"That was a strong first impression."
Kyle shook off the fear lingering in his mind after regaining control of his emotions. His initial instinct to drop everything and flee had calmed, leaving him alone with his silent thoughts.
He looked around. The area was silent and calm, yet the thick stench of blood gave away the brutality hidden within. In the past, the grass here would have towered over him, but now he stood above it—though only barely.
Pushing his thoughts and fears aside, Kyle began walking through the Bed of Reeds. At night, the chaotic battles between birds and insects seemed to reach an uneasy truce, one that would resume at the first break of daylight.
"To be honest, this may actually be the best time to explore this location," Kyle admitted.
He couldn't help but imagine how troublesome it would be to keep ducking while exploring this place during the day just to avoid drawing the attention of insects and birds fighting above grass level.
With no map or familiar landmarks to help him judge his position, Kyle decided to move in a straight line. That way, returning home would be as simple as walking in the opposite direction.
Strangely, thirty minutes into his journey, Kyle had yet to encounter anyone. He found it hard to believe the place was empty and suspected the predators were simply waiting for a chance to catch him off guard. Still, he trusted his predator's awareness and wasn't too bothered. Several times, he stopped and expanded his detection range to search for opponents, but each time he sensed something, it quickly slipped out of range.
At this point, he was certain they were deliberately avoiding him.
Then a painful squeal echoed from the distance.
Kyle frowned and looked in the direction it came from. His gut told him it was a trap. At first, he considered ignoring it, but how else was he supposed to find an opponent?
Putting aside his worries, he approached the source of the sound, only to enter a small clearing within the Bed of Reeds. It was like a small green field, isolated from the surrounding sea of flowers.
'Wow, I didn't think there were spots like this. It's a pretty nice resting place… but it's too open.'
Kyle looked around, appreciating the beauty of the natural terrain in his small body. If he were in a tall human body, he would never get to appreciate things like this.
"Actually, if you come with a team, you could use this as a resting spot while someone acts as a lookout," he said after some thought.
That was when his gaze fell on a wild mouse, noticeably larger than the rats he had seen on Earth. Its brown fur was thick but stained purple with rot. The mouse could no longer make a sound, only twitching weakly, pain clear in its eyes.
Standing over it, Kyle frowned. He had already known this was a trap before arriving, so he wasn't alarmed. Judging by its wounds, it was clearly the handiwork of a snake. That explained the creature circling the edges of the clearing since he arrived.
"At least I don't have to feel bad for killing you," Kyle said calmly as he turned to face the king cobra, which stood over five meters long with burning violet eyes.
Under the moonlight, its purple scales glittered, adorned with black patterns Kyle couldn't help but find beautiful. Back on Earth, he had always been pro-animal, but seeing these scales, he couldn't stop himself from wondering how good a snake leather jacket in this color would look.
"I've got a small body though, so you should be enough material," Kyle said, even under its intense gaze.
{Toxic-Scaled King Cobra}
Level 5
Rank: Normal
HP: 70/70
Skill:
Toxic Scales: The king cobra can unleash a poison mist from its scales once its target is constrained, inflicting poison status on anything it maintains contact with for a prolonged time.
After reading the skill details, Kyle couldn't help but look at its purple scales again. The thought of making a leather jacket out of it suddenly didn't seem so appealing.
Hissssssssss!
The toxic cobra's hiss was loud and intimidating to prey, but Kyle was not prey. Even though the snake towered over him and looked twice as threatening, he was oddly confident he could kill it.
He tightened his grip on the bone dagger and assumed a stance, ready to battle the serpent. However, what followed was unexpected.
"Ah! Esteemed Kobold. I nearly didn't notice you!"
All of a sudden, the snake's killing intent vanished. Its large, imposing body lowered itself to Kyle's level, and the burning violet light in its eyes faded as if it had never been there.
Kyle, who had been preparing for a deadly confrontation, blinked in confusion. Why would it suddenly back away?
"Okay… so we're not fighting?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.
While Kyle was confused, the serpent—Boa—was having very different thoughts. In this world, racial titles were not given lightly. There was a reason for that.
Simple animals like the tiger bunny or the sun-kissed armadillo might seem on par with, or even stronger than, creatures of lesser races like kobolds or goblins at first. However, once those races awakened their bloodline talents, the gap between them became obvious.
Bloodline talent was the core difference between races and ordinary beasts—a gap that could not be easily crossed.
Boa knew kobolds well. These creatures were naturally cowardly and timid until their bloodline awakened. Though they didn't notice it themselves, their diluted dragon inheritance came with a sense of pride that completely changed their nature.
If Kyle had tried to flee when Boa revealed itself, it would have attacked. But this kobold had been thinking about snake-scale leather jackets and even had the nerve to say it aloud in front of an enemy.
Clearly, this kobold had awakened its bloodline.
Fighting a dragonkin directly was a risk Boa did not dare take, no matter how diluted the bloodline was.
Kyle was unaware of these changes, but Boa could see them clearly.
"Fighting this esteemed Kobold was never my intention…" Boa hissed politely as it slowly slithered in circles around Kyle.
It watched him carefully, searching for even a hint of nervousness, but there was none.
Thud!
Suddenly, Kyle moved—and he was fast.
Instinctively, Boa jerked back, retreating rapidly as it felt the sharp tip of Kyle's dagger rip through its scales. Thanks to its quick reaction, it escaped with only a shallow gash, warm blood seeping out in small amounts. If it had been a second slower, Kyle would have stabbed it without mercy.
'Fast! I've never seen a kobold this fast!' Boa paled in fear.
"Esteemed Kobold, why do you attack? I come in peace!" Boa pleaded, not daring to retaliate, yet not fleeing either.
Kyle froze, looked down at his blood-soaked weapon, then raised his gaze back to the snake.
"I walked into your trap on purpose because I want to fight. Why should I stop?" Kyle asked directly, eyebrow raised.
It was impressive that the snake could talk. He had never seen that among other animals. Still, that changed nothing. He had come here to gain experience points, and he was certain this snake would be worth far more than the measly 150 experience points he gained from tiger bunnies.
"Because if you kill me, you'll miss the chance of finding a mana vein!"
Boa blurted it out desperately, certain Kyle was preparing for another charge. It feared it wouldn't be lucky enough to dodge the next attack.