Shelly uneasily shifted in her bed. Her memories of the times before she awoke in her cave were only becoming more and more unclear.
When she''d first woken up, they were quite clear and comprehensible. However, as time passed, they became fuzzy and nonsensical, and she found herself wondering if they were even real.
And then, Ms. Snake had gotten angry at her, which was a bit terrifying. Perhaps it was horrible of her to impose herself upon her, but what else could Shelly do? She had no home, little memories, and no survival skills whatsoever.
She felt a thump further down the cave, followed by some more rhythmic thumps. Shelly breathed a sigh of relief, happy that she didn''t have to hide for her life again. She didn''t want to repeat that experience.
Which was why, this whole time, she''d been practicing her magic nonstop. If she was going to be a liability, she would at least try to make her father proud and not be completely useless. If her father had ever been real, that was.
Existential questions aside, she watched with ill-concealed excitement as the titanic form of Ms. Snake popped up. Since Shelly had first met her, Ms. Snake had grown quite a bit bigger, but Shelly couldn''t tell exactly how much, since Ms. Snake had a habit of sitting on her own coils, making it hard to judge her length accurately.
Ms. Snake took one look at Shelly with her yellow eyes and then beckoned her over with her head. Shelly hesitantly got up and approached, poking the big snake in the head with her finger.
She''d gotten a lot better with the telepathy spell if nothing else.
"Dear. It''s time to move out. I found a good place, and I''m starting to get worried. There''s a strange scarcity of prey around here, and it might mean some kind of predator moved in. Not me, mind you. And while I can easily just leave the area, you... can''t." She immediately said the moment the connection was established.
Shelly blinked in confusion before nodding slowly. "O-okay. But... How can I get out? You said I''d die if I try to get out..."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
"Indeed. However, I''m conveniently just big enough to do this." Ms. Snake said, and Shelly felt a terrible premonition.
Ms. Snake opened her jaws wide, and then, Shelly found a long tongue wrapping around her and bringing her into the giant mouth.
"Sit there for a couple of hours while I bring you to a better place. You can breathe water, yes?" A voice said in the panicked mind of Shelly. She could feel Ms. Snake dry and forked tongue gliding near her, and the razor-sharp teeth and fangs all around her made her hold onto said tongue as though her life depended on it.
It was creepy, scary, wet, and disgusting, but Shelly had no other choice but to hold on. She could feel Ms. Snake moving along the cave, and even though the huge snake was trying her best, Shelly was still thrown around a bit.
Then, they entered what Shelly assumed to be the ocean. The space where Shelly held on seemed to get just a bit smaller, and she could even feel a bit of creaking around her as the water pressure surrounded Ms. Snake.
For the next couple hours, Shelly desperately tried not to slip down into the dark abyss below. For as much as she liked Ms. Snake for helping her, she really had no desire to explore her insides.
The real problem, however, came when Ms. Snake began to swim directly upward. Then, Shelly had to fight even harder not to slip up and literally fall into her throat and stomach. Furthermore, she even had to be careful not to get prickled by the extremely poisonous fangs Ms. Snake sported.
Finally, after what felt like truly forever, Ms. Snake finally stopped. Then, light streamed into the dark cavern that had held Shelly prisoner for so long.
Shelly happily swam out, feeling the warm and welcoming water surround her. She breathed in, feeling it drown out her lungs. Thankfully, she had a solution.
Activating her race''s ability, she shifted to her aquatic form, her legs gathering together into a tail, and gills appearing along her neck.
She stretched out her new limb, along with taking some careful breaths through her new gills. Transforming had always been something she found she could do with little effort, but it was still somewhat problematic since she always needed some time to adapt to either human form or aquatic form after shifting.
Ms. Snake was looking at her with her ever-present bored look, but Shelly knew her well enough now to tell she was at least interested. Suddenly, though, Ms. Snake looked away for some reason.
Shelly ignored her for the moment and instead chose to go frolicking around the area, getting amazed at all the brightly colored corals and fish.
Unbeknownst to her, our cute little murder snake was having an existential crisis. She had always been a fanatical cleanness nazi, and dirtiness or disorganization sent her insane. She wanted to tell the mermaid to take off her clothes since they were in the water now, however...
Well... Is there a need to say why exactly that would sound so many levels of wrong?
Chapter 28
As I inwardly fought the third world war over clothing, the system seemed to want to contribute to my inner despair, for how else could I describe the message I received?
Congratulations! For having rescued the Cursed Princess of Oceania, you have received special rewards!
+20% Evolution Progress
+10% magic ability(due to lack of magic, the bonus has transformed into +10% aura)
+ Special evolutions unlocked
While I am plenty glad for the evolution thing, I am not so glad that little Shelly is apparently a cursed princess. Welp, nothing to do with me. I hope.
