A Snake's Life Page 12

  By the time I arrived at the tower several hours had passed, and it was well into the night. The tower was standing in a paved square. The surrounding buildings were positioned about forty feet away from the tower, in every direction. Most likely, to provide the guards up top ample opportunity to defend the place, should the need arise. The light of a full moon was casting an ominous shadow on the tower and its giant guard. The man was wearing a full suit of leather armor, he stood at about twenty-five feet tall and was wielding a long pole with an axe and blade at one end. The entire thing was approximately twenty feet long and at least two hundred pounds, but he had it resting on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. Though his face was covered up by a leather helmet with a metal face shield. His size and stature reminded me of the Giant… Well, if he was a thousand times larger, he would.

  “We’ll try going around him… I’d rather not get involved with the giant unless absolutely necessary.” I turned and went back through the alley. Then I used the alleyways to circle around to the back of the tower, so I could attempt to find another way in. However, I quickly realized that I was far too large to fit inside. So, I sat Solon on the ground and thought for a few minutes.

  *Sigh* “Alright, brat. Listen up.” I looked him in the eyes.

  “Yes?” he replied. The quivering in his voice had ceased… for the moment.

  “You’re going to have to do this yourself…”

  His eyes widened, and his face turned pale. ” B..But, how?”

  “I’ll lift you up to the roof, so you can start searching from there.”

  “w..What’ll you be doing?”

  A phantom smile grew on my face. “Eating.”

  He climbed on my head, and I lifted him up to the roof. He jumped off and ran to hide behind one of the spires. I knocked my head against the roof, causing the three guards to turn and look right into my eyes. Their bodies quickly turned to stone and I smashed them into powder.

  The shaking of the tower caused some of the guards inside to come out in order to investigate. It also caused the giant to walk around to the back of the tower. I took the opportunity to move away from the tower and circled to the giant’s back, where I waited for the right moment to strike… A few minutes of walking around the tower without seeing anything caused the giant to lower its guard slightly… So, I struck.

  Using my size and weight advantage. I bit deep into its shoulder, causing my fangs to pierce deep into the creature’s chest and back. However, unlike my previous victims. The giant did seem to be bothered by my venom because it grabbed hold of my mouth, ripped my fangs out of its flesh. Then threw me away as if I weighed nothing. I flew through the air for about five seconds before I crashed into a building, causing it to be destroyed under my massive weight. The building fell on top of me causing me to be buried under about three tonnes of stone and wood.

  I quickly threw it off of me and turned to face the giant. It had taken the opportunity to rip its chest and helmet pieces off. Presumably, because it realized they would be of no use as my fangs would tear through them. I stared at the creature and realized that it only had one glowing red eye and long soot black hair that draped down to its shoulders. It then picked up its weapon and charged me. A multitude of guards also charged out of the tower and through the surrounding streets in order to surround me.

  *Groan* “Fenris… You better get your ass out here as soon as possible.” I bared my teeth and opened my ‘eyes’. Ten guards made the mistake of looking into them, and more would have followed had a man in shiny metal armor not ordered them to look at the ground.

  “It’s an Earth Basilisk! Don’t look it in the eyes, men!” The metal man ordered… But the giant didn’t heed his warning and looked me in the eyes… And to my surprise, nothing happened.

  “It must be a tier five or higher creature…” The giant spun the weapon over its right hand, then caught it and stood in an attack position, Its weapon took on a glowing red hue as it glared at me. I glanced around at the surround humanoids, but none of them seemed interested in attack me. In fact… some of them looked excited at the opportunity to see me fight the creature.

  “Well… This should be interesting.” It charged at me, then stabbed its weapon at my face. I ducked my head to one side and the blade passed by, then I heard a sizzling noise coming from behind me. I took a quick glance behind me and saw the blade had pierced a standing piece of rubble and caused it to slightly melt.

