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Serpentis [Monster Evolution Novel]
Serpentis: Ch 21, Fang And Tooth

Serpentis: Ch 21, Fang And Tooth

Charlie woke up with a furry corpse still atop his head and with dim light peeking through the slick gaps in the hair. Pushing the corpse off of himself, Charlie couldn't help but feel an ounce of disgust rise from deep inside when he saw what had remained. The corpse had deteriorated to a jelly-like mush, but the skin that was right above his head still held its form, thankfully. The slime was more pronounced than before with bones that stuck out defiantly among the blood and hair floating in its jelly interior.

It quickly became clear why the other creatures were so averse to this place, but that didn't explain why Charlie was still unharmed. He had slept here multiple times now , and the slime never really bothered or somehow discomforted him.

No, that wasn't quite right. Charlie thought back to when he was at the river, washing off the blood and grime, when the slime had mixed with the water and flowed over his open wound. The burning sensation was far more intense than the wound itself, but at the time Charlie had discarded the importance of that discovery.

Did the slime digest only the dead, or was there something else at play?

Charlie couldn't help but wonder what the real answer could be. Was his skin perfectly matched to deal with the slime, and only when he got the slime into an open wound did it then have the ability to start devouring him?

Whatever the answer was, it didn't really matter. Charlie could easily stay there without any issues while the others couldn't even approach. He couldn't help but view the cove in a different light now.

In the beginning, it only felt like the creatures avoided this cove due to its putrid scent, probably being too much for most creatures to handle. Now though, it felt like a fortress of death to all life outside the cove.

Wasn't it simply perfect?

Of course not, Charlie couldn't bring anything in here without it decaying to jelly. Without that simple ability, this cove could never be a true fortress for his plans. Charlie still required sleep and, for now, required soft and fresh corpses to cover his eyes from the light. If Charlie was to find a solution to that problem, only then would it become a bit more useful.

The loss of the corpse and its translucent gem was unfortunate, understanding the coves properties was good, true, but it wasn't a great enough gain to mitigate the experience and food lost. Charlie would have to venture out today and achieve at least two separate kills, [Devour] one and drag the other one back here before getting too tired.

It was simple, but there wasn't anything else Charlie felt necessary to think about, so he set out from his deadly cove in search of prey.

The vast and interchanging network of paths would be difficult to navigate if Charlie hadn't spent a considerable amount of time memorizing their dizzying maze. It was impressive, even for Charlie, at the sheer quantity he could recall, he didn't remember having a memory this clear before.

Having learned from before, Charlie opted to ascend the many tall coves and traverse their less traveled path. It would help Charlie spot potential prey from much further away, and as an added benefit, keep him safe from the exact opposite happening. Charlie might be deadly, but so was everything else here; he needed to be the one creating the opportunities and keeping an upper hand.

The path high above was difficult to reach, but ever since Charlie leveled up, the added Dexterity and Strength really helped bridging the gap of the lost tail. The sharp stone and polished surfaces were only minor setbacks; navigating them almost felt natural with the increased attributes.

Charlie could see a plethora of creatures in all directions, trying to simply fill their belly. The fallen creatures would then in turn feed their attackers, guaranteeing their survival for another day.

Yet, it was unsustainable.

There wasn't enough time, no room nor safety for anything to survive in here long enough to bear children. No new cubs to grow and fill the void of their fallen brothers, no new life to counter the bloodshed. Even if the strongest survived, eventually, it too would die as there would simply be nothing else to hunt.

It was grim, but this was reality for all of those below Charlie. It was reality for Charlie too, like all the rest, he clung to life just as desperately.

Continuing down the winding and strange paths of the Sklites, Charlie found his way towards one of the many places he had scouted out for potential vantage points, when he had come to the end of the road. The coves no longer reached high enough for him to slither about unseen and it would be necessary to descend from here onward.

The landscape had opened up, there was nothing between the ceiling and the coves but the distant view of the man-made walls. Charlie was still too deep in the cave to see the giant gate from here, but the very edges of the walls peeked over the incline.

The river was visible from up here, though it looked narrower than before and clearly originating from somewhere close-by. It could be the river he saw on the surface that broke through the mountain walls somewhere unseen, or maybe it bore through the stone from somewhere else—it was difficult to truly know without following its tracks.

