Chapter 16: Snake Lake

  The sun rose and fell into the noon, finally putting an end to the first and final hunting session in a two and a half hour time span. He had reached 1370 XP by the time it ended, since Marx kept letting him leech while he was regenerating. His HP was very very slowly going back up, and he wondered if that lung injury had somehow permanently damaged him. He still found it hard to suck in breaths so he wondered if the lung was forever collapsed, maybe even a calcified useless stone in his body.

  There was probably a reason why Millie never made me eat the whisker flower, he noted, if he was permanently debuffed then he would just have to make up for it with upgrading his snake profession. Which was what was on his mind when Joey got everyone together to eat some of his prepared food, Fay didn’t care much, he was sure that it tasted good but food wasn’t too interesting, it was just fuel to him.

  “Yeah and then Eddy was like, ‘slow down’ but I chased the thing, its legs almost kicked me in half but I grabbed it with my hand!” Jason laughed, he was in very high spirits. Compared to Fay and Marx, who had only gotten around 600 XP, they accrued a total of 2000 from synchronizing so well. With his one hand he chewed a big glob of alpha boar meat, tearing it with his teeth.

  He was going to leave their group, Fay knew, well, they didn’t really have a group in the first place so there was nothing to leave, it was always temporary, most things are. Fay took a big bite out of whatever meat Joey had given him, it helped with his mana a lot, doubling the regeneration speed.

  Jason and Eddy were planning to go out again to reach level four before nighttime, while Joey and his group accepted they wouldn't get anywhere, they had done worse, only 400 XP during the two and a half hour hunt. They decided they’d rather spend their time killing the rest of the monsters in the normal forest.

  Which was why Fay needed to take his leave before he got dragged along, “thank you all.” Fay stood up and away from the campfire, “this was fun, but I best get going back to my… yeah” nobody stopped him, not even Jason. “Bye.”

  “Bye” They all said in unison, except for Marx who gave him a thumbs up and a: “I’ll talk to you at night, at the cabin, 'kay?”

  “Right.” Fay walked off, wanting to find his way back to the lake desperately. He speedwalked through the trees, knowing the path by heart, his memory had always been okay, but some stat was making it nearly photographic, as in, he could remember memories from the day without the fog of time.

  He arrived at the lake, it looked the same as always, luckily nobody had taken his XP just yet. Fay got to work, with no sword he would have to rely on the 18 strength that he had against snakes. He just hoped that there weren't any dangerous non-snake sea creatures in the body of water. He picked up a twig, throwing it up in the air and wagered he could catch it with his eyes closed. He then shut his eyes and held his hand out, feeling a buzz from the perception he had, he caught it fairly easily.

  That supplied him with 2 agility and one perception surprisingly, just for thirty seconds. He also, as he took off his boots so they don't weigh him down, set up a side wager to say that he would stay above water while dipping his toes in the water, supplying him with 1 agility every five seconds, as he got deeper and kept repeating the wager it rose to 2 agility every ten seconds, which made swimming quite easy.

  He wondered if he could put the same wager twice, but decided against it, if he happened to go underwater he would lose -8 agility for twenty seconds and likely die. He continued to swim until he was around in the middle of the lake, then shut his eyes to listen for anything.

  Water was easy, it was disturbed and rippled no matter where you were, sounds traveled like echoes in a cave if you had good enough hearing. He waited, and waited, motioning his hands up and down like he was flapping fake wings. No wonder whales could hear each other so well, he thought to himself, he could feel the ripples of hundreds of sea snakes below him, that was when both wagers wound down, and he could relax.

  Something bit his leg and pulled him under. The moment it happened he made a wager that he could hold his breath for the next second, so each second, it should accrue value as it would get more and more dangerous. The wager started off by giving him 1 endurance.

  He had planned for this, in fact, the entire time he was with Marx he had been thinking about it. He wagered both times that he could hold his breath for the next second, stacking it, and swam under, letting his leg bleed out and punting the sea snake off his thigh, the thing was about half the size of those pythons, yellow in color with white beady eyes, their mouths, unlike the pythons, were cluttered with small teeth. He hit it and the strike immediately crushed its skull.

  [You have been poisoned]

  18 snake strength was stupid, that's how he knew he could survive this. He lowered his body further, continuously making wagers that he would hold his breath. The blood made the hundreds of other snakes appear out of the green water, he could see green kelp that rose upwards like trees as he finally touched the sand below, landing softly, the water about four people high up.

  His blood rose along with the bubbles coming from his mouth, fogging up a certain part of his view. He could see just barely, the water must've had slight salt in it because it irritated his eyes, but his hearing was what was keeping him alert so losing eyesight was a small issue.

  A wave of ten came from a certain pocket all at once and struck him like a carriage, three managed to bite his side with their small fangs while the others tangled around his legs. Fay swung his arm, knocking them off his body and grabbing one by the head, squeezing it until it popped between his knuckles. The snakes wafted to his left from his swing and rippled in the water, twisting and turning elegantly towards him.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  He froze the water around their general area. Then punched five of them, squishing their heads into their bodies and breaking a few of the pretty scales off, ten more arrived through a twist of kelp so while holding a snake Fay kicked upwards and knocked them off course, creating a vortex in the water.

