The cave was bustling with activity by the time we returned, the nestlings training like usual, only this time Morgana was in charge. On seeing us, the nestlings stopped everything they were doing and began to dance, much to my annoyance.

Will they ever stop this silly behaviour?

Although they danced happily, I noticed none of the nestlings moved from their training areas to welcome us. They all looked haggard and would either glance at Morgana with terrified looks or stare at us with pitiful eyes like they were begging to be rescued. It seemed Morgana was a far more strict captain than Typhon.

I counted all the nestlings and was relieved that none of them had left the cave to venture outside in the rain. Typhon and Ophelia quickly joined the others, and I offered the nestlings a share of my surplus food supply to reward their efforts.

Not much seemed to have changed in the cave, when in fact many things were different. My two guards had levelled up, with Typhon and Ophelia getting ever so close to their evolutions.

--------------

Name: Ophelia [LV10 Neonate Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 105/105 Defence: 68

MP: 125/125 Intellect: 114

SP: 92/92 Magic:109

Attack: 107 Agility: 152

--------------

Name: Typhon [LV10 Neonate Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 109/124 Defence: 183

MP: 74/74 Intellect: 86

SP: 121/140 Magic: 56

Attack: 80 Agility: 107

--------------

Ophelia's defence was steadily getting higher and Typhon's defence was the highest of any nestlings – even mine when I was his level. Of course, I am on a higher level than everyone so I was technically still the strongest.

But still, these nestlings were growing like weeds. My indoor training was no longer enough, at most it could improve their skills, but they needed to experience more battles to realize their true capabilities.

And I was excited to see how strong they would become.

Even the little snake that accompanied them had improved a little.

--------------

Nameless [LV4 Small Hatchling Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 50/50 Defence: 52

MP: 42/42 Intellect: 33

SP: 48/48 Magic: 39

Attack: 47 Agility: 44

Skills:

[Spherical Form: LV3] [Camouflage: LV2]

[Bite:LV3] [Poison Fang:LV4] [Grip: LV4]

[Rapid Strike:LV2] [Mana Sense: LV1]

[Steel Skin:LV3] [Cooperation: LV3]

[Strength: LV1] [Floating Ribs: LV2]

[Scent: LV3] [Heat Sense:LV3]

[Rugged Scales:LV2] [Leap: LV3]

[Stealth: LV2] [Silence: LV2]

Titles:

[Pit Member]

Resistances:

[Pain Resistance: LV4]

[Impact Resistance: LV3]

[Shock Resistance: LV4]

[Wind Resistance: LV2]

--------------

Her skills were subpar compared to my two captains, but she was getting along nicely. Her skills were interesting in a way that combined both evasive and defensive skills, like she had two different teachers.

What I'd seen from other nestlings was that they tend to favour speed and stamina while neglecting their defence, but with her it was not the case. Although the skill levels were still low, they were balanced. If she were to level those up, she had the potential to become very powerful.

I watched the little snake slither away to join Ophelia to continue her training. It seemed I had nothing to worry about. I left the nestlings to train and returned to my familiar perch to rest.

Speaking of differences...When I waved my tail, there was a hiss and I looked at my tail with curiosity. It now housed a stinger on its tip that resembled a diamond headed spear.

Should I have kept eating those stinging Adavaak creatures after I got [Acid Blood]?

Probably not.

But that didn't stop me from being curious and now I was stuck with an ominous looking tail, with its own sound effect!

Why did everything turn out to be so sinister?

I was thinking of all the ways I could use it, like say, stabbing something with it, and as I thought of it, the two prongs on its sides that were normally tucked away, extended with a loud snap like a sprung knife.

Well, there's another morbid detail.

If I choose to stab something with it, the two prongs might extend inside the wound, preventing my stinger from coming free. And I didn't like the sound of that at all!

Applying added force to remove it while extended would allow me to rip the bodies from inside. I could imagine it getting stuck inside the bodies of creatures I attacked, or even getting snagged on rocks or even bushes!

But I hoped the latter would not be the case because it looked so cool.

After resting for a while, I decided to test out my new stinger, but first, I went to check on the nestling's training. They were all doing well, and their combat abilities were increasing, with over half already passing the quest requirements.

When I checked the quest timer, the system showed my results.

--------------

[Quest: Train Nest Mates. [Time Remaining: 26 Hours]

Status: [18/30]]

--------------

Twenty six hours was a lot of time, right? I was still optimistic.

However, with the rain changing things outside, I couldn't exactly proceed with the hunting activity I planned previously. With the floods, quicksand, lurking spiders and who knew what other creatures were running rampant out there.

And those stinger creatures seemed to love the water and I was confident they would not leave until the rain stopped.

