Alright, let’s think about this logically. I’m in a safe place here around this island. I am the apex predator here as far as I know, though I haven’t really explored much. I have that bonus that somehow makes it easier for me to stay the apex predator in an area, but I don’t know how that works, so I can’t rely on it or manipulate it. I am capable of eating two grown men whole and not be full – don’t think about that – so I think I might just be big enough for now. Out with options 1 and 2 then. The Amphibious Snakeling intrigues me with its ability to breath seemingly anywhere, and the rest of it is also promising.

Now, the Monster Core. I have a very strong hunch that this is something I should get as soon as possible. Mana means magic, and magic means I don’t necessarily need to be the biggest to be the strongest. Big is still going to be better though, let’s be real. I’m already over a dozen meters long though and if I get any bigger, I might not fit in my cave. My cave is my safe haven! I need it! I earned it fair and square by cannibalizing several hundred of my siblings and I don’t want to have to abandon it just yet.

Alright, while the Amphibious Snakeling might not make me much bigger, I’m still going with the Monster Core. It just seems like the smart decision. My situation might change drastically before my next evolution, so I think keeping my options open with the Monster Core might be the best choice.

Evolve a Monster Core!

{Evolution commencing. If you are not already in a safe place, I recommend regretting the choices that brought you to this point. Beginning now.}

What was that? Sass? Snark? A bad sense of hum-

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

Ah!

Is it over? Wha? How long have I been out? Do I have a Monster Core now? Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 5

Skill points: 7

Biomass: 21

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 3

(Devouring Vacuum) Lvl 4

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 4

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Eyes +3: Tongue +2: Inner Ears +0

Okay, I have a core now. I don’t really know how to use it though, and where are the [Skills] I was supposed to get? Don’t tell me I need buy them. Though maybe that isn’t so bad. I have 7 Skill Points I have yet to use, and I need to do something with all that Biomass. I got 19 Biomass for those two humans? Damn, that’s a lot. I got 11 for everything else I’ve eaten, and I’ve eaten a lot. Should I try to find more humans? I feel like I should, but I also feel like I shouldn’t. Damn it, why am I even considering this, eating humans has never turned out well for any animal! Maneaters get hunted down and killed as soon as they’re known, that has always been the truth! That is, it has always been true where I’m from, where there are no monsters, only animals.

I’m going to focus on something else. Show me the [Skills] I can buy since I have a core. Hmm, only 1?

(Mana Manipulation)

// Allows a monster to manipulate the mana inside their Core to a basic degree. //

Huh, so it’s a practice [Skill]? Well, let’s buy it!

I can already feel that something has changed. There is a small ball inside me, about half a meter away from my head. It’s tiny in size but I get a sense of power from it, like a tiny bomb.

Shudder

Let’s not think of that, I’m sure it won’t kill me. Let’s instead try out this new [Skill].

I use my new [Skill] and like with the others, it’s almost an automatic process. Unlike the others though, it’s tiring. I’ve barely started and I’m already feeling strained. I push through it though and guide a portion of what I guess is mana up my body until it reaches my mouth. There I try to expel it out of my mouth, but this proves harder than I’d thought. I had intended to expel it with a breath, but then I realized I breathe with gills. I reroute the mana to my left gills and there I manage to sort of attach it to the water that leaves my gills and I see a slight blur of blue in my peripheral vision for a moment. I do this a few more times, swapping between sides as I do, but on the 11th try I lose control and my Core feels empty.

What level is (Mana Manipulation)?

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl: 2

God damn it. Can you just tell me from this point on when (Mana Manipulation) levels up?

…

No answer huh, well I hope it works anyway. I’m getting out there now to get some grub, I’m starving here.

I exit the cave and grab a few small fish to take the edge of my hunger. I find myself a small school of fish and suction them all up. Then I decide that I should explore a bit. I’ve left myself in the dark by not exploring my surroundings more. I swim around a bit, this time going the opposite direction relative to my cave. I see many patches of seaweed, and something colorful in the distance. I swim towards the colors. When I’m closer I see that what I just swam into is a reef. A genuine coral reef!

I watch the hustle and bustle in amazement from some distance, as I would likely scare every fish in the reef away if they saw my come any closer. Already the part closest to me is almost completely devoid of any fish, and even the crabs on the bottom are running away from me. I wriggle myself to the seafloor in an attempt to hide a bit and maybe grab an unaware snack. I try to bury myself in the sand, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it.

Show me any [Skills] that would let be bury into the sand.

Okay. There are a few, but I think (Dig) should be the obvious choice.

(Dig)

// Makes digging of any kind easier by providing instinctive guidance towards the best dig spots. Works on every kind of surface. Usefulness varies. //

Hmm, oh alright I see what I did wrong. I need to shift to over here, and do this… and then wriggle like so, slither a bit, shake, make breathing room, scoop the sand out, and done!

Using my new digging instincts, I managed to make myself a small hovel in the sand right next to the coral reef that should let me hide from any potential prey or predator. I hadn’t seen any predator that could hope to match me, but better safe than sorry.

And so, I wait for something to happen. I wait a long time, completely still. I keep my eyes on my surroundings, but while life returns to the coral reef, no fish venture very far away from it. That’s when I begin to rethink my strategy.

It had been a good idea in theory, but if no fish strayed away from the coral reef then my hovel was pretty useless. I need to either lure them here or move closer to the coral reef if I want to pull of this whole ‘ambush predator’ thing. I don’t have any bait though, so I guess the only choice is moving clos-

But I do. I have my Hypnotic Scales. With some more maneuvering I might just be able to make fish swim right up against my mouth, and then I only need to use (Devouring Vacuum) and bam, easy peasy.

I enact my plan and in less than a minute, a curious fish swims up to the glittering light on the tip of my nose and pecks it. It does this a few times while I bathe in the glory of knowing my plan works. I suck it up, and it’s glorious. The water around my exposed gills is disturbed, but other than that there is no hint of anything out of place, and even as I feel the last fish hasn’t fully entered my stomach another swims over and the whole thing repeats itself. This happens over and over again until I feel like I need to start loosening my belt. Of course, I’m a snake so I don’t have a belt, but my hiding place is getting tight in all the wrong places. I deal with it like a grown snake though and stick to my hiding spot until I’m completely full.

Upon exiting my hovel I’ve yet again achieved chubby snake status, and every fish within sight quickly either hides or makes a run for it.

Yeah, you should be scared! Not really though, I look bigger than before because I’ve tripled in width, but I couldn’t possibly fit another fish in there. Unless…

(Enlarge)

There, now I can fit a few more.

I swim back to my cave, using (Devouring Vacuum) to suck up a few fish that didn’t notice me, until I really can’t eat any more. I enter the cave with some minor difficulties, but after I do, I coil up on the floor and use (Gastric Burst).

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

I wake up feeling a bit drowsy, which is a first. I usually wake up completely refreshed. I consider it quickly, and I figure it probably has to do with the Monster Core and my practice with (Mana Manipulation). Hmm. Status.

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 5

Skill points: 5

Biomass: 22

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 4

(Devouring Vacuum) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Ravaging Vacuum)}

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 4

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 2

(Dig) Lvl 2

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Eyes +3: Tongue +2: Inner Ears +0

That whole maneater thing really distracted me before, but this time I’ll really use that Biomass. Then I’ll think about [Skills]. Stuffing myself with fish gave me only a single point of Biomass. Don’t think about it. Okay, I should really focus on getting those mutations as soon as possible, so let’s do some math.

I have 22 Biomass, that will let me upgrade 22 modifications from +0 to +1, 11 from +1 to +2, 7 from +2 to +3, 5 from +3 to +4, and 4 from +4 to +5. If I decide to go with a pyramid plan, then I can get everything up to +3 at least, and be left with 3 Biomass for later. What I really want to do though, is to get as many things up to +5 as possible, so I can get Eyes and Tongue to +5 for 21 Biomass and have 1 left over that I can use on Inner Ears if I want. I do feel a bit bad about just leaving Venom Glands and Injector Fangs at a measly +1 when I know they’re so strong already, but then again, if they’re so strong already, then they don’t need to be any stronger. Maybe I’ll regret this choice once I finally meet another monster, but for now this seems like the smartest choice.

Go on then! Do me dirty, Voice in my Head!

