Expose to flames for dozens of hours or more
"Pelerian, please give your orders."
Hmm, yes, yes, I am Pelerian.
I tried asking various questions to the magic spirit supposedly created by Pelerian.
"Shh shh." (What are my evolution conditions?)
"Shh, shh. Shh." (Why aren't you answering?)
But no matter how hard I tried to speak, the so-called spirit wouldn't even respond.
Is this spirit also a racist?
"Saaaah!"
I shouted once, but it still ignored me.
What nonsense.
Feeling angry, I hit the back of its head.
Of course, I mean I just hit the machine in front of me.
Clank.
Startled.
Something shot out of the machine.
It was a small metal needle.
"Please extract blood from the magical beast."
Oh, really?
With that suspicious needle?
I hesitated for a moment.
Won't this give me tetanus?
But it didn't seem rusty.
Ah, I won't die from this, right?
I carefully brought my tail closer.
Poke.
The tip of the metal needle was very sharp and easily pierced through my scales.
And I felt my blood being sucked out with a slurping sound.
"Beginning analysis." "Please place the magical beast on the crystal plate. It is recommended to kill or anesthetize for accurate scanning."
This spirit has no compassion.
Since I couldn't die, I climbed onto the crystal plate and lay spread out, no, straight.
Whoosh-
The lights suddenly turned on.
I could feel magic flowing through the crystal plate.
"Beginning scan." "Analyzing as a snake-type magical beast, classified as a Horn species."
Ah, this feels just like that.
Like being on an X-ray machine.
I had an experience like that before.
In middle school, the kids always made me the goalkeeper.
Of course, I had no interest in soccer.
For some unknown reason, I always ended up as the goalkeeper.
Isn't goalkeeper an important position? Why did they make me do it?
Since I had no interest in soccer and no athletic ability, I just zoned out during PE class.
Then I got hit in the chest by a super powerful shot from a big guy in the next class.
The sky spun and I couldn't breathe.
When I came to my senses, I was lying down looking at the sky.
The usually mean PE teacher was shocked and took me to the hospital.
To be honest, I felt fine by the time we got to the hospital, but I just pretended to be in pain.
Even then, there was a fuss about getting chest X-rays and whatnot.
It's a beautiful memory.
"Analysis complete. Printing results."
I got off the crystal plate.
I couldn't help but be amazed by this magical technology.
This place was supposedly built 300 years ago, but that machine looks like it was made with modern technology.
It's even printing paper like a printer right now.
"Would you like to record and transmit the analysis results?"
Huh? Transmit where?
Come to think of it, Pelerian said something about experimenting on his self-made chimera and transmitting the results or something.
Absolutely not.
Who are you sending my information to, you fool? I don't want that!
"Preparing for automatic transmission."
Aack!
Then the rod on top of the machine started glowing blue.
Not being able to speak is a problem.
I quickly leaped up and bit the rod.
Crunch, and the rod broke.
"Transmission impossible."
Phew, good.
That's a relief. My precious personal information almost got leaked.
And in the meantime, the results had finished printing.
I read the fluttering pieces of paper that had fallen.
My evolution conditions were really written there.
What is this?
There's not just one.
──────────────
[Snake-type magical beast, Horn species.]
Unable to determine exact species. Possibility exists that this individual is not a snake-type magical beast. Other possible species estimates are as follows:
[Bird-type magical beast], [Rodent-type magical beast], [Turtle-type magical beast], [Lizard-type magical beast], [Rabbit-type magical beast], [Jaguar-type magical beast], [Centipede-type magical beast], [Spider-type magical beast], [Bat-type magical beast], [Human], [Fairy]....
──────────────
What is this?
What on earth is this?
If something with smooth scales and beautiful Venomous Fang like me isn't a snake, then what is it?
And honestly, aren't Turtle-type magical beast and Centipede-type magical beast too far off?
I couldn't understand why the results came out like this.
...Could it be because of potential?
A potential of 20 gave me the Perseverance trait. It also said something about not being restricted in growth potential.
Maybe that's why these results came out.
The text written below added credibility to my inference.
──────────────
The individual's evolution possibilities have been analyzed to be abnormally diverse. Analyzed special evolution conditions assuming it's a snake-type magical beast.
1. Create main habitat in swamps.
2. Create main habitat in freshwater
3. Create main habitat in the ocean
4. Create main habitat in the desert
5. Create main habitat in caves ...
──────────────
It's incredibly diverse.
The special evolution conditions weren't just one.
I didn't know what kind of magical beast I would evolve into if I achieved those conditions, but it seemed there was a way to change the habitat first.
I think I get it roughly.
If I live in the sea, I'll become a sea snake, and if I live in the desert, I'll become a desert snake, right?
But that alone would be a bit boring.
There were countless conditions below that as well.
There were also some that stood out.
──────────────
...
1. Create main habitat in a volcano
2. Consume large amounts of deadly poison
3. Fly for dozens of hours or more
4. Expose to flames for dozens of hours or more
5. Hibernate in a frozen state for over 10 years ...
──────────────
Are you telling me to die?
Right, if I live in a volcano, I'll become a volcano snake, and if I eat a lot of deadly poison, I'll become a venomous snake of deadly poison.
There's even one telling me to fly around.
Flying Snake was an official evolution tree!
But trying to achieve those evolution conditions would likely result in death.
The evolution conditions became more significant as I went down.
