*Ding,*Ding,*Ding*
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Your evolution is complete!
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Oh, boy. I don’t have time for this. Urosh could be lying in wait around any corner.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Name: Torga
Race: Gluttonous Dark Draconic Naga
Classification: Tier 8
Level: 89
Experience: 476,912/ 4,000,000
Titles: Destroyer of Asgard, The Dark Serpent
Stats:
Physical Strength: 5,861
Endurance: 5,861
Dexterity: 30
Speed: 13
Mental: Intelligence: 52
Wisdom: 37
Charisma: 20
Resistances Elements: 60%
Divinity: 80%
Mental: 20%
Immunities Mind Control
Skills: Major Stealth, Heat Detection, Supreme Gluttony, Supreme Growth, Greater Petrifying Gaze, Greater Acid Venom, Detect Concealment, Energy Breath, Fly, Magic Enhancement, Elemental Manipulation
Traits: Divine Gluttonous Aura +15, Growth +20, Strong Willed, Venomous, Aquatic, Winged, Forever Growing
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Congratulations!
You have successfully killed Urosh: The Royal Naga and taken his title from him.
+5,500,000 experience
Warning!
As you already possess the Naga form, you have been granted 50 bonus stat points to insert wherever you’d like.
Please climb to the next Royal Serpent territory.
Warning: The system will be locked for you until your journey is complete.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
"Wait... What?” I reread the pop-ups several times, then looked around for any sign of Urosh. Only instead of finding him, I found a destroyed wasteland where the forest used to be.
What happened to this place?
*Ding*
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
With Urosh’s death, this world has returned to the way it was before the King’s Challenge began.
Xitara
An earth element world: This world has been ruined due to (@^$@%&). Because of this, it has been cut off from the greater Yggdrasil.
Warning! Now that your evolution is complete and following Urosh’s death, this world has begun to collapse. Estimated time until collapse: 4 days, 7 hours, 12, minutes.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
“Okay, I know I’m repeating myself. What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On? How did Urosh die?”
There was a long pause where nothing happened, then...*Ding*
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Urosh: Royal Naga
Cause of death: Extreme mana depletion due to contact with a parasite.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
“Parasite? What parasite could’ve—Wait, are you talking about me? Am I the parasite?” The pop-ups didn’t respond. “Hello! Am I the parasite? Come on, you had no issue with insulting me a second ago, but now you’re being bashful? Since when could you insult people anyway?” Despite my ranting, the pop-up didn’t respond again.
I ranted for a few more minutes before I started looking for a way off this damn rock. However, as I lifted my torso off the ground for the first time, I felt something fall away from me.
I panicked and quickly looked down to see what horrible disfigurement I had to live with. Except, what I saw was two sets of thickly corded arms: One set extending out from my shoulders, which I was happy to have again. While the other set came out from my ribs. They ended in heavily scaled three-fingered hands hanging loosely by my side.
I—have arms? “Holy shit, I have arms!?” I twisted my torso back and forth several times and found myself giggling at the slapping sound the arms—MY arms—made as they hit my body. It was one of the stupidest things I’d ever done, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Sure, I would’ve felt obligated to kill myself if Ayla or Findral had seen me, but they weren’t here... Right. They weren’t here.
I pushed that line of thinking into the deepest pits of my mind. I couldn’t afford to dwell on that, or on how I was completely and totally alone for the first time in over a decade. Wasn’t I supposed to be doing something right about now?
I briefly wondered how I looked but couldn’t find it in me to care at the moment. I still had my wings, I still had both eyes, and I had two shiny new sets of arms. I was practically golden.
I found myself before the branch a few hours later. I was large enough now that the branch, which I knew to have an average diameter of fifty feet, was smaller than the palm of my hand. In fact, I could probably use the branch as a climbing rope if I wanted to.
I reached out to touch it with my head—to activate the Bi-frost and zoom away to the next Royal Serpent.
But nothing happened.
That was when I recalled something I’d dismissed earlier. “Please climb to the next Royal Serpent territory.” That’s what it said, right. But—surely it’s not expecting me to actually climb the branch. I followed the branch with my eyes as it went up, and up, and up... I sighed as I realized that was exactly what it wanted me to do. Climbing rope, huh? You just had to fucking say it, didn’t you? I tentatively lifted one of my arms and wrapped my fingers around the pliable flesh of the branch. I gave it a few experimental tugs, then flexed the muscles in my arm and attempted to lift myself off the ground. The branch held strong, more than that even. It didn’t sway or budge under my weight.
Which made sense now that I thought about it. It was used to holding up planets, and no matter how big I was, I was nowhere near that level. So, I began to climb in earnest. Left, right, left, right, left—this pattern saw me scaling the branch like I was the fat kid in bootcamp.
For close to an hour I climbed, and the higher I got, the more I noticed the falling temperature and thinning air.
Frost began to accumulate on my scales and permeate my body, making me sluggish and shortening the time between breaks.
