Serpent's Tail

"Would you like a summary of today's finished tasks, quests, and how many points were earned?" Fate just floated there as Ouro looked all around. So this place really did exist while he slept huh? In truth, he was rather interested in how many points the system was going to give him from that stack of papers, excited even as he nodded at Fate and awaited.

"One quest was cleared for one hundred points, daily points for work done today is fifty-three. Totaling at one hundred and fifty-three, altogether you have nine hundred and fifty-three points. Due to the user getting so close the system cannot provide any more help such as daily task rewards. You must earn points in a different way to unseal the gate but let's move from that and go towards what you learned today, Serpent's Tail." A small book appeared beside fate, not too thick and worn bindings. He reached for the book but Fate simply tsked and opened the book,

"The Serpent's Tail is a whip technique derived from watching a snake slither on the ground, in trees and striking at prey. Those who use the whip and this technique can easily transfer from mid-range combat to close, able to go toe to toe with a sword user of similar technique rank and above if used correctly. I will help instruct you so you can understand the steps better though some of it is blocked due to your current state." Fate seemed a little worried but it was hard to tell as she? It? He didn't know as he sighed and shook her head before he nodded.

"Im ready and I'll try to follow to a T but I wanted to ask you if it was possible to identify you by a pronoun. Ya know, are you male or female or should I just refer to you as Fate, They/Them?" Fate giggled a bit as the floating orb got closer and gently booped him on the nose before backing away.

"Have you ever heard the saying that Lady Fate is a cruel mistress? I guess you can think of me as a personification of the concept so I hold no real gender due to being an artifact but to make it easy for you I presume that you can call me by the pronouns of female but you're getting sidetracked. Ill be showing you visualizations of the steps depicted in the book, this will lay the foundation of the Serpent's Tail." As she finished talking a whip materialized before Ouro, it was an exact copy of the slaver's as he grabbed it and looked before the gate before turning around to see ghostly versions of himself each following a certain action.

The first one stepped forward and bowed before uncoiling the whip, spinning it around him a bit before it fell around him in a spiral pattern then froze. Ouro took a deep breath as he held the whip in hand, the hard yet flexible leather that had been crafted by someone who knew this to be a simple and menial task. It wasn't perfect but for now, it was all he had to keep himself safe as he copied, finding this step rather easy as he let the whip fall around him, taking the spiral shape.

The ghostly image faded and the next one stepped forward, moving through the first step as the spiral of the whip took shape then transitions as he stepped forward between the empty space of the whip, snapping his wrist from a downed defensive to action. He could see the whip follow like a duckling as the ghastly image of the whip nearly licked across his chest when another sudden jerk back from it's wrist snapped it back Ouro could see the action take place in the weapon, the tip of the whip-cracking from the center of his chest and up to his face. He gulped as it resumed the first step and waited. Ouro understood, taking a step between the empty space of the whip, following the example given to him as the whip cracked, splitting the image's upper chest and face as it disappeared.

A smile glanced across his face as he resumed the first step, transitioning into the second. When he heard the crack he felt his body react on instinct as he slashed with the whip as if it was a sword before snapping it as he began to understand. The first step was to establish the length of the weapon, not the area, a five-foot whip but the tip, the fall of it is a bit longer. The spiral helps establish a plane, the first sending of the whip sends it towards a target and the snap is to allow for the damage to be done. He has a five-foot extension area to attack from, so long as he forces the change of motion to make the whip crack he can damage and it doesn't take much to do so as he can change how fast he snaps to get closer. He could also disarm an opponent from afar, causing them to scramble for their weapon, and lay an onslaught of attacks. A whip usually causes the skin to split, he can wrap it around one's neck to strangle them, and even when close-quarters combat gets where he cant put space then hand to hand, using the whip to block as well as tangle enemies up. He smiled as he began to play around with the whip, establishing the area he can attack from and what to do in defensive situations.

His dreadful habit of letting things get the better of him time was in full swing as Fate coughed to get his attention. He stopped in mid-swing and was licked right in the nose by the fall licked him and the nose and he hissed in pain before he turned to look at Fate.

"You gotta leave, it's almost morning and you gotta figure out how to get forty-seven more points to undo this seal and get you truly started. Also, you got a new skill, Serpent's Tail beginner. Nothing special but hey it looks like you got enough of the basics, keep it up so you can master this skill and I can read more of the book for you!" Ouro tilted his head not understanding Fate. She was a parasite artifact bound to him and allowing him to use whatever this power was but it prevented her from doing certain things even though she was it? He huffed, some things had yet to make sense to him but maybe sooner or later he'd get the information he yearned for like the system, the door, why everything was happening, his past even would be nice to learn about as the morning sun began to make itself known and he was forced to leave that world and enter the real one.

*Thank you everyone for reading thus far! I would love feedback and I wanted to thank the people who added this novel to their library! All readers are welcomed and it brings a smile to my face to know you guys are enjoying the novel, recently we reached 1.5k views and it makes me happy to know! Please enjoy the content I make, don't be afraid to ask questions, and keep reading! Also special thanks to my American, Algerian, and Italian readers!-ChaosPop