  [You have been poisoned x 4]

  So I have to be near a snake for the strength to apply… Fay grabbed another snake by the tail and slammed it into the sand, lifting up a cloud and then stomped down on it. The poison was hopefully not an issue, he had a good skill for that.

  His breath was growing fairly thin, thirty seconds in so therefore the wagers were more riskier so the buff boosted from 1 endurance each to two endurance each every five seconds, the mana use for a continuous wager wasn't substantial but if Fay kept using stop momentum it could be a problem.

  Fay used his extra strength to whack a couple of dazed sea snakes that were facing away from him, he didn’t want to get bitten again to undo his venom extract skill timer so he was careful not to cut himself on their teeth. He then ripped another snake apart to spread more blood into the water, turning the green into a disgusting mixed brown.

  He had to rely on his other senses as twenty sea snakes tried wrapping around to his side, each with razor-sharp teeth, one bit him but the rest were swung when Fay backhanded the general area, creating another swirl of water that twirled them in a vortex like shape.

  [You have been poisoned]

  He told himself no more bites as he tore a couple more snakes apart, he was sure a part of the lake was now completely red at the surface, and to be honest, he had no clue where the surface even was when his feet lifted off the ground. Thirty sea snakes at once lifted him and struck tried their best to tear him to shreds, they were really riled up now and liked to attack like a group of piranhas.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  He kicked backwards off the clump of sea snakes, crushing them and swam what he thought was upwards, his breath was really thin now. His hands, however, touched the sand and then a piece of kelp. He had completely lost track of what was up and what was down.

  [Profession Level up. Snake Catcher (lvl 9) (UNCOMMON)]

  +1 intelligence.

  +1 perception.

  +1 vitality.

  +2 strength against snakes.

  Hah. He felt the ripple of more sea snakes headed his way and pushed against the sand trying to maybe breach the surface, he couldn’t see anything from the amount of coppery liquid in the surroundings. He felt his throat buckle and he had to gasp for air, taking in a load of water that he tried breathing in.

  Instantly both wagers bumped up from 2 endurance per to 4 for two seconds, which continuously sapped his MP, since it was a high tier wager for such a small integer. Sapping 16 mana per second, small bets weren’t sustainable, apparently, especially if they gave higher rewards. But the extra endurance did make his breathing more stable, allowing him to survive without oxygen for longer.

  A group of sea snakes came from above, or was it below? He couldn’t tell but he had to push his hands forward to stop the barrage, he couldn’t count how many it was but he used his nails to slash at them, taking at least two out in the process. He swam desperately, trying to get to the surface but touched the sand again.

  [You have been poisoned]

  Are you joking? Another sea snake pinched his foot with its teeth, Fay made easy work of it and ripped it off and threw it, the muffled hissing turned into bubbled gargling. In the mist of red he couldn’t even tell where his bubbles were headed, he felt the sand beneath him but wasn’t sure if he was in a cave or if it was a slope.

  He didn’t care, there was a high to this, he felt it the moment a churning of ripples hit his ears, there were less than before, and he could pinpoint exactly when his job was finished. He kicked forward into a group of more sea snakes.

  [Activated Stop Momentum]

  He held out both arms and bundled the group into a crush, squeezing until they either snapped or scales tore. He found it terrifying just how high his snake strength had gotten, another group tried to ambush him but he could easily chuck the bundle of snakes and disrupt them, picking off each one with each hand.

  [Higher Uncommon Venom Extracted x7]

  Higher uncommon? Oh. He finished off that group, the others were scattered around, desperately trying to find its pack so they could convene and attack whatever was bleeding, Fay slowly took each one out, letting them bite him first always.

  [You have been poisoned x3]

  Another pack managed to form and dashed towards him, he kicked his foot and pushed a weak shockwave into their momentum, knocking some completely unconscious, he decided to rip each one apart again, one by one.

  [You have been poisoned x5]

  He noticed no other sea snakes were even trying to make their way to him, most were retreating, so he finally decided he would take a gasp for air, holding a spare sea snake in his hand for safe keeping. He found a piece of kelp and climbed it up slowly, following the root until he could feel the surface tension of water above. He waited for his final wagers to die off and went above the water, sucking a deep breath.

  His MP had gone down to 90, which wasn’t so bad since his intelligence was so high and the battle was long, micro betting would be a horrible strategy for someone who already didn't have his arrangements of stats. And his MP max was now 210 from all the bonuses, generally, it was a bad idea to rely on it though, he knew that.

  [Higher Uncommon Venom Extracted x8]

  Still no level, Fay slowly swam out of the lake while on his back, seeing just how much blood had spread to the surface, a third of the lake was covered now and he doubted it would clear up any time soon. He reached the sand by the shore and got out dripping, putting back on the scale boots.

  [Slain Yellow Sea Snakes (LVL 2) x48]

  +480XP

  He dried himself off some more. Not caring about the XP, it was useless for now.