After showing Shelly around the safe reef and secretly murdering anything and everything that could possibly even be a slight threat to her health, I told her to get comfortable, for tomorrow she would start living like a real citizen of the sea.
Then, I retreated back into the Killzone, happy to see that literally everything in the area around me immediately fled. I suppose the sight of a 40+ meter long snake would do that to them.
I checked up on my status. It has been quite some time since I last did, so I was eager to see my progress.
[Nameless] [Colossal Serpent (1st Stage)]
Age - 0 years
Evolution Progress - 85%
Mastery - [Serpent''s Dance - 80%], [Devour - 40%], [Extreme Constriction - 100%], [Aura Manipulation - 75%], [Colossus Scales - 100% (skill evolution ready)]
I was immediately intrigued by my evolution for colossus scales, so I clicked on it. However, instead of giving me options, the skill chose for me, apparently.
Colossus Scales ---> Scales of the Abyss
Scales of the Abyss - Scales forged from the pressure of the deep Abyss. Overall resistance greatly increases, becomes immune to any physical pressure.
... Well, I''m not complaining, but a choice or two would have been nice. I already lost the ability to choose my own growth, but isn''t taking away my choice of skill evolution a bit much?
Well, whatever. No use crying over spilled milk. Besides, I have much more important things to worry about.
I snatched up a couple of small snacks from the Killzone before retreating back into the reef. After a brief search, I found my very first little throne, and with a strange longing for it, I happily settled my now huge body around and over it. The kingdom of Cute and Cuddly MurderSnakes has it''s queen once more.
... Okay, I was originally planning on going back into the deep ocean, or abyss as the system calls it, end eat up some random losers, but I think I''ll just sunbathe today. I missed the sun.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
At this point, having my Aura vision activated was more or less a subconscious action, however, I now forced myself to turn it off. I wanted to completely relax at last.
When I finally fell asleep, I didn''t dream. However, it was a refreshing and pleasant sleep. The awakening, however, could have been a bit better.
I awoke to an annoying mermaid brat poking my cheek, giggling slightly as she swam around me. I opened one eye and stared at her with what I hoped was a chastising look, but I doubt she understood me.
"Ms. Snake, look at what I found!" She immediately half-shouted after quickly casting her telepathy, shoving a handful of pretty shells and corals on my face.
"... Yes. Very pretty. I''m glad you like this little area." I said after a short pause. She nodded ferociously, a big smile on her face. Well, she''s probably not going to find this place quite as fun in the coming months.
"Yeah, it''s amazing! Everything is shiny and pretty, and the little fish around here are really cute!" She said excitedly. Aah, now I almost feel bad for what I''m about to say... Just kidding. I don''t feel emotions.
"Yes, very cute. That''s why you''re going to kill them all." I said offhandedly. She stared at me for a second with a confused expression, that then turned into disbelief, then outrage, then finally resignation.
"... Yes." She said after a long moment. "You''ve gotten bigger, Ms. Snake..." She said after a bit, her voice now much more subdued than before.
"Mhm. I''m close to evolving my stage. I''m quite eager to see what it will do." I commented, looking at my 85% progress. It''s about time, to be honest.
After telling Shelly to go do whatever she wanted, I got to work inspecting myself. I''d reached 45 meters in length now, and I could easily swallow an entire bus, far more if I unhinged my jaws.
Still... Why stop now? I could become as big as the ocean itself, although that''s just a pipe dream. Although I lost the opportunity to ever practice magic, I still have my aura as a subpar substitute. Although, after observing Shelly do her own spells, I do admit I felt just a sliver of regret.
... Whatever. This is my path, and I will not abandon it. I''m lucky enough as is, being given a second chance in a relatively good environment, I really shouldn''t be complaining.
And this was a path I would walk to the end, or die trying. With those words as the basis for my motivation, I took one final look at Shelly to make sure she was fine and headed off to the abyss once more.
I wasn''t quite ready to explore the middle area of the ocean, but I was definitely strong enough that anything and everything in my path fled for their lives. Satisfied with having asserted my dominance, I plunged downwards directly.
An hour later, I arrived at the bottom. Thanks to my quicker swimming speed and gravity working with me, along with my new scales that made it a breeze to resist the water pressure, the trip was faster than expected. Nonetheless, I got work.
Keeping the location of the reef to the back of my mind, I made a long round around a 50km area, seeking out anything worth eating.
Eventually, by the time I returned to the reef''s wall, three chocolate slugs and four queer sharks had found their way into my stomach. I swear the genetic makeup of those sharks was ridiculous. One had a head where its ass was supposed to be, for fuck''s sake.
