My eyes suddenly snapped open, I closed them and opened them again to make sure I was, you know, alive. As my surroundings came into focus, the first thing I noticed was that I was in a forest. Not unlike the woods I was in before I was transported, but not the same woods I was in. I wiggled my fingers a bit, ‘that’s weird, I think their bigger’ the thought seemed intrusive so I shook it off and wiggled my toes, ‘those are definitely bigger’ with the realization I shot up from my back to sit up right. “I am definitely taller!” I was very confused so my shock made me yell that last part. I mean who wouldn’t be confused and shocked, because honestly, I was not short in my previous life standing at 6”4’ but right now I have to be at least double that height. “Holy shit” I muttered to myself, I think this might take some getting used too. I slowly gathered myself and made my way to my feet, ‘wow this is an interesting perspective to say the least’ in my previous life I needed glasses, but now I could focus on objects that seemed to be a couple thousand kilometers away and make out the tiniest details. Like that snake over there, it is flipping enormous. I can tell from where I’m standing that its head probably comes up to my knee, it has slivered yellow eyes, a dark coloration that ebbs of golden black as the sunlight glints off it through the gaps in the trees. Its constricted nostrils are flared as its tongue whips in and out of its partially agape mouth ever couple of seconds. ‘That thing is headed directly for me.’ I think to myself panic welling in my chest. “Okay, Cirdec, that’s a big ass snake, you’re terrified of snakes, it has slitted pupils that means venomous, that’s if the rules apply here like they do on earth.” I must figure something out and fast when I hear a sweet, soothing voice in my head.

  Use Appraise all?

  ‘Yes!’ I thought. ‘Why not know exactly what is about to eat me in this random new world I was just sent to.’ My thoughts had me ignoring the sentients in the voice that had asked that question.

  Using Appraise all, Gaia’s Blessing is also activated when that statement sounded in my head, a bunch of information on the snake appeared as an image in the forefront of my brain, ‘this feels oddly like how my memory works’ I couldn’t help but thinking. In my previous life school and the such was easy for me because I had close to a photographic memory so seeing things with information written or on it in anyway, would be saved in my memory almost like a photograph. This information obviously I didn’t know but that is the best way to describe how I received the new information:

  Ouroboros (juvenile: unnamed)

  LV: 20

  Attack: 500

  Defense: 700

  Stamina: 700

  Mana: 950

  Intelligence: 650

  Strength: 3000

  This Snake also known a world snake is said to grow to be 2km long and to move faster than the speed of sound. Its venom is both necrotic and paralytic one bit for most things is certain death. A phenomenal swimmer so they are often found near water. Highly susceptible to freezing and cold attacks, scales act like natural armor against most melee attacks.

  “Well, that was a lot of information” I thought to myself but the voice wasn’t done.

  Currently Ouroboros (juvenile: unnamed) is 8km r 4.97 miles from your current position. Would you like to assess your potential path for survival?

  I couldn’t help but notice the distance was given in both miles and kilometers, but that was not important right now. I resolved myself ‘Wow. This must be the All-Mothers blessing at work.’ “Yes please.” I spoke to the voice not necessarily sure if I had to vocalize my answer or not, my voice! Its much deeper now, like it could reach the very bowels of the earth in its vibration. The clearly feminine more soothing voice went into its explanation.

  Currently you have three options:

  Option 1- Run deeper into the woods

  Option 2- Climb the nearest tree and wait for ouroboros to pass

  Option 3- Tame Ouroboros

  “Wait I can tame it?” I stated out loud. This voice is going to take some getting used to. ‘I don’t really like snakes,’ I thought to myself, but even I must admit that would be a cool partner. “Hold on she said three blessings and that doesn’t sound like one of them.” The words were mumbled as I was scratching my chin in thought.

  Answer Gaia’s blessing allows you to tame any non-humanoid mythical creature if it is not named or under the control of another individual.

  “Oh, would you look at that.” I chuckled to myself, thinking ‘thank you All-Mother’ I do like the specific nature of the skill I don’t think taming and controlling other humanoids is okay, it reminds me of the history of Earth and how my kin, that’s the right word, were treated by others of our same race. “Okay let’s tame that ouroboros, I got to get over my ophidiophobia one way or another.” Clearly this is some sort of test, I can tell, I’ve always had an instinct for that kind of thing.