  “Great, the beast can use magic.” I slammed my head into its leg, causing it to lose balance. Then, I bit into the other leg and lifted the creature off the ground before I threw it into the air, and into a building on the opposite side of the tower. The creature slammed into the side of the building, then continued through it until it landed on the other side. Leaving a massive hole in the building, but that was soon fixed as the rest of the building came down, as well.

  I quickly followed after the giant and arrived just after it climbed to its feet. I shot my head out, in an attempt to bite the creature, but it used its massive strength to grab my upper and lower jaw. My strike was instantly halted and the creature smiled at me. Revealing its sharp, jagged teeth.

  “Me no like, Snake.” The smile vanished from its face. “So, Me crush you!” It twisted its arms and threw me to the side. My head bounced off of the paved road, destroying some of it in the process. Then, I bounced into another building causing it to fall on top of me. I was buried under a massive stone and wood building for the second time during this fight, and it was beginning to annoy me.

  It appeared to also annoy the giant since he threw the rubble off of me, then stood above me with its weapon pointed at my body. Though the heat from the weapon was causing me severe discomfort, it was actually the giant stepping on my body that seriously pissed me off.

  “Ha ha. Stupid Snake gonna make a good soup.” I could feel something dripping onto my scales.

  “I’m sorry… We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot.” The giant looked surprised. His one eye widened, and some of his weight was shifted from my body to the ground beside me.

  “Snake can talk?”

  I nodded my head, then rotated around to look at him. “Oh, indeed I can. And, may I suggest something?”

  “Hmm?” The creature nodded its head.

  “Thank you. Now, my suggestion is for you to… Get. The. Fuck. OFF OF ME!” I wrapped my tail around his midsection, then launched him away. He flew over forty feet and slammed into the tower. While flying through the air, he lost his hold on the weapon. After which, I picked it up in my mouth and threw it as hard as I could towards the ocean. Then, I turned to face him again.

  “Stupid snake! That was mine!” He yelled, before running at me. Then he wrapped his arms around my body and began squeezing… I took that as a challenge.

  “Alright… you want to play this game, do you?” I coiled the free parts of my body around him, then began to squeeze. While being extra careful not to put more pressure on the part he was holding. And if I’m being honest. The giant was incredibly strong. Under normal circumstances, he could probably beat just about anything in a contest of strength… But you don’t challenge a snake to a contest of strength. Because we don’t play fair in such contests. While squeezing him, I was also biting and injecting copious amounts of venom into any exposed area I could reach.

  “Hey… Stop that!” He yelled as he stopped squeezing, so he could focus on escaping. But, of course, I wasn’t going to let him. Every time he tried to escape, I squeezed harder until I heard his bones breaking. Even then, I didn’t stop… until. *Pop!* The creatures guts exploded out of his mouth and covered both myself and the ground around me. Afterward, I simply released him, so he could collapse to the ground.

  *Boom!* His impact with the ground caused it to shake for a few seconds, then nothing. Everything had gone completely silent in the face of the giant’s defeat and the guards were staring at me.

  “Hmm? What, do I have something on my face?” I
asked as my tongue reached out and pulled a piece of the giant’s intestine into my mouth. The action was enough for them to retreat as far from me as they could, without leaving the tower grounds… Or so I thought until I saw the orange glow coming from my left. I turned to see what it was and saw the giant’s eye was glowing.

  “I’m just going to assume, that’s not good.” I scooped up as much of the giant’s intestines as I could fit in my mouth, then I retreated from the corpse. I had made it about twenty feet away when an explosion went off behind me, searing my tail and destroying some of my scales. I looked back to see just how large it actually was, and saw a pillar of fire reaching into the sky… Then, it collapsed in on itself and rocketed towards the ground. Where it spread out in every direction, cooking several unlucky guards that were in the blast radius and destroying part of the tower.

