"Bleagh!" Gasping for breath and covered in drool from head to toe, Kiochi tumbled onto the solid ground. He tried with all his might to crawl away, but to no avail.

Leviathan, who had spat him out, looked just as profoundly miserable. All the while Stas was away, she had to keep Kiochi in her throat, occasionally opening her mouth slightly so he wouldn't suffocate.

Moreover, swimming through the earth with such a heavy load turned out to be far from simple.

Fortunately, her master appeared quite soon, because by the end of the wait, it was getting harder and harder to fight her instincts.

Stas, however, was smirking as he watched the trembling lad glancing around with wild eyes.

'Levi really is something,' he shook his head, 'I'm not even sure how exactly she creates this new venom. Has she developed additional glands, this time with paralytic kind, or can she somehow change her existing venom to a paralytic one?'

Attempts to examine the snake with Healing Palm led nowhere. The natural energy was causing too much interference, so a more powerful analysis technique was needed.

Besides that question, Ordyntsev was wildly curious about Leviathan's stomach.

Stas had long noticed that his pet could eat far more than one would think. And yet, her body didn't expand that much.

The swallowed youth only confirmed the existence of some kind of small spatial pocket.

Magical monsters surprised with their abilities time and again. But even among them, Levi was the queen.

'Turns out you're full of secrets. I wonder if my own body is also not as simple as it seems?'

But that was something to think about later. For now, Ordyntsev was curiously examining the lad who had caught his interest.

Stas had several reasons for acting as he did.

First, despite all the blood he had had to shed, he never killed children. Here, the earthling was treading on thin ice, as among those two hundred bandits, there were often quite young lads who had decided to join the gangs.

Moreover, youth in this world was relative, so the earthling was guided by height and facial features.

The only thing Stas allowed himself was not to kill them personally. But it must be understood that Mei and Eiji did not hold themselves back.

And as two-faced as it sounded, Stas did not interfere with them.

And here we come to the second reason. Ordyntsev could have stepped aside and let Eiji finish the job, but he saw potential in the lad he spotted.

Despite his great fear, he still rushed to his comrade's aid. Whatever had pushed him down the path of renegades, it hadn't made him a traitor.

Moreover, he didn't look like someone with anywhere to go.

And that was something Stas could work with.

"W-who are you... Master?" Koichi realized correctly, his gaze filled with a kind of fearful reverence, as he looked over at the discontented Levi beside him.

The snake, with some unhealthy curiosity, was examining the trembling lad. It was only the second time she had regurgitated her prey of her own volition.

The sensations were the most unpleasant.

"Call me..." Stas thought for a moment and then chuckled to himself. "Serpent. And what's your name, boy?"

"Kiochi, Serpent-sama!" the young warmaster bowed swiftly, once he was sure he could stand on his own feet.

"You're polite," Stas nodded with satisfaction. "But I still haven't heard which clan you're from, Kiochi-kun."

"From the Fukasa clan," squeaked the lad, fearing what might follow.

"Hmm, a vassal clan of the water-wielding Mizuno?"

"That's right, Serpent-sama!"

"Don't shout," Stas rebuked him. "I take it, Kiochi-kun, that your clan isn't waiting for your return? And why? I'd like to know."

"It's just that..." Kiochi really didn't want to tell, but under two serpentine gazes, he suddenly found inspiration.

"So that's how it is," Stas nodded, closely watching the fidgeting lad. "Tell me, Kiochi-kun, how would you feel about joining and serving me?"

"Serpent-sama!" The poor lad's relief was hard to put into words, as he thought he would be fed to the snake once they found out everything he knew. "Of course, I..."

"Wait," Ordyntsev's eyes flashed menacingly. "I must warn you that serving me imposes certain obligations on you. You can't just walk away when you're tired. Moreover, it might happen that I will need all of you, Kiochi-kun. Your body, soul, and even thoughts will no longer belong to you. Do you agree?"

"Y-yes." Kiochi felt he was making a big mistake. But he also knew his only choice was between a snake's stomach and serving a fearsome master.

"Well then, welcome, Kiochi-kun, to our humble family," Stas smiled with anticipation. "Your first task will be to reach the city of Sumada, and then find one unremarkable house. Since you're a Mizuno renegade, the Sumada aren't a threat to you. Once you find the house, you'll be at the complete disposal of whoever is there. Her orders are my orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Serpent-sama."

"I'm glad you're so understanding. And yes, my snake doesn't like it when her snacks are taken from her. Don't disappoint me, Kiochi-kun, or the snake will get back what she lost."

"I w-won't let you down!" The snake's gaze behind him intensified.

"It's in your best interests, Kiochi-kun."

*****

Only after half an hour, when no one opened the door to the courtyard, did Kiochi begin to suspect that everything was not as ideal as he would have liked.

Nevertheless, he didn't want to stand around like a fool and attract attention any longer.

Climbing over the fence and finding himself inside a small courtyard turned out to be very simple.