  Understood Initiating contract circle please select a name for Ouroboros

  “What the hells a good name for a snake?” I mulled it over, this is more difficult than I thought “Oh I know, maybe like that snake in that one book, Nagishi”

  Understood Ouroboros has been bestowed the name Nagishi, a telepathic link has been established, initiating soul communication

  Suddenly I locked eyes with the snake, it was about one mile away but it had stopped. Then I heard a voice in my head that I knew immediately to be the snakes.

  “What are you?” it asked in a very clear voice, that sounded like plain English to me. Before I could ask the question, it continued “I’ve eaten many man-folk, but you are too big, and you do not smell of giant or elf, so I ask again. What are you?” There was a hinge of violence in the way the question was asked, and I was not sure how to answer.

  Understood

  Cirdec Julian

  Age 18

  Race High Human

  L.V.: 1

  Attack: 400

  Defense: 110

  Stamina: 800

  Mana: 8000

  Intelligence: 4000

  Strength: 800

  Gaia’s Blessing

  Skills:

  Appraise All

  Nyktimene

  World Beast Tamer

  Skills will unlock with more training and base stats will also increase based on knowledge gained through tomes, and when certain set predetermined objectives are met, including but not limited to leveling up.

  ‘Well, that’s a lot to digest right now,’ I focused back on the snake and gave it an answer. “I am what is called a high human. I am new to this world and was wondering if you could perhaps be my guide?” I don’t know why I went this route it just felt right, and if it fails, I’m pretty sure I’m snake food.

  “Your guide? What is this guide you speak of?” It asked incredulously. “Do you mean how a parent guides a child?” I feared I might have offended it so I did my best to use reason and recourse.

  “Well, not exactly, more like my partner as I prepare to save the world… I was sent here by All-Mother Gaia, and you are the first being I met and your species… It’s a myth in my world; I figured a mythological beast probably is highly intelligent.” There was a shift in the snakes’ gait at the mention of All-Mother Gaia, a good sign, I think. Yet there was still tension as if a strike could be released at any moment. I had noticed that it had closed the distance quite substantially in our minor exchange. That scared me.

  “If you say the All-Mother sent you here, then you should be able to name me. Only a divine gift could allow any human, high or otherwise to name me. Also, I am no mere ‘mythological beast’ I stand here in flesh before you, Ouroboros are akin to true dragons.” There was a coldness in her glare that I had to ignore for my own sanity. First giant snakes, and now she’s casually throwing around the concept of True Dragons, which I’m only familiar with because I’ve heard the term in some light novels. This is truly a world of fantasy and magic.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  “Glad you said that, Nagishi.” I used the name I had already come up with very pointedly so she knew it was hers. “Now we can be friends, my name is Cirdec, Cirdec Julian.” As I finished my introduction, the snake its started to glow, and then instantly molted, revealing a woman of about 8 ft in height, her molted skin became clothing, a dress of black and gold sequence scales.

  “Nagishi” The woman said with a smile, “I like it, I shall serve you Sir Cirdec, I am weak now as I am not full grown but through our soul connection, I figured out you would consider us around the same age of 18 years.” Wow, I thought that’s crazy until she continued. “Though I myself in human years am closer to 1800.” My jaw dropped what the hell is the average life of an Ouroboros, also can they all turn into human form. “Yes, we can, either once we are named or reach adulthood we can take human form, in fact we have to as we are far too big and would wreak havoc across the land.” How did she read my mind, is that some kind of snake trick.

  Answer. The emotions you were feeling were transferred to her as a question because of the newly created pact this is temporary.

  “Well, that makes sense, speaking of land what is this world called, and how about this land too if you can tell me?”

  “Ah, you truly are sent by the All-Mother, there are legends of the Gods sending beings here to help the balance, and you must be one of those beings.” She paused for a second as if remembering some distant memory, then she continued. “This world is called Destenia, named so by the All-Mother herself, Sir Cirdec, and right now you are in Mooranthia or that’s what it was once called. This forest has grown over the last few centuries since I took my rest. There are human lands to the south I can smell them from here.” I know she’s a snake but that still weird. “I was drawn here by the smell of humans, but I am also duty bound, answering the call of the divine.” Her stomach grumbled very loudly.

  “Understood, do you have to eat humans?”

  “No, does it bother you that I have?”

  “No, I’m just glad you didn’t eat me?”

