19 19: Hello...?

A patter of raindrops on her cooling skin.

The rasping sound of a dying man, fingers bloody and bruised from fighting, digging into the ground.

Shivers wrack her body, cold sweat forming on her brow and sliding down her pale face from the rain, her pale hair sticking to her skin.

"You..."

She turned around, her icy eyes widening at the man.

Pale, discolored skin surrounded empty black eyes, bruises the imprints of bony fingers colored his neck, his larger form towering over her, like a Reaper come to take her away.

"Why..."

The voice's cold rasp brought about a look of guilt and unimaginable terror she'd never experienced prior to this moment.

The man's filthy hands shot out, grasping at her neck, choking her slowly, but all she saw was the dirt under his nails, the blood leaking from his abdomen, the ashiness of his skin; the things she left him with.

"WHY DID YOU KILL ME?!"

———

Shudders wracked Asta's body, anxiety crawling up her spine and nestling into her heart and limbs as she snapped awake, those pale eyes of hers wide and quivering with guilt; had this not been a frequent nightmare, she would've thrown up—she had in the past.

"It's okay," she mumbled, curling up into a ball and rocking herself slowly, trying to calm her erratic heart.

"It's okay Asta. You needed to... you needed to that time, you needed to..."

'...But what about all those other times?'

Asat grit her teeth, her lips trembling with an effort to keep her tears in check; she'd cried more these days than she'd ever in her life, and her life was by no means easy.

But, could she be blamed for that?

She was dropped into a highly dangerous and stressful situation, and she was completely isolated—no allies, no company, and was even placed in morally questionable situations that led to loss of life.

Dog eat dog, kill or be killed; only the strong remained, and she was desperately trying her very best to remain strong.

But it was hard.

It was so, so hard...

"Sss..."

The smooth, but warm feeling of a small organism wrapping around her substantially helped in calming her heart and mind, as well as her emotional turmoil. Asta's teary eyes swiveled to see her little companion, a lump rising in her throat from the concern she sensed from it, and from the comfort it gave her willingly.

Those tourmaline eyes seemed to bleed compassion and understanding, and Asta was more than happy to soak in all that it offered her—if it helped her escape the isolation, then she'd happily take the serpent.

"Hey Leviathan; did you sleep well?"

Leviathan simply curled up her arm, wrapping around her neck area before nuzzling her cheek affectionately. A smile crossed Asta's tearful face, her reddened eyes closing with trust and contentment towards the little blessing in disguise.

"I'm fine... I'm fine... It's okay, I'm fine... It's okay, I-I'm..."

The words died out, and the girl and the serpent held each other closer, both yearning for comfort from the other.

———

[Somewhere far away]

"Um..."

An awkward silence settled between the trio as the figure stopped a few feet away from them, their serpentine yellow eyes gleaming ominously beneath their black hood, but they seemed to make no move to attack them.

Between their height that towered over them—and they were by no means short—and their exhibited fighting abilities, they seemed like something hell-sent, and truth be told, the trio didn't want sh!t with them.

But there it was again; that weird feeling they felt when they got that mark.

Laura quietly stepped forward, her eyes confused but her voice steady as she cleared her throat and cautioned, "Hello...?"

The figure blinked, tilting their head a little before nodding slightly towards them, as if acknowledging her hesitant greeting.

A burst of pride bubbled up, as if someone revered and respected had acknowledged her personally, and Laura grew even more confused—she literally had just felt feelings similar the ones brewing inside a few minutes prior... Could he be...?

Her eyes widened a bit, and she blurted out, "Hey, are you our Patron...? Um... Jo-Jormun... the World Serpent?"

A pause, and then a soft voice.

"...Jörmungandr."

"Y-Yeah, J-Jor..."

"..."

An awkward silence greeting them again as Laura was unable to properly pronounce his name.

A soft sigh burst from the figure, and they quietly took of their hood, revealing mussed up, jagged white hair that covered a somewhat androgynous face, their eyes color softening into a more sunset color than an... disturbing yellow.

He extended his hand, as if wanting something from Laura, and with that same soft, emotionless voice, he murmured, "Hand..."

"You... want my hand? Why?"

Jörmungandr ignored her question, merely keeping his arm extended, his expectation clear but his reasoning unknown.

Slowly, with caution lacing her every move, Laura place her hand in his, only for him to grab her wrist and pull her forward a bit, touch her right shoulder, and almost immediately, she groaned with pain, as if something was branding her.

"Laura!"

"Hey, you b*st*rd—what do you think you're doing to her, let her go!"

The twins obviously didn't take this lying down, and immediately tried to rush him, but a soft word rendered them immobile.

"Stop."

Their bodies froze, the marks where they had that serpent—one on his left chest, the other on his right, sending a burning, encircling pain, and they both groaned from the feeling; it was like a constrictor had wrapped around their entire body, rendering them useless as they could only helplessly watch Laura and her pain.

But...

She seemed to be getting better...?

"Hah, hah... what was that?"

Jörmungandr's eyes flicked to her, and he mumbled in a way she was quickly recognizing to be his own, "...Mark..."

Realizing that it no longer hurt, she pulled her arm away and pulled down the neck of her tunic, her eyes widening at the sight of her mark; the coiled serpent which had been pale against her tanned skin had turned a stunning black, and a soft *bring alerted her of a system notification.

[Congratulations! Player Laura has been acknowledged and encountered Patron Jörmungandr!]

[Highest stat will rise by 10!]

[80 stat points has been given to be spent!]

[1,000 gold coins has been gifted to Player Laura!]]

[Innate Talent [Lord of Water] has been lent to Player Laura!]

[Due to Player Laura's current stats and incompatibility, [Lord of Water] will be downgraded to [Arbiter of Water].]

[Due to new innate talent [Arbiter of Water] skill [Mistwalking] and [Hydrobreath] have been granted to Player Laura!]

Laura quietly turned to stare at her Patron, and she had to admit, she was impressed.

Maybe she really had made the right choice after all...

She turned to the Twins with sparkling eyes, and with a gulp and Jörmungandr's ominous approach, they knew what was going to happen long before he touched them.

"It only hurts for a second—"

"Take him, take him, not me!"

"You b!tch! H-hold on a second! Wait, wait, wait—AGGGH!"