[There are 4 steps in reincarnation; first, the infant soul (the beginning, familiarizing yourself with the environment). Second, the child soul (familiarizing with society, trying to evolve). Third, the young soul (wanting to surpass themselves and do better than others). Last, the mature soul (understanding, empathy and collaboration).]
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At night time, the black snake woke up to footsteps approaching her hideout. She had a bad feeling. From the way the ground was shaking, it signified that an army was approaching.
She popped out her head from under the tree roots and saw a lot of human shaped figures. A small group wasn't moving and seemed to discuss strategies. The snake was confused. Usually no human dare come to the forest of Tantram. They aren't really interested in the 'weak' monsters even though a hidden boss was growing.
There was a specific being that caught her attention. More precisely a blue dancing dot. It was so close to a man that she wondered how he hadn't melted yet. That small blue flame was giving enough energy to brighten the dark forest but the heat coming from it was stronger. It was so far away but even Yui could feel it. DANGER. Only the dump creature would fight that flame but Yui wasn't dumped. Her instincts yelled at her to run away and hide but she needed to know more about that potential treat.
Staring at it too much, she leaked some bloodlust and the blue flame's owner immediately detected her hidden spot. The flame grew. Moreover, it's light blue color became dark blue with a little of dark. The snake's purple eyes glitter in the darkness of the roots and she quickly buried herself underground while crawling away from that spot. If he were to use it on her... She better wouldn't think about how she would melt. The flame looked as if it stopped in time. No wind could make her move. The man was staring at the tree with a complicated expression while slowly his flame became light blue and started moving again. The other next to him could see his lips move but no word could be heard.
'I should just join the fun and accidently kill some snakes.' She quickly crawled through the forest to her brother's place. She used some secret passages underground to arrive in her past home faster than usual. The snake couldn't win a race against a snail. While she was coming closer she thought about her past memories about this place and the things that some little snakes were talking about. Some undesirable thought of her weak self being bullied popped up at the same time. The snake hissed annoyingly at them.
The forest of Tantram is a gloomy forest with no worth in the human's eyes. It's recognized for all the small flies. It is a peaceful forest where humans don't even find it interesting to come visit. Anyone could kill a beast easily and they weren't 'worthy' enough for those people. One day, the snake queen was born and she was slowly gaining power that could become a threat to humans. Overestimating her strength, they let her grow in peace and become the queen and hidden boss of the forest of Tantram. When a new traveler with some mercenary was traveling, he accidently ran in the queen's nest and saw the abominable sight. "SNAKES" The traveler yelled and panicked. He had a phobia of snakes. He did the rest of his travel carried in someone's arms.
The humans were late. Their arrogance bite them back. They could do nothing more than shake in fear and anger at the thought of a weak creature biting a 'god'. They felt so humiliated. It was right under their noses that a big threat appeared. If they don't act soon, the dreadful snake will kill everything. It was true. It was eating and everything was like a glutton.
One day, in their desperate state, a strange 'human' appeared out of thin air. They made a lot of promises with him so that they could get help. They saw his strength and no human could be that powerful. The humans had to control him but… that would be for later. They had high expectations. The man said he came from "another world". they did not dare to contradict him. He said that the word he was from was so powerful that he was just a mere mage. The stronger humans almost puked blood. The black-haired man added with a sinister glare that it was an accident that he got her so that they should shake off their greedy thoughts. After they got threatened, they didn't dare ask more about him and just accepted his help without thinking too much of controlling him.
Yui finally arrived at the big snake nest but she cursed for wasting her time. She was late. There was already a bloody bath in front of her, both humans and snakes. In the end, it was to be expected. It's a miracle that the fight wasn't over yet. The humans had already invaded the snake territory. You could say the snakes were trapped if the humans weren't dying so quickly. Yui wasn't in that weird place filled with snakes. No, she was behind the army. Their open backs were a great sigh. 'In the end, it's not so bad that I'm late. The only sad thing is that I won't kill as much.'
"princesses... attack the human ssss.... Ssss... Protect... the queen... Sss..."A random snake that was on the verge to death had given her an order. Yui doesn't remember... more like she doesn't want to remember what snake had a prince title and those that didn't. She couldn't care more about those coldblooded beasts. She smiled evilly at it and crawled away, leaving it dying slowly in a lot of pain.
