Chapter 48 (1 of 2) Predator or Prey. (Patreon)

[Sub-Objective Complete:

Collect enough food to last the rest of the week.]

[Completion Rate: +2%]

[New! Completion Rate: 27%]

[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 3: Tools of Survival]

You have become a successful hunter in the Deep Greenwood Region. With your first beast slain, and your collection of trophies steadily growing larger, you have begun to reach the level of strength needed to announce your status as a new contender for the title of Supreme Ruler of the region. But it’s not enough.

You must devour stronger treasures to grow more powerful and must defeat the guardians of these treasures to obtain them. The competition within the region is fierce, and every beast and monster fights desperately to defend their treasures.

Steadily increase your strength while laying low, so you may one day begin a fight that will end in your victory. The final victor of the region… will be the one who survives. [Collapse]

Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:

- Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the Region remain by the time of the New Moon’s day.

Sub-Objectives – Stage 3:

Compulsory:

- Locate a new base of operations.

Optional:

- Consume three additional natural treasures. (COMPLETED)

- Create three tools applicable to your situation, including a method of transportable storage. (COMPLETED)

- Collect enough food to last the rest of the week. (COMPLETED)

[]

[Completion Rate: 27%]

Lucille tilted her head as she reread the Stage 3 objective list.

A new base of operations… there has to be a reason for the System to give me that objective. Is my current location going to become dangerous in a few days?

She picked up the berries she had collected and worked on placing them into the sack she had woven with a magical variety of hemp she had found. Then she began walking back in the direction of her treehouse.

It could just be an objective to make sure the User doesn’t stay bogged down in one place for too long, hiding from the dangers, but the stages are entire simulated worlds. Everything has natural cause and effect and nothing occurs without reason.

Pushing aside some leaves with an arm, her clearing by the lakeside was revealed, where she placed her sack next to her other stored materials. These materials included a collection of plant and monster parts, weaker natural treasures, and some unique substances she had found, all collected over the last few days. As she had expected, the natural treasures she had eaten did not affect her, because she was still incapable of using her Origin Skill.

She had tried to ensure she spent as little time as possible completing all the objectives, repeating Stages 2 and 3 a few times to find the speediest ways of completing them. It was a vastly different decision compared to what she did when she first completed the stages.

Back then, over 231 years ago, Lucille had an extremely difficult time trying to complete all the stages. The main reason for that besides her lack of killing intent was her Origin Skill. Her skill, while it was unique and gave her enough talent to be equal to genius mages of the Mystical Realm, didn’t provide a way for a Rank-0 to defeat the three Beast Kings. It enhanced her predictive ability but didn’t give her a way of directly attacking her opponents.

Before she had attempted the stages, she had tried to learn physical combat skills, just to see whether she should consider becoming a hybrid warrior-manipulator for her class. The result of that was finding out she couldn’t produce killing intent and was therefore forever incapable of manifesting battle aura, bloodthirst, or detecting killing intent.

So, in the stages, she was stuck for the equivalent of years trying to achieve the Main Objective before the region was destroyed in the cataclysm. During that period, she turned to studying the bloodline magic of the beasts and monsters, the only other creatures around her to take inspiration from. With her not having selected a mage class before completing the stages, she didn’t have any foundational knowledge of runes to build upon.

She used as many of the elements as she could during that time, trying to find what would work for her. Eating natural treasures of specific elements gave her small amounts of element mana to use, which she learned to manipulate when attempting to mimic the abilities of beasts and monsters around her. That was why, as ‘Adrianna’, she used a method of manipulating illusion mana closer to that of elementalists rather than mages and wizards.

After several months of testing, she discovered the only element able to copy monster abilities was illusion, regardless of the element of the monster. That, combined with extensive analysis and theorising about her Origin Skill and the nature of magic based on its description, resulted in her final decision to become an illusion mage. She only discovered later due to contact with other illusionists that her mimicry ability was an advanced skill.