"Mistress," Kiochi began cautiously, approaching the house. "Please excuse my intrusion," he pushed the door and entered. "I..." he stopped when cold steel touched his throat.

"And who are you?" the stranger's voice was far from welcoming.

"I'm from the Serpent! He directed me here!" Kiochi hastened to explain.

'I didn't survive that battle and almost being digested by a giant snake just to die so stupidly!'

"From the Serpent?" The house's mistress was momentarily surprised, but then the suspicion returned. "How can you prove it?"

"He had a snake, a huge white snake. He said I am to be subordinate to you and follow all your orders."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"So that's how it is," Kiochi was abruptly turned around and caught a glimpse of the girl stashing knives at her waist. "Well then, subordinate."

Mari appraised him with a scrutinizing look.

"I got the main idea, now you'll explain the details to me."

*****

"Oh, my brother, I see you've even achieved something," Izuna's mocking tone was hard to miss as he stood surrounded by his retinue. "Though your appearance leaves much to be desired. At this rate, our enemies might think we've gone completely savage."

Each member of the elder prince's group was dressed in clean, magnificent armor, while across from them stood the grim Jishin and his ragtag fighters.

But it was easy to notice that Jishin's dozens of subordinate warmasters looked at the confrontation between the princes with different eyes.

While Izuna commanded the army and was quite far from the front, his younger brother had been fighting since the beginning of the war.

It is the ordinary soldiers who win wars, not the generals. In this case, the ordinary warmasters. And among them, Jishin was popular.

His stone slabs had saved ordinary fighters from death more than once. His bravery was also well known.

If Izuna enjoyed popularity among the Sumada clan's elite, the lower ranks were mostly for Jishin, as he shared all the hardships with them.

"It's easy to look pretty sitting far from the fight," Jishin's calm words made Izuna narrow his eyes.

"Know your place!" shouted one of the warmasters from Izuna's retinue. "How dare you mock your future ruler?!"

"No-no, Kohri. No need to argue," the elder prince calmed him with a wave of his hand, then threateningly looked at Jishin. "A couple of allied clans of the Great Avasaki clan have seized several cities of Hyugo. These cities had already been captured by our people. The Avasaki do not take responsibility for the actions of their allies, but that means nothing. We must prove to them all that the Sumada clan is to be reckoned with! There, we'll see who's really worth what."

"We'll see," Jishin confirmed, not lowering his gaze.

*****

The return to the city was routine. The mission to annihilate the bandits was completed. Stas suspected that some of the robbers, sensing the heat on their heels, had emigrated beyond the designated provinces.

But that was no longer their concern.

Moreover, he was even glad. Although he had killed fewer than Mei and Eiji, the number still unpleasantly loomed at the edge of his consciousness.

'Did I know that soon I would be killing people more than healing them? Such a remarkable doctor I've become.'

Stas gained a lot from this mission, starting with acquiring another subordinate, who was currently undergoing intensive training under Mari's patronage.

He checked in on them to see how things were going and was pleased with what he saw.

The girl took her leader's trust seriously and increased the workload not only for Kiochi but also for herself.

Stas felt that with a little more work at this pace, they could be sent on new missions. Home training wouldn't give them the necessary experience. And that experience needed to be built up now, before the situation got really bad.

The earthling's predictions were beginning to come true.

Take, for instance, Avasaki's actions. Even to a complete idiot, it was becoming clear that their allied clans were not acting just because.

Seeing how Sumada was locked in combat with Sansa, Kiatto, and their mercenaries, they decided to try to snatch a piece for themselves.

Moreover, persistent rumors indicated that Sansa was supported by one of the great clans. And the more Stas heard about it, the clearer he saw the shadow of Mizuno.

The water warmasters were adept at making others pull the chestnuts out of the fire for them. It wasn't just a coincidence that the number of small clans subordinate to them was one of the largest, was it?

In addition to all of the above, the Deathbringers, the Rangiku executioners, and even the Tokitori seal-makers involved themselves.

The latter engaged in brisk trade, selling their supplies to all the actors. Almost no one asked the price, grabbing the deadly runic scrolls like hotcakes.

If you sum it up, the giants around were cautiously nibbling at each other's sides, almost ignoring the small curs scurrying at their feet, which were ferociously biting each other.

But it was only a matter of time before one of the giants received such a strong bite that it would roar and pounce on its opponent.

In these conditions, one could not afford to be slack, so Stanislav did everything to increase his own combat readiness.

Over the past five months of walking through the forests, he had mastered sticking to surfaces well enough to be able to run along a seven-meter wall. Through, he still had problems with standing in one place.

This required maintaining prana for too long, which disrupted concentration. But Ordyntsev did not despair and continued training.

He could already do more than he had even imagined, feeling like some kind of superhuman. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

In addition to the mandatory skills, he did not forget about techniques.

Bloody Strike now came to him as naturally as breathing. Moreover, he even managed to skip the first part of the technique's name.

