Karnage: Second time I'm uploading this for the night. Errors like crazy popping up.

Chapter 25 - Volume End.

Within an unknown cave-

[I owe you one?...how exactly do I give you one in return?] -Sol

As Sol asked these questions, he realized she had long left. Sol sat and pondered and was about to ask Mitra a question when -

*Whish*

A silhouette suddenly appeared directly behind Sol so quickly that he didn't even have a second to react, he suddenly felt a sense of danger but it was quickly suppressed-

[...I almost forgot...] -Lamia

*Puchi*

The Lamia inserted her fangs into his neck lightly and injected something, Sol felt his mind go hazy and only managed to hear a cold and detached voice as it trailed off into the wind-

[..Don't forget...same time...same place..next year...*hiss*] -Lamia

Sol lost consciousness-

*HISSSSS*

A terrifying hiss rang out as the Fanged Blades forcefully left Sol's runic ring and flew out beside him pointing directly towards the Lamia with a terrible rage-

It flew up and shone brightly, an illusionary image of a Winged Golden-Blooded Basilisk Queen flew up and coiled around Sol's unconscious body. It shot out directly after the Lamia and smashed directly against her claws-

*BANG* *BANG*

The Lamia deflected the blades with a swipe of her claws but was pushed back a bit giving her a surprise.

[Relax Queen...I'm not here to harm him. This is for his protection] -Lamia

*BANG* *BANG*

However, the Fanged Blades did not listen, the Lamia suddenly felt incredibly threatened and her eyes glared at the Blades but she said nothing and the illusion S-Rank Queen stared daggers at her. The Lamia sighed, a tinge of warmth could be heard in her voice amongst the cold when she spoke towards the Queen Basilisk-

[What a selfish Queen...He is fine, check him yourself. I just gave him my mark that's all, you should know why I came out here in the first place] -Lamia

The Illusionary Queen stared at the mark on Sol's neck and then settled somewhat, she took a last complicated look at the Lamia and then the Fanged Blades rested on Sol's body. The Lamia looked at the Fanged Bladers, the twin Basilisks came out from his arms and they rubbed their heads against the Fanged Blades and made low sounds.

The Queen Basilisk could not forcefully leave Sol's runic ring while he was awake or conscious and so she could only watch furiously from inside when the Lamia had attacked, but now that Sol had fallen unconscious she wasted no effort and immediately came out bringing a threatening aura of savage degree that made the Lamia carefully watch her.

The Queen Basilisk understood that Sol didn't draw his weapons out of respect for her, the same as the time when Sol met her, but the Queen didn't care about that, if it was dangerous to Sol then she would certainly strive to kill it and take the opportunity if she had the chance. In her illusionary form she stared at the Lamia, her eyes not moving for a second.

(His Sentient Weapon and his Soul beasts are related? Absurd.. No wonder this weapon is so abnormal..This Queen can even manifest her power for a short time,) -Lamia

The Lamia took one last look at Sol and was about to leave when she suddenly felt incomparably weak and almost fell to the floor-

(What...is this?...Ugh..) -Lamia

A dark and thick red essence left her body and flowed directly into Sol, the Lamia stared wide-eyed at the essence going towards Sol, this was the first time her composure had been broken. One could see a hint of fear emerge from her eyes as she stared at Sol-

(It...Can't be? This guy..) -Lamia

The blood red essence left her and made a trail directly into the holes pierced in Sol's neck. The same holes she had made with her fangs, and upon realizing this she had a range of emotions flashed through her but none of them were with good intentions and every one of them had the urge to kill.

The Basilisk Queen upon sensing this rise in killing intent, hissed madly and let out terrible threatening sounds towards the Lamia.

[Relax...I have not changed my mind yet..] -Lamia

Even though she said this, the Queen Basilisk didn't care, If she came close then she would certainly strike to kill regardless of if she intends to kill him or not, and the Lamia understood this and maintained her distance. The essence stopped leaking after a short while and the tiny holes in Sol's neck changed and became a dark red tattoo of a coiled serpent coiled into an eight shape. The Lamia upon seeing this had fear and terror present in her eyes as she gazed upon it, still she it had a strand of curiosity lurking.

She stood in the darkness watching Sol's unconscious body, the Queen Basilisk resting on Sol's stomach keeping a vigilant eye, judging by the dim reaction she probably only had enough for a single attack left. The Lamia on the other hand did not dare be careless and rush in and instead waited, the killing intent had faded but was very much present.

