Records of Rebirth

Chapter 16 - The Wall

My mouth and teeth were still throbbing in pain so I decided to practice something else for a while.

Like…Crawling for example.

I wanted to see just how fast I could move when I give it my all.

My agility was high, so I ended up speeding around the nest in circles, piquing the interest of a few nestlings who decided to join the race too.

It became funny because they did not know how to control their speed and some ended up crashing into the wall.

They probably gained pain resistance though since that looked like it hurt a lot.

I continued to practice more until I was confident with my speed that I could outrun any prey, but I had to stop because my stamina points had begun to fall.

I already lost one point of HP when I bit the wall, so I had to take it easy.

While resting, I focused on lunging strikes and replicating a constriction hold using a rock to represent the prey. I assumed I just had to squeeze tightly to smother it, as I'd seen snakes do in nature documentaries.

As I focused on my practice, more nestlings left the nest to come watch me. There were two in particular who kept repeating my examples, albeit very clumsily, to varying degrees of success.

I paused to observe them, curious of their results.

Most gave up after a few attempts, returning to eat their egg shells in content. I ignored them but the ones who continued to practice had potential and can be groomed further as my minions.

"Why do they keep eating the shells?" I asked Sensei, as I turned to the other snakes who were happily munching on their egg shells. "Are they starting to get hungry?"

«New born snakes can go up to a week without eating, they only feed once they have shed their skin.» Sensei answered calmly. «They're not really hungry, they just like the texture.»

The texture, huh?

His voice sounded amused at my concern, like it was not something worth taking seriously. I did not want to doubt Sensei but so far he had been a little unreliable with information.

Whether it on purpose or for some underlying reason, Sensei was acting differently than I remember.

I felt like I should not trust him blindly because the Sensei right now was not the same as the one I'd known.

It had been subtle at first, his mannerisms changing from his usual friendly tone to that of a stoic detached voice right before my eyes.

Something inside me told me to be wary of him. Perhaps it was a new instinct of this body.

"Are you sure these babies won't resort to cannibalism as soon as I'm gone?"

«That's very unlikely. It's rare amongst your species. They may look like babies, but they already know how to hunt. They will leave the nest exactly like you as soon as they are able to.»

I still did not feel comfortable. I felt an urgency to leave the nest and the feeling did not go away. It was like a little warning siren of impending danger.

But what was the danger? 

I looked around the nest once more. There was nothing other than the nestlings who were still innocently munching away at shells with no concern at all. Well, they weren't exactly the sharpest tools anyway.

Should I feel the need to be concerned for them? Sensei had said they could defend themselves. And maybe, this warning of danger was coming from the nestlings themselves.

But with that thought in my mind, the way they crunched on the shells started to look ugly. I got the feeling they were trying to fill an insatiable hunger and I did not want be here when that hunger finally burst.

What would happen when there were no longer any shells? Would Sensei really tell me it was safe to stay when it wasn't?

He had already issued me a quest so surely his intention was for me to get out of here. Yet he had brushed off my concern for their eating habits even after they had nearly attacked me.

How much of what he'd said was actually the truth and how much of it was said to fulfil his agenda.

An ugly thought flowed through my mind, seemingly from nowhere and once it got in, a bad feeling began to take root. Sensei's single concern was that I grow strong which was why he urged me to leave the nest before my siblings.

What if he wanted me to get stronger than them so when they eventually started eating each other, I would be the only one strong enough to win.

The dark thought had firmly taken root. Now that I thought about it, the nestlings were like sitting experience points.

If I were only a smidgen stronger I would easily overpower them. Was that his intention?

The system was another being different from Sensei, just like I was no longer the same Aurelia from earth

What if it only cared about getting stronger?

As I looked at the nestlings eating egg shells, the feeling of fear increased. I had to leave the nest right away.

I looked up at the wall, the single crack of light that shone above the slope of jutting rocks made for the only exit. But from any viewing angle, it was incredibly tall, with a sheer steepness leading to a dangerous curve right at the top.

It was shaped like a 'C' starting with a slow slope at the bottom, stabling out in the middle into a flat wall before becoming a curve again, one that left you hanging from the top, before reaching the exit in the crack above.

Could I really climb something like that? 

Looking back at the nestlings who may soon start to eye each other, I decided there was no other option. I had to reach the exit. 

Snakes are naturally able to climb so it shouldn't be that hard if I try carefully.

