34 Chapter 2: "I Love the snake form!" he says, not loving the snake form . . .
[Tavish POV]
Over the course of a week, I hunted a significant number of rabbits, picking up a lot of strange and weird abilities as I grew.
The abilities leveled up If I consumed more of the same type of creature, but their was a limit on how much an ability would grow using this method.
"Escape" simply allowed you to run away from things faster if I have to flee from a predator, and most other abilities were that simple in nature.
The other thing that I learned, was that goblins were assholes.
I found a goddamn cave full of them, and they seemed to view me as a type of prey despite how large I was in the grand scheme of things.
It wasn't until yesterday that I finally killed my first goblin in this form.
[LEVEL UP!]
Their was also some weird system in this world that existed outside of Iris's control that determined the growth of monsters.
All of these clues as to where I am were setting off alarm bells in my head, but I couldn't quite figure out where I was dumped.
Oh well, my stats had changed a tad as well.
Name – Tavish
Lvl – 99/100
Race – Snake
Class – locked
That was it.
Nothing to give me any extra hints as I went about my day to day.
Observe still worked, but I leveled up freakishly fast in this world.
Is the level system more akin to evolution points or some other statistic like that? I know I'm also doing stuff outside of the norm of what a snake would actually do.
Dragging the large rock up a tree just to whack some unsuspecting goblin may be a tad out of the norm of what I should be capable of, but goddamn it! I miss my arms!
The Goblins in the nearby cave were getting bolder as well. Some of the ones I've seen coming out of there are full on hobgoblins.
As far as I can tell, the only difference between a goblin and a hobgoblin is one is stronger and more humanoid looking than the other.
I was actually experimenting with attempting to take one out just now.
This particular hobgoblin obsidian black skin as opposed to their standard green so I was expecting some surprises from him.
He looked to have made armor and clothes from the creatures around here so, I set traps accordingly.
This was extremely hard to do without hands so I'm hoping that the sheer amount of poison that I supplied for this would be worth it.
He stepped into a pile of leaves and his foot plunged through, and his legs were slashed up by the poison coated rabbit horns in the shallow pit.
As he struggled to climb out, I pounced from the tree hanging overhead, sinking my fangs into his neck, and wrapped myself around his neck, tightening on his throat.
I felt his makeshift knife stab into my hide several times as he tries to pry me off.
We continue to tussle like that for several minutes before he goes limp.
Not taking any chances, I tear his throat open to make sure he's dead before consuming him.
In any other circumstance, I'd be disgusted with myself for consuming the humanoid creature, but I was quickly forced to realize that "those" morals won't let me live very long.
[Level Up]
[Max level Achieved!]
[Would snake like to evolve?]
[Y/N]
Hitting yes, I pass out as I start digesting the hobgoblin.
[Time Skip]
I wake up and groan as I reach up to rub my eyes.
Glancing quickly at my newly formed hands, I look down at my body to see the vaguely human torso running into the snake like body.
[Congratulations!]
[Due to killing the previous user . . .]
[You have received the "End and Origin" ruling]
[Divine protection of the Great God]
The fuck is that?
Whatever, may as well check out my stats . . .
Name – Tavish
Lvl – 1/100
Race – Hydra Variant
Class – Monster Tamer (1/100)
What the hell is wrong with this world?!
A damn snake doesn't just suddenly become a hydra?!
Searching around frantically, I make my way to the river and peer in.
My body had changed giving me a humanoid, yet snake like face as the two sets of eyes stare back at me. I hardly looked like a hydra at all! A naga? I could see, but a hydra? Not a chance.
Maybe my head would grow back as two if it was chopped off?
Whatever, point is I have hands now, which means I can science the shit out of my problems instead of using my mouth for everything.
I am about to Dr. Stone up in this bitch!
It was the absolute worst, having to dig that pit fall trap yesterday with just my mouth, thankfully I can move past that now.
Building a base camp was now my top priority.
I found a really nice rock outcropping next to the river that I liked to sun myself on when I was digesting food, and used it as the centerpiece of the camp as I made a campfire pit shortly followed by a fire.
The one thing that I missed the most in the week that I had slithered along the forest floor was cooked food. So after searching along the bank, I came back with a turtle shell of steel that I had tried to eat two days ago.
I managed to kill the beastie inside, but it had sealed the shell shut so I was forced to abandon that meal.
But I have hands now!
Prying open the shell and breaking the bottom slightly, I fashioned it into a makeshift cooking pot to hang over the fire.
After hunting around for a bit, I caught myself two horned rabbits, some wild vegetables, and some rosemary and thyme.
Just enough for a makeshift rabbit stew.
Carving spoons and bowls was my final step as I waited for the meal to cook.
My relative single mindedness about finally having something cooked, was broken when I heard rustling in the nearby bushes.
Flicking my tongue out, I taste the air, as I listen.
Goblins.
Aaaand, maybe something else I can't determine. Metal maybe?
Grabbing the horns I collected from the rabbits, I turn just in time for a bunch of goblins to charge towards me from out of the brush.
Lashing out with my tail, I send one flying into a tree, and I stab another, but not before one drives a makeshift spear into my ribs.
It doesn't go that deep, but it is problematic as I tear out the throat of the one that I stabbed. Another two goblins come out of the woods and I realized that I might be in trouble, before a metal short sword flies out of the woods and impales one of the goblins.
Hitting another one with my tail, I stab another one as an armored figure emerges from the woods.
A very familiar armored figure . . .
[Observe]
Goblin Slayer
Lvl – 156
Thoughts: Kill all Goblins!
Well . . . damn.
This could either be really good, or really bad for me.
