Blood was seeping down the snake's brow from above its eye and on its mouth. The crimson liquid flowed over its eye and then in between each scale, making the skin below appear red.
A subtle fury was in the snake's eyes, but it did not attack yet. After all, snakes are patient, and their fury is weaponized to kill. Faced with potentially 3 assailants, it would be death to attack straight on. Of course, the snake did not think that; rather, it was an inherent instinct it was born with.
So each side came to an impasse, a sharp hiss floating between them.
"I'll… try and distract it, if just for a moment. Attack in the same direction."
Alice shifted behind Caelum's large stature and sneakily threw the rock she possessed. The throw was not lightning fast or that accurate, but the target was rather large. A loud crack resounded from a nearby tree with a wide trunk.
Then a flurry of movement followed.
The snake turned to the sound ever so slightly. If blood had not covered the snake's eye, it could have had a full vision of the tree and humans before it. But to observe the sound's location, it would have to sacrifice the view of its attackers.
For a moment, instinct won over, and the snake put its attention on the loud, possibly dangerous noise.
In that moment, Zero and Caelum both ducked out of the snake's vision and charged forward. Realizing its mistake, the snake yanked its head back to face forward and was met with a flying… rock?
Alice had thrown her second rock at the snake, distracting it for a moment more. The fury meant to kill was now prioritized at her. But that fury would not last much longer. Now within striking range, Zero stabbed his blade into the snake's maw.
It was not deadly by any means, and the blade became entrenched within a dangerous zone. But it came with one advantage, control. Similar to a sword bind, Zero was able to maneuver the head so it could not pose a threat for the following moment.
This opened up the way for Caelum to attack undisturbed. Like that, his staff cracked down upon the snake's skull, and a fury of wind followed, causing an explosion of blood at the point of contact.
The Chaos Beast's head slammed against the ground, while Zero haphazardly abandoned his sword and jumped back.
It was dead… probably. But Zero was not taking chances.
"Did you get the kill message?"
"Yes, Enlightened Cave Snake slain. Did it bite you, Zero?"
Zero waved off Caelum's question and then plopped onto the ground. Without the sword in his hands, he was made more aware of his heartbeat pounding within his chest. Prying the dragon head off of him, he let himself fall onto his back and admire the sky.
White fluffy clouds drifted aimlessly above them. Somewhere in the distance, they became more grey and gloomy.
Zero's view was replaced by a cascade of blonde and a pair of green eyes. Alice threw him a thumbs-up.
"Keep your sword summoned for a moment longer, I'm trying something."
Curious, Zero lifted his head and watched as Alice used the sword as a lever to turn the snake's head. After pulling out the sword, she began prodding around the snake's mouth with the flat side of the blade.
After being satisfied with her examination, she stepped to one side over the snake and brought the sword down. The sword hit the scales and then deflected to the side, eventually connecting to the ground.
If Alice's shoe had been just to the side, it might have been sliced open.
Noticing this, Alice changed her approach to slower cuts, which relied on a principle closer to cutting vegetables.
Her work was messy and took a bit of time, but Zero and Caelum were resting anyway.
Finally, Alice made her last chop, and the snake's fang came out along with a bundle of flesh.
"Wow, I didn't think that would work first try. Zero, you're good. I'm done with the sword."
Alice then took the fang from the Seeker snake and cut off the extra flesh as best she could.
When done, she had a snake fang and its supply of venom.
"Ta-da, it's a weapon of sorts. Like a poison dagger. No more throwing rocks!"
Zero was a bit intrigued by the weapon, but felt a bit concerned about her no longer wanting to throw rocks. It was the reason they were able to put down the snake after all. Caelum did not seem to share that sentiment.
"Resourceful, Alice. Now we are all armed."
After grabbing what meat they could, a job which was given to Zero, the three continued on their way with a different goal than going west. It was time to seek shelter. The grey clouds that seemed distant before were closer now, and white illuminations could be spotted within, lighting likely.
The great thing about this island was, it definitely had a cave. So it was only a matter of time if they approached whatever ledges they found.
Nearer to dusk, they found one. It was small, but angled so it was not susceptible to flooding. Most importantly, the angle at which it sat would not allow for rain to fall in.
So, the three set up just outside of the cave for now, to cook their dinner for the day. It was a comparatively leisurely time. Caelum offered Alice the Enlightened Spirit Crystal, which she gladly accepted.
It turned out that when the maximum Spirit Level was reached, one could overlevel for some time. From that, they could increase the highest level they could reach. So now, Zero had the lowest level at just 3, while Alice got to 4, and Caelum remained at 6.
Of course, it so happened that Alice seemed slightly suspicious of Zero asking about Spirit Levels, so it seemed he blew his chance of learning how to become an Enlightened. At least Alice returned his Boon, claiming that her leg felt "As good as new."