  A few moments after the initial explosion destroyed part of the tower, a small shadow jumped from the hole, then rapidly grew until it was over twenty feet tall and thirty feet long. After it landed on the ground, I realized what it was…

  “About time, you damn mutt!” Fenris was glaring at the surrounding guards. Meanwhile, three people were sitting on his back and holding onto his fur. It was Lena and the kids. But, something was wrong… Lena’s clothes had been ripped apart, as had Hali’s. Though Lena’s face was set in stone, with a look of extreme anger on her face. Hali was crying, while she clutched onto her brother’s shirt. I moved over and ‘stood’ beside Fenris.

  “What happened?” I asked while looking from Lena and Hali to Fenris. He turned his head to look at me, then returned to glaring at the guards.

  “What usually happens when a man with too much power desires something he can’t have…” It took me a few seconds to understand what he meant, but when I did…

  “Is the bastard dead?” Fenris nodded and looked up at the top of the tower. I followed his line of sight and saw a humanoid shape impaled on a large stone spike, that was sticking out of the roof. I nodded my head and looked back to the guards.

  “It’s your call. I’ve eaten my fill already, so whenever you’re ready, we can leave.” Fenris nodded his head and started walking back towards the harbor. However, he glared one final time at the guards and said.

  “If I see anyone following us… they’re dead. Understand?” The metal man nodded his head and returned Fenris’ glare.

  I followed behind Fenris and the family as we made our way back to the harbor. Where I sunk myself into the water, and the family prepared their ship. It only took them fifteen minutes to get it ready, then we left the island city behind. We sailed for about three or four hours, before dropping anchor and going to sleep.

  However… I got this pop-up just as I was going to sleep.

  You have eaten the following race for the first time. Griffin: Tier 4

  You have eaten the following race for the first time. Flame Cyclops: Tier 6

  You have unlocked the following evolutionary path. Wind Basilisk Would you like to evolve?

  You have unlocked the following evolutionary path. Fire Basilisk Would you like to evolve?

  You have unlocked the following evolutionary path. Elemental Basilisk Would you like to evolve?

  “No…No…” I paused and yelled to get Fenris and Lena’s attention.

  “What is it, Snake?” The two of them looked over the edge.

  “I’m about to evolve… Would you mind waiting for me?” Lena shook her head.

  “Of course, we don’t mind…. Though it would be nice to know how long we need to wait.” I nodded my head and decided to ask.

  “How long will it take for me to complete the ‘Elemental Basilisk’ evolution?” A pop-up answered my question.

  15 days

  I answered Lena’s questions… then.

  “Yes, I’m ready to evolve.” The white shield quickly formed around me, and I sunk to the ocean floor. Once I was there, another pop-up appeared and I was forced into a deep sleep.

  Your Evolution is underway, and a shield has formed around you until it is complete. Time remaining until completion is 14d 23h 59m 52s

  Chapter 22

  The fifteen days passed by and I awoke to a few new pop-ups.

  Energy Store/Release Absorb and store solar energy inside the red jewel on your forehead, then release the stored energy in an explosion of fire. *Note: Due to the gluttonous trait. You can use energy gained from eating as a substitute for solar energy. At reduced efficiency and damage.*

  Resist Elements As an elemental basilisk, you have a minor resistance to all elements. *Note: This will not protect you from elemental attacks, but will protect you from environmental changes.*

  Winged As a wind basilisk, you have grown wings. *Note: Your current wings do not have the strength to fly. However, they can be used to glide.*

  Name Torga

  Race Gluttonous Elemental Basilisk

  Classification Tier 5

  Skills Minor Stealth, Heat detection, Major Durability up, Major strength up, Petrifying Gaze, Detect concealment, Energy Store/Release, Resist Elements, Glide

  Traits Gluttonous +2, Growth +2, Venomous, Aquatic, Strong Willed, Winged

  “Eh… Wings?” I began to struggle inside the shield but after a few minutes, I successfully broke through and was set free. Once the shield faded I took a look at my back and saw two large wings. They were covered in thin scales, with what appeared to be very thin bones lining the inside. An extremely thin membrane was stretched across the bones and was what I assumed, would allow me to glide. Looking a little further down my back, allowed me to see a smaller set of wings. This smaller set was just above my tail and if I had to guess. Would allow me to move around, while in the air.

