The viper completely ignored Black Wayne-kun and was slowly making its way towards me. Its white scales were dirtied with blood and several cuts, but that didn't seem to bother it much. I myself begun to take a few steps back, treading lightly and watching for any sudden movements from the snake.
This kept up till I could feel water under my feet. I looked back for a split second and all I could see was a shallow water that became less and less shallow. The snake was getting closer by the second.
'What do I do? Agent?'
<<Possible solution. Run away>>
'Oh gee, what a smart idea. Wish I had thought that up! Useless agent. First you don't stop the whole soul bond thing and then you can't even come up with a proper solution for me? Hmm, I should have a skill that could help for a moment like this, right?'
I quickly scrolled through my skill list and stumbled upon two things. First being, that I needed to learn to shut my beak. As unfortunate as it may sound, it turned out that by screaming, I was literally sending an invite to an 'All-You-Can-eat-Tori-Buffet' for predators of my species, which I was guessing was practically every species. That was most likely the reason why Black Wayne-kun was ever here in the first place. It was all due to my skill [Baby Chick Cry] which attracted predators.
Next was that my only chance of survival was [Adorable Wink].
'While others are using stupidly broken magical powers and cheat skills to survive, I'm using the power of cuteness! Go me! Go!'
I activated the skill, making an excessively dramatic before winking at the viper. It stopped in its tracks, just staring at me and sticking out its tongue from time to time.
'Um… Evil Snake-kun are you still going to try to kill me?'
I asked, waving my wings around to get a response. I slowly stalked it, kicking a pebble next to it to see a reaction. I got none. I then checked its status and was happy to see [Stunned] there. I was even more happy to see [Severe Bleeding] there as I ran past it. I saw that it had no more than 15 health points.
While running, I saw its guts trailing behind it in a puddle of blood. I also saw the Black Wayne-kun still paralysed, looking at me with what I assumed to be begging eyes. Unfortunately for it, I wasn't going to fall for it.
'Yeah! That's what you get for lying to me! You can't just come here in an attempt to eat me and think I'll help you bastard! Now you'll die… y-yeah… you'll die… Ha.'
I ran into the bushes at full speed, although it probably wasn't very fast. While running, I noticed that my eyes were welling up. That shouldn't have been possible. Chickens couldn't cry, could they? I stopped in my tracks when a single tear drop ran down my cheek. I looked up at the massive tree leaves.
'Sa sa! Abandon the stupid bird Akira! Just do it!'
I forced myself to abandon it, looking forward, but I couldn't. I clicked my tongue then looked back where I came from. I had just about enough stamina to get back to where I came from. Well, that was just an assumption based on how much stamina had been used up to get here.
'Agent. Can I get back there with the amount of stamina I currently have?'
<<Affirmative>>
'Ugh, you better thank me for this Black Wayne-kun!'
I ran back. I ran like hell, jumping to avoid all the stupidly huge tree roots, rocks and grass. My stamina went down faster than I expected. I had a theory that it was because I was still a few days old. Then a question entered my head.
'Wait… how didn't I die from the cold and hunger?'
I asked, but before I could get an answer from the agent, I appeared at the river bank, where I saw the snake wrapping itself around Black Wayne-kun. The big black bird struggled through its captivity even as the snake continued to dig in.
'Black Wayne-kun! I'm here for you!'
I jumped at the viper without a second thought and pecked at its exposed guts. The snake let go of the bird, hissing in immense pain.
'Yeah! That's what you get! Let go my savior you stupid viper! Oh! No! Sorry! Please don't eat me!'
I quickly switched my thoughts as the snakes fangs inched closer to me. I retracted my head to dodge the incoming attack, but my beak was stuck in the snake's guts. I tried pushing back even harder because I really didn't want fangs crushing my skull. With all my might, I ended up pushing back with the guts.
There was a huge spray of blood and my face felt warm and burnt. I was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseous as well. The snake bit itself, spraying me with that gory torrent of blood. Not wanting to be the next source of blood, I struggled to free myself. It wasn't working.
The wriggling viper flailed me about. It seemed to be stuck in its own body. I realised that it used me as some sort of cushion while it jumped about. As I hit the ground, pain surged through my body has my health decreased by 3. My entire body ached and I felt stupidly weak. That was when I realized what Evil Snake-kun was doing. Looking at his stats, there was no survival now for it. Even if it did survive, Black Wayne-kun would have probably been there to kill it.