I could take them back to Sylrin's Cave to hunt above the flood, but the journey itself was filled with danger. That massive bird we barely escaped from, and also the elf/ human hunting party as well. They were probably waking up right now to find their supplies gone.

Hehehe.

Serves them right for daring to eat in front of me.

Regardless, it was too dangerous, and I couldn't take such a risk. Hunting in this situation would likely result in at least half of my nestlings ending up dead.

I would rather put the hunt on hold temporarily, until the rain stopped, and the ground hardened. Sure, if I failed the quest, Sensei would have a good laugh, but it was better than taking them out to die.

The nestlings soon finished a round of training, and the exhausted snakes were free to escape Morgana's tight reins. But I soon saw Morgana coming over to my perch with two mischievous looking snakes and a third snake I realised was Apollo.

The unconscious snake was finally awake!

He still looked deathly pale, and he was just as exhausted as the others, perhaps even more. I appraised him to make sure there was nothing else wrong with him.

--------------

Name: Apollo [LV5 Neonate Cerastes] |Starving|

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 21/45 Defence: 44

MP: 32/32 Intellect: 31

SP: 19/36 Magic: 30

Attack: 35 Agility: 34

Skills:

[Rapid Strike: LV3] [Stealth:LV3]

[Rugged Scales: LV5] [Leap: LV5]

[Steel Skin:LV4] [Silence: LV2]

[Bite: LV4] [Poison Fang: LV4]

[Scent: LV4] [Heat Sense: LV5]

[Grip: LV5]

Titles:

[Pit Member]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV2]

[Pain Resistance: LV4]

[Faint Resistance: LV3]

[Fear Resistance: LV5]

[Hunger Resistance: LV1]

--------------

Why was this snake starving? And what's with that [Hunger Resistance]?

Don't tell me he had started training as soon as he woke up, without even eating anything? Was Morgana that scary?

I didn't want him to die after all the effort I put into him, so I sent him off quickly to join the others for a break. Aside from his starved state, his skills were progressing well. He only needed to level up three more skills to be in the clear.

With Apollo gone, it left Morgana and the two snakes that hid behind her. As she brought them forward, I recognised the two snakes from before.

I eyed Morgana and the snakes suspiciously, why did they both seem to be bleeding? They had mischievous glints in their eyes and Morgana looked exhausted, as if just bringing them here had taken a lot of effort.

But she clearly wanted me to examine them, so I appraised the two snakes, and then I felt my breath leave my body like I'd been punched in the guts.

--------------

Nameless [LV3 Small Hatchling Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 23/34 Defence: 28

MP: 24/55 Intellect: 46

SP: 22/27 Magic: 40

Attack: 26 Agility: 25

Skills:

[Bite:LV3] [Poison Fang:LV2] [Grip:LV3]

[Rapid Strike:LV1] [Mana Sense: LV2]

[Rugged Scales:LV1] [Leap: LV3]

[Scent: LV2] [Heat Sense:LV3]

[Steel Skin: LV1] [Cure: LV2]

[Cooperation: LV5]

Titles:

[Pit Member]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV1]

[Pain Resistance: LV4]

[Faint Resistance: LV4]

--------------

I'd never appraised them before, but now that I looked…

WHY was this snake's skills so low?

I appraised the second snake.

--------------

Nameless [LV3 Small Hatchling Cerastes]

Specie: Ailith Vipera

HP: 28/34 Defence: 34

MP: 36/50 Intellect: 42

SP: 15/27 Magic: 38

Attack: 36 Agility: 30

Skills:

[Bite: LV3] [Poison Fang: LV4] [Grip: LV5]

[Scent: LV3] [Heat Sense: LV3]

[Rapid Strike: LV2] [Mana Sense: LV1]

[Rugged Scales: LV2] [Leap: LV3]

[Steel Skin: LV2] [Heal: LV2]

[Cooperation: LV5]

Titles:

[Pit Member]

Resistances:

[Impact Resistance: LV3]

[Shock Resistance: LV2]

[Pain Resistance: LV4]

[Faint Resistance: LV4]

--------------

Hmph! The second snake was a little better. But it was still BAD!

The two snakes seemed to be giggling without any care and I could see why Morgana was so exhausted. From the state of their skills, she must've been chasing them both to train without much success. These bad nestlings!

But their skills were interesting, they both had pretty high levels of MP for mere hatchlings. And I noticed they both had [Mana Sense] and the skills [Cure] and [Heal] respectively.

My thoughts ran with many theories.

Could it be they had manifested such abilities while trying to heal their brother? Perhaps their MP was so high because of the repeated attempts to use their mana, which finally culminated into skills.

And why did one have [Heal] and the other [Cure], what exactly was the difference?