'Status menu.' Kaiser thought lazily as he walked his gaping wide maw over the bat. It had been over half an hour since he had begun and he was somewhat halfway through fitting it into his mouth.

Status menu:

Name: Kaiser

Race: Infant Vorgesetzter Snake

Gender: Male

Level: 1

Stage: Purpose

Class: []

Ether: 30

STR: 4

DEX: 14

INT: 19

CHR: 20

WIS: 3

END: 6

DNA Points: 0

Racial traits:

-Serpentime

-Stalker

-Serpents tongue

-Superiority

Skill list:

[]

Achievements:

[]

(Click to expand)

[Shop menu]

[Affinity list]

'System, what are stages?' Kaiser questioned.

Stages are labels created by mortals used to define "milestones" in power.

After stages became common use in the world, it was integrated into the system's functions.

'Sweet, it actually answered! System, does everyone else have a system?'

The system is a guide created by the divine to guide mortals in their pursuit of power.

After rounds of tests, it was released to mortals worldwide.

'Good enough. System, where am I?' Kaiser asked, though to his disappointment, no response came. 'It might only be able to answer questions directly relating to itself... Intriguing. System, what are achievements?'

Achievements are boons gifted to users when they accomplish feats that obtain the divine's interest.

'Interesting. I'd assume it has to be quite monumental, then. Also, I know I said I knew what the stats meant but System, what are DNA points?'

DNA points are a resource plundered from creatures you kill and consume.

DNA points, or DNAP can be spent in the shop menu.

'Oh, fuck, I forgot about the shop menu!' Kaiser yelled internally in shame.

-Mutation name- -Price- -Category- -Time required to be added- Backup fangs 5 Addition 1 hour Enhanced Venom 5 Upgrade 30 minutes Horns 10 Addition 2 hours Sharper tail 10 Upgrade 1 hour Longer tail 15 Upgrade 1 hour & 30 minutes

'Can't really tell if these are expensive... Why are upgrades cheaper than additions? Is it because they're adding onto something already existing versus creating something new? And why the hell would I want horns?' Kaiser thought as another message interrupted him.

Nocturnal twin bat consumed!

+2 DNAP

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Aha, so I almost died for 2 DNAP. Less than half the cost of the cheapest thing. Amazing. Simply amazing.' Kaiser thought as his attention returned to the real world. Suddenly, an unexplainable force of fatigue slammed into Kaiser like a truck. 'Thinking makes me tired too?' He thought bitterly as he returned to his birthplace.

Slithering inside the room of eggs, he searched around the walls for anything he could use as shelter. 'Cozy.' Kaiser thought, slithering into a small hole in the corner of the room. 'I wonder how small I am. Guess I don't have loads of references, actually. Blah, a problem for another time!' Kaiser thought as his mind slowly began drifting to his favorite thing. Quickly curling around himself, he found a quick respite.

His wounds, although still bleeding, already began to close. 'What are all the stages? Do monsters have a different system? How does magic work? Can I use a magic type other than plague? I'll ask the system later, I suppose. For now, I sleep.'

---

Kaiser woke up with a start, his body drenched in water and his small burrow quickly filling with water. 'Wha?' Was all he could think as he quickly slithered out of his hiding hole. The room that was previously filled with eggs was now drenched, rainwater quickly filling the cave, the eggs nowhere to be seen.

'Were they swept away by the rain?' Kaiser questioned as he slithered up the slope, the water barely shallow enough for Kaiser to stick his head over it, his keeled scales gliding along the cave's surface.

Quickly returning to the slope from last night, at least what Kaiser thinks was last night, he chose the left path again. After about an hour, Kaiser's merry slithering came to a stop upon seeing what lay beyond the cave. Though a small ways away from the entrance, Kaiser couldn't help but be awestruck by the beauty of what lay before him.

Two glistening moons hung suspended in the dark night sky, not quite perpendicular. They shone with a feeling akin to a mother's love, the light they shone on the dark world gave a slight respite to the dwellers of the world.