**

After half a day Sol regained his consciousness-

[Ugh..What...happened? Ugh..I feel like I've been hit by a mountain....Ohh right...She bit me..] -Sol

Sol reflexively placed his hands on his neck and felt two tiny holes, he also felt like something had entered him but he didn't know what. As his body could easily tell any abnormalities, Sol checked and he sensed nothing wrong. He knew whatever the Lamia tried to do she didn't take his abnormalities into play. He also knew that whatever she did was not meant to be harmful yet it still had him a bit disturbed.

Sol's body had possessed a natural resistance under the S-Rank poison thanks to the Queen Basilisk and the effects of the Eternity Pill made it permanent and increased it to the point where the poison must substantially be above the S-Rank level in order to bring any harm to Sol. He wasn't sure if she had used a poison but he doubted it, she could have already killed him with her two hands easily why bother using poison? He just knew that something entered him and he wasn't sure and for some reason it didn't feel like it had a bad purpose.

What Sol was given was the Lamia's mark, it was given to humans who had been selected by a Lamia to procreate, this mark would last anywhere from 1-10 years and so long as one possessed it the Lamia would always know the person's position and status.

The Lamia's mark cleansed one's body of filth or any illnesses with a particular type of poison, there were even rumors about a Lamia's mark curing a disease known as "Stone veins" where one's mana veins within the Dantian had obviously become hard and stone-like thereby not allowing one to practice magic or physical combat and left them crippled.

The Lamia mark also had minor supportive effects, such as keeping other Lamias away as they had an unspoken rule of not touching one another's "Prey". It also acted as a deterrent for Serpent type beasts under the Rank of the entity that placed the Lamia Mark. If the Lamia who placed the mark was S-Rank then naturally any serpent type beast under S-Rank will ignore the marked target so long as they aren't disturbed.

This mark wasn't just reserved towards serpent type beasts but beasts who were intelligent enough to understand the mark or had strong enough instincts to sense the danger from the mark. They would ignore anyone marked by a Lamia and there were very few both human and beast that would knowingly incur the wrath of a Lamia.

There were stories handed down throughout humanity about them that dates back as far as they could remember. It was said that Lamias would wait for hundreds of years to settle a debt and they would patiently wait. What was even more frightening was the network which they created for themselves, Lamias possessed the rare gift of Telepathy and they would exchange all sorts of information using this method.

This species was born with a set affinity much like other hidden races and water was their predetermined element. Naturally they lived in water and owned nests scattered through Magnolia, using telepathy they could get to know anything they needed to know no matter how far it was as long as one of theirs were at the target area.

If Lamias used this Telepathy, they could issue orders to any lower life-forms within their area to find a target if need be. Finding their targets were not hard at all and it's because of these speculations that people came to fear them and never offend them.

There was once a story of a young prince who had been saved by a Lamia after almost losing a war, they both made a promise to another. The Lamia would help the prince shift the war in his favor and then ten years later he would return to the forest and sow a seed with her.  So it came to be and the Lamia led a force of Beasts to attack the enemy forces and the prince had won the war and returned home triumphant.

He was heralded as a war hero and became King of his city, time flew and he married and had children. All the while the Lamia remained silent awaiting his fulfillment, the King continued to rule and his country became prosperous and soon he had forgotten completely about his promise.

Naturally his wife had heard of this affair and told him to forget about it and he himself agreed with her, he had become arrogant and blind as he held a much more powerful force compared to ten years ago. He felt that a mere Lamia no longer posed a threat to him and with a simple order he could find her and kill her as he please.

One day a maid who had been serving him for a decade suddenly asked him, "What's a Lamia like?". This question stumped the King and most of all it hurt his pride because the sudden question had brought about a fear in his heart. His pride got the better of him and rather than rebuke the maid for her rudeness, to cover his shame he put a smile on his face and described the most grotesque thing he could ever think of with a laugh.

Suddenly the maid smiled and said in a terribly cold voice -

"Is that so?....You might be right"

The maid's lower body then changed to that of a Lamia's and she then ruthlessly slaughtered everyone inside the palace except for the King, his family and the guard who had been at the King's side the entire time. No one knew when but the gates to the Kingdom were opened and beasts poured within the gate, the Lamia brought the King and his family to watch as his city burned.

The King tried to make all manner of excuses but was told a simple statement.

