[OLD] So I'm a Snake, So What? (Kumodesu x OC)

24 - Uneventful Stroll (2)

Over the time I spent in the Labyrinth, I realized something:『Appraisal』isn't something unnoticeable. It's something that can be felt by the one being Appraised. 

It's sort of like someone's staring at you from somewhere off in the distance; you can't tell exactly where they're looking at you from, but you can feel it, and you know they're there.

I guess that holds true even with『Tyranny』's remote form of Appraisal. And on top of that, it seems I went and found out another feature of the Skill.

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[A Few Months Prior; Great Elroe Labyrinth, Middle Stratum]

The Elroe Gunerush can be described simply as: A low-ranking wyrm species. It lacks in both intelligence and the skills or stats to make it anything even mildly resembling a threat to any notable species within or outside of the Labyrinth's Middle Stratum.

As was the case for the one that found itself under the whims of the newly-evolved Elroe Fedelanca it had so carelessly engaged.

Too stupid to understand just how utterly outclassed it was, it attacked blindly; without strategy; and in the end, it was defeated, and enslaved.

Even as its body was strung along like a puppet, operating against its will, it couldn't comprehend what was going on ─ couldn't process any thought or emotion past its instinctual fear, its drive to run away from the danger that was now using it as a living raft, and the searing pain that came with every movement of its battered and broken body ─ feeling its life slip away bit-by-bit with each point of HP.

At some point, it could feel its end coming soon as its HP ticked down to 1. For the most part, it was more panicked and fearful than it had been before, however there was a part of it that was somewhat glad that it would soon be free from its newfound hell.

But then, that was stripped from it as well. After all, it had no use as a corpse.

Quickly after that, fear faded out of its mind to make way for confusion. Had it been capable of intelligent thought, an endless train of "Why"s and "What"s would have been barrelling around in its head, looking for answers that it would likely never receive, as the cycle continued ─ as it walked along the line between life and death over and over again, each time more agonizing and gut-wrenching than the last ─ it grew desperate.

Desperate for death ─ to be released from its suffering, but that never came. That freedom was robbed from it again and again and again, and soon enough, its suffering ─ its confusion, its desperation, its fear, its desire, its sorrow ─ it all disappeared.

Everything vanished into thin air, as if they never existed to begin with, and in its place came a blinding, burning rage.

However, even with that fire burning within it, it had no way to express it with its body out of its control, operating off the orders of the one it really wanted to burn asunder. It could only build its anger, and count the seconds until either death claimed it, or it was given the chance to let loose on its target.

In the end, it was granted neither opportunity, as a monster far more fearsome than both it and its puppeteer appeared before it, and within moments of its arrival, scorching flames rained down on it in a powerful torrent. Thankfully for it,『Heat Nullification』served to keep it from taking any substantial damage, however, the same couldn't be said for the snake monster on its back.

In moments, the snake had burned to a crisp, the remnants of it crumbling away and falling into the magma below.

The monster disappeared back from where it came, as if the seahorse was of no interest to it, and soon after, its autonomy returned to it, but instead of swimming off anywhere, it simply sank into the magma ─ limp and unmoving.

Still trying to grasp the situation it had just been forced into, and with rage burning violently in its heart, what was there for it to do?

Well, coming out of what it had been through in such a short time frame with a growing intelligence and a vast hatred, the only thing it could think to do was lash out at whatever came its way, perhaps searching for the monster that had tortured it.

However, having not been mentally developed enough to realize that its target had already been dealt with, and blinded by anger, it did as it had before ─ blindly flinging at whatever came into its range of perception.

It started with a group of its own kind. While it had just as many means of combat as them in the form of fireballs and basic physical attacks, it set itself apart from the rest of its kind with its newfound intellect and『HP Auto-Recovery』.

However, even through the haze of its rage, fear still managed to dominate it. Though this wound up being for the best, as this pushed it away from monsters that clearly outmatched it, leading it to hunt down an untold number of Elroe Gunerush, until eventually it came time to evolve.

With that evolution, fear's hold on it weakened, and its fellow catfish became part of its list of kills. Again, it killed and ate and killed and ate, just as it had before, till it evolved once more, and its fear weakened once more, opening its sights to a new set of prey.

However, its cycle would be interrupted by a strange sensation in its soul. As it laid down to rest after a full day of hunting, a familiar feeling washed over it; as if some unseen force was bearing down on every aspect of its being ─ scrutinizing and controlling.

It didn't take long for it to recognize what was going on, bitter memories playing in its head. Its anger boiled over once more, and that showed itself as a powerful roar that it let loose both in and outside of its mind.

Unfortunately for the one prying into its soul, it hadn't severed its connection with the wyrm before its cry rang out.

《Proficiency threshold has been reached.『Heresy Resistance』has risen to LV6.》

.

GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

'Ack...! I guess those are the drawbacks of this skill; or maybe just a lapse in judgement... At the very least, this is good information: Communication is possible through that screen.'

Luckily, cutting off the connection was something I could do as well, seeing as the Gunerave was busy screaming its mental lungs out at me.

Ryoshi looked at me worriedly, clearly wondering what had happened to make me reel back in pain in the middle of the walk, but even as he rushed over to me,

"My Lord! Are you alright?"

All I could do was smile, even if my face didn't let me physically convey that, "Oh, I'm better than alright, Ryoshi. In fact, I'm doing absolutely fantastic, cause I just got an idea..."

Finally, I had an objective after making it out of the Labyrinth; as ironic as that objective was.

"Let's keep going. I've gotta get ready to go take my property back~"

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