There were now four snakes awaiting me on the shore of Lake Shass, and my first thought upon seeing them was: 'Huh, is Sssanya actually kinda short by their standards?'
The three newcomers were all considerably larger than the first snake I'd met in several ways. Firstly, the humanoid torso part of them was taller, for lack of a better way to describe it. Like, if you chopped off their human parts and gave them proportional legs, Sssanya would probably be seven foot or so, while the others would be beyond nine, maybe even pushing ten.
Next, they were muscular. Sssanya wasn't a twig by any means, but she was lithe muscle, while these were absolute beefcakes. These snakes lifted. If the Najavi had gyms, these guys spent half their days there. Mad gains bro. Fucking ripped, tight, fit.
Surprisingly, that wasn't the most notable part of them. Just from a long-distance glance, it was obvious their snakey tail parts were much longer than Sssanya's. We're talking five metres versus maybe four if she stretched. It made her look a bit juvenile, and I thought back on my previous idle notion that it felt like I was bullying a kid.
Suddenly, I felt like a dick again. Did the 'they attacked you first' excuse apply to children? I was pretty sure most people would be okay with kicking a child's head in if they fired a gun at you, right? I'd let her off lightly, if anything!
Rubbing my chin in thought, I frowned as I [Levitate]d myself closer, positioning myself upright so it wouldn't look like I was shooting myself at them like a human missile.
The four of them watched me approach, and I couldn't help noting the contrast in expressions between the wide-eyed snake who'd already met me and the three who hadn't.
The new trio were all vibrant in colour, one ruby red on Sssanya's right, with one daffodil yellow and the third sky blue on her left. All had markings covering their faces and trailing all the way down their human forms, all in contrasting colours, very tribal, very fancy. Their weapons looked nice, too. The red one had a really long sword. The yellow one had a bow, though no sign of a quiver or arrows. The blue one had two orbs similar to Sssanya's disco ball, one for each hand, though they were both inert.
It would've all been quite impressive if they weren't radiating hostile vibes.
Now, again, benefit of the doubt, it could be that the sneer on the blue one's lips and the way the yellow one's eyes raked me up and down were actually expressions of admiration and respect in their culture rather than disdain. Maybe the red one's slitted nose was twitching because it had actually smelled something foul entirely unrelated to me. Sssanya hadn't given a great first impression either, and now she seemed… Okay, I guess? She'd showed me to the dragon when I asked, and that had been a great time.
Admittedly, that change in attitude had required a power display, unintentional or otherwise. I narrowed my eyes at the snakes. Was I going to have to beat them up? Why were they looking at me like that, anyway? Did they not see my little competition with the dragon? Wasn't facing the King of Shass meant to earn respect, or something?
Silence reigned over the lake shore by the time I reached them. If they'd been speaking before, I hadn't picked up a word of it, and my hearing was pretty good, now, if I do say so myself.
I floated in the air a little ways away because I didn't want to be craning my neck up at these massive bastards. I stared down at them. They stared up at me. Sssanya looked back and forth between us timidly, an emotional that was probably worry in her eyes. The wind blew. Water lapped against the shores. All very tranquil, peaceful.
Finally, the red one to Sssanya's right spoke. "Outsider Climbers are forbidden from entering the Great Green Sea."
Its voice was as sibilant and musical as Sssanya's, no deeper tone to it at all, and yet somehow there was a hint of masculinity to it. None of them had tits, so I figured I could assume they were dudes. The muscles certainly implied it.
"Yeah, your friend there mentioned that," I said, pointing at Sssanya. I let the pointing finger hang there for a second, then raised it up to use it to scratch at my ear. There was somehow still a bit of water lingering in there from when I'd been wrestling with Yinyin below the surface. Fuck knows how it clung on even after our aerial acrobatics and my transition to a damn dragon form and back.
"This Honourless Cur is no friend of ours," the yellow one hissed, bearing his snake fangs and rearing up slightly. The venom in the blue one's eyes spoke of his agreement.
The red one held up its hand, and Blue and Yellow subdued their ire an in instant. Red's nose was still flared, but its face was otherwise expressionless. "The punishment for intrusion on our lands is death," he said conversationally. "This is known to you, Outsider?"
I noticed Sssanya was faintly trembling. There was a tension in her body like she was fighting with the urge to back away.
"Do these guys know how to use that [Observe] thing you did?" I asked.