But just because Lucy spent much longer than the three months she told Commander Arkenast and Ross she had spent to develop her magic, didn’t mean she wasn’t a genius. She had developed, entirely from scratch, a completely unique system of magic usage and abilities. And the total length of time she spent in the Beast Realm’s stages back then only added up to around three years.

Taking another look at her collection of materials and food, she placed them all in her woven bags and hefted them over her shoulder. Lucy began her hike to her new home.

The Deep Greenwood Region was split into three major territories, each belonging to a Beast King. While much smaller than a real region, it was filled with many beasts. The north side of the region was the territory of the strongest Beast King and his enclave, the territory of the Rock-Fur Jungle Tigers. The east side – where Lucille technically was, on the border between that territory and the western territory – was the home of the Thundering Storm Vultures, who lived in the tallest trees of the region.

The final territory belonged to the Black Vine Serpents, the territory of beasts and monsters who favoured sneak attacks and hiding from view. It was also known to be the territory of the weakest Beast King. That was where Lucille was headed, and would stay for the foreseeable future.

But curious as to why the System had given her the task of escaping from her former home, she kept her perception field open wide to see what was happening behind her. A few hours into her walk, something finally occurred.

With a sudden change in weather, the sky behind her darkened. She turned around to look as giant thick clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun. With loud cries that shook the air, massive birds cloaked in bright lightning shot out of the clouds, guiding them to the area. They flew down to the lake Lucy had been located at.

The Thundering Storm Vultures have come to visit the lake? What are they doing so close to the border of the Black Vine Serpents’ territory?

She watched them for a while longer, before humming and continuing her journey again.

I wonder if this new threat will help me achieve my aims easier.

After another half hour, she found the spot she had chosen after analysing her memories from when she expanded her perception. Out of the way, and distant from any natural treasures that would make it a target for other beasts and monsters. After setting up another rough shelter, she completed the last objective.

[Sub-Objective Complete:

Locate a new base of operations.]

[Completion Rate: +3%]

[New! Completion Rate: 30%]

[Stage 3 Complete. Transferring User…]

…

[S.T.A.G.E.S | Stage 4: Ascending from Prey to Predator]

The month is short, and the time is nigh upon you. You have spent a week in this treacherous jungle, and have become used to the ways of the savage beasts around you. But you must push onwards. It is time for you to defeat your first Beast King. There are three within the Deep Greenwood Region.

The vile Black Vine Serpent King, a serpent beast of poison and wood. He hides in the dark places, the deepest parts of the region, lying in wait for his prey. While the weakest in strength, he is the most cunning of them all and has lived many more moons than the two other Beast Kings combined.

The prideful Thundering Storm Vulture Queen, an arrogant bird who summons winds and lightning with the power of her wings. Her loyal enclave spread the power of their tropical storms through the region, causing all lesser beasts to cower in submission. She rules from the highest treetops of the jungle, where rainfall and lightning bolts shower the trees daily.

And finally, the strongest Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King, who if it were not for the other two Beast Kings keeping him in check, would conquer the region for himself. He and his mighty enclave live in the most mountainous zone of the region, overlooking all from atop the tallest peak.

Choose one, wanderer, and fight. [Collapse]

Main Quest (Rank-1: Beast Realm) Overall Objective:

- Ensure no contenders to the title of Supreme Ruler of the region remain by the time of the New Moon’s day.

Sub-Objectives – Stage 4:

Compulsory:

- Make preparations to remove the first contender.

Optional:

- Demonstrate your power to the beasts in the surrounding area so none question your abilities.

- Deal with the enclave of the contender so they don’t become a threat after the battle with the first contender.

- Fight a member of the Thundering Storm Vulture enclave.

[]

[Completion Rate: 30%]

Alright. Now it’s time to begin my plan.

With Stage 4 having begun, Lucy knelt to open up her woven bags. She checked her collection.

