While we continued on our journey, Taneva was teaching the crew on how to cast holy magic. I, meanwhile, was also listening, but I wasn’t really trying it out. Still pretty interesting to hear how it was done. But it really boiled down to faith and belief in salvation, and mixing it with magic. A bit different from how I learned of using spells, like designing its attributes. This one felt like it was more abstract — I mean, faith and salvation? Quite kinda intangible, that thing, unlike fire where there’s heat, or ice where there’s cold, or a shield that’s solid.

  But setting that aside, I really wanted to learn another spell, one that could be good against the flames that the imps use. Their flames were quite annoying and extremely dangerous. They felt a bit different from normal flames, more damaging to put it in a word. For the spell that I had in mind, it was one of the spells from the Royal Grimoire back home — Immolation. A spell that covers the caster with a protective flame coating. It was a spell that gave ample protection against flames.

  So what made it different from the Palm Shield spell? Well, it was said to be more effective in protection against fire based magic, and it covers the whole body. Truth be told, I think it wasn’t made with my style in mind. I use Palm Shield differently from the norm. I made a lot of changes. Even it was way stronger because of the amount of mana I inherently have.

  Still, perhaps learning it was interesting. I mean, it could also prevent anyone from touching me, being covered in flames and all. But perhaps that kind of scenario would be ineffective for imps. Still, it was nice to have more options. It was the thing I wanted to start practicing for a while. Best to be flexible and have plenty of options.

  However, I couldn’t do such a thing. Too dangerous. Learning new spells takes a lot of mana, a lot of it being wasted. Plus, I haven’t even mastered Ice Crown yet, fuck.

  This sucks.

  At any rate, everyday on our travels, there was not a day that we wouldn’t face a monster. Most of it, I could just stand aside and let others handle them. Taneva, in particular, was making it too easy for us. Motherfucker’s overpowered, I tell you that. But of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t take the chance to get hit first.

  Like now, for example. We encountered some kind of viper monster, a very big one, with four bodies linked together. Like, ew. Their four heads and neck slither independently, while the root of their body crawled to make them move, it was all fucking disgusting, making me shudder a little whenever I watched them move. It had dark green scales, which were quite hard to slash through. Velar tried it. And worse of all, from their fangs were dripping venom. And it was safe to assume that venom was absolutely deadly.

  Considering that it had four heads functioning independently, it was a bit difficult for everyone to dive in and attack. Even Nira was struggling to properly charge in, which seemed to be her main strategy most of the time…

  Taneva, on the other hand, stood right in front of the monster with a big grin. His arms were wide open. Yup, you might have guessed right what was going on. Taneva wanted to get attacked by that venomous monster.

  “Come and take a bite! Haha!” He showed no fear at all.

  Of course, he got what he wanted.

  One of the vipers bit its fangs into Taneva’s body. I imagined the venom was already pouring in. The viper swung him around like a rag doll while keeping a tight clench. Taneva winced in pain as he was thrown in the air, blood bleeding out from the holes of his body, leaving a crimson trail in the air. He landed roughly on the ground. Taneva slowly tried to stand up, but he started vomiting blood. His eyes, nose, and ears started bleeding out terribly. He groaned like a fucking zombie, overall he looked like a… zombie… Bloody hell, Taneva. Look at what you’re doing to yourself…

  Nira yelped in shock, and perhaps a little horror too, looking at him with concern. “I-Is he going to be alright?”

  Taneva legit looked like he was suffering. But hey, he brought that to himself.

  “Ignore him and focus on the monster!” I said. “He’ll recover pretty soon.”

  While Taneva was suffering in the sidelines, the snakes swerved towards us. Nira charged against a viper’s head and clutched on it, driving her claws into its skin. But from the looks of it, her strike was shallow. The scales must really be hard. I could dive in, but I would rather not, I was a bit tired after all the walking.

  At any rate, I had to prepare just in case. So I drew out medium-sized daggers in both hands. Velar lunged at a viper head, his sword glowing with magic. With a heavy swing of his greatsword, he managed to make a cut on a viper’s head on the side. However, at the same time, another lashed out at him. He instantly conjured a Palm Shield to protect himself.

  The moment the viper hit the shield, Hartwin stepped in and thrust his spear into the viper at the side of its chin. Imbued with magic, it pierced through the skin almost halfway to the blade. He unleashed a piercing magical attack, and the hole burst open, red blood spilled from the wound. However, compared to the rest of its body, it was an insignificant damage, and it only served to annoy the monster.

  It hissed, and the fourth head moved in to strike at Hartwin from his flank. Before the viper could reach him, I threw my dagger at it with force and the dagger struck into the scale. I triggered the magic, and a burst of slashes exploded, shredding the viper from the inside. It cried with a high-pitched sound that scratched my ears. I quickly pulled back my dagger through the magic string.

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  The viper was still moving, to my annoyance.

  I then noticed a viper head bite on Nira. With a pained expression, the little girl turned into a black fog to escape its grips. It would seem the viper’s attacks were not magic based. She landed back on the ground, limping and leaning on the floor, regenerating.

  “Withdraw!” I commanded, with two immortal tanks unaccounted for, and with only two remaining fighters, it was time to back away for now. Velar was also a vanguard, but against four venomous big vipers? Mustn’t risk it. I imagined one bite from one of those would kill him before we could treat him. How do you even treat that? Taneva got fucked almost instantly with that venom. And Nira looked like she was burning from the inside. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she took as much venom as Taneva.

  The two normal humans retreated to me. The viper glared at us, however, it didn’t attack immediately, but was observing us instead. Hm, gotta hate cautious animals.

  “Hey Taneva?!” I shouted. “You dead yet?”

