Chapter 316: Wanted Snake

[What's wrong?] Typhon asked as the cave's activities came to a standstill.

Between those that had been defeated and those that were knocked down by my aura, very few of the nestling remained standing.

Of the nestlings, only eight of them could withstand both, leaving those that couldn't to shakily rise up.

I told them nothing – it wasn't like they would understand, and they were clearly tired.

|[Start without me.]| I instructed Typhon. |[I'll meet you before you get there.]|

He looked taken aback, but he didn't protest. [Alright.]

As for those he would take, they were obviously the ones that stood upright. I glanced at eight of the winning nestlings with approval.

[Are you leaving?] Ophelia said, her colourful eyes watery.

I nodded. |[Watch out for the others. If anything unexpected happens, go and find Shiranui.]|

Her face wrinkled momentarily, but the ugly expression quickly wore off, making me wonder if I had imagined it.

With that settled, I blinked into the shadow realm. 

The cave's scenery quickly faded to a familiar darkness. The warm air turned chilly as the ground I slithered on became smooth like glass. In the distance I made out several shifting planes, each with their own dimensional rules.

And yet the sudden change was soothing because I'd been here so many times.

Inside this shadow realm, the space was so vast and yet I seemed to be its only occupant. I wasn't exactly sure how the space worked, but time flowed infinitely slower here and I would be back before the nestlings travelled far.

My little set up was visible not far from where I appeared, on one of several other planes that shifted constantly. But unlike the others its gravity didn't change so It was perfect to carve out a rather unique spot.

A large hammock covered the entirety of the space above, and there was another bed with cushions in the shape of an eggshell covering the plane itself. There was food, blankets woven out of dark fibres, shelves stashed with food – all made out of solid darkness.

Neatly sorted between rows were wolf carcasses, wasps, spiders, moths, apes and the newest category, water behemoths. There were also elf-made blankets, potions, drinks, maps, strange gadgets, Ether crystals, and plenty of fruit.

Some of the creatures I gathered simply by blinking all over the Upper Stratum. It was amazing how similarly monsters reacted when something unexpected appeared out of nowhere. They either ran away in panic or ran towards me with arrogance.

Both were enjoyable to slaughter – the food was practically free.

There was nothing more a little snake like me could ask for to play around. 

It was pretty much a secret haven!

I climbed onto the hammock where a weathered ink splattered book resided. It was open to the last page and beside it was a ring powered by sinister red crystals and a familiar wooden box that housed an equally sinister gem. 

With a dispassionate look, I hurled the journal away from me, only for it to vanish mid-flight, appearing again to fall horizontally across another plane several miles away.

I calculated the distance between the planes and blinked to the same plane, looking across at my hammock bed that was now upside down.

The Journal's ink spotted pages fluttered harmlessly on the smooth ground, and I looked down at it in disdain. Perhaps it was time to get rid of the suspicious thing once and for all?

And yet, for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to – It was simply too valuable and a great source of knowledge. If the elves wanted it so badly, they would have to come here and take it, if they could, I mean.

Still, before any declarations of war, I had to scout my enemy first.

On the atlas, there were several checkpoints whose distances I had mapped out to blink from. Having familiarised myself with them before, I didn't need to think much, they were like save points I could navigate the Labyrinth with, and they included:

The Pit cave. The Nymph's Forest. Sylrin's cave. The Valley's Fortress. The Queen Wasp's throne room and now The Middle Stratum's Sea.

They were all places I knew well, and I chose  the closest point to the marked elves position on the atlas, and a solid dark gateway opened immediately. 

I warily poked my head out to check if it was empty on the other side, and luckily it was.

The Wasp Queen's throne room was just like I remembered, its grey pillars just as tall and pristine, with a vague stillness similar to that of a tomb. All the dead Hesperia used as decorations had been taken away and the decor had improved to one that was a lot less grim.

I nodded in approval before passing through the gateway. However once I touched the ground, I immediately detected the presence of hundreds, if not thousands of wasps, their persistent buzzing coming from just below the ground I slithered on.

I took one last look at the moon shaped window and blinked once, emerging outside on the forest floor just beneath the wasp fortress.

I had no intention of sticking around to say 'hi' to a certain rude individual, regardless of our truce - as this was merely a shortcut to my real destination.

After blinking a few more times to hasten my journey, I arrived outside of a well lit camping ground right on the precipice of the dark forest.

I approached warily, immediately spotting several elves patrolling the outskirts with torches. They weren't the normal sort either. Gone were the flowing robes and loose hair. These elves were noticeably more dangerous, their matching dark armour was strangely militant, and each one carried a weapon, as their stern faces revealed their intentions.

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Somehow I got the sense these elves should be taken more seriously, and it wasn't just their outward appearance. I wasn't that close to their camp, yet I already detected more than a dozen wards with [Mind's Eye] in the distance, powerful spells protecting them against monsters, rather than the simple glamour. 

Some of these wards were set to alert them the moment a monster crossed them, while others were set to fire on the monster at the slightest touch.

With [Dark Clad], my aura was undetectable, but with how little I know about Elf magic, I had to be very careful. If I accidentally triggered one of these fire spells, they would know exactly where I was.

Even with their wards and protections visible, it would take a while to bypass them all.

But this was the least of my problems, because this camp had far more mortals and elves than I'd ever seen.

I made out the faint outline of a structure, similar to the ruin in the Valley, only this one was smaller and partially buried underground. It was another ancient safehouse the elves had built centuries ago. The maps I stole revealed several of these scattered around the Upper Stratum, and this ruin was the very one Typhon had suggested we attack.

I frowned.

Why were there so many elves in heavy armour?

The ones that I could see numbered in the hundreds, with more life signs coming from the underground fort. And yet, outnumbering them three to one were the mortals camping outside.

Who were all these strange people huddled around in the camp's fires, and where did they come from?

They weren't dressed in armour, but what I could only class as savage hunting gear with furs and plenty of leather. They were also very tan and lacked the polished, militant air the elves possessed.

I was deathly curious of their identity and since I couldn't come any closer, it took a while for me to notice they all had brilliant red pupils. Their appearance indicated they were mutants, and when I appraised them, I wasn't surprised to see they were all from the same tribe as the one I killed before.

I wished Sensei was here to explain more, but I understood this was also a test to see how I dealt with such problems. I couldn't act stupid either.

I came to kill every elf I could find, but I wasn't expecting this many, nor an army of mutants.

There was something deeply wrong about this.

Amongst them I spotted some familiar faces who still bore my mark. A tall pale elf that looked unsteady on his feet, the dark elf with the large bow and even the huntsman mortal.

After going away to that desert-like area, what made them double back to me?

I marked them, hoping they would return to the surface so I could track the Labyrinth's exit from there, not so they could bring back more of them!

I had to wonder what changed for them to come here.

A book sized hole seemed to burn itself through my mind - there was no way this was because of that shabby Journal, was it?

I suddenly felt like a wanted criminal.

S-Surely they weren't here to capture a little snake like me, right?

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

[Adept Level Quest - Destroy the Grandmaster's Journal. Reward [500XP]]

[Adept Level Quest - Defeat the Elf Commander. Reward [750XP]]

[Adept Level Quest - Rescue the captured hostages. Reward [1000XP]]

[Adept Level Quest - Rescue Arsinoe and Morgana. Reward [400XP]]

Ugh!

This default system really had no patience!

Did it have to remind me of all the quests I was ignoring? I could only be in one place at a time.

And then.

Ding!

[Adept Level Quest - Destroy the Grandmaster's Journal. Reward [500XP]]

[Time Limit: 16 Hours!]

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