The Apprentice of Ouroboros [Monster Evo LitRPG Adventure]

“Just like that?” Hadley raised a brow.

“Yep.” Neska folded her arms while tossing back a piece of fish. “I have powers to level up, and an invasion to stop. The sooner I get into the field, the better.”

Hadley slammed her tankard down, grinning. “Pay up, Jurik. I called it, zero hesitation!"

“This was almost a foregone conclusion, you know.” He flicked a single coin to her, which she grabbed mid-air, then wound it skillfully between her fingers. “Show-off," Neska noted the grumble was at odds with the smirk on his face.

“Doesn’t he technically outrank you?” Neska asked smugly. “Careful, Hadley.”

“Our titles don’t mean much within the academy. We report to the Major stationed here at the garrison. He’s a pragmatic man. And is aware of what has happened,” Jurik explained. "For now, keep sticking to your code name. I suspect we're working on a hidden clock, as either Marikand or Felix could still report on your survival."

"Do we assume they have sources in Rivilat?"

"Yes. At this point, I'd rather be paranoid than wrong," Jurik stated, ever convincing with his logic.

The mouse and the lamia leaned in. “Any word on Marikand, or the Seekers in general?” Neska asked in a low tone.

“No. The response to the death of multiple seekers in Peolein seems unusually muted. There was a report that monsters had attacked them, but nothing else was mentioned, nor were there reports of casualties. There was only a brief mention of one resident caught in the attack. No mention of names."

They're lying about her death to cover their tracks. Bastards. She needed to get much stronger to confront them. "Thank you for telling me, Jurik."

"I wish I had better news. Other than that, the Seekers have been quiet, minus the miscreants we met along the way.” He sighed softly. “There would have been a time I would have wanted to join them. Now…after everything I’ve seen and heard…it worries me how much faith people have put in them. Faith badly placed, even discounting the monsters in their midst. I've spent so much time in the field that I hadn't realized how bad it got."

“So, no movement on that front.” She sighed softly. “Anything else?"

“Nothing has changed since we last spoke. Keep a lot of friends and keep them close.” Jurik, ever the calm and reserved one, wore his feelings well. But she knew even he was troubled by all the events in motion.

“Saaay,” Hadley called out, as if trying to break up the somber moment. “Did you know Neska could shoot arrows?”

“No? How would I?”

“The only way I was using a bow before was if I was the bow string,” Neska said in a polite counter, eliciting a chuckle from Juni. “I...didn't think my body would remember the motions. It was an unexpected thing to remember.”

“She's actually pretty good. Maybe you were training to be an archer or a scout!" Hadley proposed.

Of course, Hadley would have that kind of theory. Neska let out a soft chuckle. "Sure, a witch with arrows and a lower serpentine body, we're already full up on weirdness, so what's a little more?"

"Hey, hey! There are some tougher sons of bitches where you can't bite into their skin, because some of them have hide like steel. Arrows could punch right through and get your venom where it matters!"

She had to admit, Hadley made a good point. "I'll need more practice. I won't be able to utilize it as well as you."

"Plenty of people take training in off-class abilities; the Interface won't stop you. You just won't be able to fire arrows to make the enemy fight in the shade, is all!"

"Fight in the...shade?" She squinted and tried to read Hadley's amused expression.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, what else do you remember?” Hadley leaned in, curious.

“Very little. I keep getting flashes of the past. Not enough to piece together what happened to me. But I was definitely here before Risha left. I also think Serkin is lying or sitting on information, too," she replied in a low tone.

“Give it time, he's hurting. I saw that clear as day when we were in Resalio's office," Hadley said politely, then set her tankard down with a dull clang of metal against wood. "You know what, we need to switch topics to something a little less grim. To hell with broken memories! Time to build some good ones!”

“Like what?” Juni asked, narrowing her eyes. “What do students do to relax when they can temporarily forget they are in a battle academy, training to fight countless horrors from an invading force, where death is around every corner?”

“Look, I can tell you two definitely need a break to do something fun. Meet people! Find hobbies! Hell, maybe just skill grind your abilities until they max out! That one might take a while, depending on how much proficiency you have in them.”

