A Serpent's Tale-Chapter 368: Astral Dungeon?: Stolen

While Serpens was gone, I tried to sit up, but it took a lot of effort to do so. I wasn’t in any pain or anything, it was just really taxing on my body’s muscles which hadn’t been used for some time.

Eventually I was sat upright and was able to get a good look at my surroundings. It was honestly quite quaint and homely.

I was in some sort of circular domed hut that looked to be made out of that same stone from the first floor, just in the form of bricks now.

Aside from that, I was laid upon some kind of raised platform that wound around half the room. Said room being actually quite large with a table and a bed, with storage seemingly being under the platform I was laying upon.

I had nothing to do now except for wait, so I decided to finally check up on my current condition.

’Status.’

[Ding!]

[Name: Traytora Asmodeus Arizaraa]

[Gender: Futanari]

[Species: Naga | Succubus]

[Bloodlines: Ancient Serpent: Naga Progenitor (Divine), Primordial Sin: Lust (Primordial)]

[Soul: Adolescent Astral Nachash (Primordial)]

[Age: 180]

_

[LvL: 40 EXP: 84,368/250,000]

[Soul LvL: 45 EXP: 287,000/500,000]

_

[Title: Demon Slayer (Uncommon)] [+]

[Condition: Badly Wounded, Satiated, Relaxed]

_

[Profession: None]

[Sub-Profession: Enchanting]

_

[Class: None]

[Subclass: Smithing]

_

[Equipment:] [-]

[Bound Items] [-]

[Ancestral Ring (Awakened): Naga (Divine) LvL. 5] [Imperial Doubloon Banking: Gold Pouches | 500,000,000 X1 | 10,000,000 X3 | 100,000 X8] [Lust Dungeon (Ring Form)]

_

[Stats:] [-]

[HP: 61.2%]

[MP: 98%]

[SP: 97.36%]

[Strength: 103,000 (+51,500)]

[Defence: 48,700]

[Magic: 193,000 (+96,500)]

[Magic Defence: 32,200 (+16,100)]

[Agility: 35,600]

[Speed: 2,265]

[Stamina: 98.69%]

[Charm: 13,500]

[Stat Points: 90]

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[Affinities:] [+]

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[Weaknesses:] [+]

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[Skills:]

[Physical:] [-]

[Divine Claw Slash: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Divine Scales: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Endless Devouring: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Pain Resistance: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Tail Whip: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Vicious Bite: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Seductive Movements: LvL. 5 (UP)] [True Sight: LvL. 5 (MAX)] [Dash: LvL. 4] [Grace: LvL. 4 (UP)] [Blood Draining: LvL. 1]

[Magic:] [-]

[Multi-Dimensional Storage: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Rune Scripting: LvL. 10(MAX)] [Hell Fire: LvL. 8] [Spatial Shift: LvL. 7 (UP)] [Spatial Barrier: LvL. 6 (UP)] [Spatial Vision: LvL. 5 (UP)] [Minor Spatial Manipulation: LvL. 5 (UP)] [Poison Bullet: LvL. 5] [Poisonous Fire: LvL. 5] [Spatial Domain: LvL. 4 (UP)] [Astral Flames: LvL. 3] [Earth Manipulation: LvL. 2] [Earth Wall: LvL. 2] [Mana Vision: LvL. 2 (UP)] [Air Shell: LvL 1] [Water Summon: LvL. 1]

[Bloodline:] [-]

[Bloodline Suppression: LvL. -/-] [Bloodline Aura: LvL. -/-] [Bloodline Manifestation: LvL. -/-] [Hyper Regeneration: LvL. 10 (MAX)] [Lust Flame: LvL 10] [Divine Aura: LvL. 7] [Divine Eyes: LvL. 7] [Elemental Aura: LvL. 5] Elemental Scales: LvL. 4]

[Racial:] [-]

[Succubus:] [Dual Cultivation: LvL. 10 (UP) (MAX)] [Aphrodisiac Pheromones: LvL. 5] [Life Absorption: LvL. 6] [Enhanced Stamina: LvL. 5] [Stimulating Touch: LvL. 4] [Tantalising Secretions: LvL. 4] [Demonic Transformation: LvL. 3] [Lustful Venom: LvL. 2] [Potent Seed: LvL. 2] [Illusion Magic: LvL. 1] [Devils Aura: LvL. 1] [Vitality Draining: LvL. 1]

