Chapter 11

I am a fairy starting today.

Nom, nom, munch.
Chomp chomp chomp.

Ah, it tastes awful.
Even if I’ve become a kind Serpent that eats anything well, it doesn’t mean I lack a sense of taste.
And cockatrice meat is really on the disgusting side.

【Cockatrice Corpse】

Well, of course it’s a corpse.
When I relaxed my eyes, the floating window disappeared.
It’s the power of the centipede’s inner core. I can now see things I couldn’t before.
As expected, spiritual creatures really are something else.

I diligently ate the cockatrice.
I always thought this, but my body has terrible fuel efficiency.
If I compare it to a car, it’s like a Ferrari or Lamborghini that guzzles fuel.
If I move a lot or keep using skills, I get hungry in no time.

Come to think of it, I used to suffer from acid reflux every day.
Maybe this is better than not being able to digest food.

The cockatrice’s muscles were as tough as steel sinew.
Ugh, one of my teeth broke.
It broke before too, but fortunately, every time a tooth falls out, a new one grows.
Just like a shark. They say sharks keep growing new teeth as well.
So I can eat without worry!

• [You have been poisoned. Poison Resistance proficiency increases.]

Damn it.
Why does this thing even have poison in its meat?
It’s not like it’s some kind of pufferfish.
My stomach started to ache a little.
But there was nothing to worry about. I wasn’t bitten or stabbed by its claws.

• [Poison Resistance Lv3 has become Lv4.]

My poison resistance increased.
Poison soaked into flesh is something I, the strongest venomous Serpent, can endure.
As I continued filling my stomach, I eventually dug my way close to its heart.

I carefully moved my jaw.
As I chewed over and over, my mouth became stained red like a child who had eaten tomato pasta.
And finally, I found it.

Crunch.

There was something like a stone.
It was just like when I found a magic stone in the heart of the horn jaguar.
Back then I hesitated, wondering if it was some kind of kidney stone, but now I was delighted.

I bit down on the magic stone and pulled it out.
After wiping the blood off my face with my tail, I focused my eyes.

【Cockatrice Magic Stone: Grade 2】

It really was a magic stone!
Though the grade was a bit disappointing.
The one I got back then was Grade 3, but this one is Grade 2.
It seems the horn jaguar was stronger than the cockatrice.
Even now, thinking about how I fought and won from inside its body feels like sheer luck.

Well then, time to eat.
A magic stone as dessert after a meal—how luxurious.
I swallowed the magic stone whole. It even felt sweet, like candy.

• [You have consumed a Grade 2 Magic Stone.]

When I ate the horn jaguar’s Grade 3 magic stone before,
nothing much happened.
So I thought it would be the same this time.

• [A faint demonic energy settles within your body.]
• [Your rank slightly increases.]
• [Your body becomes sturdier and your mana fills up.]

Whoa, what is this?!

An unfamiliar sensation spread throughout my body.
It was different from the warm, pleasant feeling of leveling up.
It felt like drinking strong alcohol, yet also cool and refreshing like a mint candy, spreading from my stomach.

The demonic energy that settled inside me.
And the mana that has become full.
It definitely feels like the amount I used when activating skills like Borrowed Horn has increased.

I’ve grown stronger.
Hunting the cockatrice has brought me that reward.

Which means… it’s time to check my status window.

【White Horn Serpent Lv5】
【Traits】
[Indomitable], [Diligence], [??]

【Skills】
[Borrowed Horn Lv2]: Mana Detection Lv1
[Venom Fang Lv4], [Breath Holding Lv4], [Predation Lv3], [Bite Lv4], [Poison Resistance Lv4],
[Bleeding Resistance Lv2], [Pain Resistance Lv4], [Heat Resistance Lv2],
[Survival Instinct Lv4], [Leap Lv2], [Stealth Lv2]

I definitely have a lot of skills.
In fact, I had far more skills than the cockatrice, which was clearly much stronger than me.
This must be the effect of having 20 potential.

