103-104

"Come on Murder Puppy… we have some Coal Serpents to hunt."

I nodded at Jahi, before approaching the group and holding out my hands.

A deep blue glow washed over each of us, and the blood, gore, and sweat that we had accumulated was washed away in a moment.

Everyone looked over their now clean bodies, armor, and weapons, before giving me a relieved smile.

We might be warriors, killers, people used to fighting, but all four of us were used to be clean, and there was little purpose to exploring and adventuring when we were drenched in blood and guts of the monsters we've killed.

Besides, the mana cost was minimal, so I had no problem utilizing the spell multiple times an adventure to keep us fresh.

Anput and I were already dealing with the burnt, metallic tang of ash surrounding us, so if I could remove the smell of intestines and other internal organs, then that was worth it to me.

Nodding to me, Jahi turned around and led our group towards the areas that Leone had described as Coal Serpent Nests.

They were small mounds that were scattered around the Plains of Yama, and they led deep into the crust of the Volcano, where the Coal Serpents made their burrows.

These long, charcoal black scaled serpents would usually avoid confrontation of all kinds, with the only violent action of their being the hunting of the various other monsters that roamed the plains, namely the Goblins, but sometimes the Firefangs that occasionally made their way to these plains, like the one we saw on our first venture inside these Caverns.

Besides their rather non confrontational nature, they were rather strong and clever fighters, utilizing their armored bodies and natural fire magic to slowly chip away at their enemies while tanking the damage dealt to them.

So, as we approached the few mounds of upraised earth a few hundred feet away, Jahi was going over a rather basic plan…

"Since they're more of a tank monster, Anput and I will occupy their attention as best we can, while you two use precise spells to either cripple them or kill them; aim for the chinks in their scales, opened maws, eyes, wherever they have a soft spot, hit that with a strong spell to wound them. Got it?"

Leone and I nodded, making the Demoness grin.

"Lets hunt us some Coal Serpents!"

Besides her very obvious enthusiasm to fight something new, Anput was also beaming as we approached the Coal Serpents Nest, her tail swishing adorably as she hummed happily to herself.

Leone had told us that these monsters can drop rather rare smithing materials, and would be worth a lot of money.

𝚒𝓷𝓷𝐫e𝐚𝑑.𝑐o𝓂

The Jackalkin had changed her tune from when she first moved in with us; before, she seemed to care little about money, just like Jahi, but the two women had come around, but for different reasons.

Jahi's spending was always on us, her wives; she rarely went out of her way to but herself something, saying she had what she needed and would rather gift us things.

As for Anput, ever since we had seen the sprawling weapon market outside the entrance of Zhu'Rong Caverns, she had expressed a desire to purchase many different kinds of blades; she had said she wanted to experiment with them all, as well as collect them, just for the sake of having them.

When Leone and I had asked her if she was interested in smithing, she had pursed her lips and given the question deep thought, before eventually nodding her head, saying she wanted to be able to forge herself, and us, perfect weapons suited for each of us.

Which, while it made me happy that she, just like Leone, had found a desire she wanted to chase in life, I wasn't looking forwards to her bill each month…

Both had expensive interests, and Jahi was no better, as her gifts tended to be lavish…

Sighing, I realized that our years at the Academy would be spent in these Caverns, slowly building up a large amount of funds so that we could continue the lifestyle we currently lived.

Though, that was also why Anput was so excited about these excursions; to her, these meant that she was contributing her part of the bill, and it was also a way to let loose.

So, as we stood a dozen feet away from the mounds, we all readied our weapons, preparing for a good fight, and hopefully some quick, easy coin.

Leone and I were standing a few feet behind Jahi and Anput, who were staring at the mound with wary eyes; we don't know the true strenght of the Coal Serpents, nor their numbers inside this den, so caution was needed.

The two started slowly and carefully approaching the den, their feet quietly gliding over the loose gravel ground that made up the plain.

Drawing closer and closer, the two women watched as a sleek, black head poked out from the mounds entrance, two slitted crimson eyes staring intently at them.

The Coal Serpents head was about three feet wide, and when it flicked out its forked tongue, I marveled at the length of the fleshy appendage, realizing quickly how large monsters could truly get.

Slithering out another foot of the den, the Coal Serpent hissed at the two women as a warning, and we could all hear another few hisses coming from inside the den.

Each scale shone in the red light of the Cavern, and I could tell where it had gotten it's name from; the scales were as large as a chunk of coal, and just as dark.

Seeing that the two women weren't retreating, the Coal Serpent hissed again, moving a little further out of the den, revealing its long body.

