Chapter 581 - Survival of the Fittest (Patreon)

It was a lush forest with dense vegetation. Almost all the trees were covered in vines rising high into the sky. On the ground, the bushes, the grass, and the flowers fought with each other, competing to reach the small pockets of sunlight that broke through the thick canopy. The Double Eared Bunnies rushed off as the snarl of a Blue Spotted Leopard indicated his approach. Most of the jungle recognized this feline as its king, or at least, this part of the jungle did. The leopard continued walking with slow steps. This wasn't a hunting trip, since the creature already ate its fill for the day. No, it had noticed something entering its territory, something new, something strange.

A pair of Golden Rhinoceros Beetles were fighting on a branch. The smaller one had been trying to win over a mate for a long time, and it was fed up with its constant losses. That's why it challenged an older beetle, one that others left alone out of respect for keeping its mate for so long, but that might not have as much energy as the young one had. For one hour, the two insects faced each other, slamming their horns, trying to either make their opponent fall from the tree or break their horn, the ultimate signal of victory. The young beetle never expected the fight to take this long, and it was even surprised with its own strength. Never before has it managed to fight for so long. On the other hand, the elder felt frustrated. It managed to hold on to its mate for a long time, and it had already faced many challengers. Yet, this young one, barely older than a larva, was giving it a run for its money.

The young beetle dashed forward while opening its wings, giving up the attack on the horn and aiming at the legs. There was no need to go for the glory of breaking another's horn. As long as it won, it was all that mattered. Despite its best efforts, the elder was unable to move fast enough to block that attack. Seeing that his move worked, the young beetle held on to the trunk with its hind legs and pulled its horn up with all its might. The elder grabbed onto the bark, its legs grasping on each groove to stop this kid from winning with this attack, using the spikes behind its ankles to pierce the wood. Yet, that wasn't enough.

With a mighty fling, the young beetle tossed the elder out of the tree. An old wound made the elder lose its grasp and fall to the jungle floor. Its wings were no longer strong enough to allow it to fly, much less steady itself as it spun around during the fall. However, as fate would have it, the old beetle did not meet the ground. Instead of landing on the grass, the beetle was about to land on top of the king of this jungle. The Blue Spotted Leopard.

The jungle's ruler seemed oblivious to the incoming beetle until it got very close. That's when the leopard moved its tail and caught the old Golden Rhinoceros Beetle. It moved the tail to face this bug and recognized the elder beetle. As a king, the large cat was aware of most of the denizens of the jungle, and it knew of the struggles this old bug had. Then again, it was only old for a bug. One year was almost nothing for a Blue Spotted Leopard.

Maybe, seeing this beetle made the king remember the time he was but a cub and would chase the Golden Beetles around the jungle, or it could perhaps sense the elder beetle's frustration. Maybe it was just a whim, but either way, that didn't matter, for the leopard's next action gave this Golden Rhinoceros Beetle one more chance to protect its mate. Instead of killing the bug, the king of the jungle flung it back to the tree, making the bug land right in front of the young beetle once more.

Landing on the tree again, the elder beetle caught the young one by surprise and slammed their horns together. That pushed the young one back, but it was still not out of the fight. They stopped trying to be fancy and continued to attack each other's horns, trying to break the opponent and confirm who was the strongest and who deserved a mate. Seeing that the fight wasn't going anywhere, they both got ready for one last attack, taking a few steps back to gather speed for a final blow.

Charging towards each other, the beetles met in the middle of the branch, but just as the horns clashed again, creating tiny cracks in their shells, a Split Tongue Chameleon who was sneaking on a lower branch sent out its bifurcated tongue, grabbing both bugs and having a very filling lunch for the day. The Chameleon was completely unaware of the struggle between the two beetles, nor would it care even if it knew. Such was the law of the jungle. There was always something bigger who would gladly have you as a meal. It didn't matter the situation. The Blue Spotted Leopard also knew that and was on the prowl for something new. Whatever entered his domain would soon understand why he was the king of this jungle.

Hera opened her eyes when she noticed the warm sun hitting her skin. The smell of leaves, wood, and life overwhelmed her nose, causing the explorer to sneeze. Looking around, she was by a creek, with both her hands on the water as if she was trying to take a sip, and she felt thirsty. Instinctively, she drank from that stream to satiate herself, but she saw a massive snake underwater before being able to do so. Jumping back, she called her court and reached for her daggers to get ready for an attack, but there was no response. She couldn't sense Daskka, Nimbus, or any of her blades in here. Fang and Claw were also nowhere to be seen. Instead, she could feel a spear held across her back. That started to freak her out, but she knew better than to let her emotions get the better of her. Pulling the spear, she waited for the snake to come out. Some seconds passed, then a minute, then two.

