Humble Beginning

Disclaimer: If you are stupid and think I own Tensura, then sorry to burst your bubble. I don't. If I did, then Tensura wouldn't have succeeded as much.

Summary: A human soul transmigrates into the body of a newborn snake with some strange skills. How would it fare in this world where people with strength like Gods roam freely?. Surviving this mayhem should be its first concern.

I was still feeling very out of it. I just had my whole life flipped around like a grilled sandwich. While I was obviously very happy for this second chance, I couldn't help but wonder if my parents were also given a second chance like me.

If not, then why did I get one? Was it just a random stroke of luck? Was it a predetermined event? I would never know.

Leaving those sad and confusing topics aside, I should probably focus on exploring this cave more. I don't think I can hope to encounter any human life here, and I sincerely hope I don't. Pretty sure they would attack me on sight.

After taking some time to marvel at my surroundings, I decided it was enough. I need to get moving again. But just as I wanted to take a step, I was struck by an epiphany.

I am a snake now. I don't have legs. How the hell do I move?!

Just as I was about to start panicking, I remembered my cute snake Nagraj. I had taken care of him since his birth. In doing so, I had come to learn a lot about snakes.

Snakes move around through lateral undulation. They push against other surfaces to propel themselves creating an S shape in the process. As I'm now a snake, I should also be able to move that way.

I tried pushing against the rough surface of the cave. At first, I found it somewhat difficult, but as I continued to try, my body instinctively moved in a certain way. At least I can move now.

I started my cave exploration, making my way towards the area where more magicules were at hand in the air. I was thinking of moving randomly, but I paused. Instead, I started heading towards the pond with the sole intention to see how I look as a snake.

I reached the pond and peered inside it. A black triangular snake head with a thorn atop its head greeted my sight and stared back at me. It looked monstrous and scary, but there was also a strange sense of grace emanating from it.

I looked back at my body. I was some 20 ft long, that's already longer than the longest snake found on earth. This world really is magical. I looked at my body with complex emotions, but I knew that I had work to do. This really isn't the time to introspect myself.

As I moved through the cave, I noticed the crystal-like structures that were radiating magicules. They looked very interesting but I currently can't see any uses they could provide me.

I was just examining the rocks, but I suddenly noticed another interesting thing by the riverbed. There were patches of some strange grass, they too were radiating magicules.

They had my interest now. What were these things radiating magicules, {Scholar}?

[Answer: The grass is commonly known as Hipokute Grass, a type of rare herb that is used as an ingredient for making Potion. Its leaves can also be ground and made into healing ointments, albeit less effective. It can be found in places with high Magicule concentrations.

The stone radiating magicules is called Magic Ore. Magic Ore only forms around the vicinity of B Rank Monsters or higher. When regular mineral ores are exposed to dense concentrations of Magicules over a certain period, the ores will slowly absorb them and eventually turn into Magic Ore. This has many diverse uses.]

Oh, these things appear around here due to high Magicule concentrations. Wait, the magic ore forms around only in the presence of B-rank monsters? Did it form because of me?

No, the more likely scenario is that it formed around here due to other monsters. If the magicules concentration is already so high around here, then there must be some strong monsters around.

I am an A-rank monster, so I should be able to deal with anything below that. Hopefully, nothing stronger exists out there.

About the Hipokute Grass, can any benefits be obtained just by ingesting it?

[Answer: Affirmative. The effects would be dulled and lesser in quality.]

Hmm, still very useful. Not to mention something is always better than nothing.

I moved closer to the grass and inched my mouth closer to eat it. But I stopped. Say {Scholar}, it wouldn't be poisonous or something right?

[Answer: Negative.]

Ok then, I ate it without any doubts. Just as the grass touched my mouth, I paused. I had tried to chew it, but apparently, I don't have any teeth or any taste buds. In hindsight, almost all snake species back home didn't have them either.

With a sigh, I gobbled up the grass. At least I don't have to worry about whether the grass tasted good or not.

Weirdly, even as it reached my stomach I didn't feel anything. It's probably because I am currently in perfect condition. I wonder if the effects will come when I am injured or would they disappear.

I was suddenly hit with an epiphany. I have a different digestive system now, that is fantasy-like in nature. So there is nothing really stopping me from eating everything I see.

