The white viper had way better stats than I did and it was a level 8, whereas I was a level 1. I get that we had the same number of skills, but why were its more attack proned and mine… adaptability-proned?
Its stamina and health point were far above mine. Running now would be suicide and attempting to fight back would also be suicide. I had no options left. I was going die again and this time, there was no way to avoid it. I wanted to run. What else could I do? I had done my best, right?
Just as I thought I was done for, salvation came to me in the form of a horrid screech. Both the snake and I looked up as a shadow loomed over us. A single black feather fell slowly towards us and landed right in front of me. A shadowy figure slowly descended, flapping its massive powerful wings like an angel from above, here to save me. I used [Analyst] to see who this kind soul was.
[Name: []
[Species: Black Wayne Level 10/15
[Status: [Tired], [Hungry], [Weak], [Poisoned], [Confused]
[Rank: E
[Race Rank: T 1
[Age: 5 months
[Titles: |Of World|, |Abandoned|, |Survivor|, |Nest Thief|, |Abandoned|, |Vulture|
[Blessings: -
[Level: 10
[Health: 50/230 Stamina: 30/370 Mana: - Strength: 60(72) Speed: 70(76) Defense: 52(70) Dexterity: 65(73) Intelligence: 2150 Luck: 41
[Skills: [Black Wayne Caw], [Night Vision], [Peck], [Razor Talons], [Flight], [Auto Mapping], [Terror], [Lightning Resistance]
Its stats were all weird. Why had it lost so much health and stamina? Its level was pretty high though. It also had no blessings, but its titles… I was sort of intrigued. It had the same number of skills as both the viper and I, but its stats were on a whole other league.
'Why are some of the numbers in brackets though? Does that mean it is losing stats? Is that even possible?'
<<Affirmative>>
The black wayne pounced on the viper, saving me from death. The white snake hissed at the bird as it wriggled away. The two creatures then started staring each other down, the snake hissing and the wayne cawing. Both of them asserting their dominance over each other. It was starting to feel like something I would see on the Wildlife Channel.
The black wayne flapped its wings violently, probably as a way to scare off the snake, but it didn't work. The snake jabbed at the wayne with its powerful tail, forcing the wayne to jump up. The impact from the tail hitting the ground where the wayne once stood sent a few of the pebbles flying in my direction.
'Sa sa! Why do they look like boulders?!'
I jumped back to avoid one that almost crushed me. It clacked when it landed, but there was no time for me to take a breather. I had to jump to avoid another one. I kept on doing this until the pebbles were done and I was huffing for air. My stamina had gone down by 4 and that made my heart skip a beat.
My eye caught hold of the white fangs coming for my head at an insane speed, so I tried jumping out of the way, but I wasn't going to make it. Yet again, for the hundredth time this day in this very same area, I was about to die. That didn't lessen the horrid creeping feeling of death clawing at my heart.
With a loud flapping sound and feathers flying all about, sharp polished talons grabbed the viper by the neck, yanking it away from me. Black Wayne-kun was back. He grabbed the snake, yanking it away before I managed to land on the hard pebbles in a pathetic way. Soon, all I could hear was the struggle of two predators fighting. Bird versus snake. Who would come out on top? That much was obvious.
I managed to get a glimpse of the fight as I stood back on my two legs slowly. The snake struggled in the black wayne's talons, twisting, hissing and snapping violently. It bit at the wayne several times, until it got one bite in. This seemed to enrage it however, as it begun to peck the viper violently. In addition to its talons that were already deep into its body. The fight soon turned into a bloody one, staining the ground on which they fought and scarring my eyes permanently.
Their bodies fused as the two beings clashed in a bloody mess. During this, a question came to mind.
Was this my fate? Was I going to become a savage beast that fought in bloody battles to get simple food? I didn't want this. I did not want this kind of life. Reading manga and watching Isekai anime had me thinking that this was going to be epic with a few bumps along the way. It wasn't. Those manga artistes and authors had no idea what they were writing about.
Thinking back on it, they must have known, because some of the characters are never happy. They cried a lot and carried some severe trauma throughout the entire story. They were usually my favorite kind of characters because they were the most human. They really suffered a lot.
THUD!
Interrupting my thought process, the black wayne dropped the viper on the ground, then stood next to it. It shook its feathers violently as it towered over the motionless snake like a champion. I was filled to the brim with so much joy and happiness that I started jumping about.
'Yeah! That's one for the avians and zero for snakes! Take that you stupid snake! You hear that? Never mess with birds! We stand at the top of the food chain! Woohoo! Isn't that right, Black Wayne-kun? Black Wayne-kun?'
I looked at my big black feathered friend who was still huffing. I saw a ton of blood where it stood, accompanied by the bloody mess that was the snake. Its guts laid sprawled out on the ground.
