Chapter 10

Snake Report:

So... I did it.

I ate the entire glowing mushroom. Piece by painful piece.

It took longer than expected. Only slightly less horrible.

I'm now [Level Four] with [POISON RESISTANCE: RANK III] and [WEAK HEALING: RANK III]

It seems that early levels are coming in quickly for now, but I haven't learned anything new like before. No further "Unique skills" or such like that. [Omnivore] was the only thing I got out of this.

I guess that makes sense, but I still have a lot of questions. I feel like I'm blindly feeling my way along here. Some open-forum question and answer would be helpful.

For example, in theory I now have fifteen [Skill Points] to spend. I can't figure out how to though. I can't seem to bring up any of the glowing signal words at all unless something important happens. Either [Leveling up] or unlocking some sort of [Unique] it really only seems to appear then.

But fifteen points. That could mean more powerful magic, or maybe different kinds of magic.Considering I'm still a tiny snake, magic seems to be the only plausible way for me to go. Even level four, I'm still smaller than every other monster in the cave.

Under that mentality, I have retrieved more mushrooms from Frog's-Pillar. Seven of these glowing fungi now rest beside me in the strangely cramped quarters of my hole in the ground.

For the sake of my continued survival, I must ready myself.

The feast begins.

[Current: Level Five]

By the observed movements of the Giant bats, it has been five days since I first awoke in this place. At this moment, I have finally finished the final stockpiled glowing mushroom.

The level up fills me with both strength, and satisfaction. A job well done. I am stronger. I am no longer starving. I know I have secured a food source which is plentiful.

[POISON RESISTANCE: RANK V]

[BASIC HEALING: RANK I]

[UNIQUE TRAIT: TOXIC]

These are the fruits of my labor. They glow in my vision, confirming what I already know: My weak heal is much more effective, and apparently it renamed itself. I think this is the natural course of spells. They seem to improve over time.

Same with resistances too. The mushrooms now barely seem to upset my stomach.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." That's the quote I can think of to explain this.

I've also gained an interesting bluish tint to my scales, first noticed upon emerging from another shed layer of tiny-snake skin. [Toxic] is the trait. Though I have no intention of confirming, I believe any creature wishing to eat me might experience the symptoms of food-poisoning. I have eaten so many mushrooms, I have taken on their attributes.

Hisssss...

But, there is something more important than that. Something fantastic.

I have learned new magic.

[Earth Element] was unlocked for the cost of 5 points. Upon doing so, it immediately granted me a single spell called [Earth Manipulation I] which seems to do basically what the name suggests.

It can let me mold the ground a bit. Like, play-doh sort of mold, but... slower.

Much slower.

I've expanded me hole in cave floor slightly, although it was exhausting. Even after all of that, it didn't rank up, which I felt was a bit of a rip-off.

But complaints are for other people-turned-snake. Not for me. Life is good, I'm not being eaten, I'm no longer starving.

And [Earth Manipulation]? That's boring compared to what I've spent the other points on.

Five points for each level up. It seems that the more points I accumulate, upon leveling I can go and look at the magics I already possess. If there is an available skill, it seems to show up.

It reminds me of a menu.

A menu that let me look back into [Fire Magic] and [Healing Magic] and browse. There were a lot of spells, I think.

It's difficult to describe because I could only see a few. Things like [Fire Breath II] for 20 points, or [Fireball II] for 50 points. [Basic Healing VI] was available for 400 points.

It's weird, but it looks like I can level up the skills I own, or buy them with points.

Buying the higher ones seems insanely expensive though. Probably a waste.

Hisss...

In a weird way, I could almost see some further options. Choices just on the edge of my vision, but not quite there. The longer I tried to pull those up though, the greater my headache became, so I've settled on giving that up.

Patience seems to be important here, but I'm getting the hang of it.

Before the menu closed, I made one more purchase.

My purchase was from the healing category: [Passive Regeneration I] for a full 20 points.

Excessive? Maybe, but I think it might be worth it. Unlike the [Basic Healing] I think this should work on its own. It will probably level on its own too.

There are no shortages in things that can hurt me here. Healing is important.

I will be a healthy snake.