Jake stared up at the white snake that, in turn, regarded him, waiting for an answer to its question. It had mentioned something about a Forefather, and the hamster wheel in Jake’s mind spun as he put two and two together… the snake had to be talking about the Malefic Viper. It did confuse him a bit, though.
The snake didn’t have any Blessing as far as Jake could tell, and he couldn’t see any connection between the C-grade and the Viper at all. Well, besides them both being highly venomous snakes. Also, why had the snake come to begin with?
One thing that did put his mind at ease was the lack of hostility. The snake had helped them and now seemed friendly and curious. Considering that was the case, Jake decided it would be wisest to be honest about what they were doing there.
“We are simply passing through and had no plans of getting into any fights, but the frog attacked us,” Jake answered truthfully.
The snake regarded Jake and then tossed Sylphie a look. “To bring a young one from such a heritage through this area is unwise.”
“We realize that now,” Jake nodded. He still had no idea why the snake was so friendly, though. At least not for the next half a second before he felt a certain snake god send down a message.
“Divine teacher coming in with a quick lesson because this isn’t really anything taught anywhere as it is considered pretty common knowledge. I got shit-all to do with this particular snake. At least not directly. Without going into a lengthy explanation, then I am in some ways connected to nearly every single snake in existence due to how Records work, and while I may not know of this snake, it clearly knows of me simply due to its heritage. Beasts have heritages like humans do, and this one may walk one related to me. This all leads back to how we ancient beasts more or less raised the Records of our entire races and hence became known as Forefathers. So yeah, the snake can see you walk a similar Path as herself. Good luck making a new friend!”
Jake got the entire message from Villy within a few seconds as he got a better understanding of what was going on. Currently, Jake still had his scales summoned and his wings out. He didn’t look very human, and the snake potentially didn’t even think he was one.
It was a bit risky, but he wanted to dispel that illusion right away as he dismissed his scales and wings, returning to being more human. Normally you could barely see the scales, but Jake currently had quite the gnarly wound on his chest with his armor entirely tattered from absorbing the blow, revealing his upper body.
When the scales and wings disappeared, Jake felt the snake be surprised as she moved her head closer.“Human?” she asked, perplexed.
“I apologize for any misunderstandings, but even if I am human, I too walk the Path of the Viper – your Forefather,” Jake explained to the female snake. He wanted to make it clear he was still her “kin,” so to say, as he really didn’t want the snake to turn hostile. Jake was unsure if he could escape himself and certain Carmen would be unable to unless she had some item to help her. Sylphie was also a big question mark. No, better to try the diplomatic approach for now.
Also… the snake had yet to turn antagonistic, and she even seemed disinterested in Sylphie despite clearly being aware of the hawk’s heritage.
“I was merely surprised,” the snake answered. “I sensed the blood in the river and came as I feared one of my own had been attacked, but I see now it was you. It is interesting to see a human with the blood of the Forefather… are you a descendant of some sort? No, you are a pure human... tell me, how do you walk the Path of the Forefather?”
Jake’s mind blanked for a while as he had just discovered a giant gap in knowledge. He had believed himself to be the ignorant one – in his defense, he usually was – but clearly, the snake before him was also unaware of many things considering common knowledge. She didn’t seem to have any experience with Blessings and possibly even the way humans worked with their classes, professions, and races. Which… well, it made sense she didn’t.
If he assumed the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake was a native of Earth and had only awakened true sapience in C-grade, how would she have learned? Jake did know that when an animal would awaken, sapience was deeply related to their intelligence before. Reptiles tended to need C-grade at the very least, while some smarter animals would awaken it far earlier. Hawkie had already been damn smart at E-grade, and Sylphie had been a smart little bugger from birth. He also knew beasts had inherent knowledge based on their Heritages. This was likely how the snake even knew of the Viper, but that knowledge hadn’t covered this it seemed.
“Are you familiar with the concept of Legacies and Blessings?” Jake asked the snake.
The snake looked at him a bit with her deep red eyes before answering. “Legacies… yes. Heritages and Legacies are closely related, correct? I have heard of Blessings, but I am uncertain of its effects. A competitor of mine speaks of possessing a Blessing, so I assume it is beneficial?”
“They are, but they also come with some expectations. Tell me, what do you know of your Forefather?” Jake asked, wanting to make sure they weren’t speaking past each other.