{Command not recognized. Please try again.}

Agh, fine. Spend Biomass on upgrading Eyes and Tongue to +5, and Inner Ears to +1.

{Eyes increased to +5. Mutation available. Please choose a mutation from the list.}

Ah, here we are. Already my eyes feel sharper. Gone is the blur from my peripheral vision, and I’m only now noticing that the glowing plants in my cave are probably fungi, and not plants. Whatever, I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

The Mutation List is as massive this time as with the scales.

Sort into the same offence, defense, and special lists as before.

Okay, this is useful. Since most upgrades to Eyes are to somehow see better, the offence and defense lists are very limited in scope. I can go through them quickly and then move over to the special list.

I skim the two lists, but nothing catches my eye, so I move over to the main dish.

Only show upgrades that let me see farther, while retaining my ability to see around myself.

The list shrank, but not enough.

Then I had a change of mind. Maybe I could actually focus my sight in front of myself and use my other senses to watch my back. Tongue was next in line for a mutation, so maybe that would work.

Let’s do it. I’m gimping myself if I don’t focus my mutations.

Show all upgrades that focus specifically on granting me frontal vision and ignore my previous command.

The list shrank quite a bit more this time, and almost every choice lessened my field of vison to 200 degrees or less. There was even one that gave me owl-like eyes, capable of seeing details at great distances in low-light conditions, but left me unable to move my eyes at all. The one thing that most of these had in common however, was that they made me look really derpy. Either my eyes got too close together, or they were too big, or too small. I couldn’t look stupid after all. Then I wouldn’t be respected.

Okay, amend that last order. Only show me mutations that don’t change the size or positioning of my eyes, but only those that let me see farther in front of myself.

Ahh, now this is a list I can work with, and right here is exactly what I was looking for.

Scoped Eyes Mutation: Develop a special eyelid over each eye that magnifies a very limited field of view in front of you while lowered.

This is it; I choose you!

{Tongue increased to +5. Mutation available. Please choose a mutation from the list.}

Again, another very long list, but I had a very specific use in mind for my tongue.

Show only mutations that allow me to feel miniscule quantities of organic matter in the water.

I was going to use this as a sort of compass for the general area of prey, then my eyes would reveal their exact location to me. Ears were going to become my warning system. They would be my way of feeling for approaching danger, but since I hadn’t actually ever been in any serious danger, and none from other sea creatures, I felt good about leaving them at +1 for now.

Ahh, here it is.

Hollow Tongue Mutation: Sense tiny particles in the water with great accuracy by flicking out a forked tongue and then drawing water through the prongs into the mouth, and out the gills. A dense net of olfactory ducts inside the tongue allows for accurate sensing of the direction of prey using the two prongs as directional guides.

Perfection. It’s like it was tailor made for me! Though with the amount of choices I think there’s surely something there for everyone.

{Mutating Scoped Eyes and Hollow Tongue. This will be over quickly.}

I feel like I’m forgetting something. I can’t seem to figure it out, but I can feel it right on the tip of my tongue! Actually, it’s everywhere on my tongue now and my eyes itch like crazy all of a sudden. Oh, now I remember.

After writhing around and maybe banging my head up against the cave wall – everything during the itch is a bit of a blur – I regain full cognitive functions.

{Inner Ears increased to +1}

I wait with baited breath, but I only end up feeling a refreshing loosening in my ears, like yawning after a flight. I guess it’s only torture when I mutate them. Thank god for that, or perhaps the voice in my head. Whichever it is, I’m thankful for at least this small relive.

Now for (Devouring Vacuum). I can upgrade it to (Ravenous Vacuum) with a skill point, but I don’t know what will happen if I do. Will it change somehow, or is this just a straight upgrade in power? It has never been very tiring to use, and since it routes the water to my gills I can still breath even while using it. Maybe it would be better to not upgrade this? I do depend on it a lot, and if it changes somehow then it might not be as useful anymore. Then again, since I’m not given any choice in how it will change, it probably has either a linear line of progression or it upgrades depending on how I’ve been utilizing it, and ravenous is a very apt description of myself. I should upgrade it.

Upgrade (Devouring Vacuum) to (Ravenous Vacuum).

{Upgrading (Devouring Vacuum) to (Ravenous Vacuum).}

Huh, turns out there is more to sucking up seawater than just sucking up seawater, who’d have guessed.

(Ravenous Vacuum)

// Further builds upon the strengths of (Devouring Vacuum) by providing instinctive tells of when to activate to minimize the chance of prey escaping. //

I can’t say I’ve noticed much prey escape from the S U C C but I guess it’s good to have, though I think it would have been better to buy a new [Skill] than to get this slight upgrade. Well, no matter. Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 5

Skill points: 4

Biomass: 0

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 4

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 1

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 4

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 2

(Dig) Lvl 2

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +1

Well, I’m looking good, I’d say. I’d like to see a fellow tier 0 monster with all of this! No, actually, I’d prefer if I never saw another monster. I’m fine with being the uncontested apex predator of this island’s coast. I prefer slow gains without the threat of death looming over me.

It would probably be best to go back to exploring. If there was one Coastal Snakeling nest here then it stands to reason that this is a good nesting ground for them. I’ll see if I can make a lap around this island and look for other snakes. I might even find more humans.

Haah. Why do all my thoughts of food always circle back to humans? Maybe I’m being silly to hold on to my human identity so tightly. I don’t even remember anything about myself except by proxy. All memories of mirrors, water surfaces, or even just looking down are blurred to the point I can’t tell if I had 1 or 8 legs. If I wasn’t so certain that nothing but humans had the ability to think like I do, I’d be confused about what I even was. I can’t stay attached to something that no longer exists, so I should let this go.

The problem is that I still exist. It was my human mind that allowed me to get (Enlarge) as an infant, and that was what let me evolve as fast as I did, and thus dominate my clutch. If I had not had that, then I wouldn’t have known that I had to get bigger fast if I wanted to survive. Even if I had been born a sapient snake I wouldn’t have known what to do except follow my instincts, and those would have probably told me to flee the cave like every other snake that hatched before the bloodbath, thus I likely wouldn’t have become the apex predator of this area without a more serious fight where I would have been much more likely to die. This means that being human has already saved me once, and it will likely save me again.

The problem with that kind of thinking though is that even if I eat more humans, I won’t become stupid, so really, why can’t I have both?

Because eating sapient things is wrong. A cow doesn’t realize its own mortality except by instinct. It can’t realize the implications of a slaughterhouse, or even a pen. It doesn’t dread an insinuation of death. The real question though, is why I’m considering humans, but have written of monsters as a food source?

I haven’t yet seen another monster though, so I don’t know if I can even consider them as anything other than a danger or a threat. Humans, by comparison, are known to me. Even in a world of fantasy, so long as this isn’t some kind of cultivating eastern fantasy, a strong man will die when his heart is pierced, his head is crushed, or his breathe is robbed. I’ve killed two already, and they were very easy to kill.

What about the morality of it though? Would I want to be eaten?

Well, no, but that’s what I’m trying to avoid by eating easily killed, but very rewarding creatures like humans. So, if I really don’t want to be eaten, then I should eat more humans. This makes sense to me, so it should also make sense to me.

It does make sense, but the fact remains that I’m only a snake in body. In mind I’m a human. My snake and human instincts might be mixing a bit weirdly and making me want to eat mermaids to feel them alive inside me, but eating a human should be something to be avoided still, for my own peace of mind. How about this; I don’t eat humans, but I can eat other sapient individuals, how about that?

But why them and not humans? If the argument is about not eating sapient things then it’s all or nothing, no playing favorites. Should I eat some fantasy elf man who’s trying to provide for his family over a human psychopath murderer if I’m ever starving? That seems like selective cruelty to me, like I’m choosing who’s worthy of life by the merit of their birth.

Then I should go by the merits of their actions. If I’m in that situation, then I eat the murderer, and the species doesn’t come into play at all. If I don’t know who’s worse though, or the choice is between two individuals of equally high ethical standpoints, do I eat neither, or whoever is easier to kill?

