You risk it at the lake.

It didn’t take you long to figure out the lake was the better option of the two. Between a player-infested town you had never been in before and a possibly player-infested lake you at least knew your way in, the second option made the most sense to you.

…A little more, at least.

“Is it this way, or…? Fuck.” You said to yourself; worry and annoyance mixing in your voice.

You had lost your way in the thick Emeraldine Forest a while ago, but so far you didn’t wanted to admit it, confident in your knowledge and skills to make your way out. Clearly you had overestimated your own abilities, because this part of the forest looked exactly the same as the ones you walked past by before, and you didn’t feel any closer to either the lake or Barrol Village.
Turning back, you tried to find a clue, any clue as to where you could be. A hill, a fallen tree, anything! But whenever you looked, it all looked the same.

“…You lost?”

A voice? Coming from… Behind you!?

“Ah!” Was all you could say, your legs tangling in the cloak you were wearing as you tried to turn around, making you lose your footing and fall to the ground.

“Aww, did I scare you…? Awm sowwy”

The voice mocked you, but… Where was it…? Who was talking!?

Suddenly you felt something warm tangling itself on your right leg, the rough texture of whatever it was sending chills down your spine as it got closer and closer to your knee.

“Ah!” You screamed again, grabbing the thin leather of the cloak that was covering your entangled legs and moving it out of the way.

“Hi.”

It was, a… Snake?

By pure instinct, you shook your leg dramatically in the air, hopping the snake would go flying off your body and hopefully land very far away. But such thing didn’t happen as you shook your leg faster and faster; the snake simply keeping its head close to its body and hanging tight.

The snake wasn’t going anywhere, but it hadn’t attacked you yet. You started to calm down, lowering your leg to the soft dirt below you.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

There was no doubt in your mind now, it was the snake who was talking to you. But that was simply impossible, you must be having a bad dream or something; probably still asleep with the cock of the hunter deep inside you.

“You can… Talk…?” You say, bewildered. Half expecting, half hoping, that you wouldn’t receive an answer.

“Don’t worry. I was as baffled as you at first.”

Definitely, the snake was talking to you. Your mind was completely lost now, looking to come up with a rational explanation.

“So… Are you gonna answer me…? It’s all the same to me, really, I’m very comfy here. Your leg is very soft and warm... Though you should do something with all this hair.” He mocked you still, your legs having no such thing as a single hair.

“Uh… Hi…?” You said, still half in shock, not really knowing what to do.

“Ah, yes, hello again.”

“You can… Talk…” Your face now closer to the snake, you could clearly see its lips moving as he answered you.

“Yes. I. Caaaan.” He said, pausing after every word, talking in a mocking tone. “Can you understand Common? Cooo-mmon?”

Common was the language spoken by all humans in Alluvia, both NPCs and Players. But it wasn’t uncommon (pardon the pun) for other races and even monsters to be born with the ability to speak it as well, especially those of the Humanoid type such as yourself.

It was unheard of for an animal to speak at all, however, at least not without an Echo Scarf. And even then you had only seen animals like dogs or hawks use them, never critters like this snake.

“Anyone still there…?”

The mocking words of the creature finally turning you away from your deep thoughts.

“Y-Yes! Uh… Uh… How…?”

“How what? How am I speaking?”

His mocking tone was getting to you now, rapidly replacing your bewilderment with annoyance. Your own voice reflecting that as you spoke.

“You better tell me what the hell is happening here before I turn you into a pair of boots.” And just for emphasis, as you spoke you draw from your pocket the dagger the hunter had left you.

“My my, how violent. And here I thought you were the shy type…” Seeing you move the dagger close to him, he quickly continued. “Seems not...”

“Anyway, there is not much to explain. That friend you were with back there… It was me who took him out.”

“Wait, what? You?” Your bewilderment was once again growing, though a part of you was proud of being correct in your assumptions.

“Yes, me. Sort of…”

“As you were having your little… Fun… I was busy climbing the tree you were holding onto. I was but a stupid, unthinking animal then, so I didn’t realize your screams would attract the mother of the eggs I was planning on eating.”

“By the time I was about to have my feast, the mother came back, and after a short fight I got thrown down the tree and into the hood of your little friend.”

“Then your friend started shaking all around, and I couldn’t quite tell what was going, but out of pure instinct I started biting him.”

“Before I realized it, he had disappeared, and I was falling to the ground amongst his clothes. Then I heard a loud noise. And then when I finally voiced my thoughts aloud I realized I could speak. Then-”

“Wait, how… How does that work?” You ask, interrupting the snake’s story, more of a rhetorical question than anything else.

“Huh, and I was just getting to the best part… Anyway, long story short, I believe the bird and I attacked your friend and killed him without giving it much thought. And were rewarded with a level up… Or a few.”

True enough, checking the stats of the snake for the first time, you realized this snake was different from any you had seen:

Great Snake.
Level 3
HP: 15/20
Melee Attack: 3
Melee Defense: 2
Ranged Attack: 0
Ranged Defense: 1
Magic Attack: 0
Magic Defense: 0.
Weak to: Ice Damage.
Special Abilities:
Poison Fang: Melee attacks cause residual damage equal to half of current Melee Attack level for a number of seconds equal to current level.
Immune to poison.
Intelligent.
Gold: 0.

“Level 3? I guess that’s a lot for a critter…” You said to yourself amusingly, forgetting for a moment this particular snake could respond.

“Excuse me…? That name is not very accurate. I am not a “critter” anymore, but a beast-class monster. And an intelligent one at that.” He says, pointing to his newly-acquired special ability.

“My guess is that, as an intelligent monster, the game automatically assigned me with a language. Probably defaulting to Common.”

“I didn’t know this game could do that…” You said, curious.

“Neither did I, but alas, here we are.”

“Anyway, why were you following me? Go hunt some rabbits or something…”

“My my, how rude you are… I don’t want to go back to my mindless life, however. So I figured I’d stick to you for now.”

“And what the hell makes you think I want you to be with me?” You say, showing the sharp dagger to the snake.

“Honey, you really should work on those manners… But that aside, you could always grab that knife of yours and kill me. But I can give you two reasons why you shouldn’t: 1) I very much enjoy living, thank you… But more importantly, 2) I know for a fact you are as lost in this forest as a ship drifting on open sea, and I happen to know my way to Mirrorlake.”

“Tch… You’re not as smart as you think you are, y’know…?”

“I disagree.” The snake says smugly. “Is that a yes, then…?”

“Whatever. Just tell me how to get out of here…”

You rose from the ground, dagger still in hand. With one hand you grabbed the oversized cloak, and with the other you cut half of it with a swift motion.

The garment now reaching just above your knees, you were sure it was impossible for your legs to get entangled in the leather again, hopefully avoiding any surprises in the future.

“Let’s go, Smartass.”