For the past three or so days I've been hunting with no end in order to grow stronger.

By now I have killed and eaten around five of my siblings, which might not seem a lot for a couple of days, but we must take into account that after every hunt I had to swallow and digest my meal in order to be ready to hunt again.

Compared to my previous life, it feels rather unusual to swallow without chewing but I am growing used to it.

But even with that after-the-hunt procedure, the main reason for not being able to hunt more is THEM!

Every time I get ready to continue hunting there would be a big cl.u.s.ter of my sibling fighting it out again. I mean, it isn't too unusual as we all have about the same digestion time, but as not all of us begin digesting at the same time, those who finish first start hunting again, while those who have a bit slower digestion and those who began eating later... They are the prey.

That's why I need to wait until their fighting comes to a halt before I go out to hunt again.

It is a rather hard task to kill and eat while leaving unscathed, but I somehow manage using my human thinking. But even with my human-like thinking, I still get in rather dangerous situations, sometimes almost having my life end in a flash. Thankfully I think of the fastest route back to my hidey-hole before heading out to meet my dinner. But depending solely on that is rather dangerous.

But of course, when there is a risk there is also a reward!

[Status Reading...]

========================

level 6, unnamed, Snakeling Hatchling

Vitality:0,4; Strenght:0,4; Agility:1,2;

Resistance:0,9; Magic:0,8; ▓▓▓▓

▓▓▓▓ Total:3,7; Xp:4/10;

----------------------------------------

Skills:

Venom Bite-Lv2(Act)(bio)

Smooth Scales-Lv3(Pas)(bio)

Serpentine Flow-Lv1(√)

========================

That is right!

I leveled up quite a bit!

Right now my Total is higher than some of my evolved siblings, that is, those that just recently evolved.

This is mostly thanks to the 'Serpentine Flow'.

If not for that, I would have half of the Agility than I have now. And in turn, I would have died many times until now since my speed is the only thing, besides my intelligence, that could save me from the jaws of my siblings.

From my stats, only Vitality and Strenght rose by a bit, even with all these levels I got, but it could be that monsters need to evolve to get real benefits from leveling up.

My 'Venom Bite' also increased by one level but I am not sure if I got a new venom from it.

Leveling didn't give any progress to my 'Status Reading' restrictions, which also means that the evolution should be what I need to achieve in order to advance my 'Status Reading'.

If I am correct, I need to reach level 10 to qualify for evolving.

That shouldn't be too hard as I am already halfway there.

Just need to stay patient and try not to bite more than I can chew... I mean swallow.

While we are at it...

Right now I am getting ready to bolt out of my hidey-hole and slither as fast as I can in an "S" shaped manner.

In these past few days, the number of this den's residents has withered down to around 20 or so, with around 10 of my older siblings have already left the cave by digging their way out of here.

I won't allow them to stay stronger than me for much longer.

*Slither*

As soon as I bolted out I could see in a bit of a distance that most of my sibling are back to their after-meal naps. Their plump brown scaled bodies stick out with a grey rock in the background, so it isn't too hard to notice them with my snake night-vision like sight.

When I try to smell around, with my forked tongue sticking out and pus.h.i.+ng the air into my nostrils, I can sense a strong stench of rotten eggs contaminating the whole den. But It has been like that ever since I hatched and I can't really do anything to change that. Now even some faint hints of what I believe to be blood can be smelt mixed with the stench...

Because of this strong stench, I didn't even need to use my tongue to smell, but since I will need to use it outside, I will do my best to get used to doing it with my tongue.

Doing it constantly might even trigger a reaction for making it an official skill that I can see under my status.

But besides that...

I speedily slithered for about 2 meters, trying to smell my surroundings, no matter how disgusting it was. Once I began slowing down I found a sleeping sibling who was in the middle of digesting.

I really don't get it...

It is impossible that they don't know they will get eaten if they lower their guard, yet they sleep like this in the open as if not having a single care in the world. Well, a monster is still just a monster, it will do what it thinks it should do, no matter how much it goes against human logic.

They really can learn only the hard way. Heh~

I will sneak around the rock which he is curled next to.

*SSSSSSSIIIIII!!!!*

I lunged at him from behind the rock and bit him in a way that my fangs pierced him from under his jaws and into his brain.

While piercing them with my fangs, I coil around their neck area trying to weight them down both with my body and by not letting them throw up their meal.

This is because one time I failed to grab hold of the neck and thought that my fangs would pin its jaws together. But once it began ejecting its meal, it made a gap between my fang and its brain, making me fail my injection.

That is why I make sure to use 'Strangle' on their neck every time from then on.

It proved to be the most efficient way of killing my siblings while they sleep.

If I try to attack by piercing from above, my fangs could miss the brain and seep the venom into the mouth cavity, which would have little to no effect.

