With a little luck, your return journey would go smoothly. Within a few kilometers, the whole area was as if swept empty. What was either the fight between the giants or the territorial disputes that had broken out.

Natural habitats or simply habitats were mostly dominated by a pointed predator, followed by other carnivorous creatures, while herbivores and rodents were at the lower end of the food chain.

Any disturbance within this naturally formed equilibrium sparked a wave of new quarrels, conflicts, and attempts to place oneself at the top as the predator.

They had plenty of time to think on their way back, but as Leica was developing, Magna took the opportunity to let its new shape carry her away. The fight had exhausted him very much. It was probably time to leave the damn forest of horror behind.

He also kept looking back at the regeneration in his head. How could he be otherwise? It was a deeply strange feeling. How could he describe this? Instinctively, it hit the best of all things. At no minute did he have to actively think about it. It wasn't magic either, it was much more a natural property like breathing itself. But regeneration was not one of the properties one usually possessed. Despite this strangeness, investing in the Void had been the right decision.

In a fight, one of the beasts ran its claws down his back from behind. The feeling of being filleted was still very fresh in his mind. Just like the moment when regeneration began. The moment the black mass curled around his back, any pain also died, but the pain before recovery was still very fresh.

The system registered it as a skill, but it wasn't one that he had created. What about Leica's flying skills? Could she teach him? If he accepted the concept of it through their bond, then wouldn't it have been possible to create something of their own on this basis? Questions and attempts did not cost anything, so he wrote down the idea for a later point in time.

Magna herself was more on her back than he was sitting on. Leaning forward, his hands reached into her fur. The trees passed his face at an insane speed. If he hadn't been so tired and if every acceleration had been back in his safe bunker, he would have asked them to run a little slower.

On the other hand, Leica was just enjoying its development. Something he couldn't really blame her for, after all, he'd done the same thing himself not so long ago.

He also wanted to try out more of the dwarf weapons in the near future. Their quality beat everything he owned by far. No matter how long the metal lay there in the depths, it still shone as if it had come straight from a forge. Probably the guns would even fetch a decent price, but he doubted selling any of them.

If he thought about it carefully, he didn't have very many options for obtaining official currency. The dwarf gold would have to be defaced and even if the gold grade were the same it would have raised some questions. Questions of the kind that ended in greed or a very uncomfortable interrogation. Most of the resources he had collected raised uncomfortable questions and ultimately knowledge, but that was certainly not sold.

Above all, he still had to grasp the shape of people's perception. His brief glimpses of literature or his limited conversations with the mercenaries cleared a few, but not all, relevant questions.

In addition, the perception of people was very important when it came to the general or so-called common sense, which should be a guide for his appearance in this world. His eccentric manner towards the nobleman in the wilderness might make you write to an exile, but within a city this was certainly enough reason to hang someone.

The moment they finally reached home after a full day of sprinting, they were in shock. They hadn't been prepared for that sight. A dying giant was enthroned on the hill of the former plateau. Once twice? Wrapped around the hill, the gigantic snake from the fight it was leaving found itself again, and a path of destruction cut through part of the forest from which it came. They themselves had taken a little detour after leaving the rodents' cave dwelling. Safety was paramount to him when he was not presenting himself in top form, but who could count on this animal, which is sure to be in the third? Cursed! He had a clue where it was on the ladder of evolution. Rolled up with its head on its own body, it was enthroned over the trees itself. His gaze seemed to smolder over the landscape. Exalted, even the wounds on this creature still seemed exalted above all life that surrounded it.

The snake's hiss was dominated by a strong rattle and rattle. How could they help but stare intently at this divine animal? Why did it choose this place to die? No, why couldn't he feel the slightest sign of threat from the snake?

The beast's royal gaze wandered over to them. But he just stood there, frozen. Everything in him begged him to run, but another instinct held him in place just like Leica - without a blink they were stared at together by the snake that slowly began to open its mouth.

Part of him wanted to duck, another to attack, but even if he was fighting or running he knew deep down that there was no real chance. Just not ending up as collateral damage in the fight of these gods of the forest had already been the total exhaustion of his luck.

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Surprisingly, an unnatural wind rose from the snake's mouth, which soon seemed to lead to words.

"Oh, is it just you young thing? Did you follow a dying snake?" whispered the gigantic snake.

The damn thing could speak. How could the damn snake speak nicely, please.

Magna replied much more out of a reaction than out of everything else: "No. No, you just happen to be in our dwelling!" Cursed. He couldn't remember the last time he stuttered so nervously.

“Oh, is that so? Well, was it once the home of my descendants? I can't remember the word. " replied the snake, slightly confused.