“An ancient snake who rose to unrivaled power and sent echoes throughout existence as he embraced eternity. I am not certain what more you expect me to know?” the snake asked, and Jake could sense a bit of annoyance but also expectation.
Jake just smiled as he manipulated his Shroud of the Primordial. His Blessing that was otherwise suppressed to the level of a Lesser Blessing flared as it grew to that of his True Blessing. He had a hunch that proved true as the snake recoiled a bit as she stared.
“What are you?” she asked with fright but also an even stronger sense of curiosity.
“Gods have the ability to give out Blessings to those they want, creating a bond between themselves and the blessed individual. This usually just resolves in the blessed one getting access to the Path related to the god, and the gods themselves gaining a presence among mortals as well as some other benefits I am not entirely clear on,” Jake began as he explained. “In my case, I am very closely related to the god that blessed me. Said god naturally being the Malefic Viper, also known as your Forefather.”
The snake seemed to take a moment as she absorbed the knowledge, giving Carmen time to also chip in. She had been hanging back and had clearly been on guard in case things went south. In fact, Jake saw now that she was holding some golden medallion of sorts behind her back even as she spoke.
“What Jake said is true. Gods bless all kinds of creatures and races, and Jake and the Viper just happened to be highly compatible, so the Malefic One made Jake his Chosen. Ah, a Chosen is like a prophet or something and is the highest level of Blessing possible, more or less making Jake the most important mortal in existence from the viewpoint of the Viper,” Carmen explained. Perhaps overexplained.
Jake could feel her nervousness. He understood why, as the C-grade was far above what any of them could handle. Even Sylphie was hiding away. In her anxiety, she had just opened the floodgates and had spoken, wanting Jake to look as good as possible without really thinking much.
For the first time, Jake felt a tinge of hostility from the snake.
“Most important? A human?” the snake hissed as she raised her head a bit. “A D-grade human being deemed more important than any other snake-kin in existence? I only came here out of curiosity, not to be made a fool of.”
Carmen froze as she. “I just meant that-”
“Hey!” Jake interrupted Carmen as he stared up at the snake. “Is that really so hard to believe?”
The snake sneered once more as she stared him down. “The Forefather would never view a human as more worthy than any of his kin. On account of you carrying some part of his Legacy, I will let you go, but don’t believe I-”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Jake interrupted the C-grade, getting a frightened look from Carmen, who had just begun to look relieved after the snake said it would let them go.
Jake released his own presence as he stood in opposition to the snake. She glared at him as she subconsciously retracted her head a bit in front of his Bloodline-powered aura. However, he wasn’t done yet.
“Villy. Beam me a Blessing.”
“Jake, I can’t just go around casually giving out Blessings to any random creature you meet,” Villy promptly answered. Jake had known the god had looked on with interest, and now it was time to make himself useful.
“Yes you can,” Jake shot back.
“True. Alright, I guess this little one isn’t so bad.”
“Get your head down here,” Jake commanded. “You did help us, so I guess some kind of compensation is only right.”
“What are you planning?” the snake sneered as she showed her fangs. Jake felt the venom within them and got even more sure that he would probably be in for a very bad time if any of that entered his body or even touched his skin.
“Repaying the favor and setting the record straight. Why, are you afraid some measly D-grade human can harm you?” Jake taunted the snake. He believed he had read her right, and he turned out to be correct as she reluctantly lowered her head, her curiosity winning out over her cautiousness.
Jake placed his hand on her snout as his hand glowed green. He had asked Villy about giving the Blessing before, but he vaguely felt that he didn’t need to when he began infusing his energy. Need to ask, that is. He felt a connection be formed and his ability to give a Blessing without Villy’s consent or input. He could only give a low-level Blessing, but it opened his possibilities and implications that Jake wasn’t quite sure what to think of.
He didn’t need to use this new discovery this time as he felt Villy bless the snake by using him as the conduit. A pulse of power went through his hand and entered the snake, and he saw the crimson eyes flash dark green for a moment as the snake froze and just looked dumbstruck.
A second turned to five as Jake just stood there with his hand on the snake. None of them moved, and only a good six or seven seconds after it turned awkward, the snake finally reacted as she retracted her head in a sudden yank.