Somehow, the ones written below seem more like unique mutations.
You know, like how there are evolution trees that are harder to achieve and stronger among Eevee's various evolutions.
──────────────
...
1. Consume a magic stone of 10th grade or higher.
2. Consume dragon blood.
3. Make a contract with a demon.
4. Consume celestial blood.
5. Receive divine blessing.
──────────────
Wow.
My heart is racing.
Could I become a Dragon-Snake, Demon-Snake, or God-Snake?
There were several that involved consuming the blood of seemingly amazing creatures.
Wait, come to think of it, the chimera that Pelerian supposedly created.
Didn't they say something about mixing the blood of certain magical beasts to create that chimera?
Hmm, if that chimera is still alive, I should at least take a look.
It's going to be in this basin anyway, right?
I don't want to get involved because it sounds terrifyingly strong, but still.
I think I'm pretty much done with my business in this dungeon.
Just in case, I ate up my analysis results paper.
Personal information is important, after all.
Alright, magic spirit.
Now self-destruct.
"...."
Of course, the spirit didn't answer.
That thing will probably keep waiting for orders until it loses power here.
It's a pitiful thing.
After looking around the room for a moment, I found an exit.
It didn't seem like a properly made exit.
There was dirt and rock debris scattered around, as if something had dug through the wall like a mole.
It must have been the work of the chimera that was trapped in the tank.
Hmm, it doesn't seem like it escaped that long ago.
Somehow, I got that feeling.
When did the earthquake that devastated this dungeon happen in the first place?
As someone who's only about three weeks old, I couldn't know. I'm still a baby snake after all.
The tunnel was big enough for two or three people to walk side by side comfortably.
That meant the chimera must be about this size too.
And in the middle of the tunnel, I found traces of it.
Actually, I jumped in surprise.
I thought it was waiting to eat me.
What I mistook for the chimera at first was its shed skin.
Wow, this is a special find.
It seemed to be the kind of magical beast that molts.
In other words, it has a hard exoskeleton.
It was as big as a house, exaggerating a bit.
Its height was about 3m, and including the legs spread out to the sides, its width must be about 6m.
It looks like a crab, but also like a spider.
Did they say they mixed in a tarantula from the great forest?
However, its legs weren't thin like a spider's, but had thick front legs that looked good for digging.
These legs, they seem familiar...
...Ah!
I had a sudden realization.
Surprisingly, I had met the chimera before.
It's the one that appeared from underground and swallowed the Horn Jaguar's corpse in one bite.
I was slow to notice because all I saw were several legs that had sprung up from the ground.
This means the chimera was really alive and moving around.
The fairy magician's dream was only half realized.
To think I had already formed a connection with it.
If we meet again, I'll get revenge for the stolen meat.
With that resolution, I crawled out of the tunnel.
It was a completely different location from where I was first kidnapped by the Cockatrice and taken in.
It just looks like a naturally formed tunnel because of the thick undergrowth.
Farewell, dungeon.
I couldn't leave coolly.
It wasn't because I was sad about leaving the dungeon where I had spent a few days.
It was because I saw it.
Above the hill I had crawled out from, right above where the tank room must have been, something was sticking up.
It was something like an antenna.
Blue light was shooting up into the sky from there.
It was a pitch-dark night with no moon.
The blue line cutting through the sky was clearly visible.
That line would probably be visible even from tens of kilometers away.
Is it transmitting something? Surely not my analysis results?
No, that wasn't it.
There was a moment when Pelerian said something about deactivating the chimera's hibernation.
"Deactivating hibernation. Transmitting experiment contents."
I heard something like that.
It's probably sending the experiment contents somewhere so that Pelerian, who is alive somewhere, can receive them.
After thinking for a moment, I came to a conclusion.
'...Is that my business?'
It's not my job.
The magical beasts must have been surprised by such a pillar of light shooting up in the middle of the night.
Maybe even the territory residents living nearby were surprised.
Ah, what if they send an investigation team?
I should be careful then. My nemesis, the guard captain, might come.
But this basin is not just ordinarily big, so it should be fine if I hide.
It might even be an opportunity.
I haven't forgotten my grudge from back then.
If we meet again, I won't let you off easy, guard captain.
Until then, I need to evolve and train my newly acquired skills.
Growl.
I'm so hungry.
Right now, even a Mosquito Rat would be welcome.
I need to eat and get stronger quickly.
I excitedly crawled into the forest.
At that time, I greatly underestimated the impact of the rising light.
Even those I couldn't imagine detected it.
Deep in the great forest.
The long-lived race living in seclusion....
==
Originally, fairies do not age.
They live in forests, befriending nature.
Their skin is smooth like porcelain, and their long ears exude dignity.
Even elders close to a thousand years old don't have a single wrinkle on their faces.
Fairies leaping with their long legs are like deer.
Therefore, it was very difficult to guess a fairy's age just by appearance.
The fairy running deep in the great forest was no exception.
She leaps over gnarled tree roots with her slender, long legs.
Her silver bob cut, trimmed to a moderate length, flutters in the wind.
Her features were indescribably beautiful, but a scar that caught the eye was on her face.
A long sword wound covering her left eye.
A beautiful one-eyed elf warrior.
She had been summoned by the elder.
The reason was that they had detected traces of Pelerian.
Pelerian.
The name of that cursed magician.
Just recalling it made the fairy grit her teeth.