The snake didn’t do much but stare when I came across it. At first, I thought it was unable to see us, but that would be impossible due to the light from my channeled spell. So why didn’t it do anything? I was stuck with the possibility of it attacking if I turned back, and the lack of action made my situation more awkward than it had to be.

With its size, I doubted that my orcs could do much against its scales. Perhaps a strong hit from the orc mage could do something against it, but even then, how many casts of death bolt did it need to bring this massive snake down? Ten? Twenty?

My brain searched for any possible solutions, but all I came up with was getting the hell away, and picking another direction. But that was a foolish idea, I was sure that this thing could catch up to me no matter how fast I ran. This encounter and its sheer impossibility reminded me of the Chief—a fight with a specific condition in mind.

Tired of the inactivity—or perhaps boredom—the snake’s tongue lashed about, licking the cold air above while raising the tail end of its body; An attack was coming, an attack that would reach far, far behind where I braced. Running was not an option.

I gripped my shield tight; a lump block the passageways of my gullet, and I expected the worst.

Its first attack, a stadium-spanning tail swipe, decimated the ground beneath where we stood and threw our tiny bodies high up in the air. Its impact was immense, clashing against my shield, then my armor, then me, as the aftershock of its attack pulsed all over my body. I was sent a few meters above the ground, or, perhaps even higher—it was hard to gauge distance in this darkness—as I noticed my summons tiding its swipe, taking a great deal of damage in the process, but not enough to kill them.

Our bodies fell, thumping and tumbling on the cold floor, while I commanded everyone to brace for its next attack.

But it never came. All the giant snake did was push us away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and retreated as far away as I could. Was this encounter optional ? If so, I must’ve been lucky to have avoided it the first time I got here… But that wasn’t possible, there was no chance that I missed this giant snake the first time around. With the similarities between this and the secret mission, I reminded myself that this was in fact, a different mission.

No shot this mission was asking me to kill it, right? I mean, the odds of that happening was… non-existent

Let’s think it through again. Why did the snake not pursue me? It wouldn’t be difficult for it to do so, and if it did, I’d be a goner by now. The sole fact that it chose to stay put was a big clue; was it… guarding something? Instead of utilizing any of its other attacks, it opted to swat us away. Also, before it struck, it studied our approach and intentions, using the glow of its scales to intimidate and deter us from advancing.

All of the signs it displayed pointed toward that conclusion. But still, if I was wrong; if I was foolish enough to step closer again and it turned out that there was nothing behind it, then I’d be wasting my life away. I needed to scout past its gargantuan size, if only…

I slapped my forehead, loud enough to startle myself. The nightblade.

The silhouette of the snake was evident from where I stood, even after all the darkness between us. Its glimmer had dimmed down, perhaps from the lack of any intruders within its vicinity, and I watched it dip its head back on the ground, resting.

With haste, I summoned the goblin, its small, lanky self almost blending too well with its dark surroundings, then ordered it to turn invisible and find its path past the cobra. Its body disappeared, yet its sight remained in my vision.

The snake was unaware of the goblin’s intrusion, at least, that was how it appeared when my goblin approached its resting body. The air the snake exhaled breezed past the goblin’s figure, following its deep, guttural sound hissing every few seconds or so, as my goblin sneaked its way through its side, using the faint glow of its scales as a guide. The path was long, exposing the true length of this monstrosity, but as long as my goblin remained invisible, everything should be fine… I hoped so.

After what seemed like hours, I saw an unusual object that drifted about in the goblin’s vision. What greeted its sight was another book—not too dissimilar to the spell books that I had gotten, but it was thinner, shimmering with light particles on the edges of its cover. It was obvious that this was the true goal of the mission; The last secret mission ended after I acquired the compendium.

My eyes studied the sleeping figure of the snake. There was no doubt that it’d wake if I came closer again.

I commanded the goblin to retrieve the book from me, crossing my fingers, hoping that the giant snake wouldn’t realize what had happened behind its tail. I held my breath when the goblin’s hands touched the surface of the book, expecting some sort of alarm to go off, but nothing happened, which allowed me to breathe once more.

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

The path to return turned tumultuous, to say the least, with the lack of lighting from the scales. But the goblin was smart enough to not step on any landmines, and while it took longer for it to come back—about twice as long—it successfully returned with no issues.

My plan was a resounding success. There was no chance that anyone here could defeat the snake on their own, so I’d say that this was the intended method of clearing it. The only other option that I could think of was to distract the snake with my summons, hoping that they could give me enough space to slide in when it was busy dealing with them.

