The six moved at the same time.
Not staggered.
Not probing.
All at once.
Osric stepped—
Half a breath too late.
One came low.
One high.
Two from the sides.
One from behind.
One didn't lunge.
It waited.
His blade cut through the first.
The second grazed his ribs.
The third sank fangs into his already wounded thigh—
Deeper.
Heat exploded through his leg.
For a split second—
His structure cracked.
His knee buckled.
And the forest tilted.
He didn't fight the drop.
He let his weight collapse downward.
The snake that had aimed high overshot.
Osric's sword swept low in a tight arc from near the ground.
Iron bit deep.
The body split and slid across the frost.
Four.
He rolled toward his injured leg instead of away from it.
Pain flared white—
But the snake behind him struck empty air.
His dagger punched backward in a short, brutal thrust.
Resistance.
A wet crunch.
He tore it free.
Three.
His heartbeat thundered.
Venom pulsed through his thigh.
Not blinding.
Not paralyzing.
But heavier now.
His reactions lagged by a fraction.
A dangerous fraction.
One of the remaining snakes lunged for his throat.
He forced himself to exhale.
Dropped his shoulders.
Raised his blade in the smallest possible line.
Iron met scale.
The snake split along its jaw and fell.
Two.
He pushed himself back to his feet.
Controlled.
Deliberate.
His thigh trembled when he put weight on it.
But it held.
Two snakes faced him.
One slightly left.
One to the right.
They circled.
Waiting for the venom to finish what their fangs had started.
He advanced instead.
One step.
The left snake reacted first.
It struck low.
He didn't swing wide.
He shifted off-line and cut through the body mid-lunge.
One.
The last snake didn't rush.
It coiled.
Studying.
Patient.
It darted suddenly—not at his chest, not at his arms—
At the back of his knee.
He twisted—
Not fast enough to fully avoid it.
Fangs pierced shallow flesh.
Heat surged again.
His leg nearly folded.
Almost.
He drove the dagger downward instinctively, pinning the snake against frozen earth.
Then he brought the sword down in a short, final chop.
The body convulsed once.
Then stilled.
Zero.
—
The forest fell silent.
No rustling.
No hiss.
Only his breathing.
Slow.
Heavy.
Alive.
'That was too close.'
Osric was sitting on the ground taking out his venom antidote when the system answered.
[ Challenge Completed ]
Host will receive rewards now.
Swordsmanship (F) Minor progress.
Poison Tolerance (F) —> (E).
+1 Agility
+1 Stamina
+1 Vitality
It only took seconds for the venom's burning to dull slightly, easing some of the pressure in his veins.
Although relieved, he was conflicted about how to feel at this moment.
'I definitely deserve these rewards and am happy to have gotten them, but was putting my life to so much risk really worth it?'
He had now more than ever realized something important.
'I can't keep doing everything alone.'
This near death experience was a real wake up call.
'And I definitely need to buy myself armor, even if it's expensive.'
Osric drank the antidote from the small vial and applied ointment on his wounds.
After waiting around 10 minutes for the effects of the venom to disappear, he stood up and started collecting the Venomfang Snake corpses.
At the end Osric managed to fit 19 inside his bag. He had chosen the ones in the best condition.
The cold winds inside the forest sobered him up and reminded him not to linger.
He picked up his stuff and took off before all the blood would attract other monsters.
—
The last day of the year was surrounded by frost and blood.
The first action that Osric did when he arrived back in the city was entering the guild to give proof of mission completion and receive his reward as well as report the inaccurate scout information.
Osric went to Franklin directly for that and recounted everything that happened.
After he finished, Franklin responded.
"I see. No wonder you look so banged up. You really have terrible luck."
"Thanks for the report. Here is the reward of 85 copper and an additional 50. I will investigate if this was an accident or intentional."
Osric was satisfied.
"Alright thanks. I will take my leave."
After leaving the guild, Osric went to the shop where he sold the Forest Creepers before.
When he entered, the shop owner looked surprised to see him again and this time with a bigger and fuller bag.
Osric put it on the counter.
"19 Venomfang Snakes in different conditions. How much can you give me?"
'Did he do this on his own?'
He was caught off guard, but started inspecting each one carefully before counting in his head.
After some time he finally spoke.
"I will give you 12 silver total."
Osric was almost blinded by the huge amount that he never held before in his life.
But he wasn't stupid.
'He probably priced each one like they were in the worst condition and added it together before reducing it even more.'
"No way, old man."
"It seems you haven't learned from last time. Don't ruin your reputation by trying to scam a young adventurer like me."
"Give me a real fair amount."
The shop owner clicked his tongue.
'Shit. He's uselessly clever. But I have a good relationship with the adventurers' guild so I won't risk ruining it.'
He started counting again.
"17 Silver. I believe that is fair as most of them have pretty damaged bodies."
Osric answered sharply.
"Maybe so, but their venom is still very valuable."
They went back and forth after that.
After negotiating for a good while—
they landed on 21 Silver, 50 Copper.
This was a huge increase in Osric's pockets that held only around 2 Silver before.
He now had a total of 23 Silver, 202 Copper. That was technically 25 Silver.
Osric walked home to the inn he stayed at in a much better mood than before.
'Just a few months ago I could've never imagined holding so much money at once.'
'But I can't be blinded by this and get either lazy or rushing towards my death because of greed.'
After eating and washing up, Osric decided to go to bed early as it was a very long day.
Tomorrow was the first day of the new year and he would enter it as someone who had grown a lot these past few weeks.