Something felt off though. The Wayne slowly craned its neck at me, giving me a good view of its bloodied face and practically broken beak, littered with scars. My eye met its eye, which seemed to be in a lot of pain.
'Black Wayne-kun? What's wrong?'
[Analyst] activated, leaving me a bit stunned. The black wayne-kun now had 15 health points remaining and his stamina was now 10. It had two new status effects, those being [Weak Paralysis] and [Strong Poison]. The only good thing it got was probably its new [Poison Resistance] and I was certain that it wouldn't be enough for a status effect like [Strong Poison].
My eyes then trailed back down to the white viper and with [Analyst] activated, I was left with my beak trembling. Then I saw the snake twitch. Its status showed [Weak] instead of the much more desired [Dead], which meant I was screwed.
The snake's head raised up and it glared at me, sending shivers down my spine. It still had 30 health points and 40 stamina.
'Sa sa! This isn't fair!'
The viper completely ignored Black Wayne-kun and was slowly making its way towards me. Its white scales were dirtied with blood and several cuts, but that didn't seem to bother it much. I myself begun to take a few steps back, treading lightly and watching for any sudden movements from the snake.This kept up till I could feel water under my feet. I looked back for a split second and all I could see was a shallow water that became less and less shallow. The snake was getting closer by the second.'What do I do? Agent?'<<Possible solution. Run away.>>'Oh gee, what a smart idea. Wish I had thought that up! Useless agent. First you don't stop the whole soul bond thing and then you can't even come up with a proper solution for me? Hmm, I should have a skill that could help for a moment like this, right?'I quickly scrolled through my skill list and stumbled upon two things. First being, that I needed to learn to shut my beak. As unfortuna
Day 5 HISSS Hearing a hissing noise, I jumped out of my sleep, both literally and figuratively. A huge white viper was standing out in front of me, sticking its tongue out from time to time. 'Um… rude much?' I slowly walked back, simply glaring at the snake. I tried to assert my dominance, which in my personal opinion was a very dumb move. The snake snapped at me and I jumped out of the way, allowing it to hit the wall behind me. The whole place shook lightly and snake hissed in pain. I tried to run for the exit, but its tail came for me, sending me flying back. Its mouth was already open in wait for my arrival. Did this snake think that I was going to be its breakfast? If yes, it was insane. '[Adorable Wink]!' I winked my hardest and the snake's mouth shut and it blinked several times, shaking its head. I hit its head and fell back on my back. For a second, I wanted to stay there for a while, but I remembered the massive snake
Day 6 It was really annoying being in a position where when injured I couldn't shout otherwise I would just be inviting more monsters that would simply come and rip my head off. I looked at my blood as it trailed down from my wing onto the black crooked surface of the horned rabbit before me. This one was different from the one from before. It had both horns on opposite sides of its forehead like some kind of deer. I wanted to find a way to get out my current situation, when my other friend, another horned rabbit decided to stab my remaining wing. I closed my beak shut and grunted in immense pain. How the hell had these bunnies entered the nest without getting poisoned? I looked at their status again and they actually were poisoned. They were just ignoring the pain. After I saw another status effect. [Mind Control]. <<Mind Control: The user is being controlled by another being>> 「So it's not their fault? Tch, it doe
I looked at its stats again. STATUS [Name: [] [Species: Flame Deer 30/50 [Status: [Full] [Age: 1 year [Rank: D [Race Rank: Tier 1 [Titles: |Of World|, |Survivor|, |Stray| [Blessings: - [Level: 40 [Health: 1800/1900Stamina: 1200/1400Strength: 400(+200)Speed: 700(+350)Defense: 270(+135)Magic: 50Intelligence: 10Luck: 240 [Skills: [Prey Instinct], [Acrobatics], [Fire Shot] [Explosive Sprint], [Mirage], [Throttle], [Fire Force], [Aura Sense], [Stomp], [Herd], [Heat Vision], [Mid - Fire Affinity], [Heat Resistan
Day 7I decided to start the day off with some good old skill testing. That is, after I had finished recoating the ground and entrance with my poison shots.<< [Imprint]: Allows the user to leave its mark on anything>>'Allows me to leave my mark on anything, hmm… Interesting. So if I left my mark on this nest right now.'I tried, by walking up to the walls then stepping on it. I willed for the simple activation of the skill and it came.The wall glowed with a white light, then my foot print was left on the wall.[You have declared this wall as yours][It is now Hinotori's Wall]'Eh? Just the wall alone? What about the entire nest?'<<Skill is too weak to cause such an effect>>'Ah… useless. All my skills are so useless because of how low level they are. This is super annoying!'BOOM!