Well, that’s obvious without even thinking about it. I of course eat both if I have the room. Only if I thought eating them was somehow detrimental to myself, like if there were more people than I could handle, should I scorn the plentiful feast before my newly enhanced eyes and keep to a less rewarding diet of animals. Besides, if there are humans swimming in the same water as the nests of Coastal Snakelings, a ‘terror of the coast’, then they need to be culled so they don’t contaminate the gene pool. I don’t see why I should make other people’s problems my own. I don’t feel the need to socialize, so being alone doesn’t really scare me. I can’t socialize with humans anyway, since I can’t understand them, and neither can they understand me.

Well, I guess that settles that. I’m going to become a cannibal of both my species. Hell yeah. I guess I won’t really seek out humans, but if I find one in the water then he’s done for.

What about boats and ships then? Should I kill people on boats and ships too? They’re not showing the required stupidity to swim in the same water as me and make the act of killing them a mercy to their species. Do I treat that on a case-by-case basis? A hunger-by-hunger basis?

If I can eat it, I should eat it. That’s what I should go with. It’s the key to this sort of world, I’m convinced of it. Now let’s go out and practice what I’m preaching!

I leave my cave with a swagger in my wriggling. I had come to a decision on the whole ‘eating humans’ issue, and it was showing. I felt lighter than before, and if I had lips still, I would be smiling. I swim around, just playing with my new mutations a bit to get used to them.

The Scoped Eyes were amazing, I could see so much farther than before! There was a little blurring when the eyelid was settling and again when I raised it, but for seeing a distinct and colored shape in the water at a distance where I only otherwise saw a speck was so worth it.

The Hollow Tongue was a bit different. I still didn’t really know any distinct smells because I had been relying on me eyes or ears for everything like a human would. I knew the smell of blood because of the birthday bloodbath, but besides that I only knew the eggy smell of my egg.

All in all, it was as I had hoped. I could use my sensory organs just as I had wanted to. Since I still have my normal eyesight as well, I can still use my eyes to make the final approach towards my prey and accurately bite or vacuum them. Now I just have to upgrade my ears and I’ll have no blind spots! I wish I had some more senses too to be honest. I feel like a gimped land snake with gills… I know land snakes can sense vibrations, and surely sea snakes should have something to make up for that, right?

Maybe I’ll get an answer to that later, but for now, I smell blood in the water.

I swim towards the direction my tongue tells me, and it isn’t until I’ve been swimming for at least 10 minutes that I realize the smell I’m following is ridiculously far away. It still has barely increased in strength at all, and I might get lost if I stray to far from my island. It is with a heavy heart that I make the decision to head back and find some other source of food.

When I’m halfway back to my island however, I smell blood coming from the stump with the fish and head there. I’m almost sure that what I’m heading for is the same smell as originally drew me to it, but then I compare it in my head and I realize this smell is slightly different. I know the smell, but it smells distinctly different from both snakeling blood and fish blood. It was human blood.

I remain intrigued the whole way to the fishery. I know it can’t be the two men I ate, as there was too little blood that got into the water for it to remain even now, and I should have smelled this before the incredibly faint one. The smell gets stronger every time I flick my tongue, until it’s so powerful I feel like I shouldn’t be able to smell anything else at all. My instincts are telling me that this is not very much blood at all, and while my mind would disagree there is something glaringly obvious that proves my instincts right.

I can’t see any blood still.

My tongue is so powerful that I might just be a match for sharks at this point in terms of smeller. I don’t think I’m a match for them otherwise though. I might be very long and quite thick, but I feel a shark could still bite me in two. I’d need a healthy dose of luck to survive an encounter with a hungry shark.

As for the source of the blood? Well… I stuck the top of my head out of the water and used my new scoped eyes to survey the stump. I saw the rowboat I’d measured myself against, but no people. The wreck of the ship was still there, half sunk as I’d left it. Where was the blood coming from?

I swim to the seabed and slowly slither my way towards the stump, flicking my tongue rapidly. I make a slow circle around the whole stump, and I’m sure the blood is coming from it. I tighten my circling and make another round, trying to make out any details with my eyes. I kind of find it.

There is a small pool of blood on the edge of the stump near the rowboat, and I flick my tongue against it.

Yep, that’s indeed human. It’s recent, probably no older than half an hour. I can tell there is more to it, but I don’t know what I’m smelling in it. I might be accurate enough to find it, but I don’t have any reference to compare to so I’m left in the dark a bit. Though I do indeed make out enough to make a decision.

I slither onto the stump slowly, using every one of my limited number of senses to determine if there is danger. If there is blood, there should be a bloodied, and a blooder. It seems reasonable to think a predator might have made there way here, drawn perhaps by the sight of a meal, instead of the smell of blood like I was.

I give the sky a thorough scan for birds, but I see nothing that could even harm me, let alone endanger me.

There’s a path of blood leading from the puddle to the water in the middle and I follow it first with my eyes, and then with my body. I peek over the edge and into the water only about a centimeter below the rim. Inside is a shocking sight.

Floating on the water is a fully nude, human woman probably in her late 20’s, and she’s seen me. I can tell cause she’s talking to me. She makes no distinctly hostile motions, and she doesn’t seem panicked either. There is dried blood on her face, and she’s got a large cut on her forehead still leaking a bit of blood.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I did decide that I would not shrink away from eating humans, but this just feels wrong somehow. I feel like she’s bait. I can’t see, smell or hear anything suspicious despite my best tries. But I know better. I know there were two humans on the island with that rowboat. The other one must be here if she’s this calm. I’ve already circled the whole stump twice, and hiding form me in the water would be stupid anyway, so it has to be right here, on this stump. There is no one in the rowboat, and neither is someone clinging to the outside of the sunken ship, and I’d have found their scent if they were hiding in the water inside it. So that only leaves the stump, where my sense of smell is back to basically the pre upgrade sense. It must be magic. I already know for sure that there is magic in this world, so if everything else is impossible, then it has to either magic, or their waiting in the pool of water somehow. I still have no idea why their hidden, but they have to be!

I circle the pool of water carefully, keeping a certain distance from it at all points. I find nothing like this, so I change tactics and make short walls out of myself around parts of the island at a time and writhe into the center of the part I choice while I try to keep my movements as random as possible so I hopefully snag the sneaky human if he tries to jump away. While doing that though, I plan out where a sneaky human would move if they where trying to avoid me touching them, and then as I’m still closing in on the third part I suddenly leap across the stump, over the pool, and onto the spot right across from where I had been. I’d imagined myself surprising a sneaky human with this maneuver, but there’s nothing.

I’m long and strong enough to keep my body out of the pool of water as I move the rest of my body to the side to not fall in, but I’m a little stumped. I would have stood right there, as far from the obviously suspicious snake as possible. I don’t really know how else to look for them now. Either they’re very well hidden and smarter than me, or they’re in the pool. I take a short swim, my eyes above the water like a flat shark fin. There is also the woman.

I get back on the stump and carefully snake my head to the pool, and the woman is looking at me a bit incredulously. I’m not sure if she’s been talking the entire time, but she is talking now. She’s making a lot of hand movements while she talks. It’s a bit entertaining to be honest. Maybe I was a little lonely after all.

I curl around the pool, and just watch the woman go on for a while. My interest in her does not go unnoticed, and soon she’s increased the pace of her gesturing to a frankly rather incredible rate. She looks angry now, probably because I pushed her clothes into the sea and she’s just realizing it now.

Oh well, she’s still very entertaining. Oh, she’s coming closer? What’s she going to do? Has she deemed me harmless, or is she trying to bait me by getting closer?

The woman surprises me though and leaves the pool of water. In all her naked glory, she walks almost all the way up to me. She just stands there for a time, and while she does that, my eyes feast.

So maybe I am actually really lonely after all. I can tell from my intense desire to swallow her whole and un-venomed so I can feel her struggle inside me. This is still not a feeling I’m comfortable with, nor do I think I ever will be fully comfortable with it. Though maybe this feeling is for the best. I might become a pervert snake if I had my human instincts still unmuddied. That would really suck. I like having at least a semblance of control over myself, so the off-puttingness of my newfound vore fetish might be exactly what is needed to keep my instincts off of women. Though that doesn’t seem to be stopping her.

The woman steps all the way up to me and places a hand on my nose. I make the same ripples as when the sailor touched me, as if my scales were water. The woman startles and steps away, but then steps back my way and places both hands on my nose. It feels a bit weird to be treated like an actual animal, but what the hell, I can’t speak to her anyway.

