Chapter 38 The Island, The Map, and Ayarr
He had many objectives to achieve during the 60 days he would spend there. First, he needed to find a secure haven to rest and establish a camp. Then, he would seek out various snakes below the Tier 5 rank and extract their venom for antidotes.
With antidotes for various snake venoms, he knew he would be able to move without worrying about succumbing to a snake bite.
After that, he started looking for the Tier 5 snakes from which Master Artemis wanted him to extract the venom. He also aimed to locate the section where the Purple Tail Anacondas resided, ensuring he avoided it since he was confident the snakes wouldn\'t appreciate his presence.
After all, his ancestors may have caused them to lose some of their kin, so a human suddenly appearing there will be seen as a threat, and they might retaliate instantly. He is weak now, so he plans to stick to the levels he can manage and only dive deeper when he is up for it.
"This place is safer than people paint it to be." Of course, Karsha had to jinx it. "I spoke too soon." Lying on the ground with its head raised one meter in the air is a Tier 4 snake, flicking its tongue in anticipation.
The details of the snake immediately appeared before his eyes.
< Grey Scale Cobra >
Level: Tier 4
HP: 12,000
Attack Power: 256 - 410
Defense: 460
Skills: Lethal dash, Tail strike
Karsha sighed when he saw the details of the snake in front of him. He anticipated facing another mutant or Tier 6 monster, but upon seeing the snake\'s details, he knew he could take it down in one go.
"So long, Mr. Snake," Karsha said before activating the Red Eye Tiger skill. He didn\'t use any of the elemental skills he had learned, since the speed and his sword alone were enough to deal with the beast.
The snake didn\'t even see when or how it happened, as the only thing it saw when its head fell to the ground was the lifeless 8-meter-tall body lying flat.
< Ding! Congratulations on killing a Tier 4 Grey Scale Cobra. 10,000 Exp added, 10 Stat points added >
It all happened so fast. Karsha walked over to the head and extracted the venom, storing both the Core and body in his space ring. Without anything else impeding him, he started moving slowly in no particular direction.
He was just wandering, searching for a safe place. With no map in hand, he decided to move in random directions, hoping to find somewhere he could rest for a few hours.
"At this pace, I\'ll be able to map out the whole forest. Maybe I should create a map and sell it when I get out of this place," Karsha mused.
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, but he couldn\'t find any safe place to rest. Stopping by a tree, Karsha drank some water before assuming a meditation posture.
He had covered a lot of ground in various directions, and with his photographic memory, he was able to map out the places he had already been, preventing him from repeating patterns.
However, the moment he closed his eyes, he heard a hissing sound emanating from behind him. Instantly, he stood up and turned, only to find another Grey Scale Cobra charging at him. "Another one," Karsha muttered, immediately activating his skill.
With a swift motion, he disappeared from his spot, reappearing behind the snake, cleanly severing its head. His speed was everything, so he ensured he didn\'t miss a beat when he activated it.
He extracted the venom and, without any delay, stored the body in his space ring. Because of the sudden appearance of another Grey Scale Cobra, Karsha decided the place wasn\'t safe for meditation. Picking a random direction, he began heading there.
Thirty minutes into his walk, he encountered another Grey Scale Cobra. After killing it, he realized he had stepped into the territory of the Grey Scale Cobras.
But with no way out, he had to stick to his plan of finding a place to rest. Luckily for him, the sun was still shining, so he didn\'t suffer any sneak attacks from the snakes.
Also, he didn\'t have an antidote for the Grey Scale Cobra venom, so adding to his schedule, he knew he had to find a place where he could make an antidote for the poison as soon as possible.
But even after five whole hours, he couldn\'t chance upon any safe location, so he kept moving. He had to find a safe place before nightfall, or else he would be in trouble.
After moving for another two hours and killing close to ten Tier 4 Grey Scale Cobras, he finally encountered a Tier 5 one. With the sun now setting on the horizon, Karsha knew he was running out of time.