While my curiosity was forcing me to check the book out, I had to retreat until I knew it was safe. I did not want to risk pissing the giant snake off, the book would be the least of my concern if that happened.

I turned back and walked. Every time I felt that it would be fine if I studied the book, I made sure to trudge a few more steps; that process repeated until my feet were sore, and only then did I relax, only then I allowed myself to see what the hell the snake was guarding.

I held the black book high, observing the details of its cover with the light from my staff.

Death Spell upgrade book

Rarity : Epic | Tier : 0

Use to upgrade a spell of its designated tier. Requirements :

- Spell of Epic Rarity and below.

-Spell of Tier 0.

-Spell of the death affinity.

One use only.

A spell upgrade book? I gotta be honest, from the hoops I had to get through to acquire this, it sounded… disappointing. I mean, was it difficult to upgrade spells? I’d never acquired anything of this sort, so it was possible that what I held in my hands was an exceptional and exceedingly scarce item.

I mean, most, if not all of my spells fit the requirements of the upgrade. Death, check, The rarity, check, Tier zero spells, check…

My summons was keeping their eyes on the surroundings as I sat on the ground, my mind was focused on the thin book in my hand.

“An interesting way to do it…” A voice crept up from the darkness, ”I didn’t expect you to come up with that idea.”

The observer, like the events prior, visited me again. I didn’t get much info from him the last time we talked, and I had a feeling that I’d be wasting my time trying again today. Although, he seemed to display a deeper interest this time; I’d just credit that to the high spot I’d reached in the aptitude test, but his remark rang the alarm bells in me.

Of course, I was wary of his intentions, that was obvious from the frown I shot at him. You know what? He reminded me of that guy, you know, him, Sidwell. Goosebumps appeared on my neck as I shuddered, I willed the orc to enter a ready stance out of my habit.

He held his hands, “Whoa, you don’t seem to be happy to see me here. Relax, I’m not going to harm you.”

You could if you want to.

I got up, holding the book high, “This… book. Is it rare?”

The observer studied the thing in hand, “Hmm… Yes, it is. An upgrade book for an epic tiered spell is… hard to find.” Then he crossed his arms, “You’re a lucky one. To possess an epic rarity spell right out of the gate… It’s almost as if-”

I froze. His probable next sentence sent a wave of caution down my spine. “-Nevermind. Everyone has their own secrets, I’m not interested in the whys or hows, as long as you give me results, I’m not complaining.”

The observer shifted his neck aside in the direction of the giant snake. “But still… to see something of that caliber here, in a Trial of all things….”

He stopped. I didn’t know what to say or what to do, so I opted to just let him run his thoughts alone. Any mistakes in the things I’d said could lead him to recognize what had happened to me, and while I didn’t think he’d mind it, personally, I felt that something bad would happen if he knew about how I returned. The stone of paradox, what happened to Cassius, all of it pointed toward an inevitability whose results I’d rather not know.

Then, after seconds passed, he huffed, “Ah, whatever. You know, it sucks when your boss never tells you anything about what’s on its mind.”

I smiled, amused by his idle complaints. All the mystery, all the secrecy… weren’t those the same exact things that he’d kept from us? He never told us much of anything, then left us alone to learn the ins and outs of the Sanctum by ourselves. I suppose apples didn’t fall far from their trees…

His figure dissipated, starting from his feet, “I wish you luck, Gray Mors. Do not disappoint me.”

I sighed. Watching him gone instilled a deep sense of relief.

So, this book is hard to find. I had to be honest, I didn’t expect him to answer my question at all. I guess being second had its own benefits, after all.

[Mission completed! Returning you to the nexus in 10 minutes.]

10 minutes…

I could use the book right away; If I wanted to be effective with it, then I’d use its upgrade for my Death’s Apparitions spell. It was the highest rarity spell that I owned, standing at Epic, and also, it was by far the most effective compared to the rest. Death’s bolt came a close second; Higher damage on it would be incredible.

Or… I could wait until tomorrow. The torch mission was the one that gave me the Epic spell, and the odds of me earning another one weren’t that far off. I had learned that the spellbooks wouldn’t give me any duplicates, too. Besides, I had confidence my summons would deal with the hobgoblin and torch mission with little difficulties.

The timer ticked as I allowed myself to relax. I had nothing else to do after this, and I so wanted to look forward to the food and the room that was prepared for us. As much as I hated The observer, I gotta say, he knew what he was doing when he made that room.

A party would be ideal when it came to the Orc chief mission. I’d better warn the others to not kill the son if they could help it.

[Returning to the nexus.]

I’ll think about it later.