I flick my tongue out and lick the blood on her face. She is startled again, but it’s only visible on her face and she doesn’t step away. Then she smiles for some reason.

Are you that happy about my barely contained gluttony? I haven’t eaten at all today, and you’re looking like a mighty fine snack. Why, I can just imagine you sliding down my gullet, fighting against the powerful muscles pressing in on you like a whole-body latex suit. I’ll eat you feet first and keep my mouth open just so you can watch the light get further away as I swallow you down. Then you’ll struggle even harder than you thought possible as my stomach acid begins to slowly eat away at your-

{You have been afflicted by (Gypsy’s Curse).}

// You have done something to earn a Gypsy’s wrath, and they have cursed you with a willing blood sacrifice. Since they chose to sacrifice themselves, you have until their death to attempt to make amends and beg for forgiveness before the curse takes a hold of you and they die. //

What the muck?! I’ve been cursed?! By a gypsy?! Where the cluck have I pissed of a gypsy?! I haven’t seen any caravans, hack fortune tellers, nor been robbed! There is nothing to indicate there being any gypsies around! This is an island for snake’s sake! Where – wheeze – are thee- wheeze -se gyp- wheeze – sies!

Wheeeeeze!

I can’t breathe air! I’ve been on land way too long! Back in the water!

SPLASH

Haaaaaaagh… Ah, sweet oxygen. It seems there is a discrepancy in how long I can remain on land. I think I remember snakes having a very slow metabolism, so maybe that helps me stay on land longer when I’m not exaggerating my reaction to being cursed.

Wait, that was a completely reasonable reaction to being flaming cursed! That wasn’t an overreaction in the slightest! How the dell did I earn the wrath of someone I’ve never met?!

Wait…

This happened just as she smiled…

I poke my eyes out of the water, and right there, with a very smug smile, is the naked woman. She’s lain down on her stomach and propped her head up on her hands. I try to glare at her, but with rigid eyebrows it doesn’t quite translate, so I just tilt my head forward till I look like I’m glaring. If the brightening expression on her face is anything to go by then she snakeclammed knows what I’m trying.

[{(Killed mate. Feel it. Curse.)}]

What? Mate? What the schnell is she tal- Is this two way? How do I know it’s her?

[{(Intent. Think. Understand.)}]

Okay… so a crazy woman can think straight into MY head. As if ruining her own mind wasn’t good enough. I might become the first person to ever contract crazy like a common cold. Ooh, she’s not happy now, this is definitely two way.

[{(Killed mate. Not crazy. Grieving. Did this. Fault. Monster.)}]

So, this is probably the ‘attempt to make amends and beg forgiveness’ part of the curse. I honestly figured I’d be grit out of luck with that part because of the whole monster/human barrier. Well, a curse doesn’t sound like something I’d want, I’d much rather beg than be cursed.

[{(Understand curse. Smart monster. Dangerous monster. Small snakes nowhere. Big snake here.)}]

Hmm, my siblings? I ate them. Damn my eyes are getting dry, I’m going under.

[{(Siblings? Small snake? Old?)}]

Yeah, I ate almost all of them. They were so adorable trying to eat me, I tried to eat as many of them alive as I could to feel them wriggle inside me. I had hoped to feel at least one of the infants mature into a toddler inside me, but no such luck unfortunately.

[{(What? Crazy? Crazy! Old? Ridiculous.)}]

You think I’m crazy? I’m not the one killing myself to avenge either a weirdo or a madman. I still don’t know which was your mate. Oh, and I’m… uh… there was the first nap for two days, then that second one after, then the one after I went out that was 11/2, and another in the pool, then a second in the pool, then I went back to my cave and slept for a day, then I passed out I don’t know how long, then I hunted and slept for a day, then I dug a hole and slept for a day and I think that’s it. So, I’m… between 8-10 days old, I think.

[{(What?! Young?! Child! Mate fool! Warning! Listen! Listen. Force. Made. Safe. Machete. Machete! Adult?! Know! Brother know! Brother know! Brother fool! Think know! Mate dead! Brother blame! Snake Blame? Snake Blame?! Snake eat! Snake eat! Eat! Snake snake!)}]

I think the reception might be bit spotty or something, but personally I don’t blame the snake for eating food, even if it was partially an accident. Oh, and the madman had the machete and the weirdo just stared at my scales and I guess he sort of became bait for the other one. I’ll admit, I kind of lost control there and instinct was behind the wheel during most of it, but I really did intend to just kind of leave them with maybe just a broken arm or shoulder so I could escape. I would regret it, but they gave me a lot of everything I needed, so I’m not. Why am I saying that? That is not something that I should be telling a grieving gipsy who’s mate I ate, and neither is this! Why am I saying this? I have had such good impulse control since getting that core!

[{(Core? Monster Core? Monster monster?! Animal monster. Bad monster. Monster monster! Brother fool! Mate fool! Brother magic! Brother addicted. Shiny scales. Brother fool! Monster eat! Eat! Eat! Eat! Monster eat!)}]

Yeah, ok they were fools, I get it, I was there, I ate them. Machete man didn’t have any depth perception in the water and the weirdo just stared. It was creepy. I get shivers under my scales just thinking about it. He never used any magic however, unless you call having a below average body temperature magic. Addiction is the right word though. If we hadn’t been underwater, he’d have been drooling with how low his jaw hung. The machete man jumped in after I moved my head to follow weirdo and revealed myself to someone looking from above -which he was- because I only saw one silhouette before weirdo jumped in.

[{(Brother fool. Want rich. Easy life. Addicted treasure.)}]

Yeah. I can’t quite put it into words just how creepy it was being looked at like that. It was sort of how I was looking at you earlier and thinking about how beautiful you are and how I’d like to swallow you whole and undamaged just so I could feel my throat muscles (No please, stop! Mind! Stop! I was supposed to just live with this shame in silence!) caress every single one of your curves and ridges as you’re slowly pushed farther and farther down my gullet as I think about the hope fading from your eyes and being replaced with dread at the prospect of getting slowly digested alive. (It’s over. It was torture while it lasted, but it’s over. Thank the seafloor for that.) And then-

[{(Stop.)}]

At least that was the plan, until you revealed you had a death wish.

[{(Repeat after me; the seafloor sees Seers Seeing seas see Seers.)}]

The seafloor sees Seers Seeing seas see Seers. Why?

[{(You’re intelligent? As in, you can think, and reason, and plan?)}]

Well, I don’t like to brag, but I am definitely smarter than the average CS.

[{(CS? Never mind that, you understood me and repeated my words, so you must be intelligent. I thought the curse was just making sure I understood your intent, but those were your actual thoughts. These are your actual thoughts. You’re thinking to me in words, and sentences! I dumbed my own words down so you could understand, but I didn’t need to do that. You are an actual, real, thinking Coastal Snakeling, and a monster on top of it. With a core!)}]

Yes, I think in words, and yes, I am amazing, I know. I haven’t seen anything come even close to matching me in size or smarts, humans included. I do have a core; we went over that briefly already. If we can deal with this whole curse situation now, that would be nice.

[{(The curse, yes. You killed Samson! You ate him! Like a monster would… Like a Snakeling would. I feel I’m being unfair, but you killed him! You didn’t actually mean to though. Your instincts took over. You meant to just stun him and leave. You can’t lie over the curse, so it must be true. I still can’t just let you off the hook, you’ve ruined my life and killed my husband. You even killed the only sailor who dared come this far out, so I can’t even leave. You probably wrecked the ship too.)}]

Yes, that was me. I’m a bad snake, I get it. So, you have nothing to live for and no hope of ever seeing another human being and the party responsible is at your mercy. Now, what will you do?

[{(…I really don’t know. You acted on instinct, and you’re only 10 days old at most. Your instincts are all you’ve really had to guide you, but you have so much potential if you can escape the next purge, it wouldn’t feel right to ruin that.)}]

Purge? What do you mean purge?

[{(I guess you really wouldn’t know. I’m not even sure if I should tell you. Maybe it would be a good test. Yes, it would. Murderer, if you can fight the next purge and live, I will dispel the curse. If you flee it, or hide from it, then I will activate the curse. If you die, then that’s that.)}]

O…kay? What is a purge? That feels like something I should know if I’m going to fight it.