Charlie made his way down the steep incline of the cove and quickly darted to the shadows. The connection Charlie felt with the shade was once again established; the ethereal sensation teased Charlie with almost imperceptible hints. The answer to its origin was so close, yet he failed to bridge the gap and truly understand what it was that he felt.

Slithering through the shadowy crevices and deftly dodging the weaker creatures, Charlie had arrived to the only vantage point which he thought the Sklites would likely pass through. The cautious nature of the Sklites would force them to search for hidden pathways, as anything less would be their death.

Charlie was still covered in the, surprisingly deadly, mushroom slime which would thwart his plans of hunting the Sklite, if it were not on purpose of course. Charlie wanted to test the slimes power of decay and see if it would help mask whatever the Sklites left behind to alert others of a predators presence.

Charlie was covered in the slime but instead of staying liquid, for some unknown reason, the slime would instead solidify on his scales. If some debris knocked the slime off, it would quickly liquidate once again and mix with the dirt on the floor, releasing an ungodly stench. This only furthered Charlies hypothesis on why the slime didn't affect him; it only pointed to his scales interacting strangely with the mucous-like substance.

After scanning the area, Charlie found a suitable spot to roll in the dirt and debris of the cave floor. The slime would liquidate once off of his body, and the Sklites were sensitive to their scent, so why not place the slime in a choke-point and divert the Sklite directly to him?

The path Charlie chose to tamper with was situated on top of a cove, sticking out to the side a bit higher than the rest. The alternate route would give the Sklites a way around Charlie and reduce the chances of crossing paths. Instead, Charlie placed the liquid slime at the heart of their path, forcing them to double back and follow the route directly into Charlies maw.

Without delay, Charlie cautiously made his way to the choke-point and rolled around in the dirt, quickly shedding the layer of hardened slime. The stench was unholy now that it had returned back to its liquid state, and Charlie could only wonder how he had grown accustomed to vile stench.

The stony sand surprisingly didn't get stuck in his eyes nor did it hurt; there seemed to be some sort of see-through skin covering Charlies eyes that prevented irritation from the fine particles. This revelation would have been incredible to know earlier, but Charlie could only take it in stride and continue on with his plans. There was still much to learn, even about his own body, it seemed.

Instead of requiring a corpse to be brought back to to the mushroom cove, Charlie could now safely use the soft mushroom itself to block out the light. Charlie wouldn't have to rely on a quickly digested corpse to stay together long enough for him to sleep a full night.

Charlie plopped himself into the shaded vantage point and laid patiently in wait for the prey. The crevice Charlie had chosen to lay in had been deep, but for an unknown reason, the surrounding shadows were weaker. It was frustrating to only have this level of concealment from his prey, but Charlie hoped that he had removed enough of the slime to become imperceptible to the Sklites.

Charlie had confidence that his diversion would work; it was something he had picked up from his life as a human. Once having to divert a piddling river that sprouted after an intense storm made its way through their settlement. The powerful winds had taken many lives and destroyed many of their shelters, in turn destroying their already dwindling water storage.

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

Their old group had gotten together and needed to figure out how they were going to survive the next few days before they could even attempt to reach another settlement to ask for aid. One of the smarter guys had proposed we just turn the river directly towards the settlement and have fresh water right by our doorstep.

There was some push-back, of course; many didn't want to drink the "fresh" water that would undoubtedly course through the toxic wasteland before reaching them. Yet there was little choice; they would have to boil the water and hope for the best, as the next closest settlement was further than what they had in their remaining storage.

It took them a few days to figure out on the logistics, but they eventually did it. On the verge of dehydration, they figured out they could simply put something in the way of the river and divert its flow if they made channels for the water to follow. To the surprise of everyone, it actually worked.

Charlie could see the connection even now: if he wanted to alter the course of a river or a simple creature, it just needed enough incentive. For the river, it was easier to flow through the channels than to overpower the rock; for the Sklite, its simply to avoid the putrid stench.

And just like the river, the Sklite followed the path of least resistance—as one poked its unassuming nose into Charlies direct line of sight.

Charlie could feel his body tense in anticipation, all of his senses heightened and zeroed in on the singular approaching Sklite. It was a bit below him, but still obliviously moved towards Charlie, unaware of its own impending demise that was watching from above. Charlie would have to drop out of the crevice and land on top of the Sklite; there was no room for error. If Charlie missed, it would escape and the swarm would soon come.

