The Apprentice of Ouroboros [Monster Evo LitRPG Adventure]

Neska forgot she was staring for a touch too long, as Hadley folded her arms, looking content. “What, surprised to see me?”

“I am. I mean, uh, we are.” Juni chimed in about the same time as Neska, who had fought her urge to give Hadley a snake hug. If there was someone who needed it, it was Hadley.

No, wait, all her immediate acquaintances and friends needed them. But public displays of snugs, as she likened them, were probably not socially acceptable if granted casually. Maybe later.

Hadley pointed to Juni, wearing a leering smile. “How’s she treating herself, Juni? Is she still working herself to the bone, trying to prove something?”

“Anything less for her would be unacceptable,” Juni stated smugly. Neska gave her a fanged scowl that had zero effect on intimidating the boldly speaking mouse. “You know it's true.”

“Is not. I only studied until…late.” She conceded the point and let out a huff. “So, if you’re here, and working on training, does that mean…”

Hadley let out a soft chuckle. “Yes, Jurik is here. He’s on a different assignment, working with a couple of the professors to update the Varadur biology classes. They’ll start up in a couple of weeks after they finish planning the course material. I do not know a monster that man has not fought, evaded, or captured, with the way he talks. Juni, how on Galwein are you alive, given you were following him a good chunk of time?”

“I’m a mouse. Hiding is what we’re good at. I can squeeze into very tight spaces because my bones are somewhat flexible. Though the terramouse evolution diminished that capability a bit, sadly.” She was positively beaming at the news that Jurik was still on campus.

“Built like a brick now,” Neska said while wearing a toothy grin. The mouse gave her a dismissive wave. “What about Ragnir?”

Hadley tilted her head to the barracks in the distance. “We can catch up later. Right now, I've been tasked with some of Corvin’s defense training, and we'll be prepping for field exercises.”

“You’re friends?” Syra asked, gesturing to Hadley. “And my, oh my, you do have good taste in friends, Cassia.”

“Uh…” She didn’t know why, but Syra sounded a touch too enthusiastic with that statement. “We met by chance. It just happened to work out well.”

“Sure, Cassia, undersell it a bit,” Hadley said, before gesturing to the class. “Alright, ladies and gentle creatures of all shapes and sizes, gather round! I’m Corporal Hadley Feywind. Or Hadley, or Miss Feywind, for you all. Seeing as this course is about your survival and coming out on top when fighting the Varadur, I've been added as an attachment to the class.”

She stood at ease, glancing at the target range. “I see that some of you have the knack for ranged attacks. Good start, but you'll learn more than that. As Awakened and humanoids alike, one thing stands out above all else: not just surviving, but thriving in the face of adversity. Or in the field.

“Starting in a few weeks, we’ll be doing some overnight field training. You’ll be excused from any conflicting classes.”

Apart from the unexpected but appreciative return of Hadley and Jurik, Neska also questioned the change in plans. They’d been in class only a few days. Why the push for field tasks?

She pushed a subtle question. “I presume that recent events have necessitated the extra help?” she asked in a quiet tone.

Hadley tilted her head subtly toward Corvin. “You could say that. For now, practice time.” She interpreted that as ‘this is a sensitive matter, and I don’t want to scare those less hardened to danger than you,’ in effect.

The archer walked to the firing range, unslinging her bow. “I know some people will say that it’s a waste of time to learn how to use a bow. It takes years of practice and training. Some of you may very well have practiced this in the past. Who here used a bow, past life or present?”

Well, so much for my effort to focus on my current powers. She slithered one pace forward, along with several others. Juni squinted at Neska in confusion.

“Just a feeling? Have you shot with a bow before?”

“I think so.” Neska flexed her hand, wondering if she even could anymore. What's the harm? Being able to engage at range if I exhaust my mana isn't necessarily a bad idea.

She went back to the small armory and picked up the bow she'd tested in her hands before. The wood felt smooth and warm beneath her fingers, and she gripped it firmly before inching to the firing line.

As she slithered by, she couldn't help but notice Kasfew standing, arms folded and looking smug among the crowd, focused solely on her. What is up with this guy? On what celestial body did I wrong him?

She shoved the annoyance out of her mind. She had testing to do. She picked up an arrow from a station filled with them. She tested the balance, noting it was suitable, and examined it in detail.

Yew. A common and readily available material. Not enchanted, unlike what Hadley's bow could do, which had ornate metal banding and runes etched onto the flats of the bow. For now, Neska didn't need complicated. She needed it to work. The string felt durable under her fingers, and she raised the bow, setting the arrow on the string.