[{(I’m not going to tell you that. You’ll know what it is when it happens, and it will happen only 13 days from now. It’s always on schedule, so at least you’ll know when, if not what.)}]

I’m still not feeling very good about this. This feels like a way for you to get out of the whole ‘sacrificing yourself to fuel a curse thing’.

[{(So, what if it is? I can’t avenge my husband except by a curse? You should be very glad I’m giving you any chance to get out at all. Most people wouldn’t care that you didn’t mean to do it, but lucky for you, I can see value in your life. I know that if you can fight this purge, then you’ll be able to help my people.)}]

Help your people? I want to eat your people. Your people are full of everything I want in a meal.

[{(I think you might reconsider when the purge begins. If it will get you to fight, then I will tell you that if you survive, you will get even more rewards than from humans.)}]

Okay, yeah that kind of makes me want to fight this purge, but purge is still a very scary word. I feel like a single individual isn’t enough to fight a whole purge.

[{(You won’t be alone, or rather, you won’t be the only one the purge targets.)}]

Targets? Is this a monster purge?

[{(It is, but I won’t say any more than that. Who, or what, is doing the purging, you’ll only find out once it hits. Fight it and survive, and I’ll dispel the curse. Do anything else about it and I activate the curse.)}]

Well, I don’t really have much of a choice, I feel. I’ll fight this purge then. I just hope I can evolve before then. Since I won’t find any more humans I’ll need to start eating immediately, and do it in an efficient way. Do you know where I can find anything bigger than the fish around here.

[{(I do, but I won’t tell you. Now, if you’re going to go hunt then I want you to give me a ride back home, and then bring the rowboat to me in one piece.)}]

Okay, sure.

[{(You don’t feel like that would be degrading? I thought for sure you would fight me on that.)}]

I feel like maybe feeling you on my outside will help my fight the weirder feeling of wanting to feel you squirm inside me.

[{(…I forgot about that. I completely forgot about your disturbing confession. What is wrong with you?)}]

I don’t know! I’ve been having these urges since I was a Snakeling Child! I don’t know why I want this, I don’t want this, but I do want this! It makes me shudder with delight and I hate it! Why do my instincts tell me to do this?!

[{(Maybe this is just how Coastal Snakelings mate. Perhaps your genitals are somewhere in your stomach. You’re still a weird murderer.)}]

The weird part hurts more than the murderer part. So, are we doing this ride thing or are you a grown woman who can get home on her own?

[{(You are a really weird Snakeling. I’ll do it myself. The ride was supposed to be demeaning, not pleasant or erotic to you. Weirdo.)}]

I’m pretty sure I’m female if that helps.

[{(It doesn’t. Now leave.)}]

Alrighty then, your loss. I’m certain I could make it feel really good too.

[{(Don’t make me change my mind about this chance I’m giving you.)}]

I’m leaving, I’m leaving.

I leap out of the water and dive back in like a snaky dolphin and head to the coral reef. I had a lot of fish to eat.

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

It was 4 days later, after eating my fill 4 times and sleeping in a hole I had dug near the reef, that something happened. It came as a relief to me, but I had hoped for it sooner. This was of course a level up.

{Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level: 6}

I need way more time than I have if I want to evolve before the purge, but higher levels always need more than the last, so even if I had three times the time I probably won’t evolve before the purge! I have to do something different. I have also gotten (Mana Manipulation) up to level 3, though I see little use in it still. There is just nothing useful about tiny puffs of mana!

Maybe I can use it differently? Ahhhhh! I need more time! I can’t fight a monster purge like this! I’m big and strong and smarter than I’m supposed to be, but they’ll surely expect a monster to be strong!

Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 6

Skill points: 5

Biomass: 3

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Expand)}

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 2

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Gastric Regulator)}

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 3

(Dig) Lvl 3

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +1

(Enlarge) and (Gastric Burst) had been upgradable for a few days, but I decided against upgrading them. Both upgrades are only an increase to control, not a boost. (Expand) let me control how big I got, between my normal size and my maximum size. (Gastric Regulator) is the same concept, so neither one would help me. Maybe the upgrades beyond that would be boosts, but I don’t have the time to get them to that point. If this purge is intended for monsters like the naked crazy woman said then I would be need to be more than a monster. That’s where (Mana Manipulation) comes into play.

If I can learn magic before the purge gets here, then I’ll have a trick up my sleeve that won’t be expected. I just wish I could practice it faster. I’ve been practicing every chance I get, but I’ve only got a feeling of how full my core is, and I don’t know if I’m maximizing the efficiency of it by practicing every time I wake up. What if it fills faster when it’s nearly full? What if emptying it over and over again damages it or weakens me? There is so much I don’t know! I can only hope I’m doing this right. Maybe I should do something different with the mana, like trying to send it somewhere other than my gills. I’ll do that now, in fact.

I do just that. I draw mana out of my core and try to find someplace to put it, or something to use it with, but very little happens. I can feel that if I surround something inside me in mana then it absorbs a little of the mana, and a part of that mana goes back to my core. It is an interesting development, but I don’t feel like it helps. If that means that I’m absorbing the mana rather than generating it then all that means is that I decreased my mana absorption a little every time I did that. If I generate it however, and this means I can absorb my own mana back into myself, then I have a way to get maybe 1 more try out of every practice. I just don’t know.

I can’t feel where the mana I get comes from, so I thought the core was creating it, but that doesn’t have to be the case. I can’t sense any mana around me, even when I’m practicing and I’ve let out the mana puffs. I can always sense my core, and I know when there is mana in it and a rough estimate of how much compared to how much I use for every puff, but I don’t know if that’s a little or a lot. I need more knowledge!

Wait a moment, I might have a way to get that. I want to buy [Skills].

The massive [Skills] list greets me like an overeager puppy. The sheer amount is still staggering, and I kick myself for not using it a little more. I have the points to spend so I shouldn’t be stingy with them.

Show me [Skills] that about magic.

Nothing. There is nothing. I know the list is still there, but there is nothing to help me with magic. There is literally nothing magic related on this entire, massive list. I can not overstate just how large this list is, the numbers boggle the mind. Nothing on magic though. Nada. Nil. Nothing. Nix. Zero. Zilch. That boggles my mind. How can there be nothing? Ooooh, I probably need to upgrade (Mana Manipulation) for that. Of course I do.

Show me [Skills] that give me information about myself.

Oh, there is actually 1.

(Basic Info)

// Know yourself better. See otherwise ambiguous facts about yourself. Usefulness varies. A monster with the intellect to acquire this should be old enough to already know everything this [Skill] offers, making it redundant and a waste. //

A bit of a weird description but I’ll take it! Use (Basic Info).

(Basic Info)

Health: Perfect/Perfect

Mana: 6/10

Long, powerful sea snake with a venomous bite.

Capable of constricting large creatures to death.

Venom contains a neuro-necrosis toxin that seeks out neurons and kills them. Venom does not seek to enter the bloodstream and spreads little. Injected limbs almost certainly become paralyzed. Causes almost certain, instantaneous death if injected in the neck close to the spine, or anywhere close enough to reach the heart.

Capable of manipulating mana.

Capable of seeing great distances in front of itself.

Capable of sensing miniscule amounts of chemicals and the direction they originate from.

Capable of making colors dance on its scales, and glitter in the sunlight. Very limited ability to camouflage.

Yes! There it is! 6/10 Mana! The rest I don’t care about. Except maybe that venom. I knew it was deadly but that sounds incredible! If I get a clean hit on anything with neurons -so anything more complex than a jellyfish- then the part I bite becomes useless. I can’t see anything but a whale coming out of that alive! Even if I only get a limb, then that limb is useless forever right? Do neurons regenerate? I don’t know, but enough about that, now I know how much mana I have.

I return to my practicing, and do the same experiment again. By surrounding something with mana I can make it absorb a small part of that mana, and it then gives a part of the mana it absorbed back to my core. I do this repeatedly until I run out of mana, but from what I can see it’s a net loss of mana.

I guess that means I’m absorbing mana? I think it does, but I wouldn’t put more than maybe 20$ on it. So, I’m out of mana now, which means it time to hunt again.

I peek over the rim of my hole, and see nothing dangerous. There are the same fish as always, around the same corals as always.

