What are you?

Kaden's breaths came in ragged gasps as he forced his aching body forward. His vision wavered, the venom clawing its way through his bloodstream with every sluggish step. His limbs felt leaden, and the raw weight of exhaustion was bearing down on him.

When he finally stumbled into the clearing near the kobold settlement, he was barely holding on. He took a deep breath and made the final few steps into the underground cave. 

Thanks to the damage done by the snake he tripped on something and rolled more than half the way before he came crashing down onto the pile of corpses. The entire cave underground tunnel system had transformed because of the snake's rough handling. 

Not that he was complaining. He was happy to take the free roll down to the rotting pit even if it meant taking a couple of hits here and there.

"Ewww…" Kaden winced as he felt the squelch of decomposing flesh beneath him. 

The stench hit him immediately—an overwhelming mix of decay, stale blood, and something worse he didn't want to think too hard about. 

His already battered body protested as he pushed himself upright, his hands slipping on the slick remains of unfortunate humans and other creatures that had met their end here. It looked like the snake had been dragging everything over here as a kind of sacrifice for the egg sac.

He lifted his head to search around the cave and there it was, a few feet away from him, the big bulging egg sac. Right on cue a drop of liquid was seeping out of it.

Kaden immediately lunged for it and grabbed the drop in his head. He only managed to grab some of it but even so, he felt a wave of nourishing energy sweep past him.

His muscles tightened, his wounds itched as they began to rapidly knit together, and even the lingering snake's venom sizzled and burned right away, instantly cleansed from his system. Even his mind cleared, the haze of exhaustion completely disappearing. 

This stuff was powerful. Too powerful. Whatever was growing inside that sac wasn't just an ordinary creature—it was something dangerous. Something not just meant to survive in the chaotic madness of this world. Something meant to probably rule it.

Kaden's fingers twitched as he stared at the pulsating egg sac, his mind racing through fragmented memories of his last life. Had this thing hatched before? If so, what had come out of it?

His breathing slowed as he tried to recall any stories or mentions of a beast born from the kobold caves that could wield this kind of power. Nothing. The existence of the Deathvine Snake, the decaying pit—none of it had stood out in his past life's memories.

So what happened to this egg back then?

Did someone destroy it before it could hatch? Did the cave collapse before the creature inside could be born? Or—perhaps the most terrifying possibility—did it hatch and simply disappear before anyone knew what it was?

A chill crept up Kaden's spine. If the last timeline had no record of this creature, then either someone had erased all trace of it… or it had hidden itself so well that no one even knew of its existence.

And now, in this life, he was standing right in front of it.

Kaden clenched his jaw. Was he doing something dangerous? He walked to the egg sac and sat right under it as he silently stared at the notification.

[Ding! Your poisoned state is dispelled]

He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. His mind wandered to the past once again and a few seconds later another drop trickled from the egg sac.

Yet another wave of nourishment swept across Kaden's body.

Kaden let out a slow breath as the energy coursed through him, mending every wound, refreshing every fiber of his being. His thoughts, once clouded by exhaustion and poison, were now razor-sharp, as if his very soul had been polished clean.

Kaden's gaze lifted to the pulsating egg sac above him as he stared at it absent-mindedly.

Another drop formed at the sac's surface, swelling with shimmering liquid before it trembled and fell.

Kaden's hand shot out instinctively, catching it in midair. As soon as the liquid touched his skin, warmth flooded him again, reinforcing the changes the first two drops had made.

He exhaled sharply. This is insane. If I stay here long enough, how strong will I become? How much of this power can I take before this thing wakes up?

Kaden continued silently absorbing drop after drop as numerous thoughts swirled in his mind. At various points, he contemplated leaving and not pushing his luck too much but then the next drop would pop out.

Soon, almost an entire hour went by and he was sitting in the same cross-legged position. This was when he noticed something weird.