She considered this for a moment. “Uh…like contests?”

Hadley snapped her fingers. “Yes! Like contests! Drinks are great for contests!”

Neska chuckled softly. “I meant something with a competitive spirit that will build trust. Besides, I don't think snakes can imbibe...whatever foul substance is in your tankard."

The archer grinned. "It's called liquid courage. It works wonders on securing handsome devils for the nights when I'm not in the wilderness, making a tree limb my bed for the night."

"Mood." She stuck her long tongue out for emphasis.

A wry smile creased Jurik’s face. “Well, since archery has been brought up…we could visit the range. It is open right now, and there’s a flood of arcane lights to use it. All students can use it as long as one instructor is present.”

“I have a key to the inventory. But don't break anything that isn't an arrow, or it'll come out of my arse," Hadley said in a light warning. Juni grumbled next to her, and the archer smiled politely. “I’m sure I can find something your size.”

“These stubby paws of mine might disagree with you. But I’ll try.”

---

“You know, Hadley, I think you’re cheating,” Jurik called out a short time later, as they all examined their arrow groupings.

“How? I’m playing two drinks to none!" The archer let out a soft laugh as she held steady and fired another arrow toward the target, already riddled with closely grouped arrows. The last arrow split an embedded one clean in half, drawing a murmur of excitement from everyone. “Damn, there’s a game for the ages. An archery drinking game. Every time you miss the center target, you take a drink. That’ll lead to some cumulative levels of inebriation quickly, depending on how good a shot you are.”

“I think you’ll end the contest dead sober,” Juni muttered. The mouse had gotten a small hand crossbow, which was somewhat easier for her to operate. After a while, though, she just elected to use her stone shot ability for marksmanship, with surprisingly good grouping. “Oh hell yes. Stone shot increased in proficiency level!” she said with delight, hopping up and thrusting a paw into the air.

Neska frowned. “No increase in proficiency for me. Foo. Perhaps I should stick to using my [Mana Bolts] instead.”

She couldn't complain about her accuracy; it certainly wasn't lacking on account of her higher Perception and Agility. Between the last several clusters of shots, her arrows were getting closer and closer.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to split more Attribute points toward them. But she already had an issue with attribute spread: she needed Intelligence to maximize her hexes and blessings, Soul for extra mana, and other unknown benefits, and Endurance to optimize use for her [Venom Imbuement]. Agility also helped her venoms scale, too, and Perception didn't seem to help any current abilities in scaling. At least, currently.

But information from better senses and intuition was a strength all to its own, regardless of power usage. She'd watched Hadley continue shooting arrows like a pro. She had such a perfect shot placement that she was now splitting arrows in two. And, wearing a confident grin all the while. Jurik fired slower, but also had a tight grouping of arrows, even at considerable range.

Neska tapped her finger along the bow, wondering if there was some way she could level up something. So she did what she did before, and worked on applying her [Blinding Venom] to her arrows...by spitting on them.

Jurick raised his brow at this. “Does that actually work in increasing your ability?”

She fired the arrow into her close cluster of previous shots, and the target started to smolder. “Yes, apparently, it does. Though, as I was saying to my witch teacher…some abilities don’t spell out all their potential.”

“The monster evolutions are still largely unmapped. I don’t think even the Varadur know their own full potential,” Jurik mused. “To be honest, Neska, anything you and Juni can develop, I’ll roll it into my pending class.”

“Did you ever think you’d be doing this? Settling down into something less dangerous?”

He shrugged, then fired off an arrow after aiming carefully. The arrow made a distant thunk into a target from over fifty yards away. “I disagree on the idea that it'll be less dangerous. We’ll be in the field someday, fighting real fights, where death can happen anywhere. But I'd be damned if I let anyone under my charge go in unprepared.”

“Can you make fire arrows?” she asked.

“Sort of. My ability triggers with my blood. I keep several potions to replace blood. I’ve been very careful not to push the ability. Fortunately, not all of them require me to start bleeding to unleash power.” He pricked his finger with the arrow point and rubbed the blood along the arrowhead to ignite. With another wave of his hand, the flames extinguished. "I can also staunch blood flow just like that. Mine or others, to keep people from bleeding out. A handy little utility that is more than causing damage.

