Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Silently, I glide through the water. My sleek body is like a midnight-shadow, flowing through the light-less void. Occasionally, a dot of some vaguely glimmering light shines in and out of existence down in the depths, on the far side of the room. I am actively seeking to avoid it, yet it always catches my eyes for a moment, before then vanishing. Here however, just before me-

Ah, no. All around me; floating in the murky brackish water, are tiny specks that glow like uh… like a lot of glowing things on a dark background. You know like… stairs?

Stairs? No. Uh… stars? Stars! Yeah, stars. Those are a thing, right? Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. I wonder what they look like? I guess they glow? Hmm…

Dang. I was doing so good at trying to be deep and now I ruined it. Oof. As I swim through the tepid water, listening to the ambient roar of the world below the surface I-

Hmm. Okay, wait. See, it’s weird. This lake or pool, or whatever it is, is a standing body of water on its own. There's no underground current or river or any of that. The only real source of a disturbance is from the sub-boss. They’re significant disturbances, mind you, but still. The sub-boss? Well she’s a big’un for sure, tell you what. But I’m rambling, no. So, the water noises, yeah. See, it’s like I said before. When you’re in the dungeon, any time you put your head beneath the water, you hear this really loud droning sound. Like somebody put a wet-blanket over your ears and was blowing on it non-stop. It’s weird. I don’t know why it happens. It’s one of those dungeon-rules, I guess. I’m sure the dungeon-master has his reasons for it. But man, it sure is obnoxious.

I suppose the other creatures of the depths don’t mind it, they know of nothing else. Softly, I bring my swimming motions to an end and allow my body to sink down below, towards a place deeper still. Effortlessly, silently, I drop down below, delving further into the phantom deep of this great lake. The floor itself is big, all things considered, more-so than it is deep. And it is really deep. How does this all fit here? Dungeon-magic.

I think I would take maybe a full minute to swim from the very bottom to the top, if I tried at a good speed. But that would be wasteful. I hiss.

The hissing is a bit of an extra. See, I’m underwater, so hissing isn’t really a thing that works too well, guy, no air. But it’s like the water. It’s a noise I can make. Why? How? Dungeon-magic. See, guy? A lot of things we don’t understand can be explained away by that, you don’t need to stress so much. It’s bad for you, it’s wasteful. I float.

My long, slender body hasn’t moved an inch since I began sinking, drifting downward deeper like a corpse during a burial at sea. Out of the corner of my left eye, I see a form. It is vague, thin like my own. Another. They are large. I prepare myself to flee. Danger. But as my gaze follows them, they vanish into the darkness above. I vanish into the darkness below. Equilibrium. My body gently sways from side to side, as the pressure of her waves, the sub-boss', presses against my form, even this deep down below the surface. She is everywhere. We must be quiet, friend.

I suppose that down here, I won’t have to deal with any adventurers this time. I don’t really think it’s likely that any of them will fall into the water, I guess? Maybe? Hmm… No. I bet the hero would have a hard time swimming in all that armor though. Man, I would love to see that. My mind hangs on the idea for a moment. Can the hero swim? I don’t remember ever seeing him swim. Hmm… Hmm… Hmsss~

This could be something, there might be something there for me to use. I want to open my menu, to take notes. But I am fearful. The menu makes noise, she will hear. It would be unwise. She didn’t hear the yellow-bar before, but why risk it?

I feel the temperature of the water change just a little, to become a little warmer. No it’s not from me, I have standards. It’s the floor. I am near the bottom. The floor at the bottom of the water gives off a warmth that comes from below the stone. It is dull compared to the loveless touch of the water. A pat on the back, after a broken heart. But to a starving man? A feast.

I allow my body to sink to the furthest point, as I come to a rest on the stone floor. It is warm, mildly so, but it feels good on my cold body nonetheless. My heat is limited, so I must always find warmth here or above. But I must never stop for too long. I must move and hunt and eat or I will fade away.

As I lay here idly, my eyes dart around myself and then towards the above with a lazy pace. Darkness protects me. But it also hides the others. I don’t know how many there are exactly. Many. There are many. Serpents like me, fish like the red one, only the great-one is one and one alone.

Calm. This life is calm. Calm. Cal- a disturbance!

My body twitches together in an instant into a tightly wound coil as I look. I hiss. Danger. Danger! Another.

Out of the darkness above myself, I see the striking shadow, the black silhouette visible only through the obviously missing sparkles of floating pigment, muck and scales that fill the water here. I rise up to strike preemptively in that same second this all takes place in. They are coming closer, too close. This is an attack, not some idle passing by. The shadow twists and shifts, the colorless form contorting above me as it draws ever closer like the falling blade of the reaper. SHOO-SHOO REAPER! SHOO-SHOO!