This whole ‘apex predator’ thing gets old pretty fast I got to say. I have a goal now at least, but a goal given to me by a vengeful gypsy wife does not make me feel any better.

It doesn’t take long to vacuum up enough unlucky fish to fill me up and I return to my hole.

Mana: 1/10

I wish there was some mana just lying around for me to slurp up. That would make this whole process much better. I should just go to sleep now. There is nothing for me to do without mana or an empty stomach. I can use some Biomass, but there’s only 1 thing I can upgrade. I’ll just put this in ears, I guess.

Upgrade Inner Ears to +2.

{Inner Ears increased to +2}

The same pleasant sensation as before massages my ear canals. It’s over very quickly, but it does relax me enough that I’m ready for another nap.

Mana: 2/10

What? I’ve already got 2 mana back? It’s been at most half an hour since I emptied it. Has this been happening every day? Have I been wasting… 2 mana per half hour, 2 and a half hours for a full core. That means that, with my 24 hour digestion naps I could have instead been practicing (Mana Manipulation) every 2 and a half hours for… around 7 missed practices every day. Duck! I thought it was empty though… Did I ever actually check except when I woke up? No is the answer to that. Ducking muck! I’ve been horribly inefficient! I could have already upgraded it! Well, this stops now. I’ll lie here and digest like a normal snake until I can do magic! It can’t be that long right?

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

{(Mana Manipulation) has reached Level: 4}

Oh god, this took 21 hours. How can I tell? Cause I bought a new [Skill].

(Internal Clock)

// Always know what time of day it is. //

I regret it. Not only did I waste a point on it, but it’s torture to be constantly aware of every passing second as I wait for my possible demise. I’ll probably get used to it though. I got used to being a snake very quickly. I remember handling being something other than human very well as soon as I was aware again. I can’t always rely on being denied help to know what time it is, especially now that I need the help function.

What is the purge, in detail, that the naked crazy woman was talking about? Help?

{Request for help answered. The purge the Gypsy talked about is a bi-monthly extermination of all monsters too close to the population centers of the Merfolk. A few days before the purge they scan the oceans around them by channeling the mana of their mages into constructs that then send a pulse through the water. The pulse locates monsters and tells their tier. This pulse will then happen three more times, and if the monsters remain within their range then a squad of soldiers is sent to exterminate them. A group of soldiers is called a squad when they include 7-14 soldiers led by a sergeant. Exceptions exist.}

Hoo boy, that’s a lot of help alright. That last part about exceptions is a bit nerve racking, but as a tier 0 monster I shouldn’t attract anything too difficult. I think I could handle 7 Merfolk. Once I can do magic, I should be a fearsome creature, unmatched in the ocean! I would probably be unmatched among tier 0 monsters at least. Not that I know how strong they are. I haven’t met any other monster, probably because of these purges. Though that begs the question; where are all the other monsters?

If there are so few that even my new sense of smell can’t pick up anything besides fish, crustaceans, birds, slugs, corals, barnacles, seaweed, and other normal sea creatures, then why is there a need for bi-monthly purges? Where do monsters come from? I wish I could make a list of questions to ask the voice in my head. No such luck though.

I have about 8 and a half days before the purge to learn magic, and if I don’t see that happening, then I’ve found a [Skill] called (Camouflage) that lets me change colors to match my environment. Its not shiny like Hypnotic Scales, so I know it’ll be much better to hide with. I can ambush the squad of Merfolk and hopefully destroy any kind of formation, or pick them off one by one if I’m lucky. I’m kind of talking myself into buying (Camouflage) right now, but I only have 3 Skill points to spend, and I can only get more if I waste precious time on napping to digest, or I spend a Skill point to upgrade (Gastric Burst), which would defeat the entire purpose of leveling up in the first place. I need to stick to my decided path and follow it through.

What I can do though, is get my other [Skills] up to max level anytime my mana regenerates.

Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 6

Skill points: 3

Biomass: 1

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Expand)}

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 2

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Gastric Regulator)}

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 4

(Dig) Lvl 3

(Basic Info) Lvl 1

(Inner Clock) Lvl 1

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +2

I’m not sure how to upgrade (Basic Info) and (Inner Clock) besides just using them, and (Ravenous Vacuum) needs an empty stomach, so I guess I’ll focus on (Dig) and just stay aware of the time while I constantly check (Basic Info).

Let’s do this!

I leap out of my hole and scare a great number of fish as my large form appears seemingly from nowhere. I move only a few dozen meters away before I start digging. I dig as fast as I can, but a serpentine body is likely a strong contender for worst digging physiology, right after slugs. Progress is slow, but perhaps that’s for the best. I feel that maybe needing more guidance makes it level faster. Perhaps that’s why (Mana Manipulation) levels so slowly. Perhaps I’m imagining things. Yet again, I just don’t know. I don’t quite know how much guidance (Mana Manipulation) gives me, and I only need 1 more level anyway, so it shouldn’t matter too much. There’s probably just an obscene difficulty curve on it to really weed out the weak willed before the good stuff.

I continue to dig until my core is recharged, and then I settle into my hole and start on the practice again. This time I let mana pass through me without surrounding anything, just passing it from core to tail to head again and again. I focus on not losing any of it, so I just kept the same mana flowing around myself for as long as I can before I feel I have to release it. I spend an entire 10 minutes on each point of mana, and manage to stretch my practice from the original 30 minutes each time to 150 minutes of practice with a 10-minute break after it, and then one more 10-minute practice round. This probably helps me level it faster, though I’ll only know for sure once I do level it up. I should get rewarded for keeping hold of the mana like that I feel.

I return to my digging mentally exhausted after the practicing and gain a level in (Dig) after only a couple minutes of digging. That does little, but the digging feels a little faster, so that’s nice. I stay as aware of time passing as I possibly can, which might just end up giving me snake-anxiety as I watch the clock tick towards a fight for my life. (Basic Info) levels a little bit later, but I would be dead right now if I had epilepsy, just from the sheer speed of me opening and closing (Basic Info).

I keep digging until I can return to practicing, which I do until I run out of mana, and then I dig more, practice mana, dig, practice, dig, mana, dig, mana, dig, mana. I keep it going until (Dig) reaches level five, and then I go into a hole and practice (Mana Manipulation) only.

If I can stretch the amount of time I hold onto each point of mana to 30 minutes, then I won’t need to stop practicing. I can just sit here and get a progressively worse headache, until I’ve had it long enough to call it chronic. Maybe then this stupid thing will level up. I’ll get the upgrade and it will be called (Mana Headache), and it will give me more mana the greater the headache I have!

Maybe I need a distraction. I have digested a part of my food now, so I can hunt a little more. I think I’ll do that and just think of something that might level (Mana Manipulation).

I leave my hole in search of something to hunt, and I settle on a large crab trying to scuttle away from me. Every one of his fellow prey have abandoned him, and he tries to flee me along with them, but he appears to have a damaged leg that’s slowing and tripping him. I reach him and he snaps his claws at me in an attempt to scare me. I snap my mouth in the same way, and the resulting water pressure sends him tumbling sideways again and again, until he hits my body. He appears a little dizzy once he’s regained his footing, and he ends up tumbling over his damaged leg even more than before. I wrap my body around the area he’s in and he tries to scuttle over me, but I start slowly moving in a circle, and he can’t quite get a grip on my scales. I make a little lightshow to mess with him a little more, and it works to an extent. He snaps his claws at anything that he sees as a threat, and scuttles away when he can. This lasts for almost an hour before the crab lies down and stops moving altogether.

Is he dead? Did he exhaust himself? Is it a trap?

I put a body part close to him and nudge him, but he doesn’t react. I push him with my nose and he doesn’t move either.

Oh well. He was fun while he lasted. I have gotten an idea though. I’ve moved mana all over my body, I’ve tried to surround parts of myself in mana, and I’ve expelled it along with water through my gills, but what I haven’t done is expel it with my venom. I think this crab will make an excellent test subject.

I get the crab into my mouth and align him with a fang. He twitches, so maybe he isn’t completely dead, but that doesn’t change anything. I draw the mana I need from my core and try to mix it into my venom. It actually works. I don’t know if it does anything, but my venom now has mana in it. I pierce the crab’s chitin and push my fang into him slowly. He may be a large crab, but that doesn’t make him large enough to even reach between my fangs, so I have to be careful not to go all the way through him. I inject my venom into him, and then try to get him off, but I end up having to scoop him off with my tongue.