The Goblin slayer charged into combat and stabbed another goblin, giving me breathing room to bite another one.
Grabbing a goblin by the ankle and slamming him against the ground, I hear a snap as his head rolls to a weird angle.
When the dust settles from the fight, It leaves the Goblin slayer, standing across from me as I struggle to catch my breath.
Looking past him at the fire pit, I sadly look at the knocked over food and resign myself to another night of raw food.
The Goblin Slayer glances between me and the pot, before slowly sheathing his blade.
He moved over to the fire and started pulling out his own cooking pot and supplies from his bag.
Salvaging the rabbit meat, he added potatoes and onions before starting the food cooking again.
I attempt to speak, but all that comes out is a hiss, causing his head to snap back to me.
Goddamn it.
I haven't quite realized because I haven't been speaking aloud.
Of course, I don't have vocal cords, I'm mostly snake. So of course, I can't speak human.
Trying to scribble my intent on the ground wasn't decipherable either, so the local readable language was different than what I recognized.
My internal worrying was interrupted when the Goblin Slayer posed a question to me; "Can you understand me?"
The way he spoke sounded like plain English to me, so I nodded furiously.
He rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a scroll.
"Can you use this? It's a speak language spell, but it requires activation." He states tossing the scroll to me.
Tossing the scroll immediately into my mouth and swallowing, a new notification popped up.
Abilities Learned!
[Speak Language: Common] (1/100)
[Scribe Scroll] (1/100)
My throat contracted and twisted as new vocals formed and I absorbed the ambient properties of the scroll.
"*Cough* Thanksss friend. I hadn't evolved far enough to ssspeak yet." I cough. My S's sounded a bit long, but maybe that would resolve itself after speaking long enough.
"What manner of creature are you?" He questioned, stirring the pot of soup that was slowly bubbling at this point.
"Hydra Variant of ssssome ssssort. I only hatched a week ago ssso I'm ssstill getting a lay of the land ssso to ssspeak." I inform, as he hands me a bowl and spoon.
"And the goblins?" He asked, his eyes gleaming under his helm.
"Local tribe. I've been competing to evolve fassster to wipe them out. Managed to take out a hobgoblin variant last night before I evolved." I mused, my mouth watering as he ladled soup into the bowl.
Blowing gently on the hot soup to cool it off, I quietly analyze the goblin slayer and compare him to my current form.
While the overall length of my body was about twelve feet in length, I had no illusions that he'd beat me in a fight. Probably because most of my diet for the last week was rabbit, and not much else in the way of variety, so I didn't gain many new skills.
I think the only other skill I got from the rabbits was "Stab" which is probably self-explanatory enough that I don't need to go any further.
"How big is the local tribe?" the man questioned leaning forward slightly.
"Quite big. I sssaw at least forty total that left the cave on a sssemi consssisstent basssis. They had a new brood recently ssso I think their maybe more." I replied, thinking back to the few instances I was brave enough to go near the cave.
He pulled out a map, and spread it out on the ground between us.
"Where?" He stated simply as I took my first look of the forest we were in.
Apparently, this particular forest was quite big judging from how far from town we are.
"Right here. There isss a group of Orkssss further down here, in the quarry." I state pointing to the two locations.
"Hmmm . . ." he mused while studying the map.
"I wasss planning on taking over the Ork den once I had killed the goblinsss and got sssstrong enough, but there isss only ssso much I can do in a week." I complain, as he nods in acknowledgment.
"So If I help you with this, would you be willing to safeguard against goblins in the future?"
Thinking about it, as long as the goblins weren't bothering the local populace, I could grow peacefully and without much interruption.
"Ssssure, you've got yoursssself a deal." I agree.
[Time Skip]
I didn't expect the Goblin Slayer to move so fast in setting up for the raid on the goblin clan.
He had left for barley a day and came back with a lot more swords, flasks of oil, and a spear which he gave to me.
While he was gone, I managed to hunt a few blue slimes and gain some abilities from it.
New Abilities learned!
[Bodily fluid manipulation] (1/100)
[Physical damage reduction] (1/100)
[Liquid Body] (1/100)
[Absorption] (1/100)
[Metamorphosis] (1/100)
Each ability that I picked up seemed to be insignificant by itself. Often being a simple action or move, but the slimes turned out surprisingly useful, enabling me to absorb prey and a slightly greater degree of durability.
The fact that the slime cores tasted like hard candy or that their bodies tasted like Jell-O had absolutely nothing to do with why I was hunting them voraciously.
Back to the topic at hand though, the Goblin Slayer gave me the spear and we set about hunting the Goblins.
Using a spear to kill the beasties was a hell of a lot easier that the rabbit horns I was using before. Plus, I had the added benefit of using my own poison to inflict extra damage with the spear.
It was honestly pathetically easy to kill all of the goblins in the cave with the Goblin Slayer's help.
He just started a very smoky fire at the entrance and "smoked" the goblins out of the cave. When they ran out to get away from the smoke, I'd stab them and drag them out of the way.
The goblins had no notable skills to speak of, so after absorbing the first few, I just set about exterminating the rest.
Once we were done with the bloody deed, I took a look around the goblins cave.
Most of it was unimpressive, as their bedding was rotten animal hides, a lot of their collected food was raw bug or meat of some variety, the true horror was unveiled in the back rooms.
Catatonic women lay in a cave separate from their treasure hoard, some of them obviously pregnant, the assorted fluid in the room leaving little question as to what they were used for.
My horror must have shown itself because the goblin slayer quickly moved past and started putting them out of their misery.
I helped him move the bodies outside and we built a funeral pyre.
