The forest was silent. Even the the sounds of nocturnal creatures had disappeared. The village was lit up brighter than usual and more guards patrolled. The village itself was mimicking the surrounding forest, a tense silence covering the area. It felt like the world was holding its breath.
The one who had caused this phenomenon was at the edge of the village wall. His brown scales reflected no light from the bright moon making him look like a vague silhouette. Silva was staring at the system message he got.
Unique form activated:Forest Serpent
Form duration:24 hours
Unique form ability: mana dispersing poison. Source; Mage killer snake.
Nocturnal adaptation has seized since the unique form is active.
Silva hadn't noticed anything different about the snakes he just ate. But ever since he saw the system message, he decided to test out the poison. He used his domain to sense if the inner area was clear before getting over the wall. Silva snuck around the village, drawing closer to the largest building in the center of it where he could feel the fluctuations of mana from the mages.
Stopping, Silva sighed then laughed at himself. 'Finding a balance is gonna be hard. If I relax too much, I turn into a mindless beast. If I try too hard to think like a human, I overlook simple things. Why am I even sneaking around?'
Thinking about this, Silva slithered into a brightly lit area as he picked the shortest route to reach the mages. A guard saw a human torso covered in scales with a long tail serving as it's lower half pass by him. He was terrified and screamed for help or he tried to scream. Frisbee had severed his head the moment he perceived Silva's existence.
Silva confidently slithered forward while Frisbee flew around him reaping lives silently. He could sense most of the village now that he was actively expanding the range of his domain. Each life he took aided the expansion and he could feel his strength increase. Frisbee sped up too, it's previously silent flight now produced a barely audible whoosh.
He could sense fluctuations of a barrier surrounding the large building housing the mages. Silva pressed his palm against the invisible surface and felt its resistance. He grabbed one of the dead guards and pressed him against the barrier and the body passed through. Releasing the body, Silva picked up its head that lay a few meters away.
'Let's see how dangerous these mages really are.' Silva thought as he chucked the head at an open window. There was a high pitched terrified scream a few moments later. Silva could feel the mages moving around in the house making preparations to face him. The mages had peaked at him through the window. Seeing him, most of the mages looked afraid but one of them scoffed.
A few minutes later, a group of thirteen mages walked out of the building. They were all wearing simple leather armour. A few of them held staffs and scepters but the one at the front had his hands behind his back. He cast a summoning spell and Silva heard a hiss so deep it bordered on a growl. A long serpent slithered out of the rift. The snake was as long and as large as a python but it possessed a large hood mimicking a cobra.
Silva stared at the serpent curiously. The serpent itself felt threatened by Silva's presence, coiling it's body and flaring it's hood to appear larger and more threatening. Silva himself decided to end the charade. He rapidly punched the barrier multiple times breaking the part in front of him and slithered inside. The previously smug mage now had a serious look on his face while most of the others backed away.
Silva could feel a sudden urge to charge forward and devour them. He thought about it for a moment and decided to release the reigns to this primal instinct. He charged forward and multiple things happened at once. The serpent that initially seemed afraid of Silva charged forward recklessly. Silva grabbed the serpent by its head as Frisbee decapitated it.
The severed head was thrown at one of the mages hitting them in the chest and interrupting his spell casting. The frown on the leading mage's face deepened. The serpent was meant to be a distraction so that the other mage could cast a movement restraining spell.
"Spread out and attack it with everything you've got. This monster is intelligent enough to know when to interrupt your spell casting." The mage said as he charged forward. A flame appeared on his palm and with a wave the small flame turned into a blazing wall.
Silva saw the mages split up to surround him and locked onto one of them. His powerful tail propelled him forward and he reached the mage as he completed his spell. A pillar of earth shot out of the ground and tried to knock him into the sky. Silva's domain had felt the fluctuations of the spell and he easily dodged it. The mage almost pissed himself when Silva dodged his attack as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Silva was about to reach him when he pulled his hand back. A pebble flew by the place his hand had occupied. Silva spun to face the mage that launched the pebble. His tail struck the first mage like a whip as he dashed forward. He was a few meters from the mage that kept launching pebbles with his scepter when he felt fluctuations of a large creature rushing him.
Silva saw a wall of pitch black fur and muscle reaching for him. Silva locked hands with and a contest of strength between the serpent and the ape ensued. The ape quickly overpowered Silva but it couldn't finish him off as Silva's tail wrapped around it's body. Silva felt the sensation of two more beasts approaching him.
Frisbee flew and heads fell. The approaching beasts were brought to a halt as Silva continued his tussle with the ape. A mage summoned thick walls around the wrestling beasts and another prepared an explosive fireball to throw at the beastly pair. The fireball was about to explode when Silva released all the lake water he had in his domain.
The sudden introduction of water stunned the ape and Silva utilized the opening to wrap his tail around one the ape's arms. With one of his hands being freed, Silva pummeled the ape with his fist. During the struggle, the ape managed to bite a chunk of flesh out of Silva's tail. Silva snapped and gouged the beasts eyes with his fingers.
Opening his mouth, Silva bit the ape on its head. His fangs looked brittle but they easily pierced the thick skull and pumped venom directly into the brain. The struggle continued for another minute before the ape succumbed, more so to Silva crushing it's neck than to the venom in its head. The mages were scrambling to prepare more spells when Frisbee flew by. Severed hands hit the ground as Frisbee turned around to finish them off. The lead mage cast another spell, this one aimed at Frisbee. A magic circle formed on top of the weapon freezing it in place.
The mage turned to deal with Silva when he saw a gaping maw with dozens of needle like fangs. Silva bit the mage on the shoulder, pumping more venom into him than he had for the ape. He then threw the mage aside and slithered toward the remaining mages. He was about to attack when he noticed one of the mages casting a summoning spell using his blood as a catalyst. Silva got curious and decided to let him finish casting it.
The spell took effect immediately. Silva felt as though a heavy weight had been placed on his head, pushing him down. It was then that he heard a voice. "Heel you filthy beast. Bow before your new master."
Silva found the source of the voice easily. It was the mage who had cast the strange summoning spell. 'So it's a taming spell.' Silva thought to himself. "And why should I bow to you?"
The mage shivered with fright as a chill ran down his spine. He could barely move his mouth as he stammered quietly. But Silva heard him and he understood him too. "I....it....it can talk?"
"So communication is possible this way? Then this will be easier than I planned." Silva said to the mage as he slithered toward him. His powerful tail lifted his torso up to make him appear taller than the trembling mage. The other mages were backing away in fear, leaving their comrade at Silva's mercy. "Since you can understand me, I'll tell you what you can do to survive. Nod your head if you want to survive."
The frightened mage nodded frantically causing Silva to chuckle lightly. "I'll tell what I'm going to do. I'll kill everyone in the village tonight. Then tommorrow, I'll start eating the mages. But don't worry, I'll let you live because I need you to lead me to the next village. That will be your job. You lead me to all the villages you know and in exchange, I don't eat you."
Silva left the mage standing there and proceeded to attack the other mages. Even as he fought, Silva could sense the mage's general direction because of the taming spell. 'I've finally found a guide' Silva thought as he continued his massacare.