I watch him for anything odd, but it seems that nothing special happened.

I might need a bigger test subject. Except there is nothing even a tenth of my size here. After the purge I’m heading away from where the pulses will come from, if I can sense it. If I can’t, then I’ll head away from where the Merfolk come from. There should be monsters where the Merfolk don’t purge them, and that will be away from the pulses. Now, to actually hunt something.

I find some fish and suck them down, before going back to one of the many holes I had dug at this point.

Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 6

Skill points: 3

Biomass: 1

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Expand)}

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 2

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Gastric Regulator)}

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 4

(Dig) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Digger)}

(Basic Info) Lvl 2

(Inner Clock) Lvl 1

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +2

I won’t waste a Skill point on (Digger), but at least it’s max level. I have just under 8 days to ready myself, and with the increase in practice I’m certain (Mana Manipulation) will make it to level 5 soon. Now, back to the grind.

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

18 hours later

(Mana Manipulation) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Mana Shaping)}

Do it!

I did it! I leveled it up! God I should be bored. Snakes spend a lot of time just lying around I think, so maybe that’s translating to me being more patient. I can’t think of any other reason why I could stay still for 18 hours straight. Anyway, that’s off topic. I can feel a real change with this [Skill].

(Mana Shaping)

// Learn to shape your mana into specific shapes, and thus learn to perform magic. //

I can see them. I see a number of shapes inside my head. I’ll begin with the simplest one, a circle.

I first try to shape mana into a circle, but that just makes the mana circle inside me. Then I first try to imagine a circle, and then put mana into it, but that again just sends the mana circling inside me. I realize I’m missing something. This time, I think of (Mana Shaping) and all of the shapes that came with it, and I try to pull the circle out and into myself. It works this time. I imagine the circle and I see it wobble and shake in front of me, as if unsteady. It’s transparent as well. I try to put mana into it, but it passes through as if the circle weren’t there. This is getting annoying.

I take the circle and this time have a ready-made circle that I overlap with the other circle. Nothing happens. I spin the mana. Nothing. I spin it the other way. Nothing. The damn thing won’t stop wobbling! It’s taunting me! I grab the circle and force it to stay still. It doesn’t, but a part of it seems to grow more substantial, as if it’s more there than it was before. The rest of it continues to wobble and shake, and soon it spreads back into the resting parts and they join the wobbling again. I grab the circle again, this time choosing a specific part of it. I grab hold of it and keep my hold on it. The wobbling parts change their rhythm, but they don’t manage to introduce the wobble to the parts I’m holding.

This is it. This is what I was missing!

I spread my mental grip along the circle, until only a small part remains wiggling and wobbling, looking a lot like a little sea snake trying to run away from something. I show it the same mercy as my siblings.

With the entire circle calmed I release it and watch closely for any movement. The whole thing is solid now. It’s no longer transparent either. I wait for a while, but nothing seems to happen, so I figure this might work now. I grab a point of mana and gingerly touch the circle with it. The mana collides with the circle, and the circle begins wobbling again from the point where the mana touched it.

Fudgeknuckles!

I grab the circle where the mana touches it and aim to stop it at the source. What happens is that the mana where I touch the circle starts pouring inside the circle and the whole thing gets out of control faster than I can react to it. The circle becomes see-through and goes back to wobbling and shaking, and the mana is gone.

That was interesting. I need to put mana into the circle, but mana makes it unstable. How do I solve this? Can I grab the whole circle if I try hard enough? Hmm… Will that help, or hinder? I will just need to try, I guess.

So, I try. I do test after test, losing a point of mana every time until I have to wait for more. I do, and I continue to test my snake patience. I’m on my third round when I get an idea. I place the mana where the circle will solidify, and then grab it and set it. The circle accepts the mana without trouble until I run out of pre-placed mana, and then the new parts I solidify immediately go wild from the mana in the other parts moving and the mana-filled portions of the circle follow suit and the whole thing collapses.

I’m so close!

I do the same thing again, this time drawing 2 points of mana from my core. I start shaping the circle, and it goes well, until a fish swims past my hole and distracts me ever so slightly. The circle collapses and I lose 2 points of mana.

Snake damn you, you plankton!

I leave my hole and catch up to the fish in an instant. I bite its tailfin and inject venom into it. The fin stops moving and the fish’s speed slows dramatically as it barely remains buoyant enough to swim forwards. I then return to my hole, satisfied in knowing that fish won’t outrun its next predator. Then I calm down and feel a little bad. It was just swimming around; it didn’t do this on purpose. I might have accepted eating people, but I never intended to be cruel.

That fish doesn’t deserve that.

I go back out and eat the fish, injecting venom into its head to make sure it’s dead.

I get back to mana shaping after that. 2 points leave my core and settle in a circle where I then place the imagined circle. I solidify it, and the two points of mana are absorbed into the circle and fill it completely, with nothing remaining behind. The circle feels full and I feel the need to let it go, but I keep it under control and watch it. It does nothing, but that’s only from an outside perceptive, if someone had an outside perspective on my mind. I’m constantly rushing over the circle and grabbing it as it attempts to wobble and shake again. I can feel where it intends to wobble now, something I’m attributing to it being full of my mana. That might mean that this circle is now mine in a sense. I make a risk and move the circle a little, but it doesn’t seem to mind, only making as many attempts at wobbling and shaking as before.

Holy snakemulch, I’ve done it! I’m holding a spell! A spell that I have no idea about! A spell that might explode if I don’t focus on it! Back to it!

The circle has managed to shake a little, but I fix all of it in only a moment. Then I move the circle to my mouth. Now that there is mana in the circle, there is a definite direction the spell desires and I aim that out of my mouth as I open it. I aim at a spot in the sand a distance away, and release.

A light blue bolt rushes out of my mouth and into the sand. There is an explosion of sand as it’s forced out of the way of the bolt, and then it disappears.

I get out and begin digging where the bolt landed. I spend 2 minutes moving sand, until I hit rock. I had shot the bolt into the sand at an angle though, so I spent a little more time widening the hole before I give up. It’s obvious the bolt didn’t reach the seabed, but I would get more accurate results from firing it at the rocky seabed.

I make the circle again and fill it with mana, successfully, and fire at the rocky seabed from the shelter of the edge of the hole and retreat back as soon as I fire. There is a small ripple of water that leaves the hole and I feel a little giddy at the thought of a hole in the rock.

I glance over the edge and see a small hole in the rock. A very small hole. More of a dent than a hole. But it is in rock, and there had been a small shockwave, so maybe this isn’t very accurate data. Maybe the bolt burst on the rock and dispersed most of its force into the water. I need live test subjects. So, I go and find some.

I make the circle in my mind as I search for suitable prey, and it’s difficult to split my focus, but possible. I follow the coral reef until I find a friend, a crab. Their chitin makes them perfect test subjects. I take aim and open my mouth. The crab keeps on scuttling in a straight line, but even then, I’m not very confident in my ability to hit such a small target.

I decide this might as well be a test of my ability to keep focus in combat. I slink towards the crab and catch it in my mouth. It attempts to pinch me but the angle keeps it from finding any purchase as I position it. I rise up a little and angle my head downward. I release the crab and it sinks towards the bottom. Then I make the magic happen.

The crab is struck right as it reaches the sandy seafloor and is pressed into the sand for a moment before the bolt of mana breaks his chitin and the little crab ruptures from the inside. Little crab pieces spread out away from the center of impact, and I wiggle in happiness.

This will work. This can surely do a sizable amount of damage to humanoid creatures if a crab just straight up explodes! Oh yeah, status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 6

Skill points: 2

Biomass: 1

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Expand)}

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 3

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Gastric Regulator)}

(Mana Shaping) Lvl 4

(Dig) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Digger)}

(Basic Info) Lvl 2

(Inner Clock) Lvl 1

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +2

Woah, (Mana Shaping) is level 4 already? Then will I be able to upgrade it again before the fight? What would I get then? Will it just be more shapes, or will there be something more? Oh, I haven’t checked if I can buy any new magic [Skills]!

Show me any magic [Skills] I can buy.