[Naga:] [Apex Predator: LvL. 9] [Divine Instincts: LvL. 6] [Intimidation: LvL. 3] [Deadly Fangs: LvL. 2] [Petrifying Gaze: LvL. 1]

[Profession:] [-]

[Main:] [-/-]

[Sub:] [Skilled Writing: LvL. 5 (NEW) (UP) (MAX)] [Mana Tracing: LvL. 4 (NEW) (UP)] [Enchanting Instincts: LvL. 4 (NEW) (UP)] [Elegant Writing: LvL. 3 (NEW) (UP)] [Concentration: LvL 2 (NEW) (UP)] [Enchanting Technique: LvL. 2 (NEW) (UP)]

[Class:] [-]

[Main:] [-/-]

[Sub:] [Hammering Technique: LvL. 6] [Smithing Eyes: LvL. 6] [Smithing Instinct: LvL. 5 (MAX)] [Focused Mind: LvL. 5] [Smithing Arts: LvL. 5] [Split Focus: LvL. 3]

[Soul:] [-]

[Soul Manifestation: LvL. 7] [Endless Soul Devouring: LvL. 6] [Soul Aura: LvL. 5] [Soul Bite: LvL. 5] [Soul Flame: LvL. 5] [Soul Slash: LvL. 4] [Curse of Lust: LvL. 3] [Soul Scouring: LvL. 1 (NEW)] [Self-Repairing Soul: LvL. 1] [Soul Splitting: LvL. 1]

[Unique:] [-]

[Blessed: LvL. -/-] [Elemental Flames: LvL. 5 (UP)] [EXP Boost: LvL. 5] [Pyromancy: LvL. 5] [Death Resistance: LvL. 4] [Aura Slash: LvL. 3] [Mana Heart: LvL. 5]

...

...

...

My face went blank for a moment before my head slowly turned to look down as I raised my hands and saw that they were completely clear of all my rings.

’Th-Th-That’s o-okay... Maybe they just took them off to h-help with my recov-very. Y-Yeah, that must be it.’

I was also then that I belatedly realised that I had never actually bound the Ring I got from my father.

I then just sat there gloomily as I waited for Serpens to return.

Distraught at the possibility of losing all the rings, I ran my hands through my head, trying to reason this out and that they had just taken them off and not stolen them or something.

But something told me that didn’t happen.

_

_

_

Eventually Serpens came back, with someone in tow behind him. But upon seeing my messy hair and crazed face he immediately rushed to my side.

"Are you okay?! What’s wrong? Are you hu-" He was about to ask if I was hurt, which was redundant because he knew that already. I may have been healed, but not fully. Still, he shook his head and continued, "Your condition hasn’t gotten worse now, has it?"

"Where..." I muttered with shaky breath.

"Where? Wh-Where what?"

"My rings..." I looked up at him as I lowered my hands which had been clutching my head. "Where are my rings?"

Serpens recoiled at my question, averting his gaze to the floor as he grabbed one arm with the other.

I shuddered, which set of my still broken nerves and sending shocks of pain throughout my body. But I wasn’t concerned with myself at the moment.

"We-"

"Allow me to take it from here Serpens. You’ve done well so far. You can go now." The man who was clearly the chief, though it would be more accurate to call him an elder given by his wrinkled skin and darkened eyes. And his walking stick.

"But-"

"No buts!" The elder rebuked sternly, staring intensely until Serpens left.

Once he had left, the elder came and sat on the edge of the platform next to me and sighed.

"I can tell that those rings hold great importance in your heart. And... I’m sorry." He said with aweary and despondent tone. "We... *Sigh* We couldn’t stop them from taking them."

"...What?"

"Right, allow me to explain. You see, when we found you and brought you to our settlement, we had to use up all our resources just to keep you alive for a few days before we managed to come to a solution, however unorthodox it may have been."

"But... When the lord came to collect his dues yesterday, which is usually the healing herbs and salves we produce here, we had already used them up on you. He then demanded to see you, so we obliged him of course."

"When he saw you, he berated us for bothering to even consider helping you given your state, but it’s not like we could just leave you either. So, when he demanded compensation, he took your rings... And we were powerless to stop him. We pleaded with him, trying to persuade him otherwise, but he just started killing us to silence us..."

There was a silence as the reality set in.

"I... I’m sorry we couldn’t stop him. We tried, but there was nothing we could do. He’s too powerful for us." He sighed in defeat, expressing genuine remorse for not being able to stand up to this lord.