{Scholar}, do you think I could eat these Magic Ores?

[Answer: Affirmative. The host can eat Magic Ore. It would be converted into magicules upon consumption.]

Hey {Scholar}, Wouldn't I get stronger if I go on an eating spree and gobble up all the high magicule things?

[Answer: Affirmative. The Host would get stronger as the Host's Magicules increase.]

I looked around and saw huge chunks and patches of Magic Ore and Hipokute Grass. Today I shall devour the heavens.

I don't regret my decision at all.

I ate everything in my surroundings and kept changing areas as soon as I cleared them off of their Magicules.

I'm sure I have grown stronger. At least {Scholar} told me so. Supposedly, all the magicules are being diverted to {Evolver}, so it can function. And it is indeed functioning. Eating the materials got easier, as I ate more of them and I felt the Magicules I was getting increase with each subsequent bite I had.

I confirmed my hypothesis with {Scholar} and I was correct. My body was adapting as I ate. I had severely underestimated this skill, even after I had acknowledged its usefulness.

Also, change of plans. I'm no longer leaving this cave.

If someone thinks that I would willingly leave this safe haven where I can grow stronger by just eating, then they can fuck off. I hadn't encountered even a single monster while exploring. This made me reconsider my previous assumption about there being other monsters in this cave.

As I was pondering about the loneliness of living, something stood out to me. There were webs around.

I coiled my body and began looking around. Sure enough, I noticed something from my {Thermal Sense}. There were warm markings around the webs. I pray to whoever will listen to my plight, let there be no spiders in this cave.

It turns out that no one was interested in saving me from these abominations, as I saw something crawl out of a hole. It had a large grotesque body, with eight limbs attached to its stomach. The back of this monster was striped with yellow lines. The monster looked at me, scrutinising me with its eight baleful eyes.

I was frozen but that lasted for only a second. I rapidly took action and used one of my intrinsic skills, {Poisonous Breath}. It was my first time using this skill, but it still felt natural when I used it.

As I opened my mouth to attack, I felt the magicules gathering inside it. They accumulated together and gave rise to a huge dense cloud of green gas.

The conspicuous gas shot out from my mouth like a jet spray and aimed its way at the disgusting creature.

As for what happened after, I am too much in awe to describe. Everything in 100 metres of the area was being melted. The spider by which I was a 'bit' frightened, now lay dead within a few seconds.

I just stood there, staring dumbly at the dead corpse of the once-scary spider.

I had led a creature to a gruesome death with just a breath. The creature's dead eyes stared straight at me as if accusing me of something.

But I didn't care much for the life of this spider, I was much more focused on the fact that I wield such power in my hands now.

In my previous life, until my last breath, I hadn't been in a position of power. Sure I worked as an IT professional for a big company, but that position didn't really come with any real power.

This. it wasn't financial or political power. It was power in its most primal form. Real power that could allow me to decide the life and death of others.

I knew I had these skills. I knew they allowed me to do such things. But knowing something and seeing it are indeed two different things.

It is just now that I am realising the horrors of my powers. {Evolver} once again surprised me. The reason?

[Notice: Unique Skill: Evolver's {Dynamic Adaption} activated.]

[Notice: The Host has acquired the Extra Skill: Fear Resistance.]

I gained a skill from doing literally nothing. This fight was unfair on so many levels. One can say that, I committed some war crimes with that attack.

Once my mind recovered from the haze that clouded it after realising the power it now wields, I had to remind myself one more time. There were many individuals stronger than me out in the world.

Not to mention, those guys could be in groups. Facing thousands of opponents stronger than me isn't really something I want to see happen.

This incident again cemented the fact that I needed to get stronger. With this thought in mind, I moved over to the corpse of that spider. As I was moving on the surface, I noticed something. I was also affected by the poisonous gas, even if it was to a very lesser degree.

Hmm, it makes sense. Or else how else would members of the same species compete for mates. Still, a pesky issue. I would need to look into build- Oh, I just had a great idea.

To see if my idea would work, I reluctantly focused my gaze on the black spider. It looked disgusting to the eye with its melted body, but I steeled myself, leaned my mouth towards it and looked elsewhere.

While very fucked up, it was beneficial and would only help me get more stronger. Not to mention, if my guess was correct, I should also be getting the skill I desired.