(Forceful Mana)

(External Mana Manipulation)

2 of them huh, well that’s a lot better than before. Now, what do they do?

(Forceful Mana)

// Allows more mana to be input in a single spell, up to double the base amount. This can increase the power, or change the outcome, of a spell. //

(External Mana Manipulation)

// Manipulate the mana around you. //

(Forceful Mana) is probably something I should get, but is it the best choice for the fight? If I use it, then I can make 2 powerful bolts and 1 normal bolt. I’m already pretty sure a weaker bolt is more than enough to seriously hurt something using soft protection like skin, or even fish scales if it can straight up blow a crab to pieces. I’m confident in my mana bolt, I won’t get (Forceful Mana). Even if the Merfolk use armor of some kind I’m still confident that my mana bolt will hurt them.

Now, for the other shapes. There might be more useful magic in there somewhere, and since I’ve gotten the hang of how to make the shapes solid and put mana into them the rest of these will be easy!

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

28 hours later

Ducking slitherspit! How can this be so much harder?! I already know how to solidify you and fill you with mana, so why won’t you work?! I release you, and you just flop down like a dead fish! Then you dare to disappear!

There was no progress. In 28 hours, all I managed to make was a short-lived decoration. I am determined to make this one work, not because it is the next easiest looking, oh no, but because I have no idea what it does. The shape is a short spring, wider on one end, ending in a point half as long as the spring on the other end that sticks straight up out of it. On the widest part, the spring flattens out and enters the middle of the of the spring. The beginning of the point and the flat part are then connected by a cable of interwoven strings.

I have no idea how it’s supposed to work. I have dropped it on animals to see if something happens, but nope. The animal just keeps running away, and the mana construct flops pathetically down into the sand where it then disappears, or dissipates, whichever works best. I’m determined to get it to work, but maybe I should focus on something else for now. I only have 5 days before the purge. I should have as many weapons at my disposal as possible.

I decide to pick a different shape, a simpler shape. I briefly go over them all, before I pick a straight line with a hoop around its middle. This should be easier.

I begin by imagining the shape, then I place the amount of mana I feel is correct, 3 points in this case, and begin on the hoop. It takes 1 mana to fill the hoop, and then I move onto the line. The line takes in the 2 remaining points and is full, luckily for me. I can feel that there is a direction, and I angle it that way out of my mouth, and release.

The line fires out of my mouth like a harpoon, leaving the hoop to dissipate. The mana harpoon fires into the sand and buries itself 90% of the way in the sand, before dissipating.

Damn! That will be useful, though I can only use it 3 times on a fight, so it could be a question of quality or quantity here. If I fire 2 of these, then I can fire 2 bolts as well. I will have to start coming up with strategies soon.

Let’s think of strategies right now actually. If I stay here any longer, the Merfolk might suspect the monster of being a Coastal Snakeling and be ready for it. I should actually start moving away from here right now. If I can’t find my way back though, the naked crazy woman might think I ran away from the fight and curse me anyway, so the whole point of fighting is moot at that point. I’m stuck here until after the fight, I guess.

Now, since I’ve chosen the field, right here around this coral reef, then I next need to pick a spot to ambush the Merfolk, because of course I’ll ambush them. What self-respecting monster doesn’t lie in ambush? I will need to wait for the first pulse though. If the pulse is accurate enough, then it might reveal my hiding spot, and I don’t want that to happen. I’ll have to wait on top of the sand for the first pulse, and then quickly find a good ambush spot between where I was, and where the pulse comes from, and then return back to where I was when the first pulse hit, and wait for the other 3 pulses.

Once I’m in position after the fourth pulse, I will then need to determine how close I can be before they sense me somehow. This will determine whether I start the fight with magic or brute force.

If it’s magic, then I’ll fire a mana bolt at… how do I determine the best target? Once I fire the first shot, I lose the element of surprise. If I fire at the closest target, then I’ll need to go further to get to the next one. Strategy might not be as simple as I thought.

Okay, think of it this way; I am a large, powerful, single enemy. If I don’t start with magic, and instead go straight for a bite, then I get to keep all of my tricks up my sleeves. I can save (Ravenous Vacuum) for those trying to get distance, and magic as a surprise ace. If they think they can outmaneuver me then I can catch a few by surprise and suck them up. If they try to group up, a mana bolt might be enough to scatter them a little, and then my sheer bulk can hopefully tear apart any kind of formation.

With the rudimentary strategy session out of the way, I get right back to practicing, or I would have, if not for the first pulse.

It passes through the sea like a bolt of lightning. The seafloor is undisturbed, and in fact the animals don’t seem to have noticed the pulse at all. I however feel it like a sumo wrestler slamming into me, that is to say, I feel a weight, but it can’t move me. A pressure from the pulse tries to push me along with it, but it can’t, and it happens so quickly that I’m left no time to react. I only realize what’s happened a few seconds after as my mind catches up.

I need to go now!

I burst into movement and swim the way the pulse came from, over the coral reef. I swim for almost an hour over corals of all sizes until I find a good hiding spot for my long body. The spot is inside a tubular coral of massive size. It can fit all of myself and then some, and the best thing is that it faces away from the origin of the pulse, meaning that at least sight won’t give them an advantage. There remains the issue of olfactory senses, and any possible electroreceptors, but nothing else should be able to spot me. I just hope this isn’t a dumb spot. It does leave me blind to their approach, so maybe it isn’t as ideal as I think, maybe a hole in the sand would be better.

I rethink the coral spot, and I realize that maybe seeing their approach is worth more than keeping them blind. I move back a bit, swimming 20 minutes back where I came from and to a raised dune of sand the coral hasn’t claimed entirely. I dig into it and find out that if I coil around the rock under the sand then I should be able to remain almost completely hidden aside from my head, which will be semi exposed so I can make full use of my senses. This spot will work.

I go back to my practice spot, and there I stay, practicing my 2 spells, until the next pulse hits 2 days later. It’s stronger than the last, but even that can’t do more than pressure my outside a little bit.

Status!

{Coastal Snakeling Adult (Core)}

Level: 6

Skill points: 2

Biomass: 1

Might – 21

Toughness – 13

Cunning – 7(?)

Charm – 7

[Skills]

(Enlarge) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Expand)}

(Ravenous Vacuum) Lvl 3

(Gastric Burst) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Gastric Regulator)}

(Mana Shaping) Lvl 5

(Dig) Lvl 5 {Upgrade to (Digger)}

(Basic Info) Lvl 3

(Inner Clock) Lvl 1

[Modifications]

Venom Glands +1: Injector Fangs +1: Hypnotic Scales +5: Scoped Eyes +5: Hollow Tongue +5: Inner Ears +2

I’ve found out to my annoyance that (Mana Shaping) does not upgrade at level 5 like (Mana Manipulation). I just have to wait and see when or if I can upgrade it.

I look over my shapes on more time. With 3 days until the purge, this is my last chance to learn more spells. I consider a few, but ultimately, I need to pick a simple shape if I want to learn it before the purge. I end up picking a bowl-shaped spiral with a point on the underside.

I do the same procedure as usually works, and it does indeed work. It works perfectly right away. Out of my mouth comes a spiral of mana that spreads out quickly and moves forward until it lands in the sand. The spiral then digs partially into the sand and inverts, so the point is now on the inside, and it sort of hops back out of the sand. It writhes around nothing for a time, until it finally dissipates after half a minute, much longer than any of the others. I need test subjects.

The humble crab, while a slow-moving creature except in bursts, is not the slowest moving creature on the seafloor. That dubious honor probably belongs to the starfish in front of me. It can sense something big in the water, and I’m sure it’s probably toxic in some way, but for now, this starfish will do for a test subject.

I make and fire the spiral at the starfish. The point hits the starfish close to the center, and then the spiral begins wrapping itself around it and constricting. It only takes a few seconds for the weak creature to be reduced to just arms and a center, interestingly the spell seems to differentiate limbs from the main body and as it likely tried to restrain the starfish it tore it to pieces instead.

I like magic. I think I’m about as ready for the Merfolk as I can possibly be. I can’t get more Biomass without going to sleep, I can buy two [Skills], but I don’t have the mana to make (Forceful Mana) useful, and I don’t have the time to grind (External Mana Manipulation) until it’s useful.

What [Skills] should I get?