Waking up for real, I stretched my body and also made Dona stretch herself. It was an amusing and exciting thing to make her do—to stand behind her and feel her up as she bent and stretched along with me.
And the first thing in the morning, to boot. Divine, it was. Demon as we were.
After that, Dona seemed energetic for the hunt today, brimming with vigor. I almost wanted to bend her down and go for a round seeing her enticing curves and her peach. Even her ass, which she rubbed in a bit of pain while stretching.
I couldn't help but smile.
But then, something else caught my attention.
The snake skin that I had put away the day before had dried up and become rigid.
I had torn it away from the Red Flower Demonic snakes yesterday when I cooked for Dona, but they had just been put aside because I knew they were 'supposed' to be useful things.
So many times had I heard snake skins were useful in my past life, and it had been a worthy experiment to put them aside.
But truly, I never expected they would actually be useful. But the skin had tightened, and I ogled at it dumbfoundedly.
***
He was not some survival specialist, Mark was just an ordinary man.
But the demonic snakeskin seemed especially made out to be used as clothing, and looking at it, even he himself was stunned.
They looked somewhat similar to clothes he would expect to see on Earth. They were textile in nature.
But taking the snakeskin away from the branch, Mark grimaced. Had he known it would be this good, he would have cut them more carefully.
It was full of tears here and cuts there.
But still, it was usable.
Taking Dona's hand, he pulled her beside him and took one especially long part of the skin.
"Don't move. Let me give you something."
She still moved around even though he warned her not to, but using the snakeskin, he began to circle her, and soon enough, he had tied a small piece of it around her waist like a skirt. It would not hinder her in battles but would hide her privates to a certain degree.
Using another thinner piece, he belted the skin around her waist.
It was leather, so it also had some protective force. Not that Dona's demonic skin alone was not as good as those, but more protection was not a bad thing.
Standing proud, he looked at her crotch area and asked, "How is it?"
Dona looked at her skirt weirdly and wanted to tear it away. But Mark didn't allow her and slapped the curious hand, which she moved towards the belt, away. Dona, for some reason, didn't raise her hand after he stopped it once.
She seemed to be curious, though.
Her always-exposed crotch area must be feeling warm and comfortable—especially after all the sweating after their morning stretch.
"Well, look at you," he said, "aren't you more proper now?"
She lifted her skirt slightly and looked at it, he could see her red peach. Smiling, he tickled it and she giggled.
"You like it, eh?"
"Urr…"
Mark didn't mind her confusion and began to tie her boobs with similar snakeskin. She lifted her arms this time to make it convenient, and he smiled as he completed his job.
From her back, he fondled her breasts for a second and she closed her eyes in comfort.
"You really are growing smarter, eh?"
The red-skinned demoness looked even more confused, but she was checking out her robes with clearly amazed eyes.
What a cute monkey.
Mark moved back and took in her appearance in all its beauty.
He had expected she would look less stunning if he covered her privates, but boy, was he wrong. She looked stunning even with hidden privates—like a civilized demoness wife.
Her crimson beauty adorned with horns that were more of a crown than anything was indeed a deadly combination.
Shaking his head, Mark took a deep breath. He looked at the forest below.
"Come on, we have more snakes to kill and no time to waste. The night is soon coming…."
Mark had four goals for the day.
For one, he wanted to kill the seven remaining Red Flower Demonic Snakes.
For two, he wanted to see the limits of his Heart Input demonic trick.
For three, he wanted to grow stronger.
For the last, he wanted to know what was up with the… night.
And since he was stronger than yesterday, it didn't seem impossible.
***
[𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐮𝐢𝐥 𝐕é𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢ú𝐬 𝐍ó𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧â 𝐀ë𝐫𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐫]
[Tier 0—Demonling]
[Physique: 0.4]
[Mind: 4.4]
[Resistances: Mental Resistance (Low), Heart Resistance (Medium)]
[Bloodline: Ephemeral Dungeon Heart Demonic Bloodline]
[Demonic Tricks: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫. Dungeon Heart Seed, Heart Input (Low), Dream Shock (Low)]
[Soul Spheres: 0.0]
***
Just like yesterday, Mark and Dona arrived near the snake flowers and baited the snakes like last time. But this time, they hid in the bush and were much more prepared. When the snake arrived, Mark began to check the limits of his Hear Input demonic trick.
The snake had way lower Mind stats than him, so he was not worried. Every failed attack only made him lose 0.1 Mind power anyway.
10 meters away. Didn't work.
6 meters away. Didn't work.
2 meters away. Didn't work.
Dona jumped out from the bush, and he moved slightly forward, too.
1 meter away.
Suddenly, Mark felt as if he had broken a flimsy barrier and entered someone else's mind. Thoughts of the creature were like clashing sparks, and he tried to read it. Survival, Hunt, Eat.
There were core emotions to the creature, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't go against it even if he tried. But Mark wanted to see his limits today.
"You want to die. Get killed without any resistance."
The snake froze for a second, and Dona immediately reached it. But with red eyes, the snake hissed and broke away from his influence. It was wheezing, but the snake did not suicide.
Suicide was fundamentally against its nature. But of course, resisting the temptation made its mind grow exhausted and it could no longer use venom spits.
If he used it again, he should be able to dominate its mind.
Mark sighed.
How weak.
"Kill it, Dona!"
Dona seemed way calmer than yesterday, and she willingly let the snake wrap around her. It tried to crush her, but no matter how hard it tried to squeeze her dead, the demoness was calm.
No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't make her budge. Her physical body had gained a new attribute, after all. How can this snake hurt her now?
[Physical Resistance (Tier 0) (Low)]