It's true that the queen was weakened because she was shedding her old skin. Wasn't the black snake's problem. She didn't come to protect but to have fun. Even though the big snake was her mother, she never acted like one. The queen did her things and she did hers without disturbing each other. She hated humans and if they were coming to get her, she would welcome them with a good bite and a refreshing tail slap. She couldn't quite get why she hated more humans than sakes. They never did anything to her.
Yui crawled on a human and reached its neck without being noticed. 'Hehehe. That's what weaklings get.' She forgot about the special scary blue flame. With a swift movement, she bit that human's neck through his armor.
"Ahh! You snake!" He began punching her head with his fist with no change in the situation. The man never felt so much pain of a mere bite. It wasn't the first time being bitten but this one almost erased his fighting will. Yui bit harder and got him more poisoned. His eyes lost their light for a second but before he could do anything else, he drank an anti-venom snake potion.
"Don't worry I'll make you pay double for the bite." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and with all his strength grabbed a dagger and threw it towards the snake's neck.
When he heard a metallic impact, he had a huge smile. "Don't worry, I made sure to use half my strength to not kill you easily."
'Oh... I see that he's one of my kind.' She chuckled and at that time the man understood that something was wrong. The snake didn't even flinch when she was targeted."Wait... m-metallic sound?..."
The soldier slowly looked at its fallen dagger with a pale face. The man's once beautiful blade was now all wavy. "N-no..." The light in his eyes faded and he lost hope of escaping death. The antidote that he drank was supposed to cure him but the poison inside him was spreading all over his body. Before he could die from poison like he thought, the man let out a loud high pitched shriek. Yui's enemy lost focus and were all feeling dizzy. Some threw up while others fainted with bloodied ears. The snakes on their side were dazed for less time than the human. The poor soldier was now purple and some of his flesh became rotten. Yui's poison was different. Only her blood could cure the prey she poisons but… who could be able to make her bleed.
The snake wrapped her body tightly around the man, not caring if it was crushing his bones. The dead looking man was under her control. What Yui didn't know is that she once again caught the attention of someone she should stay away. The half dead soldier was just a puppet watching how he kills his own friends and unable to stop his master's cruel acts. He couldn't even talk, you could say he was dead but that his soul was still bent to his body. Sometimes he makes zombie-like noises. The annoying noise was destroying the black snake's fun.
Because his dagger wasn't in such good quality as before, Yui helped her puppet steal one of his friend's swords. She didn't know if the body she had chosen to control was one of the strongest or weakest. What the snake knew is that even if he was just a meat shield, she could make him go beyond human capacity making him as strong as her or even more. That was one of her powers. Some rare snakes had a blessing just like the glutton snake queen. Yui can either increase her own strength or someone's that is under her control. The only disadvantage is that she didn't find how she could control someone at the same time as she fights. 'Heh, if I find the answer I could become the next queen.'
Her soldier puppet slashed through the human army and for some reason it became shading tears. 'Oh well, it's broken.' Until all this time she had her fangs in his neck so now she let go. The humans nearby were horrified by what happened to the sake's puppet. They all became like ghosts. The half dead man had purple bubbles all over him. When they popped up, it gave no smell, but people nearby would fall dead with foam on their mouth. When the snakes killed the last person of the army while also 'accidently' killing lots of snakes near the corpses, without a warning, a shield appeared out of nowhere trapping the rest inside of it.
5 people were standing against all the rest of the snakes: The first had a big shield and a sword. The second was wielding a spear. The third was a girl that looked like a priest. The forth was the one that putted the barrier and of course the last one was the other world mage. 'Fuck. I forgot about him!' She shivered with fear when the mage gaze laid on her. 'Look away! I'm just a normal snake! Well not really... but I am!'
For her relief, he looked at the rest of the snakes. If he would have continued she would feel choking and dying from the pressure. She looked at the queen with hope and was welcomed with it finishing shading it's old skin. She didn't want the queen's help, but that big snake was stronger than her.
