Chapter 253: The Lizard Stops Hiding His Strength
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 253: The Lizard Stops Hiding His Strength
Back when I was still a small lizard, I was once trapped in a cave.
It was a stormy night.
I had been living peacefully with Tus and Pus when a Piranha Caiman attacked us during a hunt.
I managed to get the spider sisters to safety and was about to flee myself when the ground suddenly gave way, dropping me into a damp, dark cave.
It was a place teeming with venomous insects stronger than I was.
To me, back then, it was no different from a demonic realm.
If I hadn't miraculously run into my Master, who happened to have business in the Silver Dragon Cave, I likely would have been trapped there still.
But thanks to my Master taking a liking to me, I was able to receive her teachings and leap from being an ordinary lizard to one that used martial arts.
A lizard that would have just been running around going “gekgek” had stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter.
It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve come this far all thanks to my Master.
The reason I let my guard down and start purring like “gerorong” in front of her is probably because of that gratitude.
…Though I do let my guard down at other times, even when my Master isn’t around, but that’s due to an instinct I can’t help.
However, my time with my Master back then wasn't very long.
I thought about staying by her side and becoming her pet lizard, but she gave me an epiphany.
She told me not to run away anymore.
To give that caiman bastard who trapped me here a piece of my mind.
After saying that, my Master left me there. I remained in the Silver Dragon Cave, training relentlessly to become stronger.
It was after that I met the kind centipede right in front of me now.
I could call her the most precious connection I made after my Master.
Of course, the reason on the surface isn't all that grand.
Unlike the other creatures in the Silver Dragon Cave, she wasn't hostile toward me, and she simply swapped the bugs I was reluctant to eat for crickets that were at least somewhat edible.
Just a rather peculiar centipede, gentle and kind.
One could think of it that way, but at least, that’s not how I took it.
The kindness the centipede showed me was much more than just that.
The most abundant food in the cave were horrifically shaped things like house centipedes.
And not eating them was the final line I had drawn for myself.
Now, even with a lizard's body, I’d say I’m doing a good job of maintaining my human mind.
Of course, I can't say nothing has changed from when I was fully human, but I was living without any major problems, rubbing shoulders with both humans and spirit beasts.
I’ve accumulated my own experiences and am slowly coming to understand who I am.
But the me of the past was not in the same situation as I am now.
It was a confusing time, having turned from a human into a lizard.
A time when surviving each day was an ordeal.
Just when I had finally met the friendly spider sisters, built a nest together, and was about to take a small rest, I lost everything.
I wandered in a place where not a single ray of light entered, and though I met my Master, it was a brief connection.
What if I hadn't met the kind centipede back then?
What if, at a time when my identity was not yet properly established, I had crossed the line I had set for myself?
I can say with certainty that the me of today would not exist.
I would have lived the life of a beast, not a spirit beast.
I wouldn't have gone back to find Tus and Pus. Even if I had met Soyeong, I wouldn't have given her a second glance, and if I had met Swish-Swish, I would have just ignored or attacked her.
Therefore, this kind centipede before me is my benefactor. No, a benef-insect-or, you could say.
“Gegyegek!”
I was so heartbroken thinking she’d been eaten by that millipede, but here she is, alive.
I’m a lizard who doesn’t cry easily, but my eyes feel a little moist.
…Wait, it’s because of the centipede’s saliva.
Is she hungry or something? She’s drooling.
Anyway, it’s been a while, Ms. Centipede.
“Your face looks strangely familiar… Have we met somewhere before?”
Ms. Centipede wore an expression of someone trying to place a memory.
“Gekgek.”
It’s me, the lizard from back then.
“Gasp, that cry…!”
It seemed she finally recognized me.
“Don’t tell me you’re the baby lizard I saw in that cave?”
“Gek!”
Yes, I’m the one from…
Wait, baby lizard?
Did she see me as a baby lizard?
Well, I suppose I was a baby lizard back then.
I wasn't even a month old.
“No, the lizard from back then was definitely…”
She trailed off, but her eyes wavered.
“Really?”
Drooling green saliva, Ms. Centipede stared at me before wiping her mouth with her fourth leg.
I’m just glad I’m used to sights like this thanks to Nephila. Any other lizard would have screamed.
“Oh, my goodness.”
She tapped my scales with her seventh and ninth legs.
“I’m so glad! I was so worried back then!”
Then, as if a thought suddenly occurred to her, she stopped her legs.
She then averted her gaze slightly.
“…I’m sorry. That millipede was so scary, I couldn’t even help you.”
Hey, why are you apologizing for that?
I’m the one who should be more sorry.
She only got attacked because she was giving me crickets.
“Gyegegegek.”
But Ms. Centipede, how on earth did you survive?
“I managed to escape by quickly shedding my skin, but I couldn’t muster the courage to help you, little one.”
So what it ate was her shed skin.
It was a technique so convincing it even fooled me. You could call it a skill bordering on the divine.
It might even be the only technique that could rival my Tail Whip.
“How did you survive, little one?”
“Gekgek.”
I explained using a variety of hand and leg gestures.
Unfortunately, since she wasn't a follower of the Gaegaek Cult, she seemed to have a hard time understanding me properly.
Still, it looked like she managed to grasp a few important points.
“My goodness…. You defeated that millipede? With that tiny body?”