My eye met it's and it seemed to say 'We go down together, food!'
This was a suicide attack. It wanted to at least drag me down with it.
'Sa sa! No way! No! No! That's against the rules for the first Isekai monster! I won't die here! Not again!'
I put my legs on the intestine forcing to jump off. Every time we landed on the ground, I would make sure to avoid touching it through whatever means possible. Evil Snake-kun too seemed to be very interested in making sure I died so he started turning more.
'Sa sa! I have only one choice now! I have to sacrifice my beak!'
That was the only thing that came to mind at that point. I didn't know what was in the white viper's guts that made it this sticky, but it didn't matter now. I needed to break my beak.
I scratched at it mercilessly and fiercely, giving my all into it. I ended up scratching my own face, the pain searing through, but that didn't matter now. I just needed to survive this. Whatever happened after was not important. If I died, it meant I was destined to die.
'Re. Move. You. Stupid. Beak! Sa sa! Hurry! L-Let go! Plea-'
DING!
[You have received 200 exp]
[You have gone up 4 levels]
Two screens appeared in front of me and my body went poof, my feathers flying all about and I landed on my butt. I blinked several times, trying to comprehend what had just happened, but then I poofed again. Being pushed some distance back. This happened two more times before I was left in a daze.
I blinked several times, trying to understand what had just happened and the screens popping up in front of me.
[All your base stats have increased]
[You have acquired the skill [Peck]]
'W-wait… I leveled up? Then that must mean…'
I looked up and saw the horrid sight of the dead viper with its fangs still in its guts.
<Name: []
<Species: White Viper
<Status: Dead
<Otherwise known as the White Epox, the white vipers are a low rank species that roam all around Larm and are known for the poisonous adhesive that they make>
'D-dead. It's dead! Yeah! That's right! Kira for the win! Wait… guess it's Tori now, huh. Still that's a weird nickname… also, poisonous adhesive? So that's why I was stuck in it. I guess that makes sense. Did the viper forget? That means its intestines were its poison bag.'
<<Negative. The poison bag is located in the head region. The adhesive organ also known as the Epoxy Sac is located next to its intestines and liver>>
'Oh… I see. Wasn't really asking for a biology class though.'
GRRR
My stomach grumbled and I let out a nervous laugh, remembering that I just took down a major threat to my laugh. While laughing, a shadow loomed over. I knew it was Black Wayne-kun because of my bird vision. He looked at me weirdly, almost as if his paralysis was gone.
Using [Analyst] I confirmed that his paralysis was actually gone and that he still had 5 health points left.
'Black Wayne-kun you aren't paralysed anymore! That's great to hear! Woohoo! Tori for the win! Let's celebrate with some snake meat! Ow!'
I yelped when it pecked my head and lost 5 health points.
'Oi! That hurt you know? Ow! Ow! Stop that you bird bra- Ow!'
I lost 15 health points from its vicious attacks and I tried to rub my head with my feathers.
'W-why are you doing this?' I asked, looking angrily at the bird. It was glaring at me. No. More like it was looking at me with this primal instinctive gaze. This sort of… hunger. 'Cock!'
It hopped closer to me when I hopped back from it. I then sucked in air, my chest getting heavy. Breathing became harder and I felt weird. Unfortunate and alone. I knew this feeling all too well. I was sad. Why was I sad? I knew this would happen, yet I was so sad. I was so sad, I was angry. I was angry at this world. I was angry at my horrible Isekai experience. Wasn't one horrible opponent enough for the day? Why did I get to deal with two of them? What kind of dumb message was the world sending to me? That I needed to suffer? Was this my hell?
I stumbled back when a sudden realization hit me.
'… I see how it is now. You aren't my friend.'
From my very first experience in this world. It's been trying to tell me one thing. At this point, I was getting the feeling that no one could ever be trusted in this world. I was probably always going to be alone.
I jumped back again and the bird tried to peck me. It ended up hitting the ground. It lifted its head up and cawed at me again. It was now left with 3 health points alone.
'Just die already you stupid bird!'
I failed to understand how it hadn't even died already with all its negative status effects. Still I had one plan in mind. I jumped back again and it pecked yet again, only this time it couldn't move. It was stuck in the white viper's epox.
'Now die!'
