Chapter 64: A Tight Spot

Standing in the neck-deep water, Max watched as all the Frogs disappeared from the hill. He surveyed his surroundings, yet he noticed nothing special; it simply appeared to be an ordinary pond. He hoped he would not fall sick after remaining in the water for the whole day. The warm water gave him that hope, but the worst part was going to be the boredom. He had no one to talk to here, and that was going to be a problem.

Time passed slowly. Out of boredom, Max paced around in the pond water simply to pass the time. However, while he was doing that, a sudden noise emerged from a nearby bush.

"Who's there?" Startled by this, Max quickly shouted as he distanced himself from the location of the bush. Putting some distance between them, he stared intently at the source of the noise. The only reason he was not running away from the pond was the small size of the bush; there was no chance of big predators targeting him. Because the noise originated close to the ground, he stayed in the water, deducing it was some insect or small animal arriving to drink.

"Oh, what do we have here?" A voice suddenly spoke, originating from the very same bush the noise had come from earlier.

"Who is it? Come out!" Max retreated a little further toward the opposite edge and stood in knee-deep water. If predators were to emerge, he would run away; relying on his newfound speed, he knew he could outrun them.

"A human. Truth be told, I am not fond of the taste of humans. The bad memory from two decades ago still lingers on my tongue... hissss," the voice hissed.

Hearing this, Max backed away further until he stood in ankle-deep water. His thoughts immediately raced back to what the Marlak Frog had told him: the last potential Young Adventurer had entered the Dungeon exactly two decades ago.

"What are you talking about? Come out if you dare!" Max stated with a grim face.

"Of course I dare, human," the voice said, and something slithered into the water. Seeing this, Max did not think for even a single second. Turning around, he sprinted.

Bang!

Max crashed face-first into something and fell onto his back. Confused by this sudden impact, he stood up, rubbing his aching nose. He had not used Mana to run; otherwise, the collision would have surely injured him.

What the hell is going on?

Max tried to locate the invisible wall or object he had struck. The strange part was that he had crashed exactly at the edge of the pond, right where the land started. This revelation placed a heavy dread in Max's heart. Running his hands through the air, Max found a solid, invisible object blocking him. He moved his fingers to trace along it, hoping to find a gap to escape, but the invisible wall stretched continuously along the pond's edge.

Boom!

Frustrated, Max threw a heavy punch in an attempt to break the obstacle. However, nothing happened, leaving him with only an ache in his fist. Realizing he was trapped in the pond, he quickly turned around and searched for the entity that had entered the water.

He soon found it. As he had expected, it was indeed a snake. It currently floated at the center of the pond, its head held high as it looked toward him.

"Humans... they always do that. You are no different from the others," the snake's voice echoed.

"What do you want, and what is going on?" Max asked. Seeing that there was no escaping without a battle, he readied himself to fight.

"Oh, the same question as well. I remember a human two decades ago who stood at this exact location and asked the same question." The snake did not answer Max's inquiry.

"Is this the ritual?" Max asked. Perhaps this was the ritual the Frogs had talked about. However, they had not mentioned fighting a monster, even though he had deliberately asked them.

Did the Frogs set him up?

A sudden, terrifying thought came to his mind. Thinking about it, there was a high chance that Marlak had brought him here simply to serve as food for this snake.

"Ritual? Hahahahaha," the snake laughed. "You humans all fall for those Frogs' words. There are no rituals... only a feast."

Max looked at the snake. It was a mix of black and white, and although it was currently small, that did not mean it would maintain that size. He had already witnessed the Frogs altering their body sizes at will. He regretted giving everything away. If he had kept at least his iStorage, this situation would not have been even a speck of a problem. Now, he was left entirely bare, both literally and figuratively.

At this moment, he could only utilize two things: his newly learned Mana technique for movement speed and his [Basic Healing Magic Reversal] skill. This was his only hope; however, how could he overcome this impossible situation? He had heard the local predators were afraid of the Frogs, and it seemed these damn Frogs were afraid of this snake. Yet, he was not even strong enough to defeat a predator at the very bottom of the food chain.

"You mentioned you tasted a human before and disliked it. Then why try again? It will only extend the trauma of that taste for another half-century," Max said, attempting to resolve this predicament through a logical conversation.

"That is just how it is, human. I do not eat for taste, but for power," the snake replied.

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"You need power? It seems you are already the strongest in this world. Even the Frogs are afraid of you, bringing you food often," Max reasoned. It was a logical deduction. If one were already the strongest in a certain realm, seeking more strength was just a waste of time.

"Who told you I am the strongest? If that were true, would I not just devour those Frogs? Hisss... Oh, just thinking about the taste of those Frogs makes my appetite increase manifold." The snake suddenly entered a state of euphoria, simply from the thought of eating the Frogs.

"So, you are not the boss of the Frogs? You are just an ordinary snake taking advantage of this ritual?" Max was in great confusion. Nothing made sense to him. Up until now, he had assumed the Frogs were trying to feed the snake to save themselves, but now the snake was implying it was actually afraid of the Frogs. What was the truth?

"Wait, wait, wait. Time out," Max said, raising his hand. He needed to understand the situation first.

"So, you are telling me that you are not the boss of the Frogs, and they did not trick me into coming here just to feed you?" Max asked.

"That is true. But do not worry; perhaps with this feed, I will become the boss of those brainless fools," the snake said, gloating.

Yeah, those damn fools. They were feeding you in the name of a ritual, Max thought inwardly.

