I opened my mouth as wide as I could and caught the crystal midair and swallowed it with a blissful smile on my face. This time it tasted like what I could only describe as 'sweet release'. Ah, this feeling is so intoxicating I could get addicted to this taste.

Right when Sahra threw another green crystal at me, I heard the system notification again.

*Ding*

[Small poison affinity detected!]

[You will now be slightly immune to poison!]

[Your poison is now more lethal!]

[Due to lack of a monster core you won't get any other bonuses!]

*ponk*

'Auch!'

I rubbed my head as the magic crystal falls onto my head.

He?

This is unexpected...

As I read the notifications Sahra looked at me and tilted her head in confusion.

Slithering towards the crystal on the floor that dropped next to a tree I opened my jaw and wanted to swallow it, as I felt a slight breeze past my head.

*Swoosh*

(Rewind time!)

(Sahra's perspective!)

After the human's cruel attack and managing to kill singing stone of metal, our leader, and my big brother, we properly made his body into a tombstone, as we do it with all fallen for our species. We looted the bodies and sucked the blood of their dead bodies to replenish ourselves. I carried the cute little snake who saved our lives. Never would I thought that he could manage to do something like that. Despite being so small and young he was so brave and didn´t escape when he could.

Carrying him in my arms we walked towards the mystic forest on the first floor. We don´t know why but the pathways between the floors that normally compelled us are now so week that we could effortlessly walkthrough. Arriving at the cleansing hot spring I took a quick dip while the other two were resting and sorting the loot.

Cleaning my little hero I could feel him steering awake as he wiggled a little bit in my hands and let out a cute little hissing yawn. While looking at his cute antics a small smile formed on my face.

Continuing to rub his soft scale I got a little bit excited as he hissed at me for handling him to roughly. I immediately lessened my strength hearing his hiss and continued to gently clean him.

After a while, the little snake just jumped into the water and almost drowned himself.

Panicking I quickly searched around the steaming water and fished the coughing snake out of the hot spring. After coughing up all the water he had swallowed he looked at me gracefully and slowly neared my face.

Seeing him nearing me I froze up and waited to see what he is going to do.

*flick* *flick*

!!!!

Wha- wha- what! Did he just lick my cheek! Uggg, I hope I didn´t taste bad...

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Blushing a little bit I turned my head away to hide my embarrassment.

Hearing his hiss I turned to him and smiled, and he smiled back.

Not long after he curled up and prepared to jump again, but I quickly stopped him. He looked at me with pleading eyes and let him do as he wished but watched him closely.

After a few times, he suddenly convulsed in pain and cried out.

Seeing the little grey snake wiggling in pain I franticly put him on a flat stone surface and ran to my other two companions.

Walking up to them I saw them having their things packed and signaled to me to get ready. We couldn´t verbally speak so communication was hard for us. We only do it with the color pigments on our face.

Not caring what they want to say to me I just pulled at the arm of singing stone of earth. We don´t have names as it is irrelevant to have inside the dungeon and no one bothered to give each other names. And as spawned monsters, some of us don´t have parents that could give us one. Or so I have been told.

I dragged him all the way towards the snake, but where the little snake should be is now a black egg or cocoon in its place. Not knowing what happened to the cute little snake, I looked at the singing stone of earth, who literally made a '!' face. He was surprised to see a black egg slightly pulsating.

He then put his hand on my shoulder. I looked at his face and he signed me that little snake was just under evolution. Walking towards the egg I wanted to poke it a little bit but was immediately stopped as it was dangerous to disturb a monster during an evolution.

I released a small sigh and crouched next to the egg to wait for the little snake to wake up, but I felt a tug on my shoulder. Singing stone of earth signaled me to go as we have to keep moving to avoid the treants from overwhelming us. Normally we live on the 5th to the 8th floor but more and more treants have been invading our floors none stop.

As the second strongest of our group, he was naturally the leader as singing stone of metal died. Refusing to let the little grey snake alone I pushed him away. Stumbling back a little he raised his hand.

Realizing what I did I looked down, closed my vision sensors, and prepared to get hit, but the pain never came and looked up again only to hear him growl at me in disappointment and walked off.

But before he went back to singing stone of salt, he threw his backpack towards me and vanished behind the trees. Leaving me completely alone with my little hero, who was undergoing his evolution I continued to observe him till nightfall.

Seeing the illuminated 'sky' dim I began to dig a hole right next to the stone slape where the egg is and laid in there.

The next morning I woke up feeling quite hungry and had to leave the little snake for a few hours to hunt food. But before I went, I gathered some dried-up leaves and covered the egg with it.

Walking around the forest for 10 minutes I finally felt a vibration and pressed my hand on the ground to feel where it was coming from. Feeling the vibration going up my sandy second skin I determent the location of 5 small monsters more or less 100 meters right from me.

Sneakily walking up to them I could spot 5 woodland goblins equipped with weapons walking around searching for food. Two of them were carrying bows and arrows and the other three were wielding one-meter-long wooden spears.

Having already dealt with woodland goblins many times I quickly changed into combat mode and manifested my glass dagger preparing to ambush one of the goblins who has a bow hand and quiver.

*Putchi*

Ramming the dagger into his neck and ripping it sideways I felt the hot metal smelling blood gushing onto my face witch my sand skin rapidly absorbed.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity I dashed towards the other goblin wielding a bow and slashed across his face blind him instantly before even the dead archer's body hit the ground. Letting a blood curling screech out and covering his face in pain I immediately stabbed the goblin in his throat.

'Two down, three to go.' thought I to myself as a slight smile crept up to my face.

The others seeing me kill two of their kind so quickly, were shaking in fear as they readied their weapons.

Seeing that they were scared shitless, my smile grew bigger revealing my sharp needle-like teeth, and quickly dashed towards them.

Letting out a war cry the three goblins raised their wooden swords and swung them at me.

Dogging the first one while slashing his stomach I blocked the second swing with a sand shield witch I conjured on my left hand. The last one didn´t manage to slash me as I already drove my dagger into his under jaw piercing his brain.

The one I slashed in the stomach is now on the ground holding the wound in pain while the other one is running away.

Not wanting to let my prey escape I threw my dagger at him and pierced his neck killing him before he even knew.

Turning around I grabbed the groaning goblin by the neck and lifted him up.

I looked at him struggling, grasping desperately for air whilst clawing at my hand dealing no damage thanks to my sand skin.

After a few seconds, I got bored and crushed his throat while my other hand pierced inside his stomach to claw out his monster core and absorbing his blood.

After collecting the remaining cores and sucking the goblins dry, I checked on my status.

*Ding*