The air of the narrow tunnel was thickened by the Basilisk's growing bloodlust, the vertical slits on its bright yellow eyes burning a hole through Aric's frame.
"Hiss... Answer me Human boy! How are you able to move?!"
The Basilisk's voice buzzed like a chainsaw, echoing in the depths of the cave and sinking into Aric's bone marrow.
[D-damnit!! My body can't move!]
Aric trembled, his knees colliding against one another, and his bladder slowly loosening.
"Hisss..."
The Basilisk's stuck out its tongue that closely resembled a trident and slithered into the tunnel, its scaled body zigzagging through the narrow confines of it.
"...G...Get away...F..."
Aric stammered, the Basilisk's large head now a few centimeters away from him, its vertical slits now as thin as needles.
"Be quiet, answer my question... Hiss... How is it that you have recovered from my poison?"
The Basilisk's bloodlust grew thicker as its patience gradually waned.
"I — J-just..."
Aric stuttered, the intimidating presence of the great serpent compelling him to answer.
"I w-washed my wounds with t-the miracle water!"
He exclaimed, almost biting off his tongue as he did so.
[Miracle water...?]
The Basilisk's eyes flickered momentarily.
[The pond...? He's talking about the pond?!]
[What nonsense is that?! I am asking how you were able to get up in the first place!]
The Basilisk's grumbled inwardly and coiled its neck, its forked tongue going in and out its mouth more vigorously.
"There is no such waters in this cave...Hisss!! "
"How dare you try to deceive me? The great Basilisk King?!"
FWOSH!!
The Basilisk unlfurled its coiled neck and launched its snout at the trembling Human before it.
[!!]
Aric wanted to evade but there was no space for him to do so, nor did he have command over his own autonomy.
THUD!!
The impact was violent enough to crack his ribs and force him to vomit his own blood, sending him crashing into the depths of the cave behind him.
"Hiss... This makes no sense."
"My poison is deadly enough to paralyze even a juvenile Dragon... How is a mere Human with no Mana able to resist it?"
The Basilisk bore its fangs and slithered into the cave, its tightly conjoined emerald scales glittering like jewelry under the light of the Mana Crystals.
//
"Gagh..."
Buried beneath a pile of rocks, Aric continued coughing out blood, his chest and ribcage completely fractured.
"Wheeze... Wheeze..."
He forcibly drew breath, the searing pain on his left chest making it difficult for him to breathe. And the act itself produced an eerie sound, giving the impression that he was gurgling his own blood.
"Hisss..."
"Argh!!"
He cried out in pain as the Basilisk's tail coiled around him, dragging him out of the rubble.
A few of the rocks were caught in the constriction, pressing against his body and amplifying the discomfort.
"Wheeze... Cough! Cough! "
He opened his trembling mute hazel eyes, their light slowly flickering as though his life was slipping through his fingers.
"How strange. That should have killed you as well. "
"I had thought that your father was holding back out of pity back then, but I was suppose I was wrong."
The Basilisk tilted its head like a curious puppy, its vertical slits widening.
[Am... I... About to die?]
Aric stared at his own reflection on large bright yellowbeyes that gazed upon him, and saw a bloody, pathetic existence drawing its last breaths.
[Why was I even born?]
[... What was the purpose of my life?]
[To live like an animal in the stables and become feed for this thing's offspring?]
His life began flashing on the Basilisk's eyes and he couldn't help but shed a tear at his miserable existence.
"Why... Me...?"
He muttered to himself, directing that question at his weeping reflection.
[Why does my death have to nurture the lives of others... Is that really my purposes?!]
He began trembling, his heart pounding out of his constricted chest.
"Hisss...?"
The Basilisk felt a strange sensation, one that prompted it to tilt its head in the other direction.
[What is this... Feeling?]
It wondered, and noticed that the rubble pressing against the Human in its grip was vibrating.
[No!! I refuse to die just like that!!!]
Aric began breathing through his teeth, and the gurgling sound was no more as he exterted his muscles.
"Aaahhh!!!!"
[!!]
He let out a carnal roar the echoed throughout the open space of the cave, startling the Basilisk.
"Hissss!! "
FWISH!!
The Basilisk flicked its tail and ejected Aric along with the rubble, hurtling him upwards, and he tore through the air toward the ceiling of the cave which was riddled with sharp stalactites, remiscent of jagged icicles.
But...
As he tore through the air, Aric had the wherewithal to adjust his frame and he unsheathed his blade.
"I don't exist for anyone but me!!!"
He let out a roar that burned his throat to a crisp, and twisted his hips in mid-air, garnering a rotation, swinging his sword like a propeller.
Slash!!
He sliced through the multitude stalactites and the crooked, yet sharp rock formations fell down toward the Basilisk, threatening to skewer it.
But...
"..."
The great serpent was unbothered and did not even flinch as the rain of sharp rock poured down on it.
"Huff... Huff..."
Aric dangled from the ceiling, his left fingers embedded on the stump of a stalactite as though it were mud.
[That won't be enough to kill it...]
He deduced, his entire body screaming in a searing pain as he awaited the dust to settle.
[And I doubt I can run away from it either... I guess I'll just have to fight.]
He had no other recourse, if he was going to die anyway, then he would do so having fought tooth and nail.
"Haaa..."
He exhaled as he saw a pair of eyes piercing through the settling dust, and he tightened his grip on his sword.
"Fuuu..."
He took a deep breath and fortified his restless mind, drowning his fear, then he...
Fwosh!
Released his grip on the stump, allowing gravity to claim his being.
He then clasped his sword with both his hands and held on tight, his form impeccable even as he was descending.
[I wonder...]
[Can a hundred thousand swings become one?]
He recalled all the years he'd spent swinging his wooden sword restlessly.
Crack! Crack!
His shoulder, chest and tricep muscles bulged to the extreme, as though they would explode at any given moment.
[I will pour out my everything into this swing... My blood, sweat and tears.]
He grit his teeth, the Basilisk below still unfazed even as he drew near, knowing that a mere Human could never put a dent on its scales, especially one who couldn't wield Mana.
But then suddenly!!
PWOFF!!
An explosion of hot steam shot out from Aric's pores.
[!!]
The Basilisk was bewildered, but it was too late to evade.
"This is all that I am!!!"
□□□ Centennial Cleave!! □□□
CLAAAAAAAAANGGG!!!
Aric violently struck the arrogant Basilisk's snout and the earth beneath it crumbled, the entire cave was terrorized by tremors and the shockwaves scattered beyond its confines.