15 years ago—
Inside a forest that borders between two kingdom, a small secluded village that consists of only less than a hundred demi-humans was established, much like Syla's village, it was surrounded by trees and vegetations, with the key difference being the massive cliff at the side that towers over every houses in that area.
The village was built right below the cliff, blocking a portion of it from the sunlight. Some people used the shade as a resting spot as they can lay down and let the gentle winds sweep through after an exhausting day.
Yulia, who at the time was still around 17 years old, lived her life together with her parents as a farm girl in the village, since hunting wasn't sufficient enough to feed everyone in the village, the village chief decided to build a farmland with a decent size in hopes of growing crops and act as the second food source of the village.
Everyday in the morning, Yulia would wake up and prepare to go to the farmland, alongside with other people, she planted seeds and also watering some of the plants that have grown, it wasn't a hard task, however it can be exhausting especially in the summer.
"Yulia, are you done yet?" A man calls Yulia from the distance, holding a hoe that was made out of carved stone.
"Ah, yes!" Yulia replied as he planted the last seed on that sector of the farm before walking to the man that was calling her. "Is there a problem?"
"Hm? No, i was just checking, once you're done, help the south sector with their tasks, you can rest once you're done with that." The man said, his order was brought out with a calm tone that doesn't sound forceful or intimidating.
"Yes, i understand!" Yulia said with a smile, she didn't waste anymore time and began moving to the south sector to help her fellows.
.
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12:30PM—
Yulia sat down beneath the cliff shade, hiding from the glaring sunlight as she chugged a bundle of cold water.
"Pwahh!! It's so hot.." She said while flapping her shirt continuously to generate some wind.
"You tell me..." Another girl beside her replied as she was also covered in sweats.
"Hahh, i'd like to quit as soon as possible.." Yulia complained with a sigh.
"Sadly you can't do that until you're 25 years old.." Said the same girl beside her.
"Right– Do you think you'd be satisfied with your life if you died here? Like, never leaving the village to see what's outside?" Yulia asked the girl, her ears twitched for a moment.
"Well— It'd be a lie if i say i would, being stuck in the same place for more than a hundred years sounds boring no matter who you ask– But Yulia, you know there are many dangers out there right? Even though we as a demi-human have enhanced abilities and senses, it's nowhere near enough to face the world head on." The girl calmly said while looking up into the sky.
"I know, i heard some humans out there wanted to capture us as a slave, and there's monsters in this forest too that i think capable of demolishing this town, it's just a matter of when it'll find us– That's why, instead of being afraid to look for the unknown, i want to see it for myself." Yulia added.
"Hey, don't say that, you know words can be a bad omen.." The girl responded, tapping Yulia's shoulded as if to warn her to not say anything carelessly.
The two of them talked for a few more minutes before being called by the man that previously called Yulia, he ordered them to go back to the farm and continue their work.
.
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A few days later, 2:00PM—
Yulia was at the farmland like usual, that day she was plowing the field for the next seeds to be planted, along with other people around her, she stomped her legs to the ground with force, digging through the wet mud and moving back little by little.
What she thought to be just an ordinary day quickly turned into something serious in the blink of an eye as moments later, while Yulia was plowin the next batch of mud, a loud hiss echoed from the woods.
Everyone in the field stopped moving as soon as they heard the hiss, it was too loud to be a small animal, whatever it was, it's closer than they thought.
'What's that noise?.. A snake?' Yulia thought.
Just then, the man that seems to be the leader of the field ran towards the middle of the farmland and shouted.
"EVERYONE HIDE!"
HISS!
A giant snake the size of a tree suddenly appeared from the top of the cliff, glittered with dark green scales that looks as if it was made out of metal and yellow eyes, it slithered forward and fell down as it spots the villagers below.
BOOM!
The snake falls and landed at one of the house that was near the cliff, it destroyed the house into pieces, sending wood cracks in every directions, everyone who saw the snake was frozen in fear as their legs stood still for a few seconds.
The snake hissed again upon entering the village and sees the unarmed demi-humans, driven by hunger and its instincts, the snake began to go on a rampage and destroyed many more houses.
"AAAHGGHHHH!!!! HELP!!"
Countless screams was heard that day from the people of the village, they ran as fast as could, reaching speed almost 45km/h, yet it was not enough to outrun the snake, as its massive size allowed it to slither way faster than a normal snake.
"AAGHH—
One of the screams was cut off by the snake's jaw as it closed and chopped the villager's body in half, blood spilled into the streets and people kept running in panics.
Yulia and the other workers at the farmland saw the chaos unfolding right before their eyes, they approached the commotion and saw the snake from up close, it was bigger than they thought.
"T- THAT IS—" Yulia shouted, she tried to remember the snake's name, but before she could speak, another person beside her walked forward.
"Swamp King Snake, not poisonous— I don't know how that thing find this place, considering its habitat are usually in swamps, something must've drove it out." He said, his hand holding a steel sword.
"It's the hunting squad!" Other people in the crowd shouted.
The man that was holding a sword weren't alone, behind him, another 5 men slowly makes its way forward, planning to face the King Snake with their equipment.
"Everyone! Escape from this place and go hide inside the woods! Follow the village chief!" He said with a demanding tone, his deep voice carries weight that made everyone feel obliged to follow his order, a perfect leader voice.
There was no response from anyone, but many of them nodded and spared no time before running away to safety, following the village chief that was waiting at the edge of the woods.
Yulia was about to follow them, when she hears a loud hiss behind her. The snake was in rage seeing its prey running away in the distance, it quickly slithered towards the hunting squad and was ready to bite them off. When they all suddenly dissappeared from its vision, the hunting squad dashed to the side and began launching an attack, they tried to slash the snake with their sword, but its scales are too hard for it to be cut.
HISS!
The snake wriggled its body after noticing that something was trying to injure it, Yulia who was still running towards the woods, looked back for the last time, and that's when she realized that her eyes was locked between the snake's.
In a few seconds, the snake slithered towards Yulia, closing in at an unbelievable speed, Yulia's face went pale and her heart almost exploded from the adrenaline as she began driving her body into overdrive.
'IT'S CHASING ME IT'S CHASING ME IT'S CHASING ME!' Yulia screamed in her mind, unable to utter any words from her mouth due to the intense adrenaline she felt.
The people that were still at the edge of the woods scattered in a random direction after seeing the snake slithering into their path, the village chief urgely told everyone to run away and leave anyone that is still behind them.
The hunting squad clings into the snake's scale, when they noticed that their swords can get stuck between the scales and pierces through it by stabbing instead of slashing.
"STAB THIS BASTARD! KILL IT BEFORE IT KILLS YOU AND OUR PEOPLE!" The squad leader screamed as he held his swod up before pushing it downward with every power he had, the sword's durability was greater than the snake's scale and it pierced through the crevices, going deep into its flesh.