Valley's End
The viper moved towards the cave, not taking its eyes out of the group. Hera was trying her best to stay completely still. The last thing she wanted was to be devoured by something like that. The creature should be thirty meters long, and its head alone was the height of a tree. Hera had seen its mouth open. If the beast wanted, it could easily swallow most of the party in one bite.
Yet, the viper seemed just to be watching the group as it went back to the front of the cave. Oddly, it felt like the creature was protecting the smaller snakes. After a few moments, the beast stopped moving. It curled up in the entrance of the apparent nest. The viper was mostly white with red eyes, but a few of its scales formed a golden spiral coursing through its body and reaching its tail. There were also a few cuts on its skin where the lizard had attacked. Those were already purple, and it seemed to be spreading.
"I have a bad idea," Blue said.
"What?" Hera asked.
"Can I use one of the pearls on the snake?" Blue scratched her neck and looked to the group.
"What?" Alex was staring at her with wide eyes.
"I mean. I feel bad. The mommy was just trying to protect her babies. If we leave her like that, it will die," Blue said.
"Ok, first of all. How do you know it is a she? It could be a male. Second, why would you do that? You are going to waste a pearl on something that is not technically here," Leo said.
"I feel bad, and I want to help, that's all. Besides, how can you say for sure it's not really here. No one knows how the MAZE makes dungeons. We could be in the past, in an alternate timeline, or even in another dimension," Blue scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Not really. There has been some extensive research about dungeons. Even if we still don't know what they are, we know that they share our reality, and there is no time travel involved. We also ruled out simulations because we can take things from here to the outside," Bonnie explained.
"Wasn't there a thing about a lady getting pregnant inside a dungeon? And the father was one of the people that were part of the dungeon?" Mark asked.
"You are reading too many tabloids. There is no story like that. None that is real, at least," Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Ok, fine. I just want to help it because I feel bad. I don't want to think about the snake when I go to sleep and feel guilty for not helping," Blue said.
Hera understood that. As much as she tried to play it off as everything being normal, the emperor was in her mind all the time. Sure it wouldn't be as bad, but she didn't want her friend to feel that way.
"I'm fine with that. Just be careful," the explorer said.
"You know, dungeons are weird. We might get nothing, but we might get something out of it. I say go for it," Alex said.
"I'm kind of curious about what the snake would do. So yeah, I'm fine with that," Bonnie said.
"Seriously?" Leo asked.
Having enough people supporting her, Blue took one of the pearls and carefully walked towards the viper. She made sure to keep both hands up and seem as unthreatening as possible.
"Do you think there is a snake charmer skill?" Mark asked as they watched Blue get closer to the viper.
"Really? Now?" Bonnie stared at Mark, who just shrugged.
As Blue approached, the viper didn't take its eyes off of her. Following the woman with its head.
"Easy, Easy. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to clear that poison in your back. Ok?" Blue showed it the pearl and approached the side of its body.
The viper shifted, making a barrier in front of the cave with its tail. Aside from that, its eyes didn't seem to be angry. Blue raised the pearl towards one of the gashes in the beast midsection and placed it gingerly in the purple area.
In response, a pearlescent glow covered both the creature and the controller. Hera, who was watching about 10 meters away, couldn't help but take a step forward. She focused on her hearing. If any weird noise appeared, she would rush towards the light. While the light was still spreading, she could swear she started to hear Blue's heartbeat. In less than ten seconds, the light vanished, both the viper and the controller were still in the same position.
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[All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start
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Hera waved off the notification, too worried to be bothered by it at the moment. Blue nodded to the viper who nodded back, moving its head towards a part of its body still in the curl it had created. The beast seemed to bite down on its own flesh and carry part of its skin towards Blue, dropping it on the floor in front of her.
"For me?" Blue asked before picking the skin up, "Thanks!"
She turned around and headed back to the group without a care in the world, while the others freaked out about her turning her back to the monster.
"What the hell?" Leo gasped as she approached.
"What?" Blue looked back," Oh relax, if it was going to kill me, it would have done it before, not after it gave me a gift. And check it out."
Blue held the skin in front of the group. It had both the white and the golden scales on it, but its size wasn't as big as it seemed. Everyone activated their [Inspect], curious about what was the viper's gift.
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Chu'a's skin
The skin of the elder snake, Chu'a.
Hardened by years of combat, the skin is not only light but incredibly resistant to cuts. However, due to the life of Chu'a, the skin only boasts elemental resistance to acid.
It can be used to craft items with the acid attribute.