"Yesssss" She could make a little snake dance but didn't want to attract attention. Now she could give out a big sigh and watch the last 5 humans beg for their lives. Yui still couldn't shake off the uneasiness of her but the queen was strong so she convinced herself that it was nothing.
The shield guy had a red aura surrounding him making all the weak snakes and even the queen put all their attention on him and begin attacking. Yui wanted to join them but felt paralyzed. 'What happens when I go over my limits.' She let out a bitter laugh. The black snake was no longer feeling like attacking the shield guy and she just wanted to continue watching the show.
The snake queen in a flash wiped out her own allies to hit the shield man." Guys! I don't think I can take a lot of her hits."
The priestess started mumbling some words and a green light surrounded the guy." Thanks, Lise. " That Lise ears looked weird though the snake. Even her aura was weird. It looked pure. The shield man felt like all the pain in his arm went away. The spear man dashed in the snake swarm and killed them with ease. Those snakes didn't seem to pay attention and just let themselves get killed. Even though You wasn't under the shield man's spell, she couldn't move from her spot.
The mage seeing this amusing snake whispered to his 'friend' to give him that black snake. The other who didn't care much casted a spell. Yui felt her heart stop and her blood, which was already cold, became even colder. A second she was watching the bloody fight and the other she was in the hands of the scary mage!
"Hello little snake~" He had a warm smile but his eyes were filled with malice.
'Suspicious. Really suspicious. I want to be invisible...' That's what Yui thought.
The mage continues. "I was looking at you for some time now... You seem like an interesting snake. What do you say about becoming mine?" When he first saw this black snake, he was about to kill it when he was bewitched by those mysterious purple eyes. He couldn't help but remember someone with purple eyes and let the snake escape.
"Ssss! " Yui felt anger rising inside of her. She won't become someone's pet. She will cover her dead body. At the same time the priest heard the mage question and had wide eyes looking at him. "H-huh?" Lise said. She would have done the same but she doesn't have the power to against the orders.
The intelligent queen seeing this opportunity, continuously attacked the shield man making him split blood and made one of his arms break. "Lise!" The man called in agony. 'Good! Kill them all queen... and save me please!' Though the black snake. "Y-yes! coming!" The priestess quickly put back the attention on the other man saving him from death's doors.
"Tch" Yui tried to show her dissatisfaction without being noticed but it couldn't escape that sharp man's hearing. He laughed at her, the mage couldn't help but find her behavior cute. "Aw now I want you more. You look so much like my master~" Yui felt chills going all over her body. Something about that sentence felt wrong.
The other mage with a depressed-like face and bags under his eyes only digested what the mage wanted to do after some minutes but he didn't care. It wasn't his business. He just yawed and asked: "Can I sleep now?" No one answered and he sighed of boredom.
"I won't be your pet. Sss!" The man seemed disappointed but not surprised that Yui can somehow 'talk' to him. "Fine.... I won't ask more. Have a good death." As if the rejection took him back to reality his smile disappeared and he threw her back in the snake crowd without hesitation. 'I'm alive!' That was one of Yui's last thoughts before facing death.
The shield and spear man retreated to the back of the scary mage. "Now..."
The mage clapped his hands and blue flames appeared and recovered the shield that was trapping them. Before that, the second mage had made sure that they could exit the big shield. Sparkles seemed to fall off the shield. It looked as if they were snowflakes but hotter.
Yui found this sight beautiful but she knew it was the end for all of them. Once that blue thing would touch a snake, they would immediately be engulfed by the fire and continue burning until they become dust. Even their queen who was trying to break the shield dome was still burning with a painful cry. It looked like the loved queen wasn't as strong as they hoped she would be. Those 5 people were stronger... Not to say the flame mage.
Soon it was Yui's turn to burn. She didn't find it painful... but rather warm. It was as if she was only falling asleep and she could wake up when she wanted to. She suspected that the mage did something with the fire or with her when he grabbed her. She didn't want to but she closed her eyes. While the mage said without emotions: "See you again, my queen", before Yui turned completely to dust.
After that, the mage had a saddened look. "It's a pity you had to leave without finishing your evolution. You were so close. It would take you more time in your next life…" He then stared daggers at a faraway place.