So, activating his skill, he blinked and appeared behind the beast. With the Red Eye Tiger skill in overdrive, the Tier 5 snake didn\'t even notice his sudden movement.
< Ding! Congratulations on killing a Tier 5 Grey Scale Cobra. 20,000 Exp added, 20 Stat points added >
"What\'s this?" Karsha muttered when his gaze landed on an orb on the floor where the head of the Tier 5 Grey Scale Cobra had landed. He walked close to it and picked it up.
After admiring it for a few seconds, he gently tightened his grip around it, but to his surprise, the orb shattered, and a scroll appeared in his hands.
< Ding! Congratulations on obtaining a drop: Map of the Snake Island >
Immediately, a window appeared before his eyes.
< Map of Snake Island >
Rank: Epic
Category: Map
Blue Mark: Safe Zone (Tier 1)
Green Mark: Average Zone (Tier 2, 3, and 4)
Black Mark: Danger Zone (Tier 5 and 6)
Red Mark: Calamity Zone (Dangerous Snakes)
[Additionally, the map has a quest that, if complete, new features with be added like the location of the Ten Overlords and more]
< Quest >
< Survive a night in an Average zone and kill 40 monsters.
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"Even half active, yet you never cease to surprise me," Karsha, new to all this, muttered with a smile. "I\'ll do the quest later. First, I need to find a place to settle down."
Saying that, he opened the map. Surprisingly, like a GPS map back on Earth, a marker of his current location could be seen on the map. He also noticed a green mark and some blue marks, but they were all far from him.
Then, he used his finger to move the map like a touchscreen. Once the marker moved, he realized he was standing in the middle of a danger zone, so without any hesitation, he started blinking toward a green mark that wasn\'t too far from him.
"Let me find a blue marker first, and then I can go there. Even if I don\'t find a safe zone now, I can survive the night since they are all Tier 1." After stopping at the green marker, Karsha, who was well-versed in using maps, started surveying the surroundings.
"Aha, this place will do for the night." Tracing the location, he began moving. After two minutes, he arrived in front of a small waterfall with a cave right behind the flowing water.
"Cobras are not known to be strong swimmers, so I\'m confident this place will be safe for the night," Karsha said. He then stored the map in his inventory and began walking toward the cave.
Karsha sighed after inspecting the whole cave without finding any danger. "Let me rest for now and start making antidotes for the quest." Saying that, Karsha lit up a dim candle he had bought, which was meant to act as a snake repellent.
But with his senses sharp as ever, he knew that even in his sleep, the slightest threat would be detected by his senses. He then slipped into sleep, ignoring the Tier 1 snakes that might chance upon him in the cave.
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[ An unknown Area ]
"What is it, Mother?" A young lady with eyes reminiscent of a snake asked when she saw her mother twitch and then gaze in a specific direction. After a whole minute without saying anything, the woman sighed.
"A human has entered the island, and he is currently in the section of that maniac," she spoke, her disdain evident regarding the overlord in the section Karsha was currently in.
"You mean the Scalecrusher section, the Serpent Spire?" the young lady asked. "Yes," the woman answered.
"Should I eliminate him?" the lady asked, brimming with confidence.
"No, go and observe him from a distance. The moment you realize he is a threat to our kin, kill him without a second thought," the woman replied.
"I will do as you say, Mother," the young lady said. She then stood up and started heading toward Karsha\'s location.
"Sister Ayarr, I want to come with you!" a young girl, about 12 years old, shouted when she saw the young lady. Unlike her elder sister, who had the appearance of a human except for her eyes, the young girl still retained some snake scales on her neck and arms.
"Starr, where I am going is dangerous, so stay here and protect Mother with your amazing skills," Ayarr said, cupping both cheeks of the little girl.
"Okay, Sister Ayarr. But bring me something good when you return."
"I will. Now, off you go. Go play with the others." With that, Ayarr melded into the shadows and disappeared.