  Nagishi laughed, and then replied “how could I? You initiated a tamers contract with me from over 5 miles away, and the pull was immediate. I could not resist; you have divine providence clearly. So, I do not hold any ill will towards you for it. This is by All-Mothers command.” Her acceptance of this situation is a bit surprising to say the least, I mean, she just accepted everything with no hesitation. Nagishi’s eye’s closed to a dangerous slit, a reminder that she is still a venomous snake. “If you betray your duty to the All-Mother,” she continued “I will kill you.” Well, that is now a thing I must worry about, my thoughts racing as she continued. “I know I am stronger than you right now and this will not change for a while.” Now she’s just stating the obvious ‘dude you’re like a 1000ft long snake’ I’ve been doing exceptionally well at keeping my thoughts to myself.

  Answer. I have closed of the telepathic link between Master and subject Nagishi… So, you can keep your thoughts to yourself. That voice again.

  “Yes, we are under contract, but this contract is special because it comes exclusively from the All-Mother’s blessing. Meaning if you for some reason turn against the All-Mother, who is the being a am beholden to. I can break this contract and kill you, and yes when I say kill, I mean eat.” The smile that she gave me sent a cold shiver down my spine and I knew she was serious.

  Understood, she is correct if you are in violation of your duties, she as a higher species can break your contract.

  Well, there it is even Mene says so, so it must be true. Right whose Mene you might ask, well it turns out that by using Appraise All and Gaia’s blessing at the same time I was granted this wicked cool information skill called Nyktimene, she does a lot for me, but most importantly I think she keeps me honest, especially if I’m about to make a fool of myself. She was that voice I kept hearing apparently; she is the result of all my trust in Gaia I guess you could say.

  Answer. I am your fourth blessing. Also, her name is way too hard to pronounce so I decided to just call her Mene.

  Nagishi continued talking. “Well, we are much too big to travel without being noticed and the nearest city is a human settlement, I was headed there for a light snack, but I can tell by your demeanor that that will no longer be possible.” Her words held an extreme weight, and I was frightened, but I also knew she would not eat anymore humans which left me relieved. “However,” she continued “I do need to eat soon, and I’m sure you do too, at the sizes we are now, capturing food shall not be too hard. Although going to the settlement it will bring forth… Questions.” Her pause was pointed, I noted that it was clearly my turn to speak.

  “Well, I don’t know what you want me to do about that, you know I only just got here so my information on a whole is just lacking.” I said, honestly, not that I felt I could lie to Nagishi if I wanted too.

  Correct, due to the soul connection created during taming lying is impossible, however you are not obligated to share every fact with one you are contracted with, and thus in this situation you would not be violating any obligations previously set.

  That was thorough ‘Thank you, Mene!’ Honestly this skill is cool, if only she could work out a solution to our being “too big” problem. Not that I mind being, oh wait, ‘Mene, how tall am I now?’

  Answer. In terms of your old world, you are currently 12”9.5’, 389.89cm, or 3m and 89.89cm, would you like your weight too?

  ‘Wait, why did you say it like that? In terms of your old world? Does that mean there is a whole different measuring system in this world? Well, no, never mind, that makes sense, you said something about a soul connection, what exactly does that mean’

  Answer. It means that your soul is directly connected to the Subject Nagishi, due to this connection things like communicating can be done via telepathy, also you can duplicate skills that the subject has although time is required to make the skill your own. In this instance the subject Nagishi has the skill shapeshifter, this allows for the complete physical transformation of the user to match the look of someone the target has seen before. In your case it can be used to change your physical structure so you can match a height that is suitable to the humans Nagishi has in her memories.

  ‘That seems a bit on the nose, can we also help Nagishi shrink or will she be an 8ft tall Amazon the whole time?’

  Answer. Nagishi will automatically change her shape one you do, as part of the soul connection, she will be compelled to take a form more suited to your Master servant relationship

  ‘Okay, thank you, I guess that makes sense.’ As the conversation between Mene and myself was happening in my head, I hadn’t realized that little to no time had passed in the physical world. Here I thought we were having this long back and forth when Nagishi’s voice rang in my ear, responding to my statement about lacking information. “That is quite alright, for now it is safe to stay in the woods, no manner of animal shall attack while I am with you, so let us find some food, and make shelter… What exactly do humans eat?”

