Cosmic Peak

[Serpantenuma]

-Type: Mutant

-Health: [5000/5000]

-Defense: Physical [500], Soul [300]

-Attack: Physical [1100], Poison [2200]

-Skills: <Poison Lash>, <Swift Stabs>, <Spear Mastery X>

-Abilities: <Poison Sack IV>, <Night Vision>, <Heat Detection>.

Aren looked at their stats, and both guards had almost the same stats except that the other guard had <Spear Mastery VIII> instead of <Spear Mastery X> skill.

"Let's go," Aren said to Perambol as both of them started walking towards the settlement.

Once they got close to the gate, the snake guards stood up and stopped both of them.

"Stop! What business do you have here?"

Aren smiled and said, "I heard your settlement is pretty famous for its poison? Well, I wanted to buy some."

"Humph, prove your strength to us first. We don't sell that to random strangers."

"Alright," Aren said as he activated his Amber core of Eturnia, 'It's a good chance to see how this ability works.'

His body started releasing heat before his skin started to become orange.

Seeing this, The two snake-guards looked at each other before laughing out loud, "Human! Are you making a fool of us? That measly heat is nothing powerful."

Aren glanced at them and smiled, "I am just activating it slowly lest I mistakenly harm you."

After saying that, he increased the output more before his body released bright orange amber sparks.

'Oh...,' Aren was surprised seeing amber sparks releasing and could even control them.

'Well now, how do I use them? Maybe I can use them directly?' Aren thought as he looked around and found a meter-tall rock to his left side, fifteen meters away.

He waved his right hand towards the rock as those orange amber sparks flew towards it and hit the rock.

*siiiiii....*

They stuck to the rock as a sizzling sound produced, and the rock started to turn orange as well before...

*Boom..*

The rock exploded.

"Exploding mutant-magic ability? That's quite powerful." The snake guard spoke in surprise.

Aren deactivated the ability as he smiled, "Well, that was not my full strength at all. I just barely even used it."

Actually, he was right. The magia-deviant spot had many shades of orange-colored liquid along with colorful sparks, and so far, he only managed to produce bright orange amber sparks.

'I'll have to do a long activation and observe that core carefully after returning.'

"Alright, come in. However, you must follow me and meet the chief of our settlement to buy poison." One of the snake guards spoke before he started walking inside the settlement.

Aren and Perambol followed after him as they entered the settlement.

On the way, they noticed that the settlement was full of snakes of different kinds, and they were everywhere. They saw other snake people taking care of them, and their kids even played with snakes.

After a bit of walking, they arrived at the most prominent house of this settlement, the chief's house.

Aren and Perambol entered inside the chief's house as they sat across a table. The chief snake man even had a frigging beard, a green beard! Aren was surprised.

The chief smiled as he gestured for them to drink the...green tea.

'Green tea...well, I know about green tea in my world, but this green...looks unsettling,' Aren thought as he looked at the cup of green tea.

However, He saw Perambol picking up the cup and drinking the tea happily, "Thanks for the tea, chief."

Aren looked at Perambol speechlessly, but his eyes turned wide when he saw the pig's skin turning GREEN!

'What the hell?' Aren became alert as he stood up.

Seeing him like that, Perambol hurridly spoke, "S-sir, it's okay. I forgot to tell you that aside from poison, they also specialize in removing impurities from the body and concocting antidote of various poisons."

Aren looked at Perambol with a deadpan expression as he calmly sat down and focused on the teacup to get its information.

[Corelian Tea]

-Grade: Common

-Effect: Remove impurities from the body and grant some resistance to normal poisons.

Aren then picked up the teacup and drank it in one go before cursing, 'Damn pig.'

[You have drunk detoxifying impurity removal tea. After five hours, the process will be done, and your body will excrete impurities.]

[You have acquired ability, <Poison Resistance I>]

Aren's skin started turning green as well, and he could feel vibrations of his organs, 'I wonder what's happening inside my body?'

Seeing Aren drinking the tea, the chief smiled and said, "The process will take four to five hours. Anyway, you want to buy poison, right? What kind of poison, and what is your budget? However, I must remind you that we have a policy that if you buy poisons, then you also have to buy corresponding antidotes for those poisons."

Aren looked at the chief and nodded with a smile, "I am fine with that. Could you show me some of your poisons and their effects? I mainly want lethal poisons and poisons that interfere with a person's cognitive process."

The chief looked at the guard, who nodded and went deeper into the house.