"Iris, I noticed several themes to this world in addition to goblin slayer . . . is this a blended world of sorts?"
[Yes! I'm surprised you noticed!]
[This is one of my experiments as far as taking a popular world and tying in less widespread designs.]
[This one happens to be Goblin Slayer x RE: Monster.]
"Well that explains the evolution thing then."
The Goblin Slayer vanished at some point during our silent vigil, which was fine with me. He did what he came to do and probably headed back to town, leaving me to various projects.
[Cleaning Slime]
Lvl – 1/100
Description: A slime that goes out of its way to consume grime leaving an area spotless before moving onto a new area.
I found this little guy cleaning blood off a rock on the edge of the goblin encampment, so I set out to tame him for my personal use.
The monster tamer class gave me the skill "Tame" and precious little else, so I just experimented until it worked on the little guy.
Upon taming, I set it loose in the prisoner cave to remove all evidence of what it was used for, before taking stock of what the goblins had.
I steadily burned the goblin corpses as I browsed through the equipment, most of it belonging to adventurers they had killed.
The most valuable stuff I found was books detailing the workings of magics enabling to kickstart my magical abilities once more.
I attempted to scribble some high Gallifreyan on a rock to no success, even after channeling a minute amount of magic into the array.
An ork intruded in the cave on my fourth day after clearing out the goblins and met an unfortunate end at the tip of my spear, leaving behind a pick axe.
After a bit of internal struggle, I cooked him up and ate him and gained some new things.
New abilities added!
[Job: Barbarian] (1/100)
[Ork Language] (1/100)
I thought that the "job" was like the class system until Iris disabused me of that notion.
[It more "unlocks" potential, more than anything.]
[It allows you to learn skills for specific archetypes, but doesn't hard lock you to a class.]
[This is a system "specific" to this world, so when its all said and done, everything will be consolidated back into the systems parameters instead of changing it on the fly.]
Good, I don't think it would be possible to keep track of all these abilities I've been accumulating.
I heard a noise below from the tree I was residing in and I spotted a creature with the head of a dog.
Apparently, this was a Kobold.
I'm more used to the D&D concept of a Kobold so I did a double take when "observe" showed them to me for the first time.
Anyway, this particular "Kobold" was wearing a cow skull on its head and holding a staff so I assumed he must be a magic user of some variety.
Dropping out of the tree and stabbing him in the throat, I absorb him to start learning magic skills.
[Kobold Language] (1/100)
[Foresight] (1/100)
[Mana Conceptualization] (1/100)
I loved gaining so many new skills, but I was quickly running into a problem.
I was spending so much time hunting, that I couldn't actually advance my standard of living.
The only thing that I could even consider modern was the damn stewpot that was left behind by the goblins.
Looking back at it, there was no good way to get a quick technological superiority without magic, so I may have to settle for magi-tech in this world.
A book I found on alchemy help familiarize myself with the plants in the area so I could start planning what I would need to trade from town.
I decided to tame a standard slime to run experiments on to see how versatile the little creature is.
A significant number of daily tasks could actually be filled in by slimes if they were bred properly and was contingent on the diet, they were fed.
For instance, If you fed a standard slime a spiderweb, or a creature that excreted a sticky substance, it would evolve into a "Sticky slime".
It could produce a sticky thread or substance that could be used as a bonding agent. This in turn solved any need I'd have for glue and a variety of other adhesives.
Another slime I discovered was a "Acid Slime" along with a "Metal Slime". While I couldn't quite figure out how the "Acid Slimes" came to be, the "Metal Slime" evolved from consuming miscellaneous metal from former mines.
The slimes kind of split by division to create new slimes, making them very convenient for breeding and experimentation.
My latest experiment was an attempt to make a "Poison Slime", by feeding it toxic plants, with a dash of the poison from my own glands.
Slowly but surely, I was starting to get back in the swing of thing by creating and expanding on previous knowledge.
Occasionally, I'd hunt something new in order to dissect/eat the new creature in order to expand my understanding of this new world.
I discovered two types of gems when I was out scouting the Ork encampment nearby.
[Observe]
Fire Spirit Gem (Rare)
A gem containing essence of a minor fire spirit.
Earth Spirit Gem (Rare)
A gem containing essence of a minor earth spirit.
Consuming both unlock the base abilities "Pyrokinesis" and "Geokinesis" respectively, making my overall base survival ability significantly easier.
Honestly most of the base skills that I acquired was all abilities that I had before I decided to undertake this "challenge".
The geokinesis was a literal godsend as it allowed me to start altering the small cave I had taken over, allowing me to manufacture bricks and various fortification for my current home.
But it had one distinct flaw.
Whenever I ran out of magic, I'd fall asleep for a few hours.
This forced me to slow down on my overall speed at which I could progress as I no longer had the massive pool of mana to draw from. I was stuck using my relatively small beginner mana pool, to attempt what I wanted.
It was a frustrating event, but what can you do?
The Goblin Slayer would come and check on me from time to time. I don't know if he was checking if I was on the straight and narrow or not, but it was nice to have some company once in a while. It wasn't until his third visit that week that I discovered the reason.
Apparently, their was a group of hobgoblins that had captured several adventurers and were last seen moving through the area. He strongly suspected that they would make their way back here at some point as this was the only goblin den in the area, albeit a former one.
After agreeing to be on the lookout, he departed, probably to chase down his own leads.
. . .
Maybe I should make my own preparations?
[Time Skip]
[Hobgoblin POV]
After a week of running, I had judged that no one was pursuing us after we captured that adventuring party.
