A flying small shadow was approaching and it was fast, focusing on it I could differentiate its shape and size. It was a medium sized snake, close to one meter in length. The snake flew at me with its mouth open, getting closer and closer. I panicked and with full force hit it on the face with my fist, in that hand a yellow flower could be seen.

With a *bang* the snake flew back but at the same time the flower was ripped to shreds. I looked at the broken stem that was still in my hand and shouted. “No! My healing item.” Without a second tough I looked at the snake and angrily said. “Inspect *stupid snake*.”

-Kerpelo Snake Lv3-

Health: 9/10

Mana: 2/2

Stamina: 4/6

I just glanced at its status and continued to inspect its name. “Inspect *stupid Kerpelo Snake*”

*Kerpelo Snake* – Low tier monster, the monster is venomous, most weak tier monsters keep their distance from it because of its venom.

“So it’s venomous, I should be careful… Wait I am a bush, can a snake even poison me?” The snake didn’t wait for me to regain my focus and attacked me again. It bite me or at least it tried to, all the damage it could do to me, was just tearing few leaves out of my body. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t pleasant but it wasn’t death treating at all, maybe only when it would attack me for five minutes straight it could do some real damage.

I weird smirk appeared on my imaginary face, *bang* another blow came from my hand and hit the snake on the head, as it flew and with a bang into the wall. “If there only snakes in this cave I can make it, even if they attacked me all together. Inspect *snake*.”

-Kerpelo Snake Lv3-

Health: 7/10

Mana: 2/2

Stamina: 4/6

“Nice hit, it did two damage I guess it’s defense really not that strong.” This time I was the one that didn’t wait for it to regain its balance and attacked it. Hit after hit on its head, with both of my hands one after another. One hit with the hand that didn’t have any leaves and then another with the the one that had, sounds of rustle of leaves and branches hitting something could be heard inside the cave.

And after less than a minute of a one sided battle, the stupid snake died. “*Self Awareness*.” I wanted to be sure that I didn’t get poisoned by the snake.

-Ontopary bush Lv3-

Experience: 28/30

Rarity: Common

Health: 3/6

Mana: 6/12

Stamina: 2/4

Race: Berry bush.

Status: Unique-Intelligent

“*Sigh* Looks like I am not poisoned and not even damaged.” I sighed in relief and then said with a serious tone. ”But my mana and stamina is pretty low, I should go and finish this up and kill the other snakes as fast as possible. I will take revenge for my flower!” I gave another glance at the dead snake that was lying on the ground and continued to go deeper into the cave.

All that battle was barely a meter away from the cave entrance, just as I moved deeper I could see another four snake, two of them closed on me and the other two stayed behind and watched. “Looks like the snakes that behind are the leaders, I should inspect them all.”

And so I inspected all the four snakes. The two snakes that approached me were the same as the last one, but the two snakes that was still waiting behind were little different. Not only that they were bigger in size, one of the snakes was grey and not green as the others.

-Kerpelo Snake Lv4-

Health: 12/12

Mana: 2/2

Stamina: 6/6

-Kerpelo Snake Lv6-

Health: 15/15

Mana: 3/3

Stamina: 8/8

“Lv six that will be a tough nut to crack and why is it grey? Never mind, I should just concentrate on those two snakes that closer to me for now.” Knowing that I can’t attack both of them I chose only one target, the snake on the left. I didn’t want the snake to jump at me together, so I attacked first.

I rushed to the left snake and started to hit its head with my fists like the last time. The snake wasn’t surprised at all and tried to counter attack me with a bite, but all what it got from the attack is branches and leaves stuck inside its mouth. I didn’t stopped attacking even for a moment.

“Nothing personal but for my survival all of you need to die.” I didn’t really care for those snakes, they didn’t do me any harm, but I needed their cave to survive the night, so it’s them or me.

The second snake was startled and didn’t expect me to engage first, so it was little late to the party.

Even though it bit my back I didn’t care at all and continued pouncing on the poor left snake. I knew that I would level up after killing this snake, so didn’t even bothered to inspect the poor bastard and waited for the mighty voice to inform me on my level up. I didn’t need to wait for long, after another three hits on the snake’s head my level up came.

*Experience reached the desired quantity “Ontopary bush” leveled up to Lv4*

“Ha ha, it came.” I said happily and turned to face the other snake. The snake hissed at me and attacked again and again, but it still could not do any damage to me. So I dealt with it as with the other, slowly beating it to death with my hands. As I finished killing the second snake I looked at the other two that was still observing from behind.