How the hell do they even end up like that? It makes no sense. It''s like a 5-year old trying to draw a real-life imitation of cancer.
... Anyways. When, after a two-hour-long swim, I reached the reef once more, I was still unsatisfied with my hunt. Those guys provided very little evolution progress, but I suppose that was normal. Furthermore, I really didn''t feel like risking my life against some of the titans of the middle-waters.
How troubling. At least Shelly looked happy enough, dozing in what should bemythrone.
You damned pretender.
Chapter 29
After properly putting the fake pretender in her place, I was happy to reclaim my throne once and for all. She pouted and complained in her native tongue that I couldn''t understand, but she wasn''t important enough to warrant diverting my attention away from my little bath under the sun.
After she realized I was ignoring her, she stormed off, huffing. Secretly, I watched her with interest, quite curious about how the hell that new tail of hers worked.
... How does she even poop now, though? Or piss?
Aaaaand not thinking about it. I''m not a pedophile, please don''t arrest me.
Actually, how do Ipiss? Oh, right, I don''t. How? No idea. When in doubt, though, blame someone else. So I blamed the system (I originally made a jew/nazi joke, but it doesn''t work here on patron. Sorry for those who got offended!).
I idly ran through my status, thinking over my strategy. 3% wasn''t a lot for so much work, but it also was far from little. I suppose I could make a dozen more trips down to the abyss, and by then, I would rank up. That would open up new opportunities, hopefully.
I got up from my throne to make a round through the reef. Just to make sure nobody dared to harass my little protegee, I ferociously displayed my aura, causing the weaker creatures of the area to go into cardiac arrest.
... It felt pretty good. While I was far, far from matching that being that passed by me so long ago, I was catching up quite quickly. Anyways, the new king of the reef was found, extracted from his hideout, and eaten. It couldn''t even put up a fight.
When I was finally satisfied that my position in this homeland of mine was firmly secured, I spent the next couple hours taking care of little Shelly. Well, ''take care'' might be a bit of an exaggeration. I simply showed her a nice spot to sleep, told her to shut up and stop whining about not having a real home, and then helped her train her spells and kill a couple of weak fish.
When I was satisfied that I''d done my duties for her, I dived once more into the abyss. I will not describe my adventures there since there really isn''t much to say about it. I went, I searched, I killed, and I ate. The fights weren''t really life-threatening for me, but nor were they easy, I suppose. I almost got slapped by one of the slug''s wild tentacles, and that would have hurt.
Although, with my new scales, I would have still been fine, probably. Still, that slug was quickly and brutally murdered for the offense.
The times of desperate fights for scraps of food were more or less over, really. I was big and powerful enough to simply bully my way across the ocean floor, only occasionally having to flee some of the more massive titans, although they seemed to have very little interest in me.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
I ransacked the ocean floor, digging up giant clams and shattering their shells. I plundered the crustaceans who fled or tried to hide, their defenses meaningless before my steel-crushing coils and deadly fangs.
I would say I did some other cool stuff, but in reality, I most or less just bullied my way to victory. By the end of this trip, my spoils of war were quite satisfying. If it was up to me, I would have remained down here for at least another week, however, I needed to go check up on a certain mermaid.
With great reluctance, I abandoned the now much emptier ocean floor and went over to the great reef wall, which this time, I''d always kept an eye on. Then, I began to swim upwards.
I admit, I was a bit spooked. When going downwards, my speed was high enough that I reached the bottom floor fast enough to avoid staying in the middle of the water for too long, hence avoiding the dangerous predators. When going upwards, though, I was slow enough to be in the danger zone for longer.
Thankfully, nothing happened, and I reached the reef safely. I took a sniff and found little Shelly''s scent some ways off. And... did I smell blood?
God damn it. I leave for two f*king days and this happens? If she got herself killed I''m going to be pissed. Or at least try to be.
I quickly made my way over, and to my surprise, found Shelly sitting on top of some corals, a pained look on her face. I could see cuts all over her body, and she had many teeth-like marks on her young body.
She was using some sort of magic, as several fishes that looked suspiciously like Killzone inhabitants hovering around her, but not approaching. They were simply circling her, keeping away from her.
She had dark bags under her eyes, and she looked on the verge of fainting. Damn it, now I felt bad for throwing her to the wolves.
Oh well. She survived, and I''m here now. I shouldn''t need to say that these fishes were nothing but fodder in front of me.
I made my way over to shelly, casually snatching up any fish that dared to linger around here. One of those bastards was obviously drunk on blood since it tried to bite me. Bad idea.
Shelly looked at me and gave me such a relieved smile that I was honestly a bit taken off guard, and then she fainted. Well, I suppose she was must have been quite tired.