However, he was somehow dragged into this situation. He now saw a clear picture of the circumstances as well. That being said, he did not possess any plan to escape this. Based on the snake's estimation, eating him would make it strong enough to subdue the Frogs. That meant its current strength was already close to theirs.

"How are you able to enter this Pond of the Blessed?" Max asked. Not knowing what else to do, he simply asked a random question.

"It is just a random pond. Those Frogs think this is blessed. For me, it is a feeding pond," the snake replied.

"You mentioned you ate a human two decades ago and disliked it. Does that mean you have eaten other races?" Max wanted to know whether the Marlak Frog was truly asking every race that entered the Dungeon to free it, unknowingly bringing them here to feed the snake.

"Yes, I have eaten plenty of different races. Out of them all, you humans tasted the worst. However, you hold superior power, so the taste can be ignored," the snake said.

Hearing this, Max guessed that Marlak might have chosen dual-class Awakeners to bring here. Now, being a three-class Awakener himself, he was going to provide even more power to the snake.

"Enough talk. Let us have a feast," the snake declared as it suddenly transformed into a giant snake that occupied half of the pond.

"Hey, give me a second to prepare for this!" Max urgently requested, his thoughts running wild.

The first issue was that he could not exit the pond, yet something else could enter. Whether this phenomenon was caused by the snake or the pond itself, he did not know. If it was the snake's doing, then the pond contained regular water; if it was caused by the pond itself, then that confirmed this pond was indeed blessed or something similar.

"Hey. You know you cannot exit the pond. You are stuck in here with me, so you are bound to die when the Frogs arrive in one hour," Max stated.

He knew he was bluffing, but he had to buy himself some time as the massive snake began to move.

"Hahaha, you are very clever for a human. Now stand still, do not struggle," the snake said, rushing toward Max across the water's surface.

Seeing that the snake had seen through his ruse, Max moved away from the spot, his entire body brimming with Mana.

Swish!

The snake snapped its jaws at the location where Max had just been, hissing with irritation as its prey escaped from its feast. Max was currently running around the edge of the pond, not knowing what to do. He could use his [Basic Healing Magic Reversal] skill, but he did not know how well it would work; furthermore, he could only use that skill a few times before exhausting himself by spending all his life force. Moreover, he could not run forever. He did not possess infinite Mana, and he did not believe this was the snake's full speed either. If it utilized the speed it claimed was equal to the Frogs, it would be the end for Max.

Scratch!

Max slid his feet to come to a stop as the snake predicted his movement and attacked his anticipated spot.

"You are fast for a human. But do not get cocky; I am just playing with you," the snake said as Max escaped from its attack again.

Max did not doubt that claim even a little. It was indeed playing with him, which he had already felt from the earlier attack. The dread in his heart started to grow stronger, as it seemed this was the end for him.

If that is the case, then going down without fighting would be a shame. Max stared at the towering snake as it slithered across the water's surface.

"Ready to give up?" it spoke.

"Never," Max stated as he released the maximum amount of Mana from his Core space and moved toward the snake.

Until now, he had been running around the edge of the pond. In order to effectively attack the snake, he had to move towards the enemy. Thus, he increased his Mana consumption for speed, which made it possible to run directly on the surface of the water.

"Not going to lie, but I kind of like a prey that struggles... hissss," the snake said, dashing toward Max as it opened its mouth wide to devour its prey whole.

Max crossed half the distance to his enemy and activated his skill. Between his two palms, a green energy began to gather, and soon, a light green radiance sparkled within it. As he neared the enemy, the energy gathered between his palms increased manifold in size. Max did not think a tiny attack would inflict any damage on the snake. Thus, it was a do-or-die situation. He had to drain his life force to fuel the attack and create a chance for survival. As the gathered energy increased in size, the vitality in his face began to drain away. His skin dried out, his mouth became parched, and his cheeks started to cave in. The muscles on his body shrank, and Max struggled to maintain his speed.

The snake lifted its head high, bringing its jaws down to devour Max from above. Noticing this, Max exerted great effort to lift his weathered hands above his head.

Snatch!

The snake grabbed Max with its wide mouth and lifted him up, wiggling to swallow him. However, before Max's ankles could even enter its mouth, the snake frantically began to thrash its head. It writhed its body as if it had suffered a great injury. As its struggle intensified, it spewed Max's body out of its mouth. Max's shrunken, lifeless body fell directly into the water and began to sink.

Still retaining a shred of consciousness, Max realized the [Basic Healing Magic Reversal] attack was indeed effective, but he had lost most of his life force. He could not launch another attack. His only hope was that the strike had inflicted at least a life-threatening wound on the snake, as he did not think the attack was strong enough to kill it. Either way, he was entirely drained; if the beast regained its focus, it would surely eat him.

Sinking into the green water, he felt a heavy thirst. The drained life force had sapped all his strength, leaving him with only a scrap of vitality. Although the water looked disgusting, Max took a gulp without any worry of falling sick. The moment he swallowed that mouthful of water, he felt something, something fresh that he had already experienced recently. Thinking hard, he realized this water tasted exactly like the soup he had drunk in the stone room, and he was currently receiving that very same refreshing feeling.

Max quickly drank another few mouthfuls of water, and he began to feel the change. His weathered, lifeless body started to return to normal, as if the water were the greatest source of life's nutrition. After a few seconds, his mind began to think clearly, and he completely returned to normal.