BOOK 1, CHAPTER 7 – Little Green & The Deal

“Of course I speak.” The giant snake said.

“Oh,” was all he could say. Artien waited, mentally unable to come up with anything smart to say.

“To answer, I never planned on eating you. It would bring me nothing. Maybe if you were filled with mana, I might reconsider.”

Artien shivered. There was no hesitation in the snake’s words. She really meant it. What then, did she have planned? He steeled himself.

“Then, what did you want from me?”

“We will get to that. It is better you know the situation first.”

The giant snake backed her large body to fit more of her face. She was able to somehow show up to a long fang carved dangerously over her lower jaw. The size of the fang was as large as a grown man. “Hmmph” Her eyes winced.

“I am what is called a rainbow-feathered crowned serpent. I’m from a long divine line of beasts. I have lived here for 500 of your human years, gestating my offspring.”

“500 years?!”

“Yes. That is not so strange for older beasts, especially those with unique, holy, or divine blood lines. It means that my ancestor was unusually strong.” She sighed.

“I remember the old days. Before the barrier was established. We beasts could roam the world. We devoured, battled, and died as we wished. Now,” She hissed low, “this does not matter.”

She looked him in the eye. “There is few of us left. I had hoped to pass on my heritage. I originally had given birth to a thousand young. All I have left is the one before you.”

The little snake hissed sadly, looking depressed and hanging it’s head.

“She is Little Green. Her bloodline is strong. Enough to escape at least some dangers. Her siblings were not so fortunate.”

“What happened to them? For 1000 and only having one left,” he asked, feeling the question needed to be asked. Looks like he wasn’t the only one to run out of luck.

The mother snake hissed loudly.

“That damned ape! He wanted to expand his territory and knew I was weak from having my young. He sent his subordinates after my young.”

She slammed her tail, the ground trembling from her show of anger. “He didn’t even eat them! He just slew them and left them. Such a disgrace of a beast! Leaving the beast cores, even weak ones, for humans to pick from.”

She closed her eyes, reliving her pain. “At first it was just a few. The weakest. This is not abnormal.” She looked at Little Green. “When two dozen vanished, I had a few followers scout. They found dead bodies. One returned, told me the results, and died. It was then I knew.”

Little Green went to her mother and rubbed against her, trying to give comfort.

“He had clearly declared war. From then, my children were hunted down one by one. I couldn’t protect them, as I was still too weak. They could not go without food, either. Any and all food within this small cave system had been scoured clean.”

“I recalled all my young from the forests. Only two hundred returned. I gave them a choice.” Her tone changed, growing fainter with sorrow. “They must eat one another. By consuming each other, the strongest would remain. They picked which other to fight of their own will. They knew this was all we could do.”

“The two hundred became one hundred. After they consumed the other’s body and core and fully strengthened from it, they fought again. The one hundred became fifty. They strengthened again. The fifty became twenty five. They fought in 4 groups of five, leaving out the weakest 5 to be eaten by the most successful group. They dwindled down to 10. They again fought each other one-on-one.”

“Once they were done, only Little Green was left. From devouring her siblings she has gained enough strength to avoid the ape’s subordinates and successfully hunt prey. This enraged the ape. He began to stomp through my territory himself daily. Still, we could not hide. Little Green needed to hunt.”

“I had somewhat gotten stronger and guarded her as she went out. The white ape confronted us several times. Each time we clashed, and Little Green escaped back here. This worked until the white ape made a break through and gained an inheritance skill from his bloodline. He can strengthen his skin for an amount of time.”

The mother snake sighed. “This was all it took. In the last battle I was mortally wounded. I can no longer heal myself. This is where I need you.” She looked at him, a strange aura burning in her eyes.

“I’m really weak…” He said bitterly.

“That is of no consequence. I will assist you in getting stronger with the last of my time. I only wish you help defeat that damned white ape and avenge my death. Take it as returning a favor for saving your life.”

“If I’m able, I swear it.” He said immediately. He gritted his teeth, his breathing becoming uneven.

Here was another family ripped apart simply because they weren’t strong enough. Their situation was so similar to his. He was unable to protect anyone, let alone himself. It was because he was weak. This weakness had to go!

“I also wish you to take Little Green with you. Take her away from here. Away from this place and memories. Let her experience the outside world.”

Artien nodded. “This, I swear. I will defeat the white ape and take Little Green with me.”

“Good.” She licked the air and blinked. “I have something else to speak on before your strengthening begins.”

“It’s about…that?”

“Yes.” She turned her head to look down at him more closely. Little Green scurried back to Artien’s lap to avoid being crushed. He began petting her head.

“How does a human come to posses a beast core?” She asked curiously, her voice sounding unbelieving.

“That I’m not sure. I was born with it.”

“Your parents have unusual bloodline?”

“No, not that. I’m adopted. My parents are human. They found me in the woods as a baby.” He answered.

“So you must be a beast. Yet, I feel there is a difference. The core in you, it holds not mana like a normal beast core. It holds a another energy.”

“Force. I learned this recently.”

“Force? This thing that only human warriors of quality have?” She seemed surprised.

“Yes. I can’t control it at all. It only comes out when I’m fighting or get some kind of insight.” He frowned. Was it insight, or something else?