All three of them went still, then turned disbelieving looks on Sssanya, who winced like I'd just revealed her darkest secret.
I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "What? What's wrong with that?"
An awkward silence stretched on until Sssanya made a strange little choking nose that I could only assume was the snake equivalent of awkwardly clearing her throat. "It is considered cowardly to [Observe] the level of an enemy. Many of our people believe the Eternal System is a crutch that should not be relied on."
"Uh huh. Can you tell them they probably want to rely on it, in this case?" I gestured between me and them. "If their level is anything like yours, there's a bit of a disparity here, and I'm kind of getting the feeling they're itching to start a fight."
For the first time, Red's expression changed. Only to narrow its slitted nostrils, admittedly, turning its visage blank as a mask, but it was something. What that something was, I could only identify when it said in a soft, frosty tone, "You dare?"
I blinked. "I don't know what you think I'm daring, but sure, I guess. Did you guys seriously not see me goofing around with the giant dragon?" I gave Sssanya a look. "C'mon. Talk to these guys. I'm totally gonna fuck them up if they attack me, y'know…"
I trailed off, noting the way Sssanya's lips thinned and her eyes tightened. Her grip on her disco ball was oddly tense, too, but… Far be it from me to claim I'd become some Najavi expert in such a short space of time, but I had at least seen what Sssanya looked like when she was scared, and this wasn't it. Nervous, yes. Anticipatory, yes.
But, if I had to guess, in an excited way.
Soooo… She wants me to beat these dudes up? I didn't resist rolling my eyes this time. Well, I'm not going to do it on your behalf, Snake Eyes, but they seem like dicks anyway, so it's probably inevitable.
"There's only so much disrespect a warrior can tolerate!" Red hissed, lashing out, striking like a viper. Its sword speared towards my throat, propelled by the full strength of its five-metre long, muscular serpent frame.
I tilted my head out of the way. Part of me was tempted to yawn, but decided that would've been too much.
From this close up, I got a better look at the sword. Its handle alone was as long as my arm, and its actual blade was probably longer still than me from tip to toe. Gems studded the cross guard and pommel, and the flat of the blade itself was inlaid with scripts that glowed a red remarkably similar in shade to the muscular warrior snake's scales. Even the edge had a slight glow to it, also red.
I raised my hand beneath it, observing the red snake in slow motion, and snapped my thumb upwards.
There was a sound like a gong struck by lightning, followed by the deep groan of a glacier cracking in half. Then came a burst of light, a rush of warm air, a caustic stench.
And the blade shattered into a million tiny pieces, none bigger than a pinky nail.
[Achievement Unlocked: Mythbreaker
You have destroyed a legendary weapon]
The red snake went soaring past me, his attack ineffectual, and I didn't bother turning around to see him hit the water. The splash was satisfying enough, and I had an image to maintain, now.
I turned my 'thumbs up' gesture towards Blue and Yellow. "Do you dare?"
They did indeed.
Yellow pulled on its bowstring, and an arrow made of shimmering golden light appeared nocked. Blue lifted both hands, its disco spheres flaring to life, emitting light that sported seemingly every shade of blue. They were both wide-eyed with what I assumed was outrage, rearing up like cobras about to strike.
While flexing on them by standing still and completely ignoring their attacks would've been cool, I wasn't too keen to have another outfit destroyed, so I teleported behind them with [Blink] just when it looked like they were about to attack.
I arrived just in time to see Yellow's golden arrow streak through the space where my head had just been. It was fast as a bullet, and left a glittering after-image in its wake, but it wasn't obvious what it would've done if it had actually hit me.
Blue's was clearer. A sphere of sparkling blue light appeared in the space I'd just been in, big enough it would have comfortably encompassed me, then contracted in the blink of an eye to the size of a pea. An attempt to crush me, if I had to put my massive wrinkly brain towards figuring out the effect that would've had.
From this new position, I could also see Red climbing out of the water. Its face was twisted in a snarling rictus, reminding me of one of those Oni statue things from Japan. The tribal markings adorning its body were a bit smudged in places, giving it a sorta unhinged feel.
I figured that meant it was time to start laying the smack down.
Just a matter of finding a funny way to do it, I thought, having been browsing my menus in the corner of my vision from the moment this had started. It had taken longer than I might've liked to narrow down the criteria until I got something suitable, but when I found it, it was worth the wait.
My grin was almost painful as I lifted my hands like a conductor about to give his orchestra its cue.