Stigma of the Monstrous Illusionary Corpse Lily, check. Silver Reed Caiman spines, check. Luminous Psychosis Lotus, check. Wood-element Potency Enhancer treasure, check. Amplifier-Suppressant pill, check. I have the other assorted natural treasures with me here too.

She closed the bag again and began her trek through the dark and twisted territory of the Deep Greenwood Region, heading directly towards the enclave of the Black Vine Serpents. The region steadily grew darker the further she went in. Eventually, she found herself before a giant gate of some kind, black tree branches twisted to form an entranceway beyond. The tree branches were twisted all along the edges of the area, forming a barrier between her side and the zone on the other side of the entrance.

She stepped through, finding herself in front of a massive network of dark trees and tree roots all interconnected to form tunnels and channels. Large black snakes were slithering along the tunnels and two large ones on either side of the entranceway looked at her.

She tried to take another step-

-until a massive scaly tail slammed down on her.

Then she found herself at her original location once more – the Stage 4 description screen opened.

Killing me as soon as I entered? That’s a bit harsh.

She had expected it, but if she had the choice to take the easy path, then she wanted to at least try it.

She shook her head and began her trek a second time.

…

Spending a few hours longer than in her first attempt, this time she didn’t take the front entrance and walked the long way around. The very back of the enclave was the least protected zone, but that was also where the Black Vine Serpent King’s abode was. Luckily, that was exactly where she wanted to go to implement her plans.

If it were anyone else, they’d probably be killed instantly by the Primal Descendant Serpent King, but because of her weak presence from her lacking mana, it was highly likely she’d be able to enter relatively unharmed. If not, well… she had some backup plans just in case, but her best bet relied on being able to enter the abode of the Serpent King.

Approaching a hill near the thick barrier made of woven tree branches, she analysed her memories and perception field to find a weak point. She clambered down the steep hill, her feet skidding on the unstable ground, she made it to the base of the barrier. The entire tree branch barrier was a fully-enclosed dome, to prevent the possibility of an air raid by the Thundering Storm Vultures, so climbing over the barrier wasn’t an option.

Putting down one of her sacks, she withdrew a strange-looking orange flower and placed it at the base of the thinnest section of the branch wall. It gained a soft glow and with the shifting of leaves and wood, the branches around the flower withdrew. She got down on her hands and knees and began to crawl, moving the flower in front of her to open up a path. The wall of branches closed up behind her as the magical plants rearranged themselves back into position.

The flower she carried was from the plant that was the natural nemesis of the black trees forming the Black Vine Serpent enclave’s dome. As a magical plant species, the black trees had limited sentience and were capable of moving to avoid what they felt was a threat. Normally a weakness such as the one she was taking advantage of now would be disastrous for the enclave, but the orange flower natural treasure came in such limited quantities that it would effectively be useless for any of the two other major enclaves.

The two other major beast clans were far too large and would need a much higher quantity of the natural treasure than she needed to bypass the barrier. But she was a small human, and the flower was enough to create a gap just big enough for her to fit through.

She climbed out from under the branch barrier and looked around. She was in a large clearing, completely empty of any creature. In the centre of the clearing was a massive ancient tree, its roots spread out to touch the outermost edges of the clearing. And right in the middle of the tree was a large dark hole, revealing a tunnel that connected to some place under the tree.

Focusing on her perception field, she moved slowly and carefully down the tunnel, making sure no other serpents were within the abode. Then she finally managed to see the beast within her perception field.

A massive black serpent with scales as dark as coal sat sleeping in the centre of the cavern, its body slowly moving in time with its breathing. While not quite as large as the Truth-Seizing Matriarch had been, the Black Vine Serpent King was no doubt incredibly dangerous for her current self. Even its barrier guards had been capable of instantly killing her.

But she wasn’t going to attempt anything just yet. Instead of approaching the beast, whose scales were marred by countless slashes and poorly healed scars, she walked around it, hiding herself and her belongings in a little alcove just out of sight of the cavern’s entrance. Then she waited.

