Chereads / The Boy Dyed In Blood / Chapter 4 - Shrivelled like a grape in the sun

Chapter 4 - Shrivelled like a grape in the sun

After a long nap which helped digest his food Eren slithered out of the tunnel into the thick shrubbery that covered the whole of the forest floor, all he needed now was a couple more (exp) to upgrade to the next level. Once again he activated his trusted skill he was born with (Blood Trail).

Intuitively picking out a slightly thicker trail of red string he followed the trail until he reached one of the many towering trees covered in vines, the behemoth of a tree lay in front of him many times thicker than the gigantic Mexican Cyprus trees of his previous life, the vine also being as thick as an adults arm aiding him in coiling around and slithering upwards towards his target. Reaching the first set of tree branches he was now at least 15 meters above the forest floor, nevertheless Eren did not faulter as his eyes were set on the creature eating what looked like a walnut stuffing his face without a care in the world.

The closest animal Eren could associate this critter with would be a chipmunk although it was much larger being around the size of a cat, black and brown fur gave it a somewhat distinctive look. As he had done before slithering silently towards his prey when suddenly the little critters ears twitched and its head jolted towards his direction. This surprised Eren who thought he was being sneaky but before he could react the critter suicide jumped off the branch, still on the branch Eren stayed there flabbergasted thinking "what the actual fuck just happened". When suddenly its arms and legs opened up and the little thing started soaring through the air gracefully it was an absurd sight reminding him that this was a completely different planet to what he had lived on before.

To top it all off the next moment a strong wind passed by startling him, followed by an immediate shock two slender body's appeared in his peripheral vision clad in long leather boots, black pants and a white tunic's a pair of long eared humanoid figures bolted towards the flying little critter who was traversing towards a slightly lower branch. Grabbing the critter the pair started chuckling throwing it to each other whilst jumping from branch to branch like it was a common occurrence for them luckily they did not notice the junior blood snake with its mouth agape in awe perched on the tree branch.

"SHIT-were those things elves?, they're dangerous, they might of seen me up here" pondering what just happened inwardly he slithered back down the tree not wanting to be thrown about like that little critter earlier.

Now at the bottom of the tree Eren carried on the hunt from earlier finding a lone horned rabbit in the fauna he proceeded to use (Flash Strike) to make quick work of it. Curiosity got the better of Eren as he slithered in the same direction he saw the pair of elves dart off to earlier in the day with his new stats he felt somewhat more confident with himself.

***

Race: Blood Snake

Level: 3 (exp:0/15)

Evolution: PENDING

Attack: 15

Defence: 12

Agility: 10

Skill-Passive: (Blood Trail: Lvl-2)

Skill-Active: (Flash Strike: Lvl-2)

Mana: 2/7

The increase of mana capacity gave Eren a confidence boost a long with the upgrade in his skill innate skill (Blood Trail) he wasn't sure if it was because it was his innate skill but when activated his eyesight now felt enhanced everything was as if he was now viewing it in 4k and before he was only looking in 1080p. A somewhat short journey later Eren was now in front of what looked like a sort of barrier it was translucent with what looked like cellophane covering it giving of the slightest tint of yellow, but other than that on the other flip side of the barrier it just looked as if the forest carried on Eren wouldn't of noticed if not for the skill (Blood Trail) also having a slight effect on his normal eye sight.

*Slip*

Akin to a pebble splashing through the water Eren's scaley body passed through the barrier with only a slight touch of resistance wondering if this barrier let only animals enter or exit he then realised what was standing before him. A city in the skies, the gargantuan trees of the forest had their flesh carved from within making the elves abode, many wooden bridges stretched throughout the skies on many different layers there were hundred if not thousand of homes layered throughout the trees all of them built around a single tree. Hundreds of meters thick it dwarfed the others with an air of superiority its thick bark resembled steel even more ridiculous was that atop this ridiculous tree laid an elven castle that looked ancient, words couldn't portray the ancient feeling it gave making Eren feel like an ant standing against an elephant.

Activating his skill (Blood Trail) his eyesight was enhanced feasting his eyes over the elven castle all he wanted, when suddenly his heart stopped laying his eyes on one of the many guardsmen patrolling the castle he immediately twisted his head and looked back at him, "SHIT" this word played over a thousand times in his head when both of their gazes locked although the elven guardsmen just smirked at the junior blood snake and went on with his duty.

Slivering viscously as fast as his body could carry him Eren finally go out onto the other side of the barrier after what felt like an eternity, checking his surrounding he only deactivated his skill after securing his safety. Thinking back to his earlier self his newfound confidence shrivelled down like a grape in the sun.