Local Time: 9:31 AM | Earth Year 3252 | Planet: Queen’s Gate | City: Unknown | Research Facility Snake Room

Rory was smiling to himself as he placed another snake in his ring. Last afternoon had been their fifth “make-out session” as Steph called it, and he was still thinking about them. Not that they only did the physical stuff. Schedules didn’t allow for it every time he had a measurement, but they at least talked for a bit no matter what. They shared likes and dislikes, mostly food, but other stuff too. One of those that he enjoyed very much was when she introduced him to all kinds of music and helped him discover which he found pleasant and not. She seemed understandably baffled at his lack of familiarity but let it go without too many questions. She had continued to seem fine not prying, which he very much appreciated about her.

And yeah, they did the physical stuff too. She had very soft skin. And the perfume did indeed smell nice.

Shaking his head vigorously, Rory returned his attention to the environment around him.

No getting distracted while hunting! Can’t be with Steph if you’re dead by snake.

All and all, it had been a great couple of weeks. He had started hunting level 3, 4, and even a very few level 5 snakes almost exclusively, allowing him to advance to level 12, leaving him eleven vessels for investment. His body’s changes hadn’t slowed, which worried Steph – but honestly, he wasn’t that concerned anymore. If nothing was wrong with him after a few weeks, why would there be now? The night pains had noticeably reduced too, although he guessed that might have something to do with his increased vitality. It was hard to pinpoint a real cause with everything else going on.

On top of the physical growth, he had added two more snake souls to his arsenal. One of which was a snake that could almost fly. It had flaps on each side and almost caught Rory by surprise one day, having glided down from above. If he hadn’t seen its shadow while looking for a trail, he might have bloody bought it right then and there.

The second was the weirdest snake Rory had ever seen. It was a digging snake that flung dirt at its prey attempting to blind it then biting it and swinging it around to bash into anything nearby. It was bloody hysterical. When Rory had first seen it do that, he had had to admit that he wished he could have risked taking vids and throwing them up on the hunter boards on GalNet. What had added to the hilarity was the coloring: the snake was all white except for red circles around its eyes and a blue-colored diamond pattern on the center of its head. Once he killed it, the name had made total sense.

The Digging Jester Snake was the weirdest snake he’d seen to date. Even more strange than the rainbow one, of which no other had shown thankfully. As such, he had had no use for Gusss, so the poor guy was probably suffering from snake deprivation disorder or something. Hopefully, the sleepy-time potion would be ready by his next visit.

The rest of his time hunting had been totally normal. He had sold the meat every third day and was building up his funds quite nicely. At over £50,000, he had felt he was able to justify upgrading his commo finally. As such, today he was working through how to understand his use of Soul Power with his new Commo’s capabilities. Rory had learned that he could configure the display of his power in any number of ways, including a maximum vs. usage bar, which is what he chose. It was a long bar that was only a hollow outline but filled and emptied with how much Soul Power he had available and used.

So far this morning, he had discovered that calling and recalling his chakram took about five percent each time. But once they were out, his bar didn’t drop at all, which was great news in his mind. It didn’t refill either, but he was fine with that as long as there was no drain. What that meant to him was having the weapons out did not have a time limit he needed to be concerned with. And as he had no Soul Techniques except his summons that used Soul Power, he did not really have any concerns. In the end, he did need to figure out a way to raise his Power, but he felt he had time to figure it out.

Checking his Soul Summary, he decided it was time to consider getting something offensive.

Soul Summary:

Available/Used Vessels (Gathered): 10/2

Available/Used Vessels (Granted): 0/268

| Wielder |

-Body

--Vitality (7/X)

--Strength (4/X)

--Agility (2/X)

-Mind

--Defense (1/X)

| Construct {Serpent Chakram} |

-Melee (0/1)

-Ranged (0/1)

-Neutral (1/1)

--Power (0/2)

--Skills (0/2)

| Soul |

-Soul Bond (250/250)

--Active Bond {Ice Basilisk} (1/1)

---Soul Form (0/100)

-Soul Control (1/1)

--Soul Capture (5/5)

--Soul Call (5/5)

---Summoning (1/X)

----Living Spring Treant (5/63)

----Flora Scented Serpent (0/6)

----Bobbing Jungle Serpent (0/8)

----Wooden Sleeper Serpent (0/3)

----Winged Woodland Viper (0/5)

----Digging Jester Snake (0/3)

---Withdraw Soul (1/5)

That very morning was only the second time he had seen growth in agility. The fact that he had gained only two vessels worth of that attribute among all of his strange physical improvements was baffling. As both were quite recent, he wondered what Steph would say in two days when he went for his measurement.

