Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

"Akhh--!" I gagged as soon as the small purple sac burst open inside my mouth, releasing all of its bitter liquid down my throat.

[Hey, are you snacking in the middle of the night? It's not good for your health, you know.] Luke sighed, but his eyes remained closed.

"Ow ow ow..." I wanted to argue with him about the pleasure of midnight snacking, but it was getting harder for me to form a proper sentence when my whole throat and mouth felt like it was burning to crisp.

I managed to grab the antidote from my inventory window, but my hands were trembling so bad, I was unable to put it into my mouth.

[Oi, oi... Kid, are you sure you're okay there?] Luke finally opened his eyes and looked at me with a shocked, but slightly concerned face.

"Hnggg..." Instead of saying yes, a grumble escaped my mouth, which alarmed Luke, who suddenly morphed into his human form.

"Hey! What the hell did you eat? Spit it out!" He grabbed my chin and put his thumb softly on my lower lip, pulling it down to open my mouth, before finally giving up his gentle method and violently shooking me.

I gasped and tugged at his wrist, desperately trying to have a firm grasp before I completely lose my vision. Everything was getting very blurry and shaky, and I could barely make out his face out of the color blob in front of me.

"Why are you always trying to get yourself killed!?" He panicked as he laid me down on the ground, which eased my breathing a little bit, though not much.

As my breathing got more and more unstable, and my heartbeat grew wilder, I managed to raise my numb arm a little, trying to get Luke to notice the antidote in my hand.

"This... Isn't this a spider antidote? Where did you get it?" Finally, it worked and he took the bottle of antidote from my palm and examined it.

"Hrngg--" I just growled in pain as I began to feel my entire upper body becoming numb. Argh, would you please skip the questions and just give me the antidote!?

"Gah! Don't die yet, kid! Drink this, quick!" He opened the bottle and poured all of its content into my mouth. A small amount spilled from his rough handling, and trickled down the sides of my lips.

"This should be fine, right...?" He propped me up and bit, and leaned my back against his broad chest.

'Cough! Cough!'

I let out few coughs as soon as I started to feel my airways clearing up, and my senses began to recover. What seemed like a blob of colors was now a concerned face, framed with blue locks. A pair of beautiful, glowing yellow eyes were staring intently at me.

"You... Have clothes?" I asked with a hoarse voice while I stared at him.

"I saved your life and the first thing you do is question my fashion sense? Tsk, tsk. You need to be taught etiquette." He shook his head and sighed.

"But you didn't wear anything as a snake." I pouted.

"Who said my robe is a normal robe? That white-haired friend of yours also kept his clothes intact even after transforming into water." He answered.

Wait, he was right. How could I not notice that sooner? Had my perception skill dulled over time? But then, did that mean his water magic actually came from his fusing?

"Mm... Okay. Thanks, I guess... By the way, how did you know that was an antidote?" I pointed at the empty bottle that was now rolling slowly on the ground.

"Hello? I'm a monster? And a high-ranking one at that?" He frowned and looked at me judgingly.

Hearing that, I grumbled and leaned my head on him and opened my skill window to check if my plan worked. Man, it better work after I almost died.

And sure enough, there it was. My new, hard-earned skill.

[Poison resistance (passive): increases resistance against poison]

I grinned.

As I thought, skills could be earned through other means, too. It would take too long to collect skill books, and I didn't think earning skill through fusing is a common occurrence. So in conclusion, it would be better to farm for skills using this method.

"Now you're grinning just after you almost got yourself killed," he sighed and flicked my forehead lightly, "it looks like I'll have to work extra hard to keep you alive."

"What? I can watch after myself." I pouted and rubbed my forehead.

"Then stop trying to die, you suicidal rat." He frowned at me.

"Ah actually, I will try to die once more. Look out for me, will you?" I gave him the sweetest smile I could muster.

"The hell?" He raised an eyebrow.

I quickly opened the shop and purchased another antidote, before taking it out of my inventory alongside a familiar purple sac.

His eyes widened upon seeing me open my mouth again, ready to bite into the disgusting, shiny poison sac.

"Don't tell me you--"

'Crunch!'

"Hey! You're really a problematic child, you know that!?" He immediately tried to snatch the antidote from my hand, but I was faster and managed to keep it away from his reach.

"No, wait," I gulped, "I think this time it's pretty okay?"

I was pretty shocked to know that I could move my arm normally this time. Not only that, but I no longer spew gibberish.

"How--" Luke gasped in bewilderment.

"Yay! It worked-- Ack!" Just as I was about to celebrate my newfound skill, a sharp pain penetrated my chest and stomach.

I immediately curled up in Luke's arms while holding my stomach, trying to ease the pain as much as possible. What the heck, though? I thought my new skill would protect me!

"Hey, kid! Get a grip! It will be okay, we got the antidote here!"

"No no no! Wait!" I curled more, hiding the antidote from his reach by tucking my hand inside.

"Oh my god, you suicidal rat. Listen to your big bro for once! How problematic can you be!?" He shouted frantically.

"I'm training, can't you see!?" I shouted back, but it was more because of the pain I felt.

"What training!?"

"Ah, let me concentrate!"

I ignored his rant and bit a piece of his robe in an attempt to endure the pain while not biting my tongue off accidentally. Meanwhile, he kept ranting on and on, and did not protest even in the slightest even though I ruined his perfectly silky robe with my chewing. Instead, he patted my head and back sometimes between his rant about 'don't-be-a-suicidal-rat-just-be-a-normal-rat'.

After quite a long time of panting, grunting, and cursing my own choice, I finally heard that satisfying sound in my ear.

'Ding!'

[Poison resistance (passive) --> Poison resistance +1 (passive)]

...Huh? Plus 1?