Records of Rebirth

Chapter 17 - The Labyrinth

Spread out in front of my eyes was a world of misty grey.

In the midst of the grey, I made out a towering forest of twisty knotted trees, their tall woody trunks stretching up to extreme heights, like arrows piercing the sky.

The trees did not seem to stop growing, stretching up so high that their trunks tore through thick clouds of mist above, the top branches of the trees disappearing from view. Leaving neither the shoot nor their leaves to be seen.

The eerie cloudy forest of hidden trees was dark as night with no moon or stars.

The sky was obscured from view by a cover of icy white mist, resembling tightly packed stratus clouds. It seemed to constantly be in motion, twisting and weaving their way through the tall trees like billowing smoke.

With no leaves or branches visible, the forest took on rather bleak appearance. The trees seeming to resemble a sea of rod like appendages falling from the clouds, ominous like burnt out wooden stakes, or the long knotty limbs of a giant spider.

It would have been completely dark, if not for sources of lights in the form of luminous lichen and moss that dotted every tree.

They were spread out so thoroughly that the lights from these small sources when accumulated in the forest, became a brightness akin to the light of stars in the night sky.

Only unlike normal stars, their muted lights came in colourful hues of blues, greens, yellows, and purples, forming a myriad of refracting lights scattered throughout the forest.

Its illumination stood out vibrantly amongst the majority of grey and black, like the diffused glow in the skies of a misty morning in the early hours of five am.

I diligently observed my surroundings, finding more things that caught my interest.

The trees and vegetation were similar to those on earth, but their overall features were too different.

The tree trunks were woody and strong, yet in some parts, sinewy tendrils grew from those same trunks, dropping flexibly to the undergrowth like loose vines, but thicker than the width of a human arm.

Other times they draped across to the next tree trunk, attaching themselves to them to form inky overhanging limbs that spread even more shadows across the already dark forest.

It would be a perfect tool for climbing animals, which made me wonder if this forest had monkeys. Perhaps they made their homes above inside the cover of mist, hiding in the branches for safety.

It was a thoroughly creepy forest of opposing elements that should not naturally coexist, looking at it sent chills down my snake spine as I wondered what mad man... or god had created this.

Peering out from the undergrowth, I observed the passing thick mist that obscured the tops of the trees.

I wondered what sort of shape the hidden branches took. I could make out shadowy silhouettes just beyond the mist but anything more was unclear.

The view in front of me was made all the more difficult to appraise with my vision alone. I could only see properly up to certain range and it was not crystal clear like the eyes of a human.

I could make out the dark shadowy trunks in the dim light, but anything above where the trees met with the mist was the limit.

It made me apprehensive wondering what else was concealed inside. Any predator could be hiding within the safely of the mist cover, just biding its time as it watched the ground below, before jumping down to attack at any given moment.

Regrettably, my eyes could not make out what was above the misty clouds.

The forest was already monochromatic like all colours were seen through a filter of grey, only the things up close like the low shrubs, grasses and weeds were visible in vibrant lush green.

Seeing through the thick white clouds already proved difficult. Up at that height my vision petered out into a blur, straining my eyes when I tried to look through.

I notice a foot path between the shallow vegetation. It was barely discernible, mostly covered by clumps of bushes and the black inky trails of vines that grew from the tree trunks, along with other crawling plants snaking through the soil.

I approached the pathway, hiding myself deeper in the undergrowth where I continued to observe my surroundings through the leaves.

Then I heard the guttural cry of a bird from up high.

Peering up into the passing clouds I briefly glimpsed a nest made of dry twigs at the intersection of two branches.

I strained my eyes further to look through the patches of floating clouds but they quickly moved back into place, obscuring my view of the birds nest.

I did not find any trace of the creature itself, but I could still hear its cry.

It was probably perched up higher inside the misty clouds where it could not be seen, leaving only its voice echoing to the surroundings.

If a bird could make a nest that high within the branches, it must be very large indeed.

An enormous predator that could snatch me up instantly. I would not even be much of a snack.

Staying low to the ground my nostrils were assailed by the scent of rich earth, rotting leaves, pine needles, all sorts of fungus and the faint whiff of flowers.

Amongst these scents, I picked up the odious musk of many animals that had passed where I hid, leaving behind their scent trail.

Some of the scents caused my instincts to scream danger while others, possibly prey, urged me to move forward to find them. But I did not.

If I could smell them they could probably sense me too. Before doing anything else, I made sure to dig myself deeper into soft soil, covering myself in the scent of dead leaves and earth to mask my own musk.

The more I looked, the more I felt like a little lost child amongst it all. The scale of the forest alone was immense making me feel smaller than the lowest creature.

The new world was indeed amazing, I only wished my eyesight was much better to process it all.

So I stopped looking, switching to interpreting what my eyes could not, through the vibrations all around me.

I instantly felt a wave of sensations.

All at once, I felt the vibrations of winds whipping through the trees, the creaks of the knotty tree trunks, the heavy beats of winged creatures hidden in the clouds.

I felt the coldness of the soil I was concealed in, the vibrations through the ground as large creatures trampled the undergrowth as they traversed through the forest and the snap of twigs as smaller animals fretted about in hiding.