  He slowly stood up, still looking like shit. “Sadly, n-no!”

  Fucking suicidal motherfucker, ‘sadly’. Damn.

  “Yes, very sad,” I said with a hint of sarcasm. “But a little help here?!”

  “R-Right. A moment…” He closed his eyes for a moment as if enduring the pain. He then pulled out a jade colored spear from his inventory and ran towards the monster… monsters? Four in one monster? Anyway, as he ran, his blood flung in the air, which was a bit funny and quite a pitiful sight — if it was anyone else.

  Taneva’s movement was swift, and the monster quickly noticed him coming. They backed away, while a couple of heads lashed out at him. He evaded them and struck his spear at the main body. The vipers squirmed violently with a deafening cry, while at the same time one head slammed against Taneva in a blind rage. The latter used his weapon as a shield and he was thrown back in the air, but he safely landed back on the ground.

  The vipers writhed in pain, crying loudly in agony.

  “Finish it,” I said to the crew.

  However, before they could move, there was a loud swishing sound. Like flesh and scale were being twisted and torn apart.

  Everyone stopped as we watched each of the viper separated from that single body. My eyes widened as blood and stretched skin separated, while at the end of it all, the main body was discarded. Each viper slithered individually, glaring daggers towards us. Watching the way they move gave me the shivers of disgust.

  Ew ew ew ew ew! That’s nasty! What the fuck!

  I winced as I watched a stretched patch of skin get dragged on the soil, while leaving a trail of blood. Utterly disgusting. Those little shits better keep its distance from me.

  Immediately, the vipers split up and began slithering at a disturbingly fast speed. They were way faster than before. Now they were truly moving like a damn bona fide serpent. One viper lunged at Taneva.

  Nira charged against one, the third was met by both Velar and Hartwin. I moved back to keep my distance, but the fourth one was was quickly coming at me, the same snake that I hit earlier.

  Dammit?! Why you gotta go after me?!

  There were literally others that were outright resisting, and of all it targeted me. This monster was incredibly petty. I readied my weapons, but before we could clash, a couple of fog slammed against the viper. The two Cursed Children started ravaging the slithery beast with their claws.

  I lowered my weapons, they really did not want me harmed. Anyway, it made things easier and safer for me. Taneva quickly got rid of the viper he was fighting, cutting it in half with his spear. Nira… well, mostly she was being beaten apart. Wounded, then healed, wounded again, and healed. Still, she was relentless, keeping on charging at it without regard for herself. Taneva quickly jumped in to help her. Still, Nira was doing pretty good damage on the thing, despite how fast it moved. If given more time, she could have beaten it.

  Meanwhile, Velar and Hartwin were playing tag team. Velar was directly confronting the viper to shift all its attention towards him. And while the monster was distracted, Hartwin would land some powerful strikes from its flanks. Oh wow, it’s like splitting up to fight each enemy was pretty stupid. If only this one that tried to attack me wasn’t so petty and stupid. Still, knowing that these had some sort of character was a bit disturbing. But then again, elephants and crows never forget a crime.

  The two Cursed Children quickly dealt with the viper they faced, of course.

  At any rate, Hartwin and Velar took care of the viper not soon after. I let out a sigh, relieved that all monsters had been taken care of.

  “Good job,” I said to the two Cursed Children. With a nod, they flew up into the air towards wherever they may be hiding. I approached the snake that went after me, it was wrecked like tattered cloth. I avoided its pooling red blood. As I scrutinized its body closely, and the face with the open dead eyes, I consciously shuddered. Big reptiles are creepy, I gotta tell you.

  “Is it just me, or are the monsters becoming stronger?” Hartwin asked, leaning on his rapier with a tired expression.

  Indeed, this thing here was quite a menace compared to the monsters we faced before.

  “The deeper we are on the island,” Taneva said. “The more intense the monsters will be. This is their ecosystem.”

  Damn. We’re in the jungle.

  A bald jungle…

  “This one’s venom seemed lethal, I feared it dripping on me.” Velar poked the beast. “Well, you experienced it firsthand, Taneva.”

  Taneva shrugged. “I still feel it burning in my veins. Gonna take some time before it disappears. Sadly, it looks like it won’t kill me.”

  Yeah, no shit.

  “Considering that you won’t die, better let your blood spill out somewhere to get rid of the venom,” I suggested. His wounds had practically healed, but the venom was still flowing in his blood, pretty obvious from his still bleeding eyes and nose. And who knows how long that venom would last on him.

  “Yeah.”

  “And we better rest too before setting out.”

  And everyone started resting, sitting down anywhere they could. Meanwhile, I approached Nira.

  “You did a very good job, Nira.”

  “Yes,” she smiled. Happy to be praised.

  “However, the way you fight is quite reckless.”

  Her mouth remained agape for a moment, and she lowered her head slightly in disappointment.

  “Don’t just mindlessly charge in just because you cannot die,” I continued. “Learn to evade attacks, or at least observe the enemy, try to learn its pattern of movements. Do not disregard yourself. Learn to care about your wellbeing.”

  She lowered her head further, grasping her own hands. “Y-Yes, goddess.”

  “I’m only saying this for your own good. You don’t like being hurt, do you?”

  She shook her head.

  “That is why, try to keep yourself from being needlessly hurt without a good reason. Learn different ways to engage. You cannot rely on your durability forever. Still, it’s not something you can learn in a day. Your advantage is at least you don’t bear any consequences considering that you don’t die. I’ll guide you wherever I can.”

  “T-Thank you.”

  I was considering being very strict on her, like Organization strict. However, this was not such a place. And… Nira was not like me. But in the end, she might become my perfect meat shield.