[The life of this city is not enough to quell my rage..I need more] -Lamia

After that, she brutally murdered the royal family slowly and painfully. She made families play sick and tormented games to kill one another and then delivered the King's guard who had lost his mind to another city. The guard who was dragged around the Kingdom to watch as the Lamia killed everything in sight, recited everything he saw to the King of that city. A short while after the man could no longer hold onto his sanity any longer and then took his life in fear that she would return for him.

People personally went to the cities to confirm the tragedy and it had become known to every living human alive, that they were not to be trifled with. It was then the fear of Lamias had become deeply ingrained in people and very few would dare anger them. Before similar reports had been heard before, but were never taken seriously until it happened to a King and then they realized just how grave the situation was.

Even if the most lustful man noticed a beautiful naked woman sitting by a stream with half her body submerged while singing and combing her hair with her fingers alone, they would bow and turn around and run no matter how hot their pants were. In the forest, there was no such thing as time for a man to try to take advantage of a woman, even the wrong insect could end your life with the right bite in the right place.

They earned the most notorious names throughout the period of ages, "She Devil" "Serpent Woman" "Vengeful Matriachs" and many more.

The other hidden races were not inferior to them in the slightest and also possessed similar marks. However there was one thing common about these marks, they all possessed one similarity. If the one bitten and given a mark has complete compatibility with the mark, then the mark becomes permanent and changes to something else.

Within history there has ever only been a few cases of such a thing happening, for example, Lamias usually give birth to females who are Lamias almost 99% of the time. On the rare 1 %occasion they give birth to a male, it is usually a 100% human with no Lamia characteristics. However that is not the case, if a male who had been born from a Lamia were to receive it's mark there was a very slight chance that an abnormality would occur.

The Lamia's mark would rose the human male's Lamia DNA and the one that gave him the mark would become submissive towards them. This mark had many different stages and as one's power increases, so does the mark. Most of the time when this occurs, if the male has less compatibility than required, he would be driven insane by the raw animalistic urges coming from the mark and they were usually killed on site by the Lamia that gave them the mark to retain their freedom.

However regardless of if they were driven insane or not by the mark, once the mark mutates Lamia's as well as the other hidden races usually kill them because none of the choices are good news for them. If one is insane, then they would usually put them out of their misery....but..should one retain his sanity...Then an entirely new breed of Lamia or hidden race is born..and this is what they fear most.

The new breed of Lamia, were usually males and possessed a King's aura granted by the mark and could suppress weaker beasts no matter their numbers even if one were surrounded completely. It was especially effective against serpents, Lamias and even some hybrid dragons. The number of people who were recorded in history to ever gain this mark were less than one can count on his hands and every single one of them had used this mark for greedy purposes.

There were even recordings of human men who possessed the mark of Wolven Men and every full moon they would lose their minds in bloodlust and engage in an utter blood bath. Their forms would change from men into cruel and ruthless beasts that killed for sport and the most terrifying part about Wolven men were their abilities to call forth all canine type beasts within the area and send them into a frenzy..

People who possessed mutated marks of hidden races were hunted down and killed by, humans, beasts and especially the hidden race of the mark's origin. The perfect mutated mark could enslave their kind because of the King's aura it gave off and would automatically make them submit.

This is precisely why the Lamia changed it's mind and killing intent immediately poured out at Sol, she would know which type he was when he woke up, but regardless of which she had already decided to kill him. However, the process of giving one a mutated mark usually drains out a Lamia's essence and weakens them for a period of time.

Before she could have easily killed him but now that her power had been greatly weakened, the Fanged Blades were preventing her from killing him and in her currently weakened state it could surely kill her so she didn't dare make any rash moves. She was aware that the Queen Basilisk's venom would be no joke and she believed this particular Queen Basilisk was abnormal and had a strong attachment towards Sol and would never let her guard down as long as she was around.

**

Sol had only just awaken and was feeling himself out, when he noticed the terrifying killing intent pointed towards him.

[...Change of plans..for one year, you are not to leave this valley...if you do I will kill you..] -Lamia

[Good morning to you too, care to tell me why you have killing intent pointed towards me?] -Sol

Sol had grown a bit tired of this Lamia's games and though he had respect for power, he didn't like being toyed with and

[....You are not to leave this valley for one year, if you do, you will learn how real this killing intent is] -Lamia

Sol noticed a huffing in her breathe and a dimness in her eyes that wasn't present before, he got a sense that she was much weaker for some reason and did not miss this. He also noticed the sense of danger he felt now compared to before was minimal even though her killing intent was high, he thought for a minute and then seemed to understand.