We had left to get more "breeding stock" to increase our numbers back at the cave.
If our numbers grew large enough, I'm sure that we'd be able to get a massive payday by raiding the nearby town.
Plus, I looked back and leered at the "fresh meat" that we were bringing back. These ones happened to be lookers. And I plan to enjoy myself fully with every single one of them before I even let my subordinates "think" about having a turn.
Lost in my fantasies, I almost missed the spear ripping through the air and piercing through our magic user's head.
She hit the ground, and everyone went on high alert as we tried to spot the enemy.
"I thought we were no longer being followed boss?!" one of the goblins screams, as we look frantically through the dark.
"We weren't, this is someone new. . ." I snarl back, scanning the dark woods around us.
I hear a choking sound behind me, and turn to see the other hobgoblin was dangling by what looked to be metal strings that were cutting into her throat.
Swinging my sword, I try to cut her down when a pickaxe blade sprouts from my chest.
I hit the ground and one of the other goblins slices off the arm of the figure, a Naga maybe? Only for it to regenerate back as two arms that proceeded to strangle the offender.
My vision faded to black as the sounds of combat raged around me.
[Tavish POV]
Son of a bitch!
New abilities discovered!
[Hydra Regeneration] (1/100)
You regenerate lost limbs extremely fast, often creating duplicate limbs if one is cut off. The limbs eventually merge back together.
Yeah, but it takes a huge chunk of my health to do so. I only had about 15% of my health pool left after that explosive regen.
I was honestly more pissed about the fact I let the goblin sneak up on me, but hey, learn something new every day.
[I feel like you're too blasé about having an arm chopped off . . .]
Absorbing my old arm to regain some health, I finally turn to the hostages, who were looking up at me with wide eyes.
You know, I probably looked a lot more terrifying than a bunch of goblins, covered in blood as I was.
"Sssorry 'bout the messsss. I'll cut you loossssssse." I state, pulling out a knife and slicing through their bindings.
They gathered their thing and went back to watching my quietly as I absorb the remaining goblins.
Thankfully the mage goblin had some more magic stuffs to add to my abilities, but it was getting a bit unnerving as the humans continued watching me.
"You guysssss are free to head back home." I said pointedly as I scoop up the loot that the humans hadn't claimed and started heading back home.
I slithered for a few minutes before turning and spotting the humans following me at a short distance.
Crap, I'm not in the mood to deal with Stockholm syndrome.
Checking the position of the sun, I decide to let them follow and take them back towards the village in the morning.
My small fort came into view and I slithered through the gate. I dumped my acquired loot in my den and started fishing out some of the animal hides I had acquired.
I had managed to get the basics of tanning down, I think I needed salt, but I managed to create a solution by mixing byproduct of the acid and sticky slimes that left the hides remarkably well preserved.
Rolling out some bed rolls in the main room with spare blankets, I head back to the corner where I had made my "bed" making a mental note to check my traps for tomorrow.
[Time Skip]
The Goblin Slayer stopped by the next day to controlled chaos, and was surprised to the former prisoners that have seemingly made themselves at home despite my plea's otherwise. He eventually returned with a group of people to escort them back to the village.
I didn't mind company, but I feel as if they were attaching to me too quickly for it to be natural so I extracted a promise from them to spend some time in the village before even thinking about coming back here.
As it was, I was planning on moving soon.
I hunted a "Demon Spider" and a "Metal Spider" the other day resulting in me able to create silk and metal "threads" from my body. This in turn gave me enough confidence on my trap making skills where I could hunt Orks on a consistent basis.
The spiders, and their delicious shrimp flavor aside, I also wanted to take over the mine the Orks have inhabited.
I vaguely remember parts of Re:Monster, but I'm pretty sure that the mine still had a lot of good stuff in it that would help me evolve faster.
Personally, I was getting pissed off enough as it was that I was having to learn magic just to get to a technological state faster. I did magic before as more of a hobby to compare it on a scientific level, but magic itself? It got old after a bit if it got to a point of you can just explain it away as magic.
Unfortunately, I needed to get to town in order to acquire some of the stuff I'd need for scientific endeavors.
Glass for beakers and containers for one, as well as some of the more precise metal pieces that I would need.
I might be able to replace the need of the nearby town by breeding slimes correctly, but for now, it is insufficient.
Alchemy also works different in this world, so I needed to obtain reference material.
But all of this would have to wait till after I evolve once more.
I had a feeling that my overly snake like features would result in me being on the business end of a lot of pointy items.
My hypothesis, was that if I evolved again, I would look more humanoid than before, thus would look less strange trying to trade in town.
The other side effect of taking this challenge was I had lost most of my muscle mass that I had built up from years of combat.
So I was having to resort to traps and surprise attacks a lot more than I was comfortable with.
I almost died trying to take on a "triple horned horse" the other day, after the traps I had built failed.
Its heavy scaled hide made it hard to pierce with any sort of a ranged attack, and throwing a spear precisely into a weak spot like an eye was almost out of the question, so I had to get in close to kill it.
Even then, I got gored a few times, before my poison was able to slow it down enough to finally kill it.
Eating it did yield some interesting results though.
[Scale armor generation]
[Charge]
[Triple strike]
[Walking endurance]
My own scales got tougher after eating the beast, and my muscles got stronger so hopefully I could take on the Orks without fear now.
I was looking to bulk up, and now that I had a source, I set about devising traps I could trigger to even the odds against the orks and the best way I figure was log traps! Lots and lots of log traps!
Originally, I wanted to do something with explosives, but then I realized several glaring errors in my thinking.
