“And what, exactly, makes you an expert at killing snakes?” Raina asked as she stepped out onto the busy streets. I wove between the legs of the crowd, trying to keep pace with her long legs. It was tricky work.

There were just so many people! Twice I nearly found myself under the wheel of a cart. Once I was actually kicked by accident as I scrambled between feet. This wouldn’t do. The ground was a dangerous place for a cat. There were better ways to travel…

“Hold still,” I told my witch. She paused and looked down at me just long enough for me to leap onto her shoulder. Raina flinched as the large bundle of black fur suddenly appeared near her head, but then she relaxed.

“Must you?”

“Your legs are long. Mine are not,” was all the explanation I felt I needed. I crouched on her shoulder, steadying myself by gripping her cloak with my claws. “You were asking what makes me a snake killing expert? Well, I’ll have you know that you are speaking to the mighty warrior who felled the Rattler! It was twice my size and had enough venom to replace my blood twice over, and yet I prevailed.”

“Really?” she said, though her tone held none of the reverent admiration I’d been expecting. “And did this happen before or after you asked the Lord of Eternal Darkness if you could borrow his name?”

“Hey! I really did kill the snake!” I protested. “It really was twice my size!”

“Sure, it was, kitten.”

I flipped my tail in irritation. Not only was she entirely in disbelief regarding my accomplishments, and not in the awe-inspired way that my achievements deserved, but also my perch was too uncomfortable to hold as she walked. I needed a better, more stable method of travel.

Rather than perching like a lesser parrot, I stretched myself around her neck, letting my back paws grip the cloak on her right while the rest of me settled down on her left. This was much more comfortable. With one issue resolved, I could address her irreverence with the calm, collected demeanor befitting a greater being.

“Believe what you like, but I have the title to prove it,” I insisted.

“And what title is that? Pest controller?”

“Blessed by the First One.”

Raina stopped in her tracks and blinked a few times before turning her head to stare at me. “You’re kidding. You heard of that title on the way here. There’s no way you have it.”

“I barely remember the journey from the gates to the Temple. I was too busy keeping my head from spinning off my shoulders, remember?” I answered. “All I remember is that the green-haired man can’t follow directions to save his life.”

“But, that would mean that you have the Inspection ability.”

“Yeah, what of it?” I’d never actually used the skill provided by the dungeon. It hadn’t been high on my priorities to figure out, given everything else that had happened after.

“Use it now. Tell me how many points I have in Internal magic,” Raina instructed. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was, but if she demanded proof of my awesome power, then who was I to deny her?

System Activation of Welcome to Atria

Many abilities exist in Atria and are regulated by the AMSIII. Passive abilities such as strong claws or size are always active. Active abilities will either have a physical trigger, such as speaking a command word or gesture, or will be thought triggered. To activate a thought-triggered ability, pick a target and focus your will on the ability.

Thank you, Amsiii. Your timing is improving by the day.

I looked at Raina, then focused on using Inspection to learn more about her.

Inspecting Friendly Creature.

Name: Raina Whitehex

Species: Human

Type: Humanoid

Level: 7

Titles:

Demon Summoner

Aptitudes:

Environmental: 3

Internal: 2

Energetic: 0

Enervation: 2

Abilities:

Soulbond

Ritualist

Resistances:

None

Description: A blossoming witch from a long line of alchemists and mages.

“You have two points in Internal, two in Enervation, and three in Environmental,” I reported. “Also, an ability called Ritualist, though for some reason Amsiii won’t tell me what spells you know.”

“That’s…incredible,” she breathed. Finally, her words carried the awe I was looking for. I purred in pleasure. It seemed my hench-human could be trained, after all.

“I know I’m amazing.”