“For a human to have been born with both force and mana! What a strange being. What are you?”

He shrugged helplessly.

“You,” She tasted the air again, “smell like a beast in human form. The core is truly a beast core. I also smell… a divinity. Perhaps you were blessed by a god.” Her eyes squinted and her mouth curved into a fang-filled grin. “To trust my daughter to you is fortuitous.”

Little Green started bobbing her head and licking his hand excitedly. She hissed in short bursts, her own face grinning. Artien laughed. “I think we’ll get along.”

“If it is the beast core and flesh, I can strengthen those. The mana you will have to learn yourself.” The mother snake continued.

“Beast cores vary greatly. Hidden within them is the memories and skills of our ancestors. It takes luck and determination to learn what is hidden. Little Green is lucky to have learned two. As to more on that, she can tell you later.”

“For now, as your beast core holds force and is unique, you will have to learn how to withdraw it’s power and control it. Did you use it in your last fight against the mercenary?”

“Yes. I remember it was my knee that got the most of it. That and my muscles.” He looked away, trying to remember the hectic fight properly.

“The severe injury in your knee is due to that? Your body cannot withstand your power. Hmm.” The mother snake pondered. “If we strengthen your body, you may begin to be able to control your force.” She looked his body over. “First, you need to finish healing.”

“Little green, bring him a drop of my blood. Fresh is best.”

Little Green’s head whipped to her mother’s. She hissed in different pitches, as if arguing against her mother’s choice.

The mother snake glared at her. “Do as I say!”

Little Green hung her head and slithered over to her mother. She disappeared underneath her mother’s head and out of sight. A few moments later she came back and went straight to Artien. She slithered up into his lap and threw herself on his chest, knocking him back down. The familiar pose brought a grimace to Artien’s face.

“Drink that drop of blood. It is filled with mana and will accelerate your healing.” The mother snake said.

Little Green bowed her head down. Artien opened wide, accepting that mana-filled, red droplet. It slid down his throat and he swallowed. Little Green slithered off him and he waited for the mana. He felt a mild heat from the blood as it entered his stomach and dispersed.

Mana suddenly flooded his flesh. It shot out in all directions, evenly spreading out. It started burning, making his every sense going into overload as it activated. He threw out his own mana, trying to manage the mana. His little flame jumped at the mana and grew into a hand-sized fire.

He felt full to the brim. Even fuller still as his mana circulated and slightly suppressed the foreign mana. He felt his veins, tendons, and muscles all clench tight and relax multiple times as they healed. His chest loosened and he could breathe normally again. His swollen knee receded back to it’s normal size and even stopped hurting.

On his face his bones solidified and the swelling lowered to almost nothing. The pain was reduced and he could see out of both eyes fully. The main supply of mana was used almost instantly. A small portion remained and circled his body with his own mana, continuously healing him. He stopped circulating his own mana and slowly sat up.

He stretched, testing for pain. His knee and face slightly ached. Other than that he was simply tired. He stood and looked at the mother snake in amazement. “That was amazing.”

She hiss-chuckled at him. “As old as I am, my blood should be at least that much even weakened.”

“Little Green, take him to the treasure cave.” The mother snake withdrew her enormous body, revealing a hollow in the rock next to her head that led away.

Little Green slithered up Artien’s leg happily. She curled around his arm and raised her head above his hand. She pulled and pushed his hand forward, eager to go. He followed her lead and carefully left around the mother snake’s head. He exited the space into a long tunnel.

The rock ceiling was still out of reach of his eyes. Glowing stones spotted the walls, lighting the way. They came to a fork. Little Green pointed her head to the right and Artien followed. After a short distance they entered a huge cavern.

Artien’s eyes widened. A huge mound of glowing and glittering treasure, glowing stones, coins, and objects piled high. It was so high it’s top curved out of view. Little Green watched his reaction and hissed, enjoying the moment.

To the right was a small walk space and he followed it. As he skirted around the huge pile, the mother snakes voice echoed to him from behind.

“All of the things in that room are things I’ve attained by fighting humans and other beasts. Simply to defend my territory. That is the greed of others you see.”

“That’s a lot of greed.” He numbly answered back.

“There are many things there. Currency, jewels, potions, exotic clothing, weapons and armor. There’s also books of all kinds.”

He rounded a few more feet before seeing the pile of clothing, armor, weapons, and books. “I could live here my whole life and not go through all of this.”

“When I die, all of this Little Green will inherit. What’s useful to you she will share.”

Little Green nodded her head at her mother’s words.

“Thank you.” He said, touched.

“Continue forward. You will come to two rooms.”

Artien did as bidden. The first opening directly across from the piles was a small cave with a table, chair, and bed. Everything was covered in a layer of dust. A small journal lay on the table.

“Use that first room as you see fit. I devoured the human that used to live here and took this place as my nest.”

He gulped and moved to the next room. There was a stone wall indent, indicating the entryway. Little Green climbed down and bopped her head against it. A small mana glow emitted from her snout and covered the door. The stone lit up slightly and rolled to the right.

Artien looked into blackness. There were no glow stones in the space beyond. He hesitated even as Little Green nudged his leg forward.

“That room,” the mother snake said, “is where your training will take place.”

“Go on in.” Her words echoed eerily.