Relatedly, the fact that his vitality has continued to rise faster than anything else really pushed the idea, at least in his mind, that the treant sap had had an undue influence on his growth. Frustratingly, he had not found another treant in the jungle. He had been looking carefully too for a tree, no matter the size, with markings similar to the original one sitting in pieces in his new vault. It seemed so strange to him to be a lone creature, though.

I don’t know. Was that really the sole treant? That can’t be it, right? Maybe closer to the center of the jungle there’ll be more?

Speaking of the jungle, the more time he spent there, the bigger he realized this strange space was. It had gotten to a point that he wondered if the room was some sort of weird infinite loop of a jungle the bonkers scientists had come up with.

But what do I know? That it’s bloody huge pretty much covers it for me.

It had certainly become clear, as he explored the massive place, that his body changes had made his hunting higher level creatures feasible. The investments normal Soul Wielders had to make into their wielder tree was entirely logical to him by now. There was no way he would be strong, fast or resilient enough to live through a fight with a level five creature without having his current capabilities.

But those were not the only changes he had come to appreciate. Rory very much liked all the souls he’d gained, many of which would lead to agility increases if his guess was right when he eventually used the Withdraw Soul technique.

In regards to his tree, after a week of debating, Rory had finally decided to use a single vessel to open up the Neutral tree. His plan was to see what options showed and think about what to do based on that. Very few hunters on GalNet either had access or shared about that tree. That said, what was available showed that it was unique to each weapon with few exceptions. In short, Rory no idea what to expect.

What had showed after he spent the vessel were the two standard level 2 trees that any construct would show: Power (0/2) and Skills (0/2). Rory had simultaneously felt both relief and disappointment at seeing that. He had been relieved that at least something was normal about his ghost; yet, he had also been disappointed not to see some new capability to help him succeed.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Thus, right now he was debating on whether to spend more of his precious ten remaining SVs on opening those new Power or Skills tree. Power would likely lead to sharpness, hardness, and the like. Sharpening his blades would be incredibly valuable and prove beneficial into the future with no downside. That said, what he was really interested in were elemental techniques. Unfortunately, they will fall even deeper in the trees and would probably be an additional three SVs to just open only one of his two elements. Even then, he would be required to spend yet another SV to gain the technique. And on top of everything else, doing that offered absolutely no guarantee of any kind that what technique he would gain after spending all those SVs would even be useful to him. It was really quite frustrating.

Having gone through this mental exercise multiple times, Rory finally realized something he hadn’t before: he was actually at a disadvantage in comparison to other wielders because he had both melee and ranged as well as multiple elements. He’d have access to more techniques, sure, but the investments and risks were also quadrupled. At least.

All of that being said, Rory’s eyes just kept returning to the Withdraw Soul (1/5) technique. He’d finally accepted he had wasted that one vessel back at the beginning. However, he knew he would be spending it at some point soon and thus didn’t feel too bad about a single early SV.

Either way, Withdraw Soul (1/5) technique would improve his attributes and that was always a gain, no matter the situation or how far in the future he looked. After all, his weapons were just as much about being dexterous and reactive as they were about being strong and striking hard. In his mind, he was unbalancing himself with Agility at only half of Strength and it really bothered him. So investing in a soul he believed would likely give that attribute was sorely tempting.

Sighing, he went about his day, killing snakes less than half his level, but still gaining myst and money slowly. And all the while he was thinking about how to invest his vessels.

***

Rory’s tracking ability was still an utter failure, but even a blind man could have followed the trail this particular snake had left. The only things that it didn’t knock over, destroy, or otherwise make a mess of, were the larger trees.

Looking at the disaster the thing had made of the jungle, Rory debated whether to run or follow. After a bit of – an admittedly one-sided – debate, he decided to follow and see what came of it.

I just need to be careful and quiet. Yeah.

Rory figured he could always turn around and leave, but his curiosity had honestly gotten the better of him. After weeks of little variance in this bloody big jungle, an occurrence such as this was just too interesting to leave be.

