Chapter 46 - Florida Man Adopts Cobra Snake as Legal Daughter Without Informing His Spouse and Family
As night fell, the Lamia forces passed through the border forest, leaving the burnt man behind. On the charred soil, surrounded by burnt woods, a black figure lay still, unmoving. Coiled around the man's neck, a cobra snake waited for him to wake up.
Slowly, the crispy, burnt skin of the man crumbled, revealing bright and smooth skin beneath. His fingertips twitched as he gradually regained his senses. Hair, facial skin, chest skin, and every burnt part of Felix's body fell off, crumbling into ashes. He rose to his feet, opening his eyes and staring at the sky in a daze.
Felix remembered being burnt alive, yet he was still living. He didn't know how he survived, so he looked ahead, his mind blank. Jessica brought him to his senses, opening his status menu to show his current achievements.
---
Name: Felix Ariel
Age: 18/582
Bloodline: [Unknown]
Element Affinity: Fire, Metal, Poison, Void
Authorized Level: Super Democracy Pass (F)
Level: 12
Energy: 16,643/17,662
Mana: 17,662
Innate Talent: Flame Lungs, Fast Learner, Fire Immunity, Poison Immunity
---
Staring at his status screen, Felix's iris and pupils gradually regained light. He then felt the slippery texture of the cobra snake's skin. The hydra hatchling looked at him with her usual puppy eyes.
"Oh, ah. Eh? Hmm... Huh?" Felix's memory returned. He cocked his head, confused like a chicken, but imagined himself as Dr. Strange.
Felix blinked several times, adjusting his mind and consciousness. Reading the messages again, he sobered up. "Hoh? A hydra?"
Scratching his neck where the hydra had bitten, Felix stared at the troublemaker. The snake, as usual, flickered her tongue to smell the air around her and Felix's scent. Felix patted the snake's head and sighed, "What am I going to do with you? Anyway, since you helped me, I guess I'll adopt you."
The hydra snake smiled brightly, the corners of her mouth curving up while the tip of her tail wagged like a puppy. She hissed, flicking her tongue.
"Alright, alright. Your name, right? I'll think of something nice…" Felix closed his eyes and pondered, coming up with cool names, listing them aloud.
"Miquella."
The snake shook her head.
"Mumei."
She shook her head again.
"Anck-Su-Namun."
The snake repeatedly shook her head.
"Hail Hydra."
The snake sighed and shook her head hard.
"Oh, come on. What kind of name do you want?" Felix scratched his head, stopping himself from plagiarizing names from Earth. Desperate, he randomly recited the first word that came to mind.
"Eins."
The snake lifted her head and wagged her tail, smiling brightly and flicking her tongue five times in a row. Felix smacked his forehead, "I had so many good names for you, but you want to be stuck with 'One' in German?"
The snake nodded repeatedly. Felix rolled his eyes and waved his hand, allowing Jessica to finalize the deal. "Jessica, set the name as Eins. If she grows more heads, you know what to name them."
<…That's very lame.>
"I have no Fs to give. Set it up."
Jessica gave the little snake a pitying look, closed her eyes and other windows, and assisted with the bond ritual.
*DING*
Eins, the hydra hatchling, suddenly glowed in red light and ignited in flames. Her body vaporized into the flame, which entered Felix's neck through the bite holes she had created. A new system window appeared, showing Eins's live portrait. Jessica popped up her screen, floating next to the new member.
"Wait, wait, wait! There's an upkeep?! And what the hell is the penalty? I'm going to explode?"
Felix was taken aback. He had planned to spend his energy mass-producing weapons and bullets to exchange for mana crystals. With this development, all schedules would be disrupted.
"HOLD IT! HOLD IT! HOLD IT!"
Things started to get out of hand as Jessica proceeded without informing him first. Moreover, even if he had known, he might have agreed to this condition.
"Am I getting this right? I have to pay her 10,000 energy EACH DAY and EVERY DAY for the entire month. And next month, the rate is 20,000 energy daily?! It will go up to 80,000 the next year?"
Felix was crestfallen. He couldn't imagine how he could increase his mana by 70,000 before the next year. Moreover, it might multiply in the third year or so. Still, Felix was optimistic about the unfinished oil exploitation quest. He believed he could earn enough to outgrow the familiar.
Unfortunately, Jessica's next warning almost made Felix give up.
"…"
Felix faintly smiled before fainting while standing.
.
.
.
Turo Camp, 10 miles east of Felix's current location
Buck Turo and Bill Turo rode their warhorses, galloping north. The surviving squad of five aura knights followed behind them, all looking back in horror.
Chasing them were giant Lamias, holding spears, tridents, and swords. The Lamias wore metal plate armor like knights, exuding aura, the same power as aura knights.
Had a few Lamias only used aura, Buck and Bill Turo wouldn't flinch. However, everybody in the monster army could use it! Some could even cast spells like mages, and their skins nullified blades and wind spells. With the physicality of aura knights, the dexterity of wild beasts, and the spell-casting techniques of mages, these monsters were walking calamities.
"I didn't know they were this strong!" Buck Turo cried, looking at his father. "What do we do?!"
Bill Turo let out a heavy sigh, unable to accept the evening's events. Their forces encountered a small unit of Lamias in the afternoon and got into a skirmish. Their main units managed to drive away a team of 10 Lamias with support from Bill Turo and his bodyguards. After pushing the enemies back, they pressed on and arrived in front of Terra City.
That was where disaster struck. While building a camp to prepare for the siege battle tomorrow, the Lamia's main forces launched an all-out attack from behind while the Lundop House troops opened the gates and charged out of the city, flanking them from both sides. The battle resulted in disaster for the Turo House. The two Turos abandoned their men and ran away, but a hundred giant Lamias kept chasing them.
Additionally, Bill and Buck's warhorses had been galloping the whole night and were exhausted. Their legs slowly lost strength, and their speed decreased. As the monsters were about to catch up, Bill Turo looked behind one last time. Seeing the monsters getting closer, he shut his eyes.
"It's over."
As soon as he uttered the word, one of the Lamias threw a javelin, striking his warhorse and sending it tumbling down, ejecting the rider. The other monster girls cackled and started doing the same, aiming at the horses. Everyone in the last fleeing unit fell.
The monsters surrounded the men, pressing them to the ground and peeling their armors and clothes.
Despite being fat and ugly, the Lamias laughed and began their ritual, taking them as their personal spoils of war.