Foot after foot and mile after mile, I wavered, but never fell. I took breaks as necessary by wrapping my tail around the branch a few dozen times to hold myself in place, giving my arms a much-needed rest.
Breathing became far more difficult once I’d made it into the upper atmosphere. As luck would have it, whoever designed this FUBAR of a challenge at least had the decency to create a ten-foot-deep bubble around the branch through which oxygen was present.
It was so thin I was constantly on the verge of passing out, but it was there.
Aside from the bubble of air around the branch, nothing out here supported life of any kind. Which meant no oxygen, no water, and most importantly for me, it meant there was nothing to eat.
Aside from maybe the branch itself... No, I don’t know what would happen if I tried to eat Yggdrasil. Surely the next territory won’t be that far away, right? Maybe if I hurry, I can make it there before food becomes an issue. I dumped my fifty bonus points into “speed” to help this along.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Name: Torga
Race: Gluttonous Dark Draconic Naga
Classification: Tier 8
Level: 89
Experience: 476,912/ 4,000,000
Titles: Destroyer of Asgard, The Dark Serpent
Stats:
Physical Strength: 5,861
Endurance: 5,861
Dexterity: 30
Speed: 63
Mental Intelligence: 52
Wisdom: 37
Charisma: 20
Resistances Elements: 60%
Divinity: 80%
Mental: 20%
Immunities Mind Control
Skills: Major Stealth, Heat Detection, Supreme Gluttony, Supreme Growth, Greater Petrifying Gaze, Greater Acid Venom, Detect Concealment, Energy Breath, Fly, Magic Enhancement, Elemental Manipulation
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
After confirming the points were inside the correct stat, I activated my magic enhancement skill, ramp
ing up my speed even further beyond my natural limit.
With a strong thrust, I flung myself up the branch. Thanks to the ever-weakening pull of Xitara’s gravitational field, I was able to fling myself greater and greater distances, though I always made sure to keep a portion of my tail wrapped around the branch to prevent slippage and subsequent death by the vacuum of space.
This technique did allow me to go much faster, but it also burned through my magic at an astounding rate.
However, after doing this for several hours, I’d again grown hungry. Almost debilitatingly so. I had to shut off my body enchantment before it killed me, which slowed down my progress to a snail’s pace.
Hours continued to pass while I climbed. While my hunger grew ever more urgent, and my energy levels plummeted, I found myself hanging on for dear life. Unable to move my arms or my tail, I was forced to return to the idea of eating the branch. Not like I’ll ever be able to eat the whole thing, anyway, I thought reassuringly. Besides, my aura’s been dissolving it a little at a time for the last few hours, and nothing’s happened so far. I’ll be fine if I just take a little bite, right? I lowered my face to the branch and sunk my teeth into its tender bark.
*Ding!*
Chapter 15
HOURS LATER, I CONTINUED to push myself ever onwards, my arms carrying me the entire length of my body and then some with every leap. Occasionally I would stop to take another bite of Yggdrasil to refuel and perk myself back up.
I bit into the branch and the sheer amount of magic that flowed into me caused lights to flash before my eyes and my spine to tingle.
*Ding*
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Strength: +100
Endurance: +100
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
I hissed at the simultaneous pleasure and pain I felt from that small mouthful. I wanted to take another, to eat until my body burst, but I couldn’t. I leaped away from that spot and resumed my journey.
I’M NOT SURE HOW MANY days passed before the flesh of Yggdrasil could no longer keep me awake. But I knew that I needed to rest now, or bad things would happen. I’d traveled as long as I was able. I’d earned this rest.
I coiled the entire length of my tail around the branch, then for good measure I wrapped my arms around it and laid my head down. I’d sleep for as long as I was able, then get moving again. I couldn’t afford to stay out here forever.
I reached up and scratched at the itchy spot on my scalp where hair was growing.
WEEKS, POSSIBLY MONTHS later, I was still feeling the same rush from eating the branch as I’d been feeling. However, recently my body felt like it was getting slightly heavier with each bite.
It was obviously due to the branch's magic having an odd effect on me. I wasn't in pain, nor was I feeling ill. In fact, it was just the opposite and I felt better than ever.
But as the increase in weight grew more noticeable, I started wondering if starving to death would’ve been the better option.
LACK OF SLEEP SOON became the bane of my existence. Every time I tried to fall asleep, my body was wracked with growing pains. After god only knows how long of eating nothing but the branch and drinking a combination of Yggdrasil’s sap and artificial water I’d managed to pull from the rapidly shrinking amount of available oxygen, my body entered something of a second growth phase. My body was constantly growing longer, though thankfully I wasn’t getting any thicker or thinner.
Forever Growing. I sighed.
After trying and failing to sleep, I gave up and pressed on. I’d try again when my body refused to move another inch.
ONE MORNING, I NOTICED an odd sight above the tip of my tail. A tiny red sphere with the relative size of a grape hovered a few inches above it. No matter how I moved my tail, the ball never failed to move with it, and any and all attempts to forcefully move it away from its spot revealed that beneath its small size hid a weight I’d never encountered before. I'd thrown dragons that weighed less than the damn ball.