[You look weaker...much much weaker. For some reason...I don't think you can kill me right now anymore] -Sol

The Lamia didn't flinch or show any expression to Sol's words and she hid it pretty well, but Sol was just too intelligent and possessed the experience that was able to tell slight changes within people.

*Whoosh*

Nobody had known when, but Sol had already kicked off the floor and approached her with both Fanged Blades in his hands. The Lamia's pupils contracted and had not realized that Sol would be so decisive and directly followed through with his immediate decision to attack.

She lifted her claws and swung towards him almost instantly to counter, sadly her power was greatly weakened and was met with an illusion and swiped nothing but air-

*SLLLLLINGG*

The Lamia stopped her attack because Sol's Fanged Blades were already pressed against her neck, the mutated mark had already begun showing it's effect and she was slightly suppressed because of it. However, she knew that even with the Mutated mark the only way he could have placed her in such a deadlock position were a combination off a few things. His natural speed which surpassed warriors and were comparable to beasts and his decisive demeanor.

She knew that very few blades could cut her skin of S-Rank, but this unfortunately was such a weapon and if she were to be poisoned by it in her weakened state the outcome was obvious. She dared not move and stared at Sol without flinching but panic was obviously written in her eyes. Even if Sol had it pressed near her and didn't kill her yet, she was sure the Queen inside the blades wanted to kill her and would surely do so, she didn't dare agitate it.

[I have no reason to kill you, why do you want to kill me?] -Sol

[...Your mark...it wasn't supposed to be like that...if you leave here before one year, I will die. If I do not kill you now, then in the future you would bring destruction to my family and I must kill you no matter what. If my sisters learn of your existence, they will hunt you down no matter where you are and slaughter you..] -Lamia

[My mark?] -Sol

[Master! She means your neck!] -Mitra

Sol remembered the two holes, and asked her seriously. A sense of anger welled up inside but he ignored it and remained calm. It was because of them in the first place he got this mark and now he was being threatened again, even the most pious man would become annoyed. Sol offered her the same choices she offered him before-

[What did you do to me?..Lie and you Die] -Sol

The Lamia hesitated for a second and then spoke.

[I gave you my mark, it was supposed to show others you were my selected mate and other beasts or Lamias wouldn't disturb you..but..something went wrong..I need to get back my essence from you or regardless of what happens I will die] -Lamia

Sol looked at her for a second and then asked Mitra through their special connection without making a slight change. He couldn't see through her expressions completely and her heart was too tranquil for him to notice any differences, but he knew she wasn't lying about most of it but still it was in his nature to want to verify if all the facts were indeed correct.

(Is what she says the truth?) -Sol

(Master she's not lying, you gained a mutated mark, you won't see it's effects right away and only the original Lamia's mark would work. The mutation doesn't happen until much later down but this is why she tried to kill you, to regain her essence you stole from her. If she doesn't regain her essence and your mark mutates further, she will become sired to you in a manner of speaking

The reason she says she will die if she doesn't retrieve her essence is most likely cause she would rather die than be at the mercy of a human. Stuff like this has happened before in the past and Lamias had to make deals with non serpent beasts to eradicate the humans that possessed these marks because they were heavily subdued by these marks. Lamias who've been subdued by these marks have suffered all manners of terrible fates and ever since they always took counter-measures) -Mitra

(I see..Are there any side-effects?) -Sol

(No master, you've already cleared the hardest part. The fact that you have you're sanity is proof of that. The usual mark doesn't cause anyone harm, but this particular mutated brand is different. If master didn't have compatibility with serpents thanks to the Queen Basilisk, master probably would have been eating this Lamia alive already after slicing her to bits) -Mitra

(Master, what are you going to do? Compared to most Lamias, this one is probably only about 500 years old and is considered very young and is actually more understanding than others. Besides, I can tell master doesn't want to kill her, and you're not wrong. With a little persuasion she would most likely calm down, I suspect you are her first mate candidate and she is inexperienced in these matters otherwise she would have gone at all costs to kill you immediately when she discovered the mark.

Killing her can breed more problems than solve, especially since she's this young the others probably wouldn't let you off if they've learned that you've killed her and chances are they probably already know she already chose her mate candidate. At best, they probably just don't know who you are yet and it would only be a matter of time until they ask her to see you...Also, I think this specific Lamia has a special and privileged background.

