Finding Food

Salma looked at her sister who was running next to her.

"You know you can't compare to someone half your age right?" Salma scolded her with a look that her mother used to always have.

"You sound just like mom." Layla said with an expressionless face.

"I like running like this with you." Salma said.

"Me too. It's been a while since we ran." The big sister answered.

"Oh, shut up. You run all the time. That's probably why your Agility goes up so fast."

"That is true, but it's been a while since we ran together."

"Dad would have wanted us to. No matter how much he loved money, he loved running a lot. You two had that in common. Remember when I was still very small and we all ran together in that forest?"

Layla looked at her sister with a surprised look. Tears were about to start flowing.

"You talk as if he was dead."

"Do you think once he saw the monsters for the first time...Do you think...Do you think we were his first thought? I mean... The moment I saw that snake, the first thing I thought about was that I didn't want to die. The second one was that I didn't want you to die." Salma slowed down until she came to a full stop. "Even though I selfishly thought about myself first, there's...there's a part of me that wishes dad and mom thought about us first, you know?"

"I know. I'd like that too. Well, I am pretty sure one person thought of us the instant that person saw a scary monster." Layla directed her gaze towards the darkness in front of them.

"Really? I doubt it." Salma said coldly.

"I'm not sure, but I would bet on it. Probably thinking something like how can I protect them from this. " Layla said with a smile while still looking at the darkness.

Salma was surprised to see such a big smile. She followed her sister's gaze.

A moment later, Salma could feel Adam's presence in the darkness.

"Hahahha, you really think he did?" Salma asked while chuckling.

"I'm not sure. But I think so." She shook her head before continuing. "These damned...."

Layla was interrupted.

"Damned good people. Right?" Salma looked at her with a knowing smile.

Layla patted her sister's head.

"Yup. They're the most annoying ones. I'd like to sleep some more, but for some reason, I feel like he's running for us, you know? So, can't let him do that alone, right? Owing debts to good people is the worst. Since they never want you to repay them."

Salma focused on Layla's speech while looking at Adam.

The instant Adam stopped in front of them and was about to talk, Layla smiled and sprinted past him.

"Eum... She's super motivated, huh?" He said, taken aback.

"She really is. Anyway, when did you wake up?" Salma asked.

"About 3 hours ago... I think." Adam said as he took his greatsword out of his Storage.

"You've been training since then?" Salma asked.

"Yes. Am training my Strength and Agility." He answered with a smile.

Salma stared at him for a bit.

"Thank you..for everything." She looked down.

"What do you mean? We're in this together you know. If I don't get stronger, even I can't get out of here." Adam explained.

Salma started crying silently, still looking at the floor. Her tears hit the floor.

"Hey...am sorry I didn't mean to sound so selfish I..." Adam tried to explain himself.

"Thank you... for following us here." Just as she said that Salma started sprinting, following Layla. She wasn't anywhere as fast, but she ran as fast as she could.

When she was about 10 meters away, she turned back and shouted at him "By the way, I got a super cool Skill!"

Adam was taken aback for a second. His right hand started shaking.

He stood there alone, looking at the ground for a bit.

When he raised his head, he had a determined face.

He started swinging his greatsword again.

'I'll protect them. For sure.'

Adam stopped right away.

He turned back.

'Wait a Skill?

....

Meanwhile, in "The Great Snake's Den", The Great Snake woke up.

It moved around a bit before looking at its eggs.

At that moment, one of the eggs started cracking.

A baby snake was about to get out of its shell.

But it wasn't any baby snake.

It was the offspring of The Great Snake.

The Great Snake looked around, and found a hole in the wall.

It went back to sleep, as it saw that its babies had somewhere to go.

...

Salma was running, trying to catch up to her sister.

She saw a lit torch. Adam had put it there.

It was just in front of the tunnel they had gone in before.

When she was about 30 meters away from the tunnel she stopped.

There was something there. Her newly acquired Skill helped her notice it.

At the same time, Layla was running back towards Salma.

When Salma noticed the sounds of her footsteps, she shouted

"LAYLA! THERE'S SOMETHING HERE!"

Layla found it weird that Salma had already noticed her, as she could only see the lit torch from that distance.