On the other hand, Aren started thinking about how to conquer this settlement, 'Conquer...Hmmm. Basically, I have to make them obey me, is that right? I don't want to do this violently since it is dangerous. I still don't know much about this world and how many magical things people use here.'

Aren saw the guard bring in seven vials with different kinds of poisons in them.

The chief started introducing those poisons, but Aren was still thinking about how to conquer, 'I still have a bit more than twenty-two hours to finish the two tasks. According to MMO video games, I should do good deeds, win their affection, help this settlement grow big, etc., things, and finally become their leader...however, that will take too much time, and I am not even going to stay here...'

Aren nodded as the chief explained while his thoughts drifted. However, suddenly, something clicked in him, 'Wait...I am not even going to stay here! YES! Why should I follow the normal path when I am not even going to stay here and receive the benefits of this settlement after I conquer them?'

"Chief, I need to talk to you. Alone," Aren said with a serious expression,' This old snake man seems wise, and he will think calm-headedly about what I want to say. But that guard might not."

The chief deeply looked at Aren before saying with a smile, "I am noticing that you are not that interested in poison, and your thoughts are drifting elsewhere. You are not here for poison, right?"

Aren weakly smiled and nodded, "I am not here for poison, but I have been listening to your information, and I will definitely buy them before leaving."

After saying that, he took out a handful of gold coins and put them on the table.

"Human! How dare you lie to us?" The guard pointed his spear at Aren before speaking angrily.

"Calm down, Terul. He said he would buy poison before leaving, didn't he?" The chief spoke with a frown.

"But..." Terul hesitated before finally putting down the spear after seeing the chief's gaze turn sharp.

Aren looked at the chief and smiled, "I need to talk to you alone. Trust me; I mean no harm."

"Humph, human. You can't harm chief even if you use your full power."

"Alright, Terul. Go out." The chief spoke calmly.

Aren also told Perambol to go out as both the guard and Perambol went out.

"So? What do you want to say?" Chief asked with a faint smile.

"I'll be straightforward," Aren said with a smile, "I want to conquer this settlement."

Hearing that, The chief raised his eyebrows, "Ohh? Well, you did the right thing by sending out Terul because he would definitely attack you the moment you uttered those words."

"But I knew you wouldn't, and that's why I decided to be upfront about it after you decided to talk to me alone," Aren said with a faint smile.

Chief nodded as he picked up the teacup and took a sip, "Go on."

Aren nodded and said, "I am not going to stay here for a long time, just several hours at most. But I have a task to conquer a settlement within a limited time."

"Interesting," The chief spoke with a nod.

Aren took a deep breath before he continued, " Since you are chief, everyone listens to your orders in this settlement, right? So if you become my underling, for a few seconds, then it can be considered that I have conquered this settlement, at least that's how it should work."

The chief nodded, "Indeed. When you invade a kingdom, you conquer the royal palace, kill the king, and become the kingdom's conquerer. You become the new ruler of that kingdom, whether the public of that kingdom agrees or not."

Aren nodded with a smile, "So how about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" The chief asked with interest in his eyes.

"A straightforward deal where only you will benefit. I will order you to walk towards that door, and you will obey. In return, I will give you one hundred gold coins."

*tink tink...*

Aren took out more gold coins and put them on the table.

The chief looked weirdly at Aren and asked, "Are you sure your so-called conquering a settlement task can be completed with such a simple thing?"

Hearing that, Aren shrugged, "I don't know. But I want to try and see if it works."

"Hahaha, you're a weird one, human," The chief loudly laughed before he waved his hand towards the table; the sleeve of his robe went past the gold coins as they disappeared.

"Alright, let's start." The chief said with a grin, "What's your name, lad?"

"Aren."

"Alright," The chief nodded with a smile, "From here on, you are the chief of this settlement. What orders do you have for me, chief Aren?"

Aren stood up, and just as he was going to order the chief, he heard something and was startled.

'I was not expecting the chief to verbally say that and didn't think that it would work either. Well, since it worked then it made things easier for him and me.'

Seeing Aren's startled expression, the chief asked, "What happened?"

Aren shook his head while smiling and sat down as he looked at the notifications, "Thanks, chief. My task is completed."

[Task 1: Conquer a random settlement of any mutated species, completed.]

"Hehe, now let's talk about the poisons. They look like they will be useful to me in my adventure," Aren said with a grin, 'Maybe the chief here might have some items with the power level of 1000 or above as well.. Hmmm, I should ask about it after buying the poisons.'