The forest grew darker as night fell, and the cold breeze rustled through the trees.
Zyric watched the snake move away. The snake also glanced back at him one last time to make sure he wasn't going to attack it.
After moving a considerable distance away from Zyric, the snake let out a long sigh.
"At least he wasn't like the other humans."
The black snake thought.
Suddenly, it heard someone running behind it. It immediately turned around and saw Zyric.
Before the black snake could say anything, Zyric spoke up.
"Hey, don't worry. We don't have anything to do today anyway, so I thought I'd come and meet your family. Besides, I haven't found any beast that's useful to us yet. So, let's spend some time together today. I actually like you quite a lot."
Zyric said to the black snake.
However, the snake spoke hesitantly.
"Listen, I'm sorry. I can't put my family in danger. I can't let you meet them."
"Look, don't worry. If you want, you can climb onto my hand. I know you're extremely poisonous. If I do anything wrong, you can bite me. You can even wrap yourself around my hand and let the poisonous scales on your body pierce my skin."
Zyric said to the black snake.
"You're a really strange man. First, you approached me and talked to me. Then you showed me strange things and let me go. After that, you came back to me, and now you're saying you want to meet my family. You're even putting your own life in my hands."
The black snake said to Zyric.
"Yeah, well, we don't have anything else to do."
Zyric said, trying to calm it down.
How do I explain to it that I need to make a project about snakes? Everyone stays away from beasts like snakes, so if I make a project about one, I'll definitely get better marks.
Zyric thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Fat Insect climbed onto the black snake's head, startling it.
"Hey, hey! Don't be scared. Look, I admit that this boy is a complete idiot and is useless at pretty much everything. But he's a good person at heart. Look, I'm sitting on your head. I could kill you if I wanted to, but I haven't, have I? So, just climb onto his hand. Besides, we only want to meet your family. Got it?"
Fat Insect said to the black snake.
"Are you trying to convince me or threaten me? Fine, but you'd better not let anything happen to my family. Not a single thing!"
The black snake said to Zyric.
After that, Zyric, the black snake, and the others began moving forward.
Fat Insect was the only one who came out of Zyric's Fuzan Vault to keep an eye on their surroundings.
"By the way, there are three members of your family, including you. Your wife and your little daughter are the other two. So, do you take care of your wife and daughter all by yourself?"
Zyric asked the black snake.
"Yes, you're right about that."
The black snake replied.
"By the way, how did you get those injuries on your body?"
Zyric asked the black snake.
"Th-these injuries are because of those Monster Tamers. The truth is that beasts like us possess poison powers. If we enter someone's Fuzan Vault, they can combine our genes with their own and gain incredible strength. And you came to me for those same poison powers, didn't you? Remember?"
The black snake said to Zyric.
"Yeah, that's true."
Zyric replied.
"But if we refuse to be tamed by them, they pull out every single scale from our bodies and turn them into weapons. Having even a single scale torn off is equivalent to having ten of our bones broken. That's how much pain we feel. They cut off different parts of our bodies and find ways to make something out of each one."
The black snake explained to Zyric.
Zyric could imagine the pain those snakes must have felt when they fell into the hands of Monster Tamers.
Before long, Zyric stopped walking, took some medicine and other supplies out of his bag, and began applying them to the black snake's injuries.
The black snake felt much better afterward and looked extremely happy, as it had been suffering from the pain for days.
"Are you a Healer? At such a young age?"
The black snake asked in surprise, looking at Zyric.
"No, my sister is a Healer."
Zyric replied.
"Oh, thank you so much, boy."
The black snake said before continuing to walk alongside Zyric.
After walking for a while, the black snake arrived at a strange, dark hole that extended deep underground.
Little did Zyric know that meeting the black snake's family would reveal a side of the forest he had never imagined.