The rain fell like thunder as it created a moving wall to the cave entrance, beautiful yet dangerous. Its water still leaked into the cave. Since this is the highest point, the water is naturally at it its highest. 'Should I just wait here for a bit? I wonder if I can dig a small hole for myself to sleep in.'

Kaiser thought before discarding the thought a moment later. 'Snakes don't 'dig'! We push ourselves under loose stuff like leaves or steal it from something like a rodent. Fucking rodents. Thinking about rodents made me hungry. Damn it.' Kaiser thought bitterly as he slithered into a corner. 'Who knows! Maybe I'll find some sucker-' Kaiser thought as a creature entered the cave. 'Well, I'll be damned.'

The creature was a squirrel-type creature with pitch-black fur and bloodshot eyes, fangs curled outwards of its panting mouth, and its soaked body smelt of blood. With a glint of glutton in his eyes, Kaiser stayed tucked away on the wall behind a tall stalagmite that resembled a finely carved pillar rather than a rock formation.

Panting hard, the squirrel dragged itself deeper towards the cave, its back left leg staying limp by its side. The squirrel was too exhausted to notice Kaiser. This was a mistake. Kaiser quickly shot out from his hiding place like a spring once it came into range, his open maw quickly coming down on the squirrel's neck, his fangs piercing its hide. It thrashed and struggled in vain as venom overtook its body and it went limp.

You killed an: Albino Vampir Spawn

+30 ether

'Food!' Kaiser yelled internally as he began walking his mouth around the corpse. 'I hope it lost whatever hurt it this much. Seeing how it gave way more ether than the bat, I bet it was stronger than me. It was so small, too. Scary.' Kaiser thought, though to his immediate terror, his question was answered by a thunderous shout from outside the cave, just outside of sight. 'So it hadn't lost what injured it!' Kaiser thought as he quickly slithered to the corner.

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Wait, am I betting my life on that phrase?' Kaiser questioned as adrenaline pumped through his small body.

Suddenly, an oppressive and cold feeling wrapped around Kaiser's heart like a snake 'Ironic.' as the wall of water parted to reveal a figure, one humanoid and decked in iron plate mail, its head obscured by a shining helmet of silver, shaped like an oni. 'Y'know what'd suck right about now? Turning into a stack of ether for a creepy guy in a mask!' Kaiser snarkily thought as his bones chilled and the oppressive 'feeling' tightened around his heart.

---

"Where did the mistress go!? It was supposed to be a simple excursion! Find a familiar for her, tame it, and then leave. The captain and the Lord are going to have my DAMN HEAD!!' Lacroix thought bitterly, fear and anger clear in his voice.

"If it wasn't for a FUCKING VAMPIR SPAWN... Whoooo. Alright. Let's calm down. We either find the mistress or die. Simple. And while I'd prefer the FUCKING FORMER... beggars can't be choosers." Lacroix said, barely controlling his temper. "Mm, a cave? She might've gone in, I suppose." He muttered as he trudged through the rain and into the cave.

Walking in, Lacroix was surprised by how spacious the cave was compared to the entrance. Stalagmites and Stalagtites littered the floor and ceiling, some huge and others barely reaching his thigh. As his gaze swept across the room, he was surprised to see the Vampir spawn, the culprit for his separation, motionless in a pool of its own blood near a tunnel leading deeper into the cave.

Walking over, he picked up the corpse with his iron gauntlet adorned with metal spikes akin to claws as he muttered "Well, now there's proof of how we were separated. Damn thing made me collapse into a ditch with some ability after I wounded it. Should've finished me off, not that it would change your fate."

Then, Lacroix caught a gaze from the corner of the room. A dark green snake with keeled sharp scales, a tail that ends with a blade, and yellow eyes that gleamed with intelligence. "Should I kill it?" Lacroix considered before dismissing the notion. "Waste of time. Remember, either we find the mistress or my family finds my head." He muttered before stomping deeper into the cave.