I picked her up with my tongue and dragged her off to a safer spot. Why she was this close to the Killzone in the first place, I don''t know. I do, however, remember distinctly warning her about near this area.
I dropped her on top of my throne and tried to think of a way to help her heal. However... What could I do? I''m a snake, and furthermore, even if I was human, I''d have little idea how to help her. I can only hope her constitution is high enough.
I did feel a sliver of regret at having abandoned her for so long, however, such experiences could only help her in the long run. Other than protecting her occasionally and giving her my thoughts on how to use her stats, there really wasn''t much I could do for her anyway.
I stood guard over her injured body for an entire day. Her wounds were indeed slowly closing, but she was also quite pale. The smell of her blood attracted a couple of sharks and other scavengers, however, my furious aura alone was enough to send them fleeing for their lives.
Finally, at the dawn of the second day, she woke up. At first, she seemed confused, but then, she shot up, eyes wide and full of fear. I gave her a couple of moments to gather her thoughts before I wordlessly pushed the corpse of some small fishes I''d murdered earlier.
She looked at me with an almost betrayed yet thankful look, which was quite confusing, and then proceeded to messily devour the fishies.
Well... She must have been hungry. Just what the hell did she do while I was away?
Chapter 30
"So... Mind explaining to me just what you did while I was off, dear?" I asked her in a voice as soothing as I could possibly make it after having her establish a connection. Shelly ignored me though, and instead kept idly munching on the large (for her) fish in her hands. It was still unsettling seeing a humanoid devouring something raw so eagerly, but I suppose beggars can''t be choosers.
Seeing her reluctance, I inwardly sighed annoyedly. She was being such a brat, honestly. "Look, kiddo. I''m planning on returning down to the deeps tonight, and it might be over a week before I return."
She stopped eating immediately and looked up at me, eyes wide and a small trace of panic in her eyes. "Y-you''re leaving again?"
"That be so. I''m very close to reaching my second stage, and that should be very helpful." I said off-handedly. And, as I expected, she fell for my bait.
"N-no! Please don''t leave me here again!" She cried out, reaching out to grab at one of my scales in an attempt to stop me from leaving... although I wasn''t moving.
I tried to roll my eyes, failed, and settled on a deep sigh. "... Shelly, dear." I said in an authoritarian voice, looming over her.
"Y-yeah?" She asked, now a bit intimidated. Her eyes were wide, and I could see her trying not to touch the various purplish bruises and cuts spread across her body.
"I cannot protect you forever. I promised you I''d help you, and I did. However, I cannot always be with you. I don''t want you to become reliant on my protection." I spoke. Hopefully, my speech skills didn''t match those of my previous life, or it''d be... embarrassing.
"I saw your magic while you held off those bast--- fishes. Now, I want you to use that magic on me." I said.
"W-what? Why?" She asked, confusion visible on her face. "Because I said so," I answered curtly. I was confident enough in my tough body to know that she couldn''t harm me, but I wanted to ascertain she could kill weaker creatures.
She looked hesitant for a moment, but after a fierce stare from my serpentine self, she clumsily did her thing. The water around her began to move weirdly and using my aura manipulation, I could feel a strange power in that water. However, it was faint, and I could barely feel it.
Well, something to look into, I suppose.
Then, the water around Shelly exploded with a deadly fury. Dozens of thin ''blades'' of pressurized water shot out at lightning speed and impacted my sides.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Disappointingly, they failed to leave even a scratch, but I still felt the impact, which was still impressive overall. At this point, only hits strong enough to shatter boulders and easily dent metal could hurt me, and although her attack wasn''t up to that standard, I could see why those fish had chosen to siege her out instead of attacking directly.
"... Impressive." I commented honestly. She smiled hesitantly at the comment, looking worriedly at where her attack hit. "Dear, don''t worry. You can''t quite hurt me, but I''m sure that if you train some more, you soon will be. "
"..." Shelly looked at me with at first a weirded out expression, and then, that expression turned into one of pure anger. "Why would you want me to hurt you!? I don''t want to hurt you!" She screamed at me.
"That''s not the point, dear, and you know it," I said it, instinctively shaking my head in exasperation. "You''re powerful enough to handle anything that doesn''t live in the Killzone. Hence, focus on staying away from that area while you train... Oh, and when I return, I expect the next attack will hurt a lot more." I added.
"N-no! Please don''t leave again!" She begged, but that wasn''t negotiable. "I have to, dear."
At this point, she looked on the verge of tears, hands clenched hard enough to draw blood. "Why... Why are you so obsessed with training? Dad always said training comes second, and he was the strongest person I knew!"
Her dad said that? Well... "Then your dad was a fool. Anyone has the chance to become a god in this world, through sheer effort and mass genocide. I fail to understand how this world''s inhabitants fail to understand tha-... Why am I telling you all of this. You''re too young to understand." I said bitterly.