  What a question, I thought to myself, I know what I ate in my old world, and without ingredients or knowing the flora or fauna of this world how am I supposed to know. I mean there are humans here in this world, I do not know how they live though, they could be tech savvy, stuck in the dark ages, or even some steam punk reality. With that aside, I have no idea what they eat in this world. So, I responded carefully. “Well, Nagishi, as you know, I am new to this world, so I do not really know what is and is not okay to eat, but since there are humans in this World, I think it is safe to say I can eat, whatever they eat.” I lifted my hands and shrugged at her, I could see the gears turning in her head, then she shook her head and muttered something to herself, I could hear her, but that’s neither here nor there. “How about this.” I started, “Do you know about how far the human settlement is from here?”

  “Yes, in our current forms, it will take us less than half the day.” She replied knowingly, I couldn’t help but think she had been terrorizing that settlement in more than one way.

  “Okay, I say let’s make our way there, and then I think I can get us in, an inconspicuous way, I don’t feel terribly hungry right now so making a walk that far shouldn’t be so bad” I could feel her hunger, I guess that counts as an emotion, since she was headed to that settlement anyways, I figured might as well finish the trip.

  “Umm, you confuse me master, are you afraid of the woods, because I feel apprehension coming from you?” If she wasn’t a literal snake I would have melted at her compassion, but the image of her true form is stuck in my head.

  Answer. This, for all intents and purposes is Nagishi’s true form, any other form she takes from now on is a part of her skill shapeshifter.

  ‘Wow, Mene, answers even when I’m not really sure I need any.’ I threw the remark at Mene.

  Update. You have developed the skill thought acceleration. This skill makes it so decisions can be made in a reasonable time.

  ‘See now why is that description so vague?’ These thoughts I have are always audible for Mene which is why she always seems to answer redefining my ability to talk to myself.

  Answer. The skill thought acceleration was created out of a necessity to calculate many possibilities that can transpire from any given decision, derived from the innate talent multi attention discernment.

  “What the hell is multi attention discernment?” The words kind of bellowed out of my mouth and Nagishi looked at me quizzically.

  “Excuse me? What does that have to do with the apprehension I feel from you?” She asked rather forcefully, one couldn’t help but appreciate her level of concern.

  “Um, no, sorry,” I was still getting used to this whole thought acceleration thing, it seems to be more of an innate skill, meaning its literally on all the time, I wonder if this means I’m a speedster. Better not get ahead of myself.

  Answer. Your thoughts do in fact have the capacity to speed up and virtually make your time stop, however you still move only as fast as you physically can.

  ‘Again, with the answers; so timely. Also, I figured as much considering her words were not garbled in slow motion. What I’m trying to figure out should I tell her now or later about my origins and why I still have these feelings.’ Mene seems to know when I am speaking directly to her, and when I’m not. ‘Still though I don’t know if I can completely trust Nagishi, I’ve watched enough anime and read enough light novels to understand my current predicament. Was on deaths door got summoned by a Goddess and sent to another world. I’m developing skills at a rapid rate, my blessings seem over the top, but I have not gotten into any battles. I know there is magic here, I know there was some magic back home but nothing like shapeshifting giant snakes. All-Mother said this is a world of race, and where I come from race issues are an everyday issue. Even when wars were fought over race, there were still issues, and discrimination, and prejudice, and lies spread, fearmongering, all predicated by isms that were in a word divisive. How am I supposed to help here when I come from all that pain, and right now from what I can tell I am still a black man?’

  Answer. In this world skin color is not a definer of race. Race is defined by species and there are multiple hominoid species in this world some you are familiar with from fantasies and media and others you are not.

  ‘Thank you, so I’ll tell her when we get to the settlement then yeah?’ this was just reassurance for myself really. “Sorry, I’ll explain when we get to that city, what did you call it again?”

  “Mooranthia” Nagishi stated, “We shall run to West, to where the forest becomes young again and then we will have eyes upon the settlement, last time I was there it looked too small to even be considered a snack. So, I passed it, I found a Ursudon and ate that instead then took a nap.” Her words are so casual that I really keep forgetting she is a giant snake. Listen I haven’t gotten into how she looks yet because, hello, she was a giant snake, I did mention I had ophidiophobia, right. Plus, I’m no linguistics major, but based on what she said I’m guessing an Urusdon is some kind of nightmarish giant bear, probably bigger than me. Answer ’not right now′ I cut Mene off before she could give me another needless answer.

  “Let’s get going Nagishi, we’ll stick to the shadows for now, since I do agree it will be faster to move at this size, we’ll execute my plan for infiltration once we hit the spot before the forest is young.” That was a very poetic way she put that, made me wonder how old she truly is, but this I will never ask.