The enormous head of the snake crossed in front of his eyes. Ryan managed to grab two vials of poison and smash them against its head, shattering them.
One of them was corrosive poison, which blended in very well with an aromatic poison that the snake didn't see coming. The aromatic poison paralyzed it for a brief moment. Although the poison wasn't potent, it was barely a level 1 beast, equivalent to a Walker of the same level on their respective Path. It could hardly withstand poison made to affect that kind of beast.
After the moment of paralysis, the corrosive poison fell on its face, affecting one of its eyes.
The cry of pain was immediate, and the shake of its tail forced Ryan to jump back and stop the force of the impact with a shield.
'Even though it only grazed me, it's still a level 1 beast,' he thought, seeing his arms shaking. A shield and a poisoned dagger were in his hands.
The shield was quite small and made of iron-reinforced wood. Since it wasn't cumbersome, he had chosen to buy it for this dungeon because he knew one thing: this ruin is not unfair.
Even though it seems that way, it is looking for a carrier for the Path of the Devourer. Therefore, it is looking for a person who is not a Walker to grant them the System and the Path of the Devourer.
Its tests are fair for that reason. It pairs the strong with strong beasts. It pairs the weak with weak beasts.
Although this beast was level 1, meaning it was significantly more powerful than Ryan, it was the weakest he could find here. He could win with a solid strategy and his preparation, plus these low-grade weapons.
That's why he would take advantage of it.
He clenched his hands on the shield and dagger. Then he ran toward the snake, which was writhing in pain from having one eye with barely any visibility. It noticed his movement, so it shook its tail again.
Ryan dodged it, jumping over it and stabbing the dagger into its body.
"KYAA!" The pain caused the snake to shake violently, causing Ryan to lose his balance and fall to the ground, almost crushed by the snake, had he not moved in time, thanks to the agility granted by the ruin.
He rolled across the floor until he reached a section with a trap. He immediately got up and took out a healing potion. His arm, which was holding the shield, was hurting terribly, so he had to take it.
At that moment, the snake turned its attention to him. The pain in its right eye had subsided, but it couldn't see well out of that eye, so it was forced to close it, which enraged it.
Its head seemed redder than usual, and its yellow eye had taken on a slight crimson hue.
It didn't look at where Ryan was standing and lunged at him without thinking. Its huge mouth opened, wanting to swallow him whole. It was so big that it could swallow him whole in one bite, and that's exactly what it would do.
Ryan smiled. 'This will be dangerous, but I hope it will be effective,' he thought.
The shield was in front, covering his body. His right hand behind it held several poisonous potions, ready to throw. He was just waiting for the perfect opportunity.
All kinds of poisons were being held in the forks of the shield and his hand. Paralyzing poison, corrosive poison, cyanide poison to cause internal damage, hallucinogenic poisons (not as effective on snakes, but he had created many).
These poisons would normally not have much effect, as some could cancel out the others. But in his hand, clutching the bottle of the first one he was going to throw, was also a flower.
The Arsenic Snake Flower.
It is a special type of flower that divides the effects of the poisons for 5 minutes and lets them all act simultaneously, without interruption. Only an Arsenic Snake can create it, as it releases several types of poisons.
That is why it is so important in this situation.
Soon, Ryan saw his chance.
He raised his shield a little higher. The incoming blow would hit him, but if he were lucky, he would dodge the damage from the trap behind him because of how fast the snake was coming. At the same time, it would suffer a lot of damage.
He didn't hesitate. He immediately reached his right hand from the other side of the shield and threw the first bottle of poison into its mouth.
His hand moved quickly to grab the next bottle, until he had thrown three different ones.
At that moment, the snake reached him.
Ryan felt an oppressive force suddenly pushing him. There was no time to throw any more poison.
The shield struck one of the snake's fangs, destroying it. The rest of the venom fell into the snake's mouth, which was already affected by the previous venom.
At the same time, his body flew backward, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. His bones creaked in terror, while his flesh seemed to want to flee from his body due to the sudden pain that shook him.
He rolled on the ground, but the trap behind him was activated when he passed. The trap launched powerful iron stakes, and the only way to avoid it was to pass quickly or slowly under the place where they emerged.
The snake knew it, but its body was too long, and all the poisons burning in its throat had impaired its vision. Ultimately, it was impaled by the iron stakes and flew across the room, triggering a deadly trap.
Many stakes shot out from the wall and waited patiently for it... Soon its body was impaled on them.
Its presence vanished in that instant.
Conversely, Ryan had barely managed to stop himself just before crossing a trap that would surely kill him.
He was watching the snake. Seeing that it had died, he breathed a sigh of relief. The yellow orb was already floating toward him.
He smiled and finally relaxed.
He looked behind him and saw that he was two steps away from activating another deadly trap.
'How dangerous,' he thought, breathing heavily. He crawled to the side so as not to activate it by mistake.
Although he couldn't move, the yellow orb soon entered him, and information in the form of "intention" was transmitted to his brain.
'So to activate it, I just have to intend to do so. How convenient,' he thought.
He took out several healing potions and swallowed them, seeking to recover so he could continue.
'Thanks, Arnold. I'll pay you back later,' he thought.
He would be in serious trouble if it weren't for these potions. He had underestimated the strength of these creatures. He wondered how on earth Max had obtained the Path of the Devourer then. Was there such a big difference?
But he could understand after thinking that this Ryan was a bookworm with no real-world training. Max used to train with Walkers daily; naturally, he had a significant advantage.
He stopped thinking nonsense and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling while waiting for the potions to take effect.
For a brief moment, he imagined what would happen if he still had all those bottles of poison on his clothing... He would be writhing in pain on the floor right now, perhaps dead.
"Good thing I threw them all away." He laughed with apparent mockery at himself.