My lack of access to explosive materials was my most outstanding error, but after that, if I used a bomb, I had the potential of causing a cave in and thus ruining the whole reason for taking their cave in the first place.
Lately, I've been picking off one to two Orks a day as I scouted out the mine they lived in. I usually would drop a tree trunk on one, while the other would run away and get caught on a tripwire of some sort, where I could pounce on them while they were down.
I didn't always catch them before they made it back home, but the fear of an actual predator in the woods seemed to keep them sending out hunting parties.
This particular batch of Orks liked to eat adventurers, so usually I'd get the best results if I hit their hunting parties on the way back to their base.
The workout I was getting by chopping down trees or setting up log traps was nothing to sneeze at either, so I was confident that while it would take some time, I would get back to my old strength eventually.
[Time Skip]
[1 Month]
[Goblin Slayer POV]
From time to time, that odd, snake creature would pop into my mind unexpectedly as I continued my day-to-day tasks of checking the fence for goblins.
Even after traveling with a party to kill goblins in other areas, I would wonder if the creature was maintaining his agreement with me.
I expected nothing big to come from the promise that I extracted from the creature, but the overall forest near the village seemed safer in general.
Local adventurers were even starting to comment on it, noticing that many of the larger predators were seemingly vanishing.
The biggest one, known as "Lord of the Mountain", was missing as it was no longer terrorizing local farms.
It was a variant of the "Hind Bears", which was easily three times the size of a standard "hind bear", and could breathe fire.
Since I couldn't find traces of goblins, or other creature tracks, I strongly suspect that a new predator had moved into the area.
While it wasn't a goblin-based quest, I did volunteer to investigate the matter along with the rest of my party.
This surprised them greatly, as nothing was goblin related about this quest, but I had a different opinion.
I needed to find out what forced the goblins to move, and if it was temporary or not.
If it was permanent, I needed to find where they went so I could continue my hunt.
Thus, we found ourselves following a well-worn snake track through the woods.
The high elf had determined that the track was belonging to one of the larger predators of the woods and would help us determine what was going on judging by its habits.
The Lizard man eventually started following the scent of this particular creature leading us to a recently covered dungeon surrounded by a compound.
Dungeons were structures left from ancient times, often containing extremely valuable treasure, but carried the danger of traps and specialized monsters specific to the dungeon.
But someone was obviously hard at work making this particular dungeon their own home, as evidenced by the small herb garden.
Several "Golden Spider" carapaces were hanging from a rack nearby and a pot underneath slowly bubbled, giving off the scent of crab throughout the compound.
I saw a large ships bell, hanging near the door and I reached for it only for the dwarf to speak up in a harsh whisper.
"Beardcutter! What are you doing?! That will announce us to whatever is here!" he said panicking slightly.
"If its who I think it is, then he's waiting for us to announce ourselves . . ." I explain before ringing the bell.
"Coming!" a voice echoed out from the dungeon, much to the surprise of everyone else.
A large figure slithered from the entrance of the dungeon, rising up to its full height as it emerged.
Five eyes blinked at the sudden exposure to sunlight as I take in the eye that developed on the creature's forehead that sat between a set of horns.
No longer a humanoid snake, the creatures upper body look significantly more like that of a developed humanoid, with golden markings crossing his slate black skin.
Its extra set of arms that it now possessed, were covered in metal gauntlets, grasping what looked to be a long metal tetsubo, and a bag full of jingling items.
Its face no longer, looked as serpentine as before, as hair was now sprouting from the top of his head, a pair of horns poking out of his forehead either side of his eye.
The muscular torso led into a long snake like body that ended with a very sharp looking bladed tail.
His remaining four eyes opened in recognition.
"Ah! You're Mr. Goblin Slayer, right? Its been awhile since you came to visit." The creature commented, the vicious looking end of his tail wagging back and forth slightly.
"I came to ask about some of the happenings in the woods. . ." I prompted, taking note that he could speak without extending his S's now.
"No asking how I've been, no pleasantries . . . alright what do you want to know?" The creature commented, setting the head of his tetsubo on the ground, leaning against it.
The rest of the party was frozen in shock at the casual exchange, but I pushed ahead anyway; "Many of the larger predators of the woods have lessened in number, and the goblins seemed to have disappeared entirely." I stated simply, as the creature nodded.
"No goblin has survived setting foot in these woods while I've lived here. As for the predators, I unfortunately seemed to have developed a ravenous appetite, and the more dangerous monsters tend to be the tastiest." The creature affirmed, allowing me to confirm my suspicions.
"Excuse me, but what manner of creature are you? I don't think I've seen anything similar to you in the time I've been adventuring." The Lizardman interjected, and the creature peered closer at him.
"Well, thank you for asking! My species is currently a Hydra Lord variant! Not quite sure how I was named as such, but I don't have much control over the naming convention of evolution." The creature replied.
"It is indeed odd, the voice of the world works in mysterious ways . . ." The Lizardman nodding along with the statement.
"Can I assume that you evolved from a more civilized tribe of Lizardmen? Possibly dragon newts?" the creature offered and the priest nodded happily in response.
"Indeed! Not many are able to spot the difference!" The Lizardman informed enthusiastically.
"Well, I'm guessing you weren't looking for me other than the information hunt, would you folks care to hang around for dinner?" The creature offered.
After a little bit of decision, the group decided to stay for the night.
[Tavish POV]
I sat on my coils as the adventures gathered around for a bowl of soup.
This last month had been a rollercoaster, and I had honestly forgot about the Goblin Slayer and his companions.
After my raid on the Ork mine, I remembered why it was so important to take it over.
