Silence: LV2]

[Stealth: LV2] [Appraisal: LV2]

[Rapid Strike: LV1] [Leap: LV1]

[Buoyancy: LV1] [Steel Skin: LV1]

[Rugged Scales: LV1] [Venom Rain: LV1]

Title:

[Apostle] [Cold-blooded] [Commander]

Unique Skill:

[Devour]

Attributes:

[Obsidian Horn]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV3]

[Pain Resistance: LV3]

[Wind Resistance: LV1]

[Shock Resistance: LV1]

[Faint Resistance: LV1]

[Paralysis Resistance: LV1]

_________________________

For a creature of the wasp's speed, killing me would've been easy. It seemed it had intended to do as little damage as possible with its stinger to capture me alive. Though things didn't turn out the way it envisioned.

However, I was still poisoned.

My HP had not recovered at all through my paralysis spell and it did not seem to increase however much the time passed, yet neither did it fall though.

Which could mean one of two things. Either the poison was inhibiting my recovery, or my HP was indeed increasing but also decreasing at the same, or a much faster rate.

In either scenario, I was in trouble.

I never got the chance to grab the antidote before the wasp abducted me and if I didn't take one now, my HP would steadily fall until it hits zero. However long this process took was how long I had.

But the timing still doesn't add up.

I spent a day in the forest before eating any mushroom, and the impression of death was supposed to last for 24 hours. My body was feeling free of any poison now, despite the disparity in health and stamina of my status. Which could only mean I was in the two day period of reprieve for Sairon's Bell.

So shouldn't I have more time? Why did the quest's timer suggest I had less than two days left?

"Do I still have the full 48 hours of normal bodily functions before the poison's second stage?" I asked Sensei. "Did it change when you slowed down the poison?"

«Not 48, you have 35. The wasp that stung you also carried a paralysis inducing venom. In species without any resistance like yourself, it normally lasts between fifteen to eighteen hours.»

«However, the combination of the two poisons in your system enhanced its effect. So while the mushroom's death effect ended thirteen hours ago, your body remained paralysed. Fortunately for you, you were already here by the time the effect wore off.»

That explained where the missing time had gone, but there was also something else that was bothering me.

Since I ate three mushrooms, didn't this mean I would experience three times the normal pain if the time ran out before I could take the antidote?

I doubted slowing down the rate at which the poison's spread could reduce its potency once it was already in my system. I wasn't looking forward to such a terrible backlash.

Slithering past the grisly remains of the snake, I searched around for an exit.

And I spotted one just huddled behind a particularly large pile of corpses. I had to crawl between the mummified bodies to reach it, giving me an unsettling feeling.

It wasn't that I was afraid of the dead, it was just the idea of them rising back up. What if, not all of the corpses were dead?

I blamed it on all the horror movies I binged in my past…

As the thought was still in my head, I heard a sound. An unusually light tap from somewhere within the room that had me cursing in my mind. Did I just manifest my worst fear?

Using [Heat Sense] I scanned my vicinity for any living creatures and surprisingly it came up empty.

Had I misheard?

It appeared as if everything around me was dead, but I wasn't relieved yet as I'd already encountered a creature who specialised in [Stealth] who could easily get past my [Heat Sense]. To be doubly sure I listened for sounds, in the event there were any slime-spitting mimic lizards that could be present.

However, the noises I picked up were unusual.

I heard many separate bursts of vibrations at a frequency much lower than the first sound I'd heard, coming from below the ground. Other than this distracting hum, I was able to trace the light tapping sound to a monster shaped like a grasshopper crouching in the middle of the passage of bodies.

It was just as flaky and dried out as the other corpses, so I missed it before, but now that I looked at it closely I noticed its colours weren't as faded.

It still retained a greenish tinge to its shade rather than the muddy brown of the shrivelled corpses. Its body was battered and covered in injuries, but it wasn't full of holes or hollowed out from the inside.

Raising its larger hind legs it rapped them on the ground, creating a scratching sound when they met with its wings. There was a visible tear in its wings when it opened them, and I presumed it had earned its injuries during its escape.

Considering it was right in the middle of the passage, I had to get past it to reach the exit in the wall. So I moved in a roundabout way, weaving between rows of corpses so it would not spot me.

In its injured state it would likely attack me thinking I was an enemy, or it might simply target me for food to recover its injuries even if I didn't attack first.

My hidden strategy went well for a while until I came upon an area where the bodies were more spaced apart. It was closer to the creature than the exit and if I continued on the path it would definitely expose me.

The creature who was nearer to the exit than myself would likely try to block my path or intercept me before I could make a run for it. I would have concealed myself under the ground to crawl past it, but unlike in the jungle the ground here was too hard to burrow through, leaving me completely exposed.

I was better off drawing the creature's attention away by making it chase me, and then double back for the exit when it wasn't looking.

What better way to this than to play hide and seek in a gross graveyard of bodies?

The sudden flash of inspiration made me grin. I could get away with it if I hid myself properly. I was smaller than the grasshopper and my slender body structure and pattern made it much harder to spot me among the pile of bodies.

I retreated some distance away from the exit before crossing between two bodies in direct sight of the creature.

I was tempted to hiss out a taunt, but I changed my mind - I was sure it could see well enough. I would only do so If it failed to take the bait.

The creature spotted me almost instantly. Its long body reared up from the ground, its large eyes focused on my far away figure. But rather than approaching me, it backed away.

What the hell was it retreating for?

You're supposed to come after me, not run away!

Perhaps in its wounded state, it perceived me as more of an threat than I accounted for. That certainly made my job easier.

I didn't pursue, but followed just far enough away to give it the impression I had a difficulty keeping up, hoping it would run further away.

I was more than thrilled to continue doing this, until the creature stopped its retreat and settled down next to the massive corpse pile, blocking the exit.

Taking up a stance on its four frontal legs, it unfurled its wings and a high pitched sound emerged from them taking me completely by surprise.

The shrill ringing penetrated through my scales down to my skin causing my whole body to feel unbearable pain. It shattered my sense of hearing leaving me unable to perceive anything else in my vicinity besides the irritating sound.

Leaping behind one of the corpses I curled myself to a spiral pyramid much like my snake cousin, to defend against the waves of sound, wincing as the shrill stridulation attack continued.