I used the new skill [Peck] on it and my beak glowed with a faint yellow aura as it stabbed right through the Black Wayne's neck.
[You have killed a Black Wayne]
[You have received 560 exp]
[You have gone up 3 levels]
[All your base stats have risen]
STATUS
[Name: Hinotori
[Species: Golden Chick Level 9/15
[Status: [Tired], [Hungry]
[Age: 3 days
[Rank: F
[Race Rank: Tier 1
[Titles: [Newborn in a New World], [Rare Species], [Survivor]
[Blessings: Ancient goddess' blessings, [UNKOWN], [UNKOWN]
[Level: 9 Exp: 20/450
[Health: 50/50 Stamina: 20/60 Strength: 15 Speed: 60 Defense: 20 Dexterity: 30 Intelligence: 10 Luck: 40
[Skills: [Evolver], [Analyst], [God's voice] [Adorable Wink], [Imprint], [Baby Chick Cry], [Peck]
My stomach grumbled again, so I walked towards the dead bird.
'Thanks for saving me earlier Black Wayne-kun, but for trying to eat me, I shall eat you! You die by the way you live!'
I pecked at it and tore through its stinky feathers and flesh. It tasted hard and tough, so I assumed that it had been through a lot since it was born. Surprisingly, I got another message from the system.
[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired the skill [Black Wayne Caw]]
[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired the skill [Auto Mapping]]
<<An effect of the unique skill [Evolver]. It allows you to take on the skills of consumed creatures>>
'Eh? Eh? That's a cheat in so many ways… ah whatever, this is welcomed.'
I looked at the dead snake, then pounced on it, eating it from the head to its mouth.
[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired the skill [Poison Generation]]
[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired the skill [White Viper Scales]]
I let out a sigh. I got up and looked up. It was starting to get dark and I felt like staying out in the open wasn't such a great idea. I wasn't up for exploration, but I guess finding a hideout wasn't a bad idea so I had to go.
***
After a few minutes of walking and eating bugs and grass, I finally found a rabbit stumbling towards somewhere. It was going with a limp. I found out that eating would restore my stamina by a certain amount, but that decreased with every time I had eaten till the point where eating did nothing for my stamina.
As I walked, I started hearing a weird sound from the bushes and I was on high alert.
'Oh no! Not again!'
A rabbit with jet black fur walked out of the bushes and was staring at me with its azure blue eyes. The weird part about this rabbit was the protrusions on its head. Two arranged from the top to the bottom in order of size, both onyx.
[Name: []
[Species: Horned Rabbit Level 8/20
[Status: [Tired], [Hungry], [Severe Bleeding]
[Age: 29 days
[Rank: F
[Race Rank: Tier 1
[Titles: -
[Blessings: -
[Level: 8 Exp: 20/70
[Health: 5/30 Stamina: 10/40 Strength: 7 Speed: 80 Defense: 10 Dexterity: 40 Intelligence: 5 Luck: 140
[Skills: [Heat Vision], [Claw Attack], [Sprint], [Libido]
The rabbit looked away, then started crawling away towards a certain direction. I was confused as to why it was crawling, but then, I noticed that it didn't have two hind legs, and was instead dragging its bloody legless body towards wherever it was headed.
'Well, that explains the [Severe Bleeding] status.'
I decided to just wait back and see where it went. It didn't get very far before falling down and its status changing to [Dead].
I went towards it, then decided to take a bite out of it, just for skills.
[Due to the unique skill [Evolver] you have acquired the skill [Sprint]]
That was it. I just acquired one skill only from it, leaving me a bit disappointed, but then I got a theory about [Evolver]'s skill acquisition function.
'What if it only gives me skills specific to the body parts I eat? That would explain why I didn't get any form of adhesive skill from the white viper earlier.'
Something glinted some distance away, so I tried to get a good look at it and at the base of a tree, I saw a hole. Curiously, I walked towards it and saw a fang over there. I peered in and noticed that there was no life inside, then looked back at the dead bunny.
'I'm guessing this was your home. Don't worry, I'll take good care of it!'
I entered the nest and looked around. .There wasn't much in here other than some horned rabbit poop and hair. This place smelt bad, but strangely, it felt nice and comfortable. Then I felt a familiar presence in the place. A shady figure appeared as my eyes kept on drowsing off.
'Mom?'
I passed out from exhaustion.