I made it! I managed to get to the river side where I first found myself. I let out heavy baited breaths as I walked towards the river to get a drink. Just as I was about to dip my beak into it, I noticed something. I looked bad.I looked at myself in the river. My feathers were a mess and dirty. I looked exhausted and pathetic. Was this how I had looked this entire time?Tears started to run down my cheeks.'Why am I crying? No! Stop crying, it's only been a few days. There is absolutely no reason to cry. Men don't cry. W-Why?' I just broke down, the tears streaming down one by one till it became a concentrated flow of crystalline water.This had to stop. All this running. I needed to stop it. I couldn't keep suffering like this.'Ken! I'm sorry! I swore to live a glorious second life, yet look at me! A crying mess! A coward who keeps on running! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I- I can't do this anymore. I want to die.'Suddenly I had a memo
Day 8[Congratulations! You have metamorphosed into a Golden Demonic Chick][Some of your abilities have changed][Your base stats have been altered][Your skill [Adorable Wink]>> [Lustful Gaze]][You have acquired the skill [Terror]][You have acquired the skill [Soul Consumption]][Your body's composition has been rearranged into that of a Devil's][The Devil King Ozvon will be notified of your existence]DING![Notification order denied][Would you like to see your stats?]'Huh? What? What happened?'My vision was flooded with blue as I took in the view of the several screens. I sat up with a groan and looked up into the sky. It was getting dark. I wondered what time it was.<<It has been exactly 1 day since you died>>'Woah… what happened to me?'I was genuinely stunned by the sudden transformation. I was bigger than I last remembered, but ther
Day 9Last night I dragged all the dead rabbits I could find and was surprised by how they were all around by the dozens. It was a literal mountain of dead rabbits that couldn't enter the cave anymore. I had to admit. Thanks to the rabbit kings, I had enough to keep me going for weeks to come.The problem I had was the fact that I had no roof. As a shut-in, I loathed the sunlight, which was why I hated this world. Thanks to it, I hate the night time. It would be difficult to survive around that time and I wouldn't have enough to keep myself going till I died. Now my NEET ass loves the sunlight. Still, that would be an issue for later.The current issue was how the hell I acquired a level. I shouldn't have acquired a level. I hadn't done anything that required that I would get a level in return. At least nothing that I could think off. Strangely, I felt that it had something to do with Shiro.Maybe that soul bond we shared did something. Speaking of that s
‘It’s so booooorriiiiiiiiiingggg!’I was bored out of my mind surveying the edge of the dome for enemies. It was practically a ghost town at this point. And the only thing that used to be interesting was the notifications I kept receiving from my shadows about catching bombers. So far, we found three dozen pairs of people planting the bombs.It was shocking how many people had been coerced into doing this. And I still hadn’t tracked down an actual member from the invaders. What if the invaders actually weren’t coming? What if the princess was lying about this entire thing for a completely different reason?‘This princess is giving me a headache.’‘I know right? It’s like talking to a brick wall.’‘A-An overly in-intelligent one.’‘Hey guys!’‘Ah!?’‘New guy?’‘I-I have a j-junior now?’‘What will we call him?’‘Call me Hyakkiyago.’He told us out of nowhere. We were all stunned, since everyone who came so far didn’t even know that they were now sharing a mind with someone. Yet, this g
NANEK POVThe prince looked at the meal set before him. Skewered tentacles, seaweed wraps, jagged oyster shells, lunaris and so on, all in bountiful amounts. He felt like gagging from the mere scent of the food. Nanek never liked such food, and as such this was strictly removed from the meals his siblings served him regularly.This event was different. It was before the entire city and it was a meal that the goddess had chosen for this year’s feast. Him not eating it was an insult to the goddess and would make the people think less of him.He looked at his mother, the priestess, sitting blindly next to the king and being fed her meal by some of her personal assistants. She had no concern whatsoever when it came to this and he found it terrifying, since he had been told by the older generation that she hated these kinds of meals.Several years in service to the goddess must have changed her. Maybe if he spent several years trying to overcome his distaste for the meal, he would overcome
SUNALLA POVThe storm spirit had left off towards a chamber in the palace to enact the final plans of the princess. To be honest, she wasn’t expecting the princess to tell her what her final plans were, but after hearing them, she was completely stunned. For the princess to have planned all of this for just that, it was beyond her imagination.However, for something like that, she knew her father would give up his life in a heartbeat. At least, she could rest easy knowing that he died for a cause he had been fighting for all his life. Still, it hurt that she couldn’t even see his corpse even though it was delivered to them. Did they think she was so weak that she’d break down from seeing the body?She had definitely seen worse, so why wouldn’t they let her? Was this the royalty’s way of showing consideration to the Captain of the Royal Guard’s kin? If so, the royals really had no idea what people actually wanted in such situation.While swimming, a stray guppy came in front of her. Sh
