章 14: Snake Spaghetti
Leaving the tunnel, I returned to the cave where I was met with my snake brethren.
Their thirty heat signatures crowded me at once, all standing up on their tails like little bendy straws.
To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. Why were their beady black eyes glistening as they looked at me? Had they forgotten about me?
Did they think I was an enemy since I didn't mingle with any of them?
Goldfish memory, noted.
"Hey all." I said. "I'm just returning to the nest. Long-time no see."
How exactly did snakes communicate? The words turned into hisses out of my mouth and I hoped they understood me and did not take offence.
"I'm one of you, you know. You don't have to look so confused. I just haven't been here in a while." I hissed again, trying to get my point across.
I was surprised the nestlings were still in the same place I'd left them. More than a day had passed since then, yet none had attempted to leave the nest or venture away from the cushioned areas to explore, showing no interest.
Weren't they curious at all of their surroundings?
Short attention span, noted.
They all had identical markings of black speckles over a silverish grey body, with two miniature bumps above the eyes on each of their heads.
These bumps were probably some sort of horn, but they were so tiny it was hardly visible. They could easily have passed for raised scales.
The hopes I had of my starting specie being an intelligent race was beginning to fade. Why were these nestlings all staring at me like I was a stranger?
They should recognise me as one of them by now, we all looked exactly the same. I'm not here to attack, you know.
Poor perception, noted.
I had to raise the white flag, make them see I was not a threat. I gestured to them, my body bending into a curly shape as I moved my head from side to side, in a little body wriggle I thought looked sufficiently harmless.
If I looked feeble like wobbly spaghetti they should leave me alone. Right?
But something strange seemed to be happening.
The nestlings had begun to track my movements, their heads turning this way and that, like how a cat's eyes followed a swinging plush toy.
If I moved left, they moved left. If I bent right, they bent right. Soon each of their bodies began swaying in the same way as mine. Following my movements with an exact copy of their own, as they wriggled together in a strange sort of dance.
They had become multiple reflections of me, like I were walking in the house of mirrors. If my reflection hadn't become that of a snakes, I would have been convinced I was in a funfair back on earth.
Copycat nestlings, how adorable.
Hold on. They're not supposed to copy me! Why were they going along with this so easily? What if I was a real enemy? They would all be dead by now.
It was not okay for them to be this relaxed!
Looking at all the wobbly spaghetti's I sighed. This was clearly just a normal snake with below average intelligence, perhaps zero intelligence.
What superior specie would be hypnotised to this extent by a dancing snake?
To conclusion, my starting specie were complete idiots.
Sensei laughed at the spectacle, offering a valid solution.
«Snakes recognise each other through pheromones. Move closer and let them smell you.»
Right, pheromones. I should have done that from the start.
I slithered over to the nearest snake. Soon many forked tongues jabbed in my direction, flicking as they sensed the air.
Once satisfied I was one of them, they broke away from me to return to the nest. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I had been afraid they would jump and attack me all together in a mass horde, like the creatures I'd heard that engaged in cannibalism as soon as they were born.
I wondered if it were possible for a snake to be poisoned by venom.
Snakes should have a natural tolerance since they carried venom themselves, but if I were bitten by so many fangs, I'd probably die more from the wounds than any poison.
Luckily, my fellow snakelets did not seem to be hungry. I hadn't eaten yet and I seemed to move around just fine.
Just as I thought this, I saw the nestlings that left me, return to the nest and start munching on the dry cracks of their egg shells, like it were some sort of snack.
I stared, mouth hanging open, transfixed.
What did they think they were doing?
Where was the intelligent species I hoped they would be? My dreams of an intellectual snake army proofed into thin air.
Don't do something so disgraceful! Egg shells are not food, I cried internally.
But I didn't lose hope, perhaps the adult of the species were smarter than the new-borns. I was yet to meet any, so I would remain hopeful until then.
But for now, I wanted to hide my face at their shameful behaviour.
Maybe because I was formally a human and had kept my memories, I was much smarter than the average snake. Which reminded me.
"Sensei what are my stats?" I was a bit excited.
A screen materialised in front of me showing the results. Just like in a game!