Tiny body, she says.
I only look small because I’m using Miniaturization. My actual body is big enough to fill this entire cave.
But there’s no need to mention that right now.
I’m happy to see Ms. Centipede, but my mission isn’t over yet.
My job is to hide, steal the elixirs, and finally, lay waste to this place to screw over Jin-ryong.
“You certainly seem to have changed a lot. I’m glad you seem to have grown up healthy. Your teeth have grown in evenly, and your fur… Huh? Do lizards normally grow fur? And the horns… why do you have horns?”
Because I’m no ordinary lizard.
A lizard, hiding his strength.
That’s the state I’m in.
“…This isn’t the right place to say this, but I’m so happy to see you again. When we met in the cave, I wanted to get a little closer to you.”
Ms. Centipede spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.
The atmosphere is getting weird.
Don’t tell me she’s about to confess.
Did she have feelings for me that went beyond simple goodwill?
I could feel my ego inflating, but it was about time I admitted I was a lizard of irresistible charm.
First spiders, now a centipede?
What is a sinful lizard like me to do?
Then again, I must have been a special lizard to Ms. Centipede, too.
Unlike the other bugs in the Silver Dragon Cave, I didn’t attack, and she must have seen me as an innocent lizard who would catch a house centipede only to cry, going “ge-eng.”
“Every time I saw you, I was reminded of my child.”
“Ge-ek.”
I guess not.
By the way, Ms. Centipede, you were married?
Well, it’s no surprise a centipede this lovely wouldn’t be left alone.
“A baby lizard had fallen into a cave like that, looking so frail. How could I just pass by? I gave you a few straws and even caught some nutritious crickets for you.”
So she was nice to me because I reminded her of her child.
Judging by her subdued voice and the fact that she was living alone in the Silver Dragon Cave…
It’s probably best not to bring up her child.
I didn't know Taotie's exact scheme, but regardless, I knew what I had to do.
When you look at the outcome, it was as if I had secretly infiltrated the elixir storage.
Even so, I had no way of knowing the location of the elixirs they cherished the most.
I had no information about this place.
But now, things are different.
Because the wonderful Ms. Centipede is right here beside me.
“Kshishik, right. I suppose the touching story is over now?”
A mantis clad in black armor spoke up.
I’m also wary of the other venomous insects around.
They’re pretending not to pay attention, but they must be on guard against this new lizard.
The same goes for the mantis trying to act tough.
At the same time, I could tell that the bugs here were not ordinary bugs.
I myself was being treated as an elixir to be offered directly to Jin-ryong.
If they were in the same space as me, didn't that mean they were being treated similarly?
…Either that, or they just threw me into a random room because I kept trying to bite their fingers, but that possibility seemed slim.
They were talented individuals who could grow up like Tus and Pus.
No, talented insects, more likely.
Besides, back in my nest right now are Tang Soyeong and Tang Muyeong, who still hasn't gone home.
And they just happen to be geniuses from the Tang Clan, renowned for handling poisonous insects.
“Kiek! Hey, do you have to keep acting like that? Just stop it!”
The kind Ms. Centipede still seemed to see me as a baby lizard.
She was trying to protect me from that mantis.
She really didn't have to.
“So touching…”
…Huh?
The mantis made a show of wiping its eyes with its black scythes.
What did it hear to be acting like that?
“Kshishik…. Kwik….”
The mantis sobbed.
This guy, I thought he was ill-mannered at first, but he’s surprisingly sensitive.
Seeing that Ms. Centipede wasn't being too hostile toward him, he probably wasn't a bad mantis.
I was thinking of giving him a bite if he treated the centipede disrespectfully, but this changes things.
“…His personality is a bit much, isn’t it? Most of the bugs here are like this. He’s one of the more gentle ones… but many of the others aren’t. In particular, there’s one of the same species as the one you met in the cave.”
The centipede’s body trembled slightly.
The one she met in the cave, the millipede.
Arthropleura.
“They’re pretending not to look, but everyone is wary of the new little one. They might approach you like this gentleman for a ‘welcoming ceremony’ or something. Never, ever agree to their demands. I’ll try my best to block them, so just bear with it for a little while.”
Drrrk.
“…Why is he coming out himself?”
At that sound, the centipede’s trembling grew more intense.
“Kwiik…”
The black mantis also wore a terrified expression.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed the master of this small space was about to make a personal appearance.
Ms. Centipede fumbled over me with her numerous legs, trying to cover my body.
I couldn't ask her what had happened.
I couldn't touch upon a painful wound.
But I could at least solve the immediate problem.
Tukwang!
A giant millipede shot up from the floor.
【Arthropleura LV37】
【Arthropleura】
The largest millipede, growing up to 2.6m in length, 55cm in width, and 50kg in weight.
It possesses a potent venom and prefers herbivory over carnivory.
“Kisaaaaaak!”
The millipede let out a roar.
It was larger and more ferocious than the one I had seen in the Silver Dragon Cave.
“No! Little one!”
She was trembling uncontrollably.
It seemed she was superimposing the image of her own child onto me.
I firmly grasped Ms. Centipede’s sixteenth leg.
As if to tell her she didn't have to worry anymore.
“Grrrrrrr….”
I let out a ferocious growl, one that didn't suit a small lizard.