Chapter Twenty-Three

Arden narrowed his eyes at the perfectly healthy Lamia, who shrugged off all his arrows and poison. Did she have poison resistance? It made sense with her race.

The Lamia smirked up at Arden, opening her mouth to say something only to jerk back as a dark blur shot out of its hiding spot under another bush only a couple meters away.

Before the Lamia could escape, a small murder noodle sunk its fangs into her exposed side, dangling as it pumped poison into its target.

The effect was immediate. Any previous bravado vanished as the Lamia went limp as the numbness Arden knew all too well took hold.

Not wasting the opportunity, he nocked his last arrow and released it at the stunned Lamia, scoring a direct hit through her left eye.

As if a puppet with snipped strings, the Lamia crashed to the ground for the last time.

Even before the body reached the ground, it disintegrated into green particles, a chunk flowing up to him while another flooded his stalking snake. However, as with his other kills, half of the particles formed into a pair of cards.

Before he could even take a step, let alone attempt to descend the tree, his stalking murder noodle shot forward and coiled around one card. The snake did its best to cover the card protectively, but even from Arden’s vantage point, he could tell the card shined with luminosity a step above even a rare card.

Still, he knew better than to blindly descend and steal the card from the snake. If he did, he may be its next victim. It was a miracle he survived the last times it struck, though he was better equipped to handle poison after the trial.

The snake lifted its head toward Arden, then pointed the tip of its body at the other card, but Arden remained where he was, mind working overtime for a way to ensure his safety so close to the snake.

Without arrows and no branches nearby to make more, he didn’t have any ranged weapons. Even if he did, he doubted he could hit the small snake. That left him with nothing to defend himself at least until he grabbed his spear leaned up against the tree.

A sigh escaped him. Sometimes there wasn’t a guaranteed way to defend himself. He just had to take the plunge and hope the snake didn’t cause a problem. It seemed content with protecting its prize, and it wasn’t the first time they came in close contact without conflict.

Arden hung his bow across his torso then climbed down from the platform, stopping every couple spikes to check on the snake, but it remained coiled around the card.

Even when he reached the ground didn’t move, though it’s slitted eyes kept a close eye on his every movement. The snake didn’t appear hostile, more cautious and defensive, a big difference from its previous attitude.

He always got a feeling the snake felt it had it’s situation under control, only showing a bit of curiosity. Now the snake almost felt vulnerable, not that he would test that feeling. He knew the snake could fight back, especially if he threatened its prize.

As he approached, his eyes widened when he caught sight of the card the snake guarded. Unlike every card he encountered since his induction into Ortus, it didn’t have a green border.

Instead, it had a shining white border.

Even with his limited knowledge on cards, he knew what that meant. Without even seeing what the card was, he understood why the snake protected its prize. A onetime use card and going by its shining border, a powerful one at that.

Stories he read filled his mind of historical figures shooting to stardom after encountering one such card. Sure, it wasn’t on par with receiving a legendary or even epic class, but one of those cards was equivalent to jumping up a rarity in one’s class, if not two.

Greed flashed, but he squashed it. If he completed his legacy class quest, he would have a class on a par with the legends. As much as he would love the boost, it wasn’t worth antagonizing the little snake.

Maybe now that it got the card, it would leave him alone.

Instead, he shifted his focus down to the other card, frowning as he looked down at the card. A very familiar card. One that both saved him and failed to save him during the trial.

What was he supposed to do with a second Poison Resistance card? Was the entire flight a waste of time?

His gaze drifted back to the snake, eyes narrowing. No wonder the snake allowed him to keep the card. He had no doubt the snake had a poison resistance of its own.

A sigh escaped him as he picked up the card, then stuffed it in his pocket along with the useless Lily pad card. At least, unlike the Lily pad card, a rare resistance card had some value if he were to trade it.

Still, he didn’t need trade fodder. He needed to expand his arsenal.

At the thought of his arsenal, he noticed his bracelets were flashing, though he had a pretty good idea what notifications awaited him. Something he wished to avoid. Maybe he should’ve tried to sneak past the lamia. He was the aggressor, after all. Though something told him there was no way he would’ve made it far if he had tried.

He shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention toward the trees surrounding the clearing, eyeing any branch within reach. There was nothing he could do about their actions after the fact, but he could prepare himself for future conflicts.

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On that thought, he left the snake alone, grabbing his spear before trotting to the nearest trees. His senses spread wide, finding once again his sensory range expanded.

Without looking, he knew the only beings in the clearing were him and the snake. Most likely, their victim scared away most of the lesser enemies. Whatever the reason, he hoped it stayed that way.

With a couple swipes of his spear, he broke off an arm full of sticks, then he retreated to the center of the clearing under the platform, giving the snake a wide berth on his way.

The temptation of climbing back to the platform presented itself, but he discarded it soon after. It wasn’t worth the effort of climbing one-handed while lugging his stick pile.

Besides, if he was right about his Wood Manipulation giving aid, it shouldn’t take him long to reload on arrows.

While monitoring the snake, who seemed content to remain coiled atop the card, he formed arrow after arrow, only taking a couple of seconds to make each one.

It was like his Wood Manipulation remembered how he liked to create his arrows, as it was almost effortless. He paused halfway through the tenth arrow, half expecting his bracelets to flash, signaling another level up, but nothing happened. Apparently, his discovery wasn’t big enough to induce a level up, or maybe it was a defect the card had all along.