Eventually, after an entire hour had gone by, the sounds of sliding scales reached her ears, and two Black Vine Serpents entered the cavern. With her out of sight, they couldn’t see anything, but she was perfectly capable of viewing them with her perception.

They were dragging a large structure formed of leaves down into the cavern, a collection of colourful natural treasures and trophies to present to the Serpent King arranged on top. They left the tribute in front of the serpent and left the room.

As soon as they were gone, Lucille took the opportunity to walk over to the natural treasures. Then she replaced them with her own collection, placing the Illusionary Corpse Lily’s stigma, Silver Reed Caiman spines and Luminous Psychosis Lotus on top. Then, using the Potency Enhancer natural treasure, a type of sap, she ensured the stigma from the monstrous plant was completely covered in the substance. She placed the old natural treasures into her woven sack and returned to her hiding spot.

Looking at the stronger natural treasures she now had, she shrugged and began eating them. The Serpent King could possibly detect the mana if she left them be, and eating them was the quickest way to erase the evidence.

After another half-hour, there was movement from the Black Vine Serpent King. The old snake, with scales dull and scratched from age, lazily opened one dark green eye and yawned. Lucy watched as he shook his head to remove the sleepiness and then lowered his head to inspect the tribute. Then he opened his jaws and bared his fangs as he hissed.

“This is the quality of tribute they’re now giving me? Food that they wouldn’t even feed their own children?” He raised his head to look at the entrance, one of his eyes a pale milky colour indicative of blindness. “My descendants think I’ve become an easy target since I retreated to my abode for the season. It seems I must leave and remind them of who the true ruler of the enclave is… hm?”

The Serpent King lowered his head again to inspect the pile of treasures. “What is…” He blinked, and then his mouth stretched into a wide grin. “Dark Venom Lily? They managed to find one of these rare plants?”

He chuckled and shook his head from side to side. “I suppose the tribute could be considered acceptable after all. A high-ranked natural treasure…” Then he narrowed his eyes again and looked at the entranceway. “But the quality of the rest of these natural treasures is atrocious. This will still need to be rectified.”

He slithered forward slightly and then snapped up the treasures. He coiled himself up again to get comfortable, lowering his head back down…

“It appears you enjoyed your meal, sir.”

The eyes of the Serpent King snapped open and he raised his head to stare at Lucy as she walked around him to stand in front of him. She smirked and placed a hand on her hip as she gestured to the empty bed of leaves.

“I’m pleased to know that my hard work has not gone unappreciated.”

The Serpent King narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m unfamiliar with your subrace… and you have a bipedal form with such low strength…”

Lucille smiled calmly and gave him a bow. “I come from… a foreign region. My name is Lucille.”

“Foreign region…” He studied her with suspicion. “And yet surely you’re aware of what position I hold in this region?”

Her smile widened as she held her hands behind her back. “Of course. One of the three Beast Kings of the Deep Greenwood Region, the Black Vine Serpent King.”

“Then I’m sure you know what happens to those who dare to enter my abode!”

He hissed and opened his jaws wide as he lunged at her. But he froze just before he could touch her as he heard her words.

“I hope you liked my poison too.”

“Poison?” He looked down at himself, attempting to detect the foreign substance in his body. He glanced between the empty bed of leaves and her, making the connection, and then hissed at her. “You think you can poison me? A beast of the poison element?”

Lucy smirked and gave him a wide shrug. “Let’s just say I’m familiar with serpent physiology. You can feel it can’t you?” Her smirk widened. “The sensation of fire licking at your scales, ice forming in the pit of your stomach… the feeling of claws raking across your flesh.” Lucille pointed at him. “Look. Your scales are even beginning to fall off.”

He followed her gesture to look at where she was pointing, then turned back to her, his words confident but his voice less so. “The poison will fade. This is nothing to a beast of my strength.”

She widened her eyes curiously and slowly tilted her head. “Really?” Then she gained a wide grin and held up two gloved hands, fingers spread. “Shall we count then? About… the length of time it takes to breath ten times? I’m sure a beast as powerful as yourself can cleanse yourself of the poison in that length of time, right? Surely that’s possible for you?”