A dungeon resided nearby that belonged to a rather powerful mage. But more importantly, said mage happened to be sitting on quite the stash of magi-tech items, as well as documentation regarding the world.
Unfortunately, he also had a lot of notes regarding stuff I considered to be "creepy magic shit".
I had managed to gain the approval of the "Tabernacle" created to guard the dungeon, and I assisted in defending the dungeon when needed.
The "Tabernacle" was almost like an artificial fairy created to guard the wizard's home. It seemed to be powered by the little gem in its head.
However, four weeks ago, the "Tabernacle" took a hit from an adventurer looking for a payday and unfortunately, passed away.
Since then, it had sort of became my home.
Absorbing the "Tabernacle" gave me the skills "Golden Rule" and "Golem Creation" but most of my attempts at that skill ended in failure. I had to be missing something, so I just focused on leveling up so I could go to town and get reference material.
But, like all my adventures I slowly but surely got further and further sidetracked.
First it was developing a new slime, then it was starting an herb garden, which quickly became a full-fledged farm, and in all of this, I was still spending an inordinate amount of time hunting.
As I went further and further afield, I progressively found tastier and larger monsters until eventually, I evolved once more to my current form.
Personally, I was just hoping that If I evolve anymore in the future, I don't gain anymore eyes. Five eyes were kinda excessive, and outside of some excellent vision I haven't really gained anything special from just having them.
Maybe if I ate some critters with ocular skills? Like a gorgon? Or maybe some snakes?
If I was in the right world, and I ate a kryptonian, could I shoot a death star super laser from my face?
So many important questions.
Like where did my morals vanished to?
A month ago, I wouldn't even contemplate eating a human for extra powers.
Was this a side effect of being bestial in nature?
Thinking about it, I didn't mind absorbing some idiot for their power. But eating them?
It felt fundamentally wrong.
Anyway, after my most recent evolution, my level ups slowed to an utter crawl as most of the tougher prey was significantly further away than I was willing to actually move.
Thus, I moved my sights to closer projects.
This led to the surprise of the party the next day when I announced my intention to go to town with them.
Which they honestly took a lot better than I thought they would.
After much protest, which I mostly tuned out, I managed to convince them to allow my attempt.
I was on the larger size, mostly in thanks to my tail, but I probably fell straight in the large size category of beasts, right up there with Ogres and hill giants.
So, after locking up my fort and making sure my traps were set, we stet off back for town.
The trip itself was uneventful, outside of the dwarf poking fun at the elf on occasion which was mildly entertaining, we finally reached the edge of the village at around mid-afternoon.
Slithering into town brought many stares as I'm assuming this is a predominantly human town. I did spot the occasional elf or beast person, but I doubt their was anything here as outlandish as me.
We came to a stop in front of the adventurer's guild, and the goblin slayer pushed open the doors.
I duck under the frame and observed the totally silent room before approaching the front desk.
The adventurers in here were frozen in shock as I waited for the goblin slayer to make his report on the cause of the change in ecosystem in the forest.
The lady behind the desk didn't seem to be paying any attention to the report and was instead staring up at me nervously.
When the Goblin slayer finished the report and their was no response from the lady, I decided to speak my piece.
"Hello, I was wondering if I could register as an adventurer, or possibly file the appropriate paperwork so as to not to get hunted or stabbed by overzealous individuals?" I rumble out, finally causing the girl to jump.
"A-ah. Yes, let me get the paperwork!" She stutters, scampering into a back office.
Looking around, I can see plenty of the various adventurers relaxing their holds on their weapons. A few of the magic users were observing me rather intently while a very familiar alchemist was poking at the bladed portion of my tail.
Spiel Fean
Lvl – 167
Job: Alchemist
Thoughts: Familiarity, curiosity
"Just because its been a month since you last saw me doesn't mean you have to do that." I comment dryly causing her to jump and blush with embarrassment.
"Err, well, you've certainly grown. Its not my fault that you've changed so much . . ." the alchemist gave the excuse while I hummed in thought.
The Guild girl eventually came back with the proper paper work for me to fill out along with a badge for wearing around town to identify me as an adventurer.
And with that, I vanished off towards the rest of town.
[Time Skip]
It is fucking difficult to trade with the shops around here.
Fist they're all like; "Eeek! There is a big monster in my shop! Someone call the guards!", then upon realizing I was in fact there to buy items, I was often charged at a 50-100% markup of most of the stores I went into.
I got away with a good deal from the alchemy shop thanks to the alchemist woman working there, and the general goods store had a few friendly proprietors, but I had to haggle tooth and claw
The parts and pieces I had from the monsters I've killed over the last month allowed me to pay for a lot of the items I wanted, but I had to leave a significant chunk of other things behind thanks to how the locals wanted to run things.
But the most difficult part of moving through the town, was the soldiers.
One of the human armies was staying in the town as they prepared to wage war on some elves further south, and it was making my "supply run" significantly more strenuous than it had to be.
Drunk soldiers, racist commanders and just a general hatred towards anything not human made it hard to hang around for as long as I'd like.
So after hiring for the remaining items to be delivered and collecting what I had gathered so far, I traveled back to my home within a few days.
Getting back, I was fairly happily greeted by the many slimes that I bred. They bounced around my tail like excited puppies as I went and resumed my attempts to advance my standard of living.
Iris was an absolute peach and disabled the supposed "voice of the world" finally, so whenever I ate something and gained new abilities, she would consolidate them and file it under a general skill.
Things like "Strength enhancement" didn't need to be broken into sub categories such as "Ogre's Strength" or "Hind Bear Muscles", honestly I'd probably be fine if Iris just told me I got some more gainz periodically.