When he had twelve perfectly formed arrows, he slipped them into his quiver, then eyed the platform once more. Was it worth the time commitment of poisoning his arrows?

It only took him a moment to realize it was. He needed to make preparations to maximize his damage output and defenses.

Not trusting the snake, Arden ascended back to the platform, only to stop halfway to retrieve his spear. With the robe, he wrapped the spear, holding it temporarily in place as he climbed.

Once at the top, he spent the next while poisoning nine out of twelve of his arrows, leaving three normal in case he wanted to avoid poisoning something.

Each time, he had to wait for his bracelets to come off cooldown. Though, unlike the first times he used the cards, the cooldown period was much shorter, but the wave of weakness still hit him.

Finally, he turned to his spear, unsure of which poison he should implement. Right away he crossed out Lurking Heart Attack in case he wanted to use his spear to defend himself non-lethally. That left crawling boils or creeping itch.

Did he really want to fight something close-up covered in boils? Creeping itch should be enough. It would provide an excellent distraction, maybe creating an opening he could exploit. Plus, it was a little more humane. As humane as a persistent itch. He knew firsthand it how annoying it was, but it wasn’t deadly.

Mind made up, he summoned a drop of Creeping Itch, then when his bracelets came off cooldown he applied it to the spear while he had Wood Manipulation active. Like with the arrows, the poison sunk in, but a frown soon formed when he noticed the poison stopped spreading a third of the way down the spear.

When he deactivated his Wood Manipulation instead of remaining fused with the wood, the poison oozed out, only deepening his frown. Did his spear reject the poison? No, he felt it accepted the poison. It just wasn’t enough.

With a sigh, he summoned another dose of poison, then stared down at the snake while he waited for his bracelets to come off cooldown.

As if sensing his attention, the snake’s head raised, locking eyes with him, tongue flicking out, tasting the air. They remained locked in a silent battle, neither willing to break eye contact at least until he felt his bracelets come off cooldown.

To his relief, a second dose of poison appeared to be enough. The poison spread along the entire spear, then locked in, giving the spear a similar greenish tint to his arrows.

Fortunately, the poison didn’t change the consistency of the wood. Handling wise but felt no different, but he knew that was only because his own poison couldn’t affect him. Physical contact with his target would administer the poison even if he didn’t break skin like the plant he learned the poison from.

Suddenly, another devious thought struck him. Could he add another poison to his spear? He doubted he could mix it into the wood itself, but what if he created a pocket in the tip?

Unable to resist, he reactivated his Wood Manipulation, then used his knife to slice the tip on his spear and have before peeling it back. He added a small pocket just big enough to hold one dose of poison.

A problem presented itself, though. He couldn’t maintain his Wood Manipulation if he sent his bracelets into cooldown mode with the summoning of a dose of poison.

Arden cut his connection with his spear, leaving the tip deformed as he summoned the best poison for the job. It was pointless to stack Creeping Itch and Crawling Boils, so that left Lurking Heart Attack. The lethality of the poison didn’t matter because if he was stabbing something with the tip, he was going for the kill.

After his bracelets came off cooldown, he reconnected to his spear, then applied the poison to the pea-sized pocket near the tip of the spear.

As he expected, the poison didn’t sink into the wood, but it didn’t dissolve either. The poison remained in the pocket as if held by a container. Perfect for his uses.

A moment later, he had the spear tip reformed, no evidence of the deadly poison lurking within.

Satisfied with his preparations, he wrapped his robe around the spear again, cringing at the thought of anyone else wearing his robe. They would have a nasty surprise waiting for them. Thankfully, the itchy poison didn’t affect him, so it didn’t matter.

Before he descended, he glanced at the snake. It remained where he last saw it, so he climbed down, then clenched his spear while sensing the ambient mana to direct him to his next destination.

However, before he could leave the clearing, a flash of movement sent him spinning back, spear at the ready. His eyes locked onto a snake holding its prize in its mouth while staring up at him, raised as high as the snake could.

With the card in the snake’s mouth, it nullified its most dangerous weapon, so Arden relaxed slightly only for confusion to reign instead. What did the snake want? It got a valuable card. What else did it want?

So close to the snake Arden read the card, finding out what it was.

Race Purification

Type: One Time Use

Affinity: None

Attunement: None

Effect: Upon inserting Race Purification into one’s deck, the card will purify the user’s race, bringing the user’s race closer to perfection. The card will become inert after use.

“You want to become a Lamia?”

Disdain flashed in the snake’s eyes as it shook its head, then it continued to stare at him expectantly.

Annoyance sparked as frustration built. “What do you want, then? Can we just call a truce? You got your prize. You can leave me alone.”

Once again, the snake shook its head, then faster than he could react, the snake shot upward into his robe.

He felt the snake place something in a pocket before it retreated from the robe, then it coiled itself on top of his head.

Unconsciously, he reached into his robe, only to receive a rapidly numbing prick in his skull.

As if swatting a mosquito, he smacked his head, but the snake already moved, coiling itself around his upper arm, before administering another numbing prick.

Fortunately, his poison resistance nullified the numbness within moments. That didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying.

After releasing a deep, calming sigh, he lifted his arm and locked eyes with the snake. “Let me guess, you want to ride?”

This time, he received a nod.