Red projectiles exploded the ground, rocks, and trees, bringing chaos and death. Ordinary warmasters hit by this technique burst into the same bloody splashes as regular people.

The only difference was that something remained of the warmasters that could be buried, if one so wished.

Nevertheless, Stas's attention was captured not by this technique.

The earthworms provided by Jun fascinated the earthling with a variety of possibilities. Initially, when he just started training, he managed only one small, trembling tube, which, with all his will, could not harm anyone.

It looked so pitiful and funny that Ordyntsev couldn't even get upset at his laughing comrades and sensei.

However, time passed, and the worm grew stronger. And soon after, Stas managed to control two "hoses."

The most difficult thing turned out to be control. Each worm, albeit possessing a rudimentary mind of its own, would falter without constant commands.

The solution was found quickly.

All he had to do was imagine each worm as one of the fingers, after which things got better until the number of worms reached five.

Now, every new "finger" beyond the desired number required excessive mental effort.

Even so, Stas was thrilled.

The technique, obedient to his will, could attack from the most unexpected angles, entangle and interfere in combat, and even pull the earthling towards it by rapidly contracting.

It became clear that Master Jun had indeed given him a valuable gift.

Ordyntsev thought for a long time about how to repay him. The solution turned out to be surprisingly obvious.

The locals had a rather limited imagination regarding alcoholic beverages. Stas learned only about beer, wine, sake, and something remotely resembling vodka.

That's why the earthling decided to introduce this world to mead. The reason was the simplicity of the recipe. Nevertheless, everything had to be carefully thought out and weighed. The new drink, in the end, might not appeal to the locals.

But even all of the above was not enough.

Something was needed that was absolutely new and, therefore, deadly.

That's why Stas Ordyntsev began to think about how new techniques are created. It was this area, zealously guarded by the warmasters, that held great possibilities.

Unfortunately, there was very little information available. Kizashi couldn't help much, as he himself was still far from the required level. It was also not worth going to his grandfather, as the topic was too important.

Nevertheless, there were some leads.

As the man understood, creating a technique consisted of four parts. Namely, a very well-chosen emotional component, a visual image, then the logical part, what the technique should do, and finally, prana, saturated with all this and tuned accordingly.

It became clear why, with such vague requirements, the creation of new techniques was considered such a unique phenomenon.

However, Stas had some crazy ideas.

All this serpentine theme that constantly revolved around him made him look at the earthworm technique in a new way.

Somehow naturally, he envisioned in the worms' place not eyeless round faces, but real serpents that clung to his enemies.

And this variation of the existing technique even had advantages, because the faces of the worms clung very poorly at first. But a serpentine mouth could work no worse than a trap. The long fangs would be much better at penetrating fortified skin.

In all this madness, Ordyntsev was counting on the unusual nature of his prana. After all, thousands of tiny snakes flow through his prana channels.

Shouldn't they somehow help him create a serpent technique?

'Earth Technique. Serpent Strike! Or should it be called a serpent hand? Serpent grip? Serpent bonds? Ah, this turns out to be harder than I thought.' Stanislav chuckled, lost in thought.

In the end, Ordyntsev loved snakes, and having such a variation of a familiar technique would simply be useful for his image.

Perhaps it wasn't creating a technique from scratch, but even so, such an achievement would give him even more weight in the eyes of the surrounding warmasters.

Suddenly, Stas tensed. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was off.

"Shiro-kun, I see you haven't been wasting time," the sudden voice made Ordyntsev jump off the futon in one swift motion.

The stone worms shot from his sleeve, ready to lengthen and latch onto whatever their master pointed at.

Levi wasn't there at the moment, so there was no help to be expected from anywhere.

Nevertheless, seeing who nearly startled him with their presence, Stas relaxed and canceled the technique.

"Kaede-san, you shouldn't scare people like that. After all, unlike you, I could have a heart attack."

From the corner emerged a smiling Kuchisake-onna. The earthling squinted. There was something strange about her.

She looked familiar and yet different.

The same slash on her face, although deep, showing teeth too sharp for a human, was smaller than before.

And her clothes seemed more real somehow?

"I'm glad to see you, Shiro-kun. And speaking of our difference, it's not so clear-cut anymore."

"Welcome to my humble abode," Ordyntsev replied politely. "I'm sure you have interesting things to tell."

"You have no idea how right you are," the yokai smiled broadly. "I'm glad you've finally returned."

"May I ask why?" Stas became serious, sensing he wouldn't like the next words.

"What a grouch you are, but yes, you may," the spirit girl nodded happily. "While you were wandering, I also found a teacher. And she wants to talk to you."

"And where is she?" Stas's suspicions began to solidify into undeniable clarity.

"Lady Nure-onna lives in the caves beneath this castle," the yokai shrugged carelessly, not noticing the changing expression on Stas's face. "When I told her about you, she really wanted to meet you."

'Am I right in remembering that a Nure-onna is a predatory spirit of a half-serpent woman who drowns travelers and then feeds on their bloated flesh?!'