She ran even faster.

Once Layla arrived in front of her sister, Salma pointed towards the tunnel.

"Something...is coming." She said.

Layla immediately pushed her sister back and turned to face the tunnel. She took her Iron Dagger and was ready to jump at whatever would come out of there.

A couple of seconds later, a snake came out of the tunnel.

Its head was a bit bigger than a fist.

Its body was 2 meters long.

"Is that...from those eggs? We messed up. We messed up big time."Salma said.

She immediately thought that soon, the tunnel would be full of these.

"Gotta get rid of it." Layla said.

"How?"

"Shouldn't be too hard. You heard the monsters Adam fought. A snake shouldn't be much."

The snake was advancing aimlessly until it noticed the lit torch. After that, it made its way towards it.

"They're cold-blooded. They just react to heat." Salma said without realizing it.

"See? I knew your knowledge of animals would help. Alright so, hypothetically if this was a normal snake, could I go behind it and smash its head with my mace easily?"Layla asked.

"Yes, if it doesn't notice you. But this isn't a normal snake you know. Who knows what it might do."

"If you feel something weird tell me alright?"

"Sure, be cautious."

Layla took her Iron Mace out. She very slowly and carefully placed herself behind the snake, focusing on making as little sound as possible.

The next instant, she raised her mace with two hands. A feat that would have been impossible for her previously.

She then slammed it with all her strength on the snake's head.

"Layla!" Salma shouted.

The snake's head was deformed and its whole body started twisting around the mace.

Layla, thanks to her high Agility, let go of the mace in time. Otherwise, her arms would have been trapped too.

The mace was on the ground, with the snake's body twisted around it.

"Salma, give me yours."

Salma quickly took out the heavy Iron Mace and did her best to hand it over to her sister.

Layla aimed once again her attack at the monster's head.

After that, the snake stopped moving.

[1 Great Snake Baby has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 60Gold and 100 Experience Points.]

[ You have leveled up!]

Layla put her hand on her forehead.

"God that was kind of nerve-wracking." She handed Salma her mace and took hers back.

"We should tell Adam right?" Salma asked as she struggled to put her mace back inside her storage.

"Yes let's. Am bringing this too." She grabbed the snake's corpse. It was heavier than the Iron Mace. Layla decided to put it on here neck and shoulders.

They made their way back and found Adam resting with his back against the wall.

They told him everything.

"Let's eat it." Adam said after hearing them.

"That's your reaction?" Salma said with an expression of mixed surprise and disgust.

Layla laughed at his reaction.

"I think we should eat it. System. Can we eat it?" Layla asked.

A voice they all heard answered, as the question was can WE eat it.

[ A Great Snake Baby's corpse is not harmful. But it must be eaten at the lastest 4 hours after its death. Otherwise, it could cause harmful negative effects.]

"All right. It's decided then. A 2 meters snake should be enough for the three of us, which is great."

Adam took the snake's corpse and started taking its skin and scales off with his dagger. It penetrated them easily. He had skinned a rabbit once when he was younger, so he got the role of preparing the food.

It was nowhere near beautiful or clean work, but he got the job done.

He removed the skin, the internal organs and the monster's head.

He then took his Greatsword out of his Storage and put it on the ground horizontally.

After that, it was the sisters' job.

They both lifted the snake's corpse and put it on the greatsword.

Layla bought a torch in the Store and used it to cook one side of the snake.

After that side was completely cooked, they let it cool down for a bit before turning it on the other side and cooking it too.

They all sat around their meal, holding their daggers.

They initially weren't sure about eating the cooked snake, but the smell was quite appealing.

Plus, it had been a while since they last ate.

All of them cut a small piece of the cooked snake and tasted it.

Their eyes became shiny in an instant.

They looked at each other in astonishment.

"It tastes AMAZING!" Salma shouted.

"It really does." Layla said while cutting another piece.

"Should we eat it all or save some for later?" Adam asked.

"Let's think about that later. Plenty of snakes are gonna come anyway." Salma told him as she ate some more.

From now on, seeing a small snake like this one would be a happy occurrence.

Adam smiled and cut himself another piece.