That said, as he followed, he realized it was getting quite close to what had to this point considered too far in – also known as the totally-going-to-die-painfully-if-you-go-any-further line. Just as he was about to stop and turn around, he heard crackling and crunching noises. Moving as quietly as he could, he approached an area full of downed trees. Slowly sticking his head around the closest standing tree, he saw what he believed to be the origin of both the trail and the flora disaster. A seventy-foot-long dirt-brown snake with gray diamonds along its length lay in the middle of the cleared area. It appeared to be jerking repeatedly and, from what Rory could tell, randomly. Blinking in confusion at the strange motions, he decided he wanted a better look. So, using his chakram as handholds along with the available branches, he climbed up the tree he had been hiding behind.

Carefully walking out onto a low but thick branch, he looked down and once again was utterly baffled by what he found. The large brown snake’s scaled skin was extremely distended just behind its mouth. Initially he figured it had been eating – as he had seen that before – but this time was… different. The snake was clearly having a bit of trouble. Rather than successfully swallowing its victim – in Rory’s experience almost always another snake in this particular jungle – he saw that about fifteen feet of green snake was sticking out of its mouth. So the large brown snake was jerking around so much because it was apparently choking.

Drool was dripping out of the larger snake’s mouth and splattering on both the snake and the ground. What was strange was the drool, or whatever it was, was sizzling and smoking as it made contact with the dirt, leaves, and branches on jungle floor. On the other hand, it was doing absolutely nothing to the stuck green snake in its mouth.

Rory scratched his head at the odd sight. “Definitely don’t see that every day,” he mumbled to himself.

He decided to watch for a bit, unsure what to actually do about the situation.

That death acid drool definitely looks bad. Yeah, staying away from that. Maybe just watch for a bit then see if it… uhhh… drools to death? Or chokes maybe? Can snakes choke? Is that even a thing?

Completely baffled and absolutely not getting anywhere near close enough to scan the snake until he’s sure it isn’t going to melt him with drool acid, he decided to stay on the branch and watch what happened.

***

“Huh. Snakes can choke. Who knew?”

Over the last few minutes Rory watched as the large brown snake’s movements slowed, until they eventually stopped altogether. It was at this point that Rory decided to attempt to take advantage of the opportunity that was before him. He climbed and then jumped to the jungle floor and then climbed yet another tree, this one right next to the pair of hopefully dead serpents.

Before doing anything else, Rory looked around and thought about an approach. For the big brown snake to make such a mess, it had to be immensely strong. This likely meant it had strong scales for protection, otherwise they would have been ruined during all the tree-crashing.

And was that really necessary? What did the trees do to you?

Glaring down at the hater-of-trees, Rory came up with a plan. He wanted to make sure he killed it quickly in case it woke up or wasn’t really choking to death. It could be sleeping or something. With another giant snake in its mouth. Right.

Either way, given the strength he assumed its scales had, he felt he needed to verify that his chakram could even cut through them. He had had that problem once before on a defensively oriented level 5 snake. It had tempted him to invest in sharpness, but he’d managed to kill the thing because it wasn't venomous and was small enough for him to trap with his weight.

Okay. Let’s see how tough you are.

Reaching back, Rory materialized his weapons and then whipped his hand down as fast and hard as he could while still being on target. Well, he missed, but it wasn’t his fault and it was in a good way. He had been aiming for right behind the head as he usually did and his white weapon shot downward. It was at that moment that the snake had shifted to take another gulp of the still-wriggling snake in its distended mouth. That movement shifted the big brown head backward. The white serpent chakram slammed into the snake’s huge black eye, spattering blood, gore, and whatever else was in a snake eye everywhere as the engorged thing struggled to move. Rory blinked down at what had happened, and then smiled. He’d take it.

A few minutes later it slowed its jerking reactions and Rory threw his black chakram. It hit the creature’s scales near the other and bounced right off leaving nothing more than tiny white mark and a few sparks.

The creature hadn’t moved though, despite the strike. Deciding to conduct another test just in case, Rory climbed down, picked up a long branch, and tossed it at the snake. It struck with a clatter but once again there was no movement.

Well, it’s not dead as there was not release of myst, but that’s a good sign, right?

