Caudal Whip

Anaxa was still struggling to catch his breath from the heavy blow when the rat snake surged forward, keeping its head low to the ground, and closing in with cold, methodical lethality.

It slithered across the ground with such speed that the huge, daunting shadow was already standing before the small lizard before it even got to react.

And by the time it realized the kind of mortal danger it was in, the powerful fangs were already gleaming next to his neck.

"If those fangs pierce me, I am dead!" Anaxa's slitted eyes constricted with a cry of absolute alarm at the sight of the huge, dagger like teeth, fearing his body would be pierced in two in a single bite.

Thus he tried to perform a nearly impossible acrobatic maneuver with his tail, using his spear as a kind of fulcrum to jump up and forward, kind of a pole vaulter. The intention was to try and land just behind the charging snake's head and then make a comeback from there.

*Crack!* 

However that was easier said than done as the maneuver was too difficult to pull off on the first try. For the first time, Anaxa's dextrous tail failed him here, popping the miraculous joint with a sharp crack, and, 

Snap!

In his utter desperation, Anaxa could only try and avoid the worst case scenario- instead of having his main body inside the jaw of the voracious predator, he decided to sacrifice his tail.

"Ahhhhhh!" The huge fangs thus sank into his meaty appendage with all they had, causing the poor lizard to cry out in absolute pain. Just because Anaxa chose the option did not mean it did not hurt.

He fell to the ground with a dull thud, swiftly feeling the terrifying sting of the bite and the wet, cold mouth of his attacker drawing out immense quantities of blood.

While the snake was quite pleased with his strike- even if it was less than an optimal strike, it was more than enough to accomplish its goals- to deliver its potent venom.

In fact, personally, this snake preferred this outcome because it had wanted to rip apart Anaxa's tail for quite some time. It was revenge for that shot that took its left eye, one that pained terribly till now- Anaxa was not the only one hurting here.

"Ahhhh!" Thus Anaxa let out a second bout of scream as the enraged snake bit even harder, wanting to snap this abnormal muscle. His vision became cloudy with sheer pain and on top of that, he quickly began to feel a stinging sensation around his heart, as the organ began to soon speed up like crazy and it became increasingly harder to breathe. 

"Dammit it! Is it poisonous? How can this species be poisonous?" Anaxa quickly understood what was going on- the profuse bleeding, the increased heartbeat and the rapidly blurring sight, all pointed to one thing- poison, or more specifically, the hemotoxic type of poison.

Commonly found in the likes of rattlesnakes, and pit vipers, the toxin caused death by tissue death, retarding blood clotting and widespread internal bleeding.

And this attack came as an intense shock to Anaxa as commonly oriental rat snakes like the one he was facing were not poisonous. In fact, they were quite harmless by snake standards, relying only on ambush tactics and strangling to hunt their prey. 

The only reason Anaxa was avoiding its bites all this time was because he was afraid he was going to get swallowed if those razor sharp daggers ever got him. He could have never imagined it was loaded with such potent venom too. 

"Dammit! I thought those rock hard scales were its only mutation. It is poisonous too? Ahhh… is this what extremely mutated means?" Anaxa cried in pain as the poison rapidly spread throughout his body, making him quickly lose strength. 

"Dammit, is this the end?" He despaired at his current state, unable to find any other way to turn his fortunes. Even if he could somehow free himself from his attacker's grasp… such as by sacrificing his tail… then what?

He would be totally defenseless and on a ticking clock, 

"Is this all that I can do right now? Wait for the poison to destroy my body and then be digested in the stomach of my enemy?" Anaxa could thus only clench his teeth in unwillingness as no matter how much he struggled, he found his tail totally pinned down by the massive maw. It was too heavy and no amount of spirit and zeal was going to change that. 

Similarly, his attacker too seemed content with the current position, appearing in no hurry to finish the job. Rather, it was soaking in the last of his hateful enemy's death throes. It wanted to enjoy seeing this tiny lizard suffer under its toxin, the skin swelling, bleeding from the orifices, continuous vomiting, rupture of internal organs until finally cardiac arrest claimed the prey. 

Only such a long, gruesome death could appease its heart over the pain of losing its left eye. 

In fact, if Anaxa had the state of mind to spot it, he might have even spotted a creepy, human like smile form on the scaly reptile's lips as it took in the sight of Anaxa's struggle with mirthful glee. 

"Ding! Dextrous tail max proficiency reached! 100(90)/100. New skill available." 

But then, just as Anaxa was about to lose all hope, a saving grace of light suddenly pierced through the dense, pitch black clouds in the form of a system notification.

"New skill acquired- Caudal Whip- Allows host to suddenly extend his tail for a rapid burst of power at the cost of spirit points. Acquire for 1 skill point?" 

The desperate Anaxa did not even have the time to rejoice, as he pressed the 'Yes' option almost blindly. By this point, he would have taken any offer by the system, whatever it was.

Thus he quickly felt a tingling sensation coming from the very tip of his tail. It was kind of like holding a coiled spring in one's hand- it would burst forth at the moment he let go. 

And without further ado, this was exactly what the trapped lizard did.

Whipping the end of his tail to a ninety degree arc, so that the wooden spear he was still holding by his tail pointed directly at the opponent's injured left eye- 

Shoo!

Hisssssss!!!

If the snake's one eye had been good, or even if it was just nocturnal and able to see decently in the dark, this attack might not have worked as it was too slow and telegraphed. However, with Anaxa coincidentally having taken that out and the snake unaware of such an ability… 

His tail magically extended like a telescopic baton, the rocketing wooden spear piercing through the soft retainer like a hot knife through butter. Smashing past the squishy layer, it kept going further, piercing through the soft muscles and nerves that lay behind it before finally coming out the other side. 

"Hissssss!!!"

Needless to say, this was not a pleasant experience for the poor snake- all those nerves, muscles and even tiny, soft bone… cut, ripped and shattered in such a raw and brutal way. 

Even without going into the gory details, just picture the poor creature having a bloody twig with suspicious white fluids sticking out from one eye to the other.

The absolute pain literally blinded it. For better or worse, Anaxa's attack had also missed its brain, so it did not immediately die but was left to bear the full brunt of the hellish torment. 

Thus it let go Anaxa with a giant hiss, and raising his head, began to writhe around like it had gone mad. It had no idea where this attack had come from or even what had really happened.

While Anaxa also did not have the luxury to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his new skill, as potent as it was. 

He was rapidly losing control of his body due to massive internal tissue damage, and so, it was sort of utter madness in his eyes, he suddenly willed his tail to wrap around his prey's neck, as a way to laso onto it- he was not going to let this dangerous beast out his sight ever. 

Now, this maneuver of course hurt it beyond words, the massive wound, the poison, the profuse bleeding, and the immense jolting of the powerful body it was trying to grab. 

However, the maddened, adrenaline-filled Anaxa bore through it all, and just like his time with the tilapia, he quickly found himself somehow at the back of his opponent's neck. 

"Damn, I should find a name for this manuver!" Letting his sharp claws as far as they would go against the rock hard scales, the tiny lizard securely wrapped its tail and, 

Bite! Bite! Bite!

Anaxa began to crazily tear at the flesh, cracking the protective covering with his immense jaw strength.