Lyrian's eyes widened as he gazed at the brightly-lit alcove. What he saw left him in shock - a writhing mass of slithering snakes entangled in a grotesque tangle covered the entire expanse.

The putrid stench of their musky odor filled the air, and he felt like he had stumbled into a nightmare.

Despite the overwhelming sight before him, Lyrian continued to survey the room.

It was then that he noticed something unusual - the lake was glowing less brightly than usual.

He took slow, cautious steps towards the pond, carefully avoiding the snakes that continued in their slithery quarrels, paying him no mind.

As he approached the lake, he saw that the floor was covered in snake sheddings - black in color and resembling the thing that blocked the entrance.

Suspicious of what was going on, Lyrian walked up to the lake and saw an outline of a creature inside.

Lyrian noticed the long and coiled creature in front of him, resembling a snake.

Without a doubt, it was an Obsidian Serpent - a rare reptile found in the outer Eade forest known for its strength and beauty.

Overwhelmed with awe, Lyrian decided to use the "Scan" skill to confirm its identity before making any rash decisions.

┏━━━Scan━━━┓

Name: Rör

Species: Obsidian Serpent

Age: 55

Overall Power (OP): 5

Health: 25/53

Stamina: 15/54

Strength: 57

Agility: 43

Defense: 60

Rank: Normal

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

The results showed that it was indeed an Obsidian Serpent.

Despite its power, Rör's health was incredibly low, which gave Lyrian a new idea...

However, the only issue was that the serpent was in a mana alcove, which was unusual.

Lyrian pondered and concluded that the serpent must be either pregnant or have given birth recently.

That explained Its presence in a mana alcove, where life could thrive.

If that were true, however, then that meant that every serpent around him must also be an Obsidian Serpent, which was a terrifying thought.

As Lyrian slowly turned his head to scan the other snakes, he realized the magnitude of the situation and how frightening it was.

┏━━━Scan━━━┓

Name: None

Species: Black Snake

Age: 0.3

Overall Power (OP): 1

Health: 5/5

Stamina: 12/12

Strength: 2

Agility: 1

Defense: 15

Rank: Normal

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

He let out a sigh of relief when realizing they weren't. From this, he assumed that multiple snakes were drawn in by the Obsidian Serpent's pregnancy pheromones, but wasn't entirely sure.

Nonetheless, that didn't really matter. As Lyrian gazed at the Obsidian Serpent's stats once more, a small grin appeared on his face.

"I just so happened to be looking for another soul."

[Health: 24/53]

[23/53]

[22/53]

'What? Why is it suddenly losing health so fast?'

[15/53]

[8/53]

The rapid drain in health alarmed Lyrian. If he wanted to Reap its soul, he knew that he needed to be the one to kill it.

From the looks of it, the Serpent was going to die on its own without his assistance.

He thought of what to do but realized he had no choice but to dive into the water.

Forcefully swimming through the warm water, Lyrian finally arrived at the coiled-up snake.

Its hardened obsidian scales were the exact ones blocking the exit, so he knew there was no way he was going to be able to penetrate through it.

[4/53]

After finally swimming to the underside of its belly Lyrian saw what might have been a weak spot and stabbed his dagger into it, his breath almost running out by now.

[You have failed to kill the Obsidian Serpent]

[0/53]

Lyrian gasped for air as he pushed himself back up to the water's surface, struggling to catch his breath.

Although he was briefly disappointed at wasting a valuable soul, he quickly shrugged it off.

After all, stumbling upon the snake was a lucky coincidence.

As he swam towards the shore, something strange caught his attention. The smaller snakes, which previously paid him no mind, were now slithering towards him with their fangs bared.

Even though they were weak, their venom still posed a threat.

Suddenly, a loud hiss echoed through the cavern, causing Lyrian to turn his head in alarm.

On the other side of the alcove was a six-foot-long serpent, with a half-foot-long face and an obsidian exoskeleton, glaring at him with the eyes of an Obsidian Serpent.

The snake hissed angrily, ready to attack.

'...Scan'

┏━━━Scan━━━┓

Name: Aṙṙ

Species: Obsidian Serpent

Age: 0.2

Overall Power (OP): 1

Health: 15/15

Stamina: 12/12

Strength: 20

Agility: 8

Defense: 30

Rank: Normal

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

Lyrian's heart raced with excitement as he realized he still had a chance to capture the serpent's soul.

Without hesitation, he drew his dagger and charged toward the snake, which was already heading his way.

Despite the smaller snakes' attempts to stop him, he managed to evade them and reach the Obsidian Serpent a few feet away.

Lyrian leaped into the air, aiming to strike the serpent's skull with his knife and close the distance quickly.

But his strike failed to penetrate its armor, and the knife simply bounced off.

'Huh… so if my strength stat is weaker than something's defense stat, It seems I most likely won't be able to defeat what makes it durable.'

Undaunted, Lyrian darted behind the serpent and seized the back of its head with one hand while slashing its neck with the other.

Fortunately, the snake's underside was unprotected, and Lyrian was able to dispatch it on the spot.

*Ding* [You killed an Obsidian Serpent!]

Lyrian swiftly spoke, "Reap," and held his hand over the dead serpent's body.

A white orb flew out and entered his chest, flooding him with a few fleeting memories.

He dashed up to a nearby ledge, trying to avoid the black snakes that were slithering around.

Despite a few snakes blocking his path, Lyrian kicked them away and sat down on the ledge.

"Gear, use the Creature-link skill to fuse the two souls I have in storage."

[Creature-link: Unique Direwolf + Obsidian Serpent commencing]

'Unique? Is that because of its white color?' Lyrian thought to himself before a purplish haze of mist suddenly appeared in front of him.

*Ding* [Creature-link successful! You have created a new creature!]

[New Creature: Obsidian Wolf]

The misty cloud morphed into a wolf-shaped figure, only to solidify shortly after.

And lo and behold, a pint-sized critter resembling a puppy appeared before Lyrian.

It dozed off, yet Lyrian couldn't help but notice its unique features.

The little thing possessed the body of a white wolf but with obsidian armor on its back, shins, and noggin - basically, the spots where it was most vulnerable.

[Please name your new creature]

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