The more than thirty-meter long C-grade snake just looked down at Jake as she swayed slightly, and Jake saw what he could only interpret as an embarrassed blush as she spoke:
“Please don’t be mad…”
Meira went through the library as she searched for a specific book she had been asked to find. Well, she needed to find a book with a topic she had been asked about. She was sure she had seen it before, she just wasn’t entirely clear on the name, but she had skimmed its description briefly a few months ago.
As she was looking for the book, she saw one of the tables in the library and the books that lay scattered all over it. She hadn’t touched it because it had been left like that by her Master. He was a bit messy, but she remembered hearing a teacher of her explain how some people were able to comprehend chaos and didn’t need order. Perhaps her Master was the same and simply didn’t need to put things in boxes and organize them in order to remember things.
Meira finally located the book she was looking for and checked the index. She soon enough found the section she had been thinking of and quickly went towards the entrance hall again, where she activated the gate. She walked through it and appeared inside a small study where a group of three were already waiting for her.
“Took your time,” Nella said once she finally saw Meira.
“Apologies, it took longer to find than expected,” Meira apologized as she handed over the book.
“Don’t make dallying a habit, or your sponsor might drop you,” Nella scoffed as she took the book and opened it.
“Chapter eight,” Meira added, getting an annoyed scowl. She didn’t mind; it was normal. Nella was a true member of the Order after all, along with the two others.
“Don’t be so hard on her,” Izil commented. Meira liked Izil. She was even nicer than the others. It was probably because they were both elves, though Meira naturally couldn’t compare to a student hailing from the Altmar Empire.
“Hey, little elf, got any Whispersnite Fruits left?” Utmal, the final member of their group, asked. She was the child of a dwarf and an ogre and identified as a half-ogre. This made her about the size of a regular human or elf, even if she had a very powerful constitution.
“I already began the incubation experiment with half and planned on using the rest in case it fail-“
“Wait, I’m confused,” Utmal interrupted. “Did I ask? I don’t care, just don’t fail and give me yours. I ain’t spending Credits on more than what we were given.”
Meira was a bit uncomfortable but agreed nevertheless as she summoned the three uncommon rarity fruits and gave them to Utmal, who swept them up while shaking her head and muttering something about Meira being slow. She was slow sometimes, so that made sense.
“Shouldn’t have rushed into the experiment and ruined your own fruits,” Izil commented.
“Now, let’s not fight,” Nella stopped the two before they began bickering. Meira was glad she did as she didn’t like it when the two got into fights, especially not when it was related to Meira herself.
Nella was the leader of their group and the one with the greatest background. She was also the sole scalekin of their group and had two B-grade parents. She had been born at D-grade but still needed to study to build up her foundation and would likely reach C-grade within not that long simply by growing fully up. It still took half a century to grow to be a fully-fledged C-grade, but at least she wouldn’t need to do anything besides just reaching the threshold and doing the Evolution Awakening.
She had a good status, and Meira wanted to be sure to get on her good side. Izil was the one with the second-greatest background as she came from the Altmar empire. Meira didn’t know who her parents were or anything as she didn’t talk about it like Nella did, but she had to have a good status if she had come to the order, right? In any case, she couldn’t offend them and make trouble for her Master.
“Meira, you should make your sponsor give you some more Academy Credits to pay for the next level of this course,” Nella suddenly added.
Meira was a bit meek as she answered. “I have not been given permission to use the credits for anyone but myself.”
“I am sure you can figure something out,” Nella smiled. “If not, just ask for some actual Credits or contribution points and treat us to something nice to compensate, alright?”
“That would be hard…” Meira said as she tried to explain herself without revealing anything about her Master. She already felt a bit bad about lying about having a sponsor, but technically her Master was a sponsor, so it wasn’t really a lie, right?
“Oh, come on,” Utmal sneered. “Just spread your legs a bit wider, and I am sure your sponsor or whatever will gladly reward his little who-“
“Utmal!” Izil butted in.
“Fine,” the half-ogre said as she raised her hands and continued ignoring Meira.
Meira threw Izil a thankful glance but just got a helpless look and a shake of the other elf’s head in return. Meira wasn’t sure how to respond to that… but at least they weren’t fighting anymore, and for the next half an hour, no one really said anything bad. In fact, they didn’t even talk about or with Meira at all. Meira knew that the situation was a bit strained, but she would keep doing her best, and she was sure she wouldn’t give her Master trouble when he returned. She just hoped she was doing okay in the meanwhile.
This was her first time making friends, after all.