See her red hair? Lamia's have different types of hair colors that define the density of their beast blood. Red is one of the higher privileged hair colors, I suspect she is the daughter of a Matriach or an elder of some sort. Besides, master I'm sure you can put the moves on her and subdue her. Master is naturally handsome after all and second only to me.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Not to mention I've been probing this place ever since we got here and I know for a fact that we're surrounded by Serpent type beasts which means this is without a doubt most definitely their territory. Judging by the amount of them, this is surely Lamia territory and master, to be honest consider yourself in a place much worse than the Bloodmana Wasp Hive) -Mitra

(I see, what you say is true..except I'm more handsome than you. I've had the feeling for a while now that there's an excess amount of killing intent in all directions and I can taste a dense amount of blood in the air. It's coming from outside but I can tell my senses aren't wrong, there are quite a few predators outside. Ever since I woke up my back has been cold as ice) -Sol

Sol thought for a bit and decided killing her was not an option, he nodded inwardly and then spoke to the Lamia.

[Maiden, Can you please tell me your name?] -Sol

The Lamia didn't speak this time..She stared at Sol and she felt like she had already starting becoming subdued by the mark, even though it didn't emit any King's aura yet it had still drained her power and she was unable to fight back, which she obviously hated. She had heard stories about what happens when a human gains a King's mark, she knew for her race that could spell a calamity.

[Are you going to continue treating me like your enemy like this for no reason...? I only wish to know your name..You even chose me as your mate candidate but still you can't even tell me your name? That's not right at all is it? Or have I offended you in some way? Is there some part of your culture that I am ignorant of and have soiled?] -Sol

Though these sounded like normal questions, the Lamia understood his intentions. He was saying he had done nothing wrong to her at all, yet he's been threatened several times by her. The Lamia relaxed slightly, she wanted to understand Sol's intentions and answered after she noticed Sol's killing intent had long left. She didn't have any sketchy thoughts and spoke straightforwardly-

[Zeshala'sele Vashjara] -Lamia

Sol sighed and then said-

[I'll call you Zee then] -Sol

Sol could tell she wasn't too pleased about that name but still said nothing, he laughed and then removed his blades from her neck. He never had any intentions of killing her in the first place, this girl was very straight-forward and Sol didn't mind her animalistic nature because it was rather honest.

[It's like this Zee, I don't want to kill you because you saved my life once before. I know how to repay my debts? Tell me, what are the ways to return your blood essence? I will help you as much as I can to repay my debt, however.....should you betray me, you will learn that a Lamia's cruelty cannot surpass a Doctor's...I am certain I can surely develop a disgusting and wretched poison to cure my current circumstances] -Sol

As Sol said these words to her, the Lamia felt a cold sliver run down her back. She could tell when humans lied and she remembered when she bit Sol to inject the mark, a bit of his blood leaked into her lips and recalled the toxic feeling it had to it. She knew that Sol wasn't lying and had to be incredibly skilled with poisons. She remembered when she first found him his hands smelled strongly of medicine and terrifying poison. However, she didn't lose heart and spoke her true thoughts-

[...You know you can just kill me and be done with this right....You should know all I have to is send them a message mentally and they would be here within a few minutes, they are much stronger than me and killing you is something they can easily do..Not to mention you only bested me because I was weakened] -Zee

Zee spoke in a cold and detached voice towards Sol as if looking at an idiot.

[...Why are you only talking about "kill" and "kill"? What did I do to incur your wrath?] -Sol

Sol quizzed her and looked at her if she was weird, which made her stumped and she questioned herself but then she spoke what she truly had in mind.

[...You are a dangerous existence, I felt so since the first moment I met you and I don't know why but for some reason It's in my nature to want to kill you...can you understand that?] -Zee

[Well it's in my nature to sleep and eat, but do you see me doing it all the time?] -Sol

Zee suddenly had the urge to laugh but suppressed it and watched Sol cold;y as she spoke and got to the main topic.

[So...What do you plan to do now then?] -Zee

[Well, are you going to tell me how exactly I give this blood essence back to you?] -Sol

Zee seemed astonished, but nodded naturally because she wanted it back. How could she let some human own her? She wasn't going to question why this particular human was willing to give her back her freedom but was more than happy to give him the knowledge.

[One, we can kill you and I can absorb it...Two-] -Zee

Sol felt a chill from this woman, she could rightly be called a woman as she seemed to be about 20 years of age but Sol knew she was much, much older. Mitra estimated at least 500 years, that in itself was a terrifying thing to think about, who knows how many Lamias there were out there in the bodies of water.

