As I have said before, the previously untamed Martanimi Jungle is still home to many predators and generally dangerous wildlife, such as the Martanimis Python; the lesser elemental wolfstag, primarily of the water and earth varieties; the terrorbird; and the scaled deer, to name a few. The prudent Speaker must always be aware of their surroundings, as I always say, and what poses the most threat to their passage. Of course, after attending my lectures for just a couple of weeks, you will find yourself many times more prepared than you could have imagined before your attendance! These days, the jungles might be much more hospitable than they were in the days predating the Gran Verat’s rise to power and establishment of the Holy State of the Veratocracy, yet they can still pose a threat to the unaware!!

The question that many young Speakers then pose to the Great Professor Lutoh Masilimu after learning such frightening things is frequently “then why does the Gran Verat allow those dangerous creatures to live? Please, enlighten us, Professor Masilimu!” Why, he allows them to live because all potentially dangerous creatures yet in the bordering jungles prey upon the keelish! Or, feed those that do. NONETHELESS! The danger yet remains to you, so I insist you come down to visit the Great Professor before you dream of leaving Vieraal City! I always accept new students.

–Contents of the final pamphlet distributed by Lutoh Masilimu before his incarceration for fraud and criminal impersonation of a Professor of the Red Abbey

I could hear the slithering of the Martanimis Python’s scales on the roots below as it fled from my supporting packmates. The echoes of its internals, the smell of its breath, the feel of its throat constricting around me and trying to force me down further. I knew that I wouldn’t last long this way, and immediately spread my legs as far as I could to catch myself in its throat. I felt the claws of my feet catch on a rigid surface of some sort, maybe a bone, and I was able to halt my descent with my whole body only just within the python’s mouth.

Below me, the serpent’s tongue lashed and flapped at me as I tried to extricate myself however I could manage to think, but the mouth continued to close in, the throat constricting and pushing me down… I screamed, the cries reverberating in the mouth and echoing in my head.

I would NOT allow this to be my end. I’d already begun to give in before, but not again. I started lashing out with my claws, cutting the inside of the snake’s mouth, and lopping off a section of its tongue, but still the damned snake wouldn’t spit me out. I couldn’t bring myself to care as the crushing force of the snake’s mouth tried to force me down into its gullet, where it could digest me.

Again, I screamed, panic being overwhelmed with rage as the scent of blood filled my nostrils and I allowed the [Bloodlust] to kick in in full force. I felt something in my throat crack and the cry broke louder, stronger, but more painfully from me. I fastened my fingers together, without regarding or caring for the agony of my shattered thumb as I continued to lash out with reckless abandon. I widened my jaws and bit down hard on the tongue, the blood coating my face and throat. The taste of iron gave me the strength to continue the fight, and I screamed through my clenched teeth in challenge.

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Lunging around and being wrenched about by the python’s tongue, I couldn’t tell which direction was up or down, or even further within the snake, but I knew that I wouldn’t let it rest easy with me still in here. I continued to lash out, the snake’s blood covering me ever more as I fought to escape, to live. I couldn’t find purchase in the slimy mouth, and I felt the throat close in on me once more, but this time, I didn’t have that firm footing. I was about to be swallowed.

With a final scream of effort, I knifed both of my hands directly at whatever was in reach. I felt firm flesh, and pushed harder, deeper. All around me, the hissing of breath hitched, and the snake began to writhe and seemed to have decided to spit me out. But, if it wanted me out, I wanted to stay in. I forced a grin and readied myself to continue.

I pulled my left hand free, pulled it back, and slammed it back into the wounded location again and again. I could feel something begin to give, until, with a crack, I was able to punch my claws through into something else. It wasn’t air, so I was still within the snake. I released my fingers from each other, and began to move them around, stirring up whatever they were latched within, and I felt the soft viscera part and tear beneath the agitated writhing of my fingers.

As the snake began to lose control of itself, I, still disregarding the agony of my broken thumb and ribs, slammed my right hand into the softened flesh of what I now knew to be the roof of the snake’s mouth. The already perforated flesh immediately gave way, and a fountain of blood and pulped brains showered my face. My mind long gone, I exulted in the shower of gore and extended my neck and began to chomp my way out of the snake’s skull. The taste of the blood and brains was indescribably bitter, but I gloried in it.

It wasn’t as fast as I’d wanted, yet still I was able to force my head to burst out of the top of my prey’s skull. Somehow, I felt my strength surge as the python finally went completely limp. With my head now freed, I screamed my victory to the skies as I continued to gnaw, chew, and tear my way free of the foolish creature that had thought itself worthy of hunting me. The crunching of bone was all the applause I needed as continued to wrest myself free from the prison of the snake’s flesh. Again and again I screamed a wordless challenge to the skies as I gloried in my kill, in my survival. Never before had the air tasted so sweet as I slowly was able to pull myself from the mindlessness of [Bloodlust] fueled slaughter.

I had survived, and I had been successful on my hunt. I slowly noted the approaching members of my pack, staring at me in awe as I looked down in pride as I acknowledged the flashing [System] notifications:

[Quest completed. Growth achieved. Quest board updated. Status updated. Evolutionary Progress: Young Keelish Bloodletter Alpha; Acquire 10 followers, 12/10. Evolution unlocked. ]