  Then, there was the pressure that I’d been feeling on my forehead. I assumed this was the stone that would allow me to store solar energy… That line of thinking led to a question.

  “Was this the same stone, that caused the cyclops to explode after its death?” I was, of course, referring to its red eye as that is what started to glow, then exploded. So, did that mean, I was also a walking bomb? I wasn’t quite sure, however, if I was. Then, at least whatever kills me, will have one hell of a surprise waiting for them. Of course, it also said that I could store the energy I get from eating in the stone, as well. But, since it would take more energy, to get a lesser effect. I should only do that in an emergency. Otherwise, it may become a crutch… And that could lead to me dying early, should something happen that removes my ability to use it.

  Then, I asked what my future evolution requirements were… and a pop-up answered.

  Submerge yourself in a ‘river of fire’ to unlock

  Elemental Wyrm

  Consume the blood of a dragon to unlock Elemental Serpentine Dragon

  Survive 100 years to unlock this path Elemental Hydra

  Consume a Ruby, a Sapphire, a Tiger eye, a Diamond, an Emerald, an Amethyst, and a piece of ebony ore, all at once to unlock Elemental Naga

  Crush five ships to unlock Elemental Leviathan

  “And… If I pass them up, what do I get?” Another pop-up answered.

  If you pass up the ‘Elemental Wyrm’ evolution, you will get. Superior Elemental Resistance or Spike Scales

  If you pass up the ‘Elemental Serpentine Dragon’ evolution, you will get. Wind control or Spiked tail

  If you pass up the ‘Elemental Hydra’ evolution, you will get. *Note: This evolution is a higher tier than the others, so you may pick one of them and still go to this one, but, not vice versa. Supreme Regeneration or Elemental Control

  If you pass up the ‘Elemental Naga’ evolution, you will get. The ability to use magic or Telepathy

  If you pass up the ‘Elemental Leviathan’ evolution, you will get. Superior Strength or Acidic blood *Note: You will also gain an increase to the growth trait.*

  *Sigh* “I’m going to need a while to think on this since I can’t get a description of the races, aside from what I’d get if I discard
ed them…” Deciding to think more on this later because I’d kept the family waiting for long enough as it is. I looked up at the surface and saw the ship sitting in place, so I swam up to meet them. And, as soon as my head broke the surface. I was intercepted by an irate Fenris.

  “You damn Snake! What took you so long!?” He glared down at me from the safety of the ship… which appeared smaller than it had before I evolved.

  Disregarding the mutt. I looked over at Lena and the kids, and… they seemed to be doing better, now that some time had passed. I thought about asking what happened… But, I didn’t want to cause them any discomfort after they had finally settled down. So, I kept my mouth shut. Let in never be said, that I couldn’t be sensitive when I wanted to be… Well, to people I like, anyway.

  Which led me to realize… “I actually like these people…” Some of them, at least. I thought as I glanced back at Fenris, who still hadn’t shut up.

  Lena, after looking at me, gasped and ran over to the edge of the ship to get a better look. Once there, she covered her mouth with her hands and stared at me. “An… Elemental Basilisk.” She mumbled after a few seconds, causing me to look at her and further ignore Fenris.

  “What’s wrong, Lena?” I asked with a tilt of my head. While I was looking at her, I noticed that everything seemed… a lot smaller, than they previously did. For example, I knew Fenris to be over twenty feet tall, but he appeared to have shrunk since I’d last seen him. Because with just my head resting on the ship, I was looking him in the eye. So, I had to be at least twenty feet tall, not including my new length. And I was wider, as well. Using the ship as a base measurement, which I guessed to be just under thirty feet wide and fifty feet long. I was approximately fifteen or sixteen feet wide, as I was a little over half the width of the ship… I didn’t even want to guess as to how much longer I was, now.