[I still have to keep relative track of how powerful you get . . .]
[I can't just generalize it into "Gainz".]
I felt something bump into my lower body and spot a brown featureless doll-like creature skirt around my body and head off towards the garden, its floppy little arms swinging excitedly.
Lesser Earth Spirit
Lvl – 5
Thoughts – Happiness
Since I was basically turning this dungeon into a hive of activity, certain creatures were starting to make themselves prevalent in the area.
So far, it was mostly elemental spirits, but several of the other creatures within the woods were observing me, and seeing what would happen after the spirits spent long enough in proximity with me.
I haven't quite cared enough to figure out who yet, but I figure it's a matter of time before I'm approached.
Regardless, I've finally managed to generate electricity!
My first idea revolved around having a slime run on a wheel to charge a battery, but that particular idea was rendered obsolete when I discovered another slime variant.
Electric Slime
Lvl – 15
Thoughts – contentment
This particular slime appears to have been struck by lightning and survived leaving him a bright yellow color and constantly sparking.
I ate one at one point and it was very tingly until, I was knocked over with a jolt.
It seemed to have similar properties to eating a taser apparently.
[How do you even know what that's like?!]
. . . .
Moving on . . .
[The fuck we are! What did you even do to get in that position?!]
Now that I had electricity, I could start making my way through the industrial revolution. I could even accelerate the length of time it would take to make guns!
[Don't you dare keep ignoring me!]
Once I figure out how to fabricate stuff, ammo and other inventions will skyrocket to the forefront!
I've been recording most of my notes in circular Gallifreyan to consolidate space and remember the entirety of diagrams without the help of my cyberdeck. While I couldn't derive any power from high Gallifreyan currently, I'm guessing it's because of my lack of any artificing ability.
Which pushed me back to analyzing everything within the dungeon.
Velvet, the wizard who owned the dungeon had amassed quite the collection over his lifetime. Glancing down it my arms at the silver artifact that had bonded to them I read the description.
Airgetlam
Discovered by Velvet in the depths of a legendary dungeon, this arm evolves with the creature that it bonds with replacing the existing arm. It frequently evolves with new abilities, materials and metals.
It initially started as a single gauntlet before evolving to four to cover my new four arms upon evolution. This was also the closest thing to cyberware that I've discovered in this world.
When it merged to be part of my anatomy, it gave me a chunk of insight into various magi-tech tools.
Mana was simply used as the go between instead of the complex wiring for various bits of cyberware and high-tech tools, so If I could manufacture those circuits somehow . . .
My thoughts were interrupted with some loud banging by the entrance to the fort.
I usually left it open when I was moving in and out, but since I was experimenting with various bits of magic, I had sealed the big stone door. I had found the big ships bell in the Orks hideout and had hung it up as a doorbell, so I didn't understand why someone was trying to knock when I had a perfectly loud bell next to the door.
I grab my Tetsubo and make my way towards the door.
The Tetsubo was something that I found amongst the items of Velvet and surprisingly carried no magical effect. Its only unique feature being that it was effectively a large spiked bat made entirely out of black iron. The end of the weapon finished with a large ring for a pommel.
Honestly it was just a weapon that I just vibed with. A bat provides a simple timeless message that, if used correctly, could provide simple non-lethal corrections to certain individuals.
The only down side is if you added spikes, you kinda lose that non-lethal approach.
But most of the stuff in the woods was out to kill me so it didn't particularly matter.
Opening the door, I come face to face with the pointy end of several spears.
"Can I help you?" I question dryly, taking note of the slightly shaking soldiers on the other end of the spears.
"I can't believe it . . . there is actually an intelligent beast out here, living better than the empires own soldiers" A snide voice commented from behind the soldiers, causing me to search behind them for the source.
A rather rotund man with a mustache that would not look out of place in a '70's porno, stood surrounded by a rather large contingent of soldiers outside of my fort.
The hell is the empire?
I take a closer look at the rather large group threatening me.
In addition to the soldiers, their appears to be several adventurers dispersed amongst the rank and file.
But among all these warriors, was what appeared to be an assortment of monsters and beast men with chain collars.
A Penial legion maybe?
Slaves?
I saw a couple of elves amongst them so I guess it's the latter of the two options.
A spear poked my cheek and I snapped it in half without thinking as I came back to reality.
"I'm sorry, I really stopped giving a fuck about thirty seconds ago . . ." I comment blithely as the commander turned purple with rage.
"I know, I know. It's a bad habit of mine. But its getting better! Anyway, why are you here threatening me with spears?"
"I said . . . that you had been forcibly conscripted to fight and die a glorious death for the empire! Your assets will be seized to further the war effort. He bit out, a snarl forming on his pudgy face.
"Oh . . . well I'm going to have to preemptively tell you no, my mother always told me never to go anywhere with strange men.
I grab my tetsubo tighter as I conceal it behind the door frame with my third arm.
While I did have a semblance of an inventory here, I got it by devouring an adventurer's item bag.
It gave me a skill called "Item box" which basically conjured up a box to store a huge amount of items in, but I had to physically open the box to grab any of the other weapons I found among Velvets stash.
Eh, I'll take what I can get, I think I might have found a solution to my lack of weapons . . .
Surveying the rest of the weapons the soldiers were carrying a plan formed in my mind.
"We weren't asking for permission beast! Men! Subdue this mouthy wretch and slap a collar on hi-." The commanders statement was cut off as a soldiers head flew past and exploded against a rock.
I swung the tetsubo around on its ring, slamming through the chest on the now headless body on the ground.
Tilting back my head, I unleash a roar that shakes the nearby birds out of the trees.