“No, you don’t understand,” she continued. “You encountered the First Dungeon. The very first dungeon to ever exist on Atria, the one governed by Etaliva, the Goddess who rose from Atria. It’s legendary!”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Now, you must be pulling my tail,” I said, wondering if her admiration was simply a show for my amusement. “I know I’m a mighty warrior, but it hardly seemed legendary in difficulty.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to believe that I was not the epitome of power in this world. Regardless of how great and majestic I was, the Rattler was more powerful than me. I was small compared to this big new world. I just needed to grow even more powerful. Once I was, then the world would see my greatness.

“All dungeons are required to play on fair terms. That’s Etaliva’s edict: Forced Fairness,” Raina explained. “As a low-level creature, the dungeon molded the challenges to match what was possible, but difficult for you to achieve. Other dungeons won’t even accept solo challengers, or they’ll require you to be a certain level before you’re allowed to enter their domain.”

“That’s awfully nice of them.”

Raina paused her explanation to talk to the guards as we exited the town of Aldar. The people thinned out, and we took a path towards the forest.

“Dungeons are monsters, though, don’t be mistaken,” she continued, “within their domain, they must follow Forced Fairness, but that doesn’t stop them from sending out monsters to attack caravans and destroy towns. My mother used to tell me that they know the more monsters they send, the more likely a party of adventurers will come to them. The more adventurers come, the more die in their depths, the more magic the dungeons can consume to grow stronger.”

“And the First Dungeon is the oldest one?”

She nodded. “You’re lucky to have even encountered it, and luckier to have survived. Many people would kill to have the Inspection ability you now have. Only those who encounter and defeat the First Dungeon in their first 10 levels can claim it, and it takes nearly 100 points in Internal magic in order to cast similar divination spells.”

Interesting. My greatness astounds even me, sometimes. Raina was truly lucky to be able to serve a being such as myself.

As we continued into the forest, I began to practice the skill that Raina had brought to my attention. It didn’t seem to cost much of my mana pool to use, so I inspected everything I could see.

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 0 Firelily

A harmless plant with many alchemical properties.

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 1 Petal Hopper

An individually harmless insect. The powder from this variant can attract a swarm of more powerful creatures.

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 0 Forest Rat

An ordinary rat with no magic

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 2 Elder Oak

An oak that has lived for many centuries. It is sturdier than many of its kin.

It seemed that I could only get the full details on a friendly creature like Raina. It would be less useful against enemies than I thought it would be, but that didn’t make it worthless. For example, had I known that the stupid Petal Hopper dust would draw the bigger ones to me, I might have avoided being attacked by a swarm. With time, I wondered if I could practice and improve that ability enough to be able to identify weaknesses in my enemies?

I continued my inspections.

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 0 squirrel

An ordinary squirrel with no magic

Inspecting neutral creature: Level 3 Sail Hawk

A bird with great stamina that can travel long distances thanks to its large wingspan.

A branch snapped and my ears swiveled to the left. Whatever was there…it was hiding. Was it simply afraid of Raina’s size? Or was it laying an ambush, as I would have done?

I growled and jumped down from my summoner’s shoulder. This thing would regret trying to challenge me. I was a mighty predator. It should have thought twice, or even three times, before trying to pull one over on me.

“What is it?” Raina asked softly. I didn’t answer. I was too focused on the potential threat.

It remained hidden in the bush, but I was certain it was there. I just needed to flush it out. Taking a deep breath, I called upon my magic. The bush shuddered and shook at the touch of Telekinesis III.

An instant later, a long gray and yellow streak leapt from the bush and shot like a firecracker towards Raina. I was ready for it. I threw myself into the air, wrapping my teeth around a wing and my claws around its body. It hissed and writhed in surprise before we landed, and I lunged for its spine. The serpent was dead before it could even put up a fight.

Congratulations. Level 5 Winged Serpent defeated. Experience gained.

I took a moment to inspect the dead reptile before me.

Inspecting hostile creature: Level 5 Winged Serpent

A venomous serpent that has evolved with the ability to fly. They are extremely territorial.

Territorial? If this was serpent territory, then why did Raina take this path to get to town? People would know about a nest of angry Level 5 vipers attacking travelers.