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I lunge out and sink my fangs into the meat. Red. I taste. Red. In that instant however, I feel red as well, as a sharp, hot pain shines out from the back of my body. The smell, the pheromones, another male like myself. Tighter, I grip my jaw down, tighter, as I feel the pump of my venom squirt through my fangs and into his body. I feel the itch and the burn seep out from my own wound in that second. The poison that is now in our blood is fast acting. Instantaneous. Tumbling and rolling like a wheel of meat, a disgusting ouroborus, we wrestle around the stone floor, shifting dust and debris in our scuffle. The pain shoots through me, but I take the initiative and release my fangs to wrap my body around him. He senses my intentions and starts to do the same I assume, as I feel his teeth leave my tail.

However I am faster. I am practiced in combat. He is larger, but I was better. My bite was first. My venom is deadlier. Tightly, we wind ourselves around each other, striking and lashing and hissing as our poisoned blood commingles as it leaves us to dilute away in the black-water, together with our combined venoms leaking from our teeth.

This fight is already over. He is simply going through the motions, he knows he has lost. He is seeking an opportunity to escape. No. Those who bite must know how to be bitten. I strike again, he is slow. My venom is stronger because I am smaller. He has strength and size, but I was faster, smarter. I feel his grip weaken, his stranglehold wrapping around my slender body softening. I feel the tension of his muscles release. Shhh. Shh~! I hiss into his ears. Sleep.

Sssleeep~

Everything is silent except for my tiny raging heart, black with befoulment. Did she hear? Will she come for me now? Will I be punished? I was good mama. I was good. Sleep. Sleep. I wait and listen. To my relief, I hear no response. A single powerful wave tosses our conjoined bodies around like the weeds sprouting out of some of the crevices, like leaves billowing in the wind. But nothing else comes. She still sleeps. Now, so does he. A moment later, the yellow goo appears before me. Much more than a fish, but not enough. I need more.

Together, we float there, our bodies still intertwined. We cling together, but not as tight as before. His grip has released. He is gone. I hold him tight now. My body is hurt, weak, injured. The burning liquid, from his bites, courses through my small body. Blood leaks from my grievous wounds like sap from a felled tree. I will be soon to join him in the afterlife, if I don’t start. I open my maw and take his head inside of me. No, not like that.

He is large. This will take time to take in. I will be vulnerable. But I must eat. I must eat or I will die. Expanding my mouth, I gulp his entire head down my esophagus and work my body down his length. No, not like that!

I- Come on, guy, why are you thinking like that? Get your head out of the gutter. I’m literally a snake. Please. Well, a serpent technically, but you know.

Okay, so, you might be a little lost here and that’s fair. You’re allowed to be. The short story is, friend, another serpent tried to get me. But he got got for his trouble. Now he’s dead and I’m dying, so I need to eat him. Eating a serpent is not only great for you nutritionally, but it’s also the only way to counteract his venom. By consuming him, you consume the antidote. I mean, I could eat any other old serpent here too. But… well, I already have this one, you know? But this is going to be a while, my body digests fast. Very fast. But he was a real heavy weight. Kind of a lunk.

This will take time to finish eating, in the meantime, uh… some weather out there, huh? Hmm… No. Uh. Hmm. What do we usually talk about? I guess I wonder where the adventurers are, where the secret stairs are, how being bound in an eternal time loop of death and dismemberment is kind of a bummer.

I gulp as I feel part of him fall apart in my stomach, the acids in me work fast. I can feel them bubbling and roiling like boiling water, like the bubbling substance that is the yellow goo.

What is it? Why is it bubbling? Why do I get it when I kill? When I eat? Is it souls? Am I a reaper? Well, no. In truth I know that they’re experience points. I’m trying to have some fun, okay? The adventurers get a sort of spiritual currency, known down here in professional terms as ‘experience’ when they kill things, 'Ex-p' in short. I’ve seen it happen a lot but… hey. Wait. Now that I think about it, they don’t have their bars appear anymore when they kill stuff. Huh?

I’m sure they used to. Hmm… Odd. Need to keep an eye on that. But what matters now is that I have one. I gulp him down further, hissing at the same time.

I suppose it makes sense if demon-miasma was a hero, that he had a menu and if I got his menu, well then I have his experience too right? Well, no. I guess not. I have his menu, but as far as I can tell, I got it wiped clean. I am starting to feel a little stronger now as the venom injected into me wanes and dissipates. Its effects leave my slender, sleek, scaly, snaky, slippery flesh. Snakes. Words with S’s. Ssss~

Experience is something hard-earned. The literal strength of your enemies, beaten in mortal combat. I need more. I need to grow stronger. I wonder how much experience the hero is worth? I bet a lot. Though, I think the priestess was worth a lot too. But I only got one level up out of her. So… sorry priestess. But is it capped at one level at a time, max Okay, well I can work with that.

I gulp again, ugh, this part is his bladder.

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