[..How about we lead with the ways that doesn't involve me dying?] -Sol

The more Sol talked with Zee the more he realized that the coldness in her voice wasn't on purpose and was just how she was, but he didn't doubt for a second that she wasn't capable of killing him and decided to defuse the situation before things got too hot. After a while the coldness in her voice faded without her knowledge and she begun speaking in minor chilly tone.

Zee looked at Sol and then she circled around him and sniffed at him, her killing intent towards him had settled down when he spared her and decided that trying to kill him again would go against her nature, she herself decided to relax. Lamia's never ever forget debts, when they are owed and when they owe and would always act in accordance.

[.....You really are strange no matter how I look at it, you could have killed me and using that mark escape from here before I had the chance to call my sisters, that Sentient Weapon and your Soul Beasts are related, You have a body thats as hard as some beasts I know of with terrifying defense, or rather you possess the potential toughness of them.

 You have golden hair and golden eyes...You are not a male descendant of a Lamia, yet our mark mutated on you. Your Dantian gives off weird waves that...it's especially that which drew me to you in the first place] -Zee

Sol had grown accustomed to the surprised exppresions and remained calm, although Zee's voice was still cold it was filled with curiosity. She ran her hand through his hair and the distance between the two was shortened and her scent brushed up on Sol. The scent of wild rain and sweet fruits assaulted his nose, it was then Sol noticed she wore extremely tight-fitted top piece and her breasts had rubbed against him.

Sol turned his head to the side as his face became red and the Lamia seemed to be poking him all over his body not aware of Sol's current thoughts. Finally she stopped inspecting and resumed her investigation-

[....Where did you come from?..I know you said "Outer Space" but how much is "Outer" space? How far is it? Do all the people where you come from look like you and have that type of hair and eye color? Why can you acquire our mark even though you aren't born from a Lamia? Why is it you have compatability with serpents like us?] -Lamia

Sol raised his hands and stopped her as he came to knew when this woman before him was curious about something she would talk non-stop.

[Zee, One question at a time and I may not have answers for all] -Sol

Zee quieted down and cleared her throat, her cold voice came back in full bloom as she realized she had left herself slip.

[...My apologies..] -Zee

[Really...We're back to that again now?] -Sol

Zee cleared her throat once more, and a slightly less colder voice came out but Sol could started to learn to distinguish the difference between her normal self and when she really was being frigid.

[Okay..my apologies] -Zee

Sol and Zee then spoke for a while longer and after satisfying her curiosity, she remained silent for a while.

[You....you will keep to your promise right? One year from now...and you must remain within here for a year..Do you agree?] -Zee

[Yes I will keep my word] -Sol

[Then at that time, I will see you. Keep your mark hidden and it won't be distinguishable from others. Know that I am placing my life on the line for you, no matter what you are to keep my mark hidden...that is my only request from you] -Zee

[I won't show it off..you have my word] -Sol

[This place, is called "Serpent Falls" and is heavily surrounded by serpent-type beasts and Lamias. So long as you remain here, your life will only be in danger by any other type of beast that may wander in. There are a few serpent type beasts you should not provoke, you will know when you see them. So long as you don't disturb you, they won't risk offending me and attack you

Other Lamias will not approach you, but they may come to spy on you when they sense my mark out of curiosity. You absolutely must not let them see that mark...otherwise this entire place will turn against you and I won't be able to save you] -Zee

[Well then human from another world...I'll see if you really are different from them or just a different flavor. Let's see if you keep your word..] -Zee

As she was about to leave, Sol suddenly remembered something.

[I'm looking for a place called Earthernvale, I will return there afterward. Is it nearby?] -Sol

[Earthernvale?...I'm afraid I don't know the city...but...you entered a water way didn't you?] -Zee

[..Yeah, why what's wrong?] -Sol

[My guess is, you are very very far from there and you had best give up on returning until you're strong enough to get there] -Zee

[..You have no idea how long you were unconscious don't you?] -Zee

[No...]- Sol

[Your body traveled along the water way for at least a day, my guess is that your Soulbeasts supplied you with air and maintained your state and that's why you didnt drown. Judging from the particular area where your body exited the water way, you came from upstream and must have came from incredibly far.