I opened my mouth wide enough to engulf the spider in one fell swoop. I am so thankful that I don't have taste buds right now, otherwise this would have been a lot harder.

Just as I had completely gulped up the spider, I felt the magicules in my body increase by a good amount, it was more than the increase I felt after eating all those Magic ores and Hipokute Grass.

Seems like defeating and eating other monsters would be the best way to collect magicules.

I was also greeted with the news that I was expecting.

[Notice: Unique Skill: Evolver's {Dynamic Adaption} activated.]

[Notice: The Host has acquired the Extra Skill: Poison Resistance.]

Yup, I am really starting to fall in love with the skill {Evolver}. This would be my key to getting really overpowered without much effort.

Hey {Scholar}, can you provide me with any information about the species of the spider that I just ate?

[Answer: Affirmative. Black Spiders are B-ranked Monsters. They are aggressive to other species, but cooperative with other members of their species due to mutual dependence for survival and reproduction. Their main talent lies in Thread Weaving, with which they neutralise or defend against threats.]

Huh. The naming sense is quite literal here. If the spiders are the same as back at home, then I really don't want to know how they reproduce. Also B ranked monsters are sooo weak compared to me.

It's quite sad that I didn't get to see the aforementioned skill in action. Well, it's fine. I am pretty sure there are more of its kind around.

Now back to collecting magicules from eating random things. Maybe eat some monsters too.

{Veldora POV}

In a dark and gloomy part of the cave, waves of magicules were flowing outwards. There were a lot of Magic Ores protruding from the cave surface, most likely due to the enormous amount of magicules around.

There was no monster in a large radius from this part of the cave, all of them were scared to even get close to it.

Though seemingly defying the law, lay a gigantic body covered in black steel-like scales, with blue wings and underside. The creature had deep golden eyes and the back of its head was covered with four horns extending backwards.

Overall it looked like a very threatening and dangerous beast, ready to unleash its rage on anyone who dared to disturb its slumber.

If anyone from the outside world saw this creature, they would easily recognise it as The Storm Dragon. Being one of the - True Dragons, it had wreaked havoc everywhere once upon a time.

It's been around three hundred years since the imprisonment of The Storm Dragon, Veldora in the Sealed Cave.

Despite what others may think, even after the long passage of time, he still hasn't learnt how to pass time without it feeling like a second was an eternity. Currently, he was pondering over why he had been sealed for the millionth time.

Contrary to the thoughts and opinions of the outside world, he regrets the massacres he committed in his berserk state.

It technically wasn't his fault. Since the day he was born as a True Dragon, he has had this feeling of restlessness inside of him. He always felt agitated when everything was too orderly and peaceful.

It was this agitation that had led him down to a path on which he had challenged his 'Sisters'. They hadn't taken his provocations well and had ended up teaching him to fear them.

This urge to cause chaos inside him had once made him massacre an army from the Eastern Empires. They had been trying to expand their territories into the unclaimed land that was Jura Forest.

Unfortunately, they hadn't taken into account that there would be a True Dragon lying around. This miscalculation had resulted in them losing their entire army to the Dragon.

They didn't take it lying down and had bitterly fought him but lost un the end. Some incidents after this had made him the target of a Hero.

The Hero was a strong individual. They had used a skill to seal him in this cave for good. After he disappeared from the face of the world, it faced relatively peaceful times.

And this was how he had found himself in his current predicament.

After lamenting some more, he was again trying to fall asleep. He had discovered that sleeping was one of the few things that made him feel less lonely.

But just as he was trying to close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep, he was alerted by a sudden change in the magicules around him.

Not exactly around him, as he felt the fluctuation deep into the cave. He used {Magic Sense} and what he saw next surprised him. There was a twenty-foot snake and it was eating the Magic Ore around it.

In his long existence, he had never expected to see such a thing. For a short period of time, he was speechless. But he recovered soon and felt incredibly happy to see another being after a long while.

There were occasions when the monsters wandered too deep into the cave but the last one was a long while ago. So the appearance of this snake was a welcome surprise.

Not to mention, he can see signs of intelligence in the snake's eyes. This can be a very rare case of an Otherworlder. It seems like he is no longer gonna sleep.