Anaconda's, one of my previous worlds largest snakes, reached around 30 feet as the longest ever recorded, but this…

Staring at it as it slithered further and further out, its scaled body coiling up to allow it to display its full length, I was grateful that I didn't have a phobia of snakes…

? Lifting its head a dozen feet off the ground, it stared down at the two women, before its crimson eyes flitted over to Leone and I, making the Coal Serpent hiss again.

"That is…"

Leone nodded beside me, her eyes fixed on the monster before us.

"This is only average as well…"

Pursing my lips, I wondered just what kind of actual monsters lived in the Labyrinthian if the monstrosity of scales before us was only 'average'…

Jahi and Anput took a few steps back, creating a little space between them and the giant serpent, before lowering their stances as they prepared to launch an attack.

As for Leone and I, we both prepared spells, Leone going for her spear while I readied a barrage of ice arrows, wanting to test my accuracy with multiple projectiles.

When the Coal Serpent noticed that the mortals before it weren't backing down and retreating, it let out a final hiss before lunging forwards, its giant head slamming into the ground beside Jahi, who rolled away.

Anput launched herself at the Serpents neck, her longsword scoring a shallow gash across the Serpents scales, making it hiss in pain.

Rearing back to its full height, the Serpent's maw glimmered scarlet, before it lunged back towards Jahi.

This time, when it impacted the gravelly ground, we all widened our eyes at the patch of melting stones, the normally blackish grey earth now a dull orange.

One hit from that meant death for any unprepared adventurer…

Thinking that, I canceled my arrows and instead draped Anput and Jahi in Wind and Water Cloaks, granting them enhanced speed and resistances, as well as a minor healing buff as well.

When that was added onto the women's own Mana Cloaks…

Well, unless they act idiotically, or are taken completely by surprise, they should survive most hits…

Unless the Coal Serpent is hiding some of its strenght.

Sinking its fangs back into the earth beside Jahi, the Serpent hissed in agony as her heavy blade sliced off a few of its black scales, revealing its dark red flesh.

Leone and I released a barrage of spells towards that wound, only to click our tongues in disappointment as the Serpent weaved to the side, avoiding the spells.

It turned its slitted eyes towards us, and we both jumped backwards as it lunged towards us next.

However, by doing so it left itself open to Jahi and Anput, who swiftly dashed towards its scaled body and started hacking away, tearing off scales and chunks of flesh with each rise and fall of their blades.

It tried to turn around and push them away, but as it twisted its head around it revealed the two wounds on its neck to Leone and I, and with it being so close…

Lifting a hand, I pelted the larger wound with a dozen sharpened icicles, while Leone hurled a long spear of near solid flame at the scratch Anput had given it, impaling its throat and burning its flesh.

The Serpent released raspy hisses at that, only to fall silent moments later as it succumbed to the various wounds and effects.

Like all other monsters, it started to turn to ash as it died, with some of its scales, fangs, and even a bone dropping to the earth with thuds.

However, before we could take in its death, more hisses came from the den, making all of us go on guard.

—

You all had some great ideas, as well as reactions to the previous chapters lol.

Anyways, let's eradicate an innocent family of snakes, hmm~?

—

Before we could take in the death of the large Coal Serpent, we heard more hisses coming from the mound, before feeling the earth around us tremble slightly.

Leone's eyes went wide as she felt that, and she shouted out "Spread out! They can burrow short distances!"

Jumping away from one another, we all stared at the ground around us, searching for any signs of the Serpents appearing around us.

Coating my body in a thin sheet of ice, I then focused intently on the earth, before my eyes found a thin line of raised gravel approaching me.

Grinning, I waited another moment for it to ambush me before jumping away, using my wind mana to amplify my movement speed and stare at the wide open maw of the Coal Serpent, which was slightly smaller then the one we had just killed.

Its crimson eyes searched for me when it noticed that nothing was between its jaws, only to hiss in pain as my dagger sunk into the monsters neck, only to frown as my blade didn't sink as deep as I wanted it to.

Wrenching the dagger from its flesh, I watched as a thin stream of blood arced through the air, but I sadly had little time to admire the wondrous scarlet liquid as the Serpent jerked my head towards me, attempting to knock me to the ground with its heavy weight.

Droplets of dull orange liquid flew from its jaws, as well as from its giant fangs, and I pursed my lips as I heard the ground sizzling as the. droplets fell to the ground.

This wouldn't be a fight that I could revel in my bloodlust, sadly…

Dodging another swipe of its large head, I frowned as I noticed that the Serpent was now slowly leaving its burrowed tunnel, slithering around me and locking me inside of a tight, constricting circle.

Coiling over itself, the Serpent created a living, moving wall of scales and flesh, making my frown deepen.