Of course, they had wiped out their offspring of all people. This creature was no less intelligent than a human or any other gifted being.

“I know, I can tell by the look you look at, little thing. They were lost the moment they created their greatest magic, ” the unknown being of enormous proportions admitted.

There was a heavy nostalgia in the voice of this snake that was seldom heard. Every word was emphasized sensitively, just as the voice seemed to weaken further and further.

“Oh, you're probably wondering why? Why the fight? " she asked, amused by Magna's surprise.

How did it always know its questions? That the other creatures were attracted to the delicacy, but these beings? If they were so intelligent then there shouldn't be a reason.

"Yes, why?" Magna asked back, very uncertain.

“We've been sneaking around each other for a few centuries. It just felt like the right time to finally settle who of us is more powerful and there is still a battle over who will rule in the center of the forest."Answered the giant snake patiently.

Once again the snake only confirmed to him the seemingly endless expanse of this wilderness, which dared to extend further over every horizon.

“You know what? Why not - I don't have much longer. How about if you accept my inheritance? Better than not leaving one behind. ”The mighty snake explained without further ado.

[System: Tessa the Dragon Scales Elemental Serpent of the East offers you the unique opportunity to acquire an inheritance. Do you want to inherit this? Caution: You can only ever inherit one legacy.]

Leica seemed to be jealously examining him when asked. He hadn't the faintest idea what this inheritance was supposed to be and should he accept it? Damn why a dying snake? Why not a dragon, well, at least the word was in its name, but the snake had as much in common with a dragon as it had with a sheep!

"Make up your mind, quick little fool!" Tessa spat impatiently.

Damn it, could he get a better present? At the moment everything was more than he owned! But above all else it was free and you didn’t look a given horse in the mouth.

[System: You have accepted the inheritance. Get ready for transfer! This legacy has a significant impact on their future developments, skills and abilities. Also on the Path System]

He had known or suspected most of it, but what the hell is a Path System?

For another moment nothing happened except that he continued to stare at the snake, which was slowly sliding back into its original position.

"Thank you, I hope you will achieve your goals!" were the last words of one of the greatest creatures that ever roamed through this forest.

No talk of fame, honor, or thrones. It should be the last words of the serpent anyone ever heard. Magna could just hear what was being said after his world went black. Unimaginable pain overwhelmed him. A surge of experience that brought him 50 levels, knowledge from a few centuries and skills flooded his mind. This resulted in a complete blackout.

He could never digest all of this at once in a single gulp. Some of the information was worthless, like fighting snakes. On the other hand, there were some very useful skills on display for this, but most of them seemed somehow grayed out. Presumably he would unlock the skills with increasing evolution.

But most impressive was the sheer mana control of this snake. Inwardly, he had to thank this animal. There were so many things that he didn't understand before. Mana alone didn't seem to be the only element she seemed to control. The power to create a plateau for their offspring was enormous in itself.

The knowledge he inherited, however, should take more than a few seconds to enlighten. An imaginary library could describe it best of all things, because he did not have instant access, but had to study everything he wanted to know in it. Perhaps it was also true that they were all ZIP files waiting to be extracted and understood. Either the system revealed skills to a selection adapted to the degree of his evolution or he had to study the knowledge carefully. In the end there was more than one road to Rome. The being also seemed to have been very focused on magic, which did not mean that it lacked physical skills. But on the contrary. No, magic was much more simply her hobbyhorse.

He first acquired two new skills with inheritance and four more to choose from. Maybe at the end of his own way he could unlock more. Also, some skills were on a red list that were not suitable for his species. But their concepts could still be useful.

Before evolution:

skill, active: stealth. Allows them to enter a state with their mana and stamina in which they can move slowly but undetected.

Skill, Passive: Elemental Resistance. This skill increases all of your natural resistance to attacks of an elemental nature!

With his current evolution he was able to unlock four more immediately. He could not choose the first two because they were activated retrospectively. He still had a decision to make about the four. But for now he decided not to choose anything. Perhaps new situations would require new opportunities.

With one look at the hill he found that the snake was no longer alive! She turned herself to stone in one final act of her strength. Her head was still looking south over the trees towards the center of the forest! A fight had to be raging in the same direction.

Whatever was there. He would see it for himself one day. How could he accept this promise?

If he thought about it now, the forest was just too dangerous an area at the time. Notwithstanding the monstrous snake above his new home, he soon had to leave the forest. The very location of their fight must have been total chaos. If he was looking at the path of destruction that Tessa was looking for on her retreat to a place for her final rest, then he did not want to know what geographic changes were taking place in the center of their engagement.

It was better to come to a quick end with his experiments and research and to set off in the direction of the people. So what now?