This place is "Serpent Falls", it's where all Water Ways connect and where us Lamias live. The fact that you ended up here and didn't branch off somewhere else means the water way you entered was an old one and was directly connected to here as opposed to the new ones which are interlaced. It can be said it is impossible to directly end up here, unless you entered an old water way or are a Lamia with knowledge of the Water ways] -Zee

[Basically, where you came from is a direct route towards us and I am curious about such a water way....something like that shouldn't be possible without us knowing. Now if that's all, I'll be taking my leave. I'll go investigate that water way once I regain a portion of my strength] -Zee

Zee turned around and left without looking back, Sol noticed she had regained a bit of her power already and it was enough to threaten him yet she was as he predicted and she no longer possessed the desire to kill him. He had a good impression of this Lamia girl and thought she was quite interesting herself and stared at her back as she left.

**

As soon as Zee left, Sol immediately sat down and withdrew an empty vial from his runic ring. He picked up one of the Fanged Blades and placed the hollowed tip from it in front of the vial and a few drops of blood leaked out into the vial. This was Zee's blood, Sol had asked the Queen to extract a bit from her while he pressed the blades onto her neck and was the only reason he held the blades to her neck that long.  The Queen used a slight amount of force and withdrew a few drops that went unnoticeable to Zee.

Even though Sol had quite the favorable impression of her, he still did not trust her species on a whole. While Sol had been speaking to her, he began analyzing what type of habits her species possessed and came to the conclusion that Zee was the more tolerable of the species and it was probably because she was incredibly young to their standards. He had already built up a mental profile of a Lamia, and now that he had it's blood he could study it on a deeper level.

He didn't feel like making the poison right away and instead sat down and let out a sigh. He had only now gotten time to himself after all the events and only now did he get to sit down and reflect. He knew he was far from Earthenvale, and once again he was alone. The twin Basilisks finally completely came out of his arms after sensing his feelings and immediately came to be spoiled and rubbed their heads on him.

(That's right...how foolish to think I was alone) -Sol

Sol looked at them warmly and kissed their foreheads once only now did he get to see their changes and was quite surprised. Sol noticed they had gotten alot bigger, their heads were a bit bigger than the size of a humans and had ten meters in length. Their hoods started becoming more lean and fierce and lost it's wobbly cuteness and he realized they were both females like their mother.

The colors on their scales also became brighter and the most surprisinging change of all was that they both had different colored eyes now. One had a golden pupil like Sol in his right eye, and the other eye maintained it's original red jeweled eye color on the left . The other twin was the opposite, Sol decided to give them names and after thinking for a while came up with two he was satisified with.

He looked at the one who had a golden right eye and rubbed her head and told her that her name was "Hydrian" which meant bright right eye. The other twin was named "Hydrea" which meant "Bright left eye", The twins loved their names and were happy with it.

Sol noticed these twins started becoming much more lively now and were moving about on their own, he watched the two play for a while. At some point, Mitra changed his form back into his cute cuddly appearance and lay in Sol's lap which drew the attention of the twins who quickly approached him, scaring him half to death.

Seeing the two serpents bullying Mitra, Sol's heart felt warm as he watched this scene and let out a sincere laugh, which terrified Mitra even more. Sol noticed Hydrian was more lazy and calm as she came over to him and coiled herself around him ignoring the other two and fell half asleep, while Hydrias was more vicious and provocative. Poor Mitra learned this hard way as his tanned golden fur was covered in saliva . At some point Hydrias got fed up of bullying Mitra and brought him back over to Sol and placed him in Sol's lap covered in drool.

Sol sat down and sighed after he played around with them for a while, he understood they grew with him and were still babies. They had only grown to this size this quickly because of Sol's abnormal power increases, but were still very much children. Needless to say the Basilisk Queen soul inside the Fanged Blades were quite happy when she saw the absurd increase in strength.

Sol then decided he needed to become even more powerful, as to protect this little happiness he has. He began to wonder about his parents, subconsciously his hand reached toward his pendant as he thought for a moment. He walked out of the cave, with both Hydrian and Hydrias following at each of his sides...he was shocked to discover that he was currently in a cave on top of a waterfall.

The strangest part about it, was that the cliff reached as far as Sol could see and several different types of waterfalls connected giving birth to a huge waterfall that fell down into a vast and wide river below. Sol started noticing other beasts shortly afterward as he peered downward from the cave into the river and forests below from the only place within the waterfall that was able to see the huge and wide area without being obstructed by curtains of water.

Suddenly-

A shadow raised and separated the curtain of the waterfall on the opposite side of Sol, Sol could only look on as a titan-like, red and hideous serpent that was much much bigger than the S-Rank Basilisk Queen emerge from a waterfall, Sol upon seeing this creature had his blood run cold as he looked at it.