He scoffed. “Of course.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she smiled. “Then let’s test this. One… two…” She glanced between him and her hand, two fingers lowered, and smirked. “Three… four…”

The serpent’s eyes slowly narrowed, but as the time ticked down, he stopped moving, watching her silently.

“Eight… nine…” Lucy glanced at her hand again, then grinned widely. She covered her mouth as she chuckled. “And… ten. Oh dear. Your reaction seems to indicate that the sensation is still there. Should I count again? One… two…”

When she got to five she smirked and placed her hands behind her back again. The Black Vine Serpent King watched her warily as she stepped closer to look up at him. “The effects haven’t left yet, have they? You’re still poisoned.”

The Serpent King stayed silent as she stepped back and spread her arms wide. “The great Black Vine Serpent King, a beast of poison and darkness, managed to become poisoned himself. How the other Beast Kings would laugh if they discovered this. If I leave here and tell the other Beast Kings then I’m sure the Beast Kings would take advantage of this situation to finally remove you.”

The Serpent King narrowed his eyes and looked towards the entranceway, but Lucille clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Are you going to call for your descendants? I would advise against that.” She gained a cruel smirk. “Your children would love to see you killed just as much as the other Beast Kings. You know this. They’ve been upset about your demands for tribute for a while now. Wouldn’t they leave you for dead once they find out about this?”

She snickered and gave a lazy shrug. “And we both know there’s only one reason why neither of us are dead yet.”

The Black Vine Serpent King turned to face her, watching her in the silence. Eventually, he replied, “If you know how to poison even me, a Superior-level beast of poison, yet haven’t chosen to give me a lethal poison, then it can only be because there’s something you desire to obtain from me.” He narrowed his eyes again. “And you have a way of ensuring that I won’t take the risk of killing you.”

She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a palm-sized white sphere. “Well, that’s because I have the antidot-”

Before she could blink a flash of dark mana burst out from the Serpent King and formed a claw to steal away the sphere. The temporary dark mana limb threw the orb into the Serpent King’s mouth. He hissed at her. “You were saying?” Then he paused when he saw Lucy’s reaction.

Lucy had her eyes wide in surprise, staring at him with a smile on her lips. She placed one hand behind her back and held her chin. “That was… easier than expected.”

Her words made the Serpent King freeze up and he checked his body for any changes. He became confused when he felt that the effects of the poison had diminished slightly. “That… was that not the antidote?”

Lucy shrugged and shook her head with a wry smile on her lips. “That was not, in fact, the antidote. You see,” she said with a broad grin on her face, “that was something I created to suppress the effects of the poison. However, the caveat is…” She smirked. “It prolongs the life of the poison too. If you don’t take it regularly, those ghostly sensations will become stronger, and you might quite possibly succumb to the poison.”

She smiled brightly and spread her hands. “And I was never going to say I have the ‘antidote’. I was going to say I have the antidote recipe…” She narrowed her eyes and smirked. “Which you won’t be able to find out if you kill me.”

The dark mana of the Serpent King writhed around his body chaotically, revealing his calm outward appearance to not reflect his internal thoughts, but the snake just sighed and lowered his head to view Lucy with one large eye. “It seems perhaps my age has finally bested me, for me to be tricked by something as little as this. Very well. State your demands and then give me the antidote.”

Lucille shook her hands. “Demands? I have no such thing as forceful as a ‘demand’ for you, sir.” She gave him another bow, looking up slightly with a sly smile on her face. “What I wish to propose is a… collaboration, of sorts.”

The Serpent King flickered his tongue as he studied her with mild curiosity and suspicion. “A… collaboration?”

Lucy grinned as she straightened up and placed a hand on her hip. She pulled out Apophis and spun the dagger as she threw it repeatedly in the air. “You see, I just so happen to want two Beast Kings dead in this region. And I think with your help, we could do something.”