Perhaps I was trying to project myself onto her, but I truly had the best interests for her. Coming from a world where your death was a predetermined fact of life, and arriving in a world after said death with the chance to become a literal god amongst godlike beings... How could I not wish to reach such heights?
In my old world, I lived a life of constant work, little pay, no gratification, and very little chance to climb higher the social hierarchy. Now, having been born a fingernail-length noodle snake, I became the overlord of an entire reef, powerful enough to crush ships and terrorize monsters. And this was all done in less than a year, and my lifespan was probably much longer than normal humans.
"... I''m sorry." I finally said after a long moment of silence between us. I was being unfair to her again, but I refuse to relent on my insistence on her training. I''d promised her I''d help her out, and I would do so. I was no saint, though, and just like a certain man of steel once did, I would either turn her into a great power, or she would die trying.
She didn''t answer, instead choosing to look away. I moved my large head closer to her, and in a pathetic attempt at showing my ''affection'', I rubbed my scaly cheek against her own.
She giggled slightly at my clumsiness, taking the action for what it was: An apology, but also a request. For the rest of the day, I hanged out around her, bringing her all over the reef to show her all of its hidden wonders, while also occasionally demanding for her to murder some of its inhabitants, which she did with some hesitation and, depending on the target, quite a bit of trouble.
Finally, the sun was setting above, I bid farewell to her, told her not to get herself killed, and headed off into the abyss once more.
Just like her, I too would rise to the stars, or die trying. I refuse to accept a middle ground, for haven''t I lived and died a mediocre life already?
Chapter 31
At this point, the deep abyss was starting to become my second home. With but a thought, my aura sight was activated, eliminating the need for sunlight. Immediately, I was greeted by the usual emptiness of the area, but I knew it was nothing but a lie.
There were a lot of monsters down here, they were simply well hidden and had a larger area to live in than those inhabiting the reef above.
And I just so happened to have a very keen nose and a very hungry belly. Like a bloodhound, I sniffed out the most delicious trail out of the thousands around me and began to follow it.
Within less than ten minutes, I arrived at where the smell was strongest. There was nothing above the floor, but then again, that just meant my new meal was a bit of a coward.
I hang around the area for a couple minutes, trying to get any meaningful info on my prey. When it failed to do anything except keep hiding, I got impatient and pounced.
Although my body shape wasn''t great for digging, I could easily use my head as a shovel, even if it was a bit dangerous. I didn''t need though, since as I was just about to hit the floor, the beast hiding under it exploded outwards.
A 50-meter long bobbit worm exploded outwards with a ferocious screech. I wasn''t impressed though, since although it was big, it''s aura was weaker than mine by quite a bit.
Instead of stopping my attack, I redirected it at the worm''s core. My jaws snapped shut around it, fangs sinking deep as my other teeth tried to split it in half, but failing.
The worm retaliated by biting my own body... or at least trying to. My serpentine coils danced around it''s jaws before wrapping around it''s body, and my constriction skill activated.
Disgusting squishing sounds sounded out dully from the worm as it''s ferocious screechs turned into pitiful whimpers, right until it''s body was snapped in half. I uncoiled myself from it and unlatched my teeth, then ignored it''s head and instead began to work on swallowing the tail part.
It died pretty quickly after that, and it''s remains were happily swallowed up by the hungry noodle that is me. After waiting a couple minutes to let my body handle the digestion, I checked my status, finding my evolution progress to only have gone up by 0.4%.
Still, that was enough. I immediately began to sniff out another trail, and once I reached the end of it, I slaughtered the monster there and devoured it.
This process repeated itself constantly for the next couple days. In total, I murdered and devoured at least 50 beasts, each one of them at least half my own size.
I was also careful to not get lost from the reef, constantly making sure I knew where the reef wall was. After all, although I''d be happy enough to leave that place behind, I couldn''t bring myself to abandon the little mermaid all on her own.
I didn''t particularly care for her, and yet I did. It was a confusing mess, my cold and uncaring serpentine instincts clashing against my remaining human feelings.
I guess that is why it has been so confusing for me. Nonetheless, I had little time to care for such paultry things such as feelings when I wasso damn close to evolving.
I was at 99.99% evolution. I merely needed one last meal, and then I would rank up, and oh boy was I looking forward to it.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Having just finished yet another meal, a relatively small but extremely quick frogfish, I immediately began yet another treck towards my final target for this hunting session.
I''d shot up to around 60 meters in length at this point, and I was large enough to swallow entire boats in one gulp, or more accurately, swallow most ''small'' monsters. It was starting to get a bit problematic, though. Being so big made it hard to hide and fight smaller things than me, but it was still overall a big benefit.