______________
Name: Aurelia LV1 [Small Hatchling Snake]
Specie: Cerastes Vipera
HP: 30/30 Defence: 15
MP: 08/08 Intellect: 38
SP: 26/26 Magic: 8
Attack: 20 Agility: 25
Skills:
[Bite: LV1] [Poison Fang: LV1]
[Scent: LV1] [Heat Sense: LV1]
Title: [Apostle]
Unique Skill: [Devour]
Experience Points: [0]
______________
As expected, intelligence was the highest. But something else also caught my eye.
Magic! But how exactly do you use it? Hmm.
I stared at the rest of my stats, the values still unclear. My defence was low, my magic even lower. How did the magic in this world work again? I didn't know any spells to cast, or have a magic wand like Sailor Moon.
Its value was low compared to the other stats, so it was probably very weak.
The only things that seemed good were my agility and intellect. My attack was average.
Sigh. This didn't look good.
I was surprised my name had followed me from my past life. It couldn't be helped I suppose, since monsters were typically nameless, and I was a human before.
All my fellow nestlings would probably show up as nameless. I wished I had a skill that let me see the status of others, so I could compared my stats to theirs.
I shouldn't be a stretch to also have something like Status Inspection or Appraisal, since I possessed an all knowing system.
I wanted to see if it would work so I moved to the area where the nestlings were gathered.
The system window was still open so I put a nestling in my line of sight, and let the system window hover over it, to see if like a game it would detect a lifeform and show me its level.
But, nothing came up on the screen.
The nestling peered up at me curiously before continuing to bite its egg shell, completely unbothered.
I hovered over the nestling some more, yet the window did not see its values change. It seemed it could only display my own stats.
Useless! Can't even do something so basic. Such a backward system!
It could be Sensei was just playing a prank, since he was the type to want me to ask him for everything, so I swallowed my pride and spoke in my fake cute voice.
"Sensei, can you show me the stats of one snake?"
I wanted to see where I stood with my stats, but with nothing to compare myself to, I couldn't exactly be confident.
For all I knew the average monster on this planet had triple digit stats, while I had stats still in singles like some weak grub.
I had to see something else to check if I was truly weak or strong.
But I shouldn't be so weak, right. The goddess would not put me on this planet just to die in one hit, right?
Haah…
With that warped sense of humour she probably would. I was so screwed.
«No. I can't tell you. You'd have to purchase the required skill in store.» He answered.
"Eh? So you do know." I caught the key point.
«Of course. I can see the value of everything.» He replied, rather smugly.
"Tell me. This is an emergency. How can you let me go out there not knowing how weak I am? What if I were to die in one hit?"
«That's up to you.» He remained unfazed.
Hieee! This uncaring person!
I'm your former student you know. How can you be this heartless towards me where I have no one else to depend on?
Alright, lets try the guilt approach, since you want to play that way.
"So you'd be fine with me dying? Because that's exactly what will happen if I go out blind."
Okay, I knew asking this was low. He had died saving us in my past life, after all. But what was a girl to do when faced with an immovable wall? Become an emotional bulldozer to break through, of course!
Sensei breathed a sigh of exhaustion. Was he breaking? Nice going, emotional me!
«Alright. Since you want me to sell you something when you don't have any money. Would you rather I set the currency to the years of your life?
Your species lives for 18 years on average, that's worth... [260XP]. Appraisal costs [100XP]. Shall I deduct your life in exchange for it since it's such an emergency?»
Wait…
"NO! No don't! Don't even try it! It was a joke! A joke, alright!"
Why did this system suddenly sound like the devil!? 18 years? 260 points. Are you telling me my life was only worth a measly 260 points? What the hell!
Wait, did he just say I'd reach old age at age 18? How miserable!
I forgot I wasn't dealing with a fellow human. No way would Sensei be moved by emotional manipulation now that his composition was something else entirely.
Ah. A snake's life was truly hard, fighting all day in the dungeon only to die of old age when the typical human was just reaching adulthood.
Why the hell was I born as a snake!
«Alright. The currency shall be reset to Experience Points as standard.»
Sigh. Finding out I could actually deduct my life to buy skills was too cruel. What an absurd setting.
Wasn't this exactly like those people who invested all their money in a company, only to find out it was an empty promise of return on a pyramid scheme.
Yeah… let's never use that one, not even on an especially bad rainy day. It just wasn't worth it.
"Okay, show me the store." I sighed.
It wouldn't hurt to see what was available... and who doesn't like a little window shopping.
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