Thinking about it, how incredible must my older brother have been, who had even more impressive skills than me? (Little Green Serpent Lv3, died from falling)
If he had survived, he might have grown into a Serpent surpassing even our mother.
But in the end, it’s not the strong who survive—it’s the ones who survive who are strong.

I kept reading my status window.

※ Evolution Available:
[Quick Crawl Lv10]

【Status】
[Mana Saturation], [Satisfaction]

Something changed!
What do you mean “evolution available”?!
Quick Crawl has reached Lv10 before I even noticed.
It’s the first time I’ve had a skill reach level 10.

My heart started pounding.
Just like how I evolved into a majestic horned Serpent, would Quick Crawl also undergo a complete transformation?

There was no reason to hesitate.
Quick Crawl was the skill I used the most.

Evolution.

In my mind, the Digimon evolution BGM began playing grandly.

• [You consume demonic energy to evolve the skill.]

So it wasn’t free.
Ugh, I feel drained.
Just like when I used Borrowed Horn multiple times, dizziness hit me.
My stomach is full, but I feel hollow inside.
I had a feeling that if I hadn’t eaten the cockatrice’s magic stone, I wouldn’t have been able to evolve the skill.

• [Quick Crawl evolves into a higher-tier skill.]

Alright… let’s hope this new skill is worth more than the demonic energy I spent.

• [Quick Crawl Lv10 has become Acceleration Lv1.]

Huh?

Ah…?
I thought for a moment.
The result was… a bit subtle.

Acceleration was the skill that the Galloper Hawk had.
But Quick Crawl was already pretty fast—just how good could Acceleration be?

After thinking briefly, I decided to test it.

I coiled my body.
Gathered strength through my entire body and leapt.

I used Leap, which I had fully mastered from Borrowed Horn.
And on top of that—Acceleration.

• [You use Acceleration Lv1.]

Whoosh—my face felt cool as I cut through the air.
It was a skill that used mana, just like Borrowed Horn.
I shot forward like an arrow and landed cleanly.

Now I was certain.

Jackpot!

Acceleration was clearly a superior version of Quick Crawl.
My usual hunting method—Stealth into Leap—would fail if the enemy noticed me.
Even if I leapt, the opponent could simply dodge.

But a Leap combined with Acceleration was so fast that even if they saw it, it would be hard to avoid.

And this… I feel like it has endless applications beyond just Leap.
I imagined being attacked by the cockatrice.
If it tried to peck me with its large beak—

Whoosh—like this, then dodge—like this!

I could evade sideways.
Just being able to perform evasive maneuvers makes this an incredible skill.

I wish my other skills could evolve like this too.
I want to test more, but now I’m truly out of mana.

After catching my breath, I looked at the shattered remains of the centipede husband.

This is all thanks to you, newlywed groom.
Without the centipede’s inner core, hunting the cockatrice would have been difficult.

Using my tail, I gathered the centipede’s scattered pieces.
Then I covered them with dirt.

That should be a decent grave, right?
Hmm, it looks too plain without decoration.

Since I didn’t have a memorial tablet, I looked around.
Then I picked up a golden crown lying nearby and placed it on top of the grave.

…What is this?

Only then did I notice the miscellaneous items scattered around me.

This crazy magical beast.
The cockatrice had a trait called “Treasure Hoarder.”
I wondered what that meant, and sure enough, the area around here was littered with junk it had collected.
Rotten tree branches, seashells from who-knows-where.
If it were only those things, fine—but there were also gold coins and jewels.
There were even armor and weapons.
All rusted, but long ago, some warrior must have come here wearing them and died.

I’m rich now!
…But it’s hard to be happy when it’s all useless stuff.
What am I supposed to do with gold coins? It’s not like I can throw them like mesos in MapleStory.
If only I had a bag to store the valuable ones—maybe they’d be useful someday.
Who knows, maybe there’s something like a vending machine in this world that accepts coins.
I shook off the pointless thoughts and looked around.

The centipede’s inner core lets me see what I couldn’t before.
Since entering here, something had been bothering me the most.
That stone door.