Confused, Hera slowly approached the creek again to see if the snake was still there. She considered turning around and running, but what if the monster was waiting for her to show her back before striking? That wasn't something she was willing to test. Slowly approaching, the Empress first saw the tip of her spear reflected in the water and then the snake's head. However, this time she noticed something else. The snake wasn't actually there. Instead, she was looking at a reflection. Looking up, she could only see the trees and the sky, but not that creature that was staring back at her from the water.

She turned back to the water and reached to her own face. The reflection did the same, showing a scaly hand with some jewelry around the fingers. Looking back at her own hand, she couldn't see the scales or the rings. It was just her normal hand, wearing her own gloves, and even her armor looked the same, or almost the same. She approached the water and saw more of her own reflection or the reflection that she was seeing. Currently, she was looking at the head of a snake with orange scales, very muscular arms with only some leather shoulder pads with feathers in the edge covering their body, and a tail that seemed to go on for a long time. Yet, when looking down, Hera still had two legs and no tail to speak of. But if she tried to raise a foot, the tip of the tail would appear in the water. Another thing she realized was that the pieces of clothing or armor on the reflection were also present on her, even if her own armor was underneath everything.

"What the shit?" Hera frowned and tried to call her court again, but she got no reply. The Empress was so used to always having someone to talk to, that this solitude felt off. It was like a part of her was missing, which in hindsight, could be the truth. Turning back to her reflection, she stared at the Naga she was seeing. Just looking at it made her feel conflicted. She had no idea where she was or how she got here, but it looked like she was currently inhabiting a Naga, which was both a surprise and completely expected. After all, the last thing she remembered was that she performed a ritual, a Naga ritual, and touched one item that was hidden and protected by the statue of a guardian beast, a Naga guardian beast. Now she was here, wherever here was, on the body of a Naga.

"Ok… let's think. Is this a dream?" she pinched her hand and felt the pain, "Ok, not a dream. A dungeon? But I didn't get any notification to enter. Then again, that doesn't happen all the time. But then I could still use my court. My armor is still here, but everything else is gone. My weapons, Daskka's necklace, even Yarnball is gone…."

After thinking for a moment, she looked around and tried to make a soundproof bubble around her. This was both to continue with her plans and test if her magic still worked here. The spell worked, but instead of it being green, it had a sickly shade of yellow. She looked around to see if anyone was nearby and pulled the rocks from the ground to create a small bunker. When she was completely hidden from prying eyes, even if her location was conspicuous, Hera said, "I call upon the Guide of this room. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure."

Unfortunately, nothing happened. She didn't get a notification informing her that she had already used the skill or any feeling that whatever she tried to do had any effect. Yet, her other skills seemed to be working. She opened her explorer's map, trying to see if she could find the name of this place and to confirm again if her skills were working. That came with good and bad news. The skill worked, but the name of the room was blank.

"Ok, c'mon, I have to have a clue about what I'm doing here," she started patting herself, looking for something, anything that could give her a glimpse of a path forward. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything, but when she touched her right wrist, she realized one thing. None of her items had come with her, except for the Snake Pit bracelet, "Why is this, of all things, here with me? It's not the only Naga item I have. I mean, the daggers and Daskka's necklace should also count."

To make things even more strange, nothing appeared when trying to use her [Observe] or her [Inspect] on the item. It was as if she wasn't actually looking at her bracelet. Still, Hera decided to try to use its abilities. Shaking her arm, she tried to call the snakes inside it, but things didn't go as she expected. Instead of calling the snakes out, she was able to sense that the snakes were already spread around the jungle. With one, far to the north, on what looked to be a mountain. She swapped her senses and saw a massive structure carved on the side of a cliff. No, it wasn't a structure, but an entire sprawling and living city. Pyres were lit, and shadows seemed to be moving around. She could even hear some laughter echoing through the mountainside.

Hera returned to her own body and told the snake she had just swapped with to move around a bit. She wasn't trying to do anything specifically, just to see if she could still command the constructs, which proved to be true as the snake ran in circles a couple of times.

"Thanks, you can stop now. Just stay there. If you are all marking a path for me, I guess that must be for a reason," Hera opened her map and saw how the snakes appeared on it, even if she couldn't tell what was actually around them unless she changed her senses, "Man, you guys are far from each other. I really hope this is the right way to go," Hera sighed and started walking, completely unaware that her arrival here alerted not just the king of this jungle but a creature that made even the Blue Spotted Leopard run away in fear.