It had blood-colored scales that seemed like they were made of blood-stained metal, cruel and detached eyes and it had a hint of mischievousness within it's eyes. It's eyes were filled with viciousness and cruelty, the beasts who saw it awaken immediately scattered in different directions and went about hiding. The huge red serpent then cast it's gaze towards Sol's direction, Sol felt like his heart had stopped as he watched this huge mountain looking at him with those terrible red and green colored eyes that made his skin crawl and back cry cold buckets.

[Human...you smell tasty] -Huge Red Serpent

It suddenly spoke directly into his mind indifferently and then gave Sol a slight smile with it's fangs raised and shifted it's gaze elsewhere and submerged within the river. Sol felt his mind go blank, as he stared to realize more and more that he was indeed surrounded by frightening beasts. He spotted another huge black serpent on top of one of the falls, that looked just as powerful as the red one and it just looked at Sol quietly, after a while it looked as though it fell asleep and closed it's eyes.

Sol seeing these beasts, put his hand on his forehead and laughed.

[No wonder why people of Earthernvale live like that, How can they live amongst this?] -Sol

No matter how Sol looked at it, they were right to hide themselves away. He knew the King and Former King were powerful but could they kill this Red and Black gigantic serpents? Sol didn't think so. Even if there were 100 King Ironspines and 100 Former Kings, he didn't believe they could kill that thing.

As he thought these things he still kept his hands around his pendant, all of a sudden-

*Click* *Click*

He had subconsciously clenched the pendant and two unnatural indentations and immediately sunk in. Suddenly a hologram flew up and Sol saw the silhouettes of two people. The pendant was supposed to be automatically triggered by the machine Sol arrived in, but it was too badly damaged and lost power before it could do so.

Sol had only thought of it as a normal pendant and didn't know of this feature otherwise he would have long played it, because to him words from his parents were like words from his Gods. He fell to his knees as he saw these images, tears welled up from inside and he focused on every second of the recording.

 A male and female had appeared, he recognized them almost instantly from the hazy memories, they were his parents-

[This..] -Sol

Sol was overly joyful as he saw their appearances and then they began speaking-

[Arin, my love. I am your mother, I have no idea what your condition is and I hope you are safe. I love you my baby, I hope you've been growing into a strong and powerful young man, mommy made sure you were prepared no matter what you have to face] -female silhouette

[My son, always remember to think before you move! That is the first key to survival! Know your surroundings and know your enemy!] -male silhouette

After hearing a few warm words from his parents, Sol had become at peace and was filled with a good feeling in his heart. Then afterward it came-

[There's one thing you absolutely must do, this is something you must do at all costs if you're a man!] -Male silhouette

[You are not the only one on Earth, another should be near you. We sent your fiance along with you, the pods were designed to remain close to one another. You must absolutely find her no matter what Sol, she is your last family member] -female silhouette

[Here these are some of your memories, it's about you and her. This should help you remember her, you must absolutely find her at all costs, Arin] -male silhouette

Sol upon hearing this felt mind-blown! Why didn't he check his pendant and pod carefully before? He blamed his carelessness and a sudden intense urge sprouted from inside him.

[One year, In one year I will become powerful enough to scower these lands. No matter who the enemy is, I will kill and conquer. I will definitely find her, I can only hope she survives until then..hopefully she was the same as me and came out near a city. If these pods are as advanced as my parents said then most likely she would have ended up near a city of human life just like mine] -Sol

His parents taught him how to operate the pendant through the holograms and he quickly learned it's features. Although they used strange words, Sol understood them because his language stemmed from there and was able to understand these words.

He saw an arrow on the pendant pointing towards a direction, and he knew she was in that direction.

[One year...I will acquire the strength to leave this place. In one year, nothing will stop me. So endure....Claire...endure for as long as you can. I will find you for sure.] -Sol

What was this? Family? When he learned he had family here, things had changed. If before he didn't know where his home was, then now he had found it but didn't possess the strength to acquire it. As Sol made this declaration in his heart, the black serpent across the waterfalls seemed to have sensed his rouse in heart and though was quite surprised, only opened one eye to peep and see what Sol was doing. It saw the strange images of the hologram and was surprised to the point it opened both of it's red murky eyes and stared at Sol as it lifted it's head a bit higher. After a while it closed it's eyes and resumed it's sleep-like state, however it started paying attention to Sol more and now and then would glance at the cave. Very few things could catch this lazy serpent's attention and it seemed to have something amusing to watch now.