[NR] Chapter 365 - Constricted Conflict (Patreon)

With that worrying combo monster, Jason sets a much faster pace over the next week. Even going so far as to travel well into the night. About the only thing that keeps him somewhat relaxed is that he had long ago gotten used to sleeping while in a sitting position and Lily gladly spent the nights curled up in his lap. If anything wanted to take her at night, it would need to be more than just an ambush predator extraordinaire or some other stealthy type.

It is only when he gets close to the next training area that he feels safe enough to slow down. The key to this being what it represented. While the previous one was a hindbear lair, this was a much more varied place.

In fact, the upcoming area represented an ongoing clash between territories. While the hindbears stayed in their area, that was only because of the massive supply of boarfu that kept them fed while requiring their constant protection so someone else didn’t come in and snatch it. Most of the species at the top of the food chain tended to have a central group that kept it together.

This wasn’t needed for animals irl to do this because no matter how strong a bear might get, it was still a bear. In NeoRealm however, enough power and age could lead to a sharpened mind and amazing abilities. So far Jason had only seen relatively normal animals and monsters with the rabbits being the exception. That was to be expected as except for the younger stages, the first adult evolution tended to be the last.

Once an evolution happens they will end up as the ruler of their territory. Up ahead was an uncommon area where two equal strength predators had that territory overlap. In most cases one side would have evolved first and taken out the other or the other would have escaped further away.

When that doesn’t happen and neither side has the upperhand, a savage battlefield will form. This will tend to last for as long as the two evolved creatures survive. In a more frequented area that tends to be short as adventurers like to stick their noses into such occurrences for the chance at treasure. Way out here though?

Well, since no one is going to be too bothered by it the guild enacted an edict to prevent any of their members from searching out and killing one of the sides. A fortunate turn of events for the Titan Python and the Coyote Trickster as it meant they kept their lives. Even stranger though was that the battle didn’t end with the two’s deaths. Rather, in the time that took, a number of their descendants had managed to evolve.

From what Peter had told Jason, this pointed to some natural resource in the area being the source of this conflict. The only problem is that no one had figured out what was the cause and so after over a hundred years the guild had finally gotten around to making a path to the combat zone.

Of course if it was just pythons and coyotes going at it, things wouldn’t be quite as interesting. After all, while this specific set of circumstances is rare, it isn’t unheard of. No, both sides have managed to pull in allies of a sort. The titan pythons gather a number of lower snake and reptile species, while the coyotes somehow got a wolf pack and some of the big cats to help out. Oh, and there are at least a few bears fighting all takers to enjoy what seems to be an almost unlimited supply of food.

So while Jason was a bit worried about the vaguely snakey monster he had seen. Once he passes by the conflict any snake-like creatures wouldn’t be sticking their heads out to harass people on the road. The animals and monsters might mostly lack any decent ability to think like a sapient can, they don’t slack off in things like guarding their territory.

A creature with such clear snake origins would have no way to make it in the coyote’s land that chances are they all exist on this side of things. Sure, it could easily be even more common with only this conflict keeping them from crossing over to here. But Jason was willing to find out. Not that he had much of a choice though. His objective was on the other side, after all.

Not that approaching such an active area was smooth sailing. Snakes of all sorts soon made their presence known as well as a couple of larger lizards. Most of which left Jason alone, some on the other hand chose death. The constrictors mostly didn’t manage to grapple Jason and even when they did, it proved less than useful. Though they did net some benefit.

{Constricted Conflict: +3 Toughness}

Even if Toughness wasn’t exactly the most useful thing for him at the moment. More interesting for him though, were the vipers. Perfect training partners for him as it had been a while since his venom resistance hadn’t made any progress in a while. Even better in Jason's eyes was the variety. He even managed to net an immunity to trash rank paralysis venom as well as general improvements to his venom resistance across the board.

The only disappointment was he hadn’t gained any resistance to normal rank venoms with only the slightest increase of resistance to low normal rank venoms. Still, it showed the possibilities for the area ahead. Though as he got closer, the growth of the skill stalled out as at that point, most of the vipers were just repeats.

Once Jason noticed this, any remaining growth vanished. More because he stopped leaving openings for the vipers to attack him through. A dangerous tactic that he wouldn’t ever use in normal circumstances. In this case though, something in him tugged enough to be known. So while Jason isn’t one to overly listen to any random gut feeling, he still placed some face in it.

This would prove to be a good thing.