“I’m not fighting either of them. I’m not suicidal and I know my strength,” the Serpent King hissed.

She blinked innocently as she caught the dagger. “Who said anything about you killing them now? No, no, there’s no need for you to fight them yet, sir.” Lucille smirked. “All we need to do is turn them against each other, and the job is done for us.”

The Serpent King raised his head, peering at her with intense focus. “Turn them… against each other.”

“Yes. We’ll manipulate their enclaves into conflict, and make the event big enough to get the Beast Kings involved. When a winner is finally determined, weakened and alone after their intense fight…” She mimed swiping Apophis across her neck. “You kill them.”

The Serpent King hissed as he lowered his head to eye her, his dark mana curling about him. “And I’m supposed to work with the person who poisoned me?”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Is that the problem now?” She narrowed her eyes. “You know just as well as I do that if it were not for that poison, I’d be dead already.” She smiled brightly again and spread her arms in a gesture of peace. “I want to form this partnership with us being in a relationship of equals. We can’t do that unless I have some sort of advantage, can we?”

He just snorted and shook his head. “Fine. And you’ll give me the antidote once they’re defeated?”

She smiled and nodded. “That’s right.”

He sat up on his tower of coils as the dark mana warped around him. “Then let’s work out the details of this plan of yours. How are you going to go about this?”

Lucy grinned. “Well, I just so happen to know the location of the secret natural treasure stores of both the Thundering Storm Vulture Queen’s eldest son and the Iron-Fur Jungle Tiger King’s brother… and I believe we could plant enough evidence for the spark of confrontation to begin…”

______________________________________________________________________________

The black serpent hissed in pain as Scytale used his tail to send it flying into the side of a tree. It was just another of the many he had fought off, the injured snakes forming a wide circle around him in their enclave. They hadn’t been able to defeat him, however. His larger size and higher bloodline level meant they had no chance against him.

Scytale had no interest in attacking the lesser members of the enclave, likely the ones with families to protect and with little power within the enclave. His only goal was their ruler. And now it was time for him to deal with the first contender.

As the black serpents hesitantly shifted around him, two larger serpents guarding one large hole in a tree moved to either side. The whispers of communication that had been occurring between the observing serpents instantly died to silence. The sound of creaking wood and scales against rough dirt echoed up from the hole.

The head of the great beast emerged first, jagged scars decorating its face, with two eyes gazing solemnly at Scytale, one a dark malevolent green, the other a pearlescent milky white. The body of the serpent beast emerged next, its scales having grown dull with age, but the powerful dark and poison mana radiating from it revealing the strength still carried by the impressive beast. The Black Vine Serpent King raised itself to its full height, larger than Scytale.

“So, you have fought my pathetic kin and won, beast of impure blood?” the Serpent King hissed.

Scytale bared his fangs. “I heard you were some impressive Beast King, but all I see is a coward who treats his children as tools to be thrown away whenever you want.”

The Black Vine Serpent King narrowed his eyes. “A creature of the many-winged lineage thinks to judge me?” He shook his head mockingly. “As Patriarch, I am allowed to use those of my blood as I see fit. But if I were to father such spawn as you, a child of the Caladrius…” The Serpent King gave a hissing laugh. “Wouldn’t I die of shame?”

Scytale readied himself, shifting his wings close to his body. “Is this really what I will now get because of my second bloodline? Racial discrimination?”

“The snakelet fresh out of their eggshell shouldn’t believe they can describe the ancient enmity between us and them,” the black serpent spat. “From the instant they perceived our kind as prey, they had formed a blood feud between-”

“Look, old guy. I could not care less.” Scytale lunged at the Serpent King. “Just fight! I’ll show you who should get back into their eggshell! ...ugh, that sounds so cringey.”

Their battle lasted three whole days. And by the end of it…

… only one of them remained, announcing his position as the new Serpent Beast King with loud cries atop the body of his fallen foe.