These motions felt like second nature, as if she'd done this thousands of times before. She drew the bow back effortlessly. Though she was human-sized, her Vitality level would have put her on par with an average grown man. Maybe more, even.

Was it always this easy for her to line up her shot on the target, a scant thirty yards out? Her perception was better than a human without the Interface unlock. Her Agility and precision were much the same: Unclassed individuals would have had to practice for months or years.

And no human chest to get in the way, either. What a strange thought. Does Hadley have to take that into account? Well, no point in posing. Let's see if form matches performance.

The arrow decided that wasn’t the case, and the projectile sliced to the side, narrowly missing the target. She let out a soft sigh, but was unwilling to let one errant shot define her. My form wasn’t correct. Arrow wasn’t aligned.

She tried again.

Thwak. The arrow hit the target, and halfway to the center mark. Out of the corner of her eye, Hadley nodded as the other students practiced. Some, like Syra, used their abilities.

Kasfew apparently cast out fire bolts similar to her [Hex Bolts], based on the slightly extended time he kept his feathery hand raised. It also unsettled her, due to one other, small detail:

His hand was currently smoldering, though this did not appear to bother him. His target, however, burst into flames, with a darkened spot at the impact point. He followed up with several blasts of fire, wearing a stern, almost angry face, and not uttering a single word.

“Ignore him. Focus on your target.” Hadley seemingly read her gaze, and Neska turned to see the archer step next to her. “May I give you a pointer? It looks like you do, indeed, remember this.”

“But it’s…not the same body. I mean, it's not the same muscles, not the same nerves.” It felt strange saying that. Were memories or spells any different? Could she remember how to sew, if that was what she did before?

How to embrace–

She shook her head gently side to side. Better not to give this past any thought. As if reading her doubts, Hadley rested her hand on her shoulder. "But the soul remembers, doesn't it? Here, let's adjust your stance a bit."

Hadley stood by her side, guiding her hands a little lower on the bow, and raising her arm a little higher, to align with her eye. “Practice often enough, and you’ll be able to shoot instinctively. Just focus on hitting the target first,” she said in a soft tone.

“How long did you practice?” Neska asked. “You mentioned you practiced…a lot.”

“Long before my Interface went active. It made me even stronger at it, once it did. I didn't hesitate to pick the scout class when the option came up." She adjusted the bow ever so slightly. “Don’t hold your breath when you fire. Exhale, slowly. Your form is already decent. Plus, better stability with your giant serpent body.”

Neska dared a glance down. “That makes a difference?”

“More area in contact with the ground. Aaaand…let it fly.”

Thwak.

Neska stared at the arrow just off-center. Hadley smiled and patted her shoulder. “Not bad. You know, if you run out of magic, arrows still put down monsters. Well, a lot of arrows for some, but you get the idea.”

“It isn’t a bad idea to have a backup fighting style, is it?” Neska took another arrow in hand and remembered Hadley’s pointers.

Two hits, off-center. Three. The grouping was close, which meant her aim was off a bit, or there was a slight lateral breeze blowing across the target field.

Hadley tucked her thumbs into the straps of her light armor and sighed softly. “Nope. A good warrior keeps a backup weapon, just like a caster should.” She continued down the line, giving instructions to Juni, currently perforating the target with closely grouped stone spines, her whiskers tensed and her gaze intense.

That [Stone Shot] ability was truly dangerous, and her aim, even more so. At least Juni had a backup power, too. It led Neska to think about long-term strategies.

I mean, I suppose I could strangle foes to death, too, or use venoms, which I don’t think are quite magical? Or they are, but at a low level? Wait, hang on.

An idea was forming. She continued to practice, as did the others. Hadley checked in intermittently, having scolded Kasfew for setting her range targets on fire. Anyone who destroyed one excessively was joining Kieran on a trek through the forest on the edge of the valley to seek replacements, and a few were wearing scowls on their faces.

Meanwhile, her aim continued to improve. Her marks were near the dead center of the bullseye, with some variance. She’d have to work out what variables were in play. Wind, tension in her arms…or the emotional uneasiness of how this had come back to her so quickly.

Why was this so important to me before? What was I training for?

When she was done, she retrieved her arrows from the target. Juni and Syra did the same, though Syra’s target looked a little soggy. Juni’s stone projectiles snapped away with a quick chop of her wrist, and Neska tugged on her arrows to get them loose.

“Kinda weird you never mentioned archery,” Juni mused.

