The shaking only continued to get more violent as Ian and I were tossed along the ground. Trees fell down in the forest around us, adding to the chaotic sound. Small cracks appeared in the grass beneath us, widening considerably. I attempted to move away before seeing the cracks fill in before my eyes.

Is the island… expanding?

After a few minutes the violent shaking lessened to a tremor and then finally stopped. Now opposite of the clearing I watched as Ian tried to get on his feet, shakily wobbling around. He also appeared to be farther away…When I would’ve said the clearing was about twenty by twenty feet across, it now appeared to have doubled in size.

“You think that was a uh terra event thing?” Ian asked, now walking over to me.

“Maybe… I’m not too sure about anything right now.” Ian repaid my favor to him earlier, and helped me off the ground.

“What do we do next?” Ian asked, just what I was wondering myself.

“I don’t know. Maybe we can… Look up Ian.”

He joined me as I stared at what appeared to be a large… chicken egg? No. The outer shell was partially translucent and something wiggled around within. It hovered in the sky above, the way it was positioned blocked the noon day sun, creating a shadow around us.

“Kai, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that doesn’t look good.”

“No, it doesn’t look good at all. Let’s get out of here.”

I turned to show Ian the way out of the forest but paused when I heard a ripping noise.

Looking back to the massive egg a huge cut sliced its way down the side. At first a small trickle of fluid seeped out from within, dripping off to the right of Ian. What started as a trickle turned into a torrent as fluid rushed out from the egg, flooding the area around us.

“Ian, time to go.”

Ian had been staring at the egg with a look of morbid fascination plastered on his face, practically unaffected by the viscous fluid starting to fill the grass around us.

Before I could call his name again another ripping noise sounded. Now, the egg had crumpled down to fit the form of whatever wriggled around within. And then the egg fully opened. What peeled out from within can only be thought of as a distant relative to a snake. Its head was all white with glowing red eyes. The snakes’ scales were thick and reflected the noon day sun, making it blinding to look at.

“Ian. Time. To. GO.”

He needed no further prodding and ran after me, ducking and weaving through the rough forestry. Our steps were hurried on by the sound of a schplatt as the snake fell onto the clearing. A screeching hiss came from behind, but neither of us dared to look behind and see what the rest of the snake looked like. Or how close it was.

I hurtled myself over logs that hadn’t been there before, praying that Ian could keep up with his shorter legs. As we continued to put distance between the monstrous snake and us, I continued to lead Ian over to the cliff space. I had noticed that the open land spread out to either side so we could run easier, hopefully it would aid and not hinder us.

Minutes passed as we continued to fly through the forest, slowly growing tired.

Where is the cliff.

Our jungle journey continued to exhaust us before it struck me, the tutorial had changed the island. I could be leading us in the entire wrong direction. Not daring to stop and elaborate, I simply shouted back to Ian.

“Ian! I don’t know where the cliff is!”

“You were leading us towards a cliff?!”

“Yes, but I had a plan!”

“Where now?”

Looking at the blurs of green around us, I saw what appeared to be a sloping hill to my left.

“This way!”

I turned after sliding over a log, now running up a dirt game trail. Leaves and sharp thorns scraped across me as I kept my hands up to defend my face. Ian and I persevered through the climb, cresting the hill and once again began running on flat ground.

Exhaustion growing in my limbs, I began to slow.

Surely we lost the snake somewhere back there?

“Kai! Right here.”

Ian pointed off the trail to what looked like two large rabbit holes. I slowed and hurried off to the side where Ian was now inspecting them.

“They look to go diagonally down about twenty feet. Here let me check.”

Ian then laid down and scooted back feet-first. Both of the holes were positioned next to each other and slightly covered by brush. Ian wiggled his flip flop covered feet around to move the leaves blocking the entrance.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Although the situation was serious, possibly dire, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“No way you ran away from a magical snake in flip flops.”

“That’s what you’re focused on? Flip flops? Not the whole magical snake that could be chasing after us right now?”

The crack of a tree brought the moment back into focus and I got down to go into my own hidey-hole.

“Is yours good?” I asked Ian, who was already all the way in.

“Yeah, no magical snakes or anything. I’m not risking staying at the top though.” He then proceeded to slide down the rest of the dirt tunnel.

I too slid feet first into my tunnel, shuffling backwards on my elbows and stomach. The tunnels did slope slightly diagonal, allowing me to still get a look at the open path space.

Once I had comfortably settled in the loose dirt at the bottom, I waited for any sign of the snake, which didn’t take long. The snapping of vines, and possibly more trees, warned of the snakes’ presence. Soon even the ground vibrated from the presence above.