King Zigruk ElrIek Sox Anon Den Yorul II waved at the people who were gazing at him admirably from outside the hall. After a considerable amount of praise appreciation and greeting, he sat down on his seat and dropped his trident.The trident floated by itself at his side. Strange enough, this weird sight was ignored by most of the onlookers. All of them except the candidates for the throne that knew the true value of the trident, all of them shocked by how carelessly their father handled it. Then again, if you were built just like the Zigruk Elriek Sox Anon Den Yorull II, you wouldn’t think too much of the trident.Once again, trumpets sounded thunderously, drawing the attention of everyone to the overly massive ship that was approaching them. Dubbed the Neptune, the largest piece of magical machinery ever made in the history of all the three kingdoms.One mermaid, much bigger than the rest emerged from the Neptune. She was dressed in a simple peplos, wearing a golden crown of leaves
OSVETA POVThe feast hall, the biggest part of the royal palace that went unused for many years till there was an important ceremony taking place. It was so large it could take in half the number of royal family members that lived. And that was saying much given the fact that there were over a thousand of them with each being at least three times as big as the average merman.The hall was a space next to the palace grounds shrouded in hardened Atlantean styled glass to prevent any peaking or breaking. Due to the occasion, the styled glass had been removed, revealing a large beautiful platform with a marble table in a U-shape set down. The table was big enough to occupy at the very least 20 members of the Royal family.However, today, only four members sat on opposite ends, with two extra, grander seats, being reserved for the most important guests. The King of Atlantis and the Chief Priestess of the Sea Goddess Temple.The current members were Rondel, the eldest son of the King, repre
Inside of Hinotori’s mind, somewhere deep in her subconscious where she would never notice anything happening, there was an announcement.[The Exclusive Skill [Legend of Pandemonium] Chapter 1, Act 1, Part 1: Army Drafting has been completed]-Hidden Events> Fight Against the Apostles of the Sea Goddess Temple (Completed)> Kill over a dozen members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Enslave the members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Establish friendly ties with the members of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)> Become an official member of the Sea Goddess Temple (Incomplete)---- Insufficient events completed to receive any rewards+[The Exclusive Skill [Legend of Pandemonium] has unlocked a new section]Chapter 1 - #@$^&!Act 1 – Battle For AtlantisPart 2 – Preparations--- Preparations for the incoming invasion have been set up. Hopefully they will be enough for the coming storm. ---*Rewards for creating this scenario will be delivered at the end of this Chapt
On the day of the Royal Feast, in the princess’ quarters, several mermaids about her size were attending to her. Brushing her hair, applying make-up, and carefully fixing ornaments in her hair. She was dressed in the most elegant lilac-coloured chiton that had silver lacings on it and a triangular pattern over at the bottom over her tail. Over her left hand, her peplos that was a whitish-blue with a similar design, but more transparent. The peplos also managed to serve as a sort of hood for her head.As the princess observed her features in the mirror, she couldn’t help but think along the likes of,‘Would Hiro like this appearance?’‘Maybe it’s too much make up for his taste?’‘Is this even enough to cover my blemishes?’Of course, Hiro was not going to be partaking in this event. In fact, he wouldn’t even know that it was happening and neither would he know about it. Still, a maiden in love could only dream, right?“You are looking absolutely stunning, your highness.”The one attend
The hell did I just hear? Did she just confirm that she was the mastermind? No way, right? There was definitely no way that she did it, right? No.I couldn’t doubt the possibility of her having done that. Knowing her, it was highly likely. And from what Sunalla said, the princess didn’t like it when things happened out of her control. A surprise invasion from an enemy nation definitely doesn’t sound like having everything under her control.Still, for her to go this far just for the throne. She was the worst kind of person. They’d do anything to achieve their goal, even if it negatively affected those looking up to her for support. She was worse than scum.I had several things to tell the princess, but no one else in the room heard our conversation. The princess simply said vague things in their eyes and ears. Maybe Sunalla and Osveta would believe that princess did something like that.The problem was if they gave a shit. They’d known her for sometime now so it was possible that they
That was completely sudden and out of nowhere for me. I never imagined to hear such a thing, least of all from an old man in a city that was thousands of feet underwater. Of course, after hearing such a thing I was intrigued in finding out more, but he kicked me out with the promise of trying to find a way to Minerva for me. He stole more strands of my hair though. Turns out he didn’t need the first strand for anything. He simply wanted it for his private reasons… creepy pervert.On the way back, I could tell that the princess was beaming with excitement. I asked why, but she told me not to think too much about it. In times like this, it was really annoying not being able to read her mind. The only solution was to keep pressuring her till she spoke, but she was tight lipped. In the end, I decided to ask if she knew about Vermillion.According to her, there wasn’t any concrete text about Vermillion, but her father had once told her that there was an individual named Vermillion who came