[Wake up.]
[Wake up.]
[Wake up.]
[Wake up.]
.
.
.
A familiar voice rang inside his head multiple times, like an annoying alarm clock that won't shut up unless he moves from the comforts of his bed. He slowly opened his eyes and was about to turn off the noise—only to notice two things. One, the noise stopped immediately after he'd woken up. Two, he couldn't move his hands at all.
"Ah. I'm dead."
He recalled his latest memories and realized that he'd been murdered by Rhys, the son of the influential Griffins family. He still couldn't grasp why someone could easily kill due to a grudge from months ago. He let out a sigh, seeing that there was no point in pondering too much about it, he should be worrying about the matter at hand first.
Theodore began to look around, inspecting his surroundings. It was dark, as if he was inside of a cave, but he could see a little bit of light seeping through a small crack a few centimeters above his head.
"...Wait, I'm alive?" He suddenly felt a tinge of hope, his heart rate quickened, confirming that he was indeed alive. He thought that his last moment's prayers had been answered. He let out an amused chuckle but was surprised to hear a hiss instead. He frantically turned left and right, startled by the sudden noise, it took him a moment to realize that he was the one who made that sound just now.
Everything clicked together in almost an instant, his lack of arms, the cold and dampness coursing through his frame and the hissing he'd let out just now. Swallowing nervously, he looked down and suppressed a scream at the sight before him—where his body was supposed to be, the scales and belly of a snake took its place.
"What the f*ck???!!!!"
[Theodore Varon, it seems you're awake.]
"!!!" He flinched at the sudden sound and coiled back on reflex, the voice he'd heard just now was none other than his own. "What's going on?" He asked softly, although the only thing that came out of his mouth were hisses.
The voice seemed to have heard his question nonetheless. [You've paid the price, Theodore Varon. From now on, you're unable to reincarnate into a human in exchange for keeping your sentient intellect and memories of your past life.]
"...Huh?" He was perplexed, after the world had changed, he thought he could get used to anything thrown his way. But right now he was hearing his own voice speak to him while telling him that reincarnation is real. "I...Who are you?"
[I am a being with no name. However, you may address me as System. That would be what most humans could comprehend my existence as.]
"System? Then...Do I have a status window?" Theodore took a deep breath, calming himself down. He knows himself well enough and won't easily let his complicated feelings take control of his actions.
[Yes. Do you wish to view your status?]
"Okay."
After the confirmation, a light screen appeared in front of his vision:
<<Name: Theodore Varon
Species: Common Green Snake (30 cm.) (Evolutions Available)
Lvl: 1
EXP: 0/200
Skill Points: 0
HP: 120/120
MP: 200/200
Attack: 3
Speed: 5
Defense: 2
Charm: 0
Intelligence: 6
Magic: 5
Personal Attributes: Gaze of Wisdom (Lvl.1). Thermal Vision (Lvl.MAX). Venom (Lvl. 1). Agility (Lvl. 1). Tongue Receptor (Lvl. 1)
Skills: Ice Magic (Lvl. 1)>>
Theodore stared at the screen in awe. Even after humans had gained game-like abilities, there was no such thing as an attribute window for people to view their statuses. The only way for people to know their strengths is to go check with the "Heroes' International Guild" since they can provide an ability evaluation service. For skills, people could only take mental or physical notes of their magic's names. For him to be able to view his status in an instant is nothing short of convenient.
After sweeping his eyes through the screen, he couldn't help but have mixed feelings about his zero charm status, which was understandable considering that snakes are not very appealing to most. However, his stats at the moment were basically reset back to where he'd started when he first awakened—No, it was even worse, the average strength of a newly powered-up human is around 10 units.
He ignored the major difference and spoke. "System, is there anything else I should know?" First things first, he would start by gathering more intel about his situation.
[Your inability to be reborn as a human was not the only price you needed to pay.] The System began. The slight pause in its sentence made Theo nervous. Nevertheless, it didn't last very long. [The ability to retain the memories of your past life is something mortals shouldn't possess, hence you're required to do certain tasks in exchange for this ability.]
Theodore would've frowned if not for the fact that he had no eyebrows. "Tasks?"
[Yes, think of them as "Quests". If you fail to do them in time, you will slowly start to lose your memory until you become nothing more than an ordinary snake.]
He shivered after hearing the explanation, it was especially more creepy when he's hearing it in his own voice too. He didn't like the fact that whoever granted his wish was also toying with his life and death, but he chose not to complain out loud, seeing that entertaining someone in exchange for these powers was something he was willing to pay the price for.
"Fine. If that's what it takes."
His blood was boiling just from the thought of his past. Although his best friend wasn't killed, the rest of his team members who'd entrusted him with their lives were slaughtered without a single care. While he might not be the best at empathizing, at the very least, he has a guilty conscience. Not only that, from what Rhys had said, Merlin and some others are being used as slaves to the Griffins family, to think humans were still able to do something so barbaric...
He gritted his fangs in an attempt to calm his rage. "I assume I will be given a task by now?"
