Reborn as a Snake! (1.) [REWRITE IN PROGRESS]

37. - A Lair Hidden in Plain Sight.

Well, sort of- I don't really know snake biology all that well, but I had this really cool 'ability' to sense infrared light around me up to around 5 meters away.

I did remember that usually snakes could only see up to 1 meter away using this infrared sensor or whatever - so perhaps my greater range is due to my evolutions?

Could make sense.

Well, either way - vision wasn't a problem. If anything, it was currently my strongest sense.

Attention;
Multiple life signatures have been picked up ahead by [Overworld Detection].

....Although, one may also argue that my skill [Overworld Detection] could count as my strongest sense as well..

'Multiple life signatures huh? Must be those cloaked people I saw on the surface.'

I thought, picking up my pace even more.
Eventually, I reached the end of the tunnel - a large, open 'room'.

This 'room' had walls lined with strange, black stone or something, it's lighting was also rather dim and there were some... Interesting decorations.

But the biggest thing that stood out, was a huge version of the strange marking on the wall in the back. This marking was the same one that all the cloaked people had on their clothes..
Could it be a symbol of something?

More importantly - the cloaked people were all inside the room, plus a couple extra people were present as well - all gathered around a strange pedestal.

'The hell are they doing down here..'

I thought, slithering into the room, and quickly moving to the side to observe. The gathered people whispered among themselves in the same, mysterious and strange language as I heard on the surface.

It still didn't make any sense to me - which I didn't get. How come [Language Mastery] wasn't able to translate this language?

Answer;
Analysis suggests that in order for this language to be translated, a copy of its name must be found and analysed first.

Well that's a weird restriction..
By that logic, I shouldn't be able to understand the language the humans and other folk in town were speaking before learning its name as well.

...
No answer. I expected as much.

For a small bit, it continued on without anything major happening, until another cloaked person appeared from thin air - forming from what looked like... Blood.

However, the one thing that made me pay attention to this one the most, was what he or she was carrying in their arms.

It was the same, half-human, half-snake child as I saw on the surface.

'Bingo. Found you folk.'

I thought, smirking a bit.
I remained still and continued to observe for a small bit, mainly to see what on earth they were doing here anyway.

The newly appeared cloaked person approached the altar, as all other gathered people bowed lightly around the altar.
The seemingly higher up of the people placed the child onto the altar, before signalling their comrades to raise their heads.

Then, the person broke out into what sounded like an announcement.

'Really wish I could understand them by now..'

I thought, shedding a slight sweat. This language barrier was quite annoying, as it stopped me from finding out exactly what they were doing by hearing them speak.

All I really could do is watch and guess.
The seeming announcement continued on for a couple minutes, before he went silent and looked down a bit, lifting his arms up above the child that laid on the altar as all other cloaked people, began to chant something.

Were they commencing a spell or something? But if so - what kind of spell-

My eyes then widened, as crimson red arms began to suddenly rise from the ground, slowly beginning to grab a hold of the sleeping child.

'What the-!?'

Attention;
It is suspected that this is a Ritual to summon a something, using the child as an offer.

Then why didn't you say so sooner?!
Ain' no way I am letting them to anything to that child - even if I have no idea who the child is, there was a possibility that they were of the same species as me, so it would only be natural that I helped the child, right?

I quickly leaped into a shadow using
[Shadow Manipulation] before moving right up to the altar. Once there, I decided to use my newly acquired skill - [Crimson Lightning].

As soon as I did, a 'barrier' of red lightning shot from the shadow I was inside of, knocking some of the cloaked people back while also forcing the rest to back up.

Luckily, it also forced the strange red arms back into the ground.
As soon as it finished, I leaped out of the shadow, before curling around the altar with my body, glaring at the group of people as they stared at me in either horror or fascination.

Or even, perhaps both.

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Hey, Unstable here.
I just wanted to thank anyone that has read my story up until now - it does mean quite a lot to me that people enjoy reading what I write.

I promise to make this story even more interesting as time goes on!

Anyways- See you next time.