Anyways, after a half hour search, I finally reached my new target. A house-sized tuna... which fled immediately upon seeing me.
This wasn''t an uncommon accourance, and unfortunately for the tuna, I was no speed slouch. I shot after it, chasing it.
After two entire hours of this damned chase, I was finally able to latch my teeth onto the tuna when it slowed down a bit from tiredness. It was basically over at that point, even as the tuna tried to turn and bite me back.
Although being a snake meant I lacked having arms, it was still a much more convenient form for battle than, say, being tuna-shaped. I easily twisted my larger and flexible body away from it''s mouth, my coils wrapping around it.
It shouldn''t even be said that the tuna died a pathetic death the moment my coils were tightly secured around it. I swallowed up it''s corpse, and when I did, the much-awaited notification finally came.
Congratulations! You have fought and slaughtered your way to a higher stage of being. Your brutality and voraciousness is unrivaled, but while you are feared by most, you are also loved by a Cursed being. For this achievment, Special Evolution mode has been unlocked.
Transfering into S.E. mode...
Transfer succesful. Time stopped until Evolution is finished.
The world around me suddenly faded away, and I found myself surrounded by a world of darkness. I couldn''t feel my body, nor could I feel the ever-present water caressing me.
Then, a titanic snake appeared in the darkness, perfectly visible despite the lack of light. Reading through the system''s notification, I was momentarily stunned.
However, I understood that this was a very special opportunity. Hence, I pushed away any and all emotions, opting to instead focus on what was important.
I could view my body from any angle, and in a corner of my mind, I had a strange but undeniably real ''feeling'' of what I needed to do to change myself. I had limited resources with which to upgrade my body, but they were still quite a lot.
Before I upgraded myself, though, I took the opportunity to satisfy the scientist within me, and inspected my serpentine body from the inside out, quite literally. I looked at every organ inside me, every teeth, every scale.
I understood very little over how this seemingly random mess of parts made up my body, but it was still a fun experience. Then, I got to work doing the actual upgrading.
After thinking over it for quite a long time, I first and foremost changed the layout of my teeth. From two extremely dangerous fangs and lots of smaller teeth, I made all of them the same size, and all of them possessing my venom. Then, I upgraded both my eyes and nose by quite a bit.
I wanted to add to my eyes the ability to see heat, but after feeling out the cost, I abandoned that idea. Instead, I spent a large chunk of my points increasing my size all the way to a nice and round 100 meters.
I changed my color scheme too, making myself a dark blue all around, with some splashes of black here and there to make it less uniform. Since it was so cheap to change colors, it barely hit drained any resources.
With that done, I paused a bit to debate over what else to upgrade. In general, all I really needed was more size, strength, defense, and aura. Everything else was alright as it was, and it wouldn''t be worth changing.
Hence, I threw half of my remaining points into increasing my aura. The moment I did, there were no real changes, but I could tell that when I entered this new and improved body, the aura would be a great help overall.
Happy enough with that aura level, I threw the remaining points into my scales, making them stronger yet lighter.
Satisfied, I backed off to observe the finished result. Overall, I was very satisfied. Looming over the world at 100 meters in length, I looked like an imposing overlord of the seas.
Still... This was only the first rank-up. I still had a long ways to go.
As if reading my mind and knowing I was satisfied, the serpent faded away, and my consciousness dissipated. I had little time to be suprised at this, but I did have time to worry if I fucked up.
I hadn''t left my body in the most defensible position, after all.
Chapter 32
Waking up from my rank-up was... strange. I twisted my body, finding myself once more within a cocoon of sorts. However, unlike my first time breaking out of my egg, where I had to fight desperately to escape, a slight twitch of my tail was enough to shatter this new prison of mine.
I emerged from the cocoon, feeling as though I''d been reborn. I passed my tongue over my new and improved teeth, feeling their sharpness and strength.
My senses had all been improved, as was immediately obvious from the thousands of new smells that entered my nose. Although it was still too dark to see, I could still tell my eyes had also improved.
Ignoring those wonderful changes, the biggest change had obviously come with my new size. I twisted my body around, inspecting myself for a couple of minutes as some small monsters who''d been hanging around my cocoon quickly scattered across the ocean floor.
I was a bit angry at the system for forcing me to evolve without providing me with a safe spot... but then again, perhaps the system had protected me? Who knows. I certainly don''t.
I quickly checked my status, finding it quite satisfactory.
[Nameless] [Colossal Serpent (2nd Stage)]
Age - 1 year
Evolution Progress - 0%
Mastery - [Serpent''s Dance - 100%], [Devour - 100%], [Extreme Constriction - 100%], [Aura Manipulation - 100% (Skill Evolution Ready)], [Scales of the Abyss - 40%]
Alright, what the hell? they werenot this high before I evolved. Did my rank up also give me skill experience? But how does that make any sense?