[Ah, yes. I was in the process of informing you about your first quest.] Another screen appeared next to his status window:
<<Main Quest #1
You've successfully reincarnated! However, you're still nothing more than a mere snakelet, you need to get stronger! In order to do so, you'll need to kill Creatures of the Gate. You'll gain experience points, which in turn will level you up!
-Kill a monster (0/1)
Time Limit: 48 Hours.
(Complete this objective to unlock the next part of the quest.)>>
"Creatures of the gates?" Theodore wasn't sure, but he could only assume that it meant the monsters that'd poured out of the portals five years ago. Now they inhabited the earth, their magical aura had transformed landscapes and the atmosphere of certain areas to fit their preferred habitats.
"...Would a mouse suffice?" He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, he glanced at his status window and dreaded the future ahead of him, with those horrible stats, how could he ever defeat a monster? His first encounter with an orc was merely pure luck combined with the monster underestimating him.
However, Theo didn't get to hear the answers he was looking for. [Negative. While ordinary animals will give you experience points, the amount is considerably a lot less than if you were to hunt monsters. Besides that, this quest will only proceed to the next stage if you've slain and consumed a gate creature.]
"I am f*cked." He thought to himself as dismay plaque his thoughts. "How can I kill anything with these stats? System, you're not sending me to die again aren't you?" He made no attempts to calm himself down this time. He'd been on the brink of death on multiple occasions and had already died once. He wasn't so eager to wait five more years to reincarnate again, since he didn't know what Rhys and Merlin's conditions were, he might not get the chance to take revenge after that.
[Master said "It is possible." I am simply the messenger relaying his messages. I have no emotions nor rights in regards to anything.]
"Who!?" The reason why Theodore preferred to keep his emotions in check was because if he let them explode, it would be very hard for him to cool off, like letting loose an aggressive dog off its leash. "God!? One of the gods!? Who is it? Tell me!"
The System was unresponsive for a few seconds but eventually it would reply. [A mortal is not obligated to know a god's name. That question I cannot answer.]
"What? I can't even know your name?" Theodore looked up, as if talking to the god. "Whatever! I'll do your stupid quests and entertain your stupid little ass." He turned his attention towards the two screens infront of him and sighed. "You better make this worth the price."
[He said not to worry.] The System suddenly spoke. [He said you won't ever regret making a deal with him.]
.
.
.
The small cave was plunged into silence afterward as Theodore needed a moment to calm himself down. Eventually, he would come to terms with his current situation and decided to head out of the hole. After some minor difficulties of getting used to slithering, he crawled up to the surface and looked around, as his eyes quickly got used to the blinding sun, he took in the sight of his surroundings. However, he soon realized that everything looked unnaturally big, even for the large trees found in most forests. He immediately recalled the numbers he saw in his attribute window, the one written next to the species section and highlighted in brackets. Dread slowly crept into his expression as he realized how dire his situation had become. "You've got to be kidding me..." Just when he'd thought the quest was somewhat doable, something like this had to plummet his already low confidence even further.
He didn't bother calling the System, he already had a pretty good idea that it and the god would only sit back and watch him struggle for survival. He felt bitter about it but there was nothing that he could do. After letting out a tired sigh, he began to crawl forward, thinking about gathering some more information about his surroundings. It would most likely be his home until he was strong enough to leave.
Theodore was constantly wary of the animals, his eyes frantically surveyed every bush and branch he moved across, he was way too small to fight anything and dying on the first day of his reincarnation wouldn't make his goal of taking revenge any easier. Luckily for him, there were only squirrels and bugs in the area, so navigation became a lot less stressful than anticipated.
After about ten minutes of slithering, he came to a stop in front of a bulge in the ground. Upon closer inspection, he could see tiny little creatures walking to the summit before entering the hole on top. It was an ant colony. Theodore edged backwards when he realized how close he was to the line of red ants. He hated bugs with a passion, and despite being an animal, he still couldn't shake off the disgust he once had as a human. Just as he was carefully watching the ants, suddenly a blue light screen appeared in front of him:
[Gaze of Wisdom]
<<Common Red Ant
Lvl. 1
Class: Worker
Yielding: 1 Exp.
Description: Also known as the "European Fire Ant", it can be found literally anyway. Is there a need to explain more?>>
Theodore frowned at the unprofessional narrative, though he probably would've done the same if someone had asked him to explain what a "Red Ant" is. He could only guess that the god was simply too lazy to write a proper description of a mere ant. Either way, they seemed harmless as they carried little bits of food into their nest and he was about to leave them be when he suddenly realized something. His head perked up and his eyes gleamed with delight. "If I killed the entire colony...Wouldn't I level up?"
The System did say killing regular animals wouldn't give him many experience points, but for a snakelet like him who'd just started his new life, they are his best shot at getting stronger. He summoned his attribute window and looked at the "Skill" column.
Ice magic.
Although it'd been reset to a weak level one, it was plenty for him to kill a bunch of ants. Theodore slithered towards the colony while activating his magic, an intricate circle of blue light appeared directly on top of the nest, aiming straight into the hole. He took a moment to line up his shot, and when he was satisfied, he muttered an incantation. [Frost Spear].