So Charlie waited. He searched for the perfect moment, visualising the exact actions he would take to put it out of its misery as efficiently as possible. The Sklite had finally reached close enough for Charlie to get the drop on it, and Charlie was nothing if not opportunistic.

The stubby body of the Serpent descended like the blade of an executioner, unleashing [Hollow Fang] directly into the spine of the unaware Sklite. Their bodies collided and the sudden weight threw the Sklite into the ground, a quiet snap escaped from its forelegs.

The Sklite let out a terrified, shrill squeak while attempting to escape, but its broken legs refused to move even under the desperate command of their owner. The cold Serpentine venom reached deeper and deeper, numbing everything from the inside until, finally, reaching the Sklites heart, stopping it in but a mere moment.

Charlie had indeed successfully killed the Sklite, but it wasn't good enough. He had missed the head and allowed it to alert all those nearby. The target was unaware of his presence, and he still allowed it to call out for help. The dying cries of the Sklite might prove to be nothing right now, but what if Charlie was too close to another? What if they heard the commotion and ran to the swarm, alerting the wall of tooth and flesh to a dangerous predator?

It simply wasn't enough to kill these cowardly and lonesome creatures, risking the ire of their swarm. No, Charlie needed to kill them quietly and efficiently.

The fur and tail of the Sklite no longer bothered Charlie as they went down his distended throat. With the increase in his Strength, the weight of the corpse also bothered him less. If Charlie continued to level up, it was easy to imagine that the weight of these corpses would soon pose less and less of a problem. Right now though, it was still something he had to consider when venturing out into the cave.

To have any chance of proving his conjectures true, Charlie needed to go and break a rule that he had made for himself. To attract enough attention and prove whether or not the slime can help ward off the swarm, Charlie would need to kill another Sklite and intentionally draw in their ire.

And as before, Charlie lay in wait for the subsequent scout, the protective nature of their collective wouldn't allow for too much time to pass without investigation.

And before Charlie knew it, another Sklite had come sniffing about. Its caution and discomfort was prevalent, even from where Charlie sat. It clearly knew something was wrong and kept a keen eye out for danger, ready to bolt if anything reared its ugly face.

Unfortunately for the Sklite, there was no escape from the predators serpentine gaze. Charlies eyes were shrouded by the unnatural shadow but was lacking in strength, unable to stop the dim light from giving them a ghostly hue. If luck were on the Sklites side, it would look up and see two wisps of light boring into its being.

[Hollow Fang] struck the Sklites head from within the ghostly shadows, killing it instantly. There wasn't a moment for it to squeak out a warning, or even comprehend its own demise. Having swallowed the corpse whole, nothing remained to even hint that Charlie had been there.

Charlie came out of the encounter unscathed and happy with the first part of the results, and now it was time to test out one of his hypotheses. Charlie just needed to recover the slime and bring it back here—allowing him to observe the area from a distance, and confirm whether or not the swarm would show up.

After returning to collect the slime, Charlie was at a loss for a moment before realising what he needed to do to collect the slime. He rolled around in the liquid stench and hoped that it would harden when it would come in contact with his scales.

Charlie didn't need all of the slime, just enough to conduct his little experiment, and he would be off on his way. Being forced to roll around in putrid slime would have been embarrassing, and veritably disgusting, in the past, but it had become increasingly difficult to care about what simply needed to be done. Thankfully, the slime reacted pretty quickly with Charlies scales and hardened without much issue.

Charlie didn't bother collecting all of it, and set off back to where he had just killed the Sklite. The way back proved easier than anticipated; Charlie noticed that he had already become less bloated and the weight of the Sklites in his stomach lessened over time. It was hard to tell exactly how long he had already ventured out for, but it couldn't have been less than a few hours.

This meant that he was beginning to digest the fallen prey quicker, where at the beginning it took nearly twenty-four hours to finish up a small corpse, but now, it felt like it would be only a few hours.

Charlie wondered if this would mean he also would get hungrier quicker, or if this was just another quirk of his body. No matter the reason, right now it helped him traverse the tight landscape quicker and he was grateful for it.