I can immediately tell using these skills feels easier, especially Serpent''s Dance. I won''t complain about this, but it still feels as weird as hell.
I clicked on the aura skill, feeling as though I should be giddy about this, even though I really wasn''t.
Aura Control - Increases overall control of Aura by a large amount, several hidden aura tricks will be unlocked.
Giant''s Aura - Aura will be able to be used as an offensive tool. Power depends on the individual''s power and soul.
Aura of the Titan Serpent - Aura can be used to enhance certain aspects, control will increase by some amount, can be used to paralyze stronger targets momentarily or outright kill much weaker beings.
Alright, the last one was obviously made for me. Why did the system even bother offering the other two if it already knew what I was going to choose? It''s literally worded after my race.
I mentally poked the last option, and although I didn''t feel any physical changes... My mind felt weird. It''s hard to explain without feeling what I went through.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I made my way back to the reef while contemplating my evolution. On my way back, I casually tried out my new aura on a small crab (that was still the size of at least a small truck). The poor little thing froze, and even when I directly took it into my mouth, it didn''t move.
It tasted... fine, I suppose. My improved senses did not improve my sense of taste, unfortunately. I didn''t feel it was necessary back during my self-evolution, but looking back, it might have been a good idea.
Whatever. I was now swimming considerably faster than before, hence, reaching the reef took quite a bit less than the previous times, and the climb upwards also took a considerable less amount of time.
Upon reaching my new birthplace, I was greeted by... nobody, as every living being living both at the Killzone and the edge had fled for their lives when they saw even just my outline.
The reef had already felt small beforehand, but now, it felt suffocating. I had to basically skirt along near the water''s surface in order not to accidentally smash into the various corals and rocks jutting up.
I sniffed the water and soon found little Shelly''s trail, and like the good little dog I was, I followed it. Soon enough, I''d reached the origin of the scent.
Shelly was fighting a pretty intense battle against a fairly small and weak-looking octopus. Still, it was only comparatively small, and it was still far bigger than anything in my old world.
Still, the thing was quite quick. It waved around Shelly''s water blades and constantly tried to corner her, but Shelly kept managing to evade entrapment.
Normally, I would have let little Shelly have her fun, however, judging from the faint grimace on her face and the tired look in her eyes, this might be a battle a bit too close for my liking.
Why is that every time Shelly looks to be in trouble, I unexpectedly show up just at the right time? Does it have something to do with the whole ''cursed'' thing?
Hell if I know. Well, I''m just saying that out of curiosity.I don''t mind playing the white knight.
My new and improved aura erupted out from my body, and immediately, all sounds in the reef ceased. Everything stilled, with even the waves having seemingly paused.
Naturally, Shelly was spared from this, as were many little harmless things. I could easily kill half the population of this reef in an instant with just my aura alone, but what would that do? No, I wasn''t a mass murderer. I was a hunter. There''s a difference.
I casually slithered my way over to Shelly, who finally deigned herself to look in my direction, her previously confused eyes widening in shock, and then happiness.
She yelled out something that I could only assume was my name in her language. I tilted my head slightly at her before presenting said head to her eager hands, who quickly did her thing and activated the telepathy spell.
"Ms. Snake! You''re huge now!" Shelly immediately said, voice filled with shock. "Yes, yes. Very big. By the way, do that poor little octopus a favor and end it."
"O-oh..." Shelly said, deflating a bit. As to why she did though, I have no idea. She swam over to the octopus, and with two quick water blades, chopped off its head.
A brutal show, but one quite common in this ocean filled with freaks and monsters. As a professional marine biologist, I can confidently claim this place makes about as much sense as a certain U.S president does.
As she returned back to my side, I''d already smashed a place in between the corals for myself, and I''d curled my body within this space. Overall, I looked like a mountain compared to the little mermaid next to me.
Suddenly, Shelly launched herself at my head and then hugged it. "I missed you." She murmured through our connection.
... Moody brat. Killing one thing one moment and then acting all cute and cuddly. It''s giving me whiplash.
"I missed you too, brat," I said back, causing her face to light up as she gave me a large smile.
Well, she isn''t abad kiddo, I suppose.
Chapter 33
"Dear, you''re a very smart girl. I''m sure you knew the risks, and besides, why would I be angry at you for doing something I do every day?" I said. Shelly looked away from me, face bright red in shame.
I was slowly swimming along the reef, with Shelly following beside me. Normally, even though Shelly was no pushover, she wouldn''t dare be out in the open like this. However, with me here, even if the sky fell, she''d be fine.