More of the bushes began to rustle around us. Something wasn’t right about this…

“Are there normally snakes on your walk?” I asked, growling and puffing out my fur in challenge.

“No. That only started yesterday,” Raina whispered. “They came out of nowhere and I ran. They chased me all the way to town.”

Well, we were about to discover just how many winged snakes considered this place their territory.

Another serpent streaked through the air, also going straight for Raina. She squeaked, and I felt her pull from our combined magical reservoirs. Her skin became covered in a shimmering coat of magic. The serpents fangs glanced harmlessly off the shield. In its stunned state, I lunged, sinking my own fangs into its spine and killing it instantly.

Congratulations. Level 5 Winged Serpent defeated. Experience gained.

Two more of the venomous snakes leapt out from behind us, hissing angrily as they darted towards us. This time, rather than both going straight for Raina, one of them rightly deduced that I was a bigger threat. After all, I’d killed two of its companions to her zero.

It lunged at me, and I swiped at it, claws extended. It aborted the attack just in time to avoid my claws. A moment later, it coiled on the ground, spreading its wings in an attempt to seem fierce. I wasn’t impressed. It was only about the same size as me. Compared to the Rattler, this was just a kitten’s toy.

Now, it was my turn to dart forward. It responded by trying to bite me as I passed, but its teeth closed on empty air before I darted around it and sank my own into its spine.

Congratulations. Level 5 Winged Serpent defeated. Experience gained.

Another dead serpent fell next to it, though I didn’t get the credit for that one. It had withered into a dehydrated husk as Raina used her own version of Drain on it. She was more skilled than I, which made sense given that I had gotten the ability from her in the first place.

“There have never been this many of them before!” she insisted. That hardly surprised me. I was getting a bad taste in my mouth, and it wasn’t snake blood.

The assault wasn’t over, however. My ears swiveled to the bush behind me just as three of the snakes lunged at me. I leapt to the side, dodging two of them. The third was quick, however, twisting itself to the side and sinking its fangs into my hindquarters just before I slipped out of range. I hissed in fury before lunging at that particular snake.

My magic swirled as I activated the Chill + Drain combination. It writhed as tiny ice crystals formed on its scales. I held it there while I swiped at the remaining two. My back leg was going numb, but I wasn’t about to let up. It hissed and twisted, trying to get another bite into me, but it didn’t live long enough to succeed.

Congratulations. Level 5 Winged Serpent defeated. Experience gained.

Then, Raina called upon her magic and proved herself useful once more. A soothing magic, like the cool touch of water after a long hot day, settled over me. The aching in my bite wound lessened.

“We can deal with the injury later, but the venom is neutralized,” she called. I nodded in thanks.

Once more, I lunged at the remaining serpents. They hissed and tried to bite me. I was too quick, sinking my teeth into one of them just as Raina darted forward herself to finish the other.

Congratulations. Two Level 5 Winged Serpents defeated. Experience gained.

At least I’d gotten some credit for the one that had attacked me. No more snakes rustled in the bushes from what I could hear.

“You’re hurt, Malzy,” Raina murmured. “I have bandages back at the cottage, but the poison is cleared.”

“Just hold me. I’ll heal myself.”

She did as instructed, picking me up gently to avoid jostling the bleeding bite. I began to purr as we continued towards the cottage.

“My mother and I have lived here my whole life, and there have never been so many snakes before,” she said.

“A concerning thing, given that they are described as territorial,” I added. “How many were there in yesterday’s attack?”

“I’m not sure…maybe twenty?”

“A lot more than a new nest would hold, I think.”

“You think they migrated from elsewhere?”

I shook my head. “I think they were planted by someone. How many people live out in the woods?”

“Just me.”

I did not like the implications. Someone may have been targeting my witch and trying to make it look like an accident.

That fear was only heightened when we reached the cottage itself. Raina gasped in horror. The door was hanging off its hinges.