By the time Charlie had returned, he found there was little to no restriction to his movement, even after consuming two corpses.

Charlie quickly scanned the area and couldn't see any curious Sklite peeking around a corner, but that didn't mean that they had yet to return. Without wasting any more time, Charlie repeated the process and got rid of the dirty slime that covered his body by vigorously rolling around in the dirt. Once the slime turned to liquid again, the stench returned back to its former glory, washing everything away with its pungent... flavour.

Quickly leaving the site, Charlie made his way back up to the tops of the coves, and lay in the embrace of the deep shadows, waiting for any signs of the swarm.

Charlies vision from up here was blurry, but he reckoned that if the swarm were to approach, he would be able to see a mass of bodies scouring the depths for their antagonist.

Yet, as more and more time passed, little changed. Charlie didn't see any swarm, but that didn't necessarily mean that there were no Sklites searching the area. He was forced to return up here and view it from afar, greatly reducing the information Charlie could glean from the experiment. The distance would hopefully be enough to flee if the swarm somehow locked on to his scent, so at least there was that.

No information was information in itself, and would still allow Charlie to draw easy conclusions. The two Sklite that Charlie killed in the past were enough to send the swarm after him, but he was a lot closer to their nest back then. It might be as simple as the swarm needing more time to cross the vast distance of rock and creature.

There was another problem that muddled Charlies conclusions from this experiment—was it the slime that covered up the second Sklites death, or was it because Charlie killed it without allowing it to call for help?

It was inconclusive, but something had definitely worked. It had been nearly an hour, and no matter how slow the swarm might be, there were no changes that he could perceive. This information would prove invaluable in hunting the Sklite for their translucent gems, but further experimentation was needed.

Satisfied with the days efforts, Charlie made his way to the river to wash the remaining slime and dirt off of his body. He knew it would make little difference in the end, the slime would still accumulate on his scales as he slept, but it still felt like the right thing to do.

Returning to the maze-like path of the high coves, Charlie made quick progress in reaching the riverbank. If Charlie had returned using the ground paths again, it would have taken at least two hours for a safe trip, but up here he was unchallenged and could move at great speed. The river was already in view and Charlie had only been traversing the shadows for thirty minutes.

The closer Charlie approached the water, the more intense the situation felt. The glimmering mirror-like surface of the water concealed all that lurked below, filling Charlies mind with images of the silver creature trying to leap out of its hidden depths to drag him under again. He knew it wasn't real, but that didn't help in calming his heart down.

Through gritted fangs, Charlie dipped his scarred and stubby tail into the water, before quickly recoiling from the sudden and cold bite of the water. Cursing his on stupidity, Charlie relaxed a little and slowly shifted his body under the refreshing currents. The blood and grime washed away, taking some of the lingering tension with it.

After thoroughly cleaning his scales, Charlie quickly made his way back to the cove, but before he was able to reach its safety, [Devour] woke.

Charlie wasn't even remotely close to his cove, allowing [Devour] to have its way right now could prove dangerous—the dark green flames would light up the environment and give away his position to all with eyes.

There was no choice, Charlie quickly retreated to a shadowy corner between two coves and kept his face as close to the ground as he could, coiling his body around his head in an attempt to obfuscate any light that might want to peek through.

Unable to suppress the impatient nature of [Devour] for any longer, Charlie let free of its chains.

Charlie breathed dark green flame into the ground, quickly filling up the tight space with blinding light before it retracted back into his maw. Charlie directed the flame to the gems within, devouring their essence and fusing it into his very blood, bones and soul.

The power washed over every one of his cells, nurturing and nourishing them with a gentle, but alluring, power.

But it didn't stop.

What?

Charlie wasn't given a chance to think anything else as the power somehow changed and quickly filled his jaws with a tingling sensation.

Blood filled Charlies mouth as the tingling sensation turned to a deep itch, originating from somewhere deep in his jaw bones. Whatever just happened, it had pierced through his gums. [Devour]'s power continued working on his jaw as the pain quickly disappeared; even the blood somehow was scrubbed clean, leaving no trace of its existence.

Shocked, Charlie barely noticed [Devour] calming down and disappearing, its nourishing power faded away to nothing.

Yet, his heart would not calm. Charlie couldn't help but flick his tongue around his mouth, searching for any changes.

Are... are these teeth?