I could jump over it, but considering its head was now looming above me and filling with more of that lava like liquid, I didn't want to risk positioning myself in the air, at least not without a few safeguards.

Freezing my steel dagger in a thick sheet of ice, I then traced a sequence out in front of me, making the Serpent hiss.

? It tried to lunge down to stop me, but it instead collided with a block of solid ice that I had encapsulated myself in.

Feeling the air around me plummet in temperature, I started tracing more and more runes, layering spell after spell into a large ritual circle.

The Serpent was constantly slamming into the ice, and I could hear thin cracks forming on the outer surface.

My hand sped up, and I frowned as I realized how long this spell was taking.

It was a giant combination of basic spells, but it was rather effective and something that I had wanted to try.

This was a spell I had made for when I am surrounded by either one large enemy like this Serpent, or dozens of enemies like a horde of strong Ghouls.

You could never be too prepared.

Altering the structure of the cube I was in, I took a deep breath as I finished the ritual circle, the dozens of green, dark blue, and pale blue runes flaring in specific sequences as it activated.

The Serpent was still slamming against my protective cube, before hissing as it collided with a small spike that had formed on the cubes surface.

Staring at it warily, the Serpent hissed again before closing its maw, moments later opening it to spit out a giant glob of that orange liquid.

That liquid sizzled against the ice as it melted it, and I started desperately muttering "Come on, come on..! Activate..!"

I needed every rune to be active before the spell would flare to life, and right now…

There were a few runes that were dull, and I looked up at the roof, watching as the liquid slowly chewed through my ice.

I couldn't divert my mana, so this was currently a race against time; I was putting trust into this ice dome I had made, and so far…

It was working.

Thankfully, before the liquid melted through half my ice, the ritual circle around me flared to life, making me grin.

It was a dozen some odd spells sewn together into one larger, intricate spell, and now…

My eyes widened as I watched the fruits of my labor ripen.

A gale picked up around me, and the Serpent raised its head to glance around, its crimson eyes filled with worry.

If my dagger hadn't managed to do much damage, and I wasn't fully aware of its entire capabilities, I was willing to be cautious in this fight; I didn't have Jahi's strength to simply cut through this monsters hardened scales.

As the gale continued to pick up speed, flurries started to shower down, before growing into larger chunks of hail.

Getting pelted by dozens, hundreds of chunks of ice, the Serpent let out an annoyed hiss, before flinching as one of those ice chunks grew sharper, scoring a shallow gouge on its black scales.

However, those sharpened ice balls grew in frequency, until they turned from chunks of hail to long spears of ice, which slowly impaled the Serpent.

It was trying to unwind its large body, before it was turned into a pincushion, but sadly the spears grew longer, and they started fixing the various sections together, keeping the Serpent in the center of this deadly storm.

I was still protected by my dome of ice, and any spear that drew close evaporated as it was turned into powdered snow that coated the ice.

Watching the Serpent slowly die to a thousand cuts, I grinned as each wound weeped blood, creating a frozen lake around me.

When it finally breathed its last, I stopped the blizzard of spears I had summoned before dissolving the ice around me.

The Serpent turned to dust, dropping large amounts of scales and a few bones, making my grin widen.

Each item I got from this monster meant money, and I needed money.

But for now, my eyes were fixated on the pool of blood around me, and I licked my lips.

I hadn't seen such a beautiful sight in my entire life…

Save my wives, of course, but…

This is its own category, and for now…

It took the number one spot.

I wanted to see a larger ocean of this wondrous crimson liquid, and the idea of the suffering that would need to be caused to get that to happen…

Sent shivers down my spine.

Shaking myself from my new future dream, I scooped up my prizes and watched as the others finished up as well.

Anput was a blur of red and silver, the Serpents body coated in deep gashes before turning to dust, and the Jackalkin was panting, her body covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Jahi was swinging a golden blade around, easily severing different parts of the Serpents body before killing it completely.

As for Leone, she had a bright sun flaring above her head, various bolts shooting from it as they targeted the Serpents open wounds, making the monster hiss in agony before being burnt to dust completely.

When we were all finished, we exchanged glances, realizing that we had all taken around the same time, either by choice or necessity.

Regrouping back in the center, we all smiled at one another before pooling together our spoils, our smiles turning to grins at the amount of materials gathered.

"Well this has been a lucrative run…"

—

What'd you all think of the spell?

It's a combination of a wind storm, rain, freezing area, and reshaping the hail; complex when joined together, but rather simple individually.

Effective too; I mean, have you ever been out in a hailstorm? I have, and that shit HURTS…

Anyways, chapter 2 for today done, hope you enjoyed~!