“A piece of advice, as you mentioned with your…uh…venom arrows. Sometimes, new abilities appear if a wielder has found a rather unconventional use for an ability. The abilities can evolve, sometimes with upgrade points, sometimes through natural progression.”

“Is that so?” She fired off another shot while slithering laterally to the target. Then she alternated firing, strafing left and right. "So which ones evolve naturally?"

"Hard to say. Evolutions come more from alternative effects of Abilities. Essence points add immense boosts to existing powers. Usually."

Neska gripped the bow and shot again. She had remarkably stable aim, without having to rely on legs. Her serpentine lower half dampened out variability in her aim point, something she took as a small but helpful observation. Hmm. I wonder if I could use my [Spring scales] for a height advantage when using arrows. Or maybe add mana bolts for extra damage potential. Could I even add mana to them?

It was a query worth pursuing, at some point. She had a feeling it would not be so easy as her venom arrows, of which she'd kept spitting to deliver to the targets.

To her mild amusement after coating and firing several venom enhanced arrows, Vivi gave her a small notification.

Ability Proficiency Increased

Spitting Venom 5 → Spitting Venom 6

She couldn't help but let out a soft hum of contentment.

Then it hit her. Vivi, is that message right?

Why would it not be?

Something was missing. Why did it read [Spitting Venom] now? Had the ability changed? It hadn't hit rank ten yet. That was something to puzzle over while she worked on her mobile marksmanship.

What she needed was to add a hex effect to the arrow. That'd be a really nice utility to have.

Jurik watched her maneuvering on her part and chuckled. "What drew you to the bow?"

"A feeling," she answered. "You ever get presented with choices, and your mind instantly locks onto one, and you know it's right, even if you don't know why? I think I was more than a little proficient before I was Awakened."

"Interesting. Was this one of your goals?"

"To have a backup strategy or to enhance one of my current ones? Yes. Why?"

He tapped his temple gently. "Speaking from experience, I find that, if you're set on a path to make something work...the Interface tends to give subtle hints on how to achieve that."

“Even if it’s horrifying?”

“Even if it’s majestic, too.”

She nodded thoughtfully at this while considering his advice. She could apply venom to her arrow. But could she spit more than one venom? She thought back to that odd message from Vivi.

This was the question she hadn’t answered yet. She had two other venoms to try: [Love Bites] and her standard [Venomous Bite]. Her Venom Imbuement was untested. She needed to be comfortable with alchemy before she started testing her body's limits.

But could she…

She spat out a stream of venom. It was the same result, same slightly corrosive effect. No. Wrong venom. I don't need the [Blinding Venom] right now.

She tried again, focusing on her regular [Venomous Bite]. She could almost feel the venom exuding in the glands in the back of her mouth, something stinging and biting. It was uncomfortable.

Which meant she was either doing something stupid or she was on the right track. She spat again, noting the arrow smoked…a little less?

“Neska, we need to talk about your strange habits, now that you can talk back!” Hadley called out as she shot an arrow skyward. She waited for the arrow to start descending, drew another arrow, humming contentedly.

“I don’t have strange habits. I’m experimenting!”

“By spitting on arrows with snake venom?” Juni said in an edged tone, before glancing anxiously at Hadley playing possible chicken with a falling arrow. “You know if you shoot that straight up, it’s going to go right down through your brain.”

“Juuust wait for it,” Hadley called out, drawing the bow tight. Neska saw the arrow falling point down to the ground at high speed.

When Hadley fired again, her second arrow intercepted and deflected the first to send it spinning into the target. It wasn’t a clean through-and-through hit, but it still stuck to the target at a canted angle. “Huh. Wow, that’s kind of a funny trick shot,” Hadley confessed.

Juni stared at her in disbelief. “You have been doing this for way too long.”

Neska, for once, was glad people weren’t paying attention to her continued experiment. It felt like her venom gland might be running dry. Or she was out of spit.

Wait, no, those were two different glands for her. Either way, she grabbed a water canteen and took a drink. She didn't sweat like the others, she was trying to rehydrate.