"Y-yeah, but still... I shouldn''t have fought it..." She murmured. Silly girl, when there''s a battle to be fought, you either win it or you flee. She still had the advantage against that octopus, and she probably would have won even if I didn''t show up.
"Enough. The past is the past." I tried to finish the conversation, only for Shelly to blurt out the same words she''d said at least 4 times already. "Y-you''re really not angry at me?"
"I will be if you keep asking if I am. Now, be a good little mermaid and show me your progress." I said with an exasperated mental sigh. Even though I was still stuck in a body that felt no emotions, somehow, this girl was driving me crazy.
"Okay!" She said enthusiastically. I stopped swimming and faced her, unblinking eyes staring at the cursed princess. She too stopped swimming and closed her eyes, and through my aura sight, I could see her preparing her spell.
I will still insist that magic is really cool, but being 100+ meters long is cooler, and it''s totally not my jealousy speaking when I say that my beautiful, huge body is far superior to some meager water blades.
Shelly''s eyes were shut close as she concentrated on her attack. After a couple of moments, she let out a yell as four lightning-quick ''blades'' of pressurized water materialized around her and charged at me.
Even if I wanted to, at this distance, I wouldn''t be able to evade it with my large and cumbersome body. However, I hardly needed to, as the blades harmlessly struck my scales, not even managing to make me feel anything other than some mild amusement.
Shelly''s face fell and she pouted at the sight. I would have laughed at the sight, as she looked like a puppy having been denied her treat.
Except, you know... I''m not one for fake laughs.
"Shelly, you improved massively. If it was before my evolution, that attack might have hurt." I consoled her as I swam over to her, my massive body surrounding her.
"Yeah, I guess..." She murmured, making her way over to my head and grabbing onto the back of it. "You''re mean, Ms. Snake. I worked so hard, and you don''t even praise me..." She whined through our connection.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"I literally just complimented you, dear. Stop spouting bul-... nonsense. Now, do tell me how you''ve been during my absence." I retorted, causing the little bipolar princess to light up and immediately begin to rant about her days.
Either she''d missed me quite a lot, or she was just a natural talker. Probably both, considering she didn''t shut up until the sun was coming down, only stopping for a brief lunch pause.
Her eyes had a drowsy look to them as she had stopped talking through our link now, and began to murmur stuff in her own language. She was lazily draped over my body, and soon enough, her eyes closed and she fell asleep.
I stared at her for a while, pondering just what to do with her. I couldn''t leave her now, not after letting her rely on me so much. However, what else could I do?
My food intake wasn''t actually that large. Just a ton of flesh would be enough to sustain me for at least a couple months, years even if I didn''t move a lot. However, that didn''t mean I''d be happy with so little food and so little progress.
I couldn''t stay in the reef to do that, and I couldn''t bring her with me... An idea popped up into my mind. I pondered it for the entire night as I let little Shelly sleep, liking the idea more and more.
When Shelly finally woke up, gently stirring from her dreams with a smile on her face, I immediately tried giving her my head. She was still a bit drowsy with sleep though, so it took a while for her to realize I wanted to talk.
"Good morning, dear. Had a good sleep?" I asked. She nodded happily, staring up at my eyes that were bigger than her entire body, and then some. "Yeah, it was great!"
"I''m glad. I wanted to ask, can you use that telepathy spell of yours to connect two beings that aren''t yourself? Like, say, connecting me to another mermaid while you cast it?"
Shelly tilted her head slightly, looking at me with confused eyes. "I think so? Why? Are there other mermaids around here?!" She finished, excitedly looking around with wide eyes.
"Nope. I was just... asking. Now, how about we go look at those pretty rocks?" I diverted her questions, and like the gullible little mermaid she was, she fell for it.
I spent the next couple of days both playing and supervising Shelly''s training. I can''t really do much else other than give her a safe environment in which to murder cute little fishies, but that alone was enough for me. Her level had already jumped up to 20,which, according to her memories, was the level of an elite soldier back in her country.
In short, it wasn''t great, but it was enough. She was, however, desperately lacking in magic theory, which she claimed she''d been learning from her mother before they did the whole shebang and vanished.
And so it was that, on the eve of the fourth day after my return and evolution, I told Shelly of my plans.
"Dear. We''re leaving the reef." I told her after she''d woken up and eaten. Her head whipped up, staring at me with her oh so wide eyes. "W-what? Why? I like it here!"
"Don''t worry, dear. We''re going to an even prettier place, but the journey might take some time. Hence, I want you to pack everything up. Trust me, you''re going to love it." ''maybe'', I secretly thought.
"Alright..." She pouted, heading off to collect whatever it was she wanted.
It''s good she doesn''t know my plans, or I doubt she''d be willing to go along with them.