But by attacking from below their head, I pierce them in a way that my fangs should be close to their brain even if I miss it. Following that up with a neurotoxic venom which their brain would swim in. Piercing the brain itself is a bit hard because of its smallish size...

This is the safest sure kill method I myself found out, but there should be more effective methods that I don't know of.

If I get some free time once I get stronger, I will experiment on the safest ways of killing other monsters. Maybe this doesn't sound too humane but as a snake, I need to find a way to survive.

Forgive me, brother, but this is for the greater good. For my well being!

After securing my kill, I quickly retreated in a direction of my hidey-hole while occasionally looking at all of the stalact.i.tes hanging in this couple-of-meters tall cave. Saying for sure how tall the cave is would be a bit hard for me as I'm not even sure how big I myself am big. But being a recently hatched snake-like monster, I could be anywhere between 15 cm to a meter. Honestly, I have no idea until I find humans or something to measure myself with...

I wonder what kind of metric system this world uses.

In just a few moments I was back in my hidey-hole and eating my dinner.

Hmmm~

I seriously need to learn more about this world.

Just staying here is already getting a bit tiring, while there is a whole new world for me to explore.

...

BUT IM A MONSTER!

How am I supposed to cross this new world when I will probably be targeted by every sentient being out there.

Forget about humans, if there are beast-people in this world I will probably get tracked by my smell if I don't start being careful.

Hmmmm~!

I need to write down all of my goals before trying to leave this snake den.

Let me see...

My current objectives are getting stronger and trying not to starve, these will be my main objectives.

My side objectives should be learning about this world and finding a way to hide the fact that I am a monster in case I really do stumble upon any humans or such in the future.

So my goals should be like this:

-

1st - Survive;

2nd - Get Stronger;

3rd - Learn;

4th - Adapt;

-

Yes, it should be something along those lines...

Fuwaaah~

I'm done eating for now.

I should check my sta...

*Crack*

...tus...

*Stofffffffffffl* *tap* *tap*

. . .

Something just hit the entrance of my hidey-hole...

*Stoffffffffffffffffffffffl* *tap* *tap* *tap*

AND IT STARTED BREAKING!!!

Hitting sounds began vibrating the surroundings as more and more rocks began falling from their places.

BUT WHY DIDNT MY FENCE MAKE A SOUND WHEN THIS THING CAME CLOSE!?

I still can't see what it is that keeps. .h.i.tting at my doorsteps, but by the sound of it, it should be at least 6 times bigger than me if not more!

This proves at least one thing... There is no way that we are mere centimeters long baby snakes...

The hitting sounds keep getting more frequent and more force can be felt after each hit.

Whatever it is that is trying to get here must be coming to get me.

Is this how much you hate me, brothers? You became my food by the laws of nature, yet you curse me to have such bad luck...

So unfair!

There is got to be a way to survive this ordeal...

My only exit is currently blocked by what should be one of my bigger siblings, my speed is restricted due to my recent meal and my hidey-hole is on the brink of collapse...

*Stoffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffl*

SHUT UP AND LET ME THINK!

I need to find out what I am dealing with before anything else. Knowing my enemy is the first thing required for establis.h.i.+ng a correct plan of action.

I will try to silently slither closer to the entrance without getting too close to danger.

Darn it...

The falling debris of rocks that fell due to continuous impacts is beginning to make it harder to move around this small s.p.a.ce within my hidey-hole, especially now that my body is swollen due to recently having a meal.

I painstakingly try wiggling my way through this tighter and tighter s.p.a.ce while my brown scales rub against the rubble.

*cut*

Ouch!

My scales are still too weak!

But not that I blame them... The whole fountain is about to collapse on top of me if I don't hurry towards the entrance.

I'm no longer sure whether I am supposed to be eaten or squashed to death...

Could it be that this mysterious troublemaker is doing is simply out of spite, just to amuse itself by torturing me?

I won't let that happen!

I will kill it and eat it no matter the price! Even if I fail, there is only death waiting for me...

Heh~ I guess there isn't much to be lost since I barely started living in this world...

But I must give it my all! Even if I am to fall here, I will rise again, even if I have to crawl back out of its corpse!

Just one more squeeze to the hole's entrance!

*cut*

Oww...

Humph!

Finally out!

Let's see who is it that disturbs my peace!

[Status Reading...]

========================

level 7, unnamed, Dark Earth Python

Vitality:0,9; Strenght:0,9; Agility:0,7;

Resistance:1,1; Magic:0,5; ▓▓▓▓

▓▓▓▓ Total:4,0; Xp:36/100;

----------------------------------------

Skills:

Razor Bite-Lv5(Act)(bio)

Smooth Obsidian Scales-Lv2(Pas)(bio)

Rock Headbut-Lv3(Act)(bio)

Suffocate-Lv3(Act)

Body Slam-Lv3(Act)

========================

Ehhhh

Is it too late to apologise?!