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Mark stared at the skin for a moment, "It's a shame its such a small piece. With that, you could at most make some boots or a hood, but nothing else. Honestly, I would love to try to work with that."
"Really? Have any good ideas?" Blue asked.
"Maybe, but it's yours. Next time I'll get mine," Mark said.
"You could have this one. I want to check the price first, but it's all yours if it's not a fortune," Blue said.
The group agreed to leave the skin with Mark as long as it wasn't too expensive. Having befriended the snake, the group headed towards the other side of the valley. Now they were finally able to see the wall on the other side. They could also see that everything to the sides was covered in the purple fog.
Bonnie wanted to test how badly the fog would affect them, but no one liked the idea of jumping in the mist just for a test. They agreed to test if they found a large group of enemies, but aside from that, they didn't want to waste the pearls.
Walking through the path, they saw more and more poison monsters. A few would try to attack the group but were quickly dealt with. Lesser poison lizard started to appear. They looked like grey iguanas. The first group was just a bit bigger than Tiger, but they began to grow bigger as the group got closer to the valley' back wall.
Fighting those creatures was different. They moved quicker than the frogs or snakes. They didn't drool poison or seemed to be hurt by it like the others. Instead, the poison mana seemed to empower the creatures, making them stronger and faster. Alone, the lizard took advantage of its surroundings, hiding in the bushes, climbing the trees, and attacking in unpredictable ways. The group was struggling to the point where just four lizards were able to keep Hera and her friends on the defensive.
The lizards were employing guerrilla tactics, hitting the adventures and rushing back to the safety of the poison mist where the humans dared not to venture. The creatures would swap between attacking in groups and sending one of them as a distraction. They communicated in a way that Hera couldn't perceive. She triggered her Pulse spell a few times, trying to find the beast. Not only could she feel their poisonous mana, but there was also a small mana link between them. Maybe that was how they talked to each other to move so well in a group.
Luckily, Yarnball would vibrate every time one of the lizards came out of cover. Thanks to that, Hera was able to warn her friends when something was coming. When the first regular Poison Lizard appeared, they saw something different. Instead of the loose skin or bloated form, the lizard's grey skin had patches of purple. Its claws also had a deep purple color and would spread the poison on any place they touched.
The creatures were still smaller than a large dog, but they looked menacing. The only advantage was that these lizards were easier to spot and hit. The lesser version of the creature was much more annoying, albeit less dangerous.
At one point, most of the group had some cuts and bruises on their bodies, and they were all poisoned. Before using the pearl, Bonnie walked into the mist and took a deep breath. Hera did the same. She already had a few poison skills. Getting a resistance could be useful. After a few moments, they checked their status.
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Poisoned by the Mist
The fog around you has entered your body. You are more susceptible to poisons, and any damage you take by poison mana will be amplified.
Duration: 10:00
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The duration would increase with each breath they took. That mist also gave Hera an idea. Maybe her poison spells could not only be useful but be stronger, even if she wasn't able to poison the creatures.
With the two still in the mist, the group gathered and spent one of their pearls to cleanse the area. Soon all the poison had vanished, and the valley had a new safe place, even if it was a small one.
Looking at the path, Hera noticed that soon they would find a place where the poison pools would become a problem. Thankfully, during the way here, they had found another block of clay. It was finally time to put it into use.
"Finally, this thing was weighing on me," Blue said, taking the brick of clay out of her pouch.
In a few moments, they were all covered with a thin layer of clay up to their waist. Tiger, however, was covered entirely Only its eyes and nose were left without any of the substance. Leo was the one who did that, so Tiger would be able to see and breathe.
They moved towards the pools and soon reached an open area, much like the one the massive frog was in. Several pools of poison were spreading, creating a ring-like structure around them. After the pools, they would reach the end wall of the valley.
Before reaching the larger one in the middle, a purple snake with black stripes on its side, and a purple frog with the same black stripes rose from the front pools that were just five meters away. They were taller than the other poison monsters they fought, but luckily not as tall as the greater poison lizard.
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Greater Poison Frog
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Greater Poison Snake
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The bodies of the creatures were glistening with the poison from the pools.
"What are the chances they are going to let us pass?" Mark asked.
"I would say zero," Leo replied.
"I take the snake, you take the frog," Blue said to the hunter.
Hera and Alex looked at each other and, with a nod, agreed to do the same. It would be easier to split the fight than to throw everyone in the same melee. Besides, it was just a frog and a snake. After dealing with the lizards, how bad could it be?