“I only remember a little.”

“A little?” Syra let out a soft laugh, quivering like a gelatin dessert. “That was pretty damn good for a first try! It’s all muscle or mental memory. Give it a few more months, and you’ll be hitting monsters before they know what hit them. Maybe coat them in that nasty venom of yours for a little extra power.”

“Ew, licking an arrow, then shooting at some nasty beast?” Juni looked aghast at that idea. “Well, I mean, goblins do have that nasty habit of sticking their arrows into–”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, gross little bastards.” Syra waved her hands rapidly to indicate they didn’t need to finish this thought. “But still, that’s not a bad idea! A very inspired idea!"

“But my skills are better suited to…” Neska trailed off, tapping an arrow held in one hand onto the palm of the other. “Actually, maybe I’ll keep training with the bow. I…seemed to do okay with it."

Her mind was ablaze with possibilities. Could she coat her venom onto the arrowheads? How potent would it be? Would its potency degrade over time, and if so, how long would it take to degrade? Could she prepare arrows ahead of time?

Or, could she possibly find a better means of coating an arrow in deadly venoms, without running her tongue over a sharp arrowhead? There had to be better ways–

Wait. I already have an ability for this application!

She reared her head back and spat a shot of [Blinding Venom] onto the arrow. The arrow started smoking a bit–that venom seemed to be a touch more corrosive than her fang-delivered venom, and was meant for blinding foes or causing external damage.

Syra and Juni glanced at each other, with Syra shooting her hand into the air like she’d won a prize. “Snake spit arrows! Or snake shot arrows! This totally needs a name!”

"This is just as weird and wild as Cassia's other ideas," Juni said in resignation.

Neska frowned. “This seems to be several extra steps to just biting into a monster and delivering a dose of blinding venom, which probably won’t be as effective.” She was missing a piece of information. There had to be a use for this. Venom delivery at range might not be a bad idea, after all. It put her out of harm's way and allowed them to engage foes on their terms.

If there were magically resistant foes out there–and there most certainly were, more than likely–then she needed non-magical means to deal with foes. Normally, her venom would suffice, but that required her to be much closer to the target, and possibly within their melee range. Her [Venom Bolts] seemed to have a diminished effect compared to her bites. That was not surprising, considering she was delivering a venom dose externally and not piercing into the bloodstream.

She slithered back to the firing line, took the spit-covered arrow, and drew it back. She was a little disgusted that she got some spit on her fingers, but the venom did not seem to affect her scales. Interesting. Maybe her own venom couldn’t affect her?

She shot her arrow into the target, which smoldered slightly from the venom compound. She spat onto another arrow and fired off that one as well.

“Ew, why are you spitting on those?” One student groaned, giving her a bewildered look.

“Because if one arrow doesn’t kill them, my venom might,” she answered with a toothy grin.

The student, a tall, thin human male with dark hair, groaned audibly. “But spitting is so gross and uncivilized!”

“I don’t see the Varadur becoming civilized anytime soon. Maybe when they gain some manners, I'll stop." She shrugged and fired her arrow, pinning the target dead-center.

Ability Proficiency Increased

Blinding Venom 3 > Blinding Venom 4

Eww, Neska. This is psychological warfare.

She was caught off guard by the unexpected ability update. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Why did this level up? I spat on an arrow. That's it!

Technically, you found a new means of delivery of the venom. Also, still gross, but effective.

Neska stuck out her tongue, looking at it as best she could, and drawing Juni’s attention. “You’re doing that weird thing again with your face, Cassia. The thing you do when you’re puzzling over something, like you just made a discovery.”

“I’ll…tell you later.” Right now, she had an inkling that some of her abilities had far more capacity than she initially believed, and [Blinding Venom] was one of them.

On its face, it was supposed to be simple. Spit venom, blind foes. Easy enough. But it also had a slight acidic component, different than her normal venom bites. Was the ability focused on blinding foes, or was the main feature of the ability the capacity to spit venom itself, and have a different delivery means than her fangs? And, if that was the case, the Blinding venom variant was merely a bonus.

What if she could spit more than one kind of venom? Could she spit her [Love Bites] anti-venom? Or apply anything she took in through her [Venom Imbuement] ability? She'd have to ponder this one before these field exercises came up, which meant her timetable was scrunched.

She would need to conduct extensive testing. And probably stock up on a hefty canteen for all this spitting.

Less important but probably more socially pressing, she might have to brace for a lot of grief from Juni, given her slowly growing status as the weirdest Awakened on the campus.