I reached the wall and started with a vertical climb up the slope, using the muscles of my underbelly to grip closely to the wall's rough surface.

It was easy at first, as the bottom half was a gradual incline similar to a small hill, until I got halfway to the top where the wall curved backwards so I was almost dangling upside down off the roof of the cave.

If not for my body being secured using muscles on my underbelly, I would have already fallen.

The upside down view from the top was dizzying, the bottom of the cave in my vision so small that the nestlings looked like worms.

Suddenly my grip on the wall loosened and I slipped, the weight of my body along with the gravity pulled me down as I I fell to the ground in a painful splat and passed out

?Skill?Impact Resistance LV 1?has been acquired. Initialising status effect now. Success?

I could faintly make out the voice of the system through the haziness of my mind. The pain wracking through my body made me feel like I'd broken all the bones in my body.

I did not have a carapace like a centipede that could resist a fall, so the impact was felt through to my bones, like something had been forcefully crushed.

?Skill Aptitude Increase?Pain Resistance LV 1?has become?Pain Resistance LV 2??

I felt a soothing relief spread over my body and the searing pain reduced to a bearable level. I lay on my back on the ground unable to move as I suffered waves of pain until, eventually, I felt myself slowly getting better.

The soothing feeling increased and the pain gradually became much more muted.

But I didn't move again until feelings besides pain returned to my extremities. My back felt especially bruised since I had landed directly on it.

My HP had dropped by more than half and by the time I was able to move again, it was at a meagre 17. I waited for a while as I watched the bar fill up until it was 23. That ought to be enough.

After I regained my strength, I returned to the wall to try again. This time going even more slowly to be careful.

I had fallen from the top of the wall because I had not properly secured myself to anything solid, depending solely on my muscles for grip.

I underestimated the the top wall with a dangerous curve that left you hanging upside down due to its ridiculously steep curve.

If I had something to adhere myself to, while climbing the areas before I got to the top and after, I would not be in so much danger of falling. This time rather than relying on my muscles alone, I proceeded tactically like a rock climber.

Weaving around the slope in a zig-zag pattern, while attaching myself to whatever protruding rock or ridge on the surface of the wall that I could find.

They would act as stepping stones to secure my body, when I reached the truly steep parts to prevent me from slipping down again.

If I were to lose my grip again, this time I had anchors to ensure I would not completely fall off the wall. 

?Skill?Grip LV 1?has been acquired?

The system announcement was a pleasant surprise as if encouraging me for my effort. 

Nice! It must mean I was doing something right. So, I continued going like this until I reached the part of the reverse curve of the wall I had fallen from.

Nervousness and anticipation hit me at once and I felt myself sweat. I wished I had some sort of adhesive or slime to stick myself to walls, but my body was only that of an ordinary snake. It was no use thinking of impossible scenarios so I focused on what I could do.

I examined the reverse curve and found a protruding rock that I could hold onto. With that as my target, I decided to move quickly unlike my climb till then. 

Gravity would be working against me here so the slower I went, the easier it was to fall. I darted across the surface reaching for my target rock, making sure to properly adhere myself to the first one before finding and moving on to the next.

?Skill Aptitude Increase?Grip LV 1?has become ?Grip LV 2??

This method seemed to work, and I did not fall down on the steep part again. I continued my climb not daring to look down in case I got distracted.

The light at the top seemed to be getting closer but I was too focused on maintaining my climbing pattern, managing to adhere myself to almost every nook and protrusion in the steep wall to secure my grip.

I did this with a total of 13 rocks, not pausing to stop until I felt the light of the exit hit my eyes.

[Quest Complete! 50XP reward has been issued!]

The system announcement made me jump with joy. I had reached the top! I was successfully out of the cave at last.

The sight of so much light made my eyes squint. I had finally arrived!

I hear some rustling and hissing from below and looked down at the nestlings from the top of the wall. It seems more of my snake brethren had come to watch my attempts.

More than twenty curious eyes peered up at me from below, filling me with a sense of euphoria.

As I watched them, two nestlings came up to the wall and started attempting to climb themselves. The sight filled me with a strange sense of pride.

Had my efforts inspired them?

If more of them attempted to climb at least they would leave the nest early and hunt for food rather than resorting to eating themselves.

I wished the climbing nestlings a silent good luck and left the mouth of the cave.

Let them come after me, if they can.

I decided to bring back something for them to eat if my hunt proved successful. I refused to let Sensei's plan come to fruition.