Huh??
Seeing the simple words [Snake Monster], Ryu Takeno didn't immediately react. He thought there was a network delay, and it hadn't loaded yet, waiting a few seconds.
"What—!!! That's it? That's all?! This Appraisal is way too simplistic! Of course, I know it's a snake! I want to know its species! Its stats! Skills! What kind of joke is this?!"
Maybe the skill failed…
So, he tried the appraisal skill again.
[Snake Monster]
…
[Snake Monster][Snake Monster][Snake Monster][Snake Monster]
Unconvinced, Ryu Takeno tried several times, always getting the same two words—[Snake Monster].
It seemed the skill hadn't failed; the current level of the Appraisal skill only provided basic information, unable to provide more detailed data.
Spit! Garbage!
A waste of his time and hopes.
Gurgling~
The emotional rollercoaster made his empty stomach rumble again. If he didn't find food soon, he'd be a starving reincarnated being.
Where could he find food in this place?
Ryu Takeno had no choice but to carry the headless corpse through the dark cave. The cave was pitch black, but he could see perfectly clearly.
Night vision?
He didn't understand the mechanism, but it wasn't a bad thing.
Why carry the corpse?
As an emergency food supply, of course. If he couldn't find anything else, he'd have to force himself to merge with his sibling, letting it experience that desire for eternal togetherness, even if it was inside his stomach.
And such a large snake corpse would last a long time.
Hiss hiss~
Ryu Takeno flicked his forked tongue, clumsily collecting scents from the air.
Snakes rely on incredible sensory abilities to survive. Most have poor eyesight, relying on their tongues to sense vibrations or their built-in "heat sensors" to perceive the world around them.
Adders have extremely poor eyesight, finding it difficult to focus on stationary objects, but they are adept at detecting movement. They use their tongues to smell; if a snake needs to detect its surroundings, it uses rapid tongue flicking to collect "scent particles" from the air.
When a mouse moves, its scent lingers in the air. Once the "scent particles" are collected, the adder presses its tongue tip against the vomeronasal organ above its mouth to identify and analyze the gases, then translates the smell into a precise image.
Though Ryu Takeno's snake form seemed to have good eyesight, he couldn't see any creatures within his vision, so he had to rely on his tongue to find prey.
What in the world are these things?
Through the air's scent, Ryu Takeno found other creatures.
But…
None of them looked normal… A deer with a pair of shining horns that looked like divine weapons; a bat with devil-like wings; a wolf with six legs.
…They all looked incredibly dangerous.
Forget it. Without proper preparation, he shouldn't provoke these monsters.
Ryu Takeno decided to play it safe. With the inherited method, he could slowly grow stronger even without fighting monsters. He'd eat the snake corpse to hold him over for a while, observe the monsters' fighting strength, and see if he could defeat them before considering hunting them.
Proceed cautiously; don't be reckless.
He crawled carefully, minimizing his movements to avoid attracting other monsters.
Snakes are most vulnerable while eating. They have to swallow their prey bit by bit, using their fangs to push it down, and their bodies are immobile while swallowing, leaving them at their weakest.
So, he needed to find a safe place to eat.
Ryu Takeno flicked his tongue, gathering information from the air while avoiding dangerous creatures and searching for a hiding place.
His efforts paid off.
In a dead end, Ryu Takeno finally found a suitable hiding spot—a dead end with only one entrance.
Using his tail, he moved a large stone to block the entrance, finally able to eat in peace.
Though the only entrance was blocked and the cave was dark, Ryu Takeno, with his night vision, could see perfectly.
Forget it, let's eat!
Whether you're a brother or sister, it doesn't matter. My love for you, that desire for unity, as family, we'll be together forever, even if it's in my stomach.
The food was large, and Ryu Takeno had no way to cut it, so he had to swallow it whole.
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