Slowly making his way to its head, Rory recalled his weapons. Then, making sure to stay on the side he had made blind with his first lucky shot, he lunged forward at his white weapon.

He was repeatedly glad a Soul Weapon couldn’t hurt its owner because his hand hit pretty hard on the blade as it shoved forward. He then lifted his black weapons and slammed that into the same eye socket as the white. Both weapons seemed stuck for a moment and he leaned into them.

It was then, while Rory was distracted by the pressure he was applying, that he saw a shadow move and, before he could react, felt a slam into his left shoulder. Rory saw the world flip once and then he hit the ground and rolled into the remains of a downed tree with his face in the dirt.

Coughing once, Rory rolled onto his back with a groan. “Ow,” he exhaled painfully.

After a minute or so of remembering how to breathe, Rory pressed his arms down in an attempt to sit up, but winced at the pain in his left one. Looking at the source, he saw a long bleeding slice in his skin from his shoulder all the way down to his elbow. Sighing, Rory mentally thanked Penny for insisting on him having a bottle of healing ointment and some clean bandages. Withdrawing them from his vault, he poured the contents of the bottle over the long wound, wincing again at the slight sting, and then wrapping it as best he could with his one hand and his mouth. He knew from experience it would heal completely in just a few days thanks to both Elphina’s salve and his own vitality. That he had ruined yet another shirt was not too pleasant either, but he bought them plain and cheap for a reason.

That done, Rory stood and looked over at the snake. His chakram were still embedded in the massive eye and its tail was still. Slowly he made his way over to it. As soon as he was in range, he recalled his weapons and they dematerialized into myst. Then he walked around to the side with the good eye – which was not coincidentally the opposite side to which the tail was – and summoned his chakram. He then jammed then slammed them home in the big black globe as hard as he could.

Bloody snake. That bloody hurt!

Pushing hard with a growl, the unmoving snake’s hard scales were slowly being penetrated. At that point, Rory pulled back and then jammed both blades into the wound he had just created and pulled them apart. He repeated that process four times until a hole the size of his hand had been created and he, closing his eyes and looking away, punched his fist inside. His entire hand, wrist, and part of his forearm fit through the thing’s eyeball, allowing him to grab whatever was there, squish it and yank it back out.

So bloody disgusting! Then a moment later he thought, Yet strangely satisfying…

At that point the buzz from his commo told him he had finally succeeded in killing the huge thing. He dematerialized his weapons and took off his newly torn shirt, using it to wipe his arm off. He then tossed it aside, touched the snake, and activated his vault. He felt like his smile might split his head in half as she saw the entire snake and what was in its mouth enter a single large shelf in his brand new commo.

After he sent it in, he read the myst report and froze in shock.

{Infant Terra Basilisk} slain…

Calculating…

48% Myst Gained…

Summoning Tree Updated…

Oh shit!

Rory immediately turned around and ran back the way he had come. And he did not stop until he left, not just that area, but the entire building. There was no way he wanted to risk a mother or father basilisk figuring out it was he who killed their little baby death snake. He decided right then he might take a short break from the reptiles.

***

On the Transbus back to Croxton for his much-anticipated bath, his commo told him he was receiving a vid request. Putting in his earpiece, he answered. Penny’s face looked at him and she seemed frantic, tears running down her face.

Rory’s immediate assumption was that the thugs were back. They had been surprisingly absent for two whole weeks and it was quite suspicious. He knew they would be returning sooner or later to take him on. He and Elphina had talked about numerous possibilities, but none of them were very good against laze pistols.

What he heard from Penny did not match his expectations, however. “Rory! Thank goodness. Gramma’s sick. Can you come?”

Rory relaxed fractionally but looked around and did some quick math in his head.

“The soonest I can get there is about an hour,” he told her. “I’m on a transbus and I’ll need to get off at the next stop and rent a ride to you. Can you tell me what happened?”

Penny calmed slightly hearing he was coming. “She hadn’t been feeling herself all day. She was mixing something up to help herself but she collapsed before she could finish it.”

“Do you know what it was? Can you make it?”

“She didn’t tell me,” Penny said with a headshake that caused her projected blond curls to bounce around her face.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Before anything else, close and lock the shop up tight. Stay calm and see if you can find any notes she might have taken on what she was making or what was wrong with her. I’ll see you in about an hour.”