A cone-shaped icicle appeared from the magic circle before dropping onto the ant colony. The bugs were surprised by the sudden attack and all started to scatter away from their once neat line in a panic. The ice that was blocking the hole didn't just hit the few unfortunate ants that happened to be entering their home, the frost began to spread and freeze up the entire bludge in about five minutes. Next to his vision, light screens began popping up one by one like a notification:
[You killed a Common Red Ant. Gained 1 Exp.]
[You killed a Common Red Ant. Gained 1 Exp.]
[You killed a Common Red Ant. Gained 1 Exp.]
[You killed a Common Red Ant. Gained 1 Exp.]
.
.
.
[Level Up! You're now Level 7!]
Theodore was surprised. He knew that killing an entire ant colony would give him tons of experience points, but he didn't expect to level up six times. He said out loud in his mind. "Let me see my status" and a screen appeared in front of him:
<<Name: Theodore Varon
Species: Common Green Snake (30 cm.) (Evolutions Available)
~ Currently 3 Options for Evolution.
Lvl: 7
EXP: 0/4000
Skill Points: 12
HP: 320/320
MP: 260/260
Attack: 9
Speed: 11
Defense: 8
Charm: 0
Intelligence: 12
Magic: 11
Personal Attributes: Gaze of Wisdom (Lvl.1). Thermal Vision (Lvl.MAX). Venom (Lvl. 1). Agility (Lvl. 1). Tongue Receptor (Lvl. 1)
Skills: Ice Magic (Lvl. 1)>>
Theodore skimmed through the changed text on the screen, satisfied with the fact that, at the very least, his stats had been increased to atleast those of newly awakened humans. However, he was more interested in what was written beneath his "Species" description. "System, explain the evolutions to me."
[Very well.] The monotonous version of his voice responded almost immediately. [You will be given evolution options every ten levels. However, at the start, you can immediately evolve after you've reached level five.]
Theodore hummed, staring at his attribute screen. "What are the three options I can choose?"
The window changed when he asked the question. Underneath the texts that notified him about the evolution, a bunch of descriptions were added:
<<~Currently 3 Options for Evolution.
- Python (Adds 5 points to Defense)
- Viper (1 level increase in the "Venom" attribute)
- Boa Constrictors (Adds 5 points to Attack)
After evolution, your length will increase to 1.5 meters.>>
[During the process of your metamorphosis, you'll be put in a coma-like state for five minutes. So do be careful when you're choosing where to evolve]
"...Could you elaborate more? I don't want to choose the wrong advancement line."
[As you wish, each evolution will only affect your "playstyle" while you wait for your next evolution. Your choice now will not have a huge impact on your strength in the future.]
"So it basically depends on what I would need at that moment..." Theodore thought to himself, understanding what he needed to do. At this moment, he wanted to focus on nothing more but leveling up, so attack power would be most beneficial to him, ruling out the Python option, leaving only the Viper and the Boa to choose from.
It took him around five minutes of staring at his attribute window to finally make a decision. He turned in the direction of the small cave and started crawling towards it. Meanwhile, he would begin to ponder about what he wants to spend his skill points on. "System, what I can use my skill points for?"
[ You could either spend one point to increase your base stats or use a certain amount of it to upgrade one of your skills. The price goes up depending on certain skills and their current level]
"Then I'll upgrade my 'Agility' skill."
[I'm afraid that Personal Attributes cannot be upgraded using skill points. They can only level up through usage or when meeting certain conditions. If you wish to increase the efficiency of your Agility attribute, you are required to run at your fastest speed for over twenty minutes]
"...Okay, I understand. I'll do it later though". Theodore was slightly disappointed that he couldn't immediately upgrade his personal attributes, since having that extra speed replacing his lack of defense was what he'd planned to do. However, that didn't change his decision on what he would be evolving into. "Then, put six points into speed and the rest into attack."
His attribute window blurred for a few seconds as the texts were modified:
<<Name: Theodore Varon
Species: Common Green Snake (30 cm.) (Evolutions Available)
~ Currently 3 Options for Evolution.
Lvl: 7
EXP: 0/4000
Skill Points: 0
HP: 320/320
MP: 260/260
Attack: 14
Speed: 17
Defense: 8
Charm: 0
Intelligence: 12
Magic: 11
Personal Attributes: Gaze of Wisdom (Lvl.1). Thermal Vision (Lvl.MAX). Venom (Lvl. 1). Agility (Lvl. 1). Tongue Receptor (Lvl. 1)
Skills: Ice Magic (Lvl. 1)>>
Satisfied with the look of his stats, he dismissed the attribute window before turning towards a hole in the ground, seeing that he'd finally arrived back at 'home' after quite a bit of slithering, his small body could only travel so fast and he felt eager to grow larger, even if it would be only one and a half meters. He took a deep breath to calm his nervous mind before crawling into the cave and coiled into himself, relaxing his body. "System, begin my evolution now."
"I choose the Viper line."