Through the trees I felt sound waves caused by the calls of many animals.

The scene painted so vividly by vibrations left me in awe. Firstly, all of this was underground. Its totality, an impossibly large cave.

Just how high was the ceiling that the trees could stretch that far up? How were trees able to grow so large with no trace of sunlight?

How could an atmosphere exist in a space that was supposed to be below the ground? The environment did not seem to follow any sort of rule.

"Are we really underground?" I asked Sensei in disbelief.

«Completely. The labyrinth is a place that can be said to defy any facet of logic. Don't expect things to be the same as what you are familiar with. We are no longer on earth.»

With Sensei's confirmation, I began to share his sentiment. I should not expect the same laws that governed all matter on earth to work here.

From what I could see we were truly underground, every sound seemed to echo and bounce back meaning the space was bordered by walls, albeit extremely far away.

The trees here were not like those I grew up seeing. The air itself was potent and felt heavier to breathe in, like It were comprised of fluid particles rather than air.

A heaviness that left me lightheaded just by breathing, like the effect of a helium balloon but more intense.

Yet, at the same time, it seemed to refill my body with something it was missing, restoring my HP much faster out here than it did back in the cave of my nest.

Leaving the nest made me finally realise a few things. I did not look like a baby snake at all, well, not in size anyway.

I had assumed I was the width of a pinkie as a normal snake would be at birth back on earth, but coming out made me realise I was much larger.

The trees and vegetation around me was not at the scale I had imagined. The leaves I passed looked normal sized, as normal as a leaf could look to a former human who was now the height of a medium sized dog.

To my estimation I was about the width of a human palm, spanning a length of about 30 inches long. If I were truly the width of a pinkie the leaves would look gigantic.

Either the forest was a miniature full of stunted trees, or my size right now was actually that of an adult snake back on earth.

Which made me wonder.

If I was already this big as a baby, exactly how large were my parents?

Was my specie the constantly growing type like an anaconda that could reach monstrous proportions?

It was thrilling yet daunting at the same time. I couldn't imagine what I would eat at that size… horses, cows, perhaps humans?

I shuddered.

If I were that big other monsters would be wary of me, but I would also make an obvious target. I didn't know exactly how big the adult of my species were compared to other creatures of the forest.

Who's to say there weren't other large monsters. Titanic ones that would make even an anaconda look small. For now I would take advantage of my small size and its ability to hide in small spaces, until it was otherwise safe to do so.

I was excited to hunt, after all right now I was a baby snake whose venom was more potent than the adult of my specie.

"If anything attacks me I can easily overcome it with a single venomous bite." I thought.

But Sensei laughed at my hopes.

«That's a famous misconception that will leave you dead. Baby snakes have even less venom than adults because their venom glands are smaller. And their venom isn't stronger, it is extremely weak because its amount is limited. They also have less control over the toxicity.»

Thank you, Sensei, what a nice way to rain on my parade.

Receiving his criticism, I reevaluated my attack plan to favour the hit and run approach. Right now I was concealed well in the undergrowth, waiting for any creatures to pass.

My skin was a silvery grey speckled with black, that blended well with the dead leaves, making it the perfect camouflage. I was completely silent as I waited and watched, so still you wouldn't think I could breathe.

My waiting was rewarded, the more I breathed in the dense air the more my HP refilled until it became a full bar, all the pain and damage from my fall earlier completely gone.

?Skill?Silence LV 1?has been acquired?

Finally, my vigil was rewarded.

Through the lattice of leaves in the undergrowth I watched it approach. A gigantic creature with a strong thick hide of shaggy fur, a tuft of fur like a mane around its head.

Its hooves beat tremendous vibrations into the ground the closer its approach to me. I could hear its loud breathing, the hot breath that became foggy mist as soon as it left its mouth.

It was grazing on the grass of the undergrowth next to my hidden location, the closer it approached the more I willed my presence to disappear.

I did not dare to move or breathe as I watched it draw nearer.

?Skill?Stealth LV 1?has been acquired?

The enormous creature came so close I could make out the shape of its head. It was a creature that looks similar to a bison from earth, with some differences.

Aside from the two large horns on the side of its head. It had an extra one in front of its snout which it used to raze the ground digging up the roots of plants and worms which it ate.

Its feet, or should I call it claws, were nothing like hooves. They ended in two jagged spikes that raised up more tufts of earth as it walked.

It looked cumbersome for the creature to move or run away, but such hooves made for a great weapon. Specially to crush the head of any slithering little snake that came in its vicinity.

Perhaps it did not even need to run, something that big would not have many predators.

I could not let any of its dangerous tusks or hooves hit me. I would be killed instantly.

I watched the creature absorbed in eating, its back facing me. I let it continue until it successfully passed by my spot and I breathed a relieved sigh. It had failed to notice me!

Was this because I buried myself in dead leaves to match my scent to my surroundings or was this the effect of stealth?

Either way, it worked out well. With the creatures back to me, I instantly moved out of my hiding hole to strike.

Embedding my fangs deep into its thigh, I pumped in copious amounts of venom and before the creature could even grunt, I immediately dove back into the undergrowth. 

With the venom administered, I stayed away from the range of its beating hooves and continued to observe it.