【Dungeon: Temporary Dwelling of the Fairy Mage Pelerian】

So this really was a dungeon.
If there are monsters, then of course there are adventures—and dungeons too.
And a fairy mage, huh. So elves exist in this world as well.

Judging by how the place was packed with traps, it had to be one of two things.
Either something valuable was hidden here, or that mage had a nasty personality.
…Or maybe both?

Walking away pretending I saw nothing would be the coward’s choice.
Charging in demanding the dungeon’s treasure would be the bold man’s way.
Since I’m somewhere in between, I decided to carefully examine the stone door and its surroundings first.

• [You use Mana Detection Lv1.]

Good thing I borrowed this skill from the now-dead cockatrice.
The places I shouldn’t touch glowed red.
It didn’t exactly signal danger, but rather areas where mana was concentrated.
Which means those spots could be traps—or mechanisms to open the door.

…Come to think of it, that was a bit dangerous earlier.
There was an obviously suspicious hole in the ceiling, so I assumed it was a trap—but what if it had actually been a doorbell? I might’ve gotten eaten the moment it went “ding-dong.”

Even after carefully inspecting the surroundings, nothing stood out.
My mana ran low, so I deactivated the skill.
Is this something I can’t open?

Just as I thought that—

There was writing on the upper part of the intricately decorated stone door.
It was surprising enough that I could understand spoken language, but it seemed I could read as well.

[Fairies who can read this text, knock on the door seven times.]

…I’m not a fairy. I’m a Serpent.
Wait, the mage did say “fairy.”
…Could that be fairy script?

I could read and understand it, but I couldn’t tell whether it was human writing or fairy writing.
Well, there’s only one way to find out.

Knock.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

Then it will open.

Grrrrr—rumble.

Guess it’s an automatic door.

The door opened.
The stone slab was thicker than a human fist.
Even if someone brought a gun and fired at it, breaking it would have been difficult.

You call this a “temporary dwelling”? Why is it sealed up like a fortress?
Just what kind of treasure are you hiding?!

I carefully entered inside.
Ugh, the smell of dust.
I don’t know how long this place has been abandoned.
From what I can tell, it must have been at least several hundred years.
Maybe an earthquake happened at some point, because statues along the corridor were broken.

I slithered over the head of one of the statues.
Looking closer, the statue had long ears—so fairies really are elves.

They say elves don’t age and are all beautiful.
My heart started pounding.

I crawled forward, covering my whole body in dust.
Using Mana Detection, I carefully checked my surroundings.
I was wary of traps, but none appeared along the corridor.
It was so dark that without something like my night vision skill, it would be impossible to pass through.

After the corridor, a large room appeared.
At the center of the room was a crystal orb.
At a glance, it looked incredibly valuable.
And the moment I approached it, the orb began to glow.

Oh, mana is gathering.
The light emitted from the orb took the shape of a person—no, an elf.

—Welcome, stranger.

His voice wasn’t very pleasant.
That’s because he was an elderly man.
I thought all elves were youthful, but this one looked completely old and worn out.
Not only that, he didn’t look handsome at all—he had a rather mean expression.
If it weren’t for his pointed ears, I wouldn’t have even known he was an elf.

—This is the laboratory of I, the great mage Pelerian. You must have had a hard time getting here.

Still, his tone was gentle.
You shouldn’t judge someone by their appearance.

—Since you opened the door and entered, you must be one of our excellent and pure kin.

The moment he finished speaking, the elf’s illusion suddenly switched to another language.

"If you are not some filthy inferior race but a pure-blooded fairy, you must understand ancient fairy language. Bow your head at once, now!"

…Who does this old man think he is?

It seemed I could understand multiple languages anyway.
There was no need to bow my head.
I was already pressed against the ground.

And then, from somewhere, a spear flew in and pierced right above my head.

Whoooosh—BOOM!

This old geezer really likes traps. Especially spear-launching ones.

The elf elder wiped away his gentle smile and said:

—Glory to the World Tree. Good to meet you, my kin.

…So he’s a racist elf, huh.