After half a dozen failed attempts to remove it, I decided to leave it alone and press on. Wasn’t like I could do anything with it anyway. Aside from cutting my tail off, which I preferred not to do, I couldn’t think of another way to remove it.
EVER SINCE THE BALL first formed several weeks ago, my body slowly acclimatized to the new weight. So much so, that I no longer even noticed it was there. Which was more than a little surprising, since it almost tripled in size and weight. And with that change, came a change in color as well, turning from a very dark red to a much lighter orange with yellow flakes.
After noticing the change, I started paying much closer attention to the ball and decided to inspect it after every meal. Though this slowed down my travel speed quite considerably, I believed it to be a fair trade-off for ensuring I actually made it to my next destination.
FOR THE FIRST TIME in my life, I knew if I didn’t hold on to my goal with every fiber of my being, my own mind would be my downfall. After an eternity of climbing, I’d started having hallucinations. I saw Ayla desperately calling out to me for help. I saw her dying over and over again in my mind because I wasn't there to protect her.
I saw Findral in her goblin form being beaten to death by a horde of angry goblins. Each night her deaths became more graphic, more defined. And again, I wasn’t there to protect her in any of them.
My other friends also made appearances in my dreams: Siofs being executed, Holstig being mutilated, Hogunn being gutted, and after their deaths, came the elves...
I had nightmares that the slave trader I saved them from all those years ago managed to keep them. I dreamed of them dying and Fenris being sold off to some rich noble as little more than a mindless guard dog.
I dreamed I was truly alone in this vast world. An endless expanse of nothingness stretched out before me and with it came the knowledge that I’d failed everyone.
I shook the images away. No, they're safe. I made sure of it before I came here. Is someone messing with my head again or have I been alone for so long that I've finally gone mad? I wasn't sure how long I’d been traveling, after all. The branch didn't have day or night per se—only constant light on the side with the twin stars and a maw of nothingness on the other.
This far into space, nothing I could see looked anything like a planet anymore and even the twin stars were but glowing balls in the distance... Wait a minute. I stopped climbing and slowly turned my head until I could see the glowing orange ball above the tip of my tail.
You’re losing it, Torga. Keep it together.
I REALLY HATE IT WHEN I'm right, I sighed.
I stared into the distance at the ball floating above my tail. It'd grown slowly, day after day getting bigger, until it was thicker than I was. Like the weight of a ring on a finger, I could always feel the ball’s weight pushing down on my tail.
After losing all sense of time, I also found myself losing all motivation and just couldn't seem to push myself any further. I’d been traveling for so long I’d forgotten what it was like to enjoy my food. I’d forgotten what it was like to sit by a campfire and listen to the crickets’ song... I’d forgotten what my friends looked like, what Ayla and Findral looked like. I'm never going to make it, am I? I wondered as I stared off into the dark reaches of space. I’d long since lost count of the "nights” I’d spent wondering at the fates of those I cared about. Would I ever see them again or was I destined to be stuck on this branch forever? Would I even recognize them when, or if, I saw them again?
I FOUND MYSELF FLOATING aimlessly through space as I moved ever forward, pulling myself along the branch as more of something to do, rather than any true desire to go anywhere.
However, an upwards glance brought my apathy to an end. I could see it: the light at the end of the tunnel. "There it is... Holy shit... There it is!" I laughed. With a mighty yank, I propelled myself the length of my body and then some. The blue orb at the end of the branch was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
ALMOST THERE. I panted as my
body was pushed to its absolute limit, covering miles in mere seconds. I sustained this speed until the planet filled my vision and I broke through the atmosphere. The planet looked insanely large, but how would I know? I barely remembered what it was like to feel the dirt beneath my body. The planet was a mix of dark blue and light purple water, with little to no landmass visible from where I’d arrived.
Once I entered the atmosphere and felt the pull of gravity, I couldn’t stop myself from sobbing. I activated the jewel mid fall and unfurled my wings a second before I would’ve slammed head-first into the surface of the water at terminal velocity.
My body shrunk rapidly: Over ten percent of my total body mass disappeared per second until I was only left with about ten percent. Finally. I've finally made it. I closed my eyes and inadvertently fell into a trance. The next thing I knew, I was being gently rocked by waves and staring up at the night sky.
*Ding*Ding*
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
You have arrived at your destination; Planet Beglore: Territory of Unger, The Primordial Leviathan
Goals:
Find and Slay Unger.
Survive.
Rewards:
Serpent Form
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
Congratulations!
You have completed “The journey of 100,000,000 miles” in 57 years, 11 months. 27 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes, and 1 second. You have earned an increase in speed and the title of The Unwavering One for accomplishing this feat.
The system has become available to you again.
ꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏꝏ
I blankly stared at the window for several minutes before my mind kicked into gear and I could comprehend what I was seeing. Fifty-seven years? I spent fifty-seven YEARS climbing that stupid, motherfucking, BRANCH!?
A Snake's Path (A Snake's Life Book 2) Page 13