  The only issue with micro betting was that it was definitely unlikely to upgrade the skill, it seemed to like the big low success bets more than the constant high ranked bets. But if Fay could get three or four micro wagers going at the same time it could be a great boost, he assumed if he fought with his eyes closed and wagered that he could continue to fight while blind then he would get a decent boost to perception, or if he held his breath, much like he did in the lake, during a fight he could get endurance.

  Mana cost would spike quickly, and likely at 5-6 microbets running at the same time the chances of a cascading failure would be high and completely shut down a fight if it failed. Alas, he was still bottlenecked by mana, and the level ten profession was also a while away, it wasn’t likely he would find another group of snakes similar to this lake and the dungeon.

  He still had the opportunity of using the poison so he held the snake in his hand and poisoned himself as he walked home, hoping to get it to level 6 for that extra 1 endurance.

  [You have been poisoned x5]

  As he was holding the snake he wondered if the snake strength was context based or if he just had to hold one to gain it, so he walked up to a tree and tried to punch it with some of his strength, receiving a blast of pain into his knuckles up to his wrist and a sore shoulder. He was annoyed that he thought that would work.

  [Higher Uncommon Venom Extracted x5]

  Still no level… he was almost halfway towards the cabin, there were no sounds of anything, only wind hitting the branches, waving them back and forth. There were birds but they didn’t pose a threat, or likely didn't give much xp, which was why they weren't wiped from the area.

  Fay wanted to choose a random direction to walk, he did notice that the mountains in the distance were fairly close, closing off the forest area so he had to wonder what was beyond it all, if anything. Could I escape? That was the thought that went through his mind, and if things got bad tonight it might still be a path he will take.

  [You have been poisoned x3]

  The snake was running dry annoyingly, so he chucked it onto the ground and walked more freely. He hoped Bark wouldn’t be angry that he had lost and broken another weapon of his. And would make him another, Fay was already coming up with the strategy on how to beg, Bark was a shy boy so he would just say sorry and ask, it was easy, he was easy.

  [Higher Uncommon Venom Extracted x3]

  He arrived at the cabin and saw Lily sitting on the now repaired steps, with her hand on her face, looking bored and sleepy. Fay spotted her much sooner than she spotted Fay, but the moment she did she gave him a minuscule wave, barely a movement, “hey…”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” She stood up and smiled, it was a doll smile, something you threaded and stitched onto fabric, “I had a hard time, you?”

  “Fine… I’m fine.” He walked to the side of Lily, hoping to get into the cabin but she put a hand on his arm.

  “Not now, Bark is having a meltdown.” She whispered, “he hasn’t been taking it all too well, he broke I guess.” She pulled Fay back, “come, sit.” She patted the spot beside her, “he couldn't get this…” she giggled, “this ring thing? Not sure what it was, but he couldn’t get it ‘working.’”

  “Is millie in there?”

  “Mhm…” She picked on her clothes, some leather things that had grown dirty and smelly throughout the three days, "she's tending to him, he tried to break both his hands with a hammer.”

  Fay nodded and leaned back, of course, that made sense. “We’re losing it.” He still didn’t feel it, but he guessed that he was clawing into deep insanity too, of course he couldn’t tell, “probably for the best.”

  “Yeah… sane people fighting in wars… hah…” she giggled again and started to twist a nail on her finger, using her thumb to cut the others, “Millie said that tonight would be really bad.”

  “How so?”

  “She didn’t get into details, just said we should accept it.” She looked up into the sky, it was still early noon but the fact that the sun hadn't stopped in the sky and kept an eternal daytime made her feel dreadful. “Did you get stronger?”

  “I did.”

  They sat for a while, Fay accepted the rest, it wasn’t as loud as the break Joey’s team had, no talking, no constant arrangements, just allowing a pathetic and useless rest. Inside the cabin Fay could hear two voices, who knew what they were saying, but Millie was definitely trying something. That was her game, he didn’t care anymore, not really.

  “He picked the skill you suggested.” She pressed her lips in between both her knees, hugging them, "that's what caused the meltdown, it was hard to control… he couldn’t do anything.”

  She didn’t expect him to say anything to that, so he didn’t. She really wanted him to come back with new armor, a new cool sword, some enchanted rings and necklaces. But he came back the same, maybe a little stronger, maybe. She couldn’t blame him, she was being unreasonable, those accessories could be paid off with some food or water, but that's why she chose him, he was unreasonable to himself, that's why he stormed that dungeon and why she fled.

  The door opened and Millie strolled out, closing it behind her, she looked a bit shocked to see Fay here, “your lung isn't working.” Was the first thing she said.

  “Can you fix it?”

  “No.” She sat a fair ways away from them, touching a bush, “Bark is stable.” She pulled a small branch off the brush and began to pick off each leaf, plucking them methodically. “If you all make it through day three, day four will be a rest, okay?”

  “Okay…” Lily and Fay both said, though only Fay continued, “why tell us?”

  “Because.”

  She turned back to the small branch and plucked off more leaves, Fay decided to get more comfortable and lean to have his back on the stairs, “ah.” He said aloud and shut his eyes. “If we get attacked let me know…” that Thomas fellow could very well be coming this afternoon, stronger and more prepared. Either way, Fay finally got some rest.