For my surprise the two snakes didn’t moved from their original spot and just watched their brothers get killed. For this entire battle, I didn’t let my guard down from those two, even if they can’t damage me, if they had jumped at me together it would been still troublesome, but it didn’t happen.

“I should check my status for now, *Self Awareness*.“

-Ontopary bush Lv4-

Experience: 15/40

Rarity: Common

Health: 3/6

Mana: 4/14

Stamina: 1/4

“This is bad I should finish this fast or I will find myself in a world of trouble.” Before I could react the two last snakes approached me, the normal looking snake rushed at me first and with hissing sounds attacked me. I wasn’t scared because there was no much difference from it and the others, so I just started to punch it as I did before.

But for my surprise I fallen into a trap, as I moved a little to the side to hit the snake, the grey snake rushed to my back and entered inside me. I was shocked I didn’t even know how to react, or more correct I didn’t have the time to react. In just a few moments all the snake’s body was inside me and it started to tear me from inside.

I would never tough that the grey snake be this intelligent and found a defect in my defense. It taught if the bites doesn’t work on him I should just find the best spot from where I can tear him to tear him to pieces and that spot was from the inside.

“Get out!! Get out!!” I screamed as I tried to pull the snake out of my body, but all my tries were with no avail. The other snake was backing off and just staring at me as I struggled. I could feel my body slowly being torn from inside out and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The pain was intense, from it I even rolled onto the ground with hope of easing it, but it didn’t do any good.

I knew that this time I was getting damaged, so I checked my status and saw my health slowly go down from three to two. “NO!” I stood up, and again inserted my hands into my body as I tried to get the grey snake out.

As I tried again and again my time slowly started to run out, I felt a strong pinch inside my body as if my heart skipped a beat, at that moment I checked my status again as fast as I could. When I saw my status my imaginary face started to become pale.

Because I was already at my death’s door, with only one health left. I started to panic, I started to curse. “What was I thinking, I was playing superman and thought that I can’t be hurt, but now I am going to die!” I was overconfident and now I had to pay the price.

But how could I just give up like that without doing anything at all, a strong killing intent started to gush out of my body with a pinch of red aura, the snake that was standing not that far away from me flinched, and the snake inside me started to tear my body even fast.

I release almost all of my mana that gathered inside my body and focused all my mind on the wood element inside inside me. I could feel every cell of my body moving as if they acquired intellect of their of own.

*”Wood Element Control” leveled up to Lv2*

When my wood element control skill leveled up, a light of hope could be seen for me and at that moment I screamed, “Die!!!” Every branches of my body took shape of a spikes and started to pierce the grey snakes that was trapped inside me, as if my body turned into a Iron Maiden.

The grey snake struggled and struggled, but each time it tried to set itself free another spike would pierced its flesh and red blood would gush from its new wound. Slowly the snakes struggles were getting weaker and weaker and after little while they stopped completely.

As the grey snake struggles stopped, I inspected it just to be sure that it’s dead. After I inspected it I sighed a breath of relief because it’s health was at zero. After conforming the snake’s death, I moved my body to face the other snake with my killing intents still gushing like crazy.

I could swear that the snake turned pale, as it slowly started to back off to the direction of the cave entrance. When it backed off to a safe distance, it turned its back to me and rushed out of the cave. Personally I didn’t noticed, but the sigh of a bloody corpse of a snake sticking out of a bloody bush, was really a gruesome sight and would shake any weak heart.

I was little confused but at the same time relieved, because I knew that most likely I will pass out any second. I didn’t checked my status or bothered with the dead snake inside my body, because if I passed out in my current state most likely my stamina would diminish and I would die, so I need to root myself to the ground as fast as possible.

“*Dig*, what why doesn’t it work?” I tried to activate the skill dig but it didn’t work, it meant that I didn’t have mana inside me at all, but I was still little shaken so I couldn’t understand the reason. Slowly the surrounding started to get darker and darker and I started to panic.

“No no no.. I need to get inside the ground, inside the ground…” I said as I started to dig the ground with my hands, each time my hands touched the dirt I felt weaker and weaker. But I didn’t gave up, slowly a small hole have formed.

As it formed I inserted my roots inside it with a hassle, the soft dirt didn’t gave me much resistance and half of my roots was embedded into the ground. And at that moment everything just turned pitch black, as I slowly lost my conscious.

The cave fallen into silence, all what could be seen in it is a glowing red bush with a dead snake inside it standing near one of the cave walls. Half of its roots were sticking out of the ground and blood was slowly dripped from its leaves onto its roots.

*Skill learned “Lifesteal”*