Elanore listened to her wyvern open up about some past experiences. She learned the names of her other party members and understood why Naela knew about this place. The wyvern didn't elaborate on everything in her emotional state, but it was clear to Ella that she cared about those people.
The only thing Ella could do is support her lover with plenty of hugs and kisses. Though, it appeared that Naela felt better after releasing some of her emotions. That, and the two of them were cut off by another hoard of insects.
This time they were not scorpions. Instead, they were something even worse. They were large beetles with giant pinchers on the front of their skull. The vampire didn't even want to look in their direction. She squealed the moment she saw them, but her knight in shining armor came to her rescue.
"Don't worry, mistress! These will be a piece of cake."
Elanore imagined that the things walking towards her all along the walls were giant pieces of cake. It alleviated her distraught feelings for a second, but then she heard their squiggly legs creaking. Ah! Why do they make that sound!
Luckily, the beetles didn't have time to take off flying, or Elanore would have witnessed another horror scene. They were all dispatched in no time by the swift wyvern, and the moment they fell dead, Elanore stored them in her inventory where they belonged.
In truth, she didn't want any of them to be in her inventory, but she would rather that than looking at their corpses littering the ground. Her body shivered in an exaggerated manner, and she shook her head.
"I hate all of these little creepy crawlies."
Naela chuckled. "I had no idea it was going to be like this. Didn't we experience some bugs before, mistress?"
"Nothing like these things! These are way too big, and their eyes give me the hibbie jibbies."
"What's that, mistress?"
"It means they scare me. Makes me want to seal my eyes shut with magic. Actually..."
Naela leapt and grabbed onto Elanore's arm. "Nope! You are not allowed to seal your eyes. If the mistress will be afraid, it is the knight's job to take care of her, isn't it?"
Elanore flushed and nodded hesitantly. "That's right. By the way, I noticed that you were way faster when taking those things down. Was there a reason for that?"
Naela grinned and pointed towards herself with her thumb. "Check it out for yourself, mistress!"
[Inspect]!
Name: Naela
Race: Not-Dragon
Age: 121
Sex: Female
Level: 150
Class: Master Fire Manipulator
Sub Classes: [Journeyman Sorcerer],[Journeyman Warrior],[Journeyman Servant],[Novice Knight]
Devotion(s): Elanore
Title(s): Firebringer, Servant of the Delusional Vampire Witch
Health: 5,000,000
Stamina: 7,200,000
Mana: 10,000,000
Skills: [Fireball],[Chaos Flame],[Storm Surge],[Fire Manipulation],[Expert Mana Manipulation]
Equipment: [Divine Lover's Maid Set]
Holy Forsaken Goddess, that is a difference. And what are these new things? Were those because of me? Did she gain that servant level from fighting?
Naela's body tingled. "Okay, mistress, that's enough!"
"Oh! I am sorry. Does it really feel that strange?"
Naela nodded. "I am not sure how to explain it. I think I said it before, but it's like a prickly sensation running through your body. You're lucky that no one would be able to do it against you, mistress."
Elanore figured that would be the case. She didn't imagine there was anything stronger than her, and much like the game, inspection type skills worked on things that were typically below your level. Maybe the feeling is even worse for high leveled creatures? Is that why Synnaria said not to inspect her?
Either way, the vampire continued down the left tunnel, but it didn't take them long to reach the end. What she found was a bit surprising. It seemed that her sense of smell was not off. There really was a passage of water down here. It was a flowing river that went into the walls of the cave and was beneath a jutting rock formation.
Other than the fresh water, Elanore didn't see anything else besides a set of spikes jutting out of the ground near the source, and the closer they got to the water, the more they saw the spikes wriggle around.
"Don't tell me it's another bug!"
Naela seemed to be happy about Elanore's complaint. She jumped in front of the vampire and formed a flaming pink sword in her hands. "Stay behind me, mistress."
The ground rumbled beneath them, and a creature started slithering from the sand. Elanore watched on with one eye open, expecting a wiggling worm, but it was not a worm. Nor was it another kind of bug with a carapace. This creature slithering from the ground had scales instead of an exoskeleton.
Its black body climbed out of the ground until it was on its rear slithery end. Sharp purple eyes opened from its face and sharpened even further upon seeing them. A pink, forked tongue snaked out of its mouth, and a hissing sound came out at the same time. Naturally, Elanore performed her inspection.
Race: [Basilisk]
Age: 842
Sex: Female
Level: 800
Health: 121,000,000
Stamina: 560,000,000
Mana: 100,000,000
Ooh, a basilisk? What the hell is that level!?
Seeing Naela about to pounce, Elanore placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait, I think this one is not the same as the other monsters."
"A keen eye you have," the serpents voice echoed in the cave. "Thisss isss the firssst time travelersss have taken thisss path. Mossst want to essscape from here asss sssoon asss posssssible."
Ella exhaled deeply and held up her hand. "Mussst you really use so many s-words? What's your deal anyway? Why are you hiding here in a tunnel beneath some sand?"
"I will try placating you with my wordsss. You went here and queried me, but thisss isss my home." The serpent looked between Ella and Naela purposefully. It curled up into a ball before a plume of smoke erupted around its body. In the next second, it had become a girl with black scales covering her body. "I guess it is easier to talk in this form."
Elanore's eyes widened. "Don't tell me this will be another situation."
Naela grabbed onto Elanore. "Alright, mistress, say the word, and I will destroy this wretched heathen that has taken the form of a woman to seduce you!"
The basilisk raised her hands in a submissive posture. "There will be no need for that. I don't plan to fight either of you." The girl struggled to hold back a smile. Her demeanor changed, and she ran towards Elanore. "Mother!"
"Huh?" Elanore asked with a tilt of her head, but it was already too late. The girl had already wrapped her arms around her with surprising grip strength.
"I knew that you would come back for me mother!"
"Hey," Elanore said, pushing the girl away from her slightly. "I am not anyone's mother!"
The snake girl took a deep whiff of Elanore's clothing. "Really? You smell exactly the same. You must be mother! You've come back for me!"