At first all I managed to see was what at first glance looked like pink ribbon fluttering in the wind. Its tongue. Then the nose, head, and part of its raised neck.

Reminiscent of hide and seek I held my breath apprehensively waiting for it to leave. The snake had frozen on the path, still tasting the air in front of it.

When I was younger, I had been fascinated by snakes. Books, documentaries, video games. I loved snakes. Reading time at school? Snakes. Library time at school? Snakes. Movie time at school? Snakes. Ian said it was an unhealthy obsession looking back. But, because of that unhealthy obsession, I knew snakes could feel heat signatures.

Am I thinking of that right? Or maybe it was taste the heat? Crap…

Still holding my breath, I watched as the snow-colored snake opened its maw, letting out an indigent screech. It then flicked it’s tongue out several times in an almost impatient way.

I watched all of this happen from within the burrowed hole.

Who would've thought... Playing hide and go seek but if you’re caught, you’re dead.

I finally let out a pensive breath as my lungs screamed for more air. The snake didn’t appear to have any visible reaction, which encouraged me to take several more cautious breaths.

I shifted my head to try and get a slightly better view of the snake. A large bay leaf blocked most of my hole which added to my hiding spot. Though I doubted the snake had good eyesight. From what I had seen earlier, and from what I could see now, the snakes’ eyes were a milky white color. Most likely reduced vision…

Another hiss echoed through the tunnel as the snake began to slither on, clearly done with whatever prey it had been hunting. As the snake’s large body slithered by, I got a better view. And it was huge. The floating egg had distorted the true size of the python within. Now, I watched as scales the size of my head, slowly roved down the path. The tail finally followed behind, looking like it had been dipped in metal. Instead of following the curving path like the rest of the body, the tail appeared to flick out due to its stiff metal exterior.

That’s horrifying.

I waited for several minutes before starting the process of shimmying back out of the tunnel. Once I began brushing myself off, I heard the sound of shifting dirt as Ian climbed out of his own.

“Is the thing really gone?” He asked.

“Yeah. Looks like it.”

“Dang I’m good at this stuff. You’re welcome for saving your life and all that.”

Although I wanted to have some snappy come back, Ian was actually right for once. We couldn’t have kept running from that thing forever…

*Tutorial Quest received*

The words, just like all other system notifications, flashed in front of my face. Apparently the same happened for Ian who jerked his head back.

“You too?” I asked.

“Yeah. System, how do I see the quest?”

After asking how I too could see the quests, another menu popped up.

Statistics... Quests... Settings...

Yes, definitely like a videogame.

I focused on statistics and found it was what I expected, with the same menu from before popping up. Quests was entirely different.

Quests: Defeat Frosted-scale Snake (Tutorial): 100 xp bonus, Chest bonus, Finish tutorial. Use basic spell/ability (Beginner): 10xp & common item.

"We have to defeat... that?" Ian pointed off in the direction of the path where the snake had disappeared.

"Looks like it. At least to exit whatever tutorial stage we're in right now."

"Do you have a first spell quest too?" Ian asked.

"Yep."

"Also, what's your class?"

"I don't have a class? It gave me a title, but I think it works the same... Right now my ability is to summon a nature spirit. Still not sure what that totally means. What about you?"

"Oh I chose Pacific Rogue. It said it was pretty rare, plus it had agility and speed buffs."

"Is that how you kept up in flip flops?"

"Probably? My first spell is called backstab. It allows me to blip behind any opponent within ten feet of me."

"That sounds OP."

"That's why I chose it. So I guess we should use our spells? We're going to need some stuff before we take down frosty the big old snake any time soon."

"Alright. Use your spell on me." I offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean as long as you don't push me over or anything."

Ian shrugged and then took a few steps back. He steadied himself before taking a deep breath.

"Do you know how to use it?" I finally asked.

Except Ian wasn't there. One moment he had been, and the next his whole body turned blurry and fuzzy. Then, I felt myself get shoved forward into the ground.

"Guess it works!" Ian said from behind me, having perfectly done his skill.

"I hate you."

He helped me back up before I attempted my own skill.

Just starting to imagine the Nature Summoner spell I instinctively knew how I would do it.

So the system can just transfer information to my mind?

While mildly creepy, it was also extremely helpful.

I steadied my breathing and focused on bringing the spell up. A tingling energy began spreading throughout my body as I prepared to summon a nature spirit?

Can't believe any of this is actually happening...

I opened my hand palm down as the energy began to gather in my arm. Slowly, spirals of green light spread out from my fingertips. The glowing strings fluttered in the air as they began forming a pattern. Little by little the green strands wove around each other making what looked like a rune circle. When it appeared to be solid enough, the runic pattern shot down to the ground and glowed brightly.

And then, a creature emerged.