[Roar of the Beast] (25/100)
An AOE skill, the user unleashes a mighty roar that intimidates and terrifies creatures within the nearby area.
Extending my body up to my full height, I lunge at the commander and wrap my metal fingers around his throat.
My tail lashes out, the blade dismembering the soldiers I left behind.
Grabbing the blade at the commander's waist, I use it to bisect another soldier as I cut a bloody swath through the people attempting to conscript me.
Redirecting the swing of a great sword, the young adventurers head is crushed under the weight of the tetsubo, and I quickly liberate the blade from him with one of my hands.
While I could most certainly fight and fend off the soldiers, I eventually started accumulating wounds.
My scales were a lot thicker than when I had started out, but that didn't mean I was completely immune to damage.
Archers made themselves known and started peppering me with arrows, forcing me to add evasion to my tactics.
That, and I had their commander to serve as my meat shield.
As arrows punched into the back of his body, I absorbed one of the dead soldiers to regenerate some of my health pool.
Some of the adventures were looking nervous as I got closer and closer, absorbing the fallen as I went. They could clearly see my adventurer's badge, and carrying out an attack like this was against guild rules, but just as many grit their teeth in excitement as I carve a path towards them.
At this point, some of the soldiers started fleeing, not wanting to deal with the angry "snake man" that was wreaking havoc on their forces.
A loud bang, tore off one of my arms. Searching for the source, I saw a glint of a cannon like barrel just at the edge of the clearing.
Ducking low, I zoom close to the ground slashing the occasional leg as I close the distance.
Multiple bangs followed after as the shooter took random shots in an attempt to hit me again, only for his comrades to serve as casualties.
Rushing forward, I leap and slam the full weight of my coils into the gunman.
Judging by his badge, he was an adventurer of some sort, but that did little to deter me as I drove a clawed hand through his throat.
[Magic Cannon] (Rare)
An artifact capable of firing condensed bursts of magic. The round changes based off the type of magic used, and the density stored.
A quick use of observe determines that I can't readily use it, so I absorb it into my arm for safe keeping.
Airgetlam absorbed artifact "Magic Cannon"
Not now!
Absorbing the corpse, I turn to the remaining forces.
"Welcome to my hunting grounds lads and lasses!" I growl, blood still dripping off my hand.
Skills activated!
[Intimidate] (53/100)
Through various statements and actions, you can instill fear into your opponents. This can cause them to freeze in place, or run in terror based on the level of fear you instill.
[Eye of the Beast] (15/100)
Snakes have been known to have a stare capable of freezing its prey. Since you've exceeded the bonds of snake, your stare establishes yourself as the Apex predator and imbues terror into your foes.
People were definitely less enthused to fight once they saw how fast I hunted and killed their ranged support.
I was slightly impressed by those that did stick around even under the effects of three separate fear-based skills.
But even those were withdrawing, slowly leaving a deserted battlefield.
Looking around at the clearing, I sigh in exasperation at all the blood splatter and dismembered limbs.
I slowly start cleaning up to remove the traces of battle.
[Omake: Tardis to another world: Devil May Cry]
[Dante POV]
Shooting the last demon, I sit down against a pile of rubble. It had been several hours since I had started fighting my way through this particular infestation, but man I was parched.
Glancing up and down the hall, I search for a fridge or a water fountain or something when my eyes alight on a blue phone box.
I could swear that it wasn't there a minute ago . . .
Walking around it several times, I finally try the handle, the door opening easily.
"Welcome to the TARDIS Tavern friend! Do close the door before you let all the demons in?" A voice came out of the depths of the phone booth.
Stepping inside and shutting the door, I turn around to notice that the box was definitely bigger on the inside.
A redhead behind the bar waved me over.
"Take a load off friend! Our taps are full, and our ovens are hot. Got anything you're in the mood for? He asked, setting a glass of water on the counter.
"Do you guys do pizza?" I asked, quickly realizing how hungry I am.
"Yeah, we can. Nothing like pizza after slaying demons huh?" The bartender questioned, bustling about prepping the food.
"What is this place?" I questioned, as he poured out a glass of mysterious liquid.
"Time and relative dimension in space. A place where multiple different realities meet, and you can take a load off away from the hustle and bustle of your home universe." The man commented, sliding the pizza into the oven.
Looking around, I took note of the mass of various species people and creatures inhabiting this tavern.
"I don't think I understand, could you break it down form me?" I ask, as he pulls the pizza out a heck of a lot faster than I was expecting.
"Eh, it's a bunch of existential stuff that tends to make most peoples head spin. It best not thinking about really . . ." the man replied, plating up the pizza.
"One thing is for sure, you're hardly the only demon hunter that has visited." He commented gesturing over at two men drinking in the corner.
"Those guys over there are Sam and Dean Winchester. They tend to hunt any and all things supernatural. I hunt demons myself from time to time, and just last week, we had our resident vampire hunter, Buffy, visiting." The bartender informed.
"That's all well and good, but what about those demons over there?" I asked, and the bartender glanced at them, and then back to me.
"All are welcome here as long as you leave your issues at the door. This is a neutral zone, so no one is in any fear of getting taken out while their back is turned." He stated simply.
I took a drink of the beverage he gave me. Deciding that I liked it, I started digging into the food.
"That's a sentiment I can get behind, how does one find their way back?" I question around a mouthful of pizza.
"Eh, its up to the tavern, but if she likes you, you can reliably find us once a week." He informed cheerfully.
Well, looks like I have something new to look forward to in the coming weeks.
I stayed late into the night as the revelry intensified as the night wore on.