That itching continued as she focused on the venom from her fangs. How hard could it be? She had venom from one set of glands that went through her hollow teeth, and then one just off to the side of her tongue, where her blinding venom was. All she wanted was for her gland to produce the same venom as the one her teeth injected. The more she mentally focused on it, the more the itching and discomfort increased. After all, she had her [Love Bites] come through her fangs, too, didn't it?

Were they all connected? Or were they driven by separate processes?

She clenched her jaw, focusing on transmuting the venom in the same way as she would substances in alchemy. Imbuing a small amount of mana was often the means of activating chemical transformations, once the precursor work was done.

That uncomfortable feeling became a sharp pain as she spat one last time, causing her to flinch. She rubbed her jaw, feeling a burning sensation from her glands. I knew I was pushing too far. Ow.

Wait. Her arrow was sticky with venom, but it wasn’t smoldering. It was also the same color as her normal venom.

“The snake is staring at her venom arrow. She’s had an epiphany,” Juni called out to the others, arguing with Jurick, positing that Hadley’s class contributed to her uncanny aim. At the same time, she declared that it was all a matter of natural talent. They ignored her.

“Juni, here, test this,” she handed the arrow to Juni, who groaned in disgust. “Tell me if it feels acidic. I can’t really tell with my scales protecting me from my own venom.”

Juni rubbed one finger along the coated arrow, shuddering. “No. It doesn’t. Eww, I’m touching your gross spit,” Juni gagged.

“This bothers you, but being eaten by a giant tunnel viper didn’t?”

“You are trying to equate–never mind! Why did you make me do this?”

“Uh…” as if on cue, Vivi had something to add.

New Ability Discovered: Venom Swap

All venoms can be produced from any glands within your body. Venoms from one source may be swapped on a cooldown of one minute, scaling with Agility.

She sprang upwards with joy, while Juni looked on, perplexed. "I gotta tell you, Neska, you’re the weirdest person I’ve met, by far."

"Not weird, innovative! Eccentric, maybe, but not weird! I can hot swap any of my venoms to any of my venom glands!"

"Which would be..." Jurik trailed off. "Your bite and your spitting venom and your...uh...anti-venom venom. You know, I've heard of a few Awakened that could exude venom or toxins through their skin. That could be...quite useful. Keep an eye out for your available upgrades!"

"Hell, if it could be saved, I wouldn't mind taking her spit venom and adding a little extra bite to my arrows," Hadley proposed.

"Why is no one grossed out by the fact that we are trying to weaponize Neska's spit?" The mouse said, looking nonplussed. "Ive heard of milking snakes for venom, but this, takes the sweet roll."

"It's venom! It's what it's there for!" Hadley said cheerfully.

Once Neska was done celebrating this small breakthrough, she explained to the mouse and the two others what she had accomplished. With all of them looking in surprise, she couldn't help but feel that this was another step towards improving her abilities. But this one seemed to be a passive ability. It didn't have to be an immediate switch, but having that extra versatility would be a big help.

More importantly, she received an unexpected message. She’d gotten more than just a new passive ability earned through experimentation.

Level increased: Witch 10→Witch 11

One Essence Point gained

Three Attribute Points gained

She smiled and let out a small coiled leap, but only one more. She appreciated that there was another way to level up other than direct fighting. "Well, a level, too. Juni, I might catch up!"

"Still the highest here at thirty-eight," Jurik called out.

"Level, or age?" Hadley asked with a cackle.

"I'll let you be the judge."

Now that she had two essence points saved up, she was tempted to take her [Witch Familiar] right here and now. Before she could dive into it, her lapel pin gave off a soft crystalline chime.

Puzzled by who could be calling her right now, she tapped it to receive the transmission. "Cassia here, it's late in the evening. Who is calling?"

Surprisingly, Professor Serkin's voice came through, loud and clear. “Cassia, are you alone right now? I need to speak to you about something. Something I think might be important."

Neska snapped her claws to get the others’ attention. Jurik and Hadley gathered, along with Juni. "Professor, I find this highly irregular. Can you reach me on Monday?"

"No. It can't wait. It's about Risha."

---