As I walked to the nine o’clock hole to analyze it this morning, I encountered a snake in the middle of the nuts field. The snake had white scales with a body as big as my forearm, and its length was about five or so meters. It almost bit my leg as I tried to kill it.

There’s a saying among farmers in the Eastern part of the Empire that it’s a sign of fortune if a white-scaled snake appeared in your field in the middle of farming season. However, I can’t help but see this one as an omen since I don’t know where the snake came from, and are there any more snakes that I need to be wary of.

I carefully skin the snake and thoroughly clean its guts by the well. The skin is put out to dry, the poison sack is set aside for later use, and the entrails are thrown into the slime trench. I grilled some of the meat, and dried the rest.

I’m glad that the snake appeared because I’m actually getting tired of eating dried slime without any garnish or seasoning. Because, you know, while dried slime is fulfilling and all, after some time of eating them one after the other, it feels like eating leather—a bland, tasteless leather.

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Should I make a pot to boil them or something…?

Nevermind. I forgot that my alchemist skill is abysmal. Anything complex that I created with alchemy will never stay in shape long enough to use. Moreover, if I want to cook, I will need some wood or charcoal, which are not here, to keep the fire long enough for cooking. Magical fire won’t cut it for long-time use. I can probably do it, of course, but it’s much better to use my mana to look for a way out of this place, and a backup for some unforeseen circumstances too.

Oh, talking about looking for a way out, the nine o’clock hole is also a no-go. The radar spell result is very similar to the three o’clock hole: The air path of the nine o’clock hole is winded, branched, and has about 10 km in distance to the surface.

Let’s check the twelve o’clock hole tomorrow. I’m going to sleep.