{Carlos POV}

As I was admiring the large amount of Magic Ore, I suddenly felt a shiver run down my spine. I instantly sensed around for threats but found nothing.

Strange. Anyway, I have been eating Magic Ores for a long while now. Their quantity keeps increasing as I head deeper into the cave. There were also literal floods of magicules.

Along the path I encountered some more Black Spiders, but no other monster. I was expecting there to be more monsters but surprisingly there were none.

As for the Black Spiders, a single breath was enough to subdue them. I have eaten around seven of their kind, and my magicules reserves have indeed increased by a substantial amount.

I am a little sceptical about heading in deeper, as there might be a strong monster awaiting me there. But the huge amount of magicules is very tempting for me.

What if instead of a very strong monster, there was a magical plant or some treasure? I think I have read too many novels, but what if it was true?

If it was a strong monster then why wasn't it coming out and killing every other monster to grow more strong?

With these thoughts in mind, I continued my journey to the source of these magicules. It felt like I was very close to my destination.

I continued on my path and ignored the humongous amount of Magic Ore for now. I am more interested in something else right now.

As I was moving, {Scholar} informed me of something.

[Notice: Unique Skill: Evolver has collected enough magicules for the Host to use Evolution Designer.]

[Query: Set the details for Evolution]

Huh? Wait, so am I evolving now?

[Answer: Negative. The Host hasn't gathered sufficient magicules for an evolution. The Unique Skill: Evolver is setting how the Host's evolution would change the Host.]

I used {Thought Acceleration} for a few seconds to come up with ideas about how I want my Evolution to be.

It's pretty crazy that I can do this, even compared to what else I can do.

Anyway, I came up with a list of possible enhancements that would increase my combat potential.

First of all, I wanted a more humanoid body. Not because I want to look more humane, but because it's perhaps the best body in terms of mobility and versatility in movement.

Then I added tougher and more resistant scales. I would like my scales to be more tough, cause they are my only defence option right now.

Thirdly, I wanted a more versatile medium of attack. In my previous life, I was always fascinated by illusions. So I have added illusions to my list but I have left the details to {Scholar}.

With this, my list was over. Of course, there were still things that I wanted but according to {Scholar}, adding more things would degrade their quality. So, with that in mind, I have settled for these three.

You can proceed now, {Scholar}.

[Notice: Unique Skill: Evolver has used Evolution Designer. The Host would evolve into the desired form after the Host has collected enough magicules.]

That's good. I only need to collect enough magicules to evolve.

I have access to magicules, but I haven't looked into how one is supposed to use them to do magic. I plan on looking into it after I have found the source of the magicules.

I am confident, that learning Magic can only be beneficial for me. There's a childish part of me getting restless and impatient. Controlling the elements with my thoughts.. this is the dream of many guys back home, and I am living that dream.

As I pondered the awesomeness of Magic, I sensed something from {Magic Sense}. It's incredibly taxing to use the {Magic Sense}. Due to the sheer information one needs to process, I use it in moderation.

I had just used the skill again, and unlike the last time. I sensed something. I am not sure what it is. It looked like a huge concentration of Magical Ore. There were just too many magicules in that area, because of that I wasn't able to sense anything properly.

As I got closer, the amount of magicules in the air increased exponentially. The sheer amount of magicules in the air was enough to exert a bit of pressure on me.

It felt a little uncomfortable but I still pushed forward. Before I could reach my destination, there was a lake in the way that I had to cross. While it looked like something very difficult to do, I was a big snake. So I just drove right into the lake. It's good that I don't need to breathe, otherwise this would have been difficult.

All things considered, I crossed the lake without much trouble. As soon as I reached the surface, I darted towards my treasury.

Just as I reached my dear treasury, I finally encountered what I had been searching for and was greeted with a very unexpected sight.

This section of the cave was entirely made out of Magic Ore, the section looked like someone had thrown random colours all over the walls.

If the previous amount of magicules was like a flood, the current amount can only be described as an ocean. It was suffocating to stand in such a titanous amount of Magicules.

But what terrified me the most wasn't the amount of Magicule, it was the source. I looked at the enormous dragon staring at me, and felt all my bravado leave my body as if it was vapourised out of existence. Only one thought crossed my mind, as I looked at my supposed treasury.

I was fucked.

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